Pre-chapter author's notes: I saw from some comments that some people are confused on when Lincoln reconciled with Lori. It happened back in chapter nineteen because of Lori's efforts in making sure that Lincoln's feelings were respected. Remember that one scene where Rita found that Lincoln and Lori had fallen asleep while playing video games? That was the moment that signified Lincoln recognizing Lori as his sister again. Anywho, without further ado, here's chapter twenty-two.

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

Restored Image

Chapter twenty-two: Forgiving Lullaby

Things were not going so well for Luna Loud one evening at her family's place in Royal Woods, Michigan. Just a few hours ago, Luna, with assistance from her girlfriend Sam and her (Luna's) roadie Chunk, were gearing up to throw a rock performance in the garage of the Loud family residence for Luna's younger brother Lincoln. Some time ago, due to the family as a whole letting their stupidity get the better of them by decrying Lincoln as 'bad luck', the sole Loud boy ran away from home.

After he was gone for roughly two months, Lincoln finally returned home when he was found by sheer chance in some city in the next state over; Lori had driven all the way over to that city because her boyfriend Bobby's family was considering moving to that city, and Lori drove over in some half-baked bid to try and convince the Santiagos not to move. While Lori was over there, Lincoln was found laying passed out on the sidewalk on the other side of the street from the apartment building/bodega store where the Casagrandes, the Santiagos' extended family, lived. Bobby and his cousin Carlota collected Lincoln after he passed out, brought him inside, and handed him off to Lori, who was sitting in the living room of the Casagrande's apartment at the time.

By the way, with what Lincoln said about how he was found in that particular area of the city, combined with what Bobby's grandfather said about what was going on in the city at the time, the Santiagos decided not to move out of Royal Woods, with Santiago matriarch Maria stating that she felt that the city was far too dangerous a place for Ronnie Anne to grow up in.

Anyway, after Lori called her and the others to tell them that she found Lincoln, Luna and the other Loud girls were beyond overjoyed to hear that their brother was not only found, but that he was also okay, with nothing wrong beyond him just being tired. None of them could have waited until the sole Loud boy was back home with them. In fact, virtually all of the Loud girls, Luna herself included, thought that as soon as their brother was back home with them, that everything would be okay, that everything would go back to normal.

Never have they been so wrong.

Pretty much as soon as he came back, Lincoln made it perfectly clear that he was in no mood to deal with them, that as far as he was concerned, none of them were his sisters, nor were Rita and Lynn Sr. his parents. Hell, he even refused to acknowledge the family pets Charles, Cliff, Walt and Geo, for crying out loud! The Loud girls were nothing short of devastated when the white-haired boy referred to them as just Lori's sisters, and not his and Lori's sisters.

Luna was nothing short of heartbroken to hear her younger brother saying that she was effectively not his sister anymore.

Of course, Lincoln wasn't completely done with the Louds; for reasons that Lincoln himself admitted he didn't quite know at the time, he decided to give the Louds a chance to make up for what they did, to prove to him that they were, in fact, his family. It was slow at first, but over time, Lincoln had come to acknowledge more and more of them as his family.

Luna was the only one out of the ten Loud girls that Lincoln hasn't forgiven yet; in fact, Luna was the only member of the family aside from Lynn Sr. that Lincoln hasn't yet acknowledged as his family again.

Afraid that her little brother, her only brother, would never forgive her, Luna tried to set up the aforementioned performance in the garage, with Lincoln as the guest of honor. However, before Luna, Sam and Chunk could even get the first song (they were intending to play multiple songs) started, Lincoln handed his musically inclined older ex-sister a note before he turned around and stormed out of the garage. Upon reading the note her little brother wrote, Luna was nothing short of devastated.

Her attempt at apologizing to Lincoln actually disgusted him.

Since everything had failed, Luna, with Sam and Chunk, packed everything up. Luna then proceeded to cry into Lori's shoulder, given that Lori was in the garage at the time and she gently drew Luna into a comforting hug, having read the note that Lincoln wrote after it had slipped out of Luna's hand.

After Sam and Chunk took their respective leaves, Luna went up to her and Luan's room on the second floor of their family's house, crawled onto her bunk of the bunk bed in the room (Luna slept on the top bunk), buried her face into a pillow, and cried some more. And that is were Luna is at right now; laying on her bed and crying into her pillow. The musically inclined Loud girl's attempt to try and reconcile with her little brother, her only brother, had been rejected.

Luna had been rejected.

As Luna cried into her pillow, she heard a gentle voice call out, "Luna? Sweetie? Are you okay?" Getting her face out of her pillow, Luna looked over and saw that her mother Rita was standing in the doorway of the bedroom. Realizing that her mother most likely wanted to talk to her, Luna got down off of her bunk. Standing on the floor for a few seconds, Luna said nothing. However, she soon sat down on Luan's bunk, and patted an area next to her, with Rita took as an invitation to sit down next to her.

"Mom, I…" Luna began after Rita sat down next to her on her right, "…I tried to make things right with Lincoln, to apologize to him for my part in how we treated him like what Charles leaves behind on the living room carpet." Drawing her legs close to her chest so that she was in something of a fetal position, Luna continued as a tear ran down the right side of her face, "But he rejected my apology."

"Your younger brother rejected your attempt to apologize to him?" Rita replied, shocked to hear what her fifteen-year-old daughter had just said.

"I…I have no idea w-what I did wrong, m-mom," Luna said as she began to cry in earnest, her crying making her stammer somewhat, "I thought that L-Lincoln would totally l-love it if I gave a p-p-performance in the garage w-with my band. I even h-had Lincoln's favorite s-song from SMOOCH l-lined up."

Sighing in an unsure tone, Rita said, "Luna, I just don't know what to tell you. I'm not sure if you had simply caught your younger brother at a bad time or if something in your attempt to try to make amends with him rubbed him the wrong way." Placing both of her hands down on Luna's shoulders to get Luna's full attention on her, Rita continued in a reassuring tone, "But just because your first go at trying to make amends with Lincoln failed doesn't mean you should give up trying to make amends with him at all. Remember that your brother doesn't hate you."

Sniffling a bit, Luna replied, "T-then why do I f-feel like Lincoln does h-hate me?"

"You're just upset that your brother is still mad at you," Rita explained, "I'm sure he'll come to forgive you eventually." Standing up, Rita said, "Anywho, dinner is about ready. You ought to come on down and get something to eat."

"I'm not hungry," Luna replied in a dejected tone as she proceeded to climb back onto her bunk so she could resume crying into her pillow. Rita wished that her daughter would come down and eat dinner, but she knew better than to try and force the matter. Besides, Lincoln was down there, so Rita figured having Lincoln and Luna in the same room while he was still steamed at his older sister may not be the best idea in the world right now.

"…Alright, sweetie," Rita remarked, "But at least get something to eat before everyone goes to bed for the night, alright?"

"Mmm," Luna replied, her tone clearly indicating that she was still upset. Figuring that it was best to leave Luna alone, Rita took her leave, sincerely hoping that her fifteen-year-old daughter would get better soon.


The following afternoon, Luna, along with Lori and Leni, were sitting in the dining room of their family's house, discussing Luna's failed attempt to reconcile with Lincoln. The three oldest Loud girls were not alone either; Lori and Leni had respectively invited Bobby Santiago and Aggro Ace, the latter having the bokken carrying case that held Morning Sun over his back, figuring that the two seventeen-year-old boys would be able to help, especially since Lincoln had admitted that he viewed both Bobby and Aggro as older brother figures.

In a similar manner to Lori and Leni having invited their respective love interests over, Luna had invited Sam over. However, unlike Lori and Leni having invited Bobby and Aggro over to fill mentor roles for Lincoln, Luna invited Sam over more or less to give her emotional support for what the six teens were going to do once Lincoln came back. As always, Lori, Leni and Luna were careful not to say anything that people outside of their family wasn't supposed to know.

"Wait a minute," Bobby interrupted as he addressed Luna, his tone clearly indicating that he was quite shocked, "The bro actually rejected your apology, Luna?" After the musically inclined Loud sister nodded somberly in the affirmative, Bobby said, "Dude, that totally doesn't sound like Lincoln at all. You must have really rubbed Lincoln the wrong way if he actually rejected your apology."

"You mentioned that Lincoln handed Luna a note before she, Sam and that Chunk fellow were able to start the first song that they had planned, correct?" Aggro asked as he turned to regard Lori and Leni, "Do you still have the note? Because if so, I would like to see it." Nodding in the affirmative, Lori reached into a back pocket on her shorts, pulled out a small sheet of folded paper, and handed it to Aggro, who unfolded it so he could read what was written. As Aggro's eyes scanned the brief missive, his expression grew grim.

"…I guess that my assessment from yesterday had more weight than I thought," the male Ace twin remarked.

"What do you mean?" Leni asked, getting Aggro to look up from the note and face her.

"Yesterday, Luna wandered in the part of the neighborhood where my family and I live," Aggro began to explain, "I had at that moment just arrived home from the store after picking up a few things to help my little sister Astrid feel better since she was sick, so I saw Luna randomly show up. I could tell she had a lot on her mind, and since you and all of your siblings are friends with me and mine, I invited her over to tell me what was on her mind."

"Go on," Lori said, wanting to hear more of where this was leading.

"After Luna told me about how she felt horrible about being the only one among her and her sisters to have not been forgiven yet," Aggro said, "I told her about the time when Lincoln-kun confided in Bobby and I about a nightmare that he had shortly before he and Bobby's little sister Ronnie Anne went to a birthday party that one of Ronnie Anne's friends was having."

"Oh yeah, I remember Lincoln waking up screaming in the middle of the night because of that nightmare," Lori remarked, "The one where he chased down and killed someone."

"Yeah, I remember the bro telling Aggro and I about that nightmare," Bobby said in a somber tone. Looking to the three oldest Loud girls, Bobby continued, "Did Lincoln tell you that the person that he killed in that nightmare that he had was Luna?" The shocked looks on the faces of Lori and Leni, and Sam to a lesser extent, was all the answer the Santiago teen needed.

"It…it was Luna that Linky killed in that nightmare?" Leni asked, shocked and a little sad to hear this development.

"From what I figure," Aggro said as he began to explain, "The reason why it was Luna who Lincoln-kun killed in that nightmare he had was because out of all ten of you girls, he was hurt the most by Luna's actions, or rather lack thereof, back when your four sisters who were directly responsible for driving him to the point that he ran away were making things terrible for him."

"Lincoln…" Lori said slowly, "…Was hurt the most by Luna?" This drew an affirmative nod from the male Ace twin.

"Yo Aggro, dude," Bobby said, getting Aggro's attention in the process, "You think the that the bro rejected Luna's apology because he feels betrayed or something?"

"I do," Aggro replied in the affirmative, "And such a betrayal-"

"Bobby? Aggro-sensei?" Lincoln's voice called out, cutting Aggro off midsentence and prompting him, Bobby, Sam, Lori, Leni and Luna to all look over and see Lincoln standing in the doorway that led into the dining room. "What are you guys doing here?" Lincoln asked as he walked into the dining room.

"Lori and your other sisters here invited us over, bro," Bobby explained in a sympathetic tone, "They feel like you need someone to talk to."

"We were also talking about how you rejected Luna's attempt to apologize to you," Sam remarked, a hint of annoyance in her tone, "Seriously, little dude. What the heck is wrong with you? Do you know how much doing that hurt Luna?"

Giving Sam a wry look, Lincoln retorted, "Does Luna know how much she's hurt me?" Walking into the dining room, Lincoln took a seat on the same side of the table where Bobby and Aggro sat; in fact, since Lincoln was seated next to Aggro on the male Ace twin's left, this put the sole Loud boy as far from where Luna sat as possible while still being next to someone else that was sitting at the table. "…Seeing as how part of this discussion is covering why Luna expecting me to forgive her yesterday pissed me off so much, I figure that I should join in," Lincoln remarked in a bitter tone, the scowling expression on his face matching his tone.

"Expecting you?" Luna repeated, sounding surprised and a little shocked, "What do you mean expecting you?!" This elicited a bitter glare from her white-haired little brother.

"You wanted me to see what you were up to in the garage," Lincoln began, "And when I check it out, I find you, acting like nothing was wrong, that everything was all peachy keen, setting up for a performance you said was to make me feel better about what had happened." As Lincoln's glare intensified a little, he continued, "But I could tell full well that you were doing your thing more for yourself than you were for me."

"Then what about when Luan did that stand-up thing a while ago?" Luna asked, her temper starting to flare just a bit.

"There's a few differences between what Luan did and what you tried to do," Lincoln replied bitterly, "Luan clearly wasn't trying to get me to accept her again seeing as how she didn't exclusively invite me to watch her perform, but rather she invited all of us to watch her try that stand-up bit she did. Luan wanted everyone to feel better, not just herself." Leaning back in his seat, Lincoln continued as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Frankly, I think that's a huge step up from when Luan used to pull those April Fool's level pranks. By the way, Luan agreed to not pull those kinds of pranks anymore."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Lori exclaimed, sounding immensely relieved.

"I still don't see why you rejected my attempt to apologize to you, Lincoln," Luna remarked, her own tone starting to sound a little bitter.

His glare at Luna narrowing a bit, Lincoln said in the same bitter tone that he's been using so far, "Tell me, Luna. Do you remember the time you blasted me with a guitar riff from one of your large speakers, causing me to get thrown into the wall in the hallway outside of your room?"

"Umm…" Luna replied, her bitterness starting to melt away and being replaced with mild concern and worry as her little brother proceeded with his rant.

"Or how about the time where some of your equipment damaged Luan's dummy," Lincoln continued, his temper slowly building, "And after she made the perfectly reasonable request to have you pay for the damages, when I suggested that you should pay for the damages, you shook a fist at me in a threatening manner?"

"Dude, you threatened your brother?" Bobby said to Luna, clearly shocked and a little offended.

"Actually, Boo-Boo Bear," Lori interjected in a mildly cautious tone, "Luna was on her time of the month when she did that. She always gets a little temperamental like that towards most of us when she's going through...umm, that."

"Pfft, whatever," Aggro remarked in a snarl as he crossed his arms over his chest, interrupting Lori in the process as what she was saying clearly pissed him off.

"…Aggro?" Leni said in a concerned tone, worried that something had been done to offend her crush.

"...I'll explain later," Aggro replied as his temper started to simmer down, "But for now, we ought to let Lincoln-kun speak his mind."

"Thank you, Aggro-sensei," Lincoln remarked. Turning back to face Luna, Lincoln said, "And let's not forget where you blamed me for clogging the toilet with the Princess Pony book without having any proof."

"Hey wait, that was a group effort that the girls and I did," Luna pointed out, "And we even apologized for it and we threw you that party!"

"That still doesn't excuse the fact that you were clearly enjoying my misfortune back then!" Lincoln snapped as he slammed his fist onto the surface of the table in front of him, making Luna, along with Lori, Leni and even Sam, recoil away out of shock. What really shocked the girls was that tears were starting to fall down the sides of Lincoln's face. "Luna, you were the absolute last person that I would ever expect to act in such a way towards me," Lincoln said as his tears continued to fall, "Do you know how much it hurt me to see you look so smugly at me after I took the fall for one of our sisters just because I didn't want her getting teased mercilessly by you and the rest of the girls?! Do you even care that your cheering about me getting grounded back then made me cry myself to sleep that night?!" Steadily losing his composure, Lincoln said, "Do you…do you know how b-badly your t-teasing me over the n-next few weeks a-afterwards made me…me…me…" Lincoln never got to finish that sentence, because he folded his arms over his place at the table, threw his face down over his arms, and began to cry at full blast.

The teens had no idea what to say about seeing the white-haired boy breaking down and crying like that. Sam felt uncomfortable, Bobby and Aggro both felt concerned about the eleven-year-old boy who viewed both of them as older brother figures; Bobby even got up and went over to sit in the chair on Lincoln's left, which put Lincoln in the middle between Bobby and Aggro so he could pat him on the back and try to reassure him and make him feel better.

As for the three oldest Loud girls, they all felt beyond guilty, as their little brother's break down made them realize the true extent of how badly their actions back during the incident where the toilet was clogged by that Princess Pony book made their only brother feel. Luna was especially regretful, because Lincoln just admitted that he never would have expected her to be so quick to get on his case especially without proof, how her smug attitude back then had hurt him, how her relishing in him getting grounded actually made him cry himself to sleep that night. Lincoln was never expecting Luna to betray him like that.

But she did.

"I'm sorry," Luna said, her voice starting to break in a way suggesting that she was upset, that she felt horrible, that she was about to cry. Lincoln looked up just in time to see Luna's shoulder shudder in the manner that conveyed that Luna was going to start to cry. "I'm so sorry, Lincoln," Luna reiterated as tears started to fall down the sides of her face, "I…I had no idea that…that what I did hurt you so much." Sniffling a bit, Luna added in her same sad tone, "No wonder you rejected my attempt to apologize the way you did. I totally had it coming."

"You're…still going to try to apologize to your brother," Sam said, "Right, babe?"

"Yeah, and did all of you girls really give the bro that hard of a time over that whole thing with the Princess Pony book clogging the toilet?" Bobby asked in a mildly accusatory tone, "Because if that's true, then to be completely honest, that is one of the absolute worst things that I ever heard someone do to one of their siblings."

"When we found out the truth, my sisters and I did everything we could to make up for it," Lori assured her boyfriend, sounding as if she were worried that her Bobby Boo-Boo Bear was upset with her.

"Did you at least find out who really clogged the toilet so as to make them answer for what happened?" Bobby asked.

"I…I asked my sisters not to do that, Bobby," Lincoln said as he tried to calm down, prompting everyone to look at him, "Like I said, I was…I was worried that they'd tease the guilty party just as they had done to me. It's why I…I took the blame in the first place."

"Yeah, I know what Lincoln-kun is talking about," Aggro remarked to his Hispanic friend, "After Lori had asked him about that incident a short while ago back at the Burpin' Burger, Lincoln-kun asked to spend some time alone with me because he wanted to vent. He told me about the aforementioned incident with the Princess Pony book, and how badly the whole thing made him feel." Turning to regard Lincoln, Aggro said, "Are you going to be alright? I'd hate for my student to remain upset."

"I…I'm sure I'll feel better soon, Aggro-sensei," Lincoln replied.

Seeing that people at the table were still crying, Leni got up, left the dining room for a bit, then came back with two boxes of tissues. "This way, Linky and Luna don't have to fight over the tissues," Leni explained when Lori asked why she got two boxes of tissues as she handed one box to Lincoln and the other to Luna.

"Hey, Babe," Bobby began, his tone carrying a hint of seriousness. Instantly, Lori's full attention was on her Bobby Boo-Boo Bear.

"Yes, Bobby?" Lori asked, sounding completely attentive.

"Your sister Luna mentioned that you, her and the rest of your sisters threw a party for Lincoln to make it up to him for the whole incident where your guys' toilet was clogged by that Princess Pony book," Bobby began. As the look that he was giving Lori became a bit more serious, Bobby asked, "What exactly did you all do at that party? I don't want you sparing any details." Over the next few minutes, Lori told Bobby all about the party that she and her sisters threw for Lincoln to make it up to him for the way that they treated him back when they thought that it was him who had clogged the toilet with the Princess Pony book.

"You guys got a tub of strawberry ice cream?" Sam remarked, "Dang, I wish I was there!"

"As much as I prefer strawberry ice cream over all other flavors of ice cream, that was not our party to go to, Sam," Aggro remarked as he gave the girl with a blue hair streak a serious look.

"Aggro's right, dude," Bobby remarked to Sam. Turning back to face the Loud girls, Bobby continued, "But seriously. I have to admit that you all threw Lincoln one hell of a party to make up for all of the crap that you all gave him when he took the fall for whoever really clogged the toilet. I'm glad to see that you all took responsibility for that stunt that you pulled."

"I know what we did to Lincoln was literally stupid, Bobby," Lori remarked in a guilty tone, "I still feel terrible about it."

"…That shows that you really care about Lincoln," Bobby remarked, the neutral scowl on his face having morphed into a small smile, "I'm glad to see that you really got the bro's best interests in mind after all."

"Thanks, Boo-Boo Bear," Lori replied.

"You still have to treat Lincoln to ice cream at the nearby Frozen King, though," Bobby stated, "Also, I'm coming along.

"…Huh?" Lori said, clearly surprised but in a confused way.

"I'm sorry, but I have to see you actively do something really nice for Lincoln to make things up to him for your role in what happened during the incident where your family's toilet was clogged by that Princess Pony book," Bobby explained, "And after ice cream at Frozen King, we're going to take the bro to see a movie of his choice at the theater." Giving Lori a slightly relaxed look, Bobby added, "Don't worry, Babe. If it comes down to it, I'll help you cover the costs."

Surprisingly, Lori was actually laughing because of what her boyfriend was saying. "Alright, alright, Bobby Boo-Boo Bear," Lori replied as she tried to simmer her laughter down, "We'll take Lincoln out with us."

"You might what to get yourself straightened out a bit first, Lincoln," Bobby advised the white-haired boy.

"R-right," Lincoln said before he blew his nose on a tissue.


Later that evening, Luna was sitting up in her and Luan's room. After the meeting that she and the other teens had, the musically inclined Loud sibling had a lot to think about. She thought about how Lincoln rejected her big apology from yesterday, about how Lincoln chewed her out during the aforementioned teen meeting over some of her past offences towards him. How he broke down in tears while admitting that her role in hurting him did a hell of a lot more than he had let on.

Lincoln cried himself to sleep the night he took the blame for the incident where the toilet was clogged by that Princess Pony book, and all Luna did was laugh at his misfortune.

As Luna absentmindedly fiddled around with her guitar, she heard someone knocking on the doorframe of the open bedroom door. Looking up from her guitar over to the doorway, Luna saw Lincoln standing there. "…Hey, Luna," Lincoln began in a gloomy, almost sad tone.

"Oh, 'sup Lincoln," Luna replied, her tone somewhat similar to the one Lincoln was using.

"Is…is it alright if I come in?" Lincoln asked, as if he feared that Luna would tell him no. The musically inclined Loud sibling could tell from her little brother's tone that he felt particularly vulnerable right now; Luna knew that if she wasn't careful, she might make Lincoln upset, causing him to leave with his spirits dashed.

It wouldn't have been the first time that Luna did that to her little brother.

Reaching over to something that was behind her, Luna pulled up a small stool, the kind people playing a drum set would sit on as they sat at the drums, and placed it next to her. "No problem, Lincoln," Luna replied gently, her voice lacking any trace of its usual radicalness. Gently patting the extra stool, Luna said, "Come on, lil' bro, take a seat." Slowly, Lincoln walked in and sat down in the stool Luna provided him with. "So, what's up?" Luna asked.

"I…" Lincoln began, but he stopped, sighed in a resigned tone, then continued, "…I wanted to apologize to you."

"Wait a minute," Luna said in a genuinely confused tone, "You want to apologize to me? Lincoln, what do you have to apologize for?"

"I made you cry earlier today," the sole loud boy replied, sounding regretful.

"Lincoln…" Luna remarked in a sympathetic tone. Reaching over to lay a hand on Lincoln's shoulder, Luna said, "You don't have to apologize for that, lil' bro. I had that coming." Sighing, Luna continued, "I have any and all of your resentment towards me coming. What I did back when we all thought you were bad luck was inexcusable. And that's not all." Taking a steadying breath, Luna went on, "The time where I blasted you with a riff from my speakers, the time where I threatened you because you suggested that I pay for the damages my fog machines did to Luan's dummy, the…" Stopping midsentence to choke back some tears, Luna said, "The way how I acted towards you back when you took the fall for clogging the toilet with that Princess Pony book. And let's not forget the one time when I attacked you in my bid to get the sweet spot for that road trip."

"Actually, you, me and the girls all fought each other equally over that," Lincoln pointed out, "It wasn't exclusively you beating down on me. Otherwise, I would have brought it up earlier when I was breaking down."

"…I was wondering why you weren't holding that against me," Luna remarked. Giving her little brother a curious look that still carried a hint of sadness, Luna said, "You know, Lincoln, it never ceases to amaze me that even if you aren't at fault, you try to make things right anyway."

"Not at fault?" Lincoln repeated, sounding confused.

Giving a gentle nod in the affirmative, Luna explained, "It's like I said, you don't have to apologize for making me cry earlier. I had it coming for being such a daft bird."

"…I still feel bad about it," Lincoln said.

Chuckling a bit, Luna said as she gently patted Lincoln on the back, "And that's part of the reason why you're such a great kid, Lincoln. You care a lot about others. Maybe a bit too much for your own good."

"Mmm," Lincoln hummed in response, still sounding a little upset. Luna could tell that Lincoln was still troubled, so she picked her guitar back up after she had set it down to move the stool for Lincoln to sit on.

"…I know a little ditty that I'm sure will cheer you up, Lincoln," Luna began in a gentle tone, "So turn that-"

"Please, don't," Lincoln interrupted, his tone still upset, but having a certain gentleness to it.

"…What do you mean?" Luna asked, curious much more than anything else.

"Can we…can we just sit here?" Lincoln asked, "No music, no nothing, just…" To help clarify what he was talking about, Lincoln reached over and gently threw his arms around Luna, drawing her into a hug. Luna, with her expression softening, gently got her guitar out from between her and Lincoln, sat it back down on the stand that she had it sitting on, then she gently threw her own arms around Lincoln so she could proceed to return the hug.

Lincoln and Luna just sat like that for a while. Eventually, and to Luna's mild surprise, Lincoln ended up falling asleep while they were hugging. Smiling gently, Luna gathered Lincoln up and, not wanting to risk waking him up by having to carry him all the way to his bedroom then having to open his door, she simply carried him over to the bunk bed and deposited the sleeping Lincoln on Luan's bunk; trying to lift Lincoln up to her bunk was just too risky, and Luna was afraid that she might drop him if she tried that.

Seeing Lincoln sleep away on the bottom bunk like that, Luna could not help but smile. Even if she still wasn't his sister yet, Luna felt that Lincoln was her brother, and she would not let anything disturb him as he was trying to sleep. Besides which, he looked just adorable sleeping like that.

Luna wondered if she'd be able to find a camera before Lincoln woke up. She wanted to take a picture of this.


The following day, Rita was in the dining room as she, the five oldest Loud sisters and Lincoln were having breakfast, although breakfast for some of the older Loud sisters consisted of just a mug of coffee. "Oh, Lincoln," Rita began, "Your father said that it's take your child to work day over at Aloha Comrade, and he wants to know if you'd like to come along."

"I'm sorry," Lincoln began as he sat his glass of orange juice down, "My what?"

"Your…father," Rita replied, realizing that she might have unintentionally triggered some unpleasant feelings in her only son.

"Sorry," Lincoln continued, "But the only family that I'm aware that I have is a mother, ten sisters, a grandfather, a grandaunt, a dog, a cat, a bird and a hamster." Picking up his glass of juice, Lincoln drained it before setting it back down and continuing, "But if today is take your child to work day over where Mr. Loud works, then I won't stop anyone who wants to go with him. I just hope they don't mind Hawaiian and Russian food."

"Right," Rita replied, sounding a bit remorseful, "Umm…it's also take your child to work day over at the dentist office where I work. I don't suppose you'd like to have another look at what I do to help keep a roof over our heads, would you?" Turning to look at Rita, Lincoln saw that she knew she made a mistake by referring to Lynn Sr. as his dad, and she was worried that she might have made her only son upset. Sighing in a knowing manner, Lincoln gave his mother a small but gentle smile.

"Sure thing, mom," Lincoln replied, "I'll just have to get my socks and shoes on first."

"Alright, sweetie," Rita said as she got up with her now clean dished. After depositing the dishes in the sink, Rita turned and walked out of the dining room through the doorway that led to the living room. Lincoln's own glass was empty, so he got up and put his glass in the sink. However, right when he turned around, Lincoln was surprised when Luna, who was on one knee so that she'd be at Lincoln's level, threw her arms around him and drew him into a hug. With the way the hug was happening, Luna was turned facing away from Lynn, Luan, Leni and Lori, although the sole Loud boy saw the other four oldest Loud girls.

"Umm…what?" Lincoln said, looking mildly confused.

"Lincoln," Lori began in a mildly shocked tone, "How many sisters did you say you have again?" It was then that Lincoln knew why Luna was hugging him like this, why Lori and the other girls that were present at the time looked at him with shocked expressions. Smiling gently, Lincoln proceeded to return the hug.

"…Ten," Lincoln replied in a knowing tone, "I have ten sisters."

Ten sisters that Lincoln wouldn't trade for the world.

END, RESTORED IMAGE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Author's notes:

And there…we…go. Lincoln has just finished reconciling with all of his sisters. Anyway, the next chapter will see me adapt the events of the tenth one-shot from that collection of one-shots that I keep bringing up to this story's setting. It will also feature the return of someone from Lincoln's past who he was not counting on seeing. …Do you know who it's going to be?