Pre-chapter author's note: I keep seeing how people in the comments keep asking why Lincoln apparently hasn't forgiven Lily yet, and that he should just let her off the hook already, given that she's a baby and thus doesn't know any better (or words to that effect). Here's a bit of a spoiler alert; Lincoln has already forgiven Lily. He forgave her the same day that he forgave Lucy, shortly after all of the Loud siblings had dinner that night. (The reason why Lincoln didn't forgive Lily right away is because he still felt emotionally conflicted towards the family as a whole at the time; once he forgave Lucy, Lincoln started to calm down a little, at least enough to realize that not letting Lily off the hook was pretty pointless, due to Lily being a baby.) It's just that Lincoln having already forgiven Lily just hasn't been revealed in-story yet, and won't be for the next couple of chapters. Now then, with that out of the way, here's chapter fifteen.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

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Chapter fifteen: Shocking Turns

Lincoln Loud was in the backyard of his ex-family's home in Royal Woods, Michigan, one well enough morning. The white-haired boy was practicing Kendo moves on his own, using Starlit Sky, the bokken his kendo instructor Aggro gave him, to practice the moves with. After the latest in a series of swings too numerous for Lincoln to keep track of, he decided to take a break. "Wow, Lincoln," the familiar voice of Lincoln's sister Lynn called out, getting the sole Loud boy to turn around and see his sporty older sister standing there.

With an impressed smile on her face, Lynn said, "You were practicing for a good half-hour, bro. I never thought that you would ever take something like a sport or a martial art seriously."

"…I can't really blame you for thinking that, Lynn," Lincoln replied as he walked over to where the carrying case for Starlit Sky laid on the ground. Slipping his bokken back into its case, Lincoln turned to face Lynn and continued, "I take it that you're going to be practicing one of your sports here in the backyard?"

Nodding once in the affirmative, Lynn said as she held up a football, "I'm going to invite Ulfric over so we can work on our skills in football. I'm thinking of setting a tire up on its side so that I can try to throw the football through the hole in the middle. You know, to work on my aim."

"Sounds like a pretty solid idea," Lincoln replied, "I'm guessing that you and Ulfric have a game coming up?"

"Oh yeah!" Lynn said, "Ever since the RWMS football team got its numbers back up, we've been training like crazy for our debut game since we had to surrender a few games in order to get our numbers back up. The first game is this Friday!"

Lincoln could tell that Lynn was really happy right now; her football team was finally going to start seeing some action again. Lincoln bet that due to all of the time off they had to take, the players of the RWMS football team were going to explode with energy when the game this Friday kicked off. The sole Loud boy bet that it would be a sight to see.

"…What time is the game?" Lincoln asked.

"What time?" Lynn repeated in a mildly confused tone, "Umm, it's at six. Why do you ask?"

"Six this Friday, huh?" Lincoln remarked as he considered what his sister told him. Giving Lynn a more direct look, Lincoln said, "…Yeah, that'll work. I'll come by to watch the game if you want me to."

"You…" Lynn said in a shocked tone, one that conveyed that the sporty Loud sibling was touched, "…You actually want to-"

"THIS IS, LIKE, TOTES UNFAIR, DAD!" Leni shouted, clearly sounding upset, from within the Loud family residence, cutting Lynn off and making both her and Lincoln turn to face the house, both of them wearing confused expressions.

"…The heck's going on?" Lynn said in a confused tone

"Let's go see," Lincoln suggested as he and Lynn entered the house, with Lynn carrying her football in the crook of her right arm and Lincoln carrying the case that held his bokken in his right hand.

Upon entering the living room, Lincoln and Lynn were just in time to see Leni disappear up the stairs to the second floor of the Loud family residence. Meanwhile, Lori could be seen talking angrily to Lynn Sr., the Loud family patriarch.

"Dad, this is literally one of the most bogus things you've ever done," Lori scolded, "What is wrong with you?"

"I'm not caring for that attitude, young lady," Lynn Sr. said in a firm tone, "And I'm certainly not caring for you and your siblings fraternizing with the enemy!"

"Fraternizing with the enemy?!" Lori repeated in a clearly offended tone, "Are you even hearing yourself talk, dad?!"

"Hey Lori, what are you and dad talking about?" Lynn asked in a curious tone, prompting both Lori and Lynn Sr. to turn and face her and Lincoln.

"Junior, Lincoln, now is not a good time," Lynn Sr. said in a resigned tone that sounded mildly frustrated, "I just had to ground Leni."

"Wait a minute," Lynn said in a confused tone, "You grounded Leni? What did she do?"

"Leni literally did nothing wrong," Lori said to her younger siblings, "Although dad is too stubborn and self-concerned to realize that!" Turning to face Lynn Sr., Lori continued, "Seriously, dad. There is nothing wrong with Leni having gone to Odin-Dono's for lunch!"

"Odin-Dono's?" Lincoln repeated in a confused tone, "Wait, isn't that the Swedish and Japanese place that Aggro-sensei's family owns?"

"Yeah, Lincoln," Lori replied in a mildly resigned tone, "It's the restaurant that the Ace family owns."

"And no one in this family will be going over there ever again," Lynn Sr. stated in a firm and authoritative tone, "Likewise, none of us will associate with any of the Aces from here on out!"

"What?!" Lynn said in a confused tone, "Dad, where did all of this come from?"

"Do you know how much business Aloha Comrade has lost over the past few months, Junior?" Lynn Sr. began, very clearly steamed, "We've suffered two drops in average number of customers per week back to back! Sergei had to let go of two dishwashers and the daytime greeter, leaving only two other dishwashers and the nighttime greeter who now has to work fulltime with a pay increase so little that it hardly even matters!" Holding his right hand to his forehead, Lynn Sr. said, "And this is all because more and more customers are being taken by Odin-Dono's." With an annoyed hiss, Lynn Sr. added, "By the Aces."

Lincoln realized at once what his ex-father was talking about; back when his grandfather Albert, A.K.A Pop-Pop, took him out to lunch very shortly after he returned to Royal Woods, Lincoln was taken to Odin-Dono's, seeing the Swedish-Japanese fusion place for the first time. When they arrived at the place, Albert told Lincoln that Odin-Dono's was proving to be some serious competition for the other fusion restaurants in Royal Woods, such as Giovanni Chang's and Aloha Comrade's.

Especially Aloha Comrade's. The place where Lynn Sr. worked.

"…Is that it?" Lynn said to her father in a confused tone that carried a hint of disappointment in him, "That's why you grounded Leni? That's why we aren't allowed to associate with the Aces anymore? The place you work at is losing business to the place that the Aces own?"

"Junior, if Aloha Comrade loses business, then it loses income," Lynn Sr. began to explain to his daughter that was named after him, "And if it loses income, then my paycheck goes down, and if my paycheck goes down, then things will get tight around here."

"So, Odin-Dono's is doing better than Aloha Comrade," Lynn replied, "I fail to see how that is any reason to not only ground Leni but to ban all of us from hanging out with friends of ours."

"The reason why you're failing to see and reason in that is because it literally has no reason, Lynn," Lori remarked to her younger sister, "Dad is just being overly paranoid and competitive since the fusion restaurant he works at is losing business to another."

"I am not being overly paranoid and competitive, Lori!" Lynn Sr. scolded, "And this could affect us all as a family! Don't you realize that?"

"I can see why you'd be concerned because of how your place of work is losing business," Lori began in a grumpy tone, "But that is still no excuse to forbid me and the rest of my siblings from seeing our friends, and it is literally no excuse to ground Leni!"

"I don't care," Lynn Sr. replied firmly, "This is my house, young lady, and you and your siblings will do as I say! Do I make myself clear?!"

"UHHHHG!" Lori exclaimed in a frustrated tone as she threw her hands up into the air, then said as she went up the stairs, "You're literally impossible, dad!" After Lori disappeared upstairs, most likely to go and try to comfort Leni, Lincoln walked to the front door, the carrying case holding his bokken still in his right hand.

"Where are you going?" Lynn Sr. demanded of the white-haired boy.

"I'm heading over to Aggro-sensei's place," Lincoln replied dryly, "With all the noise going on over here, I can't really concentrate on practicing my Kendo kata. Maybe I can spar a bit with Aggro-sensei when I get to his place."

"Yeah, I'm afraid that you're going to have to stop going over for those lessons," Lynn Sr. replied, getting Lincoln to turn back around.

"Really now," Lincoln replied in a cool, indifferent tone.

"Lincoln, the Aces are the enemy!" Lynn Sr. said in an authoritative tone, "And no child of mine will fraternize with them!"

"WELL THEN IT'S A GOOD THING THAT I'M NOT YOUR CHILD, MR. LOUD!" Lincoln shouted, catching Lynn Sr. off guard while making Lynn shrink back out of fear, not to mention worry. Worry that she may lose her little brother again. Turning around, Lincoln said in a bitter tone as he grabbed the doorknob, "You need to have a serious talk with Mrs. Loud when she gets back from work, sir." With that, Lincoln walked out of the Loud family residence, closing the door behind him with such force that it might as well have been a door slam.

After Lincoln was gone, Lynn Sr. looked to the floor, a disappointed look on his face. Looking up from the floor, Lynn Sr. saw the look on his athletic daughter's face. Junior looked sad, upset, and tears were threatening to burst out. Saying nothing, Lynn ran upstairs to her bedroom. The Loud family patriarch could hear Lynn slam the door to her and her sister Lucy's bedroom.


Later, after spending some time at the Ace family's place sparring with his Kendo instructor, Lincoln went to hang out at the McBride residence with his best friend Clyde. "…Wow, man," Clyde said to Lincoln in a sympathetic tone, "Your dad really tried to ban you and your sisters from hanging out with Astrid and her folks? That sounds like it bites."

"That's because it does bite, Clyde," Lincoln said, "I mean, so what if the restaurant Astrid's family owns is doing better than Aloha Comrade? That's still no reason for the girls and I to be forbidden from ever seeing the Aces ever again, and it's no reason to ground Leni!" Leaning back on his seat on the sofa where he sat next to Clyde, Lincoln let out a frustrated sigh.

Lincoln thought that his ex-mother was starting to show enough competency for him to consider forgiving her for her role in what had happened, and the white-haired boy thought that the same might be extended to his ex-father as well. But after how the Loud patriarch acted earlier, Lincoln felt that his ex-father not only shot himself in the foot, but instead of using a small hand gun such as a Sig Sauer 9MM, the Loud patriarch instead decided to spring for an automatic weapon such as an AK-47.

As Lincoln and his best friend continued to talk, they were interrupted by Harold and Howard McBride, Clyde's dads. "Hey Clyde," Howard began in a concerned tone, "Your father and I need to borrow your friend Lincoln for a bit."

"What's going on, Mr. McBride?" Lincoln asked as he got up.

"We were just called by your mother," Harold explained, "According to her, she was informed by your sister Lynn that you stormed out of the house after a heated argument with your father." With an added hint of concern seeping into his expression, Harold continued, "Your folks are worried that you're going to run away because of the argument you had with your father."

Sighing in a resigned tone, Lincoln said, "No, Mr. McBride, no. I'm not going to run away just because my father is being an overly defensive and controlling idiot who feels betrayed just because my siblings and I are friends with the kids whose family owns a restaurant that Aloha Comrade is losing business to."

"That's…that's an awfully strong opinion you have of your father, Lincoln," Harold remarked, a little shocked and a bit worried about Lincoln's attitude towards his father.

Giving both of Clyde's dads a serious look, Lincoln said, "He grounded Leni just because she decided to have lunch at Odin-Dono's rather than at the place he works at."

"Your…your mother said she tried to call you but that her calls kept going to voice mail," Howard pointed out.

"That's because I turned my phone off because I don't feel like talking to my dad," Lincoln explained dryly, "I…don't really have anything against the rest of my family." By 'the rest of his family', Lincoln meant Lucy, Lola, Lana, Lynn, Pop-Pop and Aunt Ruth; he's still steamed at the rest of the Loud family, although most of that steam is currently aimed at his ex-father.

"Do…do you want to use our phone to call your mother and let her know you aren't really planning on running away?" Harold half-asked, half-offered. Lincoln sighed in a resigned tone and agreed, mostly because even though he was still upset with his ex-mother, Lincoln wasn't really in the mood to hear of Rita being upset.

Like when she had thought that bringing the community center's youth football team to her kids' attention would raise some spirits, only for those raised spirits to be dashed when Lori pointed out how Lynn, probably the only one who would have been interested, was still recovering from an injury to her shoulder blade at the time.

As Lincoln was led out to the living room of the McBride residence by Clyde's dads, Lincoln could not help but wonder…was he really still upset with his ex-mother? Can any son truly stay resentful forever towards the woman who brought him into this world? Granted, Rita played a noticeable role in Lincoln's suffering, and after Lori brought him back home, Lincoln discovered that Rita had sold his furniture because she had allowed her superstitions to get the best of her (the fact that she went and bought Lincoln's furniture back was of little matter). …But the Loud family matriarch had shown nothing but regret for her actions, for her contribution towards the suffering that her only son suffered for the sin of just wanting a few hours of alone time. Rita was truly sorry for what she had done, and at the very least, Lincoln was able to appreciate that.

…Why else did Lincoln try giving playing football (this time for the community center's youth football team) another shot?

After reaching the phone, Lincoln picked it up, dialed the number to his mother's phone, and waited for a response. "…Hello?" Lincoln heard Rita's voice say on the other end, clearly sounding upset for a reason that Lincoln had a good feeling he knew what it was, "Howard? Harold? Did you find my son?"

"Yeah, they did find me," Lincoln replied a bit dryly.

"Lincoln!" Rita nearly exclaimed tearfully on her end, "Oh my god! Where are you?!"

"I'm…over at the McBride's place," Lincoln explained, "Sorry, but after what happened, I needed to get out for a bit."

"Yes, your father told me how you stormed out because you're upset over how he's facing a tough time at work," Rita replied in a concerned tone.

"No," Lincoln began to explain, "The only person who's really upset over that is him. He's mad that the place he works at is losing business to the place that the Aces own. He's trying to forbid the girls and I from hanging out with Astrid and her siblings, and he even grounded Leni because she chose to have lunch at Odin-Dono's rather than at Aloha Comrade."

"What?!" Rita nearly exclaimed on the other end, sounding like she was starting to get furious.

"If you need more than just my word, feel free to ask Lori," Lincoln remarked, "She'll back me on this one."

"Alright, Lincoln," Rita replied.

"Sorry about all of this," Lincoln said in an apologetic tone.

"No, no, none of this is your fault," Rita replied, "It's just…*sigh*…Lincoln, please just come home now. I'm worried that the longer you're out…"

Chuckling a bit, Lincoln said in an understanding tone, "Sure, I'll first just have to let Clyde and his dads know that I'm heading back, okay?"

"Okay, sweetie," Rita replied in a gentle tone, "I'll see you soon." After the call ended, Lincoln hung the phone up and considered the conversation he just had with Rita. She sounded just as worried and concerned for his well-being, and just as regretful for what had happened. Lincoln could also tell by Rita's tone after he told her that he'd come straight home that she sounded relieved, happy, and may even start to cry, but out of happiness. Lincoln wished that Rita had shown this level of caring about him back when the bad luck nonsense was going on.

But the fact that Rita was showing this level of caring about him now, that she had been showing it since the day he came back after having run away…Lincoln wondered if Rita had a feeling about his true reason for wanting to try giving playing on the community center's youth football team a shot. Looking up at the fathers of his closest friend, Lincoln said, "Can I get a lift home, Mr. and Mr. McBride?"


A few minutes later, the McBride family vehicle pulled up near the Loud family residence. When the car came to a stop, Lincoln got out and stepped onto his ex-family's front yard. The moment Lincoln did so, Lori, Leni and Luna came walking out of the house by sheer chance. "Linky!" Leni exclaimed upon seeing her younger brother. Running up to Lincoln and picking him up into a hug, Leni continued, "I thought I wasn't going to ever see you again!"

"I just went to Aggro-sensei's place to spar with him for a bit, then I went to hang out at Clyde's place," Lincoln explained, "I wasn't planning on running away again!"

"Then why did you turn your phone off, dude?" Luna asked.

"I didn't want to risk having to talk to 'the man'," Lincoln said in a dry and bitter tone after Leni let him go, making air quotes with his fingers when he said 'the man'.

Gasping in a shocked and freaked out tone, Luna said as she looked both ways in a panicked manner, "The Man?! Where?!"

"Luna, Lincoln is literally talking about dad," Lori clarified with a mildly frustrated sigh, "And if that's the reason why Lincoln turned his phone off, I can't really blame him." After the McBrides took their leave, Lori looked down to Lincoln and said, "Lincoln, please. Don't ever pull something like-"

"Girls!" Lynn Sr.'s authoritative voice boomed out from the house, cutting Lori off midsentence. When Lynn Sr. himself appeared from the doorway of the Loud family residence, he said, "I never said that you girls could go out! Especially you, Leni! You're still grounded, young lady!"

"No, Lynn," Rita's voice called out right before Rita herself came out of the house, "I said that the girls can head out to the mall if they want to, and Leni is not grounded."

"Why are you trying to undermine my authority as their father right when the both of us are in front of them?" Lynn Sr. nearly snapped at his wife.

"And what were you trying to do with that authority, huh?" Rita retorted back, "Lynn, there is no reason to keep our kids from seeing their friends, there is no reason to try and end our son's martial arts lessons, and there is certainly no reason to ground our daughter simply because she chose to have lunch at a restaurant other than the one that you work at!"

"Umm…" Lori said in a mildly unsure but mostly confused tone, "Mom, dad, the girls and I will be heading to the mall now, if you don't-"

"I just said that you and your sisters can't go anywhere, Lori!" Lynn Sr. commanded in an authoritative tone.

"And I said that there's no problem with Lori taking Leni and Luna with her to the mall," Rita interjected, "Lynn, what you're doing is absolutely no way to raise our kids!"

"What, so you'd rather that our own children support a restaurant that the restaurant that I work at is losing business to?" Lynn Sr. retorted. As the argument between the two Loud parents (loud both in name and in volume) went on, Lincoln found that he was growing more and more upset with the last line his ex-father had just said; although it's natural to want one's family to come and support you when you're doing your thing, trying to force your family to come and support you while not giving them a choice in the matter, then trying to punish them when things don't go your way, is not okay.

Lincoln supposed that his sister Lynn isn't the only Lynn who pulls stunts like that.

Walking over to stand in front of the steps that led up to the front porch of the Loud family house, Lincoln shouted, "ENOUGH!" Having heard someone shout, both Lynn Sr. and Rita stopped their arguing and turned to face Lincoln.

"Lincoln, sweetie!" Rita said in a highly relieved tone, "Thank goodness you came home!"

"There you are, sport!" Lynn Sr. said, "You sure gave us a fright there!"

"Why are you two even arguing?" Lincoln began in a mildly disappointed tone, "This whole argument, to borrow a quote from Lori, is literally pointless, not to mention stupid!"

"See, Rita?" Lynn Sr. began as he faced his wife while gesturing to Lincoln, "Our son agrees with me that it's pointless and stupid to take our business to a restaurant that Aloha Comrade is losing business to!" Turning to face Lincoln, Lynn Sr. continued, "Thanks for backing me up on this one, champ!" Lincoln was, to put things very mildly, offended by the Loud patriarch's self-assured attitude, annoyed by how Lynn Sr. clearly felt that he was the victim here, that he could do no wrong.

That was something that Lynn Sr. was very much wrong about, and Lincoln was about to give him the wake-up call that he needed.

"…Sorry," Lincoln replied in a cool and indifferent tone, "But I'm going to have to side with mom on this one, Mr. Loud." Both of the Loud family parents were shocked by what Lincoln had just said, or rather by what the last part of what Lincoln said implied. Lori, Leni and Luna were likewise shocked by what they heard, and Lincoln saw the looks of shock on the faces of the three oldest Loud girls when he turned around to face them.

"You, Leni and Luna are heading to the mall, right Lori?" Lincoln said, "Would you mind it if I tagged along?"

Realizing that Lincoln was speaking to her, Lori said, "Oh, umm, yeah, we are heading to the mall. You…you can tag along if…if you want." Looking over where her stunned-into-silence parents were, Lori said, "Hey mom, is it okay if Leni, Luna and I bring Lincoln with us to the mall?"

"Oh," Rita replied, still clearly stunned by what she had heard, "Umm…sure, I…I guess."

Lincoln smiled in an appreciative manner. "…Thanks, mom," Lincoln remarked, "I'll see you when the girls and I get back from the mall." The Loud parents were still stunned into general silence as Lincoln climbed into Vanzilla along with Luna and Leni, with Lori taking the driver's seat. After the ancient family van's engine kicked to life, the van pulled out of the Loud family residence's drive way, made a turn, then sped off towards the Royal Woods Mall.


Over at the mall, Lori, Leni, Luna and Lincoln were going from store to store, checking out the latest in merchandise. "Dudes, you think mom and dad are going to settle down by the time we get back?" Luna asked in a concerned tone.

"I literally hope so," Lori said, "The last thing we need is for our parents to be at each other's throats because of dad's stupidity." As the girls and Lincoln left the store they were just checking out, Lori said, "Anywho, we need to discuss something of a more serious nature."

"Like what?" Luna asked.

"Figuring out how to convince Allison to join the varsity golf team," Lori explained as her tone took on a slightly more serious hint, "She has still yet to join, but if my friends on the team and I can get her to join, then there will be literally nothing that can stop us!" To her younger siblings, Lori said, "Do any of you have any new ideas that may help?"

"Maybe we can get her a jacket she's had her eye on here at the mall?" Luna suggested.

"No, that won't work because Allison's perfectly happy with the one she's got around her waist," Lori replied, "Although you got a good idea there." After thinking about it for a bit, Lori said, "I got it! Maybe we can hook her up with a gift card to her favorite store here at the mall!"

"Or maybe we can get her a CD by her favorite band?" Luna offered.

"Good thinking," Lori said as she pointed to Luna in a commending manner. Turning to face Leni, Lori asked, "Leni, what do you think?"

"What sort of music do you think Aggro likes?" Leni replied.

"Uggh," Lori sighed in a mildly frustrated tone, "This again? Leni, why is it that whenever we talk about how to convince Allison to join the varsity golf team, you instead think about what her twin brother is interested in? We're talking about Allison. Not Aggro, Allison. Please try to stay on task here, Leni!"

"She's got a point, brah," Luna remarked in a mildly disappointed tone, "Thinking about what Aggro's interested in when we're talking about helping Lori try to get her friend to join her golf team isn't going to help."

"Sorry," Leni replied as she looked to the floor of the mall, looking ashamed of herself. Lincoln had seen scenes like this many times now, where the girls would talk about trying to snag Allison as a member of the RWHS varsity golf team, and Leni would randomly ask how something can be done to impress Aggro, and the other girls would chew Leni out for getting off subject, and then Leni would apologize and shrink back, just like what she was doing now.

…Lincoln wanted to see if what he was thinking was true.

"Hey Lori, Luna, quick question," Lincoln began.

"What is it, little dude?" Luna asked.

"Does Leni ever scold either you for talking about Sam," Lincoln began, "Or Lori whenever she goes on about Bobby?"

"No, bro," Luna replied.

"That's because Leni literally respects Luna and I when we're talking about our respective loves," Lori explained in a matter-of-factly tone to the white-haired boy, drawing a nod of agreement out of Luna.

"Okay then," Lincoln continued, "Answer me this, Lori and Luna. Why won't you two afford the same courtesy to Leni? I mean, Leni's clearly head over heels for Aggro-sensei, so the two of you of all people ought to understand how…she…" Lincoln trailed off when he noticed the wide-eyed, gobsmacked looks of shock on the faces of Lori and Luna. It was clear to Lincoln, as he looked at the faces of Lori and Luna, that what he was thinking was true; they had no idea that Leni has a crush on Aggro.

Turning to face Leni, Lincoln said dryly, "It appears that I spilled a secret that I didn't know was supposed to be kept a secret. I'm sorry, Leni."

"You spilled a secret, Linky?" Leni asked in a shocked and mildly worried tone, "What was it?"

"Leni, you…" Lori began in a tone that made it clear she didn't believe what she had heard. When Leni turned to face her, Lori continued as her tone acquired a hint of regret, "…You have a crush on Allison's brother? Leni, I'm so…Why didn't you say anything about this before? The girls and I literally could have helped you!"

"Yeah, brah!" Luna added as she sounded a bit regretful herself, "Why didn't you say anything about this before? Lori, the girls and I totally would have helped you out with this! Just like how we helped Lucy with winning over Rocky after that little punk Silas broke her heart, and how we're currently trying to help Lynn with winning over Ulfric!"

"Sorry, girls," Leni said in an apologetic tone, "But after the first time Lori totes shot me down when I was trying to ask what kind of shows Aggro likes to watch, I thought that-"

"No, Leni," Lori interrupted, placing her hands down on Leni's shoulders to get her attention, "I literally should have realized what was going on the moment you voiced your curiosity about whether or not Aggro liked to watch Dream Boat!" To Luna and Lincoln, Lori said, "Change of plans, we're taking Leni to find her a new dress! She's got a crush that she needs to wow!"

"I'm finally getting that dress you promised me back when you sabotaged my driving test?!" Leni said to Lori excitedly as Lori and Luna proceeded to drag her off. Lincoln, finding some amusement in the antics of his ex-sisters, proceeded to run after them to keep up.


That night, after the three oldest Loud girls and Lincoln returned from the mall, everyone had settled down for bed. As he slept, Lincoln suddenly woke up. Sitting upright in bed, Lincoln gently shook his head. The dream he had was not a nightmare, but it did leave the white-haired boy feeling confused. Getting up out of bed, Lincoln left his room and quietly made his way downstairs, intending on heading into the kitchen for a glass of water.

As he walked past the living room, Lincoln had to be extra careful on being quiet; his ex-father Lynn Sr. was asleep on the couch, apparently the result of the fallout of the argument he had with Rita. Despite him and Lynn Sr. being the only two human males in the house, Lincoln was having a rather difficult time in trying to find any sympathy for dear old…Lincoln immediately changed his mind about finishing that saying, given that he hasn't acknowledged Lynn Sr. as family yet, and after the stunt from today, Lincoln thought that any chance of him forgiving Lynn Sr. was a rather long time off.

Even so, Lincoln was not forgetting why he came down here in the first place. Heading straight into the kitchen, Lincoln collected a glass, filled it with water, then drank the glass dry. Feeling like getting another glass of water, Lincoln proceeded to fill the glass back up again, but he stopped short when he noticed something from the door that led into the backyard; the patio light was on. Curious, Lincoln sat his glass back into the sink before he went over to the back door and opened it. To his surprise, Lincoln found Leni sitting on the patio as she was looking up into the night sky. Leni was so fixated on staring into the night sky that she failed to notice Lincoln having come out.

"Hey Leni," Lincoln said, surprising Leni in the process.

"Oh!" Leni said upon seeing her little brother, "Hey, Linky! What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Lincoln replied in a casual tone. Turning to look up into the night sky, Lincoln remarked, "I can see why you'd think night skies like this are beautiful, Leni."

"Excuse me?" Leni asked, mildly confused.

"You were the one who gave me the idea for the name I gave to the bokken that Aggro-sensei gave me," Lincoln pointed out, "Remember? I ended up naming my bokken Starlit Sky because the night Aggro-sensei gave me my bokken, you looked up into the sky and said how the starlit sky looked beautiful."

"Oh yeah," Leni replied, "Aggro was the one who gave you your fancy wooden sword." Turning to look back into the nighttime sky herself, Leni continued, "Aggro…he sure is something, don't you think, Linky?"

"Well I do feel like he's sort of like a big brother to me, similar to how Bobby and I get along," Lincoln remarked, "But as far as what you want, I'm going to leave that to you, Leni."

"Linky…" Leni said as she turned her head back down and to the side away from Lincoln, sounding a bit upset in a manner that suggested that she wasn't all that confident in herself. The change in his older ex-sister's tone did not escape him.

"Leni, are you okay?" Lincoln asked, clearly sounding concerned.

"Linky, I…" Leni began in same tone she was still using, "…I'm not sure if I'm going to, like, get Aggro to like me."

"Leni…" Lincoln said, starting to catch onto what his older ex-sister was getting at.

"I mean, look at what happened when I went to the party Chaz had a while ago," Leni began, "I lost the first crush that I had! Who's to say that the same, like, won't happen with my second crush?" Starting to tear up, Leni said, "I bet that if I didn't have a stupid brain that was broken, then none of-"

*SLAP*

Everything came to a screeching halt when, to Leni's shock, Lincoln slapped her across the face. It was nothing that the ditzy Loud sibling ever expected out of little Linky, especially so out of the blue like that. However, things started to catch up to Leni when Lincoln put his hands on her shoulders, getting her to focus solely on him.

"Your brain is not broken, Leni," Lincoln said firmly, "It never has been, and it never will be. You have got to stop thinking that." Seeing that Leni still looked a little upset, Lincoln tried another approach when it came to lifting her spirits. "Leni," Lincoln began as a hint of gentleness seeped into his voice, "If your brain really was broken, would you know as much about fashion as you currently know right now?"

"…No…" Leni replied slowly, tears starting to well up in the corners of her eyes.

"And would you also know how to prepare one of the finest salmon dishes that I've ever had the pleasure to try?" Lincoln went on.

"…No…" Leni said once more as teas started to fall down the sides of her face.

"And would you also know how to pick a lock with nothing more than a hairpin?" Lincoln continued, "Or be able to craft an amazingly detailed bedframe? Or being able to trick the owner of a car lot into letting you use one of the cars so you could do a mall run? Or how about having such immaculate penmanship that you're able to write your own name in the grass using the riding lawnmower?"

"I had Lori helping me with tricking the guy into letting me use one of his cars to make a mall run," Leni pointed out in her current self-disappointed tone, "And when I spelled my name in the grass, I misspelled it."

"That doesn't matter," Lincoln retorted, "You did just as much as Lori did when tricking the car lot owner, and the fact that you can write letters in the grass with a riding lawnmower so well is nothing short of impressive!" Sighing, Lincoln said in a sympathetic tone, "Leni, why do you have so little faith in yourself? Especially when the rest of us have so much faith in you?" Giving Leni a gentle smile, Lincoln said, "You're better than you think you are."

"Linky…" Leni said in a touched tone as she gently threw her arms around Lincoln and drew him into a hug. The white-haired boy gently patted Leni on the back as she began to cry softly.

"It's okay, there's no need to cry," Lincoln said, "I'm not mad at you. Nobody is. There's no need to bring yourself down like this."

Sniffling a lot, Leni said, "O…Okay." Lincoln and Leni continued to stay on the patio like that, the white-haired boy continuing to provide comfort and support to the ditzy Loud girl, up until Leni more or less cried herself out. Once Leni had settled down, Lincoln led her back into the house. Closing and locking the patio door behind them, Lincoln then led Leni up the stairs and over to her and Lori's room.

"You try to get some sleep, okay?" Lincoln said, drawing a humble nod in the affirmative from his ditzy ex-sister. "Okay then," Lincoln replied, "Good night, Leni."

"Good night, Linky," Leni said before she headed into her room, closing the door behind her. Seeing as how he needed to get back to bed himself, Lincoln decided to head on over to his bedroom, crawl back into bed, and go back to sleep.


The following day, the three oldest Loud girls made yet another mall run, and once again, they brought Lincoln with them, although this was mostly at Lincoln's request. All of his friends were busy, and he had nothing going on, so he hoped going to the mall would help him burn some time. As the four Loud siblings walked around the mall, they spotted a memorabilia and fashion store that they decided to check out.

While each of the three girls were checking out different areas of the store, Lincoln was browsing a shelf that some accessories related to a popular anime. As the sole Loud boy looked at the merchandise, he heard a voice call out, "Hey, you're that white-haired kid from the kendo tournament!" Confused, Lincoln looked over and, to his surprise and mild worry, saw Francisco come walking up to him.

"…What do you want?" Lincoln asked, a hint of bitterness in his tone.

"Look, here's the deal," Francisco began, "I wasn't trying to cheat during the tournament, alright?"

"Then why did you?" Lincoln retorted.

"I just said that I wasn't trying to," Francisco stressed, "Someone must have switched my shinai out for the one that got me disqualified while I wasn't looking."

"Pfft, yeah right," Lincoln said in a disbelieving tone, "Like I'm going to fall for a lie like that." Giving Lynn's former crush a serious look, Lincoln said, "What do you take me for, an idiot?"

"I swear that I'm telling the truth," Francisco reiterated, "I wasn't trying to pull anything!"

"I've had enough of this," Lincoln swore as he turned around and began to walk away. However, in a brief flash of anger, Francisco grabbed Lincoln's left shoulder, forcefully turned him around, then grabbed Lincoln by both shoulders. "Hey! Let me go!" Lincoln hissed, more annoyed than anything else.

"Not until you've heard me out and agree with me," Francisco replied, trying to leave the white-haired boy without any other options. However, unbeknownst to Francisco, Lincoln actually had other options. Three options, to be exact, and by chance one of them came walking around to where Lincoln was looking at the shelf lined with accessories.

"Hey!" Leni said upon seeing her little brother being bothered by a kid that was slightly older than him, "What do you think you're doing with Linky?" With Francisco distracted by Leni's sudden appearance, Lincoln had just the time he needed to carry out his plan on getting out this mess, a plan that was sparked by the aforementioned appearance of his older ex-sister.

"Leni! Help!" Lincoln said in a (mock) panicked tone, "This older kid is trying to hurt me because I'm refusing to shoplift something for him!"

"He's doing what?!" Leni said, clearly angry, right before she started coming over at running speed. Seeing that he had no other option, Francisco let go of Lincoln and hightailed it out of the store, getting away just before Leni could get to him. The meanie-pants bully who tried to pick on her little brother may have gotten away, but Leni had something of much greater importance to attend to.

"Linky, are you okay?" Leni asked as she got down on one knee to be at Lincoln's level so she could give him a quick check.

"A bit rattled, but otherwise I'm fine," Lincoln replied, still sounding like he was frightened but was starting to calm down (he was still just pretending to acted rattled). Once returning to his regular tone, Lincoln said, "Thanks for the save, Leni. I thought that I might have gotten into some serious trouble back there."

"No one's going to hurt you so long as I have anything to say about it," Leni said in a determined tone as she got back up, "Come on, we have to totes meet back up with Lori and Luna."

"Right," Lincoln replied, giving Leni an obedient nod.


After the four Louds were done with their mall run, they left the mall and could be seen heading towards Vanzilla in the Royal Woods Mall parking lot. "Did you recognize who the kid that tried to force you into shoplifting for him was?" Lori asked Lincoln as he and Leni told Lori and Luna about what had happened.

Lincoln, worried that Lynn might get herself into some serious trouble upon hearing what had happened, shook his head. "I think that he was one of the kids from the kendo tournament, but I can't remember his name," Lincoln replied, "I'm not even sure if he really was one of those kids from the tournament or not."

"It's still bogus that a bully nearly threatened you into shoplifting for him," Luna said, clearly upset by what had (apparently) happened. However, Luna calmed down a bit when she said, "It's a good thing Leni saw what was happening before it could actually happen." Turning to face her ditzy older sister, Luna shot her a thumbs-up while saying, "Good job on saving the bro there."

"Oh, speaking of Linky," Leni said as she turned around, prompting the group as a whole to stop in their tracks, "I found something I bet he'll totes love!" Reaching into one of the shopping bags she was carrying, Leni fished around for a bit before she pulled out a small black rectangular box that had a clear plastic circle showing what was inside; a gold ring with some sort of elaborate writing along the edge, and the ring was on a silver chain. "It's a replica of that magic ring thing from those movies that Linky and his friends like so much," Leni explained to the group as a whole as she handed the gift to Lincoln, "And he does need to accessorize more, so I figured that he'd like it."

"Oh yeah," Lori began to remark, "Lincoln likes watching those movies." With a sideways glance, Lori added, "I'd be lying if I didn't admit to liking those movies myself."

Looking at the fantasy movie-related accessory his older sister got him, Lincoln was surprised. The white-haired boy actually sort-of always wanted a real-life version of this ring, minus the evil powers of course. And now, thanks to Leni, he got it. "Wow, Leni," Lincoln said at length, "Thanks. This…this is actually rather surprising." Looking back up to Leni, Lincoln said, "Umm, I'll try getting this out of the box when we get back, so until then, can you put it back into the bag you got it out of? I don't have a bag myself that I can carry it in."

"Sure thing, Linky," Leni replied in an understanding tone as she received the box back from Lincoln, then put it back into the bag she got it out of. Once that was done, the girls and Lincoln went back to heading over to Vanzilla so that they can leave the mall and head back to their family's residence.


That evening at the Loud family residence, Lori and Leni were up in their room, doing what they would respectively normally do; Lori was on her phone talking to Bobby, and Leni was working on something at her sewing machine. As the two oldest Loud girls went about their usual activities, they both heard someone knocking at their bedroom door. "Who is it?" Lori called out as Leni safely switched her sewing machine off.

"It's me," Lincoln's voice called from the other side of the door.

"Oh, go ahead and come in," Lori called back, and about a second later, the door opened and Lincoln walked into the room. Other than wearing a silver chain around his neck that had the fantasy movie-related ring on it, Lincoln was wearing what he normally wears.

"Aww, you're wearing the thing that I got you!" Leni said upon noticing what her little brother was wearing around his neck.

"Yeah, and that's actually part of the reason why I came here," Lincoln remarked, "I wanted to say thanks again for getting me this, along with saving me from that tight spot at the mall."

"Aww, you don't have to thank me," Leni replied with a giggle, "I'm just happy that you're happy, Linky."

"Heh," Lori remarked, "Modest as always, aren't you, Leni?"

"Lori's got a point," Lincoln said to the ditzy fashionista, "It's just like what I told you last night during our heart-to-heart talk. You deserve a lot more than what you give yourself credit for."

"Aww," Leni said in a touched tone as she got up from her stool next to the sewing machine table, walked over to Lincoln, got on one knee so she was at his level, then gave him a hug. "You're too sweet sometimes, Linky."

"Yeah, I get told that a lot," Lincoln replied. After he and Leni broke away from the hug and Leni stood back up, Lincoln said as he looked up to Leni, "Well anywho, I promised Lola and Lana that I'd help them with setting up a project for school. See you later, sis."

"Bye, Linky!" Leni replied as Lincoln took his leave, closing the door behind him. After Lincoln was gone, Leni said as she walked back over to her sewing machine, "It's, like, totes great that Linky's back home, isn't it, Lori?" As she sat back down on the stool next to the table her sewing machine was on, Leni turned to face Lori and saw, to her confusion, that her older sister has a look of shocked surprise on her face. "…Lori?" Leni said in a confused tone, "Are you, like, okay?"

"Did you literally not hear what Lincoln just called you?" Lori replied.

After having left Lori and Leni's room, Lincoln was heading straight for the dining room, where Lola and Lana were trying to construct a baking soda volcano for their project at school. However, just as Lincoln was about to reach the stairs, he stopped when he heard one of the bedroom doors open suddenly. About one second later, Leni came running up to Lincoln and picked him up into another hug, spinning around in place while laughing out of relief. As he was being spun around and hugged, Lincoln's expression morphed into a deadpan one.

But one that had a small smile, one that was knowing and mildly amused.

END, RESTORED IMAGE CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Author's notes:

…Well they had a heart-to-heart talk where he told her that she's better than she gives herself credit for, she helped him out of a pinch at the mall, and she even got him something that he's sort of been wanting for a while as a gift, so yeah, I think that Lincoln is justified in forgiving Leni in this chapter, effectively meaning that the half-way point in the sisters making amends with Lincoln has been reached.

I was also able to work in Lincoln forgiving Rita and accepting her as his mother again, which I hinted at a few chapters ago. Anywho, the next chapter will see the eighth one-shot from the collection I keep mentioning being adapted to this story's setting. …However, due to Lincoln's development in this story, not to mention what he went through in 'Broken Mirror', when I make the adaption, I will have to make a lot of changes to the original plot. Also, without giving away too much, the next chapter will heavily feature Chandler and his goon-friends. You've been warned.

Also, before I forget, in case most of you haven't noticed, I got another Loud House story that I'm working on up right now. It's called 'Awkward Hero', and it focuses on Lori back during her tween years, which was her quote unquote 'awkward phase'. Although if you were paying close enough attention to some of the chapters in this story, you'd realize that I was actually sort-of hinting at a story focused on Lori's past.