Chapter Text
Chapter Seven
It was now the twenty-fifth of December. Christmas Day. Since she lived in Trolberg now, Karen’s family was one of the very few who practiced the holiday.
The morning was the same as it was when she lived in America. Karen got up, went down to her tree next to the fireplace, and opened her gifts while her mother watched happily.
While Karen enjoyed the gifts she received, her mind was still racing about her crush. After all, it must be another day in her life since Sonstansil ended the night before. Surely, now that the presents were done, that she could just go on and visit her. Being quick, Karen ran over and put her coat over her lined shirt.
“I’m gonna go over to Hilda’s, I’ll be back-“
“Hey now.” Karen’s mother stopped her. “We’re gonna have our Christmas supper in a little bit, honey. You know Grandma’s wanting to see her favorite little granddaughter.”
“B-But-“
“No buts.” Her mother interjected, before seeing Karen frown in disappointment. She squatted down to meet at her level and rubbed her back. “You’ll see them soon. But for now, let’s celebrate our first Christmas here as best as we can. Would that be okay?”
“…I guess.” Karen sighed as the two heard knocks on the living room door.
“That must be Grandma.” Her mother opened the door, only to find Hilda, Frida, and David standing there instead.
“Merry Christmas!” The three shouted.
“Hilda!” Karen exclaimed, her frown turning upside down from excitement. “What are you guys doing here?” She asked as she noticed Hilda holding a gift and David holding a small black pot.
“We figured we could celebrate your holiday, since you celebrated Sonstansil with us. I even got you a present!”
“We used whatever tip money we had left to get you something.” Frida added.
“And I brought some extra broth!” David pointed at the pot in his hands.
“We were wondering if it’s alright that we could… stay for a meal?” Hilda requested, surprising Karen’s mom with her nice tone and generous offerings. Karen looked at her mother as well, with an expression that said she really, really wanted Hilda to stay.
“Why not. It is Christmas.” She let the children in, causing Karen to hug her joyfully.
“Thanks, Mom!”
“Don’t mention it.” Her mother mentioned as she directed David into the kitchen. “Just put the broth in here, I’ll serve it when it’s suppertime.”
“Oh, man, it smells good in here.” He commented as Frida and Hilda undid their coats and wore their usual attire. This, of course, included Hilda’s beret, which she pulled out of her pocket and placed onto her head.
“Aww, you brought your nice hat!” Karen complimented as Hilda sighed.
“I told you it was a beret, Karen.” She reminded, flustered, while placing the gift under Karen’s tree.
While she watched, Frida noticed the colorful spheres and toys hanging on the branches. “What are these?”
“Ornaments. We keep them on the trees because it makes them stand out from the trees outside.” Karen tilted her head towards the window, where snow was falling down on a tree nearby.
“What about these little lightbulbs?” Hilda pressed further.
“They light up the tree, silly!” Karen chuckled as she flipped a light switch off, letting the Christmas lights sparkle out of the tree. It was a wondrous sight to Hilda and Frida, much similar to the Sonstansil Tree when it bloomed.
“Wow…” The former awed as Karen turned the light back on. “And you can just have it on whenever?”
“Whenever it is Christmastime, yeah." Karen nodded. "Here, I’ll show you some other stuff around here.” She directed Hilda as Frida looked over and noticed a bookshelf nearby.
Reading the titles, she noticed that some of them sounded like fairy tales, like The Last Unicorn and The Flight of Dragons, but one caught her attention as she pulled it out.
“All About Christmas… Sounds like it would be good for my book report.” Frida sat down on the couch, skimming through as David walked out of the kitchen and sat beside her.
“Already found a book to read?”
“It’s about Christmas traditions and customs.”
“Does it explain why Karen’s door has that weird circle plant thing?”
“You mean a wreath?”
“Yeah, that.” Frida and David started reading as time started passing by.
Eventually, Karen’s grandmother arrived, and suppertime started. Everyone had gotten a little bit of everything Karen’s mom prepared, as well as the broth. All except for Hilda, who skipped out on the meats.
“How come you didn’t get any ham?” Karen pointed at Hilda’s plate.
“Oh, I don’t really like meat. I’m a vegetarian.”
“Really? That’s interesting!”
“It is?”
“Well, yeah because… I like it.” Karen started fretting. “N-Not that you have to because I like it! I think it’s great that you don’t. It’s just that I-“
“Karen. It’s okay.” Hilda patted her back. “I don’t mind if you like it.”
Karen turned red in response, much to Hilda’s surprise. “I-I mean, after all, just because I don’t like it, doesn’t mean others have to as well.” Hilda muttered in a flustered manner, which caught David and Frida’s attention.
Once supper ended, the children headed back over to the Christmas tree, where Karen started playing cartoons on the television. Old cartoons, where characters sculpted by handmade material moved around in specific ways, much to Hilda’s intrigue.
“Why do they move around like that?”
“That’s the style, Hilda.” Karen explained. “I think it’s called ‘stop-motion’?” She placed her hand on her chin, trying to remember. “Though whatever it is, it’s pretty magical to watch once you know those are actual dolls.”
“Is that why they look so creepy?” David questioned before Frida cleared her throat in disapproval. “What, am I wrong?”
Hilda hummed, scratching her head. “I don’t know. I think it looks charming. Must’ve taken a lot of time creating those lovely backgrounds and animating the characters.” She complimented the cartoon, surprising Karen. “I draw a lot.” Hilda added when she saw her surprised face. “It’s uh… one of my favorite hobbies.” She blushed, causing Karen to clasp her hands.
“Would I be able to see some of these drawings?”
“ABSOLUTELY! I mean-“ Hilda stopped herself, blushing harder as she didn’t mean to shout. “I-I love for you to see them.”
Meanwhile, Frida turned over to David. “How long is this gonna go on for?” She whispered as he shrugged.
“Depends on who wants to confess first, I guess.” Frida hummed, gazing around the room before remembering the gift under the tree.
“Hey, Hilda. I think it’s time you gave Karen her gift.”
“Oh my gosh! I totally forgot about it!” Karen ran over and held the gift in her hands.
Hilda followed, standing right beside her. “I hope you like it.” She watched as Karen unwrapped the gift and looked inside.
She paused upon seeing it, gasping. It was the snowman plushie. The same one she looked fondly on at the market the other night.
“Hilda, you…”
“I got you the snowman toy.” Hilda confirmed. “I spent all the money I had saved from tips so you could have it.” She rubbed her arm, embarrassed. “I know it’s not really your friend, but… maybe with this toy, you’ll always feel like Frosty’s there, no matter what day it is.”
“Y-Yeah…” Karen trailed off, feeling her heart flutter from Hilda’s kind gesture.
At the same time, Hilda knew that she had struck Karen’s emotions, and felt her own heart flutter as well. They both knew it was time to say something, even if the other didn’t feel that same way. It was now or never. Hilda took a deep breath as Karen clenched onto the toy.
“Hilda, I love you!”
“Karen, I love you!”
They admitted at the same exact time, shocking them to a standstill, while Frida and David gasped.
“Y-You love me?” Karen’s eyes watered as a slew of emotions started pouring out between them.
Hilda’s lips quivered. “Yes! Alright! I love you! I couldn’t believe there was someone who knew why I was so bothered by everything until I met you! You helped me learn how to ice-skate! You told me I didn’t need a reason to hang out with anyone! Y-You… made me become an adventurer again, Karen.” Hilda admitted as her friends ambled beside when she felt like an emotional dam was about to break.
“We’ve been trying to get her to feel better for months.” Frida added.
“We almost thought she would never be our old friend again before we met you, Karen.” David agreed, watching as Karen’s tears rolled down her eyes.
“But all I needed was a reminder that I’ll always have someone beside me.” Hilda looked at Karen with sparkles in her eyes. “Someone like you.”
Karen’s heart twinged as she felt compelled to say something. “Hilda, you win.” She admitted back, befuddling the trio.
“Win what?”
“Don’t you remember? It was the bet you made when I wrote off Trolberg as being a… stupid town.” Karen paused, feeling bad about her words back then. “You tried to prove me wrong, and you did it. You made me realize Trolberg wasn’t boring, and then you won my heart with how much you cared about me.” Karen sniffled as she darted her eyes at the doll.
“Before I moved here, I was really scared I would have no one to turn to about my own worries. I was afraid that if I told anyone about Frosty, that people would write it off as a fairy tale.”
She looked back at Hilda with sparkles in her eyes. “But you even proved me wrong on those things. So, you win the bet, Hilda. And do you know what you win?” Hilda shook her head, only for Karen to hug her tightly.
“My love.”
Hilda smiled as she returned the embrace. Frida and David looked at each other, happy that their friends were happy, when the former remembered something from the Christmas book. She looked around the fireplace and saw a green plant with berries that she recognized, so she grabbed it. She cleared her throat, grabbing the lovers’ attention.
“Something wrong, Frida?” Hilda raised an eyebrow.
“Do you two know what this is?”
“Hmm… no.” She replied as Frida raised the plant over their heads, much to Karen’s cheeks blushing heavily.
“It’s mistletoe. From what I read, when two people stand under it, they’re supposed to kiss each other.”
Hilda scoffed. “I don’t believe that’s true-“ Just before she could finish, Karen took her hands onto Hilda’s face and pressed her lips against hers. Hilda gasped, her face turning completely red as a big grin started to form.
“It is.” Karen corrected her, her face also a deep red. Red as the berries on the plant Frida twirled in her fingers.
“It’s not true when you’re using holly.” She whispered into David’s ear, shocking him.
“What?”
“Hey, it got them to kiss, didn’t it?” Frida giggled as David rolled his eyes, sighing.
Hoping to lower the intense emotions, the two lovers started laughing it off.
“Come on, Hilda, I think the desserts are almost ready.” Karen held onto Hilda’s hand as they headed out into the kitchen, with David and Frida following behind them.
“That sounds great, love!” Hilda agreed.
“You already have a nickname for me?”
“I’ve already thought of several, Karen.”
“What? I could barely come up with one!”
“You can just call me love, love.”
“Okay but it won’t sound as good when I say it, love.”
“You just said it fine!”
“Yeah, but you say it with that cute accent of yours!”
“Your accent’s cute too!”
“I don’t have an accent!”
“Yes, you do.” Frida and David interjected.
“I don’t!”
“Accent or not, your voice is cute, Karen.”
“So is yours, Hilda!”
The children laughed as they continued their chatting throughout the night.
So, after that merry Christmas night, Hilda and Karen found their own spark. And that spark would continue to persist long after the holidays were over. Once the weather warmed up, Karen changed her clothes to wear a red shirt with white buttons and shorts, complimenting her girlfriend’s long sweater and pants.
From then on, Hilda offered Karen not just to go on adventures together, but also dates, and hangouts. They were each shoulders for their love to cry on, and at night, both of them dreamed of futures where they would see themselves as more than girlfriends. Hilda and Karen were in love, and they always will be in love, for as long as the spark continued to shine brighter than the brightest of stars in the sky.
The End
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