One of the things that the Loud siblings loved about the school year was days like this. A teacher's meeting had been scheduled for this particular day, and a teacher meeting meant no school. And no school meant a whole day to spend at Dairy Land. With his udder hat, Tippy T-shirt, and two jars of milk attached to either side of his waist, Lincoln was more than ready to go. When he stepped out into the hallway, however, Luna, Luan, Lana and Lisa were all waiting for him, much to his surprise. "Whoa! I thought it was just gonna be you and me, Lana!"

The handyman cracked, "Word travels fast 'round these parts, Linc. You should know that."

"Besides," Luan added, "the five of us will make a pretty good team! In fact, you could say we'll be udderly unbeatable! Hahahahaha! Get it?"

Everyone groaned and rolled their eyes as Lisa handed out small wristbands to everyone. "Today's venture is a good chance to test out my latest invention. What you hold in your hands is an item that will revolutionize the sunblock industry."

"How does it work?" Luna asked.

"Allow me to demonstrate." Lisa fastened hers to her left wrist and stepped into the beam of sunlight shining into Luna and Luan's room. When the light touched the wristband, a protective film surrounded Lisa's body and attached itself to her, vanishing as it made contact. Her siblings gasped in surprise as the little genius said, "As you can see, when you wear this and the sun's rays hit it, it dispenses a film that provides complete protection from our brightest star's ultraviolet rays. The effect will last as long as you wear the wristband."

"Wow, Lis, that's really cool," Lana said. "I can't wait to try mine out!" All of a sudden, a whistle cut through their conversation as Lori announced, "All right, Louds! It's 9 o'clock, and Dairy Land opens at 10! Vanzilla will be running within the next ten minutes! If you're not in your seat by then, you WILL be left behind! Let's get a move on!"

At her behest, the quintet slapped their wristbands on and made their way to the front door. Lincoln was the first in line, and when he opened the door he found himself face to face with Lynn, a sheepish grin on her face and her hands behind her back. "Oh...hey, Lincoln!"

Lincoln crossed his arms and averted his gaze as she continued speaking. "Listen, I've been doing a lot of thinking the last few days, and..."

"Save it, Lynn." Lincoln's declaration made his siblings gasp in surprise as he continued. "As far as I'm concerned, you have nothing to say to me. Now get out of my way-I've got a theme park to visit." He shoved her aside and stalked towards Vanzilla; he had his hand on the door handle when he heard the voice boom:

"LINCOLN, I'M SORRY!"

He stopped in his tracks and turned his attention back to Lynn, whose face was stained with regret. "Please, bro...I really mean it. I can't stand seeing you like this. I...I even went out and got you something really special."

"It better not be a Dutch oven."

"Nah, that's for later. What I got you is in my room, if you wanna come see it." Lincoln thought it over as Lynn gulped her emotions back, not wanting to break down in front of everyone. After a long silence, Lincoln said, "All right, but this had better be worth it."

"Well, come on upstairs!" Lincoln and Lynn entered the house, but Lynn hung back for a few seconds as Lori smiled and gave her a thumbs-up gesture. Lynn returned the sentiment and raced up the stairs, nearly knocking Lincoln down in the process. He shot her a dirty look, and her response was, "Sorry, bro-I'm just so excited to show this to you! Come on!" She took him by the hand and led him into her room, and once they were inside, she closed the door and locked it.

"Wha...HEY! Lynn, open the door right now!"

"No dice, Linc. You're gonna see this whether you like it or not. Now look around. Do you notice anything different?" Lincoln rolled his eyes and played along, scanning the room for anything that might be out of order or askew. Eventually he turned to Lynn and answered, "I don't see anything. Now please open the door."

"Look harder." Her brother slapped his forehead in frustration and began to look through her trophies just to humor her. Everything appeared to be in order as he moved on down the line past the Color Run trophy to the bowling, hockey and track trophies...but one was missing. "Where's the trophy from your baseball game?"

"Good eye, bro! As a matter of fact, it's right here!" She reached under her bed and pulled it out, removing the bubble wrap and cardboard, revealing its new appearance to Lincoln. He gasped in surprise as he looked it over, touched by the sentiment the trophy displayed. A warm smile spread across his face as he read the plaque, while Lynn shifted nervously in the background. Lincoln shook his head in amazement and said, "Lynn, are you sure this is your baseball trophy?"

"Yeah," Lynn replied. "It is...it was."

"Why'd you change it?"

Lynn took Lincoln's hands in hers and began to explain. "You were completely in the right, Lincoln. Every time I looked at this trophy, all it reminded me of was the bad times you went through because of us." She sniffled and added, "Because of me."

A sympathetic gaze began to appear on Lincoln's face as Lynn continued. "I was so blinded by my pride and my superstitions that I didn't see what was right in front of me. You were right-I got cocky and started showboating in that Daisy Hill game. That's what caused us to lose. Not you." She shook her head and started to tear up. "I had to do something to make it up to you, so I had the trophy modified. Like my coach says, turn a negative into a positive."

"And you did this...for me? Why?"

"Because you're my brother...and I love you." As soon as she said those words, the dam broke and tears began to fall down Lynn's face. She began to pour her heart out, her declarations punctuated by deep, heaving breaths: "I know I don't say it...or show it as often as I should, but I love you, Lincoln! You're the best little brother a girl could ever have! You're not bad luck, and you never were! All those things I did to you...I'm a terrible person, and I don't deserve to be your sister!" By this point, Lynn was outright bawling, a state Lincoln had never seen her in before. A huge surge of sympathy coursed through his body as he brought her in for the biggest sibling hug he could offer. All the while, Lynn sobbed into his shoulder and kept repeating, "I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry...I'm a horrible person..."

"No, you're not," Lincoln insisted as he squeezed her tight. "I never want to hear you say that again, do you understand?"

"But...but the beach...the rainstorm...what I said to you at the football game..."

"I forgive you, Lynn. For all of it."

"But...why?"

"Because you're my sister, and I love you."

Lynn dragged her shirt sleeve across her eyes and choked out, "I...I thought you said...you hated me..."

"I was angry. And I had every right to be. But I took it way too far, and I'm truly sorry for that. I don't hate you, and I never will."

"R...really?"

"Absolutely. Just don't do it again...or else." Lincoln narrowed his eyes and brandished his fist, the sight of which caused Lynn to flinch. When she did so, Lincoln grinned and punched her twice in the arm, exclaiming, "Two for flinching!"

Lynn wiped her eyes and began to laugh, returning the gesture with two affectionate arm punches of her own before tackling Lincoln with a giant bear hug. All he could do was hug her back and say, "Thanks so much for that trophy, Lynn."

"So we're cool again?"

"We're downright frosty." Lynn smiled and picked Lincoln up off the floor, dusted him off, and returned his Dairy Land udder hat to its rightful perch. She winked at Lincoln and advised, "You guys should get going if you wanna beat the crowds."

"Good idea. Well, see you later!" Lincoln opened the door and began to leave, but he stopped halfway. With a smile on his face, he turned back around and said, "You know, there's room for one more. You up for it?"

Touched by Lincoln's generosity, Lynn responded, "Are you sure?"

"Sure, I'm sure. It wouldn't be the same without you."

Lynn whipped out her own udder hat and shoved it onto her head, exclaiming, "ALL RIGHT! DAIRY LAND, HERE WE COME!" She unlocked the door and tore downstairs, reaching Vanzilla in no time flat. Her siblings exchanged surprised glances as Lynn asked, "Mind if I tag along?"

"Is it okay with Lincoln?" Luna asked.

"It's perfectly fine," Lincoln answered as he swung his arm over Lynn's shoulders. "The two of us are cool again."

"Good to know," Lori said, "but you'd better get your butts in the van! My watch reads nine minutes and 45 seconds! I'd get a move on if I were you!"

"Yes ma'am!" Lynn and Lincoln opened the door and hopped inside in a flash, barely buckling their seatbelts in time as Lori backed Vanzilla out of the driveway and began the long ride to Dairy Land. As his siblings fell into their normal car ride activities, Lincoln steeled himself for a round of Auto Attack, but to his surprise, it never came. Instead, Lynn threw her arm over Lincoln's shoulders and gave him a warm smile. "Love you, bro."

Lincoln smiled back and replied, "Love you too, sis. Hey, when's your next baseball game?"

"This upcoming Sunday."

"I'll be there."

Lynn smiled even wider and gave him a full-on embrace, which Lincoln returned in kind. With a relieved grin on his face, the white-haired boy turned to face the camera, only saying three words:

"It's finally over."

He returned to the hug as Vanzilla traveled down the highway, knowing that everything was going to be okay. He had his room back, he had his dignity back, but more importantly, he had his family back. And that was all that mattered.

END

The Loud House and its characters belong to Nickelodeon and Chris Savino.

Linkin Park lyrics copyright 2003 by Mike Shinoda.