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 nineteen: Respectful Learning
Lincoln Loud was walking to the Burpin' Burger in his hometown of Royal Woods, Michigan, one day after having come from competing in another Kendo tournament over at the local community center. Although the white-haired boy didn't win, he still placed third, which was enough to net him another trophy. Walking with Lincoln was Aggro Ace, who was Lincoln's kendo instructor, and Leni Loud, who is one of Lincoln's older sisters.
The group had entered the Burpin' Burger and waked over to the counter to order. "Wow, Linky," Leni said to her little brother in an amazed tone, "I can't believe you got another trophy for placing well in the sword fight tournaments at the community center!"
"It's a third-place trophy, though," Lincoln remarked.
"It's still rather impressive that you placed high enough to win an award for your efforts," Aggro pointed out to his student, "Especially considering the fact that you clearly looked tired when going into the tournament in the first place." With something of a concerned look, Aggro asked, "Did you get enough sleep last night?"
"Me and Linky's sister Luna kept the entire family up late into the night with her music playing," Leni explained, "I must have lost, like, half a night's worth of beauty sleep last night because of Luna's music."
"Really," Aggro said in a curious tone, "Well that would certainly explain the lack of energy on Lincoln-kun's part." With a look of consideration on his face, Aggro added, "In fact, I dare say that he might have gotten first place if it hadn't been for your sister's music keeping him up."
"Leni! Lincoln!" a familiar voice called out, prompting Lincoln, Leni and Aggro to turn and see Lori, the older sister of Lincoln and Leni, sitting there with a few friends of hers from the varsity golf team; they were able to tell that they were all friends of Lori's from the varsity golf team because they were all wearing the team shirts. Aggro's older twin sister Allison also sat among the group, and to Aggro's mild surprise, Allison was also wearing one of the shirts.
"Lori!" Leni greeted as she, Lincoln and Aggro walked over, "How did your golf game go today?"
"We won, naturally," Lori replied in a self-amused tone, "How about you? How have things been going?"
"Linky got third place at the sword fight tournament at the community center today," Leni explained, "Aggro said that he might have gotten first if Luna hadn't kept us up all night with her music last night."
"Well in her defense, Luna has a gig tonight, and she needs as much practice as she can get," Lori pointed out, "Still, Lincoln getting third while being incredibly tired is impressive in and of itself."
"That's what I've been saying," Aggro remarked. Turing his head to face his older sister, Aggro remarked, "I see that you finally took me and Amy's advice and joined a club at school."
"One of the reasons that I've been able to come up with to explain why I'm apparently really good at this sport is because Odin had chosen me as his champion in this game," Allison remarked to her twin, "That being said, I figured that I should at least give the game a more honest go."
"Well that's the most logical explanation I've heard out of you for anything all week," Aggro remarked dryly.
After some of the others in the group laughed a bit, Lori said, "In all seriousness, though. I was telling the girls here a story, and some of them pointed out a few things that make me think that I didn't get all the facts." Looking to Lincoln specifically, Lori said in a concerned yet firm tone, "Lincoln, I need to ask you a question, maybe more than one. And I want you to be absolutely honest with me. Understood?"
The white-haired boy was curious about Lori's sudden request. What exactly did the oldest Loud sibling want to ask him about, especially so out of the blue like this? Lori wasn't the only one with a question or two. "…What's going on?" Lincoln asked, a hint of suspicion in his tone.
"I think that you were literally punished for more than you deserved," Lori replied, her tone carrying a hint of concern, "I want you to be absolutely honest with me with the questions because I want to confirm some suspicions that I have."
"…" Giving his older ex-sister a wry look, Lincoln remarked, "…Alright, shoot."
Lori first took a breath to steady herself, but then she asked, "Lincoln, was it really you who clogged the toilet with that Princess Pony book?"
"…I beg your pardon?" Lincoln replied, caught off guard by the question.
"What are you talking about, Lori?" Leni asked.
"I told the girls here about that incident," Lori explained as she gestured to her friends, "And some of them pointed out a few things that have led me to believe that Lincoln may not have really been the one responsible for clogging the toilet with the Princess Pony book."
"Wait a minute, I'm confused," Aggro said, "What's this about clogging toilets?"
"I'll explain later, Aggro-sensei," Lincoln said when he turned to face his Kendo instructor. Turning back to face Lori, Lincoln gave her a dry, mildly unamused look. "…Are you serious about this, Lori?" Lincoln said, his tone cool as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Please, Lincoln," Lori continued, concern seeping into her tone. Lincoln took pause when he saw that his older ex-sister looked genuinely upset about something. Not upset as in angry, upset as in guilty and a little sad. "I want you to tell me the truth," Lori said in that upset tone, "Was it really you who clogged the toilet with the Princess Pony book, yes or no?"
Lincoln saw that the looks in the faces of Lori and her friends. Lincoln also saw, upon turning to face them, that Leni and Aggro were also expecting to hear the white-haired boy give an answer. Still, Lincoln did not count on the subject of the Princess Pony book clogging the toilet to ever come back up again.
A while ago, the toilet was clogged by the book in question, and after a lengthy investigation, Lincoln discovered that the person behind the clogging was his younger sister Lucy. However, knowing full well that the other girls would tear into their gothic sister mercilessly because she likes the Princess Pony series, Lincoln took the fall for everything, resulting in the other girls ragging on him instead. At least Lucy was kind enough to show her appreciation for the big hit that Lincoln took in her place.
…It was bad enough that Lincoln's family felt guilty for the stunt that resulted in Lincoln running away from home; even the family members Lincoln has already forgiven still felt terrible about what they had done. But if Lincoln told Lori the truth, he had no doubt that the guilt that the family felt would multiply exponentially. Still, Lori was expecting him to tell her the truth about that day, and she didn't technically ask for a name. Not, of course, that he would tell Lori; despite being betrayed by Lucy, Lincoln didn't want to do the same to her. It helped that Lincoln had accepted Lucy as his sister again after having come back home.
In response to Lori's question, Lincoln gently shook his head. "…No, Lori," Lincoln said in a dry monotone that sounded a bit resigned, "It wasn't really me." Almost instantly after the white-haired boy's confession, Leni gasped in shock, then bent down to throw her arms around Lincoln in order to drag him into a hug.
"Linky, I am, like, so sorry about the rough time I gave you because of that!" the fashionable Loud sibling cried as she squeezed her younger brother in a sibling hug.
"Leni, please let go of him," Lori half-ordered half-asked, "I'm not done with Lincoln yet." Obeying Lori right away, Leni broke out of the hug and stood back up. Continuing the impromptu interview, Lori asked, "Lincoln, do you know who was responsible for clogging the toilet with the Princess Pony book, yes or no?"
"Yes," Lincoln replied in the same tone, his expression looking mildly unamused.
"Who was it?" Lori asked.
Giving his older ex-sister a dry but serious look, Lincoln replied, "I'm not telling you."
"W-what?" Lori said, taken back by Lincoln's response. Not only was Lori taken back by Lincoln's response, but the tone that Lincoln had used had just as much to do with it, if not more so. "Lincoln," Lori began in a concerned, mildly upset tone, "Is…is there a reason why you don't want to tell me who it was?"
"…Remember what you and the other girls did when I claimed to have clogged the toilet with that book?" Lincoln asked, his temper just starting to rise.
"I do," Lori replied in a guilty tone, "And that's literally why I why I'm asking. Lincoln, you didn't deserve how the others and I treated you over that."
"Okay, Lori," Lincoln said in the same tone that he's been using, "Now answer me this. Who does deserve to be treated the way you girls treated me when I claimed to have been the owner of that Princess Pony book?"
"W-what do you mean?" Lori asked.
"Let's say I do tell you who it was," Lincoln explained, "What will happen next? You tell the other girls what you learned here. How do I know you girls won't do to the actual culprit what you all did to me?"
"Lincoln, I'm sorry," Lori said in a defeated tone, "Really. And if it helps, I promise that I won't tease who it really was that clogged the toilet with the Princess Pony book."
"I, like, won't tease the real person either, Linky," Leni promised.
"That's all well and good, but how do I know that any of the others won't give in to the temptation of teasing who it really was that clogged the toilet that one time?" Lincoln asked. Giving both of the older Loud girls a serious look, Lincoln said, "I'm only going to say this to you once. Do not push this matter further." The seriousness in Lincoln's expression relented, leaving the white-haired boy with a resigned expression that clearly indicated that he was emotionally drained. "…Please," Lincoln added, looking tired.
Lori looked down to the floor, a quiet, upset look on her face. It was blatantly clear to the oldest Loud sibling that her little brother felt very strongly about this. Lori felt strongly about this whole mess as well; it was bad enough that she and the rest of the family had been so literally cruel to Lincoln that it drove him to the point of running away, but now she found out that she and the other Loud girls had bullied Lincoln over something that wasn't really his fault? Lori had multiple reasons for wanting to know the identity of the actual culprit. Anger that the actual culprit behind clogging the toilet with the Princess Pony book had gotten away with what they had done for as long as they have, her own personal curiosity, but the biggest, most important of all was a strong desire to get justice for Lincoln.
"…But if Lincoln literally feels this strongly about it, then I'll respect his wishes on the matter," Lori thought, "It helps that he has a point how some of our sisters will undoubtedly be unable to resist teasing whoever it really was that clogged the toilet with the Princess Pony book. I can literally see Lucy in particular tearing into whoever it is, given that she hates pink which is in abundance in Princess Pony." Sighing, Lori said, "Okay, Lincoln. If you're really sure about this, then I won't try to force you to answer." Looking to Leni, Lori added in a frim tone, "And you better not try to force Lincoln to answer either, Leni."
"Oh, I'd never do that," Leni replied, "Linky really wants to keep this a secret, so of course I would never try to make him tell me."
Sighing, Lincoln said, "Thanks, you two." Turning to face Aggro, Lincoln said, "Aggro-sensei, is it okay if we leave now?"
Given what he had just bore witness to, Aggro understood full well the severity of this situation. "I take it you want to go home, Lincoln-kun?" Aggro replied in an understanding tone.
"…Actually, I was kind of wondering if I could just talk to you alone for a bit," Lincoln said in a mildly troubled tone to the male Ace teen, "I mean, you…you are one of the two people I know of that's the closest thing I have to having an older brother, and right now I feel like I need an older brother to talk to right now."
"Lincoln-kun," Aggro replied, sounding genuinely touched, "I'm flattered that you think of me in such a manner. And I'd be lying if I didn't admit to wishing that any of my actual brothers wanted to walk the path of the sword with me."
"The only one of me and Aggro's siblings who has ever expressed an interest in learning Kendo is Astrid," Allison said to her friends, "But the frequency of Astrid getting sick makes it rather hard for her to stick with it."
To Lori and Leni, Aggro said, "Lori, Leni, would it be okay if I took your brother off your hands for a bit?"
"Where do you plan to go?" Lori asked.
"My family's place," Aggro explained, "I figured that we can just watch some anime together or something along those lines."
"Oh, since you'll be heading home, make sure you look after Anna," Allison said to her brother.
"Oh yeah, she had her tonsils taken out," Aggro remarked. Turning to face his student, Aggro asked, "Are you okay with watching this one anime where a dragon takes human form to serve an actual human as a maid? It's a pretty funny series, although it's not all that long."
Lincoln smiled; it was a small smile that showed that Lincoln was tired and a little sad, but overall very appreciative that his sensei was taking such consideration for him. "…Sounds great, Aggro-sensei," Lincoln replied. The two guys then left the Burpin' Burger, leaving Lori, Allison, their varsity golf team friends, and Leni alone.
"…Leni," Lori began after the guys had left, getting Leni to turn to face her.
"What is it, Lori?" Leni asked.
"…You and I literally have some work to do," Lori replied.
Later over at the Ace family residence, Lincoln and Aggro were sitting at the dining room table, watching some anime from Aggro's laptop. Kyubi, Aggro's pet fox, was even sitting on Lincoln's lap, watching anime with her owner and her owner's student. After an episode ended, Aggro said in a mildly serious tone as he went about getting the next episode started, "I have to admit, Lincoln-kun. I never would have expected such behavior out of your siblings."
"…Yeah," Lincoln replied in a resigned, mildly sad tone, "Of course, they haven't given me any crud over me supposedly liking Princess Pony for a while, although I'm guessing that's partly due to me having run away and being gone for roughly two months."
"Well given that Lori and Leni now know you're not only innocent but that you don't really like that series, I have no doubt that your sisters will stop teasing you," the male Ace twin replied. With a mildly puzzled look, Aggro added, "You know, I'm surprised that none of your younger sisters like Princess Pony, especially considering that it's aimed specifically at girls in their age group. I would have guessed that your little sister who dresses as a princess all the time would have been a strong fan."
"Yeah," Lincoln agreed, "Anyone who's familiar enough with that series to know what it's aimed at would immediately peg Lola as a fan."
"And yet you took the burden of the blame for that incident," Aggro said, "Knowing what would happen, so that your sister who was really responsible wouldn't be teased by the other girls." Giving his student a knowing smile, Aggro said, "You're clearly a shining example of what it means to be a big brother, Lincoln-kun."
"Thanks, Aggro-sensei," Lincoln replied, "I could also say the same about Hey, wait a minute!" Giving the male Ace twin a questioning look, Lincoln said, "Why did you say big brother just now? I never specified if it was a younger sister or an older sister that I covered for."
Getting up, Aggro walked into the living room, pulled open a small drawer in a waist-high table that was up against a wall under a mirror, removed something, closed the drawer back up, then returned to the dining room. Aggro then showed Lincoln what he went to collect; a Princess Pony keychain.
"…The last time that a group of your sisters visited here," Aggro began, "This fell out of the backpack your little sister Lucy had. Since your older sister who's got her eye on that Swedish boy at her middle school had just been ragging on the Princess Pony series before hand, I figured that it was best I didn't reveal what I had discovered." Handing the keychain over to Lincoln, Aggro said, "Don't worry, Lincoln-kun. None of your sisters even knew the keychain fell out of the bag. Only Kyubi and I know the truth."
Lincoln received the keychain from his sensei, and as he held it, the young adult vixen sitting in his lap tried sniffing at the keychain, clearly curious about it. Looking to his sensei, Lincoln asked, "You…you won't ever tell any of my other sisters about this, will you?"
"No need to fear, Lincoln-kun," Aggro replied, "I'm never one to tell anyone any secrets that I've been trusted with." Seeing that his pet fox was trying to paw at Lincoln's hand that held the keychain, Aggro added with a hint of amusement in his tone, "And unless one of your sisters can speak fox, I highly doubt that Kyubi will ever them anything."
The white-haired boy laughed a bit in a good-humored tone, feeling relaxed about the whole situation, as well as feeling that he can count on the male Ace twin to keep his secret. "Anywho," Aggro began, "We ought to put that behind us. Because if I recall correctly, we still have some anime to watch."
"Heh, yeah," Lincoln remarked in a tone of agreement, "This is a pretty good series. I wish that there were more episodes of it."
"Me too, Lincoln-kun," Aggro said as he returned to his seat, "Me too."
After Allison returned to the Ace family residence, Aggro decided that it was about time to escort Lincoln home. Besides, they watched a good couple of episodes of the anime that they were watching, so the male Ace twin figured that Lincoln's mother would like for her son to come back home. After walking Lincoln to the Loud family residence, Aggro dropped him off and took his leave. After his sensei was out of sight, Lincoln turned around and walked up the front steps to the door.
When Lincoln entered the house, he was greeted by the sight of all of the Loud girls, who seemed to have been waiting for the sole boy among their number to return. As soon as Lincoln, who wore a cautious look of mild confusion on his face due to seeing the girls assembled in such a manner, had closed the front door behind him, the Loud girls all said in unison, "We're sorry, Lincoln." The only differences between dialogue from girl to girl was Luna replacing Lincoln's name with 'bro', Leni doing the same thing as Luna but saying 'Linky' instead, and Lily saying random baby babble, although the tone in the baby Loud sibling's babbling clearly sounded very apologetic to the sole Loud boy.
"…What's this about?" Lincoln asked in a suspicious tone, his gaze narrowing to help convey that suspicion.
"Look, Lincoln," Lori began, "This is literally the story…"
(FLASHBACK)
All of the Loud girls were in Lori and Leni's room, having a sibling meeting. "Now that we're all here," Lori said to all of her younger sisters, "We can now address the subject of this sibling meeting. Girls, the lot of us have all dealt Lincoln a great wrong."
"Yeah, don't remind me," Lynn replied in a regretful sounding tone, "I still feel bad about how our brother ran away just because I couldn't suck it up and admit that I can't always win."
"Lincoln having ran away is not what I was talking about," Lori said to her sporty younger sister, "Although you're right about how all of us literally made Lincoln's life a living hell over all of that bad luck nonsense." Taking a steadying breath, Lori said to the other girls, "Earlier today, Leni and I discovered that Lincoln wasn't really responsible for the incident where the toilet was clogged by that Princess Pony book."
All of the other girls gasped in shocked tones, even Leni. Having heard her fashionable younger sister gasp, Lori turned to face her, shooting her a questioning look. "Why are you gasping, Leni?" Lori asked, "You were there when we found out that Lincoln was innocent."
"Oh great," Luna said in a clearly pissed tone that carried more than a hint of sounding guilty, "Not only did we all drive Lincoln to the point where he ran away, but now we're finding out that he's innocent of the incident where the toilet was clogged by that girly little book that we teased him over for a few weeks afterwards?!" Getting up from where she sat on the end of Leni's bed, Luna nearly exclaimed in her practiced British accent, "The bloody hell is wrong with all of us?!"
"How did you find out about this, exactly?" Lynn said as she regarded her two oldest sisters.
"Earlier, while my friends on the varsity golf team and I were having lunch at the local Burpin' Burger after winning another game against a rival team," Lori began to explain, "My friend Allison, who I just recently got to join the team, brought up the fact that her six-year-old sister Anna likes Princess Pony."
"Eww," Lola remarked in a tone of disgust, "Anna actually likes that garbage?!"
"Yes, and given that the series is aimed at girls in her and your age group, it's perfectly reasonable," Lori replied, "But anywho, after Allison mentioned that Anna likes Princess Pony, I told them about the time where Lincoln said that it was him who clogged the toilet with that book. Allison and some of the other girls then proceeded to poke some holes in the story, making me doubt that Lincoln was really responsible. And as it just so happened, Lincoln entered the Burpin' Burger at that moment with Leni and Aggro. We called them over, and after I questioned Lincoln about it, he admitted that it wasn't really him who clogged the toilet with the Princess Pony book."
"Did he say who it was?" Luan asked.
"No," Lori answered, "But Lincoln did admit to knowing who really was responsible for the whole incident. He just refused to tell me and Leni who it was."
"So, what do we do?" Lana asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Lori remarked. Standing up from where she sat on her bed, Lori said, "We're going to respect Lincoln's decision on this matter."
"…Huh?!" all of the other Loud girls said in unison.
"Girls, remember how we all ragged on Lincoln when we all thought that he was the one who owned that book?" Lori began, "Lincoln literally knew that we would treat him like that if he took the blame, and yet he took the blame anyway because he was afraid that we would all do the same to who was really responsible if we learned the truth." Giving some of the other Loud girls some suspicious looks, Lori added, "And given the track records that some of us have, I can't blame Lincoln for not trusting us to refrain from teasing the actual culprit."
"…Yeah, you got us there, Lori," Lynn admitted, "Heck, I'd be lying if I said that I wouldn't tease who really owned that book." Jerking a thumb at Lucy, Lynn added, "And no doubt miss gloom and doom here would also rag on whoever really owned that book, given that it overuses the color pink."
"…So, this is it?" Luan asked, clearly looking mildly upset, "We're just going to let this go? We're not going to try to find out who really clogged the toilet with that book?"
"No, we aren't," Lori stated, "And I better not hear about any of you girls try to push this matter any further. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal," Lisa said, "Although I'm sure that I speak for the rest of us here when I say that we would still like to try and make it up to our only brother for the atrocious way we treated him back when we suspected him of being the owner of that nauseatingly childish book." The other Loud girls all nodded in agreement with what their brainy sister said.
"…That is where the next topic of this sibling meeting comes up, now that you mention it," Lori replied as she then began to go over a plan with her sisters.
(FLASHBACK OVER)
"…After we discussed what we'd do to make it up to you for how we treated you over that whole incident where the toilet was clogged by that Princess Pony book," Lori said to Lincoln as she finished up her tale, "Leni and I went to the store, picked up a few things we'd need for the party we're going to throw to make it up to you, came back here, and got everything ready." Sighing in a resigned tone, Lori said, "Lincoln, seriously. We're really, really sorry about all of that teasing from a while ago."
Lincoln, as all of the Loud girls were looking at him, did not know what to say at first. As he had expected, Lori, and Leni to a lesser extent, ended up telling the other girls about him confessing that he wasn't really the one who clogged the toilet with the Princess Pony book, and that he knew who really did it but he refused to say who it was. The white-haired boy supposed that he couldn't really blame his ditzy older sister and his older ex-sister for doing that.
…But the girls all agreed that they would respect his feelings on this matter and not try to drill him for answers. They also went through the trouble of getting what they'd need to throw him a party to make it up to him for how they teased him back then. Given the respective histories the girls all had for meddling in his life, Lincoln was genuinely surprised to see that the girls were not going to try to get the truth out of him. …And a bit touched as well.
Smiling, Lincoln said, "Thanks for respecting my feelings about this, girls. Really." The girls in unison all said things to the effect of 'don't sweat it' to the sole Loud boy. After the girls were all done, Lincoln clapped his hands together. "Now then, you said that you got stuff that's needed for a party," Lincoln began, "What exactly did you get?"
"A few pizzas," Lori said as she began to list things off, "Some two liters of soda, various snacks, a tub or two of ice cream, and we even rented a couple of movies."
"Well alright," Lincoln replied, "Why don't we get the party started then?" The girls all cheered in agreement with their only brother as the Loud kids as a whole went about starting the party.
Movies were watched, pizza, snacks and ice cream had been eaten, soda was guzzled, and all of that resulted in the Loud kids having an overall good time. After most of the girls had gone to bed, Lori went about tidying up a bit, mostly just collecting forgotten bowls that once held ice cream, returning cushions to where they came from, and various other things related to what was essentially a siblings-only slumber party. Lori didn't mind doing this straightening up; in fact, she found it to be rather therapeutic. After returning to the living room in order to check that she got everything straightened out, Lori saw that Lincoln was still up; he was sitting in the exact middle of the sofa, playing some video game on the console he was using.
"…Can't get to sleep?" Lori said to Lincoln in a gentle tone, more saying than asking. Having heard Lori speak up, Lincoln paused his game and turned to face her.
"I guess I'm still a little energetic after the party we just had," Lincoln replied, "It was pretty fun, Lori."
"Glad that you enjoyed it," Lori remarked as she walked over. Sitting down on the sofa next to Lincoln, Lori looked to he TV to see what game he was playing. "…That's that one racing game you have," Lori observed, "Didn't you try to use this game to teach Leni to drive?"
"Yeah, this is that same game," Lincoln admitted.
"…Does it have a multiplayer option?" Lori asked. After the oldest Loud sibling had asked that question, Lincoln looked up at her. As he regarded Lori, Lincoln recalled that when she was questioning him back at the Burpin' Burger, Lori clearly looked and sounded concerned, not to mention a little upset. The white-haired boy could tell back then that Lori felt guilty about her role in teasing him back when he claimed to have been the owner of the Princess Pony book that had clogged the toilet.
Guilty just like what she was feeling over her role in driving him to the point that he ran away, not to be seen for roughly two months, where by chance Lori came to the city that he had run away to, and after he passed out on the sidewalk outside of where Ronnie Anne's relatives lived, that Carlota girl who is Ronnie Anne's older cousin ran to where her family lived, got help in the form of Bobby, and brought him inside to take care of him.
Lincoln also recalled back then how Lori held him in her arms as she cried over him.
"…Just to give you fair warning," Lincoln began in an amused tone as he got up to go about setting up a controller for Lori, "I'm pretty good at this game." Handing the extra controller over, Lincoln said, "I won't be going down easily." Giving Lori a wry look, Lincoln added with a hint of good-natured competitiveness in his, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Lori could not help but smile, chuckling in a kind, appreciative manner as she walked to the sofa and sat down next to Lincoln. "I'm pretty sure that since I can drive in real life, driving in a video game should literally be a cake walk for me," Lori replied, a hint of amused confidence in her tone.
"Hoo boy," Lincoln remarked, "Am I going to have to set you straight on that one, Lori!"
…
The following morning, Rita left the bedroom that she and Lynn Sr. shared. The Loud family matriarch was making a beeline for the kitchen, so she could get the coffee pot going on brewing a fresh pot of that revitalizing black elixir. Rita was about to turn to enter the dining room so she could head to the kitchen, but she saw that the TV was on, and that it was playing one of Lincoln's video games, which was paused. Curious, Rita walked into the living room to see what was going on, but when she walked over to the TV, she saw something on the sofa that made her take pause.
Lincoln and Lori, both sitting up, were fast asleep, with Lincoln leaning slightly against Lori. There were game controllers in both of their hands. Rita could tell that her oldest daughter and her only son must have fallen asleep playing video games. The Loud matriarch hoped that Lincoln and Lori would stay like this long enough for her to find a camera so that she could take a picture of this scene, as it was perfect family photo album material.
Lincoln having fallen asleep like that with his older sister.
Sometime the following week, Lincoln was hanging out with Clyde, Rusty, Liam and Zach as RWES during recess. "Rusty, Liam, Zach, I honestly don't see what the big deal is," Lincoln remarked in a mildly confused tone, "I mean, it's a test in our history class. You three are acting like this Friday is going to be the end of the world or something. It shouldn't be all that difficult to pass that test."
"Lincoln's got a point, you guys," Clyde remarked, "It shouldn't be too bad."
"Yeah, that's easy for you two to say, given that both of you have been breezing through history class so far," Liam said, "But what about the rest of us? History class has me more scared than a chicken in a fox den!"
"I did a mock run on a history assignment to try and study," Rusty said, his tone sounding roughly as worried and freaked out as Liam's, "And I barely got thirty percent on it. I then had my little brother Rocky do the same exact assignment, and he got over eighty percent on it. I'm a fifth-grader who failed at an assignment that was at a fifth-grade level, and yet my little brother who's in the third grade passed it no problem."
"What about you, Zach?" Clyde asked, "Don't you pass history?"
"Yeah, but barely," Zach explained; although he didn't sound as worried as Liam or Rusty, the bespectacled boy was still worried nonetheless. "My mom is really on my case about getting the Cs that I keep getting up," Zach went on, "My dad says that so long as the grade I get is a passing one then he doesn't care, but then my mom gets on his case for trying to, as she puts it, 'encourage me to slack off'. They're sort of like that alien warrior guy and his human wife from that one anime."
"Well if you guys want," Lincoln began, "We can-"
"Hey, Lame-o!" Ronnie Anne's familiar voice called out, cutting Lincoln off and prompting him and his friends to turn and see Ronnie Anne herself come walking up to them. The Hispanic girl was accompanied by her friend Astrid Ace. While pointing to the sole Loud boy, Ronnie Anne said, "Astrid and I need you to do us a solid."
"What's up?" Lincoln asked.
"It's about that history test that's coming up this Friday," Ronnie Anne explained, "Astrid and I are in something of a bind when it comes to that class, so we were hoping you can help get us ready for the test."
"Wait a minute," Rusty interrupted, "Why does Astrid need help? She's just as good at history as Lincoln and Clyde."
"Well all of the time I missed due to how frequently I get sick means that I have a lot of work to catch up on," replied the Swedish/Japanese girl, "I'm not quite up to speed on our history class's current subject matter."
"Well don't worry, Astrid," Clyde remarked, "Lincoln and I were already discussing helping Rusty, Liam and Zach with studying for the history test this Friday. I'm pretty sure working you and Ronnie Anne into the group shouldn't be a problem."
"Err, umm, yes," Astrid replied in a barely understandable mumble, a faint blushing appearing across her face as the African American boy invited her and Ronnie Anne to the study group, "That sounds nice. Umm, err, thank you."
"Okay then," Lincoln remarked as he began to count off of the tips of his fingers, "Since Ronnie Anne and Astrid will be joining us, that means we'll be at a total of seven in our study group."
"We're…going to have to find a good place with enough space to study," Zach pointed out to everyone else, "I'd suggest the library, but given the size of our group, we're bound to make a bit of noise, so we might be asked to leave."
"We're going to have to do study sessions at one of our places, then," Rusty remarked, "Do any of us have any places where we respectively live that would be suitable to study in?"
"I'd recommend my place since the living room is pretty spacious, but chances are that my older brother Bobby will stumble in randomly while making out with his girlfriend," Ronnie Anne remarked in an unamused dry tone.
"My place should be pretty good," Lincoln said, "I mean, there's very little chance that my older sister Lori will stumble in randomly while making out with her boyfriend, so I don't think that we'd have to worry about any distractions." Ronnie Anne chuckled in an amused tone due to what the white-haired boy had just said.
"Although if it was just Lori, I bet she'd make one heck of a tutor," Clyde remarked, sounding as he always does when he talks about the oldest Loud sibling.
"Is she a qualified tutor?" Astrid asked, a bare hint in her tone suggesting that she did not like the tone Clyde had used when he talked about Lori. However, that bit of the white-haired Ace girl's tone went by unnoticed by everyone else. "Because if not, then with all due respect, she'd be doing us more harm than good," Astrid continued.
"She's right," Lincoln remarked to the group as a whole while pointing to Astrid, "Although she should logically be better than us at history since she's in high school, my sister Lori is not really the kind of person to turn to when you need a tutor." Suddenly, Lincoln's eyes widened, as if the white-haired boy was just hit by inspiration.
"But I have a sister who would be the perfect tutor," Lincoln remarked, just before he began to explain to his friends what he had in mind.
"You need me to do what now?" Lisa asked that day after school when she and the rest of her siblings were home. She was talking to Lincoln, who had come under the pretense of wanting to make a request of her.
"Clyde and I are pretty solid in history, but the same can't be said of Liam, Zach, Ronnie Anne, Astrid or especially Rusty," Lincoln explained, "Clyde and I agreed that we'd help, but the group might be a bit big for us to manage. That is why I was wondering if you'd be willing to help the group as a whole with tutoring. We can set the garage up like a mini classroom since we still have all of those extra school desks that you bought when the school had to liquidate some assets in order to cover expenses that came about as a result of when Luan wanted to get revenge on a girl that was picking on Lucy at school a while ago."
"Mmm, yes, I still have all nine of those desks," Lisa remarked, "I easily had the budget for eleven desks at the time, but I only got nine because Lily is too young, and I myself wouldn't need a student desk as I would clearly be the teacher." With a mildly puzzled look on her face, Lisa added, "What I still would like to know is how Luan got ahold of six dozen cans of silly string, that mask of a former United States president, and that fifty-pound box of potatoes."
"I think that it'd be best to just give up trying to figure out Luan," Lincoln advised his brainy younger ex-sister, "But we're getting off subject here. Would you be willing to help us out on this one, Lisa?"
"It shouldn't be a problem," Lisa replied, "I'll just need you to help me set the garage up as a classroom like we had it that one time. The big desk and the rolling chalkboard should also still be in the garage if I recall correctly."
"I'm ready when you are," Lincoln said.
Lisa looked up to her brother to regard him, and saw the ready-to-go look on his face. It always brought some warmth to the brainy four-year-old's heart to see someone eager to delve into the realm of education. Lisa smiled at her older brother; it was a small smile, and Lisa still retained most of her dry expression. But she smiled nonetheless.
"Then let's get started," Lisa replied.
The following day after classes at RWES let out, Lincoln showed up in the Loud family's garage with Clyde, Rusty, Liam, Zach, Ronnie Anne and Astrid. The fifth graders were accompanied by Rusty's younger brother Rocky, Astrid's younger brother Argent and her younger sister Anna; the older Spokes boy and the white-haired Ace girl both figured that Lincoln's siblings that were friends with Rocky, Argent and Anna would like having friends to hang out with. Everyone was surprised to see that the garage was set up as a classroom, what with the multiple student desks, the teacher desk, and there was even a rolling chalkboard. The only one aside from Lincoln, who had left to retrieve Lisa, to not be surprised by all of this was Clyde.
"Yeah, now I remember," Clyde remarked, "Lincoln's sister Lisa was able to buy a bunch of this stuff on the cheap when the school had to liquidate some assets because of collateral damage that Luan caused when she went a little crazy in getting revenge on some girl in Lucy's class that was picking on her a while ago."
"I'm surprised the school didn't try to hold Lincoln and Lucy's folks responsible," Rocky remarked casually.
"The school is still under the impression that a former president was the one who caused all of that damage," Lincoln's voice called out, prompting everyone to turn and see Lincoln enter with Lisa in tow. The white-haired boy also brought Lucy and the twins, given that Rocky, Argent and Anna were here.
"Okay girls," Lincoln said to his younger sisters aside from Lisa, "You and your friends can go play in the backyard. My friends and I will be needing Lisa here."
"You all wanna go play in the mud?" Lana asked Rocky, Argent and Anna.
"Allison's dog Fenrir likes playing in water," Anna remarked, sounding like she was trying to be helpful.
"Well mud is part water," Lana pointed out.
"No mud, Lana," Lola said in a mildly disgusted tone, "However, I think that the six of us can have a tea party."
"I was just planning on telling Argent and Lucy about my older brother's latest fails," Rocky said in a casual tone, "Seriously. I got quite the list."
"Sounds like fun," Lucy commented as she, her sisters, Rocky, Argent and Anna all went into the Loud family's backyard. After they were gone, Lisa turned to regard Lincoln and the other fifth-graders.
"Okay then, students," Lisa began as she walked over to the teacher's desk that was in the garage, "Thanks to Lincoln providing me with the appropriate chapter in the text book you all are learning from in your history class, I was able to create a lesson plan that will help all of you learn what's needed to pass the test that you all are expecting this Friday." After taking a stick of chalk from a drawer in the teacher's desk, Lisa went over to the rolling blackboard and wrote 'Korean War' on it.
"We will now begin our lesson on the Korean War," Lisa said after turning around, "Are there any questions before we get started?" Right away, Rusty shot a hand up. "Yes, Rusty?" Lisa said as she called on the older Spokes boy.
"Will this be on the test?" Rusty asked.
Sighing in an annoyed tone, Lisa muttered to herself, "This is going to be a long study session."
During the next study session in the classroom garage, Lisa was carrying out a lesson in the impromptu class. As Lisa was writing something on the chalkboard, she saw that a spit wad had smacked into the board about a foot over her head. Stopping in her writing on the board, Lisa turned around and eyed her class suspiciously. Failing to see any signs of who could have been the one to have shot that spit wad, Lisa slowly turned back around.
Resuming what she was writing on the board, Lisa relaxed a little, but immediately stopped again when another spit wad smacked into the board. Lisa turned around quickly, this time making her students look a bit confused; Lincoln and Astrid even started to look around to see what was trying to get Lisa's attention so much. Slowly, and with a look of suspicion on her face, Lisa turned back around to resume writing on the board, but stopped once again when a third spit wad smacked into the board above Lisa's head.
"Alright!" Lisa swore in an annoyed tone as she turned around, "Which one of you is the one who keep on-" Lisa stopped short when she saw something, or rather someone, sitting in the classroom that wasn't supposed to be there. Slowly, everyone in the class turned and saw that at one of the two unused student desks sat a young boy; this boy had fair skin and medium-long brown hair, and he wore a long-sleeved blue shirt that had a (mechanical) grease stain on it, a pair of gray pants with a smudge on the one knee, a pair of white shoes, and a green baseball cap that was the boy wore in a backwards style. The boy was also holding a straw in his right hand, and he had a sheet of paper that had bits of it torn off sitting on the surface of the desk he sat at.
"Is Lana here?" the boy asked.
Jerking a thumb in the direction of the backyard, Lincoln said, "She's in the backyard, Skippy."
"Thanks," the young boy, identified as Lana's crush Skippy, replied as he got up from the desk, collected a backpack he brought with him, then went to head into the backyard. After Skippy left, Lisa sighed in a frustrated tone.
"…This is going to be a very long study session," Lisa sighed in a frustrated tone as she facepalmed.
With minimal other interruptions, Lisa was able to help tutor the fifth graders, getting them as ready for their test on Friday as she could. After school on that Friday, Lincoln and his sisters who were old enough to attend RWES were at home, relaxing and anticipating the weekend that was ahead of them. "So, Lincoln," Lisa began in a curious tone, "I have to ask. How did you and all of your friends do on that history test today?"
"We all passed," Lincoln replied, "In fact, all of us got 'A's!" Hearing that their older brother and all of his friends did well, the younger Loud girls all cheered in celebration. However, Lisa did not cheer; the four-year-old Loud girl had a look on her face that suggested that something had gone as she had predicted.
"Yes," Lisa remarked in a neutral tone, "I'm glad to see that I was able to be of help." Getting up from where she sat at the table, Lisa said, "I'm heading up to me and Lily's room." The brainy Loud sibling then took her leave, leaving her older siblings looking mildly confused.
"Umm, guys?" Lana began in a mildly concerned tone, "Do any of you think that Lisa is acting a bit, you know, off?"
"She's probably going to check on an experiment," Lincoln replied, "I'll go check on her."
Up on the second floor of the Loud family residence, Lincoln walked over to the door that led into Lisa and Lily's room. The door was closed, so Lincoln moved to knock on it. But before he made the first knock, Lincoln stopped short as he heard what sounded like a one-person party coming from the bedroom. And since he saw Lily being fed from a bottle by their mom downstairs, Lincoln knew that the partying could only be coming from one possible person.
"…Lisa?" Lincoln called out in a mildly confused tone, gripping the doorknob, gently turning it, then slowly opening the door so he could enter the room. When he did, the white-haired boy saw to his bafflement that Lisa was dancing around the room in celebration, as if she had just made some grand discovery that would revolutionize science as everyone knew it.
"Lisa, are you okay?" Lincoln asked, his tone losing none of its bafflement as we walked into the room, getting Lisa's attention in the process.
"Oh, this is a bit embarrassing," Lisa said in an embarrassed tone as she stopped dancing around; she even walked over to a mini radio that was playing music and turned it off. "My apologies if you catching me dancing struck you as odd," Lisa remarked to her older brother.
"Why were you dancing?" Lincoln said in a mildly confused tone as he walked over and stood next to Lisa.
"To be completely honest, history isn't one of my strongest subjects," Lisa began to explain, "I'm more of a math and science kind of girl, after all. But you and all of your friends who I tutored passed that history test. As such…" Gesturing to around the bedroom, Lisa continued, "…I couldn't help but celebrate."
Lincoln, to put things mildly, was surprised; partly due to finding Lisa admitting that a subject isn't something that she's good at, but mostly because he found the brainy four-year-old dancing and celebrating due to a personal advancement. He did not expect something like this out of the stoic four-year-old.
Lisa, without being able to control herself, threw her arms around Lincoln, buried her face into his shirt, and proceeded to start laughing in a giddy manner. This only served to further confuse the sole Loud boy. "Thanks again, Lincoln!" Lisa remarked.
"…Because you seemingly got better at a subject you weren't as good at as math and science?" Lincoln asked in a confused tone.
"No, my dear older brother," Lisa replied, calming down a bit and releasing her hold on the white-haired boy, "For trusting me." Seeing the confused look on her older brother's face, Lisa explained, "I know that you still have yet to forgive me for my part in the transgression that prompted you to run away. But you still came to me for help, you were counting on me to help see you and your friends through something difficult." Wiping a stray tear from the corner of her right eye, Lisa continued, "Thank you for trusting me. I'm glad that I didn't let you down."
Chuckling a bit in a gentle and mildly amused tone, Lincoln said, "Lisa, look at me." With the four-year-old Loud girl's attention solely on him, Lincoln explained, "No one is perfect. We all make mistakes. But that's why we have other people such as family and friends around; they help us make up for our screw-ups, we help them in return, and we all help each other reach our respective goals. The goal that my friends and I had was to all pass that test."
Gently, Lincoln scooped Lisa up, walked over to Lisa's bed and sat down on the edge, sat Lisa down on his lap, then gave her a warm and gentle hug. "And we all reached that goal because of you," Lincoln continued, "Thank you, Lisa." Giving the hug a bit of an extra squeeze before he let Lisa go, Lincoln said as he got up and sat Lisa back on her bed where he (Lincoln) was sitting, "I bet that you've had something of a tiring day, and you are only four. I won't stand for any sister of mine being tired, so you should take a bit of a nap before dinner. I'll come get you when dinner's ready." Before she could object, Lisa let out a yawn that indicated that she was indeed tired, proving her older brother right.
"Okay Lincoln," Lisa said as she took her shoes off, sat them on the floor near her bed, then crawled under the covers of her bed. "I'll see you at Hey wait a minute!" Lisa said, deviating midsentence as she realized something, "Lincoln, did you just refer to-" The brainy Loud sibling was cut off when, as she laid under the covers, Lincoln leaned forward and, as if he were a parent to a young child, gave Lisa's forehead a gentle kiss before standing back up.
Giving Lisa's hair a gentle ruffle, Lincoln said, "Sleep tight, Lisa." Lincoln turned to turn off the lamp that was in the room, then he walked towards the bedroom door, turned the bedroom light off, then left the room, closing the door behind him. The brainy Loud sibling realized that she was more tired than she had realized; yes, today's events were rather exciting, better than what she was counting on, and she celebrated more than what a stoic person like herself normally would do. Even with the good news Lisa heard today, she still felt guilty for her role in what had happened, mostly because she couldn't believe someone as smart as her could have even been a part of that tomfoolery.
…But, after she had been reassured by a brother who had accepted her as his sister again that everyone would be there to help everyone else, Lisa felt a lot better. With her mind at ease, Lisa allowed herself to drift off to sleep.
END, RESTORED IMAGE CHAPTER NINETEEN
Author's notes:
…Yeah, I wanted to feature Lisa doing something somewhat silly that no one, or at least a whole lot of people, would not have expected her to do, thus I went for Lisa doing that little celebratory dance in her and Lily's room. But yeah, with two more sisters having been accepted by Lincoln again, it won't be long now until all of the family is Lincoln's family again. Anywho, the next chapter is going to be something of a breather, and for what I have in mind, Skippy and Winston will both be playing big roles. And naturally, this means that both Lana and Lola will also be playing big roles as well.
No, I'm not counting this story as one of the other two Loud House stories that I'm working on; those other two are 'Awkward Hero' and 'Broken Mirror: New War'. Yes, I can see how a story from Francisco's point of view would make for an interesting tale, and I could actually see myself writing a story like that, but not anything soon, I'm afraid. I'm sorry, but I can't answer that question without spoiling something major.
