Authors note: Please do not complain of the length, this is the last chapter and I apologize. But there was nowhere to break it up that wouldn't ruin the flow I was going for, and I wanted this to be 20 chapters or under. Also, the winner of the second poll was Lynn. Look forward to the next story I have planned. Because after this chapter, I'm taking a bit of a teeny break.

I hope you enjoyed this for my first story, I poured my heart and soul into it. This is Fallen Pens, dropping out.

Epilogue chapter 2...

Lincoln, Luna and Luryn made their way down the halls to the ICU. Everyone else remained in the waiting room. After a bittersweet reunion, the sibling couple had agreed to take their niece back there with them so she could return the joystick herself.

"I can't believe I'm related to you two…" Luryn said while they walked, their feet clacking against the tiled floor. Lincoln put a hand on her back.

"You're not the only one surprised… I guess it's not too surprising that your parents haven't talked much about us," the veterinarian stated. What confused him was the fact he still had contact with Ronnie Anne. It made him wonder why she did not inform him about her big brother's daughter.

"No, mom talks about you a lot. She said that when my uncle and one of my aunts left that it took her nearly a year to start smiling again…" Luryn explained. It was why she hated having people close to her. She did not want to wind up in the same constant emotional agony from losing someone dear to her, like her mother and aunts did.

"Believe us, it took us a while to get over the guilt, too," Luna said. She wanted to ask about a lot of things, but was more focused on making sure their daughter was alright.

"I'm still having trouble believing that Ligala is… well… I-it's weird to know my cousin's parents are siblings," Luryn continued, a little overwhelmed with the news, but her aunt and uncle did not respond. There was not much they could say to justify their actions, she respected them but could not help but be slightly stunned by the revelation too.

"There's her room," Lincoln anxiously said as they arrived outside of the hospital room 220. He wanted to go straight inside, but was afraid to grab the handle to the door even. He felt Luna put a hand on his shoulder.

"The doctor told us what to expect, honey… Remember what you always told me, Lincoln? You kept saying how I'll never be alone for anything. So I'm going to make sure you're never alone for anything either," the rock star told her brother. Lincoln slowly gained a small smile. With his renewed courage, he grabbed the door handle and opened it to let them go inside.

"Oh! You have visitors! What perfect timing! I just finished changing her bandages," a nurse spoke by the hospital bedside. Ligala lay there wide awake with an IV hooked up to her left arm. Her right arm was covered nearly completely in bandages, her hand having thicker covering over it.

"Mom… Dad… Luryn…" Ligala's smile was still there, despite the weak tone to her voice.

"Hey there."

"She's just been talking up a storm with me!" the nurse told the family, "It's sad that such bad things happen to good people, but you can be happy with knowing that it's all uphill from here."

"That's really great to hear… can we have some privacy, please?" Lincoln requested. The nurse nodded. They knew to hit the emergency contact button by the medical bed if they needed her. She left the room, closing the door shut behind her, to let the family reunite.

"Honey… C-can we see your arm?" Luna hesitantly asked. They knew they'd have to see it for themselves eventually, avoiding it was impossible. And for some odd reason, she had a feeling the longer they tried to avoid it the worse it would be when they did inevitably see the injury.

"Sure, mom… I'm just having some problems moving it," Ligala raise up her bandage covered right arm. She had lost the lower half of her hand to the fire. She had to have her pinky ring and middle fingers removed, leaving nothing but her thumb and pointer fingers.

"Oh god…" Luna bit her lip.

"Eek…!" Luryn whimpered. They all then heard a loud thud. One look to the left showed a now fainted Lincoln lying on his side in the floor. Despite all the anticipation and mental preparation, nothing could prepare him for witnessing his now partially amputated daughter.

"Dad?" Ligala chirped, trying to get out of bed, but she got shoved back down by the cheerleader.

"Don't even TRY to do anything stupid like that again! You need to rest! You're not getting a single foot out of that bed without a nurse me or your parents help," Luryn declared with her upset tone. Luna was already crouched down beside her practical husband, trying to wake him back up. She half expected this reaction, she hoped she did not need to request doctors aid for him as well.

"Luryn, you look like you've been crying… Don't tell me you think this is your fault?" Ligala asked, worried. She felt the cheerleader captain carefully wrap her arms around her.

"Of course I think it's my fault! I'm looking at my cousin after she mutilated herself in front of me, just to save me from my own stupidity! All because I got blinded by jewelry and love… Like a stupid bird… a blind, stupid little bird!"

"Don't be like that… y'know, it's funny… They're gone, but I still feel like my fingers are all there," Ligala claimed, looking down at her partially amputated hand. She imagined it would take her bodies nerves some time to get used to lacking those appendages.

"Wait… 'your cousin'…?" Ligala tilted her head confusedly. Normally, she was the one to confuse people. Not the other way round.

"Yeah…Believe it or not." Luryn nodded, "My parents came and ran into yours. It made my mom cry a lot... We're apparently related."

"Heh… I told you," Ligala grinned, believing it easily, "friends and family were the keys to life…"

Luryn smiled, she then presented the toy joystick to her cousin.

"Oh hey! That's my key to me!" Ligala happily took the joystick back. The cheerleader captain helped put the necklace back onto the hospitalized girl's neck.

"I took care of it for you while you were being treated. You did save my key to me and gave up three of your fingers for it, after all… You do a lot for your friends, don't you?" Luryn questioned, still feeling terrible for having assumed this whole time that her cousin was trying to get something from her through this means of attempted friendship.

"I do my best for everybody. Every new person is just a new friend not yet made after all," Ligala nodded, her bright expression unchanging. The news of their relationship as cousins was a boost to her spirit. Luna started to lift Lincoln off the floor, setting him down in a nearby chair.

"Ohhh, my head…" Lincoln groaned, starting to waken up. He would not be mentally stable for another few minutes. He may have dealt with animals that had faced amputations on large scales, but to see his own daughter missing fingers felt far worse for him.

"Ligala, there are some things we need to tell you… I'll let your dad explain the biggest one, when he gets his brain back in place," Luna claimed, leaned over with her elbows resting on the side of her daughter's bed. Luryn was seated beside her cousin.

"There's more news? How can things get much better than me finding out I have a cousin?" Ligala was tired, but eager to know. The blonde cheerleader was unsure if she was being sarcastic or not. She really wondered if Ligala had thought she only had a mom and a dad with no other living family tree connections all this time.

"Well… Look, sweetie, this might be a terrible night to remember, but it's also going to be remembered as a good one," the rock star scratched her head, trying to think of the best way to put this good news. She had to start from somewhere.

"I've spent a year trying to convince your dad to have another baby with me…" Luna explained, "After our date last night, while you were out with Snow, we spent a few hours watching your old baby videos."

"Really? You want to have me be a big sister?" Ligala chirped, seeming happy at the news so far, but finding it not so surprising. She knew her parents had talked about something important on and off weekly for a long time. She had a hunch it involved having a child.

"I'm not gonna lie to you. Me and your dad are a little drunk right now… we were working on it," Luna finished with that bit of news. They had gotten the call from Luryn to rush to the hospital during their third round in bed. After re-watching all of those recordings of Ligala growing up, they had finally convinced Lincoln to agree to have a second child, as long as Luna agreed to be awfully lazy and often visit the doctors.

"Oh…" Ligala nodded, "So the reason you two look so rough, is because you were having sex?"

Luna nodded, she reached over and rubbed her daughter's head. "At least school saved your father some of the hard work… Seriously though, don't get any dumb ideas about using sex to make friends. Your dad would kill you me and anyone that touches you if you did that."

Her daughter gained a bright blush on her face.

"Mom, I've never thought of doing that! I'll do a lot to make friends, but even I have limits!" Ligala reassured. Her mother was more relieved to just know their daughter had her head screwed on straight in that sense.

"Oh, so how much effort do you think it took you to decide to stick your arm in a campfire?" Luryn rhetorically asked. Her cousin looked to her with that same smile.

"Not much effort at all! I just reached in and dug around until I felt something that didn't crumple apart in my hand," Ligala claimed, once again exhibiting her dull mind when it came to rhetorical banter. The blonde cheerleader captain did not want to start discussing it again. It made her feel sick just thinking back to it.

"Okay, you two calm down… We'll find out if you're going to be a big sister in a week, when things can be really accurate," Luna insisted. She would call Lori and Bobby in here to help calm them down if they couldn't themselves.

"Sorry, Mrs. Loud…" Luryn apologized.

"Yes, mom…" Ligala murmured with the slightest bow she could perform on the medical bed.

"The other thing I want to tell you is that Luryn's parents… I mean, one of your aunts is out there in the waiting room. I wanted to tell you because you might remember her," Luna claimed, noticing the teenage girls hurt arm shaking a little. She assumed it was the cold chill of the room sinking in. The rock star mother pulled the blanket up a little to help cover her daughter up more.

"One of my aunts? How many aunts do we have?" Ligala asked the cheerleader captain with a raised eyebrow.

"A lot… Like… I think nine," Luryn's answer shocked her cousin, almost making her eyes bulge out of her sockets.

"She's not lying… All those times you said you were missing something big from your life, you were probably thinking about all of them, and maybe your grandparents," Luna stated, informing her daughter of the source of this empty gap sensation she had been feeling in her life for the longest time.

"I just thought my grandparents were dead! Why'd you wait until now to tell me about all this? " Ligala eagerly replied, "I want to meet them all!"

"Because your aunts were horrible," Lincoln suddenly chimed in, catching their attention. He had snapped out of his daze midway during that conversation.

"What do you mean dad…?" Ligala never had heard her father talk so badly about someone. It scared her to know that he would talk about his own siblings like that.

"Your aunts all are very unique, just like you… Me and your mother left without a trace because they were too dangerous to raise you around them. When they're upset, they start doing terrible things. We weren't going to tell you anything until you turned eighteen," the veterinarian looked to the floor. Either he was trying to resist his depression or was attempting to avoid looking at his only daughter's injury.

"Mom told me that, too…" Luryn sighed. Lori had also realized the dangers of raising children in the Loud house, upon realizing the risk posed with so many living in one home with a mob mindset. Lori and Bobby thus had to move to this part of town shortly after they had first conceived their child.

"I'm sure they've changed! But what about mom's side of the family? You've only told me about yours, dad," Ligala requested, not seeming to care about why things were meant to remain secret for another five years. The animal doctor held his head in his hands, burying his face into his palms. He was unable to believe this day had come so early.

"Your mom's side of the family is also my side of the family…" Lincoln simply tried to say the words to get them out of his throat. Luna and Luryn remained quiet to let him speak.

"I… don't understand…" Ligala sighed, wishing things were not so cryptic. She was not that socially smart. She wasn't smart in general, really.

"What your fathers trying to say is…" Luna felt her husband's hand on her shoulder.

"No, honey, I should be the one to tell her… I love you enough to not be afraid now that the time's come, even if it's really REALLY early…" Lincoln exclaimed.

"Lincoln…" Luna smiled. It was sweet to know he could bravely tell the truth himself, instead of leaving it all to her. The young man leaned close to his daughter.

"Ligala, try not to scream too loud… Your mom and I are brother and sister."

"G-geehh?" Ligala stared at him, straight faced. It seemed her brain was overridden into needing to take time into registering it all.

"You weren't planned at all…" Lincoln paused to form what he felt were the correct words, "I was sixteen when you were first born, you and your mother nearly died. But you should know, it isn't all bad. Every last one of your aunts and your grandparents know about our relationship too, and even if it took a while, they finally agreed with it... Kind've."

"So… I-I'm a genetic monster?" Ligala stuttered. Luryn could not answer that, mainly because she did not want to be cruel with the truth behind the answer.

"Oh baby, you're no monster! You're Ligala Loud! The only thing about you that could even be considered monstrous is that really giant heart you have for your friends," Luna was upset to hear this from their daughter. She had been worried how Ligala would react to this revelation, there was no one the Loud rock star could have asked about what to expect with this. There were not many sibling couples out there, and the few there were did not exactly go parading their incestuous relationships around for good reason.

"You're the best thing to happen to our lives! I don't want to ever hear you talk bad about yourself like that," Lincoln carefully wrapped his arms around Ligala to reassure her with a hug. Luna joined in the hug.

"If it makes you feel better, Tagon's parents are siblings too," Luryn spoke.

"Wait, really?" Ligala chirped in surprise, wishing she could return the hug to her parents, but her body was too weak to do so.

"Not that you could tell. It's like they forgot themselves," the cheerleader captain stated. Love could do a lot of things to lives. She had met them enough to know, similar clearly applied to this situation.

"So… Ligala, what do you think?" Luna asked.

"We understand if you're upset with us for keeping it secret from you until we found out about your cousin…" Lincoln sighed, waiting for their daughter's feelings on the truth. They had Luryn to thank for causing this early discovery for Ligala, but they were partially at fault too for being so oblivious to their nieces existence.

"I want to meet them all… and I'm hungry," Ligala grew a big grin on her face, "I need to be their friends after all!"

Those words made her family breath out a sigh of relief. Ligala looked at the joystick dangling from her neck like it was a good luck charm that had fulfilled its purpose.

"You're gonna meet them soon… since we know if we say no, you'll go out of your way to hunt and track them all down with Luryn's help," Luna cast a gaze to her niece. The cheerleader captain nodded, not able to deny that. She would do anything for Ligala after she had saved her locket for her.

"But let's focus on getting you better first," Lincoln shook his head, wanting to have his daughter's damaged arm heal as much as it could before they could plan a family gathering. Suddenly a knock sounded on the door that stole their attention.

"Excuse me, there are some people out here asking if they can come in," the nurse chimed in.

"They're family. Don't worry about it," Lincoln nodded, motioning her to go ahead and let them in. The nurse stepped aside to let Lori and Bobby enter into the room. Luryn smiled, getting up and going over to hug her parents, still emotionally stressed out. The young girl needed the relief.

"Luryn… It's like you've become a whole new person," the oldest Loud sibling spoke. She and Bobby unsure if they were happy with their daughter's drastic change.

"You look a lot better without all the jewelry, though I can't imagine how much your neck hurt from putting up with that," Bobby added. Luryn could not deny that. It was even worse to do any cheerleading moves with all that jewelry on. She was glad to have taken them all off.

"I haven't changed mom. I just had my eyes actually opened… The only necklace I need is this locket," the cheerleader captain presented the precious, slightly burnt item. She still needed a new chain for it. Bobby pulled his daughter into a hug, happy to see her acting so much more enthusiastic

"Hey there, Ligala…" Lori went to her niece's bedside, "wow, you've really grown up a lot."

"I doubt you remember us. You were barely a month old the last time we saw you," the Santiago man added. He still remembered the day that the sub-family vanished. Bobby did everything he could to help search with Lori secretly for them, but they had found nothing. After a long week, she made him stop hunting despite his insistence.

"I remember having nightmares about you when I was five. All you did was keep screaming at me until I woke up," Ligala told her aunt. The answer gave Lori a nervous expression, aware that she had done her fair share of shouting in front of her, but it was always to their siblings for various reasons.

"Well… I'm glad you remember me at least," Lori replied. She was still trying to get over her embedded terror. She never expected to see her niece with nearly half of her fingers missing.

"Sorry. She doesn't hide much that's on her mind," Lincoln apologized to his oldest sister.

"She's about as clever as her dad," the rock star grinned. Her significant other had no idea whether that was an insult or not.

"The room's getting cramped…" Luryn murmured. Bobby noticed something on the small table meant for patients to use when they were going to eat their food. There was a tiny plastic throwaway cup, and inside of it there were red and white pills.

"Hey, what are these?" Bobby asked, curious if the nurse left it in here by accident.

"Oh. Those are painkillers. They wanted me to take them, but…" Ligala's voice trailed off. The pain overwhelming her arm made her shake a little, she knew the healing would hurt just as much.

"What? Oh! Uh… well here," Bobby tried to give them to Ligala, but she pushed his hand away.

"Just put them in the trash… Please."

"What? But you need this really badly!" the pregnant blonde woman argued, not getting a response from Ligala, "I couldn't survive when I had my wisdom teeth pulled out! I can't imagine what kind of pain you're feeling!"

"She's afraid of pills…" Luna stated.

"What?! You weren't scared to stick your entire arm into a bonfire, yet you're afraid of a tiny pill!?" Luryn was in awe, unable to believe the practical insanity behind her cousin's mindset.

"She choked once when she was eight and wouldn't take them ever again, no matter how nasty the other choice for the medicine was," Lincoln explained. That choking lasted less than forty seconds, it was not much time, but long enough to have scared their daughter into keeping her mouth shut from pills. However, her parents usually just tricked her by claiming they were sugarless candies due to the very similar size. Ligala was none the wiser to it either.

"Fire isn't scary at all though…" Ligala said to her cousin. Lori held her head in disbelief. Bobby was doing his best not to laugh. It was cute to him, but still strange.

"So what have you been doing now, Lori? You can guess what me and Luna do now," Lincoln knew if the pain was this unbearable, his daughter would smarten up and take the medicine.

"A veterinarian and a rock star… Can't say I expected animal treatment to be what you'd grow up to do, Lincoln," the oldest Loud commented. Early on in the decade, some members of the Loud family tried to get to Luna through one of her concerts, and none succeeded, Lincoln always had a plan to counteract any attempts of sneaking in.

"After what happened, I decided I needed a way to control my anger and put it into something else… I began studying to become a judge, because I knew I'd have to be the clearest and most in control of my emotions if I wanted to be one," Lori happily motioned her head toward her and Bobby's daughter. "And raising my daughter's been its own fair share of trouble… Honestly, she's been so much like me that I never imagined I'd see her as herself."

"Congrats on the second child," Luna smiled, "you have any idea if it's a boy or a girl?"

"We're going to let it be a surprise. It seems kind of weird to know something in the middle of it all…" Lori shook her head. It was a decision both she and Bobby had agreed on for both children.

"I really don't see you controlling your anger at all how does being a judge help with that?" Lincoln questioned. they watched Lori pull out her cellphone after a few moments. She handed it to her brother. Ligala, Luna and Luryn all leaned over to see the video that was loading up.

"And you think what either of you've done is okay?!" Lori's booming voice was the first sound after a loud bang of her fist hitting her table, making the gavel on it bounce a little. The video showed her anger at its limit. Two girls stood before her, the defendant and the plaintiff. Having been silenced after a short argument between one another.

"So what you're telling me is, you voluntarily gave up half of your liver to save the one you loved without insurance, the doctors did it because it was a matter of life and death… So one of the doctors claimed you were their daughter, and had you put on their insurance so they would be allowed to do said surgery," Lori repeated all that had been said in this last short time, even after this court hearing had been going on for hours.

"That's right…" the plaintiff nodded, "She broke up with me the second she woke up. I felt so used and now everyone is out for my blood and money. I need help covering all this. It's too much for me to handle alone!"

"I tried everything else that even had a small chance to work if it meant avoiding that surgery… It all failed, and she wouldn't let me wait for a donor, I know I was running low on time, but I still had a few days left!" the defendant told their side. The frustrated Lori picked up her gavel, looking to the defendant.

"So, what I'm looking at before me, are two idiots. The first idiot did drugs and tore their insides apart and was ungrateful for her second chance at life that had been given to her, since someone saved her from her own screw up. Even if they went through all the trouble to waste MY time that could've been spent helping people with REAL problems. What really is sad is that most of this won't matter. The second she steps out of this court room, she'll spend the next few months of her life in a rehab center, IF she's lucky. Until she gets addicted again, then the circle of idiocy will continue in full." Lori looked to the plaintiff, "And the second idiot, instead of moving on and working hard to pay back what the insurance company wants and be happy that she saved someone's life, decided to instead get even further into her debt and clog up the court with a case, that she was told several times before now that she had no chance of winning."

Both people looked slightly upset with her aggressive perspective, mainly because of how much shame they felt now. They swore the people watching from the rows of seats were silently laughing at them.

"Case dismissed. Both of you get lost. You have enough problems of your own to deal with… Thanks for wasting the time I could've spent on REAL cases and helping out people that needed it. But hey, you can sleep easy knowing your lawyers will be able to support their family with the money."

The gavel struck and the video ended.

"…What?" Lori asked, noticing everyone looking at her in slight shock. She crossed her arms. "There's a reason I never take my husband or my daughter to let them see mommy work."

"I'm not complaining…" bobby shook his head. Lincoln returned the phone.

"Me and Luna have an announcement to make, but we'll save that for the gathering… why don't you bring us up to speed on how everyone else is doing?" Lincoln requested. Lori sighed, rubbing her head.

"Our family's more scattered than ever now. A lot of them spend their times out for days sometimes, and all of the older family members moved out," the blonde woman declared. It was just life naturally moving forward.

"All the more reason to give them a heart attack when we see them next time," Luna laughed. Ligala and Luryn looked eager to see the rest of their family. The cheerleader captain had seen them all before, but never all at once.

"Well Lori, tell me how to find them all and I'll get to work when the sun comes up," Lincoln cracked his hands.

"Alright, little brother," his older sister could only smile. She knew he already had a plan in mind. "…but you better get your phone out to record what I say, because it's a lot."

"I figured I'd be done handling my family's problems when I moved out…" an exhausted Lincoln sighed to himself, while driving in his car. Lori had left with Bobby to gather up the easiest of the family, leaving her brother with all the work. That was a trend he was definitely not missing from his youth. He rubbed his head sorely. "Guess once a peacemaker, always a peacemaker. Either I go or nobody goes… But at least I got a couple of hours of sleep… better than nothing, I guess. Well, first stop, the Royal Woods University!"

Lincoln pressed his foot against the gas pedal, wanting to feel a little energy this morning. Going faster would be a nice change of pace. Then again this whole day was going to be another turning point in his life. Reconnecting the Loud family was going to be a pain, and he knew several would most likely hold grudges.

It took him nearly half an hour to arrive to the University of Royal Woods. For a student to be accepted by the university was nearly impossible. The person who ran the university was not one to be messed with either, but she cared a lot for his staff and students.

"Ah, jeez… Where do I go?" Lincoln looked around upon entering the university. There were six decorative pillars at the entrance, each one having different items hung upon them, seemingly for new attendees.

"There we go," Lincoln saw the schedule for the times of each class. He groaned, realizing he only really had five minutes left before the second class began. He took a picture of the map with his phone before darting off in a hurry to get to the proper classroom, hoping the map copy would be of use.

"Alright, my future science associates. I do hope you've studied exhaustively, because today we are going to discuss the fourth dimension," the heavy lisp of a girl's voice spoke from behind a desk, scribbling away on a chalkboard. Lincoln stood at the top of the stairs by the room's entrance. The woman was not even in her twenties, yet she wore a lab coat and had brown hair, with thick glasses that were easy to see from this distance. Lisa averted her gaze to her dedicated students. "Now, can an individual tell us what the four dimensions are?"

"Height, width, length and time… right?" Lincoln chimed up from the staircase top, his voice catching his second youngest sister's attention. She looked up to him in awe, and most of the classroom turned to gaze at him.

"I… That's eighty percent correct, but to be exact, in my belief, the fourth dimension is the time in between whichever created object ceases to exist. I suppose an in-between is proper… Frankly, I am only discussing this because there is no proper answer," Lisa responded. It was moreover a challenge to her students. She had begun working at the university as the youngest scientist in existence at the time, at her mere age of twelve. Since then she had helped many out and her research increased dramatically.

"Sorry to interrupt class. I was hoping to get here before it started… I never was the smartest, huh?" Lincoln approached his genius sibling while apologizing. Lisa wondered if she was talking to a delusion brought on by mental exhaustion, but the presence of the students in the room's intense focus on him proved otherwise.

"You're still more intelligent than most of our similar genetically coded relatives," the teenage girl adjusted her glasses. He knew she was nearly twenty years old now, but he did not have an exact age. Lincoln did not get to open his mouth again before he felt her wrap her arms around him.

"Still trying to hide your feelings behind that big brain of yours, huh? Don't worry. I'm not planning on going anywhere this time," Lincoln claimed, rubbing a hand along Lisa's back. He was surprised to then feel part of his shirt dampen. She was silently weeping like she had mastered control of her voice to remain silent, yet her waterworks were unstoppable when her only brother reappeared in her life.

"I apologize, class, I need to go for today! Since there is no real correct answer to what a fourth dimension exactly is due to how many definitions there are to it, you all can do two things. Either stay here for an hour and read, or leave early to cram for your next class as I know most of you are doing during my class," Lisa explained. Her students seemed to understand perfectly fine with remaining in the classroom to do silent reading. They had their reasons to clear out their lives to come to this school. They loved their teacher enough to respect whatever she needed to do.

"Do you want me to carry you?" Lincoln flashed a bucktoothed smirk.

"I'm not four anymore, Lincoln! I certainly am quite heavier than that age as wel-ah?!" Lisa was scooped up into her brother's arms. He began to carry her out of the classroom to the door.

"Hahahah! I've had to get stronger to help carry all the animals I take care of. Trust me; you're not much compared to half the dogs I see… Or the occasional young calf," Lincoln responded, the students watching the two leave through a side door, the sound of Lisa's embarrassed tone ringing out as she scolded her brother while lightly punching him for putting on such a display in front of the students.

After a minute or two of being scolded by the genius, the two took a seat in staff break room. The young man watched as his little sister rummaged through the refrigerator of the staff lounge.

"So you're a university professor now, huh? How long have you been here?" Lincoln asked. Lisa brought over two sandwiches. Lincoln could use them for a late breakfast, even if he did not like most of the contents between the bread.

"It's been a long time… I started here when I was twelve, so I believe… seven years ago? To be quite honest, it was easy to get the job, but it was difficult to mark my place here to let the students know they could rely on me for their knowledge," Lisa responded, sounding not so fond of the memories as much as bitter acceptance, and seeming unwilling to talk about herself. Lincoln was not sure how to reply. He would ease into that since it was an inevitable discussion as they both knew. "What have you been doing, Lincoln? …Beyond fatherhood, of course."

"I'm a vet now… I was thinking I'd be dealing with nothing but dogs and cats, but no, I deal with a lot of different animals… Sometimes I get called out to farms outside of town to help with their livestock," Lincoln exclaimed, seeming quite proud of the role he lived. Animal care was second nature to him practically.

"I guess that can be equated to the lack of having such a large family to take care of? I know when someone makes a drastic life change, they gravitate to something similar in nature or meaning to them," Lisa claimed. It was quite an honorable role to her. She would feel terrible if something happened to her lab mice. Most of them were not even being experimented on because of Lisa's lack of desire to create new inventions.

"I guess so… That doesn't mean my family hasn't been a handful themselves. But I have to ask, Lisa, what made you decide to work here? I never saw you as the teaching type. You helped Leni cheat on half of her tests and helped me study, but that's about it," Lincoln took a bite out of his sandwich. Lisa helped out only Leni with school issues, as she was essentially a broken sponge when it came to absorbing information. It seemed to stick, but it always got jumbled up, making matters worse. Thankfully her brother only needed some tutoring.

"You're correct, my dear brother…" she held her head, "A year or two after you, Luna's, and my nieces unannounced departure I hit a dead end. All of my research had concluded, all of my findings had been reported and one day when technology advances further all of my hard work will be put to great use…"

"Really? All of it? But you never run out of ideas or theories! I mean, it's still great you're going to be known for how much you helped the world," Lincoln reassured, but the genius woman still seemed depressed to be recalling it.

"All that I could muster myself to fathom or do, and any invention I created, blew up in my face," Lisa took her glasses off, "I had hit an impasse with my research and felt as if I had reached my ending… Once a scientist hits a high point in their career, everything they do from there on seems futile. I was considering ending it all. I was exhausted of having everything I do feel meaningless. Our family even started volunteering to be test subjects for my ideas, only to try and cheer me up… I never tested anything on them for that exact reason."

Lincoln was unhappy with what he was hearing. He never expected his second youngest sister to become the type to succumb to depression, let alone hear she had almost attempted suicide because of it.

"…so what stopped you?" he asked. He was not able to imagine his family with any of its members missing, and with how well Lisa normally hid her emotions, he doubted anyone but him would have been able to see her inner turmoil. He was better at reading his family due to how often he had to help them all.

"A revelation did. I ran into a college student who was researching a method to make nerves regenerate faster, in order to help those that underwent hand transplants or full limb transplants. Thanks to me, he was able to finish it. It was then that I realized that what true geniuses live for is not for themselves. They live to help others reach their true potential," Lisa felt she had reached the peak in her scientific career, her sole job now was to teach the future prodigies. Then one day they could reach their high points and help the world as well, as well as continue the cycle of helping other prodigies.

"Heh… You're right," Lincoln put a hand on her head, reading the unstable look on her face that showed the slight emotional wreckage after seeing him again. He stood up, helping her up as well. "Come on, Lisa. We're going to have a family reunion tonight, and it's going to be the loudest one in existence."

Lisa felt an even more refreshing feeling in her heart. She nodded and gave a bright smile, her eyes shimmering in delight to know their family would soon be reunited.

"That would be exquisite!"

Lincoln and Lisa had driven a good while to the southern part of Royal Woods. They had arrived to the front of a small store, 'Youths ribbons', which displayed dozens of various dress designs at the window. Each mannequin displayed them well for advertisement.

"Alright, this is the place," Lincoln stopped the car engine.

"I think I'll remain here…" Lisa murmured nervously. Her only brother could tell why just by the tone of her voice.

"Fine, fine… I know you don't want to risk being stuffed into a dress," he sighed, giving his little sister the car keys, "Be back in a second."

"As always, you're making sacrifices for our family," Lisa commented. The young man shook his head.

"A good family sacrifices things for each other… Don't think too much on that. I just made it up," Lincoln then got out of the car to hurry along.

The young veterinarian stepped into the clothing store. One look around showed two floors, the upstairs displaying fancier attire or wedding gowns, some of which were custom made. There was a chime that rung when the door closed.

"Wow… and I thought I'd never be in a store like this…" Lincoln murmured. Luna swore that if she could not go into a fancy dress shop her entire life, she would be content. Ligala was hit or miss on that matter. She just put on whatever clothing she could find. Fashion was one of the last things on his daughter's mind.

"Oh, hello! This is the first time I've seen you here! Can I help you?" A girl in her late teens spoke out to gain his attention. She had black hair that had a blue streak off to the side, she was in a dark blue business dress.

"Huh?" Lincoln looked to her, "Uh, yeah. I need to talk to your boss."

The worker laughed in reply. "Sir, please. If you want HER special treatment, you need an appointment. Ms Loud is a very busy woman."

Lincoln held his head. He never thought she would be this popular. "Is there an appointment available for today? I can double back later… Not like I wasted an hour to get here and a quarter of my gas tank."

"Oh, she's free sometime next Sunday… But we're closed on weekends, sooooo," the co-worker smugly responded. The young man face palmed.

"How does that make sense…? Alright, I'll make you a deal. I'll give you forty dollars if you can take her a message. Money is better in your pocket than in your budget after all," Lincoln got out his wallet. It seemed to garter her attention quite well.

"Fine, fine. I'm not even technically an employee here, anyway," she sighed and snatched the money from his hand.

"Great! Tell her that Lincoln is here… Oh, and when she says, 'Lincoln who?' tell her Lincoln Loud," Lincoln had the cockiest grin as he slid his hands back into his pockets. She just stormed off in frustration instead of replying. Only two minutes of patient waiting, and he heard an all too familiar voice.

"Lincoln! Oh my gosh, it's you!" that familiar squeal pierced his eardrums. When Lincoln turned around, he was pulled into a spine snapping hug.

"Ack! Ye-yeah, Leni! It's me!" Lincoln was unable to return the embrace with his arms being pinned to his sides by an older woman in a baby blue dress that had a fluffy trim on the sleeves and bottom, her sunglasses hanging out of the front of her dress, her long blonde hair still looking as straight and shiny as ever.

"I can't believe it! Lincoln, I was scared I'd never see you again!" Leni tightened her hug on him, while her employee just watched, "Where's Luna and Ligala? Have you been okay? Please tell me you're not going to leave again!"

"Leni! Breathe or you're going to faint," Lincoln insisted. He had hoped that after all this time, his sisters IQ would have improved. It seemed her brain had only grown in the fashion business. The young man helped his sister over to some nearby chairs that were meant for customers to sit and wait.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry…" the Loud fashion designer panted

"Ms Loud can you tell me what's going on? I haven't seen you this emotional since you turned thirty…" the black haired girl requested. Lincoln had to imagine that his second oldest sister had a midlife crisis when that age came. He felt bad for missing out on all the birthdays.

"This is my little brother!" Leni happily introduced the two, "He's the one I told you about, Moira!"

"We already had the displeasure of meeting…" Lincoln replied, keeping the focus on his sister, "What have you been up to this last decade, Leni?"

"Oh, Lincoln. Things were so bad after you left! Nobody had as good a body to make dresses on… Ever since you left, the house was horrible! Lily kept things really together, though," Leni started. She knew Lincoln did not need a reminder of how the Loud house nearly fell apart, if it hadn't been for Lily who knows what would have occurred.

"Sorry…" Lincoln mused, "I'm not proud of it, but I still believe I made the right decision."

"I know Lincy. It's made sense to me since the start, but… that didn't make it any easier to handle!" She replied. Waking up every day of her life without some family members in her life anymore gave her such gloomy mornings, knowing that she could not help them at all made things terrible. "You see, I started working harder than I ever did before to distract myself. I had stopped caring about trends in fashion and began to make what I wanted to make. One day while I was out, I met a kind, professional fashion designer. He thought I was great, so he helped me out and got me started in the fashion world!"

"You finally made it in huh?" Lincoln chuckled. He was relieved to hear that she was able to shake her own personal depression with the aid of her passion for fashion. "Figured as much when I saw you in a magazine or two."

"Indeedy-deedy! The interviews were weird. It was nice, but exhausting. I wanted to help people look fabulous, even if they didn't have the money for everything, so I started up my own store! Honestly, I could've retired three years ago… I don't think I could tolerate knitting needles being my only tools though," Leni giggled, imagining herself one day being in the same position an elderly person would.

"Things look really good here, but it doesn't look like a place that needs a worker with Moira's... 'spunk'…" Lincoln could not help but comment about the worker that was nearby and listening. The fashion designer waved her worker over.

"Moira's technically not my employee. She's just working off her debt," Leni happily pulled Moira into a one armed hug.

"Please keep it a secret, boss. I'm ashamed enough about it…" Moira requested, but she was ignored.

"Debt?" Lincoln raised an eyebrow, "Leni, I thought you were a fashion designer. Not a loan shark."

"Loan shark? I don't know why a shark'd need a loan… But anyway! I met Moira a year ago! I caught her trying to steal a lot of very pricey custom made dresses! Thousands of dollars, I think," Leni exclaimed. Moira looked to the floor in shame. Lincoln stared, his eyes practically bulging out of his sockets.

"Oh, for the love of Loud…" he held his head in disbelief, "And you brought her here, instead of a police station. Why?"

"Hey, don't go thinking I'm THAT stupid, Lincoln. I mean, I am, but I can tell the difference between a bad person doing bad things and a misguided teenager making a mistake. She just needed a hand to help her, and in trade for her giving me help for nearly free, I let her live with me," Leni tried to reassure her brother. Moira for some reason felt more sheepish to now be not known as a thief but a leech.

"I hope she knows to not make another mistake, or she'll wind up getting a visit from all of our family," Lincoln passively threatened. The former thief nodded, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"I'd never do anything to Ms Loud… I'd be street trash like a lot of other idiots if it wasn't for her, she's like my mother," Moira responded. The long blonde haired woman had a bright smile, she enjoyed being seen in a pseudo mother position, but she felt even more proud to be helping someone.

"Well… I'll trust Leni on this one," Lincoln reluctantly nodded. He felt hypocritical to have berated someone for tolerating a thief when he had incestuous acts with Luna, which in itself was illegal.

"Thanks for the honor, grey hair."

"It's white!"

"I've never seen someone so young with grey hair though… It's a nice style."

"I've had it this color since I was born…"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Lucky..."

"So Lincy," Leni cut in, "What are you doing here? Are you just dropping by for a visit? And where's Ligala and Luna?"

"They're up at a hospital. Ligala did something dumb and got hurt, so Luna's staying with her…" Lincoln paused, "Bad moments aside, I'm running around gathering up everybody, so we can have one big family reunion, tonight. You want to tag in?"

Leni clapped her hands in glee. She stood up and hugged her brother. "Yes yes yes, a million times yes!"

She then threw the keys to the store to Moira, she barely caught them. The worker was confused. "B-boss?"

"Consider this a big test! I'm entrusting you with the store for the next day or two, so show me what you're made of by the time I get back! You can scrub my schedule clean too." Leni declared, putting a lot of faith in her employee. Lincoln thought this was the stupidest thing in the world, but he did not know the former thief like his sibling did. He had to stay quiet an let her handle it.

"Al…alright, Ms Loud…" Moira nervously gulped. With that all said and done, Leni followed Lincoln outside.

"You wanna ride with me? I'm going to go around picking the others up," Lincoln offered, but his older sister shook her head, pointing a thumb toward her white van that she had really only gotten to help carry supplies.

"Thanks, Lincy, but I think I'd be better off helping prepare everything instead of being in your way… I'll see you at home… err, our old home!" Leni exchanged one last tight hug before going off. Her little brother was somewhat relieved to know she would not be coming along. He did not want to imagine handling her while also tracking down his other family members.

"I take it things went exceptionally well with Leni?" Lisa asked from the passenger seat. Her older brother got into the driver's side, nodding as he closed the door.

"In a way. She'll meet us at mom and dad's," Lincoln put on his seat belt, "Where to next?"

"Max's Macho Studio," the child genius adjusted her glasses, "a prominent place for fighters of all variety to train. It's the closest place from there."

"Well," Lincoln started up the car, "It was nice having healthy teeth while it lasted…"

"Oh, alleviate your tension. I'm certain she won't lay a hand on you."

"How much you wanna bet on that?"

"Fifty dollars."

"You're on!"

"I haven't seen traffic this bad in a while…" Lincoln mused. He and Lisa were stuck in a traffic jam caused by an accident disrupting two of the three lanes.

"So, what are you going to say when you see her?" Lisa asked in an attempt to strike up conversation. Her brother shrugged his shoulders while drumming his fingers along the steering wheel.

"No idea. I've been doing what I do best in life and making things up on the fly," Lincoln claimed. His second youngest sister did not know how to reply. He was more than aware that his method was more flawed than his normal life had become.

"Hm?" they heard his cellphone ringing. The young man pulled his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Hey, Lincoln, it's me."

"Lori? How'd you get my number?"

"Luna gave me it," the oldest Loud sounded joyful, "So I just wanted you to know, I got Lucy and Lana. I had to tell them why we're having this reunion though, sorry."

"You did? Good work, Lori! From what you told me, those two would've been the hardest to find. How'd you get them to come with you?" Lincoln had been worried about how large Lucy's practical cult now was, and he knew Lana now had a free apartment in trade of her repair services always being active. The building she now lived in always needed something fixed, it was one of the biggest apartment complexes in royal woods apparently.

"It was easy on one end, but not the other," Lori grunted, "Lana was actually at the hospital getting her wrist looked at, so that was a lucky break. Lucy on the other hand… ugh! Bobby had to drink some pig's blood and now all I can do is hope that he'll be fine and that my baby isn't cursed…"

"Ew…" Lincoln was disgusted to hear this. He knew though that he would be making plans to repay Bobby for his help. He changed his mind fast when he remembered the fact that Bobby had betrayed a bro favor a long time ago. "Most of Lucy's stuff is just evil good luck spells anyway. Don't get too worked up over it. I don't think I can handle you winding up like Luna when she had Ligala. We're on our way to get Lynn. I have Lisa and just sent Leni off to mom and dad's."

"Ohh…"

"What?"

"Lincoln, about Lynn… be careful when you meet with her, please. Out of everyone you upset when you left, she took it the worst."

"Oh… of course…" the veterinarian groaned. He had a safe bet on that guess. "Do I dare ask who took it the second worst?"

"Lola was second, Luan was third. …anyway, I gotta go. See you later, Lincoln," Lori hung up. Lincoln put his phone away, and he looked to Lisa.

"What?" Lisa stared back.

"I think I'm going to win that bet." Lincoln grinned.

"Hmph! You can't predict how things will go. She might be overwhelmed with pleasing endorphin's upon seeing your presence."

"Alright… guess I should be happy I took the job offer with the vet that had the better insurance."

"That, I will certainly concur with."

"Here we are," Lisa pointed to Max's macho studio. A lot of rather burly people were in the parking lot, conversing like they would weekly.

"I'll leave the keys in the ignition for you," Lincoln said while opening the driver's side door. Lisa instead got out of her seat.

"Sorry, but I imagine you'd feel a lot more at ease with someone who knows human medical aid at your side," she claimed. Her only brother was not going to argue against that. He took the keys out from the ignition. The two proceeded inside, the automatic sliding doors letting them right in.

"Wow I've never felt this uncomfortable since middle school…" Lincoln commented, looking around. Some people were beating up on heavily damaged punching bags. Some were lifting weights, and others were fighting in the two available fighting rings.

"Hey there! It's nice to see some new twigs in the neighborhood," the receptionist greeted the two as they approached.

"Twigs? Apologies, but I have no need for muscle. I chose brain instead of brawn," the university teacher tilted her head in thought, not quite understanding the twig metaphor.

"Newcomers here aren't fresh meat so much as they're known as twigs. People train their hardest to be the strongest branch of the tree! I guarantee our trainers will have you buffer than ever in just a week," she continued. Lincoln flexed his arm, showing the muscles he did have. They weren't much, but he was stronger than an average person his age.

"I've had enough training when I was young," he insisted, "We're here to see someone. Her names Lynn Loud. Is she here right now?

"Oh boy…" the receptionist looked disappointed to not have new members joining the gym, "I'm just gonna warn you right now. If you're paparazzi or a 'fan', you're going to get a very painful dislocation. And we're not obliged to provide medical aid if that transpires."

"N-no! We're her family… So can you tell us where she is?" Lincoln requested once again. The receptionist pointed a hand to the left far end of the gym.

"If her usual routine's being followed, she should be practicing on the speed bag. Good luck," she told them. Lisa did not like the sound of that. She and her brother walked away from the receptionist, both hoping things would go well with their older sister.

Lynn, a now flourished woman, could be seen wearing a tight red training top and shorts, her auburn hair messy and soaked with sweat like the rest of her body. She battered away at the speed training bag, with open fingerless gloves covering her hands, her now muscled arms showing to be as tough as the rest of her body.

"Wow… Lynn, you look strong enough to suplex a bear," Lincoln's voice hit her ears. Lynn took in a lot of breaths in quick succession, looking exhausted from training. She took almost a minute before finally turning around, practically forcing herself to do so out of fear she might have lost her mind and was imagining his voice.

"Lincoln…? And Lisa?" Lynn stared, seeing the young man before her who stood over her height. Lisa still was a head under the sports lover's height, but she accepted her height issue a long time ago.

"It's nice to see you again, Lynn…" Lincoln gave her the bucktoothed smile that never changed from his youth, "I kind've expected to be meeting in a less weird place, but oh well."

"I concur. I don't exactly feel comfortable in a building full of most likely steroid abusers," Lisa added, not really buying that most of the people here earned their muscular strength in a legitimate fashion, but they both knew she had earned hers through nothing but hard work.

"…What are you doing here?" there was venom in Lynn's voice.

"I came to tell you myself that I'm coming back… We're having a family reunion tonight to apologize for what we did, and we also have a very important announcement to make," Lincoln tried to explain with warmness that came from his heart, but he knew the only thing Lynn would give him was either a broken nose or a cold shoulder. He really would prefer a punch to the nose since she would at least acknowledge him by doing that.

"…Where's Luna and Ligala?" Lynn sounded doubtful because of her niece and older sister's absence. She had been through a lot. Her obsession for sports had faded but not without reason, it clearly had taken its toll on her.

"The hospital. Ligala hurt herself and Luna didn't want to leave her side. I already feel like a terrible father for what happened to her, but you don't have to be mad with Luna," Lincoln raised a hand to try and gently pat her right shoulder. She smacked his hand away. Lisa was already growing anxious.

"I'm not mad at Luna. I just don't care. I'm sure everyone else'll be happy to hear you're back," Lynn simply said after finally regaining her breath. It did nothing to help calm her down.

"Lynn…" Lisa was about to speak, but her brother stopped her with a wave.

"Lynn, I'm not an idiot. I know about you being in love with me."

Lincoln's words froze Lynn up with the shock. "…h-how did you know?"

"Ah… I see you were far more observant back then than I was aware…" Lisa was just happy that she did not have to go stating the obvious. Whether or not he knew about Lola and Lucy's crushes on him too was not the topic at hand, but still left her curious. She hoped those two had outgrown their crushes at least.

"We've all grown up. You can't hold a grudge over a phase," Lincoln tried to therapy the problem. He could notice his older sister biting her lip in frustration as she shook her head, practically drawing blood from her lower lip.

"It wasn't a phase! I'd been like that for years! I thought it was too at first, but it never left my heart! What did leave was you instead! And you didn't even care!" Lynn exclaimed. She had already shed all the tears she could, but still looked sorrowful. Her younger brother did not know what to say. It took him a minute to gather himself.

"Lynn, it practically killed us to have to leave like that! The video we left explained why! It would've been wrong if we got together…"

"Then why did you never say anything if you knew?! All those times you helped me train… I thought you spent so much time with me because you felt the same. Then I hear you were dating Ronnie Anne only AFTER you announce you fucked Luna like a rabbit!"

"Sorry. I didn't realize when I had sex with one of my sisters that I was obliged to have sex with them all…" Lincoln scratched his head, not sure how to reply to that. Lisa looked away sheepishly, not wanting to be reminded of some of the personal experiments she had done on him when they were younger, even if it just was for information purposes.

"You…!" Lynn lost it. She punched him across the face and knocked him down flat onto his back.

"Lincoln!" Lisa gasped, quickly going over to help him up. The young man now had a big bruise on his face. His older sister did not even realize what she had done until then, she stood there in surprise with herself. It seemed to be what he expected.

"Just what I expect from a pro in the MMA," he stood back up, thanking his little sister for her help, "Alright, it's decided then… We'll have a fight. If you win, I'll get out of your hair, and if I win, you have to come to the reunion."

Lynn looked down at her gloved hands. She had been in the MMA for the last half decade and had since rose through the top ranks, practically being known for how merciless she was in the ring. "You're just trying to make me feel better by acting like my punching bag. I'm not going to fight someone seriously who isn't even going to try."

"Lynn, I've had to wrestle rabid and savage dogs for a living and even weirder from odd pet owners… I think I can put up a good fight for you. Who else have you practiced with more?" Lincoln persisted. His sister had a black belt in karate and kickboxing from her youth. He had no idea what to expect from her new, improved self.

"…fine, go grab some of my stuff from the back. It should fit you just as fine," Lynn walked off in a huff. Lincoln saw the worried look on Lisa.

"Are you certain this is a good idea?" Lisa quirked an eyebrow. He shook his head.

"No, but it's really the only idea I have… Also, you owe me fifty bucks now," Lincoln grinned jokingly, but he was surprisingly confident. He wandered to the changing rooms to get ready.

"Chaos is my life and life is chaos… " Lisa took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes,

"Such is the standard for being a Loud, I suppose."

After a few minutes, Lincoln stood in one of the rings, without his shirt and wearing fingerless grappling gloves.

"I feel uncomfortable enough without my shirt in my own house… Didn't think I'd wind up like this in public," Lincoln sighed. He remembered the many times Lynn had pantsed him in their youth, he had gotten his revenge plenty in trade.

"This can only end poorly…" Lisa though, watching as Lynn stepped into the ring.

"Last chance to save your face," the MMA professional stated, while the two stood across from one another in the ring.

"Too late for that," Lincoln pointed to his bruise, "You really have Lori's anger management skills now, you know."

"Alright, I gave you the chance! Lisa, you get the bell," Lynn ordered. Afterwards the two in the ring put in their mouth guards. Lisa could not refuse if she wanted to. She had to monitor the battle, or someone else would most likely come and over hype it.

"Fine, but only because I understand the rules. I'm just not courageous enough to be in the ring like a referee. I'll fire my emergency tazer if someone goes overboard," Lisa announced. Even if she was a respected teacher, she needed some protection of her own. A ranged stun gun with six shots made by herself was perfect in her opinion.

"Great…" their only brother held his head. He could already see his opponent jabbing at the air. He cracked his knuckles. In mere moments, they finally heard the bell chime. The two siblings began to quickly approach one another. Lincoln had made a plan in mind from the moment he stepped in the building. He just hoped it did not hurt her too hard, but he was more hoping that he could stay conscious long enough to execute said plan.

"Whoa!" Lincoln ducked under a large right hook. He was terrified that he would be out like a light already if he took the hit. Lynn delivered a high right kick to his side. He countered with his own punch, hitting her leg. The young man put up his guard when a flurry of jabs flew at his upper body. His guard was soon broken as his arms were knocked up. Lynn took the chance to hit him square in the chest, causing him to stumble back.

"I think my heart just got bruised… and not in an emotional way," he coughed, quickly shaking it off,

"I just gotta make her use that stupid signature move of hers! I have to keep going! If I don't, I'll never fix my family, and I refuse to bring my daughter back to a shattered reunion!"

Lincoln charged and jabbed forward, distracting Lynn momentarily. He quickly got behind her and wrapped his arms around her, putting her into a lock that restrained her arms.

"Sorry about this!" Lincoln fell backwards midway. He pinned his sister onto the floor in a hard suplex. Lynn seemed to only get angrier from this. She quickly kicked him off her. Lincoln got back up, more shocked at how little to nothing he was doing to her. She swung her right leg in a wide swipe at him, and Lincoln hit her leg to counter it, making her stumble back.

Lynn's eyes flared up with intense rage. She hopped forward. Lincoln readied himself, watching her gallop slightly in some sort of trick fashion, she then swung her right leg at full force. Lincoln wound up his punch and swung back at his full strength, hitting her right leg. He failed to stop it. His fist was knocked aside. He got hit in the head which sent him to the mat. A groan escaped his lips. A shocked Lisa watched as their older sister approached him.

"Are you ready to give up yet?" Lynn asked as Lincoln struggled to get back up. His mouth guard and one of his teeth fell out of his mouth and onto the floor with some blood escaping his gums, he wondered why he even bothered with the mouth item in the first place. Lynn suddenly began feeling a pained sensation from her lower body. After she took two more steps, she collapsed onto one leg and cried out, holding her right leg in pain. Lisa wondered what was going on. She hit the bell again to stop the match. She then got into the ring and hurried over to them.

"Are you two okay?!" Lisa inquired. Her brother nodded as he sat down leaning back with a smile on his face

"I'm fine… I won," Lincoln panted. Lynn gritted her teeth.

"Not yet! There's no way I'd-urk!" she collapsed once more. Her right leg refused to let her back up, "Wh-what'd you do…?" She whimpered.

"I hated to do this, Lynn, but it was the only way," Lincoln huffed, "You've broken all your limbs so many times since you were little. I just kept hitting the one limb that I knew would give away the easiest."

"Hm… really clever. It seems you've just sustained an intense sprain, nothing that won't clear up in a week, at worst," Lisa claimed. Tears were suddenly streaming down Lynn's face.

"I've lived my life as a lie… Everything I worked hard for was for nothing… All I can do is just fight and tell myself that this is a sport! It's not the same though!... It's not the same..." she sobbed. Her brother sighed as he brought himself to his feet and went to her side.

"I know… I found out you quit every team you were once proudly on. Lynn Loud, the girl to go down in sports history as the most versatile sportswoman in the world, now known as one of the strongest female MMA fighters in the country," Lincoln spoke. Lisa certainly knew that she quit and when, but it was still sad. Nobody but her and Lincoln knew her motivation for these drastic life changes most likely. Lincoln knew his family well. He had heard Lynn's biggest worries when they were younger, which, like a terrible nightmare, had come true.

"Girl… woman… lass… lady… It doesn't matter. Nobody cares for female sports! All because it's not as exciting as men's sports. Bullshit, I kept repeating that to myself every time someone said this, but it was all true. I haven't felt an actual challenge in my entire life since I first went pro. Every last thing I've done was built up to NOTHING! All because I wasn't a boy…" Lynn was pulled into a hug by Lincoln. She had tried so hard to change things to see if genders would balance. But none shared her ambition, realizing most of her sports mates complacency was why she quit.

"Why do you think I'm here, Lynn? I'm the first one to beat you… I'm your first real challenge," Lincoln claimed. He knew Lynn could go freely challenging anybody she wanted, and coaches would gladly give her the chance for how much determination she had. Sadly, it was more about money nowadays and safety regulations. Hearing her brother's words made Lynn look to him with an odd twinkle in her eyes, her heart bursting with glee.

"I'm sorry for taking my anger out on you… I know you had to leave, because of us…" Lynn whispered, referring to the family whose fights made up his mind that very day. She felt him wrap his arms around her.

"It's alright… I had it coming after leaving you guys… Now can you please go get the first aid kit from the trunk of my car? Everything's kind of going black…" Lincoln requested. Lisa sighed, forcing him to lie on his back.

"Relax and focus on your breathing," Lisa insisted, "You've most likely sustained a concussion… And a few broken ribs… As well as minor oral damage and…"

"Lisa, please stop. Somehow being told everything that's probably wrong makes it hurt worse…" he begged. Lynn had a weak smile. Those two acted like nothing had ever changed in this long time.

"There's a great doctor here… Hey! One of you guys go find Doctor Earneston!" the professional MMA fighter shouted to some of the onlookers, her leg not up to tolerating any weight on it for now.

"And some ice! A lot of it!" Lisa added. The few people complied and went. Lincoln remained still on the ground, happy to see a look of joy on Lynn finally.

"Are you sure you're up to driving?" Lynn had a crutch under her right arm with a few hot and cold patches on her sprained leg. The two looked messed up from the clash they had with one another.

"Not remotely… But we still need to go get Luan, Lola and Lily," Lincoln shook his still sore head. He stayed seated in the driver's seat with the door still open, more so using his car as a resting place to try and gather himself currently.

"Then perhaps you'll permit me to commandeer this automobile?" Lisa chimed up beside their older sister. The two looked to her.

"Uhhh… Lisa, you didn't even have a car at the university," Lincoln was unsure about this.

"I do have a driver's license, however! I've just been saving my money until I was truly required to get personal transportation," Lisa presented her driver's license to him. Her only brother groaned.

"It's blurry. You could be showing me a gift card for all I know," Lincoln's concussion was still prominent, but it was a lot better than when it started.

"Sorry Lincoln, but I can't press the gas pedal and you can barely see, so unless you want me to awkwardly sit in your lap or press one of the pedals with my crutch, we have to let Lisa take the wheel," Lynn countered. Their brother did not like the sound of any of their options.

"Fine, fine, fine!" he finally gave in with an audible sigh, "…I'm sure someone who's been studying quantum theory since she was six should be able to do something as easy as drive a car, right?"

"I'll have you know, I've been studying quantum theory since I was three… Lincoln, you ride in the passenger seat, and Lynn, you can lie in the back so your leg can have elevation for relief from pressure," Lisa ordered them both. The two did not argue. It made sense and neither of them wanted to risk Lincoln passing out on them behind the wheel.

"Alright, let's get going. Luan won't believe it when she sees me," the Loud boy smirked the best his beat up face could muster.

"I just hope her son's feeling better," Lynn said, getting herself laid in the backseat. Once they were ready the car began to pull out from the parking lot before heading off to get back on the road

"Her son? Luan had a kid?!" Lincoln was awestruck, not really able to imagine it. Lori had not told him about this at all.

"It's a long story… You can have her explain it to you," Lisa told him. Their brother looked to Lynn who nodded, agreeing with Lisa's advice.

"If what I heard over the phones right, her kid's been sick this last week or so," the MMA fighter claimed. Lincoln groaned, lying back in his seat to attempt relaxation and prepare himself for this reunion with the comedic Loud.

A short while passed, and they had driven to the Royal Sunset Apartment Complex. The group could see how big the building was. It looked more like a hotel, but in reality, to save up on taking up space, the complex owner opted to make one giant apartment building, instead of multiple shabby buildings apart.

"Alright, let's get going," Lisa stopped the car engine, but her brother stopped the two before they could even get their seat belts off.

"I think it'd be better if I go up there alone," Lincoln claimed

"What? Why? It's just Luan," Lynn inquired her younger sibling scratched his head

"Yeah, but I know Luan… I think this'll be smoother if it's just me, you two wait down here. I'll be back in a minute," Lincoln explained his reasoning, once said and done he got out of his car.

"She's in apartment 531. Good luck," Lisa informed him before he closed the door. The young veterinarian nodded, thanking her before he headed off.

"Of course. The only elevator for this part of the buildings only allowed to be used when carrying furniture," Lincoln groaned as he climbed up another of many flight of stairs. Each flight was more frustrating than the last.

"There it is… I really should have went after Lynn last," he sighed. Even after Lisa had helped cover his face bruises up slightly with some makeup, it did little to help. When the young man arrived to the correct apartment, he knocked on the door.

"Coming!" the familiar tone called out. After a short time, the door opened to reveal a young woman in a plaid dress, her auburn hair freely reaching halfway down her back, her buckteeth prominent.

"Wow… I never thought I'd see you without braces, Luan," Lincoln spoke with joy. Luan stared in awe, unable to believe the sight before her.

"Li-Lincoln?! Is that really you?"

"Yeah. It's really me," Lincoln nodded, nervously smirking, "Sorry for looking so rough. I wound up having to fight Lynn to help her feel better."

His comedian sibling let him step inside her apartment, the door closing behind them. "I figured as much, but don't 'bruise' yourself up over it… What brings you over? I didn't hear anything from anybody that you were back!"

"Sorry again. I wanted to surprise everyone with the news about me, Luna and Ligala coming back. We're having a special reunion later this afternoon, so I'm rounding up everybody."

"That's so great, Lincoln!" Luan could not resist the joy that burst in her heart. It was like she wished for such a reunion to happen for a long time now. "I'm so glad you're coming back… What made you finally come back? Or is nearly fourteen years how long you meant in the video?"

"I was planning to wait eighteen years. But judging by what's happened, I take it as a sign from fate to no longer shelter my family from… well… my own family. My daughter's grown up enough. Now she's become herself, and nobody's gonna change that…" Lincoln felt bad just for talking about himself only. He followed her into the living room, where he could see the calm, ambient atmosphere it had. "Anyway, how've you been?"

"Well, you were the best audience I had for practicing my comedy routine with," Luan mused, "After you left, everyone was so down that they didn't even want to give my jokes the time of day, and I couldn't get a groan out of anybody, no matter how bad of a pun I made… it was like everybody hated me for not wanting to be quiet and not moping all the time."

Lincoln felt terrible. He remembered how she practiced all of her new comedy routines on him ever since he was first born to keep that smile on his face. He nervously rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry, Luan. I really wish I could say. I didn't half expect trouble to happen once I was gone…"

"It's not your fault, really. Lily made sure we all didn't kill each other, she put up with my comedy too. We had to have a lot of important long family meetings, but things still went fine… Since I couldn't do comedy at home, I started focusing more on my stand up routines. At one point, everyone online was talking about it. I got big in two months or so. They should be airing the pilot to my TV show, 'Round the Clock' soon."

"Huh…! I heard about that show. And here I thought Luna was the only one to make it on TV," the veterinarian commented. Nearly all of Luna's stage shows had been broadcasted both online and offline. A lot of people enjoyed her music to no end. The two's conversation was interrupted when they heard an infant's cries from the next room.

"It's funny, you mentioned fate actually. Come here, I want you to meet someone," the auburn haired comedian eagerly led her little brother along. He had no clean idea what to expect. "Y'see, I wound up getting put in the hospital a year back because my appendix was about to burst. I had to get it removed, but the doctors found out that I kind of was lacking in the reproductive department… I don't know why it made me so sad, I didn't even want to have children until I found the right man for me, but a week later, after I was leaving my favorite comedy club, I found this."

Luan let him see for himself. He went over to the crib, where he could see a barely one year old infant, with ginger red hair barely on the back of his head. "You 'found' a baby?"

"Yup!" Luan went over and picked up the little boy. Instantly, he became content, not hesitating to begin nuzzling into her chest. "Someone left him in the dumpster out back of the comedy club in his cradle and all… I volunteered to take care of him while the police did their job to try to search for his parents."

Luan rocked the young boy in her arms. The scene was precious to her brother. Things became quiet as the atmosphere tensed up.

"And I'm guessing the police weren't able to find anything…?" Lincoln broke the silence.

"Oh, they found plenty… Too much, if you ask me," the bucktoothed woman sighed, rubbing the baby's head. She pressed the authorities to share anything they found out with her, and she quickly came to regret that decision. "He has no relatives left in the country… His dad died before he was born, and his mom apparently abandoned him when he was barely a week old. She didn't even name him. Because she didn't want him to be attached to someone he was going to lose."

"Someone he was going to lose? …That means she had a good idea how much time she had left… I hate to ask, but did her time run out?" Lincoln popped the big question in the calmest way he could word it, which was with a strange metaphor.

"I talked to her face to face…" Luan paused for a second or two, "She had cancer. She told me that when they gave her a CT scan, her entire body lit up like a Christmas tree. The last thing she did was assign me full custody of little Leeonko here."

"Leeonko, huh? …I guess that really is fate playing a long card game… but I can't imagine him better off with anybody else either other than the funniest Loud in the family. You've brought smiles to thousands of faces. Why stop now?" Lincoln smiled. As Luan recalled all of it, she had some tears welling in her eyes. She pulled her brother into a one armed hug.

"It'll be nice to know Leeonko's uncle is here… I really needed to know how you were doing," Luan sniffled, hugging them both. Leeonko looked half asleep. Lincoln was more than glad to see his comedian sibling taking care of others who needed the help. He was happy to be an uncle too, he had no idea why his sister named the infant that however.

"So you up for the reunion? I can give you a ride if you want," Lincoln offered, but his older sister shook her head.

"We'll definitely come! …But I have to get some things ready. So you go on without me. We'll meet up with you and mom and dad's," Luan stated. Her only brother nodded.

"Alright. Take care you two… I better get moving, I have a beauty pageant to get to," Lincoln bid the two goodbye, and he left the apartment. Once out in the hallway, he stretched.

"Everyone's been through so much since I left… I feel like such a scumbag for not being able to help them all this time, either… But I'll make sure to do my all for them now," Lincoln began to make his way back downstairs to get back to his car. Only Lola and Lily remain to be rounded up now, "I've gotta make an impression as a good father to Ligala, anyway."

Lincoln arrived back to his car. He saw his two sisters talking. They suspiciously went silent instantly upon seeing his return.

"Sorry for the wait…" the veterinarian got into the passenger seat, "Did I interrupt something?"

"No, not really. How'd things go with Luan?" Lynn changed the topic quickly.

"Pretty well. She barely cried," he smiled, "Her son seems pretty nice too. She said she'd meet up with us at mom and dad's later."

"Just like Leni and Lori. That's quite excellent to hear," Lisa congratulated him. She knew about how hard Luan took their family members leaving. The university professor reignited the car's engine.

"Uh-huh. She really had her hands full," Lincoln laid back in his seat, trying to relax.

"I remember when she told us that she wasn't able to get pregnant… she was really tore up about that," Lynn claimed, remembering it well enough that it felt like it had happened yesterday. The Loud family were weirded out by the turn of events that happened to the family joker. But what mattered to them was that she and Leeonko were well and healthy.

"I just wish I had been around to help," Lincoln felt terrible to have missed out on so many things, "They really did go through a lot of emotional stress."

"I don't think your presence would have done much to remedy anything, other than our family's bonds being unharmed. I do say you're doing quite the admirable job at repairing everything," Lisa reassured. Lily filled his shoes perfectly well while he was gone nonetheless.

"Alright, well… Wake me up when we get to the mall… I really have no idea what to expect from Lola," Lincoln yawned, lying back in his seat. His sisters let him do what he wanted. They had a clean idea how much energy he had exhausted by now, and he had recovered from his concussion enough by now to be allowed to rest.

Nearly two hours had passed faster than Lincoln could know. By the time he began to wake up, he rubbed his eyes tiredly while looking to his watch.

"What the…? Lynn? Lisa?" Lincoln looked around. His sisters were no longer with him. He saw a note left on the dashboard. He grabbed it, mentally hoping he did not have to go on a frantic hunt after the two of them.

"Dear Lincoln

Sorry for leaving you asleep. We thought you needed it. We needed to go handle some things. See you in ten.

- Lisa & Lynn"

He put the note aside before getting out of the car.

"What I need is to not worry about every last one of my family members whenever I take a nap," Lincoln cracked his neck before stretching. He stepped outside and closed the door. He saw the outside of the Royal Seeds Mall, a place that earned its name for the dozens of trees it had planted.

"Wow. These have grown a lot since I was last here," Lincoln commented, seeing the tall trees that stood as practical charms of good fortune for the mall's many stores. The veterinarian made his way into the mall.

"Yep. This is the right place," he said, relieved. He hated knowing he would have to roam around the mall until he found the place the beauty pageant was being hosted.

"Alright… Is this some sort've secret pageant or something?" Lincoln was irritated. After a half hour of looking around, he felt that this was not a big event, but he doubted he could miss any amount of women all prepared for this pageant, and would definitely not miss a stage in a mall. It would definitely stick out for him.

"Oof!" Lincoln suddenly bumped into someone, knocking them both down, quite hard. He saw a collection of makeup clattering to the ground.

"Ah, jeez… sorry, I wasn't paying attention," he apologized, trying to gather up all the makeup that fell from the carrying case.

"No, it's my fault. My sister's been upset because she lost her pageant…" a light, gentle voice replied. Once all of the makeup was put back inside of their appropriate places in the case, it was closed and locked tightly. The two helped each other up.

"…Have I seen you somewhere before?" Lincoln looked confusedly at a rather short young woman in a rainbow colored suit and a pair of white sunglasses on top of her head, with a fake water squirting flower sticking out from her shirt pocket. The two items looked quite old. Her long blonde haired was brushed to the left of her head.

"Uh-uhh… Maybe? Sorry for being rude. You look a lot like someone close to me…" the teenager apologized. Lincoln gained a bright smile.

"I only know one person who's as sweet and shy as you…" he wrapped his arms around the girl half his size, picking her up off the ground, "It's great to see you again, Lily."

"Li-Lincoln? It's really you?!" Lily gasped. He suddenly felt the then happy woman's arms and legs wrap around him, making his bruises ache in pain.

"Ow… Y-yeah, it's me, Lily… I missed you a lot too," Lincoln broke the embrace, putting his littlest sister down. The young veterinarian barely recognized her. She had grown up so much in this last decade that it amazed him.

"Why are you here?" Lily inquired, eagerly, "Are you back?"

"Yup, we're coming back," he nodded. He didn't blame any of his sisters for worrying about him leaving again, "We hadn't planned on it, but fate had other plans… so I'm rounding up everyone for a reunion to celebrate. …What're you doing with all this makeup, though? I didn't think you'd be into beauty that much when you got older."

"I don't like makeup too much, but Lola needed someone to help her for her pageant today. She said I have a really steady hand," Lily shook her head, before taking her brother's hand and beginning to lead him along.

"You've really been trying to help everybody you can, huh?" Lincoln was happy to hear this.

"I had to! I wanted to be the best aunt for Ligala," Lily nodded and smiled as she led him along, "Come on! I know Lola will love to see you!"

"I sure hope so…"

"Oh… so that's why I couldn't find the stage," Lincoln saw a blank, empty part of the mall. Only now did he know that one of the stores connected there had a stage that could extend in and out at will for such events.

"It scared me when it first came out too," Lily knew how easy she was to scare, and did not even try to hide it. She continued to lead her older brother into the nearby small restaurant, one of the many the mall had to offer.

"Wow… that's Lola?" Lincoln was in awe. Across the room, there was a gorgeous young woman with long, shimmering blonde hair, in a pink dress with her tiara hanging from her left wrist. Both arms had long white gloves on them. He could barely recognize his own sister.

"She's really upset right now. She lost to a bunch of new girls. I think it was because of their fresh takes on some dead fashion trends that let them win. But Lola… somehow thinks they cheated," Lily sounded rather sad herself about the whole thing, even if all she was here for was to act as a makeup assistant.

"Sounds like Lola alright. It looks like she got third," Lincoln commented, seeing the bronze medal with a star imprinted on it resting on the table being carelessly used as a coaster. The veterinarian began to approach her. "Think I can buy the beautiful young lady a meal?"

"Back off creep."

"What?"

Lincoln was suddenly blasted in the face by a burst of pepper spray. No word of reply from her, just a cold glare and lachrymator to the eyes. He screamed, and held his eyes tightly as he fell over. "MY EYYYYYES!"

"L-Lola!" Lily ran over to help her brother, quickly beginning to rummage through her bag for a bottle of water.

"What? It just was another perv," Lola turned her back to them, wanting to focus on her meal.

"It's Lincoln, you stuck up brat! That bitterness of yours is why you lost! No amount of makeup can hide how much of a heartless jerk you are!" Lily got up, grabbing her sister's chair and forcibly spinning her around. The spoiled twin gulped nervously upon having her younger sibling shouting in her face, hating to see her anger. Lily rarely got worked up, but when she did, her rage was thrice more intense than Lori's.

"Wa-wait, Lincoln?! Really?!" Lola stood up in shock, looking at the man on the floor thriving in pain.

"Nice to see you again, Lola…" Lincoln coughed. The pain in his eyes made him barely able to speak, even after trying to wash it off with clean water.

"I'm so sorry, Lincoln!" Lola apologized profusely while some of the staff came over to help them. Lily calmed down now that her older sister realized her mistake.

"I thought the beating with Lynn was the worst I'd get today…" Lincoln thought, feeling dumb for going with that approach. How wrong he was to start the reunion with her by complimenting her looks.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't recognize you at all!"

After thirty minutes, the trio was seated on a bench outside of the mall. Lincoln wanted fresh air after the burning eyesore was handled. He knew he was not going to be able to drive for the rest of the day.

"You really need to learn to not be such a sore loser… Seriously," Lincoln said while holding his head. Lola's loss probably gave her the itch to take her fury out on someone the first chance she got.

"Mmh…" Lola mused. She felt ashamed enough and Lily had already torn into her over it.

"You've become a pageant star though?" Lincoln then asked, "It's good to know you're now able to get into it like you wanted to when you were younger."

"I was entering a few, but I didn't really get serious about it until I won one when I was eleven… Then I started winning every one after that," Lola rested her head in her hands, letting out a sigh like she missed those days. "It really wasn't the same without you. I had no one to play with at my tea parties or help with my makeup… I only had Lily for that."

"I don't think being a butler half of the time counted as being at the tea party…" Lily smirked. She had to try and keep everyone happy, and filling in her brothers roles was just as important. She had put up and done a lot for and with her family.

"I have so many trophies in the family trophy cabinet now, but lately I've only been adding bronze stuff to it…" Lola sighed, staring at the third place medal. Her only brother shook his head.

"The only trophy I ever received was that one you guys gave me… So really I have nothing," Lincoln responded. It was his family trying to make him feel better, and it did work at first, but he had faked that happiness and gave up on his dreams of a trophy a long time ago. Ligala could count as a living trophy if he wanted to put it in an odd perspective, but he would rather pretend that saving animals and making people happy were his trophies.

"It was not nothing! We made it because we loved you and didn't want you to feel left out… I guess all we did was drive you away with how bad we treated you," Lola stated. They all had been forced to confess their wrongdoings in the family meetings that caused Lincoln's sub-family's disappearance. The beauty lover only had one of her teeth back now, the other still absent.

"I'm not going to lie and say you did nothing wrong… I just know none of you cared for me or what I did if it got in your way…" Lincoln looked at the sky. He could not sugarcoat the emotional wounds Lola had. It would only worsen them really, he knew that much was obvious.

"Lily did as well as she could while you were gone," Lola however then explained, "She even got recognized by the city for all her services!"

"What? Really Lily?" Lincoln looked to then embarrassed Lily.

"It wasn't much…" she murmured. To be wearing the brightly colored suit Leni had made her embarrassed her further, but Lola had insisted that she look the best for this pageant, even if she wasn't participating.

"Volunteering at three different homeless shelters. And not to mention last month, you went everywhere working up the most for a charity to help gather money for that poor cop that got hit by a speeding jerk. You raked in nearly a thousand dollars with all those little jobs, even if you nearly exhausted yourself to do it," Lola continued the praise. She liked seeing their youngest sister flustered like this. The spotlight shining on Lily made her sheepish, and everyone found that adorable.

"You really have become the helpful type, huh Lily?" Lincoln rubbed their littlest sister's head.

"I dunno…" Lily slowly nodded while poking her fingers together.

"All I've done is become a veterinarian. It's nice to help all the animals and people when they don't have the money to spare. They're like family members themselves," Lincoln claimed. In all of his years as a veterinarian, he knew people hated being unable to help their pets all because of money being an issue, since most treatments were expensive. It often resulted in terrible alternatives.

"Oh…" Lily looked to the ground. Her older sister put a hand on her back.

"She really took it hard when our pets started to… y'know… go to sleep forever," Lola tried to put it as lightly as she could.

"They…" Lincoln paused, turning to her, "They passed away?"

"Yes..."

"Oh…" Lincoln felt sad for them all. He had been trying to not imagine the four pets the Loud family had, but he had a feeling they had expired in the last decade. No pet like a terrier, cat, canary or hamster could live for so long. And even if they did survive, he hated to imagine how they would look.

"Don't worry, Lily. They're in a better place," he gave the littlest Loud a tight hug. Despite her age she still seemed to have quite a height issue. He wondered if it was a medical issue or not, "Let's focus on the good news. Luna, Ligala and I are all coming back. We hadn't planned on it for a lot longer, but a lot of stuff happened… so we're having a family reunion to celebrate. Are you two up for it?"

"You think I'm going to just say no to the same brother I mistook for a creep-o and pepper sprayed? After he had been gone for thirteen years?" Lola joked. There would be no way she could turn him down after all that she had done to him.

"I'm so excited to meet Ligala again!" Lily chimed, "Did I do well as an aunt for her…?"

"You were the best aunt in the world for her. Thanks for putting up with everything. …well let's go. Lynn and Lisa are probably waiting back at my car," Lincoln motioned them to come along. Lola and Lily nodded, more than eager to. The three headed off to get back to their brothers car. He now had gotten the last of his family members. He took in a deep, relieved breath, glad to have finished most of this exhausting day.

"Oh, there you are!" Lynn greeted their brother, "We were worried when we came back to an empty car."

"I should be saying that to you," Lincoln responded while Lily and Lola caught up. Lynn let the two hop into the backseat with her.

"Hey there, Lily. How've you been doing today?" Lynn let their youngest sister hug her. Lily's habit of hugging everyone she knew might have come from slight abandonment issues.

"Great now! Lincoln and Luna are coming back! I'm excited to see Ligala too!" the young woman announced.

"Lincoln, what happened to your eyes? They look exceptionally irritated despite their recovery," Lisa questioned. Their brother huffed, not wanting to remember it. Lola stayed quiet, still ashamed. Her brother could not blame her for her reaction. He hated to imagine how much obsessive men tried harassing the twin over her looks, so much so that she needed a can of pepper spray on her at all times.

"I got your note first thing when I woke up," he forced a subject change, "Where'd you two go?"

"We had to make a few phone calls and didn't want to wake you up, that's all," Lisa retorted with her usual straight face. He could tell that Lynn was too focused with Lily and Lola to follow along with the excuse. He could sense a real reason for this, but decided not to press her further.

"Alright, well, here's what's gonna happen. You're all going to be dropped off at mom and dad's. Then i'll go get Luna and Ligala to come meet you all," Lincoln declared. They were hoping to see Ligala soon, she had been in the hospital half a day and she was exhibiting no other issues aside from the hand damage. He still felt upset that his daughter will have a few less fingers. It was hard to imagine having to get used to it being permanent.

"Are you sure about this, Lincoln?" Lola asked. She was eager to see their niece too, but they did not want their brother push himself far past his limits.

"Well it's a family reunion. I want to surprise mom and dad with us coming back, so while I'm getting them, you all can work on the party," Lincoln replied. Neither Lori nor Luna would have been able to gather up the entire family on their own. He guessed that they only could really surprise their parents with the news of them coming back.

"I suppose that's logical…" Lisa nodded, "However, I'm going to inject you with one of my accelerated cell regeneration syringes before you leave. It'll not heal you fully but it should at least help your eye sight."

"Alright… If you're sure it won't have any bad side effects," their brother did not want to imagine dealing with stuff he had never heard of before. But he agreed if only not to make himself look more beaten up.

"Don't worry! I've tested it loads of time!" Lynn calmed him down, having been a good test subject herself most of the time.

"I did too, and it didn't work. I only grew one tooth back and Lana only got her other back too," Lola stated, seeming disappointed, but still seemed thankful to have one of the teeth back. But for whatever reason, their other front teeth seemed to be unable to be replaced.

"I still don't feel safe around needles…" Lily murmured.

"Okay…" Lincoln was not too comforted by the mixed reactions to Lisa's invention. The car began to pull out of the parking lot. He lay back in his seat, trying to relax, but hoping that his lover and daughter were still healthy.

Ligala was finally unhooked from all the IVs and other machines. She felt a lot better after stretching. She looked down at her bandaged arm.

"It's going to take a lot of time to get used to this…" she murmured. She had only her thumb and index finger. She smiled, still happily believing she did the right thing.

"I'm just glad you won't have to spend any more time here. I'm really not a fan of hospitals," Luna stated. She feared with her lover that their daughter would be hospitalized for a lot longer, and after all the trouble that came from her birth, it did instill a slight terror in her heart.

"That makes two of us… It's really hard to make new friends when you're stuck in a hospital bed," Ligala giggled. The worst they would have to put up with was changing bandages once every second day.

"So we're waiting for dad to pick us up?" the teenage girl asked. Her rock star mother nodded while the two began to leave the hospital room. Her cousin had left with Lori and Bobby early this morning to help round up the Loud family.

"Yep! It'll be a long ride, but I think it'll be worth it," Luna nodded as the two passed through the waiting room. Snow was there, asleep in one of the larger chairs. Tagon was wide awake, he had been waiting for them this entire time.

"Uh, Ligala… You're being discharged?" Tagon chimed up, a little surprised. They had not gotten any news of this, but that might be because they were not known to be associated with her.

"Hm? Yeah! I'm getting to meet my family, finally… I really don't know what to expect," Ligala responded while her mother remained idle, still not entirely sure what to make of this pseudo-brute who was two years older than her daughter.

"You weren't just trying to help Luryn with what you did, were you?" Tagon inquired.

"You both needed help. You just didn't know it. I'm glad Luryn was able to help bring you to your senses. After all, I still have to make a friend out of you," Ligala gave an innocent smile and pointed to him. Her damaged arm began shaking again. She grabbed it to stop the trembling, trying her best to hide the agony.

"Don't worry, honey. The painkillers should kick in soon," Luna put a hand on her shoulder.

"Right…" Ligala nodded. To get her mother to relax and not worry so much, she feigned taking the painkillers. In reality, she had spat them into the trash can across the room when her mother's back was turned to get her water.

"You really want to be my friend…?" Tagon was unable to believe it, "You lost your arm nearly trying to undo my stupidity."

"You may have been a troublemaker, and you did punch me like one of your sandbags, but I'll always do my best to be your friend," Ligala exclaimed, "If I can't reach you through all that, then how can I expect to do anything in life? Friends and family are the keys to life, and I'm going to help make everyone's futures brighter! Because I know they'll make mine brighter too!"

Tagon could only stare at her, wide eyed. "You're sure brushing past that horrible moment I put you through with ease…"

"That's Ligala for you. Probably has the stupidest goals and desires with no real skills to speak of, but she has the strongest drive of any person in our school," snow spoke up, having awoken during that talk. Tagon reached up and gripped his chest.

"I'll do my best to make things up to you," Tagon nodded with a bright smile growing on his face, his heart feeling warm from their encounters. He still felt terrible for all he did, but he was more than ready to make it up to her.

"You already did. You're one of the people who led me to my family," Ligala bowed in thanks. Luna held her head.

"Who taught you that, and why do you think it's a normal way of thanks…?" Luna murmured. Her daughter seemed to have no shame with bowing traditionally. Snow walked up, grabbed her head and shoved her back up, making Ligala straighten up.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you look weird when you do that?" he tapped on her head with his knuckle as if he was expecting to hear a conk.

"I dunno…" Ligala shrugged, rubbing her head.

Luna chirped when she heard a digital noise. She looked at her cellphone. It displayed a text from Lincoln. "I'm here."

"Oh! Okay! I'll see you two later! Take care!" Ligala bid Snow and her new friend Tagon goodbye. She and her mother left with haste. The two teenage boys looked to each other.

"So… What now?"

"I'll help you get the jewelry back to your folks' store for ya. I know it must be a pain carrying all that in your pockets."

"Thanks, man. Really… I owe you two everything."

The two went on their own way, hoping their friend's reunion with her family would go well.

Lincoln waited in the car by the front entrance of the hospital with his window rolled down. He was happy to see his loved ones coming.

"Dad! I was worried something happened to you," Ligala greeted her father.

"Jeez, Lincoln, you look exhausted. Was it really that hard to round everyone up?" Luna asked while helping their child into the backseat, despite her insisting she was fine. Her mother helped put her seatbelt on.

"Stuff happened, but the hard part's done. Everything's fine now," Lincoln claimed, feeling a lot better since Lisa had injected him with that quick healing formula. It didn't do too much, but it was enough to let him keep going despite his body's tiredness.

"I was honestly expecting you to call me for help. I'm glad to know you and Lori were able to handle everything," Luna got into the passenger side. He began to drive away from the hospital, not wanting to be near it anymore. He had dealt with medical facilities enough to last a lifetime. The only hospital he wanted to be near was the animal hospital he worked in.

"I'm glad to know that too…" Lincoln turned to Ligala, "I'll go slow so I don't accidentally hurt your arm, alright honey?"

Ligala shook her head. "No way! Speed up! I can't wait to meet my aunts and grandparents!"

"You didn't even know you had any until yesterday," Luna chuckled, finding the eagerness heartwarming. She was just happy to know Ligala was not being shy.

"No way! I've already put up enough with the police when I was young, thanks to one of your aunts when I tried to help her learn to drive!"

"But I can't wait anymore! I might explode!"

"No you won't."

"Yes I will!"

"Nope."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

"And here I thought the hard part of the day was done with…" Lincoln groaned, trying to just suppress his ever growing anxiety to see their family again. He hoped the couple could give their parents a good surprise.

"Oof!" Ligala had to calm down when her arm began to tighten like her entire body was hurting. She kept quiet so her parents would not even consider turning around to go back to the hospital. She just hoped her aunts could distract her from the pain.

"I hope they aren't the huggy type of aunts..."

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Lynn?" Lisa questioned. The two were upstairs in their home, in her room. Both looked at a large wrapped box. They had not moved out, if only because they wanted to help take care of their parents. Lisa and Lola had moved into Luna and Luan's room.

"Hey, he didn't know it was in his trunk to begin with. I sure hope Ronnie Anne doesn't drop the ball," Lynn muttered. They relied on the Santiago girl for the real special treat of this reunion, though they knew how infuriated she was that they made their request at the last minute.

"How's your gift coming along?" they both heard a girl over by the doorway, with long black hair covering her eyes and running down her back. She was in a black and white striped dress and long socks as well.

"Done and done. How are the preparations going?" Lisa asked.

"Lori screwed up in the kitchen, so she's been stuck with babysitting. Leni and Luan took over, and everyone else is cleaning up the outside," Lucy explained. The house was most likely cleaner than it had been in the last year. The family did their best to clean things, but an old home was hard to keep up with.

"I'm just surprised some of you are making presents for Ligala…" Lynn claimed, "None of us know a thing about her! Are you sure she'd like them?"

"It's supposed to be the thought that counts, I believe," Lisa retorted. The three left the room to go downstairs. Lynn however knew their gift was meant for Lincoln's family, and not for only Ligala.

"Wow… I can smell everything from here," Lynn smiled as they stepped outside, seeing all the food placed out on a table that their family had worked hard to prepare. Lori was seated nearby, feeding Leeonko a little early since he had been hungry.

"The centerpiece is all that's missing," Lori smiled. She may be a bad cook, but good with organizing things to look pretty.

"What's the centerpiece supposed to be?" Luryn asked.

"Lynn and Lisa said they had it handled," her mother shrugged. She considered putting a picture of their family when they were all younger, but she knew it might give away the surprise.

"Hey! Can I and Bobby get some help? The front yard's okay but the back still needs some more work," Lana chimed up, her red cap damaged and her hair messy and stuck up from all the dirt in it. She was in a pair of dirty overalls from all the cleaning. She loved doing the grimiest work.

"I'm coming I can't do any heavy lifting though," Lynn said, her leg still not healed, but she could walk. Lucy followed to help Bobby and one of the two twins. The Santiago boy was perhaps working the hardest simply to please Lori.

"Lola's doing a perfect job distracting mom and dad," Lori stated. Lola had faked an existential crisis, pretending that coming in third had tore at her very soul because of the competition, so the Loud parents were trying to console her the best they could. The sisters had to inform Lucy and Lana about the reunion's reasoning. Otherwise they would have simply refused to come. This left just the Loud parents, Lynn Sr. and Rita themselves, unknowing of the reason behind it, and they had to make sure those two did not know yet.

"I got my present ready!" Lily cheerfully came out from the house, carrying her wrapped gift, the bow tied neatly on top

"Aw… that's really sweet, Lily," Lori gave a one armed hug to Lily, glad to see her overjoyed like this. It was actually great to be back home with nothing but a bright, shining aura of positivism radiating around it. This was the happiest the judge had seen her entire family in years.

"Hm? Is that…?" Luryn tilted her head upon seeing a silver colored car beginning to pull into the driveway. They knew it was not Lincoln's car, but the cheerleader captain had an idea who it was from familiarity alone.

"Man… talk about a long drive. My legs are killing me," Clyde stretched upon getting out of his car. He had more casual attire consisting of a blue and yellow colored shirt that had spiral patterns to it with a brown jacket on top.

"Principal McBride?!"

"Clyde? That's seriously you?!" Lori gawked, as surprised as her daughter. Luan's adopted son began giggling upon seeing their faces.

"I'll make myself scarce," Lisa headed off back inside to go help Leni and Luan with the cooking.

"Hey there… You can just call me Clyde here, Luryn, we're off school premises," Clyde gave a gentle wave back. They saw the passenger side door open up, and a young, tan-skinned women stepped out.

"Yay! You came!" Lily ran up and hugged her. Her long black hair was done back into a ponytail, and she donned a purple shirt top and jeans.

"'Course I came. I'm an aunt too, y'know," Ronnie Anne gently returned the hug. As luck would have it, she, like her brother, started to work more jobs than they needed to, and it was all because she could do it. She was unsure how, as well.

"I'm Lincoln's bro first. Luryn and Ligala's principal second," Clyde laughed, the two going to the back of the car to open the trunk a few decent sized boxes rested inside of it. The two of them worked together to carefully get the first out.

"Where do you want us to set this down?" Ronnie Anne inquired, Lori pointing to the table.

"Center of the table. Leave the cover on top of it. I want it to be a good surprise," the short blonde haired woman declared. Luryn and Lily went to help with carry the surprisingly heavy box. They assumed this is what happened when they had a family as big as theirs.

"Whew… there's the first part of it. Now to get the next two bits from the back," Clyde was relieved to know that each box was lighter than the last, but they would pile up on the table in a stack after a while.

"Oh hey! You showed up!" Lynn called out happily. She had come at the sound of the car entering the driveway. She expected it to be their brother, but to see Ronnie Anne and Clyde instead relieved her. The two were on time, too.

"Hey there, little sis!" Bobby waved, following behind the sports lover, his arms open and offering a hug. Instead, Ronnie Anne shoved a box in his hands to add onto the stack for the table.

"Nice to see you too, Bobby," she huffed a sigh of relief, glad to get the weight out of her arms. She never expected to be at a family reunion that was bigger than her family's. Lori tried her best to suppress her laughter at seeing the two's interactions.

"Mom! Dad! They're here!" Luryn called out. Lily grew more eager each passing moment. They could see the all too familiar car coming down the road.

"Looks like just in time too," Lori was relieved. They had finished getting all of the preparations set up. "Alright, go get everyone. We'll give them one Loud family welcome."

"Yes, ma'am!" Lynn nodded, going off to fetch the rest of their family, letting the others stay there. The car came to a halt along the sidewalk.

"I never thought I'd come back here," Luna yawned, getting out from the passenger seat, looking at the home.

"Luna!" Lily ran over, practically tackling the rock star sister.

"Oof! Easy there, Lily… I'm not as young as I used to be," the rock loving Loud returned the hug. She was happy to see how much their youngest sister had grown. She was eager to see their whole family.

"Nice to see you guys again," Lincoln greeted Clyde and Ronnie Anne upon seeing the two. He was not too surprised that they would show up to this reunion.

"Lookin' good as always, Lame-o," Ronnie Anne smiled, playfully punching his arm. He guessed that no matter how old, she would always be his bully.

"A little worse for wear, but can't say I'm not surprised," Clyde chuckled, Lincoln giving his best friends a tight hug in response. Lori and Bobby found it sweet to see. They were glad those three had been able to remain great friends since their youth, despite the hardships that once threatened to crush it.

"Principal McBride? You're part of my family?" Ligala stepped out from the back of the car, confused why her principal was here. She felt like she knew the Santiago woman though.

"Haha! I like to think of myself as an uncle of yours. I've been your father's bro for a long time," the principal adjusted his glasses before ending the embrace, "I'm glad to see you out of the hospital in one piec- WHOA?!"

"What the hell happened to her…?" Ronnie Anne was at a loss for words.

"Ligala?" Lily looked her niece over worriedly. Ligala stood there with her bandaged arm, confused. It took her a moment to realize why they were surprised. Lori, Luryn and Bobby kept quiet, deciding to just make sure Leeonko was alright. Thankfully the baby boy did not seem to be startled.

"Oh, this?" Ligala held up her bandaged covered limb, "It's nothing. I stuck my hand in a campfire to help get Luryn's locket back."

"I feel bad about it already, but can you at least pretend that it was a bigger deal than you make it out to be?!" Luryn had the locket dangling around her neck on a new chain. It was not much but it was enough for her.

"But it's not a big deal… I'm here to meet my family. I don't want this to be all about me," Ligala responded. To her cousin, for some reason, it felt like a deep cut to her heart. Seeing someone so happy to not care about themselves made her cringe.

"Well you're gonna get a good bit of attention, trust me," Lincoln warned his daughter, rubbing her head and messing up her hair slightly.

"Um… Ligala… do you remember me?" Lily sheepishly inquired. Ligala tried to think back but she was familiar

"I've seen someone that looked a lot like you in some of my dreams… they were just me as a baby being rocked by someone in an old chair," Ligala responded. Lori felt a little insulted about that since all she was remembered from were nightmares, but she was not too surprised that Lily was remembered more favorably.

"I'm glad you're all back," the youngest Loud gave her niece a hug, trying her best not to accidentally hurt her injured limb.

"Oh no! They are the huggy type! They are the huggy type of aunts!" Ligala squealed. Lincoln and Luna laughed a little. They knew their family would be careful with her and avoid causing any pain.

"Whoa! That food looks delicious…" Lincoln commented, seeing the giant table prepared with a long variety of various favorites of the families.

"Why's the ground shaking…?" Ligala worriedly asked, swearing that she felt the ground rumble a little.

"You're about to experience your first Loud stampede," Lori warned her niece. Luryn was already hiding. Lincoln and Luna sighed, just getting ready for the giant welcome home.

"My first what?"

As was predicted but before she could get an answer, they saw the whole family rushing out of the house to mob Ligala.

"Ligala! Wow you've grown up so much!"

"What happened to your arm?!"

"Oh, I don't care how much you're missing! It's so great to see you again!"

"I didn't think it'd cost you an 'arm' and a leg to get here!"

"That was just terrible, Luan, in all senses of the word."

Lincoln, Luna, Lori, Bobby, Clyde, Ronnie Anne and Luryn just watched the joyous mobbing. Doubting they should or could participate.

"Lincoln? Luna?"

"Is that really you…?"

The Loud parents stood outside the front door with Lola and Lynn having escorted them out. The Loud parents looked barely aged, aside from more wrinkles and a little less hair.

"Hey, mom and dad…" Lincoln nervously replied, "It's been a while."

"It's great to see you both again," Luna warmly stated. Their parents brought their long gone children into tight hugs.

"I never thought we'd see you again…!" Rita sobbed, her head resting on Luna's shoulder. The rock star was caught off guard by how emotional their mother was now, but she really couldn't blame her after what they had done.

"Son, you've really become a man since I last saw you," Lynn Sr. smiled, proud to see their son.

"You should see one of my co-workers. He's big enough to wrestle cows," Lincoln laughed jokingly. The Loud parents had just assumed their family were setting up a surprise reunion for the two of them, and they were overjoyed to be half wrong.

"Where's Ligala? Is she with you?" the mother Loud requested. Their rock star daughter pointed a thumb to the happy crowd behind them.

"She's meeting her aunts… in an interesting way," Luna said. Lori sighed before bringing her fingers up to her mouth and letting out a loud whistle, making them all stop.

"Alright, calm down, everyone. They should be the first to talk to their granddaughter," the eldest Loud sister ordered. Everyone understood and immediately cleared out, seeming apologetic for how over excited they were.

"Uh… hi," Ligala approached her grandparents, a bit shaken up and overwhelmed from everything.

"Is that really you, Ligala?" Rita asked. Seeing her right arm was a bit scary for her grandparents.

"What happened to your arm…?" Lynn Sr. hesitantly inquired.

"I burnt three of my fingers off saving Luryn's locket," Ligala answered with a hum to her tone. She was beginning to get tired of having to explain this to everyone, and didn't want Luryn to be feeling apologetic about it all day.

"Yeah… It's been a rough day and a half," Lincoln claimed. Their grandparents did not even harp on the topic. They wanted to treat today as a happy moment in their life.

"Come on! We worked hard to prepare all this food, so let's enjoy it!" Leni exclaimed. The table lined with food had been tempting everyone long enough.

"We have a lot to tell you guys," Luna claimed. They did want to fill them in about the events of these last thirteen years.

"Well, let's get to it then," Ronnie Anne smirked.

"Of course!" Lincoln nodded.

"…so I've become an animal helper, and that's really hit or miss. It pays well though," Lincoln had finished explaining to their family all that they had been up to this last decade. He had already heard all of his family's tales during the roundup for each of their sisters.

"And Ligala's already been living up to our last name," Luna looked over to the other side of the table, where Ligala could be seen eating away at a hamburger. Luryn and Lola were trying to get her to eat cleanly, but it seemed the taste buds had overwhelmed her brain.

"Ow! Still not used to that…" Ligala tried to grab the ketchup with her injured hand, only to have to drop the condiment instantly when her arm started throbbing in pain over one mere twitch.

"Oh… was that your good arm?" Leni worriedly asked.

"I don't know, actually," Ligala shrugged. She never paid much mind to which hand was better. They both got used equally. It just seemed to depend on which one was more suited to the situation in terms of convenience.

"How do you not even know which is your better hand?" Luryn asked, staring at her in partial disbelief, "Do you know anything about yourself?"

"I know a little bit about myself, but I'm more interested in my friends," Ligala told her cousin. Luryn groaned, planting her face into her salad in frustration. Everyone beyond her parents were unaware of how dull Ligala was to rhetorical questions. Lori rubbed her daughters back in reassurance.

"She's grown well. You two have turned out to be great parents," Rita complimented her children. The sibling couple, however, was not too sure if they did a good job or not. Lincoln felt that he failed his part of parenthood for letting his daughter lose half of her hand, and Luna was not too sure about her status as mother due to how Ligala acted mentally stranger than others.

"Come on you two. She's healthy and with a bright smile on her face," Lynn Sr. reassured them, "That's all that matters to family, right?"

"Thanks, dad. Sorry for surprising you with this, but I felt like we owed you it," Lincoln apologized. He felt it was a poor idea to give giant surprises to the middle-aged.

"Oh no, we're more than happy just knowing you all are back… It's really nice to see my babies all grown up. Fate really is a mysterious worker," Rita rubbed his head. Lincoln nodded, not able to deny how fate tended to be funny.

"The girl our daughter tried to befriend for a long time turned out to be Lori and Bobby's daughter… fate took its toll, huh?" Luna chuckled, still finding it unbelievable, but she was more overjoyed at the realization that she could personally share her music with her family again.

"Fate is one of many things I was praying for from my dark overlords," Lucy was unsure if all those rituals paid off or not, but as long as her wish came true, she did not care if it was that or blind luck.

"Say, what's with that joystick around your neck? They stopped using stuff that sturdy for arcade machines a long time ago," Lana asked, interested. They stopped using the material about two years before Ligala was born. She knew this fact after learning from the game addicts that lived in the basement of the apartment complex that she took care of. She had helped them repair them a hundred times by now.

"It does suit you," Clyde complimented, "It sticks out like a sore thumb, kind've."

"Dad and Mom gave me it when I was five! It's supposed to be my key to me! I can always rely on it when I'm worried! It feels like they're there holding my hand whenever I grip it!" Ligala proudly answered, holding it gently. She did not care to remove it from her necklace. Everyone found that response sweet, a clear sign that her parents had given her an item to treasure throughout her life, even in the toughest of times.

"I wanted to be sure she had something to rely on," Lincoln nodded, glad that he had been able to pick right. During his days spent learning how to become a veterinarian, he had found a broken down arcade cabinet for a beloved childhood game of his. He took the joystick from it, hoping it could bring good luck to his daughter who now wore it. She practically fell in love with it like it was a heavenly toy when she first got it.

"So do you have something you want to do when you get older?" Luan asked, she was holding Leeonko and feeding him mashed potatoes, not minding sharing with him.

Ligala held her head, thinking on that a moment. "…Nothing!"

"Oh… you don't know?" Leni sadly replied, confused if she had a dream or desire for her future or not.

"Nope! I want to be nothing. I just want to do what I can to make friends," Ligala claimed. Lincoln and Luna felt their family's confuses gazes set on them.

"I don't think making friends is a job… Do you mean, like, meeting a lot of people?" Lori tried to understand, despite Luryn insisting not to. She already knew the answer and did not want it repeated to her ears.

"Nope. Dad told me the true keys to life are friends and family… so that's why I have to make friends with everybody in my school and everyone I meet in this world!" Ligala exclaimed, proudly oblivious to her bright expression and her eager eyes looking ready to explode in glee.

"That's… wow…" Lily was unsure what to say to her niece, "That's a lot of work… I can't imagine managing more than twenty friends…"

"She really is crazier than her dad," Ronnie Anne commented, Bobby laughing in agreement.

"Talk about a 'worldwide' dream," Luan laughed, giving a light clap for the goal.

"Well, she may be crazy, but at least she is a… moderately decent student," Clyde's compliment wavered partially, but as long as she did not cause trouble for his school, he would be fine with it.

"That sounds like a really sweet goal!" Leni smiled, applauding the motivation, "As long as it works for her, why judge her?"

"That's literally why you lost some of your fingers…" Lori groaned. Now she knew how her daughter found it insane.

"I suppose you need little reason to befriend someone…" Lisa adjusted her glasses, "However, I can safely assume your priorities are far out of order. You'll never know the person by heart until you do. I can barely tolerate half of my own co-workers…"

"It's hard to perform a ritual alone. The dark lord bonds bind those that are loyal," Lucy said, slightly creeping everyone out despite the efforts to ignore the comment.

"I think it's pretty cool," Lana supported it, with a grin on her face, "Getting to know so many people sounds like a lotta fun! Maybe I should try it sometime…?"

"There's a reason nobody gets along behind the stage during a beauty pageant," Lola rolled her eyes with her arms crossed. She swore that she felt Lily's unforgiving glare on her, that made Lola nervously sweat.

"I think I make friends with everybody I fight… It's kind of hard to tell past the bruises," Lynn admitted, beginning to wonder how her MMA relationships actually fared up.

"I'm not repeating myself," Luryn huffed. She had already expressed her hate for that mindset after her personal guilt.

"What can I say? That's our daughter," Luna grinned proudly.

"And she's why we're here now," Lincoln wrapped his hand around Luna's.

"Talk about a go-getter!" Lynn Sr. Was happy to just be able to see his granddaughter and children again. He was paranoid that he would have expired long before the time came.

"Living up to the Loud name," Rita nodded.

"Well before we dig into the real treat, how about we open the presents? Some of us got a few ready for you guys," Lynn offered. It sounded fine to the sibling couple. They almost knew what was on the center of the table under the boxes.

"Alright, but I hope you're not trying to spoil my daughter… Me and Luna have an announcement to make too, afterwards," Lincoln joked with that same smile. Luna shook her head at the bad joke, but couldn't resist a grin. She was, however, anxious for their announcement. She wondered how he was able to stay calm.

"These are gifts for your whole family," Lisa assured as a few of their family members went to round up the welcome back presents.

"Why am I both excited and scared?" Ligala asked her parents, for some reason feeling uncomfortable.

"Sorry," Lincoln spoke up, "It's normal for our family, honey, whether the person likes it or not."

"Just wait 'til your birthday," Luna smirked, "You'll be really scared then!"

Ligala gulped, worried. Normally she would enjoy new feelings, but this was a rare exception. She knew nothing of her family beyond the basic things after all.

"So… can I ask you something, Ronnie Anne?" Lincoln asked as they waited for the rest of their family to bring out the welcome back presents.

"What's on your mind, Lame-o?" Ronnie Anne nodded, leaned back in her seat. She rested her hot dog down, a bit annoyed to be interrupted before she could eat.

"How come you never told us about Luryn? Y'know you and Clyde are the only two we really kept in touch with, but this time you never mentioned anything."

"Isn't it obvious, Lincoln? You and Luna were trying to forget about your family, and I knew bringing them up would do nothing but upset you," Ronnie Anne explained, apologetic but standing by her choice, "I didn't want to distract two people who had to save animals and give the world their music."

"Thanks for caring for my parents, Auntie Anne… they try too hard to keep things from me sometimes," Ligala bowed to Ronnie Anne, gaining more weird looks that made the Santiago feel embarrassed.

"How much anime do you let this kid watch? Seriously, I feel weird!" Ronnie Anne asked her ex-boyfriend and his sibling lover.

"She doesn't really care for television. I tried to let her see the old things I used to like, and she just never cared for manga or anime," Lincoln responded. He used to love those things when he was a kid alongside comic books, but times changed and he rarely cared to give them a gloss over anymore.

"But she loves music. Though she's more of a listener than a player," Luna added, remembering all the times she played music to help put their only daughter to sleep when she was younger. It always made her daughter's heart feel warm and fuzzy.

"That's not true! I'm great with the symbols!" Ligala responded to her mother.

"Gets a good bit of practice by scaring other students awake. That's for sure," Clyde shook his head, but was unable to argue that she had a lot of practice with the instrument.

"Alright! That's all of them!" Leni announced, resting the last of the three presents down. They had to be careful with the biggest present of all.

"You sure you want us to open these before desert?" Luna asked, seeing how everyone looked more eager for dessert more, rude as it may be.

"Go ahead. It's not like it's Christmas size," Rita insisted. The Loud parents knew how full the living room got with presents during Christmas. Just another side effect of having such a big family.

"Alright, well let's start with this one first. It's from Leni, Lola and Lily," Lynn picked up the smallest present, tossing it to her brother. He caught it with ease.

"That gift is more for Ligala," Lola apologized. The three had worked hard to get it ready in such a short time. The veterinarian handed the gift to his daughter to let her open it.

"Do you need help opening it?" Luryn offered, but her cousin shook her head.

"I still have one good hand and buckteeth. I can open it just fine," Ligala retorted not enjoying being treated as handicapped just for having one arm injured. She began to rip the package apart.

"Hm? It's a coat?" the teenage girl pulled a coat from the box. It had a vibrant, light golden color to it with stars going over the shoulder and all around the coat.

"Sorry, sorry! I know it seems mean!" Leni whimpered, feeling profusely bad for giving her an item meant for her arms, only after she burned one of them.

"Talk about reflective… If someone shines a flashlight on me, the whole city might get blinded," Ligala joked. She was unable to slip her arms through the sleeves. She opted instead to simply drape the coat over herself and let it hang on by her shoulders.

"Thanks a lot! I like it a ton,"

"No problem!" Lily hummed. She, Leni and Lola were more than happy to have their gift liked for at least its great quality.

"This here's from me, Luan and Lana. You can open it Lincoln," Lucy handed over the next, slightly bigger gift. Lincoln immediately tore the wrapping paper off of it and opened it.

"Huh?" Luna just saw three empty picture frames of various sizes inside.

"Is this a joke?" Lincoln asked, confused.

"No, we worked hard to make them for you!" Lana responded, "Sorry if they're bad. One hands still really sore."

"It was Luan's idea. We went with it because it sounded good," Lucy claimed. The sibling couple looked to their sisterly pun machine.

"I figured you wanted picture frames big enough for our family photos to go in! Because I know by the end of this reunion, we're going to have tons of them to pick from!" Luan exclaimed happily, while bouncing her adoptive son on her knee, hearing him giggle in joy.

"Oh, I get it now! Thanks a lot," Ligala thanked her aunts. Lori felt bad that the only gift she could really give was the help of rounding up their family members, despite being the main reason this reunion was happening technically. Some of the Loud sisters had no present to offer, but their family did not mind.

"Alright! Time for the big one! You three can open this one together!" Lynn eagerly announced. Her niece and siblings were confused by how energetic she was over this big present.

"Okay, Lynn, relax. You look like you're about to burst a vein," Lisa insisted. The present's tag read that it was from the two of them.

"Uhh…?" the rock star Loud, upon ripping the first layer of paper and pulling the box off, found another wrapped box in it.

"Seriously? You guys did this and not Luan?" Lincoln groaned, not amused. His sisters didn't respond. The three of them opened that box, and then the next one. It continued on until the big present became only a quarter of its size.

"I'm not cleaning all that wrapping paper up," Rita stated. Lynn Sr half-expected this kind of present, but was still annoyed by the mess it made.

"Come on, you're so close!" Lynn encouraged her tired siblings.

"I understand the joke, but seriously? Twenty boxes all wrapped?!" Luna was in awe at how dedicated they had been to this.

"Well, the harder one has to work to get to their reward, the better it tends to be," Lisa said. The many holes each box had thankfully made it easy to tear into the wrapping paper. Ligala crouched down, tearing open the last of the boxes.

"Oh, my, god!" Ligala squealed. She saw a tiny cage containing a beagle dog that looked barely two weeks old. The puppy barked, pleasured to be outside again.

"Wicked! A dog!" Luna was as happy as her daughter with this present.

"Wow… you went through all the trouble to get us this little fella?" Lincoln asked. His sisters looked joyous to see them just as so.

"Jaikun was working in the mall you went to when getting Lola and Lily," Lynn explained, "we made a special trip while you were asleep and snuck him into the trunk of your car. In a sense, it's his gift as well."

"That more than explains all the holes in the boxes," Lincoln nodded. He watched as Ligala held the beagle in her one arm, laughing as the eager puppy began licking her face.

"Lucky you. Mom doesn't think we'd be able to take care of a pet…" Luryn murmured.

"Does he have a name?" Lori asked, not hesitating to begin taking about a dozen pictures with her cellphone.

"They said his name was Rebound because he kept bouncing off the other dogs like they were trampolines," Lisa claimed. The reasoning made little sense to her. But once an animal was named, it tended to be hard to change that name since they adapted to it as soon as they received it.

"Rebound! I love him so much! Thank you, aunt Lynn and aunt Lisa!" Ligala laughed, falling onto her back when the puppy leapt out of her arms to tackle her. The MMA pro and scientist could safely assume if their niece could, she would bow to them in thanks as well.

"Don't mention it! Maybe he can help you make friends?" Lynn joked.

"Well," Lisa adjusted her glasses, "cute things tend to make for an excellent conversation starter."

"Calm down little guy," Lily told the dog, coming over and helping her niece up, taking Rebound off her.

"And I thought Ligala was an endless supply of energy," Lincoln sighed, guessing he would look weird as a veterinarian who didn't have a pet.

"But he'll be a great addition to the family," Luna patted her lover's back. Ronnie Anne and Clyde stood up.

"How about we enjoy the desert now?" Ronnie Anne offered as the two friends grabbed the boxes, taking them off at the same time. From which it prominently revealed a rather large cake with a big sign made out of cookie dough on top of it, reading 'Welcome Back!' Everyone looked at it in awe.

"I think my diet just got sabotaged… and I'm okay with that!"

"After the long day today cake sounds pretty good."

"The last time I had cake was at Leeonko's birthday party."

"Good thing I'm my own personal trainer. I can judge myself for eating this later!"

"Well, I suppose I need something sweet to balance out my sugar levels."

"I haven't had cake in nearly two years! Start cutting it already!"

"I'll cut it!"

"No, I will!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Wow, you two have quite the 'sweet' tooth."

"…I missed you too, Luan."

"Hey, uh…! Before you all make a bigger mess than those boxes did, we have an announcement, remember?" Lincoln stopped the almost ensuing chaos. Everyone froze on the spot.

Rita sighed in relief. "Thank you for stopping the mess, even if it's just for a minute."

"What is it you two have to announce?" Lynn Sr asked. The rock star Loud held his hand, trying to give one another comfort.

"So… We've decided something important. It took me a long time, but I was finally able to convince Lincoln to agree," Luna began, wanting her significant other to continue. She wanted to put his calm demeanor to the test.

"We're going to have another baby," Lincoln finished for her. Everyone stared at them in silence. Ronnie and Clyde could practically sense the surprise overwhelming them all.

"I swear, you're just trying to make sure our kids are similar in age," Lori lightly laughed.

"Well, that's great, dude!" Bobby clapped his hands.

"Yay! Congratulations!" Leni squealed, "Now I get to make more baby clothes again! I loved doing it for Luryn and Ligala! Now I have an excuse to do it more, thanks to Leeonko and these new babies on the way!"

"I knew you couldn't keep it in your pants that long," Ronnie Anne grinned.

"Congrats! Try not to let this one get as crazy as your daughter," Clyde smirked, Ligala was not sure if her principal was insulting her or not.

"Oh, 'baby', looks like you'll have a lot more friends soon, Leeonko," Luan hummed. She could hear her son laugh when his foot got tickled as if he was giving his own congratulations to them.

"Damn it, everyone's trying to set off my maternal itch…" Lynn rubbed her neck nervously. She had wanted a child of her own as well these last few years, but had no plans to until she found the right man for herself.

"I'll do a lot more good luck rituals to make sure this goes smoothly," Lucy promised. As odd as it sounded, at least these cult rituals were of good intentions. She had plenty of dark children by the younger members of the cult.

"Man, I can be a millionaire with this much babysitting," Lana grinned. Living in a big apartment complex, a lot of babies were around and a lot of people needed help. It seemed a side source of income to her.

"Maybe if it's a girl, I'll give them my old tiara like a hand-me-down?" Lola looked down to the tiara dangling around her wrist for a good luck charm. She felt like it failed her a lot lately.

"I'll gladly offer medical aid to you if you so desire?" Lisa offered, just like for Luna's last pregnancy. Lincoln was comforted to hear it again, and his sisterly lover even felt more relieved with that news.

"I had enough trouble trying to be the best aunt for Ligala… I hope it's a lot easier this time," Lily sighed, not wanting to remember those stressful days from her youth.

"I'll try and make sure the kids safe, but Ligala's kind of my priority. I do owe her a lot," Luryn stated. Ligala looked to her confusedly, holding the eager beagle puppy.

"Well congratulations, you two! I kind of expected you to have another child before we saw you again," Rita explained.

"Just hope you don't have your old man's luck," Lynn Sr told their son. The Loud parents treated this like their second chance to be supportive of their children's incestuous actions. They did not agree with it, but there was no reversing it. They wanted to focus on returning to a normal, happy family, even if they were split apart a tad.

"Thanks everyone!" Luna smiled, "It's great to know we're not alone for this… I've been really sick of stressing Lincoln out."

"Don't worry about it Luna. It's never stress if it's to help you. But we owe you all a lot, especially for the warm welcome back," Lincoln added. He clapped his hands together.

"Now let's dig into that cake!"

"Yeah!"

"Finally!"

"I'm starved!"

"About time!"

"Guess you hit everyone in the 'sweet' spot today."

"Just cut the cake already."

Ligala was happy to see her family all in glee. But before she could sit down to join them, Rebound jumped out of her arms and onto the table, running straight for the cake and diving right into it.

"Wha-!?"

"The cake! Nooooo!"

"Bad dog!"

"I think it's in my eye!"

"I think it's in my hair…"

"Not my pageant dress!"

"Well I'll be 'doggone'!"

"PUNS ARE NOT HELPING!"

Ligala's eyeballs almost popped out as the family tried to stop the dog from its food rampage. Lincoln and Luna looked embarrassed. Their daughter looked at her family and the ensuing chaos, a bright grin showing on her face.

"I'm going to be great friends with them all! …even if I have my work cut out for me with a baby sibling on the way!"

"Do you always talk to yourself?" Luryn asked.

"Yeah! I got it from dad," her cousin nodded, holding her joystick, her smile only brightening. She then grabbed her cousin's arm. "Come on! Let's go join in the mess!"

"Wa-wait, what?! No, please!" Luryn panicked, "This is my favorite, uhh… my favorite pants! Yeah! Please stop! No! Noooooooo!"

There was a crash, and Ligala's maniacal laughter. And did that Loud have a lot of fun, too.

"I love my family!"