A peculiar tale

September 3rd, 1943

Zoe's POV:

We walk to the entrance to the loop, which will be the place where I say goodbye to the only friends I've really had. The snow falls around us, as the other children come to say goodbye to myself and Jake. The twins hug us, then go into the loop. Claire and Bronwyn nod at Jake, and then they hug me. Jake puts a hand on Hugh's shoulder, and he returns the favour. Hugh then pulls me into a hug, followed by Fiona. Horace shakes my hand, and then I feel some tight arms around my waist. I look to see Millard, I lean down and pull him into a proper hug. The tears run down my face as I turn to the final group. Olive pulls me into a tight hug. Then Enoch, after shaking Jake's hand. Then we are left with Emma, she gives me a tight hug and then I give the pair a moment.

"Emma." He goes to explain.

"You love your grandfather." Emma says to him. "There's nothing more to explain."

"No, I promised Miss Peregrine I'd look after you all." Jake replies. "And with her injured, and you without a loop-"

"She'll recover. And until then, we'll be in 1943. We'll only age one day at a time, like normal people. Which can be no bad thing." Emma says.

"What about the Hollows?" Jake asks. "As long as they're out there, you're not safe."

"We don't need you to make us feel safe, Jake. Because you made us feel brave. And that's even better." She replies, they then come together for a hug. They pull apart and have one last look at each other, then Emma disappears through the loop entrance. I sit beside Jake as we pull out our phones. The time changes to 4:30, and the loop closes. That's it. We can never see them again.

~*~

Jake and I run into grandpa's awaiting arms.

"Tygrysku, Păsărică." He exclaims. I hold him tight as the tears run down my face.

"And then we said goodbye." Jake and I say in unison after finishing our story. "And the loop closed."

"We were so scared you wouldn't be here." Jake says.

"That we'd never see you again." I add.

"I'm safe." He says, he then grabs something. "Ah, let me give you your birthday present."

"Grandpa, my birthday's not for months." Jake says taking the book, he opens it and inside is money of all different countries.

"For your travels. Go to her, Jake. Go to where you belong, Zoe." Grandpa says. "You have the map. You can get back to 1943."

"No. Even so, they took a boat. I don't know where they are." Jake says.

"But we know where they were." I say. I look to Jake and smile. After one last goodbye to our family, we started our travels. Making our way back to the family we never knew we needed.

~*~

I'm running, faster then I've ever run before. We see the boat, and we see the steam going. The boat is ready to move away from the dock. My hair whips in the wind as I climb the ramp, and get onto the boat. I let out a breath of relief. Jake the goes off to find Emma, while I go to the control room to find the others.

I rush into the door, and lean on my knees to catch my breath.

"Zoe?" Fiona asks, I look up and they are all looking at me. I smile.

"You have no idea it took us to get here." I say to them.

"Zoe!" They exclaim in happiness. They then all pull me into a group hug, which I gladly return.

"I missed you guys, so much." I say to them.

"It's been like 5 minutes." Enoch replies.

"Actually it's been 3.5 minutes. But for me it's been way longer. We had to go to the Californian deserts, then to Tokyo, the to Blackpool, but in 1942- where I actually became a nurse in the war-, then London, then-" I start, but Olive puts her gloved hand over my mouth.

"We get it." She says with a laugh, which I return. I then look out the window and see Miss Peregrine flying around.

"I'll be back." I say, they nod as I go up deck. There I turn into an owl and fly up to Miss Peregrine. She makes a bird noise at me, which I hoot in response. I look down to see Jake and Emma kissing. Miss Peregrine and I make a bird noise of happiness, they both look up and smile.

We then fly to the Blackpool Tower, and turn back into human, standing around the top. Miss Peregrine looks at the boat as it departs.

"You're proud, aren't you?" I ask her. She looks to me and nods.

"They've grown so much in just the last day." She says, I smile. I pull her into a hug.

"You may think otherwise, but they still need you." I tell her. She nods.

"Let's get back to it, then." She replies with a smile. We then both turn back into birds, flying towards the ship. The ship that hold my new and forever family...