Author note: Hi, my readers. I've come back. Sorry to keep you waiting but my life is quite busy. Now, I'm free to write!

Thank you, thank you and thank you for every review. I just don't know what to say. Thank you might not be enough but…thank you. :-) Since I've gone for so long, I'll not stand in your way any longer. But I just wanna warn you again that anything concerning medical treatment in this story might not be 100% correct since I've never had the firsthand experience. I tried to do some research but again, I'm not sure it's true or not. Just so you know.

Thank you again for everything and just enjoy!

Chapter X

'How is Miss P?'

That's the first thing Enoch hears even before he closes the door. Emma almost runs into him but thank bird, her shoes are heavy enough to slow her down.

'She's fine now. The wound on her head isn't that big and I've stitched the cut on her hand already. Her fever might be gone in a couple hours I think.' Enoch reports.

Emma opens her mouth as if she has another question, but she shuts it down, doesn't really know what she should ask.

'Olive may need a hand, changing the Bird's clothes.'

'She'll definitely kill us when she wakes up,' Millard says, but Emma is too occupied to be moved by the joke or, actually, the possibility of what is really going to happen.

'She hasn't come out yet?' Enoch looks at Little Claire's door. Emma nods.

'You and Bronwyn should go help Olive. I'll deal with this.' The boy tells his friend and walks towards the locked door. 'Fiona and Hugh?'

'Outside. Trying to talk to Claire via her window,' Horace answers.

'Go tell them to come inside. I'll talk to her.'

The sleepy boy gives his big brother a nod and runs out. Emma and Bronwyn enter Miss P's bedroom. There are just the twins, Millard, and him here now.

'Don't worry. Everything will be fine.' Enoch crouches down and holds each of the twins' hands. They caw and nod at the same time. 'Millard, you should bring them downstairs and find something for them to drink. Hot cocoa, perhaps.'

'Alright.' Millard takes the twins' hands and walks them down the stairs, leaving Enoch to deal with whatever he has to.

The biggest brother of the house bites his lips, thinking about what he should do. He thinks he has no idea at all when it comes to persuading children. He is not Olive whose nature is sweeter than sugar, nor Miss P who can make others feel warm every time she smiles. He is, well, Enoch. He still can't answer himself why Claire never runs away from him.

The boy stared at the little girl's door for a moment. He licks his lips nervously and takes a deep breath. Then, he knocks the door gently, doesn't want to startle the girl. No one answers.

'Claire,' he calls his youngest sister, 'it's me, Enoch...I know you don't want to see anyone now and it's okay. You don't have to say anything nor come out but please, listen to me.'

He sits down in front of the door.

'Yes, you may think all of these happen because of you and although I don't think you it is because of you, I know I can't stop you from blaming yourself.'

He thinks he hears a sniff, so he quickly continues,

'But it doesn't matter at all, Claire. What matters is that you didn't intend to do so. You didn't want all of these to happen, right?'

Still no answer.

'I know you didn't. So do others and so does Miss P...She is fine now, you know? Miss P is okay now and when she wakes up, I don't think the first thing she wants to see is her unhappy Little Claire, don't you think?'

He chuckles, can't believe he's doing it now. Sweet words are quite unfamiliar to his tongue but they are not hard at all to come up with in this moment.

'Okay. If you don't want to see anyone, it's okay. But I think there's someone you really want to see, am I right?'

Silence.

'Miss P. You want to see Miss P, don't you?

From here, even though he can't see her, he knows she's nodding.

'Okay. Listen carefully then. In five minutes, when Emma, Olive, and Bronwyn have finished changing Miss P's clothes, I'll bring everyone downstairs, and we'll be in the parlor. You'll see no one here. You'll see no one in front of your room, nor in Miss P's. And why don't you go visit her a bit? So that you can see with your own eyes that she is really fine.'

He knows she walks to the door, listening to his every word. He waits till Miss P's bedroom is open again and tells Emma, Olive, and Bronwyn what he has planned to do. Bronwyn quickly runs down the stairs to prepare what Enoch has asked for.

'Okay, Claire. We'll go downstairs now. I promise you'll see no one here except Miss P. She's still sleeping, but she is okay now. If you don't believe me, just go see by yourself,' Enoch nods at the girls and they stumps downstairs, making sure their footsteps are loud enough to be heard. When they enter the parlor, Millard is ready.

'Be qui-et,' Emma whispers. She doesn't know he hears her or not for she can't see him now. He has taken off his clothes and only the Bird knows where he is.

Millard is the children's last hope. They all want to be there with Claire but they know their youngest sister is not ready to meet anyone. She is hurt by what happened and she needs time. Enoch feels a bit guilty that he had to lie to her, but considering it again, he did bring everyone down here. He didn't say he wouldn't let anyone going up there after he had brought them down, did he? And Claire will see no one but Miss P, if, and only if, Millard is quiet enough.

The invisible boy did hear Emma. He did nod but he just forgot that nodding doesn't help when he has no hat nor clothes. He tiptoes up the stairs, staring at Claire's door. If Claire knows he is here, the whole house down there might tear him into pieces faster than a school of piranhas. Thank bird, he can get inside Miss P's bedroom without being seen or, actually, being caught. He silently closes the door and steps towards one corner where the sunlight cannot reach. From here, Miss P looks a lot better. She sleeps soundly there, not sweating nor frowning. Her face has got some color back. Her raven hair spreads on a white pillow. No wonder why that police adores her so much. He is one of a few polices on this island. Every time the children cause some troubles in the town, he will come with the landlord, smiling so broad at Miss P before, sometimes not always, being killed and coming back again when the loop is reset.

The creaking of the door makes the invisible boy turn to see a new comer. He holds his breath when he sees little foot in pink court shoe steps inside on the wooden floor, followed by its owner in her pink fluffy dress. Little Claire looks around the room to make sure she is really alone. Her eyes are red and swollen, cheeks wetted with tears. When the girl seems to be certain that no one is here, her big blue eyes move to Miss Peregrine. She slowly approaches the bed, her face twists. When she reaches it, tears fill her eyes again before falling down like the rain from the blue sky. She climbs up and lies down on Miss P's chest, crying silently while listening to Miss P's breath and heartbeat. Her head goes up and down every time Miss P breathes in and out.

Claire is playing with Miss P's hair. She remembered when she was younger, she always played with it every time Miss P held her up and lulled her to sleep. It's so soft and beautiful like a feather. When it touches the sunlight, it will glisten in dark blue like Miss P's wings. Millard told her once that when Claire was just a baby she loved eating it so much, putting it inside her mouth and chewing until Miss P's bun is loosed. She cannot remember that, of course, but she dies to. She wants to be loved again, but now, now she has no right to ask for this woman's love. She has hurt her badly. She doesn't deserve her kindness nor her warmth but her hatred. It hurts Claire's little heart but it's true and she has to accept this cruel truth no matter what. She just wants to lie here a bit longer, remembering every second and everything now and here-Miss P's perfume, Miss P's warm touch and Miss P's face, the most beautiful face she has ever seen in her life. No one can smile as beautifully as Miss P can and Claire knows she's going to miss Miss P's smile so much.

Millard can tell how happy she is, watching from here. He knows every one of them is so scared of losing Miss P. If he were Claire, he would be so happy as well to hear and feel their ymbryne's breath invisible boy doesn't really know how long Claire has stayed there like that. Time seems to tick slower in this moment. The little girl is still crying and guilt can still be seen upon her face but she seems a bit relieved. She needs time, Millard understands. That's why he tries to give her as much privacy as possible.

Finally, the girl raises her head up and gives Miss P a kiss on her cheek. She climbs down and stares at her ymbryne for the last time before leaving the room silently.

'How is she?' Enoch asks, touching Miss P's forehead to check her temperature.

'Claire? She looks okay, I don't know. She's still crying but I think she is better now after seeing that Miss P is alright.' Millard answers, putting on his clothes. 'I think we should give her some time.'

After Claire had left, the children went upstairs quietly to meet Millard in Miss P's bedroom. Usually, the room is quite large, but when there are ten children in it, it looks a lot smaller. They are everywhere in the room. The twins lie down beside Miss P on her bed, one on her left side, another on her right side. Bronwyn sits on the floor, holding Miss P unwounded hand while Fiona sits near the footboard, her hand on Miss P's legs. Horace and Hugh lean against the wall, looking from afar. Millard stands beside Olive who sits on Miss P's rocking chair.

Emma, her back against the wooden headboard, nudging strands of Miss P's hair away from her headmistress's face. It's hard to believe that she would have a chance to touch Miss P's hair again since she is no longer a little girl, but she does touch it now, doesn't she?

'Can I brush your hair?' Little Emma asked, looking at her foster mother's reflection in a mirror.

Miss P allowed her to do so and that was the first time Emma touched Miss P's silky hair. The girl giggled while brushing it and, despite sitting, Miss P had to lower herself a bit so that Little Emma in the tiny lead shoes could reach her dark hair.

'The queen is ready!' Emma announced. 'May the king has the pleasure of dancing with you?'

Miss P's eyebrow raised up but then she chuckled and answered,

'Yes, my king.'

And they danced around this room, Emma's little feet on Miss P's. It was such a great moment, rooting deeply in Emma's memory and it always brings tears to her eyes. It is so fresh like everything has just happened yesterday that Emma can still see herself and Miss Peregrine there, in front of this very dressing table.

'It's almost lunch time. Olive and I will go down to prepare some sandwiches. Are you okay taking the first shift, Emma?' Enoch rises up and walks to the door. Emma just nods.

'Good. So children, I think you should go downstairs now. Miss P needs to rest.'

They all say goodbye to Miss Peregrine in their own way. Some give her a kiss, and some give her a hug before following Enoch and Olive to the parlor.

The night is creeping and Claire hasn't come out of her room yet, but since Millard said that some sandwiches on the dish he had placed in front of her room were missing, they all agree to give Claire some more time to be with herself. They gather in Miss P's bedroom again after dinner and since Miss Peregrine looks fine enough, Enoch allows them all to stay here while he cleans her wound.

'Doesn't it hurt so bad?' Fiona looks like she's about to faint seeing Miss P's stitch.

'It does, of course.' Hugh answers and rolls up his sleeve to show a very small scar near his shoulder. 'When I got stitched here, Miss P couldn't sleep cuz I whimpered all night. It hurt though it wasn't big at all. That's why I can't imagine how she will be when she wakes up.'

Fiona frowns and bites her lips in worrying.

'She will be fine Fiona. She's the Bird.' Olive places her hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

The twins are there as well. They haven't left Miss P's side since they came in. They are the youngest, of course, when Claire isn't there, so they can do whatever they want to, even lying on Miss Peregrine's bed.

'When will she wake up?' Bronwyn asks.

'Soon.' Enoch wraps a bandage around his headmistress's hand. 'Her fever is gone now, but I'm afraid she'll be quite weak when she wakes up since she hasn't eaten anything for...almost 12 hours already. But don't worry, I did give her some water.'

'And her wound? Is it gonna be a scar?' Horace is the next who comes up with a question, but this time, it's Millard who answers.

'I suggest that we consider how to escape her talons and beak when she sees the stitch first before worrying about the scar. We might not live long enough to see that, I'm afraid.'

'It's your idea.' Enoch mumbles.

'It's not!' Millard snaps.

Emma just sits beside Miss P at the same spot near the headboard, doesn't say anything. She looks as Miss P's face while stroking one of the twins' back. They all have taken turns looking after Miss Peregrine all day long, still the Bird hasn't woken up yet. Though Miss P seems really fine now, Emma just can't stop worrying. She has fought back her tears for many hours and she's so tired. She has lost all of her strength and she can't wait any longer to see this pair of piercing green eyes again.

Come back to us, Miss P. Come back to us.

She prays.

And as if the Bird could hear her prayer, Miss Peregrine's eyelids twitch.

Then, they flutter open.

I know, cliffhanger again. Sorry :-) Please, don't hate me and please, say something.