Disclaimer: Based on The Loud House created by Chris Savino and owned/published by Nickelodeon. I am not and do not claim to be the creator. Also inspired by Bleach created by Tite Kubo. An AU to the Loud House canon.

Chapter 7

Home Stretch

"Oh my God," Stella said as she fell to her knees holding the chimera tightly to her chest, "I did it."

"Yeah you did," Lincoln said as he got close kneeling on his right knee, and began pulling his sword from his belt. "Alright hold it still."

Stella looked down at the creature. Its big eyes stared up at her while it struggled against her body, its short breaths echoing in her ears, and the paws pushed against her arms, causing Stella to hold and increase her hold. She looked up at Lincoln who had finished taking out the blade and turned away from him. This action caused Lincoln to pause before looking up at her.

"What's the matter?" he asked as he sat down allowing the sword to lay right next to him. He leaned back on his palms watching as she bit her lip refusing to look at him. A pulsing silence flooded around them the moonlight spotlighting them as a small gust hit the field bending the cool, green grass. A leaf fell slowly from one of the overhead trees drifting until it landed between them.

Stella slowly looked up hesitating to speak squeezing the creature tighter to her chest and shifting uncomfortably before finally saying, "I thought it would be colder." Lincoln blinked as he tilted his head waiting for her to continue. "When we talked about these creatures, I thought these creatures wouldn't give off warmth. The beast I saw last night was ferocious in its pursuit. It made me terrified about the creatures we would face tonight thinking they were all going to be these ginormous brutes focused only on eating the skin off my bones." She paused and looked down at the critter in her arms. "This one's not like that. I feel it's warmth."

She squirmed in the grass, "My family had this pet rabbit that my grandmother gave me when I was four," Stella recalled. "His name was Jazzy. He was a ten-year-old white with a gray underbelly and a small pink nose. His large black eyes reflected all the light in the room causing them to sparkle like stars. We kept that rabbit in my room, so I was responsible for feeding, washing, and grooming."

"I didn't have the easiest time making friends, and my parents were constantly at work. Jazzy was the only one I was able to talk to back then. He would sit there eating his lettuce as I spoke about what happened at school or home. On rough days, I would sit on my bed and hold Jazzy tightly to my chest until I was able to calm down. Then six years after we got him, Jazzy just passed away, In the middle of the night. No warning signs were ever given. I just woke up and found him lying there not breathing."

She closed her eyes and let out a small stuttered laugh, "I'm sorry. I know our job is to save these creatures, but I don't think I can destroy them. I don't think I can even watch you do it."

Once she finished speaking, she looked at Lincoln who had a small sensitive smile as he leaned back further on his hands. "You know what," he began, "I think I haven't explained everything greatly." Lincoln shifted his body until he was on one knee. He grabbed his sword and twisted it so the end of the handle faced Stella and the chimera. "I promise you that I won't hurt it," he said while putting the handle against the chimera's head.

The creature squirmed a little in Stella's arms while Lincoln kept the handle against its head. Suddenly, a bright white light shimmered between its head and the blade as the Chimera slowed its movements before coming to a stillness in Stella's arms. Its eyes closed as the light traveled down across its body. Tiny sparkles began to float from the creature into the sky starting from its head. Stella watched as its head was engulfed in light causing more sparkles to release into the sky. She felt her arms get lighter as more of the soul disappeared underneath the light. There was suddenly thousands of sparks floating into the sky with the creature's shape becoming morphed into a smaller version of itself. Then Stella saw the tail of the collection of sparks. She released her arms from her chest watching the trail disappear into the night sky.

She stayed there watching the sky as the moon lit up the field around her. A hand lowered in front of her making her realize that while she was staring off, Lincoln had already sheathed his blade and got up. She quickly grabbed his hand and pulled herself off the ground. "What just happened?" She asked as the blood rushed to her knees.

Lincoln smiled slightly, "It's a method called splitting. It soothes the creature allowing its bond to the physical world to split. Once a soul shatters, its particles flow back to the spirit world. There it can find peace and reform itself." He suddenly began walking towards the opposite side of the field, prompting Stella to catch up quickly. "It's one of the first things that you will learn. Once you learn it, you should be ready for weaker souls."

She walked by his side looking behind her to see the other chimeras coming out from behind the bushes. "What about them?"

Lincoln looked back, "Our contract is finished. We are not obligated to return them."

Stella looked at him with a wide-eyed gaze, "So what? You only save souls when there is money involved?"

"Hey," Lincoln stated with a defensive look, "When did I ever say that? Chimeras can last in the physical world for multiple years before fading away. It's one of the reasons they are such great teaching tools." His smile turned into a small frown, "It's also a reason why the contracts are so cheap," Lincoln grumbled He reached inside of his jacket and pulled out his wallet. "Yup," Lincoln sighed when he opened up his wallet, "we both only got 50 Hanju for this."

"What do you mean we?" Stella asked.

"Check the inside pocket of your jacket," Lincoln said moving past a large bush. She opened her jacket and looked to see a pocket on the left side. She reached in and pulled out a folded piece of red paper with a small circular symbol in the middle with 50 up in the left corner. Her eyes widened looking back at Lincoln to see him yawning. "Next time we go by Flip's, remind me to buy you a wallet." Lincoln scratched the back of his head as they walked through the forest.

She put the money back into the jacket as they walked through the forest. There was chirping in the trees above them as they walked smoothly through the forest. A cool gust of wind surrounded them as they walked between the trees in silence. Lincoln had his hands in his pockets his sword tightly in his belt with his head tilted into the moonlight. His eyes watched the stars as he easily maneuvered around the wilderness. Stella had her arms crossed as she avoided the roots around them.

Suddenly, a car horn woke Stella out of her trance. She looked up and saw they were getting closer to a small road. It was an intersection with stop signs at each corner. A small black car passed turning towards them with its headlights blinding Stella causing her to blink rapidly. She held her hand hand to shield her eyes from the beams. Once the car passed, she looked to see that they were on East Oak Avenue. "Where are we going," she asked stepping onto the pavement.

"We're done for the day," Lincoln said stretching his arms. "I plan on going home for the rest of the day."

"Oh," Stella said looking around, "I think I know my way from here. So I guess that we, um, split here." She looked at Lincoln to see him scratching his head with a small blush.

"Actually," he began, "your house is on the same route I'm going."

Her eyes widened and stepping away from Lincoln while crossing her arms. "How do you know that?" she questioned with a small hitch in her voice.

He held his hands up, "After you were knocked out last night, I couldn't leave you there. I searched the house for an hour looking for your wallet. When I found it, I used your license to get you home safely."

"Oh," Stella said. They walked down the street while a few cars passed. Stella bit the edge of her lip then looked at Lincoln, "Did you say that my house is on your route?"

Lincoln looked at her with squinted eyes, "Yeah, how come?"

"I'm just curious, but does that mean you live nearby?"

"Um yeah," Lincoln answered, "I live at Franklin Avenue."

"Oh, that is, what, seven or eight blocks from my house."

"Yeah, something like that." He paused as they turned a street corner removing themselves from the busy streets into a small neighborhood. "Why do you want to know where I live?"

"This was not a one-night thing," Stella began. "so I think we should keep in contact. Since we live near each other, we can set up a halfway point for us to meet. We can exchange phone numbers to contact one another to set up meeting times. I can even send you a couple of questions I have." She stopped seeing Lincoln squint his eyes at her last statement. "If you don't want to, that's fine. I just thought it would make it easier to meet up."

"No, no," Lincoln shook his head. "I think it's a great plan. I just realized that we left your backpack at Rodney's."

Stella's eyes widen and hit her head with her palm. "Damn it. My phone and school work is in it." She sighed shrinking her shoulders. "Not to mention we put your stuff in it."

Lincoln gave her a small smile. "Don't worry about it too much. I was planning on running back there tomorrow morning so I can pick up your stuff for you. Then I can swing by your house to return it."

"Yeah, I think that will work."

"Sounds like a plan."

They continued to walk down into a small neighborhood with antique tiny houses surrounding them. A single truck was parked on the street giving the only hint that life lived in any of the houses. The sidewalk was cracked from years of disrepair with puddles that were still full despite days without rain.

Lincoln and Stella slowed their pace as they neared a red wooden house that had concrete steps leading up to it. There was a single window on the ground floor with two windows up top. The black roof slopped down covering the house with a dark shadow from the moonlight allowing a few beams into the top windows.

"Well, we are here," Stella said. "Now, how do we get in without waking anyone?"

"Last night I had to pick you up, and I jumped up to a window," Lincoln said

"Picked me up?" Stella said

"Yeah, princess style."

They stared at the window as the wind picked up around them.

"You know that is not happening. Ever, and I mean ever, again." Stella said with force.

"Hey, I didn't have a choice." Lincoln defended himself. "Besides I got a different plan tonight." He bent his knees before jumping up to the roof separating the two floors of the house. He lay down on his stomach and held his arm down to her. "Grab on and I'll pull you up."

Stella walked underneath Lincoln's arm and looked up at him. "You sure about this?"

"Trust me."

Stella sighed, "Alright." She jumped up and grabbed his arm dangling in the air for a few seconds before being pulled up slowly until she was able to get her other arm up and help pull herself until she was able to sit on the edge of the roof. She then swung her legs over the roof to sit comfortably up there. "Did you use any of the ranger spirit magic?" She asked swirling her hand around.

"Somewhat," Lincoln said moving to a window. " My plan last night was to figure out a way to get in, but it turned out I got lucky. You should lock your windows though."

"Wish I could," Stella said crawling over to it. "Locks have been broken for two weeks now. My mom plans on replacing the window sometime this month."

"Huh, what broke it?" He asked while opening the window.

"During the heat wave, my mom asked me to open the window. Kind of forgot to make sure it was unlocked."

"Seriously?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Stella said with a small blush of embarrassment. She moved her legs into the window before dropping herself in. She turned around to see Lincoln squatted down staring at her. "Thanks again for you know, explaining everything."

"You're welcome. I'll bring your stuff around let's say ten."

"Yeah, sounds great. I'll see you then."

"See you then," Lincoln replied as he turned around and jumped off the roof. Stella waited until she was able to watch him reach the sidewalk. He turned around and gave her a small wave which she returned before closing the window. She turned towards her dresser to take out something to sleep in. She looked up at the mirror frowning at her reflection before quickly taking out her night clothes and changing. She pushed her uniform underneath her bed out of sight before moving underneath her covers.

Lincoln kept walking against the night sky relaxing his hands into his pocket. It was a cool night with no cars passing beside him. At this point clouds covered the sky making the only thing that illuminated him was the streetlights.

Lincoln stopped walking. A figure was leaning against one of the streetlights. It was a teenage male about his height. He had dark skin that was covered in a dark black uniform. It was slightly different than the one Lincoln wore. Instead of Lincoln's jacket over him, the figure was wearing a button-down collared shirt tucked neatly into his pants. His belt held a long rapier blade with a round handle. His afro was neat and evenly cut. The figure pushed his round glasses up on his face before looking at Lincoln.

Lincoln smiled, "Hey Clyde."

Clyde returned a smile, "Hey." He reached down and grabbed two glass soda bottles. "So, how did it go?"

Thank you all for reading.

I am open to comments, questions, and critiques. Everything you say is greatly appreciated since it helps me grow as a first-time writer.

If you have some suggestions for future chapters, please post some ideas that will be taken into consideration. There is a loose plan for this with future plotlines, but the plan can change if I feel like it. Some of the chapters could be filler or could be adapted into the main story. I will try to give credit to people who change some parts of the story.

Again thank you for reading.