Author Note: Hi, my readers! I have come back! Did you miss me? Lol!

First of all and as always, thank you very much for your sweet reviews and supports. I really appreciate that.

Also, welcome Dim Dim Jablonko to my story. I'm so fluttered by your comment but to be honest, I am just an amateur here and there are still a lot of things I need to learn. Anyway, thank you and welcome again.

riso, terralove, and Soup4222! Thanks for always being here with me. I'm so grateful every time I see your review.

Thank you all for walking with me in this journey. You make it wonderful and memorable. There are just a few chapters left and I have no idea how much I'm gonna miss you all after the end of this story. I'll definitely feel like something is missing.

Oh, and I'm terribly sorry for the cliffhanger last time, my readers. I did mean it Lol! But, yeah, I'm sorry.

I don't know what to say now, so please leave me something after you've finished this. It's always great to hear from all of you.

Thank you very much again and just enjoy, my dear readers!

Chapter XI

Miss Peregrine's eyelids flutter open. Her green eyes are still as sharp as always when they move around under her raising brows. What she wakes up to is quite...well, intimidating. Ten pairs of eyes are staring at her and she is in what? Her sleeping gown. Her hair hasn't been put in a bun and she can feel she hasn't wear any make-up as well. Her appearance at this moment is extremely inappropriate to meet anyone, even her own children.

'Ouch!' The Bird cries when she rapidly moves her hands to prop herself up. Alma totally forgets it has been cut. She's still confused how she could end up here. The last thing she can remember is she brought the breakfast tray out of her bedroom and then, everything went dark because she...

Miss Peregrine raises her hand to touch her temple. It still hurts badly. The good thing is she hasn't been stitched. At least, she is still lucky enough. She smiles and is about to say something to her children but the bandage on her wounded hand stops her midway. The Bird looks at it, and although she cannot see through the bandage, she can sense something...strange.

The ymbryne opens and closes her wounded hand for a few times. She can feel it, a thread going through her skin, closing her cut which is, now, throbbing crazily. She closes her eyes for a brief moment to calm herself, and conjures a very scary smile upon her lips before turning to see the only one person in the house who could do this to her.

'Miss P, you shouldn't m-' Enoch begins but his voice fades when his eyes meet his headmistress' which are, to be honest, not different from a falcon's eyes when it's looking at its prey at all.

'Enoch did it!'

Miss Peregrine whipped around and stares at her invisible boy who is pointing at his biggest brother. The Bird tilts her head a bit and that is not a good sign. She slowly turns back to Enoch and when he sees her face, the boy knows he must say something.

'It's Millard's idea.' Enoch tries to hold his laugh, but when Millard is about to speak up, he quickly continues, 'But I think it's a good idea tho.'

That creepy smile of Miss Peregrine becomes scarier. Even Enoch has to clear his throat and backs away a bit.

'I think,' Miss P's voice is hoarse and low and she sounds a lot more dangerous, 'we have something very important to discuss now, Eno-Wait!'

Ten children jump and the twins automatically hug Miss P.

'What time is it?'

Every child looks at each other, doesn't really know why that matters to their headmistress.

'Where's my pocket watch?'

It's Millard who squeals like he has just seen a bomb. Well, actually, it's because he knows he is about to see it.

'The loop! It's almost 9.07!'

And that explains everything. The children are so busy looking after Miss P that they completely forget they live in a loop which needs to be reset everyday if they still love their life. They even forget to ask for other ymbrynes' help. Miss Avocet's loop is not far from here at all, and she could fly here in just an hour if they called her. It's like their brain had all gone with Miss P's consciousness and has come back again now when they are about to be bombed in just,

'Only 2 minutes left!' Bronwyn screams when she brings Miss P's pocket watch out from Miss P's navy blue dress on the bed bench.

Yes, Miss P is the Bird, everyone knows that, but she looks really like a cat when she jumps to another side of the bed to get her pocket watch and quickly climbs down before running out of the room. The children haven't even blinked. It takes them a few seconds before they realize what they has just seen. Their injured ymbryne has just run past them to reset their loop!

They can hear the familiar sound of that jet approaching their house while they run down the stairs. The screeching of the bomb engulfs the night and gets louder and louder every step they take. When they come out of the house, right above their head is the very large bomb, falling down from the dark sky. The good thing is it stops before its head hits the roof. So do the rain, the wind and everything around them, all because of the only woman, standing in the middle of the yard, her pocket watch in her hand. Miss Peregrine has saved them again.

The changeover is as beautiful as always. All of them just stand there, at the porch, watching the sky turning from dark purple into bright orange into light blue into dim gray and into dark purple again. When the twinkling stars of September the second shine upon them, they heave a sigh of relieve and turn to see their savior.

For a second, they all think she has fully recovered. Miss Peregrine stands still there, a pocket watch still in her hand, her eyes locking on the peaceful sky that she has brought back.

It's the older ones who notice that their headmistress's face is too pale and when they are about to step forward, their ymbryne staggers to her feet, swaying like a tree when it's hit by the strong wind.

'Miss P!' Enoch catches the Bird before she hits the ground again. She doesn't pass out, but she is panting heavily.

Other children run after him and gather around their Miss Peregrine in worrying. When Alma looks up and sees their face, she chuckles a bit, can't believe they all can be worried this much.

'I'm fine, dear. I'm still fine.' She pats Enoch on his shoulder and is about to get up when she is hugged.

Miss Peregrine is stunned for a second before she realizes that the one who hugs her is crying. When she looks down, it's not the twins nor her Little Claire nor Bronwyn, but Emma. Her Emma. She slowly strokes the girl's golden hair and rocks her big girl back and forth, wondering what upsets her Emma.

'Shh...it's okay, dear. Tell me what happened?'

Emma doesn't answer. She just wants to stay there, in Miss P's arms, hiding her tears from her friends. She holds Miss Peregrine tighter and buries her face in Miss P's neck, sitting on her ymbryne's laps as if she were an oversized baby.

'Shh...Emma, it's okay. Everything is alright now.'

Miss Peregrine places her chin on the girl's head. She has no idea why her girl is crying and when she turns to the rest of her children, they try to tell her something, pointing at Emma and her. But she doesn't get it, of course, and it might take her a day before she can understand their weird gestures, so thank bird, that Emma finally speaks up.

'I'm sorry.'

Miss Peregrine looks at the girl in her arms and asks in wonder,

'For what, my dear?'

'I'm sorry that I was so nasty to you last night. You're injured but I was so mean to you. And I was so afraid that it would be...it would be the last thing I said to you.' Words flow through the girl's mouth and surprise Miss P for a brief moment. The Bird can gather herself back again when she feels Emma is shaking.

'Emma, Emma,' Miss P gently pushes her girl and cups the girl's face, wiping tears from Emma's rosy cheeks, 'it's just a cut, dear. It can't kill me.'

She gives her girl an assuring smile, looking into the girl's eyes

'I'm still fine, aren't I?'

'You are not, Miss. You have just collapsed.' Millard cuts in.

'I'm just tired, Millard. That's all.' Miss P snaps at the invisible boy before turning back to Emma. 'I'm fine now, and I'm sure you didn't mean to say that to me.'

'But you do know why she was upset, right?' Enoch asks, raising his thick brow. The answer is quite clear since for the first time in forever, Miss P's face looks so blank. He heaves a sigh, can't believe that the very clever lady can be this...blind sometimes.

'Miss P, I think it's time we should discuss this.' He sounds so serious, he knows, but this is serious, isn't it? 'Yes, an ymbryne is charged with the care of the young, that's true and I accept that.'

Enoch pauses to make sure that Miss P will listen to every word he is about to say,

'But that doesn't mean the young can't take care of their ymbryne.'

It's hard to read the Bird's face. Enoch knows that his ymbryne is good at hiding her feelings, but he dies to smash that armor and see what Miss P is thinking right now. Her eyes won't tell anything if she doesn't wish to. Is hiding emotions what every ymbryne should learn or is it just his ymbryne's talent? Actually, the most interesting question is can he really break the wall she has built?

The Bird stares at Enoch. It's not a death glare that she usually sends to him. She just looks at him and for some reasons, that creeps him out a bit.

'We do care for you, Miss.' Olive cuts in, trying to help Enoch. 'We know you worry about us, but we do worry about you as well.'

'Yes. You're very important to us, Miss, and we can't live without you.' Millard joins her. The boy thinks this is the right time to tell Miss P this.

'Please, take care of yourself, Miss.' Horace crouches down, touching Miss P's leg.

'We're sorry that we have burdened you all this time.' Fiona follows.

'Without us, you'll have much more time and freedom.' Hugh rests his head on Miss P's shoulder.

'Yeah, you could have your own life, a nice wedding cake, and your own little babies.' Bronwyn joins the hug.

'What?' Miss Peregrine's eyes widen, amazed by what she has heard. 'This is my life, children. You are my babies and I don't want any wedding cake. You are not my burden, dear.'

But the twins squawk as if they wanted to say 'we are' and then hug her.

It's hard to say anything when one is hugged by eight children. Miss Peregrine has never known before that her children care for her this much. Yes, she knows they respect her, at least, to some extent, since they usually behave and obey her words but those are their duties. They are her charges, so they have to follow her rules. But now, this is not their duty at all. They don't have to care for her but they do, and judging from their eyes and face, very much as well. She loses her words for a few seconds, stunned by this pure love she has got. But Miss Peregrine is always Miss Peregrine. She clears her throat and to console her children plus to stop Enoch from looking at her like that, the Bird closes her eyes for a few seconds and then speaks up,

'Alright, well,' she stops to swallow the lump in her throat, 'I promise I will take care of myself and I'll accept your help from now on.'

She feels as if she has just vowed to the judge in the court, and if she breaks her words, she will be severely punished.

'Is that better?'

Miss Peregrine can feel her Emma nod and can hear her twins caw. Enoch and Olive give her a smile. So do the rest. This is her reward, she knows it. It's not money nor glory nor fame but love, it's the love she has got from her children that gives her strength to carry on no matter how exhausted she is. Their smile makes her smile. They are everything to her, her precious innocent children.

Miss Peregrine looks around to make sure all of her children are safe and sound while she was unconscious. Emma is, of course, on her lap. So do the twins and Bronwyn. Millard, Fiona, Hugh, and Horace are beside her as well. Enoch and Olive are in front of her, and Little Claire is...

Where is my Little Claire?

Her heart drops when she doesn't see her youngest girl. Miss Peregrine looks behind Enoch and Olive but her little girl isn't there. The girl doesn't join this big hug as well. Where is her girl?

'Enoch, where is Claire?'

Enoch's smile fades. He looks around and jumps to his feet. His blank face scares Miss Peregrine. And when he runs back to the house, the Bird springs up and follows him immediately.

'I'll search the second floor,' he tells Miss P and runs upstairs. She nods and enters the parlor, calling her little girl's name.

Claire's bedroom is the first place Enoch searches. He opens the door and what he sees is emptiness. The girl isn't there on her bed and Claire, definitely, doesn't like to hide in the closet since it's dark, but Enoch also decides to search in there, just in case she is so upset that she forgets to be afraid of it.

When he opens the door, his brain just stop working momentarily and all he can do is calling Miss Peregrine. She comes in just a minute and when she sees Claire's closet, her whole body turns numb.

Claire's clothes are not there. Her fluffy dresses are all gone as well as her sleeping gown.

'Her suitcase isn't here,' Miss P mumbles.

'What does that mean?' Millard who has just joined them asks, though he knows exactly what that means.

Miss Peregrine turns to see all of her children who are now standing in Claire's bedroom. The words are upon her lips, of course, but she's too afraid to say it out loud. She joins her hands and looks at the floor like a kid who has just done something wrong. It's so hard to accept the truth, but it's even harder to announce it.

But they all know. Every child knows what happens here, even the twins.

Little Claire has run away.

This is not the cliffhanger, right? I try not to give you another cliffhanger but I don't know. If it is, I'm sorry. L But I think the ending of this chapter is better than the previous ones, isn't it? At least, you get the conclusion. :-)