A/N Hey guys! I'm back, and this time I'm tackling a story idea I've been working on for a while now. I saw the abundance of stories trying to deal Lincoln being adopted, and decided, "How could I make something different?" And this is the result! I hope you guys enjoy!

R&R!

Chapter One: Finding A Hope

"Almost there…" The young boy whispers, as he pulls himself to eye-level with the kitchen cabinet. Despite the pain he feels, he manages to hold himself up. "Come on…" he gazes into the cabinet.

And finds nothing of value.

His heart sinks and a pained frown forms on his face. "Dangit." he loosens his grip and drops to the kitchen counter below. He sighs, "There's nothing here…" before jumping down to the floor and scanning the room once more.

Early morning moonlight filters through the dusty kitchen windows, its soft light falling upon the young boy, illuminating his white hair and torn orange shirt. "Come on Lincoln, there has to be something you're missing…"

"Got it!" He snaps his fingers and turns around. His heart races even faster as he runs over to the nearby fridge. The old thing is small and slightly rusted with random magnets strewn about its metal face, no doubt placed there by the resident's children. To many, it would pose no significance; after all, it's nothing more than a refrigerator!

Yet, to the boy it's like a present just waiting to be opened. He quickly takes hold of the bottom handle and pulls, expecting something to happen- whether it be food falling out or some mistake causing him to open it too hard and make a sound. Yet, nothing does, much to his relief.

"Phew…" He takes a quick look through the contents. From what he can see, the fridge is filled from wall-to-wall with a random assortment of uncooked foods, raw meats and fish, as well as some milk and leftover orange juice.

"For the kids… I'm doing this for the kids… and if we ever decide to leave, Liberty too." Lincoln takes a deep breath, "…I wish I didn't have to do this…"

He quietly grabs the juices and milk, as well some of the random snacks that were behind them, shoving them in his light-blue satchel. "It's not much, but it's better than nothing." Then, he slings the bag over his shoulder, before sneaking though the home. Within minutes, he climbs the old wooden stares with a care only displayed by ghosts. "Don't make a sound Lincoln, you don't need the family bursting through again and going back to Ms. Paradigm's. Remember, you don't want Liberty to cry right? You gotta stay quiet."

Soon enough, he reaches the second floor, an L-shaped hallway with four doors. Above the stairway is a small, open window; its clear panel allowing soft moonlight to enter, illuminating the room.

The young boy's heart begins to race as he approaches the first room and turns the knob slowly. "Locked…"

He gives a defeated sigh before leaning his ear on the door, from the sounds of shuffling and slapping, he could continue relatively unimpeded for a few minutes at the very least.

With that in mind, he turns and continues down the dark hallway's railing, over to the second door. Unlike the first, this bedroom door opens.

"Jackpot." He thinks, as he opens the room door slowly, careful as not to disturb the bedroom's lone resident. He spends a short moment gazing inside, mentally preparing for what he was about to do.

The room, unlike most of the rest of the home, has a dark blue carpet. Oddly enough, the walls appear to be a dark pink-hue while the cabinets and dressers the rest around the room's perimeter are a mixture of white, brown and grey.

"Let's see what I can do here." The young boy thinks, his heart racing and his veins filling with adrenaline as he steps forward, entering the room with a ghostly silence, "There has got to be something I can take before I leave."

Lincoln steps over the carpet quietly; making sure that his movements would go on in peace. He silently scans the open room for anything of interest. From what he could see, there is nothing of value, some comic books, a few picture frames, some action figures and the like.

"Man, I wish this were easier." He silently walks over and checking the cabinets. With a careful grace, he slowly opens each drawer, hoping that the metal racks wouldn't give his nightly deed away.

In the first two, he finds nothing of interest. Though for a moment, he considers grabbing the clothes and packing them in his satchel, "No… they'll wonder where I got these."

Then he moves onto the third, and opens it up. While expecting to find more clothing, smiles in delight as he finds a phone, a small wallet some Duel Monsters cards and a few power cables.

"Awesome…" He thinks, a mixture of shame and pride beginning to fill his body, "Looks like I'm not going to come home empty handed after all. I may not be able to bring home a lot of food directly, but at least I'll have a little money…"

He sighs, before unfolding the pouch and eyeing the contents quickly- a few gift cards, a state I.D. that is too dark and small to read and a few dollars in cash. "Heh, five bucks huh? Well, it's better than nothing."

For a moment, he eyes the cards, but eventually shakes his head, "There's no need for it Lincoln. I can't use credit cards and stuff like that. And if I'm caught with them I'll just end up having to give them back." He sighs before eyeing the expensive devices next to it, "Hmm… I could always try to sell… No Lincoln, bad idea."

He sighs once more, before standing up… causing him to come face-to-face with one of the many picture frames placed around the room.

For a moment, the young boy hesitates, unsure if he should continue or take a break; after all, he was burning moonlight! Yet, even he cannot resist the temptation and takes the frame in his hand.

Despite the darkness surrounding him, the moonlight is more than enough to illuminate the picture. It is Christmas in the photo with two men standing to the right of an Evergreen Tree and a young, dark-skinned boy standing between them.

He looks down and begins to tear up as he places the object back in its resting place, he sniffles, "I can't believe it's been over five years since that day…" He then turns and looks out into the early morning sky. "Well Lincoln, another morning's work's done I guess…" He sighs, "Liberty isn't gonna be happy, but we do what we must to make life just a bit easier."

"Uhh… who are you?" A young voice asks.

Immediately, Lincoln's eyes go wide. "Dangit."

"And why are you in my room?" The voice continues.

Slowly, he turns around. His heart races faster than ever before, the only sound the boy can hear is that of his shuffling feet and heavy breathing. In the darkness of the room, all he can see is the dark silhouette of a boy with curly black hair. The room smells of nervous sweat, while the air tastes like salt.

The next moment seems to slow down, as if the world itself holds its breath as the young boy shouts, "Dad and dad! Help!"

Immediately, Lincoln thinks, "I messed up!" Before he turns and rushes for the door… only to find two men standing before it, one light-skinned with orange hair and a slightly pudgy, dark-skinned one.

"I can't get caught!" Lincoln grits his teeth, before turning quickly. With only seconds to act, he checks the scene once more, "There's my out!"

And with that out in mind, he rushes forward before jumping on the bed and climbing out the window.

"Hey! Stop!" The shorter man calls out, anger and determination filling his expression.

"What were you doing in our son's room?!" The lighter-skinned man asks.

Lincoln looks back in hesitation, "Should I? It's my only shot to get out of here… But… If I do this wrong I might not…" He grits his teeth, "No Lincoln, no time for fear. You have to get back to the orphanage on your own. You can't have the cops bring you or else it's reform, military or juvie." Then he looks down, "And all three would break Liberty's heart."

He secures his bag, "I've got one shot."

His eyes shut, "No hesitation."

And with that, he leans forward and falls.

In that instant, his mind races, as if it is trying to contemplate what the sweet release of death feels like…

Only for him to land in a puddle of still-wet mud.

"I'm… I'm still alive?" He whispers while feeling his body in surprise, before he pulls himself from the moist earth.

"I'm calling the cops!" The red-haired man declares, his angry voice cutting through the night like a knife.

"And that's my cue!" Lincoln thinks, before he attempts to stand… only to feel shooting pain in his ankle, causing him to fall to the ground, "Ugh." He groans, "I don't have time for this!" He pulls himself from the mud once more, and with a slight limp, he makes his way out into the backyard and hops the back fence.

Yet, he doesn't rest. Despite the pain he continues onward; through the second yard and out into the front, reaching the road on the other end. He doesn't bother to check for oncoming cars while he crosses the street. Then, he enters another yard, rounds another house, hops another fence and moves on.

Finally, after close to twenty minutes of limp running, he stops and drops to the ground.

"I should be in the clear for now." Lincoln whispers as he leans back against the trunk of an oak tree, "I wonder what Liberty's going to say this time. I can't walk that well on a bum leg."

Then, he tiredly leans forward and rolls up his right pant leg, "Ok." He whispers, "Let's see how bad it is…" His thoughts begin to race as his eyes fall upon the injury, "Dangit… I can't let Mrs. Sherman see this!"

From what the boy can see his leg is fine, save for the cuts, bruises and scars he usually had. Yet, his ankle is a different story.

While not broken, it is swollen and would remain so for short while to come. "Well this is just great…" Lincoln sighs in defeat, "Well… at least it could be worse." He sits up straight, and takes off the bag, "At least I'm not coming home empty-handed."

"But how am I going to hide…" He glances at his surroundings and spots a lone tree branch, waiting for someone to claim it. Immediately, the boy crawls over and takes it in hand, "It's nothing special, but it's still better than trying to walk on this right now."

Using the branch as crutch, he forces himself up and starts moving, the shooting pain in his ankle now held at bay. "Heh, if I'm lucky I can make it back before breakfast."

It takes him a few painful seconds to reach the end of the block and a few more to reach the main town's outskirts. Royal Woods, of course, is a quaint town in Michigan. Like many of its kind, it suffers from its fair share of problems, from the potholes that the mayor always seemed to forget about to the cracked sidewalks that Lincoln has to walk over.

Yet he is used to this long trip, after all, he's had to run it countless times before!

Eventually, despite his injury, he reaches the inner town outskirts where a familiar building rests, waiting for the first customers of the day to arrive, "Heh," Lincoln smiles, a nostalgic feeling filling his body, "I remember the Christmas Mr. Sherman took us to shop there… The Royal Woods mall was amazing." Then he sighs, "That was three years ago, or something."

The boy is so lost in his thoughts that he doesn't realize when he steps into the mall driveway.

Immediately, a car horn goes off, causing him to stumble back in shock as a blue and white van with a glassy-second layer passes by.

It takes a moment for him to come to his senses, and with an angry voice he shouts, "Hey! I'm walking here! Watch where's you're driving you dolt!"

The van stops and backs up in front of the boy. The passenger-side window opens, revealing a blonde, young woman in a light-blue shirt and clutching a phone in her left hand. She covers the receiver as she responds, "Look twerp, I literally don't care if you want to get hit by a car or not, but if you don't then you literally need to watch where you're going."

She returns to her phone, "Sorry Bobby… nothing, just giving a dirty boy some life advice." And with that, the passenger-side window closes and the young woman drives off.

"Geez, what an arse." He mutters quietly, before forcing himself back up and heading on his way.

After the mall comes the inner town- the collection of random small businesses and attractions that allows the town to bring in a decent income all-year-round.

When Lincoln walks through it, it is mostly deserted, save for the early day shoppers and the storeowners preparing for another business day. Many of these don't notice him as he makes his way passed.

The few that do notice him jeer in contempt.

And why wouldn't they? He is filthy; his pure white hair is so stained that it would appear to be brown. His faded orange shirt is torn at the ends while his faded blue jeans have holes strewn randomly about them. As for shoes, they're a size too small, forcing him to go almost lace-less. His skin is bruised, no doubt from the fall he had endured close to an hour earlier.

"Don't let it get to you…" Lincoln continues onward, fighting the tears starting to form in his eyes, "Don't let their wordless insults get to you. I have Liberty. She will love me more than anyone else can. She's my sister and I don't need anyone else!"

He passes through the town square, thank goodness it is mostly deserted or else some random stranger might try to pity him- something that even he hoped would not happen.

"Almost there Lincoln, almost there."

Finally, after close to an hour and a half of limping and using the tree branch as a crutch, he reaches his destination- a small, aged wooden home with a surrounding metal fence. Above the front gate rests a small, water-torn sign that reads, "Miss Paradigm's Home For Children."

"Back home." Lincoln thinks, as he unlocks the front gate and enters the front yard; the home's yellowing grass greets Lincoln with a typical exhaustion as he throws the tree branch aside. Though forced to limp, he manages to make his way around the place he calls home and enter the backyard without being noticed.

"Hey! Give it back!" A young girl yells in desperation.

Immediately, Lincoln's eyes go wide and his heart races.

"Liberty!" He ignores the shooting pain welling up in his leg and rushes into the backyard.

There, he finds a beautiful, white-haired girl with long-flowing locks, a faded orange blouse and blue skirt chasing a red-haired boy. "That's mine!" She shouts, "Give it back right now!"

Lincoln can see the desperate tears forming in her eyes as he takes chase.

"Whatcha gonna do? Get your brother to stop me?" The boy taunts… only for Lincoln to come from behind and tackle him to the ground.

"Yes, she is!" Lincoln angrily shouts, before he steps on the boy's wrist, forcing him to let go of a small, brass, heart-shaped object.

"Get off me!" The red-haired boy counters, before forcing Lincoln off, grabbing hold of the locket and running at him.

Yet, Lincoln jumps to his feet to counter… only for the red-haired boy to throw a punch, hitting Lincoln in the face. He proceeds to knock Lincoln to the ground and kick him in the stomach, causing him to curl up in pain.

"Yeah! You…" the red-haired boy starts, only for the girl to tap his shoulder.

"What the-" he starts, only for Liberty to punch him in the face so hard that he falls to the ground, unconscious.

"Come on bro, you ok?" Liberty extends a soft hand towards him.

Her brother slowly lets go of his aching body and takes his sister's hand, "Yeah sis, I'm fine. I could've handled him ya know."

Liberty gives a small chuckle, "Don't worry, I'm sure you did bro, I'm sure you did." Her eyes fill with serious annoyance, "Now, care to explain where you were this morning? You weren't in bed when I woke up." She motions at his dirty body, "And why are you covered in mud?"

Lincoln holds onto Liberty as they move over to a nearby peach tree and rest in its morning shade.

"Well, I was out looking for stuff again." Lincoln rubs his head in embarrassment. "Almost got caught. So I jumped out a window and landed in a mud pile. I also ended up twisting my ankle… again."

His sister just stares at her brother rage filling her gaze, "Lincoln! How I feel about you breaking into people's homes for that stuff!"

"I know." He nods in shame, "But hey… at least we've got something nice to eat and drink later."

She sighs in defeat, "You know what Mrs. Sherman said would happen if you got caught breaking into people's homes for food again!" She helps him to his feet, "Now come on. Let's get you something for your ankle."

The two walk back into the home as Liberty helps Lincoln into their shared room.

Liberty carefully uses water to clean off Lincoln's leg, before shoddily wrapping Lincoln's leg with the spare medical tape in the first aid kit the director had bought just a few months ago. The lack of bandages, alcohol and other supplies tells of its use and the last time it was filled.

A few minutes pass, before another young girl walks in. "Where have you been Lincoln?" She leans against the doorframe. "I didn't see you this morning."

Lincoln responds, "Hey Cristina, I was out, just running some errands and junk."

Cristina sighs. Out of all the orphans under the Ms. Sherman's care, she can be described as the most leadership bound. In a way, she is the one who makes sure that everyone is safe and sound while the director works on the technical aspects of the home.

The redheaded girl stares at Lincoln, not with anger, but in disappointment, "Lincoln, you know that if you keep doing that, you're going to get caught. And the last thing you need is to get sent to you-know-where."

"Yeah I know Cristina." Lincoln responds with an ashamed voice, while Liberty finishes wrapping his ankles. He has a bad habit of twisting them for no reason.

"Ok Lincoln, I've fixed your ankles… again." Liberty declares before her brother sits up next to her.

Cristina shakes her head, "Just know Lincoln, you have to be careful. You wanna get adopted, don't you? You know what happens when someone is sent to St. Olga's Reform School For Wayward Children."

Lincoln simply nods, and Cristina turns away, "Anyways, it's time for breakfast. Mrs. Sherman made the usual."

The twins simply sigh, before standing up and following her downstairs. Moments later, the duo are sitting next to each other on the side of a large, extended table. One-by-one, the other children enter.

The first is the same red-haired boy from before, Chandler. He simply glares at the twins as he takes a seat at the opposite end of the table. From what they were told when he first arrived, Chandler had an abusive father who killed his wife. After a long and painful trial, he was put in foster care. There are signs that he hasn't taken it well.

"Why does Chandler do any of what he does to us?" Liberty whispers, as she clutches her heart-shaped locket.

Lincoln simply shrugs, he knows his sister is the curious type, "Any parent would be lucky to have her for a daughter." He thinks, before looking at the empty plate in front of him, "But me? I'm just a worthless street rat."

After that, another young girl walks in and takes a seat next to Lincoln with, "Hey Lincoln…" She then grabs onto the older boy's arm.

"Stacy…" Lincoln whispers, trying to get annoyed at the girl's overly clingy behavior. Though, even he can't muster up the courage to tell her to let go. In a home like this, the children couldn't help but feel distant from each other. Little Stacy was brought in at the tender age of three and now was closer to six. Lincoln is the closest thing she has to a father figure!

Ironic, given that the next person to walk in is Mr. Sherman, the caretaker of the orphanage. He looks upon the children with the cold, distant eyes of a man that had seen too much. From what little the children knew, he had fought in a war and had met Mrs. Sherman while abroad. He provided the main source of income from the orphanage, as the meager funding it received was never enough.

He wordlessly takes a seat at the table head before pulling out a newspaper.

After that, more children come along and sit at the table, culminating with Cristina coming carrying a meager plate of food with the orphanage director. It takes a few moments but eventually the children's plates are given their small portions, though the older kids sacrifice some of their food so the younger ones can eat decently.

"I have to make sure to put what I got in the fridge later." He glances at the other wards, a few girls and a few boys, some are orphans, some came from abusive homes, and yet, they all have one thing in common- they live under the same roof.

After pouring the morning's spread, the director takes the seat opposite her husband.

Mrs. Sherman is an old woman; her hair grey from the experience of raising the orphans Royal Woods would send her. She, unlike her husband, is more open to speaking to the children. From what they can gather, she was a nurse, treating the poor men who had ended up in her medical tent, and just like many others, she too chose to settle down with one of the soldiers.

With a soft, caring gaze, she greets the children, "Good morning kids! It's that time of the month again!"

"Oh great." Lincoln thinks, "Here we go again." His eyes fill with a defeated pain, every few months, the director would hold meetings for the town's folk to come and meet the orphans in her care, in hopes that some would get adopted. Though, it would be rare that more than two or three attended- and usually it would be a young couple that discovered that they were unable to have children of their own, or a man or woman without a partner looking to raise a child.

"As such." She continues, "We need to make sure that this place is ready to welcome them!"

The orphans choose not to make a peep of protest at the plan, after all, every time they held the meetings, someone would get adopted, they never knew who, but… still, it was the most hopeful yet painful time of the month for the children.

Lincoln quickly finishes his meal, with Liberty following soon after. Mrs. Sherman always gives them the job of fixing up the clothing the children would wear, despite the fact they rarely received donations, the old woman made sure that during the interviews and open houses the children would wear the best she and her husband could provide.

And within a few minutes, they are upstairs working on just that. "Remember Liberty, the nice dress for Stacy." Lincoln goes and his sister responds, "No probs bro, remember the date pants for Chandler."

"Heh, he's gonna hate wearing these!" Lincoln quips, his voice filling with excitement. "Good for that arse!"

Liberty nods in agreement, "Of course he will, but you gotta look pretty for the perspective parents!" She smiles, "After all, you gotta leave a good impression or you won't get adopted."

"Yeah… adopted…" Lincoln's voice fills with worry.

"What is it bro?" Liberty tilts her head towards him.

Lincoln looks at his twin and shakes his head, "Oh, it's nothing sis…"

Liberty walks over and boops him on the cheek, "Come on Linc, you know I can feel when something's bugging ya!"

"We don't have twin telepathy sis!" Lincoln chuckles, swatting her hand away as he does so.

She shrugs, "Yeah, but out allergies act up around the same time." Before she sits on the bed and motions for him to follow, "Now, why don't you tell me what's buggin' ya?"

"It's nothing… just, how about we take a walk in the park?" He places his arm around his slightly younger twin, "After all, it'd be nice to take a walk in the unseasonably warm weather."

"Heh, all right." Liberty pushes her brother off and hops to her feet, "Let's go then, this can't be too bad. She boops him again and looks into his eyes, "But later, you've gotta tell me what's buggin' ya, ok?"

Lincoln nods, "Sure." Before he too hops to his feet. And together, the twins walk out of the house they've called their home for five years at this point.

A few minutes later…

Usually, a trip to the park and wintertime involved some sort of snow, but not today. For some odd reason the weather was warm, with the sun's heat falling like rain upon the town.

"Heh, relaxing, ain't it sis?" Lincoln goes, placing his arms behind his head as he does so.

Liberty chuckles, "Course bro." she follows his step though remaining silent; allowing the soft sounds of the outside world to engulf them. They can hear the birds sing as they return from the trip south. The squirrels, which were supposed to be hibernating, run along the ground searching for their nuts.

And a young woman's sweet song flows through the air.

"Wait… who's singing?" Lincoln breaks the calm air and begins to look around.

"She is Linc." Liberty nonchalantly points to the source- a young woman in a purple shirt and slightly lighter skirt. She has fair skin and brown hair, as well as… paperclip earrings?

"Huh, she actually sounds pretty nice." Lincoln smiles, before walking over and standing by the young woman.

Her voice is filled with a soft passion as she sings, "Someday! We'll all be free! Someday, we'll live as one family in sweet harmony! Someday! We'll all be free! Someday ayyhey! Ooo-hoo!" And with a joy-filled strum she finishes, much to the delight of the twins waiting next to her.

"That was awesome!" Liberty praises, "You can really sing!"

"Heh, yeah." She rubs the back of her head in embarrassment, "I just came to the park to practice a bit and got carried away."

Lincoln smiles, "Well, I'm glad you did. That was a nice song."

"It was The Fat Rat's 'Unity'." She strums again, "It just felt nice to play, so I did."

"Well thanks for that, it felt nice to hear." Lincoln goes, causing the young woman to smile, "Thanks." And with that, she goes back to singing random songs to her heart's content.

"She seemed nice." Liberty smiles.

Lincoln shrugs, "Yeah, there's not much to say about-" He almost finishes… only to run into a young, blonde-haired girl wearing a turquoise dress.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the boy says in annoyance… only for the girl to look around, "I don't know who 'where you're going' is though!"

"Seriously?" Liberty tilts her head in confusion.

"Uh-huh." The young woman answers, "I was just about to-" Her eyes go wide, "Wow you two look just like each other!" She jumps to her feet.

"Uhh… yeah… we're twins." Lincoln goes, motioning towards himself, "I'm older."

"By five minutes only!" Liberty counters, her face going red as she does so.

The young woman looks at them for a moment, "I like the matching style you two are going for, but like, why don't you two try to wear something different?"

"Orange is our favorite color is why." Liberty answers, throwing her arm around Lincoln as she does so.

"Like, ok then!" She goes, "Anyways, like, you should try to pull off blue. It's like, totes your color!" And before either twin can respond, she walks away, no doubt trying to find whatever place she is looking for.

Lincoln shrugs at that, "Well… that was weird."

Liberty adds, "She seemed nice though."

"Heh, yeah." He steps forward, "Now how about we get back to the-"

"G'ahh!" A young girl, wearing a pageant gown followed by a similar-looking girl shouts… only to run right into Lincoln.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Lincoln shouts in annoyance… again, "That's the second time in five minutes!"

"Sorry mister!" The young girl in a red cap and overalls goes, "I was just chasin' my sis here!" She motions towards the young girl with blonde hair wearing a pink pageant gown and sash.

Lincoln pinches the bridge of his nose, "That's fine and all, but-"

"Ooo, are you twins too?!" she continues, her voice filling with surprise and curiosity.

"Yes. But I need you to-"

Liberty cuts him off, "Hey Lincoln, lay off them." She smiles, "After all, I'm pretty sure she meant no harm in runnin' into ya."

Lincoln sighs, "Fine."

"Hmph, why don't you watch where you're goin'! You got in my way!" The girl in a pink pageant gown shouts, her voice filling with rage.

"You could've ran to the side and watched where you're goin'." Lincoln immediately counters… only for her twin to tap the pageant girl's shoulder.

"What is it Lana?!" She spits out.

"I'm still covered in mud sis." Lana responds, causing the pink girl's eyes to go wide in shock. Before anyone can react, she runs passed Lincoln and Liberty, hoping her muddy twin wouldn't catch up to her anytime soon.

"Well those were some colorful characters." Liberty chuckles. "Heh, yeah, if I didn't know any better, I'd think they were some TV show or something." Just for added fun, she playfully punches his arm, causing Lincoln to respond with the same. "Yeah, yeah. Now how about the walk? After all, it's not like someone else can interr-"

"Come one and all to Luan Loud's magic act!" yet another young girl- though this one wearing a white polo and yellow skirt- greets.

"Here we go again." Lincoln smiles, as he watches his sister run up and join in the young woman's magic act. "Heh, at least she's having fun… it'll be nice to see her like this until the usual… pain that tomorrow will bring." He sighs, though the simple sight of his sister laughing is more than enough to keep him up.

A few hours later the twins finally finish their stroll through the park, much to the slight dismay of Lincoln.

"That was fun bro!" Liberty shouts, and Lincoln simply nods, "Yeah. Though, after a while, all of those girls just running in did get annoying."

"They seemed fun though." She playfully punches him; "They'd be great to have as sisters one day!"

"True." Lincoln looks up, towards the setting sun, "But what are the odds that seven random girls are gonna all be part of the same family?"

Liberty chuckles, "Very low. I should know."

The memory of that test they took just a few days prior echoes in the his mind, "Heh, just because you apparently have a higher than expected IQ doesn't mean you're really smarter than me!"

"Yeah, I know." She chuckles. "It just means I have a weird potential cap and stuff."

And as the twins walk out of the park for the day, Lincoln can't help but feel something as off, like some shadowy girl is watching him.

Later…

With the day's preparations complete, Lincoln rests in his bed. Moonlight shines through the dusty old windows of the twin's room.

"Hey Lincoln…" Liberty whispers, "Hey, wake up." She gently shakes her sleeping brother, much to his dismay.

"Liberty?" He groans, "What is it?"

For a moment, his sister hesitates, unsure of how to answer her tired brother.

That's the only answer he needs however, and he asks, "The same nightmare?"

Liberty nods, "Yeah… the same one."

The boy scoots over in his bed and motions for his sister to join him. She responds by wordlessly getting inside and pulling her brother into an embrace.

He doesn't question her clingy behavior and instead does the same

"Hey Lincoln…"

"Yeah Liberty?"

The young girl looks at her twin with begging eyes, "Do you think we'll ever get adopted? We've been here for close to five years and no one has ever taken an interest in us…"

Lincoln holds onto her sister tightly, "Don't worry Liberty, I promise we'll find a home we can both live in."

"But what if they want to adopt me and not you?!" Her voice gains a fearful despair, as she holds onto her twin tighter. "Remember? A big reason why people decided not to adopt us is because they didn't wanna break us apart!" She looks away, "And the older we get, even fewer people are gonna want to take us in!"

The young boy hesitates, unsure of how to respond to his sister's worries. Yet, he steels his nerves and responds, "Don't worry Liberty, I'll make sure that doesn't happen… I promise you that. I'll stay with you, no matter what."

His eyes move up, and gaze out the moonlit window, "To think, it's been five years since…"

"You'll get me something nice for our birthday next week?" Liberty asks hopefully.

Lincoln smiles, "Of course sis… just make sure you get me something nice too."

The twins lean in, closer to each other, soft smiles forming as the hold each other in their embrace.

And with that, the two siblings fall into a deep, hopeful sleep.

9-20'19 15-14-12-25 3-8-1-16-20-5-18 15-14-5 1-14-4 16-5-15-16-12-5 1-18-5 1-12-18-5-1-4-25 19-8-9-16-16-9-14-7 12-9-2-5-18-20-25 1-14-4 12-9-14-3-15-12-14… 16-18-15-2-1-2-12-25

A/N I hope you guys enjoyed! This is the first story my friend Exotos really hasn't edited. In have place, I have my friend Lovecraft fan as an editor and Wolvenstrom as a beta-reader, and I thank them for their help! I also thank Mr. Dusk for pointing out issues with the writing, I have done my best to edit the chapter accordingly!

Anyways, seeing as I'm still writing the chapters (C2-C5 are nearly complete) feel free to send in ideas! The next update will come in 2 weeks so I can make some more headway story-wise. Also, the title is subject to change, feel free to suggest anything!

And as always, tell me what you guys think!