Well here it is, folks. The final chapter. A special thanks to LynmiKii on DeviantArt for all the support and fan art of this story. Seriously, it means a lot. With that said, the original Hilda books were written by Luke Pearson and the animated series was produced by Silvergate Media and Mercury Filmworks and is released exclusively on Netflix. Blah. Blah. Blah. Enjoy.
Chapter 6
Having initially planned to ride out the weekend at Frida's, Hilda had already taken the liberty of packing the extra clothes and other accoutrements necessary for such an excursion; so in a sense, you could say she was fully prepared to spend the evening at Kaisa's. What she was not prepared for however was how exactly she would be spending said evening. For after they'd both gotten dressed in their respective sleep attires, she'd asked her witchy guardian if there was something she'd always wanted to do if she ever had a daughter, and her answer was… odd, to say the least.
For reasons Hilda was probably too young and nonmagical to understand, the first thing Kaisa wanted to do was give her a makeover, and although this sort of thing wasn't exactly her idea of a good time, the young girl sucked it up and allowed the older woman to do as she wished. After all, she did owe her a great debt.
"Ow!" went Hilda for the fifth or sixth time as Kaisa continued to fiddle with her hair.
"Sorry. So sorry." The witch said apologetically. "I hit another knot. You know, Hilda, you have such beautiful hair. You really should take better care of it."
"I'll try to keep that in mind." The little girl replied, doing her best to sound polite in spite of herself. "So… this is really something you've always wanted to do?"
"Uh-huh. And you're going to look so adorable when I'm finished." Kaisa answered giddily as she added another spritz of hairspray.
Naturally, Hilda was a little uneasy about the way she'd said that and briefly worried that her guardian might have gone all loopy like the witches in the Tower. However, she quickly dismissed this feeling and reminded herself that Kaisa was a nice lady and that this was probably just some witch thing she was too young to understand.
"Finished~" the older woman announced joyfully before handing her young charge a small hand mirror. "Say hello to the new you."
The end result was… surprising, to say the least.
Pigtails.
Kaisa had done up her hair in big blue pigtails; held in place by two big black bows and probably more hairspray than was needed.
"You don't like it, do you?" the older woman asked; her words laced with disappointment.
"No, no, it's not that." Hilda said in a clear attempt to spare her feelings. "I'm just not used to it, that's all. It's really quite lovely. Honest."
This was a barefaced lie. In truth, she hated what Kaisa had done to her hair. Not because the witch had done a bad job, but because, at least from her perspective, her new do made her look like a certain nightmare spirit she didn't like very much.
If Kaisa suspected her charge wasn't being truthful she chose not to call her on it. Instead she just smiled and readjusted herself.
"I'm getting kind of hungry. It's probably time we did something about dinner." The older woman said, pausing for a moment as she thought about something. "You don't eat meat, right?"
"No, ma'am." Hilda replied as she got out of the chair she'd been sitting in. "Mind you, I eat fish sometimes, but red meat doesn't really agree with me."
"Yes, your mother's the same way, but that's alright. I know a place that serves lots of tasty vegetarian dishes." Said Kaisa as she walked over to a nearby end table to retrieve some sort of pamphlet. "We'll just call them up and in a little while they'll deliver a piping hot meal right to our door."
Her witchy guardian handed her said pamphlet and Hilda's eyes instantly lit up.
The Happy Frog Chinese Takeaway
It was a menu for one of those delivery restaurants she'd heard about ever since she'd moved to the city, and it was full of many fascinating dishes she'd never heard of before. After a bit of discussion, the duo settled on a few items Kaisa knew to be delicious and that Hilda thought sounded interesting. Sweet and sour broccoli with rice, Cantonese style deep fried spinach balls, stir-fried bamboo shoots in black bean sauce, mapo tofu with extra spicy chili sauce and some spring rolls for good measure. Perhaps a little much for just two people, but the Librarian said she didn't mind leftovers.
"Well, that's taken care of." Kaisa said as she hung up her phone. "It should be here in about 45 minutes. Do you want to do something while we wait?"
"I can help you set the table if you like." Hilda offered sweetly.
"Oh, that's very kind of you, sweetheart, but it's not necessary. You're my guest." The Librarian said, blushing a little. "Besides, I don't actually have a table."
"You don't have a table?" the little girl repeated, struggling to process the witch's statement. "Then how do you eat?"
"Well… I'm usually all by myself, so I just eat in front of the television."
Hilda raised an eyebrow at this. While she considered herself a rough and tumble outdoorsy type, her mother had raised her well enough to instill a certain level of propriety into her. So the idea of eating a meal while sitting on a couch in front of a television didn't quite sit with her. But ultimately, she just shrugged it off.
"Okay, it's your house." She said before mentally adding. 'But it's not proper.'
"Alright then, so… how about I get us some drinks?"
"Oh, I'll get them." Hilda offered. "I know I'm your guest, but I like being helpful."
"Well… okay. If that's what you want." Kaisa replied. "There's some sodas in the refrigerator. Just be careful."
"I will." The little girl replied sweetly before making her way to the kitchen.
Honestly, she hated deceiving her guardian like that, but she wanted a chance to explore the house on her own. Ever since she'd arrived she'd had this strange feeling that something about it wasn't quite right. Not that she didn't trust Kaisa, mind you, but the young lass had a powerful curiosity that needed to be satisfied.
Unfortunately, the witch's kitchen had little to offer in that regard. It was, by all appearances, just an ordinary kitchen; save for the lack of a proper table. Over in the corner she noticed a rubbish bin that was slightly overflowing thanks to an abundance of pizza boxes and other takeaway food containers.
'Just how often does she order out?' Hilda asked herself internally, before heading over to the icebox.
Like the rest of the kitchen, it was fairly ordinary, at least until she opened it and saw just how… empty it was. Not completely empty, mind you. There was lunchmeat and sliced cheese for sandwiches, a few condiments, a gallon of milk, some butter, an open box of baking soda and the sodas she'd come for. Probably enough for just one person living on their own, but it was too little to justify a refrigerator this size. It was just too big.
Ah-ha!
That's when it hit her. That's what was wrong with this house. It was just too big for one person living by themself.
"Is everything alright, Hilda?" Kaisa asked as she came into the kitchen to check on her. "You're taking an awful long time."
"Is this really all you have to eat around here?" Hilda asked bluntly as she gestured towards the mostly empty icebox.
"Well… no, not really." The Librarian answered confusedly. "I have some frozen dinners and a quart of ice cream in the freezer. And there's plenty of snacks and cereal in the cupboards if that's what you're looking for."
"I see… and just how often do you order takeaway?"
"Oh… I don't know. Two or three times a week, I suppose. I've never been much of a cook and sandwiches can get dull after a few days."
That was all Hilda needed to hear.
"Okay, that settles it." She spoke up, her voice ringing with conviction. "You and Mum have to get married immediately."
Needless to say, you could've knocked Kaisa over with a feather after that little declaration.
"What?" the Librarian exclaimed dumbfoundedly. "You… you mean you want me to be a part of your family now? Just like that?"
"I don't see how I have any other choice. I can't very well allow the woman who saved my life to go on living like this."
"Well, that's very sweet of you, Hilda, but it's really not that simple… wait, what's wrong with how I live?"
"Where do I even begin?" the little girl said matter-of-factly. "First of all, your diet is atrocious. Eating only takeaway and sandwiches isn't good for you."
"Is that so?" the Librarian replied, sounding slightly amused.
"Yes it is. You need a proper homecooked meal made by a professional, and more importantly, you need a proper table to eat it on and someone to eat it with, because at dinnertime you're supposed to talk about your day, not watch the telly."
"I see. And is that all?"
"No, because the real problem is this house. It's too big for just one person living by themself. Our flat isn't half this size and Mum and I live with a deerfox, an elf and a Nisse. You don't even have a cat."
"Well, I'll admit it's a bit more than I need, but I only moved in because the price was so reasonable."
"No, you moved in because this is a house meant for a family and living here makes you feel like you have one. Which is fine, I guess, but it's no substitute for the real thing and if you stay here surrounded by stuff that reminds you of what you don't have, you'll just end up going bonkers like all those witches down in the Tower."
This time Kaisa gave no response, but judging from the look on her face, Hilda suspected that she'd hit the nail on the head.
"Well that settles it then. You can't take care of yourself properly, so you'll have to marry Mum so we can both do it for you. End of discussion."
"Hilda, I think it's very sweet of you to worry, but I'm fine, really. And besides, I'm kind of having second thoughts about proposing to your mother."
"Why? You said you want to."
"Yes, but I don't know if she wants to. We've never really discussed it. And to be perfectly honest, I'm a little scared to bring it up with her. I mean, what if she said no? Things would never be the same between us, and it'd just be too embarrassing."
"Well, being afraid of a little embarrassment is no excuse to not go after something you really want." Hilda said just as a brilliant idea popped into her head. "Hold on, you said that sometimes you wear costumes when you read to children on the weekends, right?"
"Yes, but I don't see what that has to do with…"
"Do you have one for this weekend?"
"Well, yes, but…"
"Good. Then go put it on and wear it when you go to pay the delivery man."
"What?"
"You said the only thing stopping you from proposing to Mum is embarrassment, right?"
"R-right."
"Well, if you can get over embarrassing yourself in front of a total stranger, then proposing to the woman you love should be a cakewalk."
"I… I don't know, Hilda. What if he thinks I'm crazy?"
"Who cares what he thinks? He's just a delivery man. You'll probably never even see him again."
"I guess… but I'm still not sure."
"What's one little private moment of humiliation compared to a lifetime of loneliness?"
This time, Kaisa didn't answer right away. Instead she just fidgeted in silence as she seemed to mentally weigh her options.
"Well… I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." The Librarian said after what felt like a lifetime.
"That's the spirit." Hilda replied enthusiastically. "Trust me, this will work like a charm."
XXX
A short time later, on Kaisa's doorstep, Johanna stood, silently fidgeting as she struggled to come up with a plausible excuse for her being there.
"Oh, hello there, Kaisa." She said to herself aloud; practicing what she was going to say. "I was just in the neighborhood and I thought…. No, that won't work. Kaisa, I know we agreed that we'd let Hilda decide where she'd stay the weekend, but she's my daughter and I have a right to… No, that's too aggressive. Kaisa? What a pleasant surprise. What are you doing… in your own house? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!"
Johanna shook her head in frustration. This was ridiculous. She was being ridiculous. She didn't need an excuse to want to see her own daughter. Especially not after the day she'd had. So with this in mind, she assumed a more confident stance and loudly knocked on her girlfriend's front door.
A few minutes later, the door opened and Johanna received the shock of her life.
Unsurprisingly, Kaisa had been the one to answer, though she looked nothing like she'd expected. Instead of her usual outfit or some kind of pajamas, the Librarian was, for whatever reason, wearing a frilly, lacy, garishly pink princess dress with matching plastic tiara.
"Greetings, good sir." Kaisa said in an uncharacteristically girlish fashion as she gave her visitor a genteel curtsy. "I welcome thee, most humbly, to my enchanted kingdom."
Needless to say, Johanna was at an absolute loss for words. As was the Librarian once she opened her eyes and finally saw who she'd just greeted.
"J-J-J-Jo-Jo-Johanna…." She stammered quite dumbly as her face lit up like a furnace. "Wha-Wha-Wha-WHAAAAAAAAAHH!"
And with a mortified shriek, the costumed Librarian dashed back into her home at high speed; presumably to change.
For a few moments, Johanna just stood there in a daze; her brain struggling to compute what the heck she'd just seen. Fortunately however, her senses quickly returned once she heard a familiar voice.
"Mum?"
She looked down and there, less than two feet away, stood her beloved daughter; her hair done up in pigtails for some reason.
"H-Hilda?"
"Mum!"
"Hilda!"
And before anyone knew what had happened, the two of them were hugging and crying like they'd been separated for years, instead of just half a day.
"Oh, Mum. I missed you so much." Hilda said as they continued to embrace.
"I missed you too, sweetheart." Replied Johanna, before finally allowing them to separate.
"I'm sorry I was so mean to you this morning."
"It's okay, dear. I'm just glad you're alright now."
"And I'm also sorry because… because I did something bad. Something really bad."
"I know. Frida and David came by after school and told me about you making a scene."
"No, I mean after that. At the Library, Kaisa accidentally gave me a sandwich with hot sauce and I got mad and… I said a bad word."
"Oh, Hilda." Johanna said, disappointed but nevertheless proud of her daughter for coming clean all on her own. "Well, what did you say?"
Hilda didn't answer outright. Instead she leaned close into her mother's ear and softly whispered the offensive word.
"Hilda! Where on Earth did you learn that kind of language?"
"I overheard one of the older boys say it at school." The little girl admitted. "I'm so sorry, Mum. Kaisa grounded me for a few hours and she said I didn't have to tell you if I didn't want to, but… I just thought you should know."
"I see." Johanna said, shifting gears into 'parental mode'. "Well, I'm very proud of you for coming clean about this, but I hope you realize that you're still going to have to be punished."
"I know."
"Good. But… I suppose that can wait until Monday. Right now, I'm just glad you're feeling better about all this."
"I am, Mum. But there's something I need you to do for me while you're here."
"Of course, sweetheart. What is it?"
"I need you to ask Kaisa to marry you."
Johanna wasn't sure what she'd expected her daughter to say, but it wasn't that.
"What?"
"Just listen. Kaisa's a very nice lady, but she's lonely and doesn't know how to take care of herself, and she really wants to ask you herself, but she's too scared, so you'll have to do it for her."
"I… see…" the older woman replied, her brain once again struggling to keep up. "Listen, Hilda, I think it's very sweet of you to worry about Kaisa, and I'm very glad you seem to be okay with our relationship now, but marriage is… well, it's just… very complicated."
"What's complicated about it? You both like each other, don't you?"
"Well, yes… but there's a lot more to it than that."
"Like what?"
"Well… for one thing, where would we live?"
"She can move in with us. She doesn't have much stuff. So she won't take up that much space."
"I know, but… sigh… Look, I'll give it some thought, but don't try to force it anymore. Okay?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Good. Glad that's settled. Now there's something I need to ask you."
"Sure, Mum. What is it?"
"What on Earth happened to your hair?"
XXX
A short time later, after Kaisa unfrazzled herself and got back into her pajamas, the delivery man arrived with the Chinese takeaway, for which Johanna was more than happy to pay for as sort of an apology for that rather embarrassing incident earlier. As a sign of gratitude, among other things, the Librarian invited her girlfriend to stay for dinner and perhaps even stay the night if she wanted. Naturally, she graciously accepted both invitations.
With all of that settled, the three of them sat down on the sofa to enjoy their mouthwatering vegetarian banquet and each other's company. Hilda found herself a nice cozy spot in between Kaisa and her mother; not because she wanted to keep them apart, mind you, but more because she rather liked the view. To her right was her Mum, who was scarfing down her broccoli and rice while recounting a funny story she'd heard from someone down at the supermarket. And to her left was the Librarian, who was gleefully inhaling her impossibly spicy scraps of tofu while hanging on her lover's every word. Hilda quite enjoyed seeing them together like this. For some reason it just felt… right.
"And then she said, 'Fine, but next time, you drive'." said Johanna, marking the end of her story.
"Oh, Johanna, you goose." Kaisa replied with a girlish giggle. "You made that all up."
"I did not. That's just the way I heard it from the cashier. Maybe she made it up, but I didn't change a thing."
"Whatever you say, dear." The Librarian said teasingly, before going back to her tofu.
Naturally, this little exchange gave Hilda a warm feeling inside.
"See, now isn't this better than eating alone and watching the telly?" she asked the Librarian sweetly.
"Uh-huh. So much better." The older woman answered warmly.
"Um… Kaisa, I've been thinking." Johanna interjected, blushing a little bit. "How… difficult would it be to lease your house to somebody?"
"Oh, um… I don't know. I'd have to look into it." Kaisa answered, her own cheeks starting to burn. "W-Why?"
"Well it's just… well, things have been going so well between us, that I thought… maybe… you might want to move in with us. Hilda and I, I mean. You know… just for a little bit. To see how we all… fit together."
"Gasp. Do you mean it, Mum?" Hilda asked excitedly before turning to the Librarian. "Please say yes. It'll be so much better than living here all by yourself."
"Oh… well… I… I don't know." Kaisa replied nervously. "I mean, I suppose we could give it a try. If that's what you both want. Who knows? It might even be fun."
"That's the spirit." The little girl said happily as she gave the older woman the biggest hug she could manage. "Just you wait, our family's the best. We've already got a deerfox, an elf and a Nisse, but there's plenty of room for a witch."
Upon hearing this, Johanna let out a hearty chuckle.
"Oh, Hilda. You silly little thing." She said as she affectionately tussled her daughter's hair. "Where do you get these ideas? Kaisa's not a witch."
And just like that, this tender moment fell into an awkward silence.
"Um… Johanna… darling… sweetheart." The Librarian stammered, blushing harder than ever before. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you."
The End
And that's that.
I hope you all liked this extra long final chapter.
I'll be going back to my other ongoing projects after a short rest.
So thanks for reading and I'll see you all next time.
Peace.
