locusta (enoch o'connor)

two

november 28th, 1946

aurelie and miss tern traveled via train and ferry from paris to manchester, where miss tern's loop was hidden. aurelie spent most of the time asleep, as she hadn't had a sheltered place to rest for nearly a week. when she was awake, she asked miss tern about what being a peculiar meant for her, how loops worked, and the life she would be expected to live.
     finally, the pair arrived in manchester. miss tern lead aurelie to a street filled with shops.
     "my dear, before we go into my loop, you're going to need some new clothes." miss tern gave the younger girl a bright grin and lead her to a small boutique full of clothes that looked much too expensive.
     "i don't have the money to pay for it, and it wouldn't be right for me to make you pay for my clothes, miss tern. the kindness you've showed me is extensive as it is." the ymbryne chuckled at aurelie, leading her farther into the shop.
     "i simply won't take no for an answer. it is my duty to take care of children like you, aurelie. it's no burden to me." aurelie gave that woman a grateful smile as her eyes filled with tears. she leaned forward and gave miss tern a hug.
     "thank you so much," she sniffled as she pulled away, "you've given me a new life." miss tern simply smiled again, ushering aurelie toward a rack of dresses.
     it took nearly two hours for aurelie to fully replace her wardrobe. once miss tern had paid for the new clothes, they walked up the stairs at the back of the shop, and stood at the top platform for a moment before heading back down. when they re-entered the shop, it had changed completely. instead of a clothing boutique, it was now a bakery that smelled of sugar and scones. miss tern leaned toward aurelie.
     "we are now in 1932, miss baudelaire. welcome to my loop." aurelie was astonished by the change, envious of miss tern's ability to manipulate time.
the two of them traveled through the busy street and turned down an alleyway. the walk to miss tern's home took them through a variety of streets until they came upon a luxurious looking building that loomed over the road below. it had multiple levels and was probably the largest home on the street. above the doorway read the words "miss tern's children's home". aurelie smiled at how welcoming it was.
"now my dear," miss tern spoke, "you'll only be able to stay here for a night. i'll write miss peregrine to tell her that you're coming. we will leave tomorrow morning for cairnholm. for tonight, you will stay in liliana's room with her. she's only a year older than you." aurelie nodded along with miss tern's words, trying her best to focus on the information given to her.
"will i be introduced to everyone?" miss tern sighed uncertainly.
"i hope so, but there are 14 children here, and dinner is already over, so you may not have time." she paused for a moment. "i will try to gather them in the living area for an introduction."
aurelie let out a shaky breath filled with excitement as the pair turned toward the door. miss tern walked in first, greeted by a flurry of shouts at her arrival. 7 children ran into the entrance, staring wide-eyed at aurelie. most of them were around the age that her brother would be; 10-11. with only a moment of silence, the children began to berate aurelie with questions, many of which she couldn't make out above the noise.
"children!" miss tern had to shout in order to overpower the kids. "this is aurelie, she will be our guest for the night. you will all have the ability to ask her questions in a few moments, but for now, go get liliana." immediately, every one of them had spun quickly and ran back into the home, shouting for liliana. they returned only a few seconds later, trailed by a tall brunette girl.
"i'm liliana," the girl gave a warm smile to aurelie, her cheeks tinged perfectly rose, "what's your name?"
"aurelie." she responded, returning liliana's delighted grin. liliana gasped eagerly at the sound of her voice.
"you're french!" she exclaimed, making her way toward aurelie and grasping the girl's hands as if they were best friends. aurelie couldn't help but beam back at liliana, her happiness rubbing off onto her. "my father is french! i can only speak a little, but i would really like to learn more."
"i can teach you some, if you'd like." liliana nodded quickly, pulling aurelie up the stairs toward what she assumed was liliana's room.
liliana wasted no time, leading aurelie to sit next to her on the bed, her pale yellow dress flowing beautifully onto the blankets.
"i know some basic stuff, but i just wanna learn some more, y'know? i promise we'll talk about more stuff later too." aurelie chuckled at liliana's bubbly personality.
the two spent nearly an hour speaking in french, talking about la plage, particularités, and enfants à la maison. aurelie listened to liliana's gossip about the home, picking up on a relationship between christopher and elizabeth, neither of whom she'd met yet.
aurelie enjoyed the feeling of having a friend, albeit temporarily. just as the two had reached a pause in conversation, miss tern called them downstairs for a house meeting.
when the two girls reached the living room, aurelie was greeted with three couches, each filled with older children around her age, and more younger kids seated on the floor in front of her, all looking at her expectantly.

•••

by the time the meeting was over, it had grown dark outside. aurelie had managed to answer most of the children's questions and remember some of their names and peculiarities.
she'd learned that liliana, as delicate as she looked, had the ability to cause hurricanes. a young girl that looked around five named katrina had traveled to miss tern from russia, and was actually over 90 years old; she could communicate with animals. the boy christopher, who appeared to be about 17, had to wear special gloves in order to prevent his midas touch from turning anything and anyone into solid gold.
miss tern eventually excused all of the children to their rooms, bidding each of them a goodnight. aurelie and liliana talked for a while longer once they'd reached liliana's room, before getting tired and going to sleep.

•••

liliana woke aurelie up at 6:45 am. aurelie got ready in one of her new dresses and she was ushered downstairs, where miss tern was waiting. before aurelie left with the ymbryne, she gave liliana a hug, which liliana quickly returned. they held each other for a few minutes before their inevitable goodbye.
"i'll practice my french a whole bunch," liliana smiled, "it's been wonderful to meet you and i hope we see each other again soon."
aurelie felt too overcome with emotion to give her a proper response, so she simply nodded and gave the girl a kiss on her cheek. they smiled at each other, but were both filled with a hint of sadness.
miss tern got aurelie's attention, directing her toward the door. aurelie picked up one bag of her new clothes in each hand before trailing miss tern back onto the street outside.
"are you ready for your new beginning?" miss tern asked.
"more ready for anything than i've been in a long time." the older woman then lead aurelie back to the train station, where they traveled to the coast, taking a boat to cairnholm island.
aurelie took in the scenery of her new home, admiring the beauty of the isolated area. once the pair had reached a cave, miss tern took a careful glance around them to ensure that no one was watching before allowing aurelie to go in, making sure to follow closely. they stood for a moment until walking back out of the cave.
once they had reached the main road in town, miss tern directed aurelie on how to get to miss peregrine's home, explaining that she had to return quickly to her own loop. miss tern gave aurelie a kiss on the cheek and a bittersweet smile.
"i wish you the best, miss baudelaire, and if you ever need anything, do not hesitate to ask or visit." aurelie again found herself with tears welling up in her large brown eyes, knowing that her pale cheeks were tinted a flushed-pink color.
"i will never forget the kindness that you've shown me. i'm forever indebted to you." miss tern laughed off aurelie's statement, arguing that the girl was in no way indebted to her. they hugged once more before going their separate ways, miss tern back to the loop enterance, and aurelie toward miss peregrine's home.

•••

A/N: she's about to meet miss peregrine, i promise!!

la plage: the beach
particularités: peculiarities
enfants à la maison: children in the home