Johanna sipped her tea and remained utterly still at the kitchen table. She should be tackling her commissions, but so far she had found it difficult to take her eyes off of the clock since getting home. Father's day haunted her perhaps not as much as it haunted Hilda, but as much as Johanna would want to forget him, the man had taken from her someone so precious that it made him impossible to bury.

It had been the same song and nace for the past few years now. Hilda would go out doing something, hoping her Mum would tell her something when she came back only to find her silent, imprisoned by her guilt. Her guilt of failing to stop her old partner, as the child's cries circled around her head mercilessly.

'MAMA! MAMA!'

Every year, Hilda's patience waned further and her resentment grew just a little more. The more time she wasted, Johanna knew that she just might lose her too, and she'd only have herself to blame…

Gripping her mug tightly, Johanna managed to unglue herself from the seat, having had a thought. Perhaps, she reasoned, something of Hilda's would be able to help, something that the girl would easily consider her most valuable possession; a simple photograph.

Stepping inside Hilda's room, Johanna exhaled as she looked about at the unmade bed and clothes scattered about the place. Smiling slightly, Johanna was surprised just how much Hilda had turned out like her.

Of course, she had only ever had her influence, even when her Father was still around.

Eyeing the top drawer of Hilda's bedside, Johanna set her tea down on the desk and herself on the bed before she tried to pull it open. Locked, obviously. Chewing her cheek, Johanna knew she could only blame herself for that one; she had literally pointed out the feature to Hilda when they'd been out shopping for one.

'You can keep all your little secrets in there!' She'd laughed, pinching her daughter's cheek.

She had always told herself she wouldn't care if her child kept secrets, but having been a Mum for twelve years and with Hilda specifically, Johanna now knew why most liked their children to be open with them. Gently, she began to uncomfortably poke around Hilda's things on her desk, looking for the key when a small cough interrupted her.

'Ah-hem?,' a minute, disapproving voice came from the shelf above her.

'Oh, Alfur! I..I was just looking for something here!' Johanna said as casually as she could, but the Elf looked uncharacteristically miffed, stepping out of his home and shutting the door after him.

'You're looking for the key to her bedside, hm?' He asked rhetorically and Johanna's eyes flitted to him, already knowing the answer before she sighed and sat down in Hilda's chair, looking up at the Elf, almost pleading.

'There's just something I want to look at in there..!'

'Hilda had figured, that's why she made me sign a contract to look after the key for her. Personally, I didn't think you'd come looking, mainly because Hilda didn't either!' Alfur explained, sitting down on the shelf with his legs over the side. Johanna looked away, knowing she had been put on the spot and rightfully so. Hilda trusted her to not to be nosy, seemingly only motivated by angst rather than genuine worry.

'Did she tell you what's in there?' She asked Alfur and the Elf shook his head, getting up to pace the shelf as Johanna stayed silent, trying to come up with anything that would let her see the photo, but not torpedoing Hilda's friendship with Alfur in the process.

'What if I told you what I was looking for? Tried to make you understand?' Johanna suggested and while it was clear the Elf was moved, he once again shook his head and Johanna's shoulders sagged in defeat. Alfur looked at her again, before he scuttled over to directly in front of her where he sat back down and swung his legs aimlessly for a moment.

'If you told me what's in the drawer..you wouldn't be telling me anything Hilda deserves to know first?' He asked. Johanna shook her head, sipping her tea, so Alfur nodded for an explanation.

'But!' He added quickly as Johanna opened her mouth, 'That doesn't mean I'll be giving you the key!'

Johanna closed her mouth and had to look away to hide the scowl on her face. Once she'd gotten a hold of herself, she looked back up at Alfur, stone faced.

'Why should I tell you anything then?' She asked coolly but the Elf remained undeterred, having resumed pacing the shelf. He may not be able to give Johanna what she wanted, but figured that, perhaps, he could help some other way.

'I mean..if you talk about it now, maybe it will make it easier to talk to Hilda?' Alfur suggested softly. Johanna exhaled through her nostrils, unwilling to confront the mountain of guilt that had built up over the past ten years. But Alfurs words spurred her on, encouraging and non-judgemental, for the time being at least. Johanna felt his mood might change once he learned how badly she'd failed at protecting her family.

But if it helped her finally get the truth out..

'I..I guess I could give that a try,' She murmured.

'That's the spirit!' Alfur gleed, his high spirits making Johanna smile briefly before she looked at Hilda's bedside again. She thought about making sure Alfur wasn't bluffing about not knowing, but decided against it. She knew that it would just be her pushing off the inevitable again.

'So..inside is a photo..' Johanna began, 'It's important to us both but I don't know if-if Hilda sees it that way herself..not after how I treated it when she found it the first time..it's o-of..of our family..,' she continued, quickly losing grip of her emotions towards the end.

Alfur nodded solemnly as Johanna took a break, having noted Hilda's lack of a Father since, well, ever. Plus, Hilda had been in a mood all morning, having begrudgingly told Alfur it was Father's Day before leaving for Sparrows.

'Oh..that would explain her mood this morning alright. I..I can kind of sympathise with her there..' He murmured and Johanna frowned, brow furrowed in concern. She had always thought it was strange that Alfur had packed up and left the Elf lands so quickly, as if he had no one to say goodbye to.

'Would you like to talk about it?' She asked but Elf shook his head after a moment's consideration, as stone faced as she had been a minute ago.

'This is about you and Hilda, not me..not right now anyway..,' Alfur muttered, leaving the idea open. But Johanna leaned back in her chair, arms crossed and one leg over the other. Alfur had managed pull words from her that she had only dreamed of explaining, she didn't want to leave him feeling like she had

'That doesn't-,' Johanna started when the sound of the front door flying open and slamming against the wall made them both jump. The sound of Hilda's boots then came clumsily along the floor but what Joahnna noticed immediately was the sobs. On her feet in an instant, she stepped out to see Hilda rush past her and collapse onto her bed. Johanna paused looking at her, recalling only twice when she had seen her daughter so emotional. The most recent was when Twig had run off, but the time before that…

Johanna got a hold of herself and was by Hilda's side in moments, the guilt pulsating through her like never before as the tormented girl clutched her Deerfox. Stroking her hair, Johanna began to pry away gently, as gently as she could anyway, given she was still prepping the emotional roller coaster to come.

'Sweetheart, sweetheart..what happened?' she pressed, though she felt she already knew the answer as Hilda sat up and dove into a hug despite her current mood with her Mum. She just wanted somewhere to hide from it all and there was nowhere better than her Mum's jumper. Slowly, Hilda's cries slowed with great heaves of breath in between as her Mum consoled her gently, whispering all the condolences she could into Hilda's brow.

'I..I..hit someone, Tr-Trevor from school..,' Hilda sniffled and Johanna tensed, having heard of Hilda's experiences with this boy before. She had just told her to stay away from him, but it seemed she came across him often enough regardless while out and about. Just as she was about to ask again, Hilda began to explain in between renewed sobs.

'He-He and his friends were-were tearing down p-posters..then w-we got into an-an argument about..about Dads..'

She looked up at her Mum and Johanna, lost for words, gazed back into her eyes, which were shimmering with tears. Hilda wiped them fruitlessly before she struggled to continue, hiccuping and coughing angrily. Johanna reached over and grabbed an old glass of water from the bedside, which Hilda took gratefully, gulping it down in one go.

'He..He said that..that D-Dad hated me!,' Hilda sniffed and Johanna went pale, stunned any child could say something so cruel. But again, though she tried desperately, she couldn't find the words. In the mess of memories surfacing from the depths of her mind, Johanna knew that from what she could make out, telling Hilda anything otherwise would be a lie.

She gripped her knees, looking up at her daughter to see the look of desperate hope slowly draining away into one of despair. Johanna couldn't bear it, she had to say something, anything.

'Hate is..is a strong word..' she began but it was a terrible opening, something Johanna quickly realised as Hilda descended into a mountain of blubbering sobs. Crying incoherently, Hilda then went for her bedside, seemingly forgetting about the key when she froze. Looking back at her Mum, the warm tears still flowed but the tone Hilda spoke with was one of ice.

'..What were you doing in my room?'

Johanna looked away despite every fibre of her being telling her not to. By the time she looked back, Hilda had turned around and the deep breaths indicated that she was trying very hard not to lash out.

'I..I was going to tell you everything, really Hilda, I was! I..I just thought looking at the photo would-!'

'Get out,' Hilda hissed, her tone filled with barely contained anger, 'Get out now!'

'Hilda, please-!' Johanna begged but it was fruitless. Like lightning, Hilda tugged off one of her boots and threw it at her Mum. Johanna narrowly dodged, moving from the bed and spinning back around to implore Hilda to listen. But the other boot was at the ready along with a boatload of hurtful feelings that she was ready to spill.

'GET OUT!' Hilda screamed, 'GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!,' the tears escaping before she flung the other boot full force at her Mum's head. Johanna barely managed to pull the door shut, hearing the shoe slam into it at what felt like a hundred kilometres an hour. She slumped down against it, her emotions crumbling as she gripped her hair and her old partner's voice mocked her relentlessly.

'You can't do anything now!'

Alfur watched in stunned silence as Hilda stood there, arm still across her chest from throwing the boot. After a minute, she threw herself onto her bed, face down and slamming her fists into the mattress, sobs muffled by her pillow. A part of Alfur said to give her space, that this wasn't his business to be getting involved with but the Elf knew he just couldn't leave her like this. So he made his way down the string of fairy lights and sat at the edge of Hilda's desk. The girl spotted him and sat up, the anger stubbornly sticking to her expression.

'She told you everything, didn't she?' Hilda hissed, rolling her eyes when Alfur shook his head. She knew from being grounded that the Elf was more than willing to work with her Mum behind her back. She flopped back down onto the bed and turned away, arms crossed as her emotions buckled once more.

'She didn't tell me anything!' Alfur pleaded, 'If anything I was trying to work her towards telling you-!'

'She wouldn't have told me anything!,' Hilda exclaimed, kicking the wall in frustration. Outside, Alfur heard Johanna move from the door, her own cries fading away towards the kitchen. He couldn't stand this, he hated when Hilda and Johanna argued and was often quietly frustrated that they just couldn't be fully open with one another. It reminded him all too much of when he had been young, but unlike then, now he wasn't powerless. He would help get them to the bottom of this; after all, he was like family to Hilda, she had said it as much.

'Do you think you could show me this photo?' Alfur pressed, hopping onto the pillow and making his way into Hilda's fringe. The girl snorted in response, not in the mood to go digging through her old memories and still miffed at him regardless. Alfur pushed on, coming down from Hilda's fringe and sitting in front of her eye.

'Hilda..I want to help you both, really I do! I can help you convince your Mum to talk about this, I'll even forfeit any contracts she's signed with me!'

Hilda would be lying if she said she wasn't moved by his words, as she rolled over flat onto her back and Alfur lay down on the pillow beside her. However, a feeling of reluctance filled Hilda as she glanced at him. Sure, every Father's day ended with her being miserable but Hilda had always been lifted by the hope that perhaps one day he would come home. He would say something about how he'd lived with the guilt for too long, that he loved her even if her Mum didn't love him anymore. She could visit him then, in his own little place and maybe one day her Mum would follow her and they could all come back home as a reunited family.

But her Mum's words had changed that. Hilda didn't know what to think anymore, couldn't understand what was meant by hate being a "strong word". Had her Dad just..disliked her? What could she have possibly done, she had been so young when he left that she couldn't even picture him. All of it meant the happy fantasies were draining away, replaced by a bitter feeling of uncertainty and resentment at her Mum for keeping the truth for so long.

'Hilda..do you want a tissue?'

She sat up with a start, hands flat on the mattress to see that Alfur was back up on her desk and had brought over a pack of tissues. Hilda nodded quietly, took a handful and blew her nose. Twig came over and curled up next to her, Hilda patting his white fur and feeling ever so slightly better. Looking back up at Alfur's kind face, she nodded towards his home above them.

'Can..Can you grab the key? I'll show you the photo..' Hilda murmured, brushing her fringe out of her hair. The Elf was halfway up the fairy lights by the time she had finished speaking and had the key when she looked back up at him. Dropping it onto the table at Hilda's nod; outside, Johanna heard and looked up from her untouched cup of tea she'd been crying into. Staring back into the drink, she held her head in her hands, trying to build up determination to go in there and sit Hilda down, but couldn't. It made her feel like a failure, the exact failure her old partner had accused her of being.

'I'm just useless..' she sniffed, when someone cleared their throat next to her. Looking up, Johanna found Tontu ready to assure as inside, Hilda rummaged through her top drawer.

Alfur could make out her old journals, stained, torn and dirty from the cabin as well as some rather unique rocks. Hilda's brow furrowed as she looked about, before she paused and went to one of the journals. Untying it's cover, she flicked through ripped and stained pages before finding what she was looking for. Slotted in between the pages was a photograph, yellowed and with one of its top corners ripped away.

Hilda took it gingerly and flopped onto her bed, allowing Alfur to study it silently. He quickly noticed a younger Johanna, cradling a young Hilda in one arm, judging by her clothes. Alfur had to stifle a laugh, it looked like Hilda hadn't been in the mood when the photo was taken.

Johanna had her other arm around someone else; Hilda's Father. His head was missing, perhaps traces of a beard peeking out from beneath the tear but that was all. He had clearly been well built, with powerful, hairy arms. Even in the photos weathered state, Alfur could see that it was blue, evidently being the reason both children had blue hair-

Alfur stopped himself and peered closer at the picture again, steading himself as Hilda wiped her nose. Blinking, he finally realised he wasn't dreaming. Hilda's Father was holding another blue haired child, a child that Alfur had never heard Hilda nor Johanna talk about and it all suddenly made so much more sense.

'Hilda..who are they..?' Alfur asked gently, looking up at her. She gripped the photo tightly, tears bulging from her eyes as she murmured the words she had never, ever, been allowed to say since the day she found the photograph by accident

'He's my brother…'