"Hugh, we've been looking for ages already, are you sure-"
Hugh promptly knocked Emma's hand off of his shoulder, frantic eyes still scanning the bushes and trees around him. He didn't speak, but the despair on his face was clear for all to see. Emma fell silent, clutching her hand tightly to her chest, as if she'd been burned by her own fire. Jacob and Millard moved to stand on either side of her. They looked at their friend with concern in their eyes as he tried to make it through a wall of plants and trees and leaves. He slumped down, head in his hands, shoulders shaking lightly. The silence hung heavy in the clearing between the trees while Hugh quietly wept. Leaves crunched under Millard's feet as he nervously shuffled around.
"It's already getting dark. We can't stay here any longer." He sounded lifeless and defeated. "Please, just come with us Hugh." Worry made it's way into his voice. He tried to pull his friend up from the soggy ground, but Hugh pulled his arm free and stood up on his own. He quickly glanced at the others, eyes avoiding theirs. He let out a heavy sigh.
"Fine..."
It took less than a second for everyone to huddle together around Hugh, who was now audibly sobbing, and engulf him in a hug. He hiccuped as a single bee, his last one, left his mouth and started to buzz around their heads. Emma swatted at it when it came too close, drawing everyone's attention to the bug. It flew past the barrier of bushes Hugh had been trying to get past, disappearing for a solid minute. They stood and watched, waiting for the bee to reemerge from behind the trees. When it did, it touched down on a white flower in the middle of the clearing. There were no flowers this deep in the forest, the lack of sunlight made it difficult for them to grow here.
"Huh, that's odd", said Emma, disentangling herself from the embrace, "I hadn't noticed that before."
She walked over to the flower, taking a closer look at its frail petals when she heard a noise in the bushes behind her. She whipped around, flames at the ready, with a look in her eyes that would easily have sent a wild animal running with its tail between its legs.
It wasn't a wild animal that emerged from the bushes, though the matted mane framing the figure might have given off the wrong impression. Emma yelped as she was brusquely pushed aside, her flames sputtering out as she hit the ground with a soft thud. Jacob was at her side in seconds, she slapped at his fretting hands and scrambled to stand up again. Jacob stood sheepishly, and she opened her mouth to shoot him a snappy remark, but fell silent when she saw the scene in front of her. Jacob moved closer to her and gripped her hand, smiling fondly. They were silent witnesses for now, not daring to disturb the moment. Millard had stepped back as well, they could see his retreating footsteps on the forest floor.
There between the trees, tightly wrapped around each other like vines, stood Hugh and Fiona. She looked terrible, twigs in her hair, pale and sickly and thinner than they'd ever known her. Despite all of that, the smile that split her face was brighter than the sun. Flowers sprouted all around them in colours too bright for the season, Hugh's lonely bee buzzed around, happily landing on their petals. Hugh was still crying, head buried in Fiona's chest, slender frame shaking with the force of it. He didn't make a sound, just held on like his entire life depended on it, fists clenched in the worn out fabric of Fiona's shirt.
The way back to the home was long yet rewarding. Fiona couldn't walk fast, starved and tired as she was, clinging to Hugh's hand for dear life. When they made camp for the night they swapped stories, voices rough from emotion - and disuse, in Fiona's case. The shadows on her face grew less prominent every day, Emma's flames no longer making her look like a walking corpse. The food on the road was hardly enough for her to lose her starved appearance, but her smile had returned in full force and made her look healthier than she really was.
When they finally got back to the home the chaos was almost immeasurable. Miss Peregrine screamed, honest to god screamed, when she saw them on the porch. She pulled Fiona close to her chest, both of them at a loss for words as tears ran steadily down their cheeks. The noise alerted the rest of the children and soon everyone was crying and clamoring and crowding around Fiona and Hugh, who still hadn't let go of each other's hands. Bronwyn worriedly steadied her when she stumbled, still weak from her time in the forest and on the road. Fiona sighed contentedly and closed her eyes, gently laying her head on Hugh's shoulder. She was exhausted and hungry and every single bone in her body ached, but she was home, at last.