I don't own Hilda.

Trevor quietly sat in his room against his bed, tossing a tennis ball at the wall, which then bounced off the floor and back into his hand. Outside his house, the bird parade continued to rave through the streets of Trolberg. People marched and danced merrily in bird costumes beside colorful floats with flashy lights, which illuminated Trevor's dark room with a warm orange glow. Trevor couldn't believe what he had witnessed tonight. A talking bird which eventually revealed itself to be the fabled Great Raven, exploding out of the canal and blasting lightening in the night sky. Though in awe over the events, Trevor couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt over what he had done to the raven earlier today, and how much it upset the new girl in town. Lost in his thoughts, Trevor failed to catch the tennis ball as it bounced back at him, only scrapping it with his finger tips, causing the ball to bounce away and roll to the far corner of his room. He let out a sigh of frustration.

"Trevor, what is that noise?" said a muffled voice in the hallway. Trevor's mother, Lucille, dark-skinned and brown-haired like her son, opened the door to investigate.

"Nothing, mum." Trevor muttered.

"What are you doing inside anyway?" Lucille asked, "There's an enormous parade going on. I don't see why you're not out there watching it with your friends."

"I've had a long day, I just want to be alone right now." Trevor explained.

Lucille frowned sadly at her son's apparent strife. She entered his room and sat down on the floor beside her son.

"What's the matter, dear?"

"I did something terrible today, mum."

"Please don't tell me you broke another neighbor's window." She sighed.

"No, not at all." Trevor replied with a hint of panic, "It's just…there's this girl…"

"Oh?"

"Her name is Hilda. She just moved to Trolberg. She's got blue hair, kinda shy, seems to love animals…"

"Do you like this girl, dear?"

"Uhhh…" Trevor gulped, his face burning, "Well, I, uh…that's beyond the point, actually. I was with my friends when she approached us. We let her join us for some fun, which eventually led to us throwing rocks at birds."

"What have I told you about doing such reckless things?" Lucille chided, "You know what this leads to."

"I know, I'm sorry, mum." Trevor replied, "I wasn't thinking. Anyways, I ended up hitting one of the birds. It really made Hilda mad at me. I didn't kill it, just knocked it down for a bit. The weird thing is, the bird tal-"

Trevor stopped himself. If his friends weren't gonna believe him about the raven speaking, his mother certainly wasn't.

"The bird what?" Lucille asked.

"Uh, nevermind. Anyways, Hilda didn't take it well at all."

"I don't blame her, dear."

"Y-yeah." Trevor winced, "I don't know what to do, mum. I feel bad…"

"You need to apologize to her, Trevor." Lucille said, "That's all you can really do."

"I'm afraid she won't forgive me."

"I'm sure she will. Not to worry, Trevor. I'll accompany you on a visit to Hilda's house tomorrow."

"Hmmm, okay." Trevor muttered, "Not sure what good it'll do."

"Just promise me you'll never throw rocks in town again."

"I promise, mum." Trevor nodded. "Thanks."

Lucille padded her son's shoulder lovingly before standing up to leave the room. Before closing the door, she peaked her head back in.

"Now quit moping in the dark, go out and enjoy the parade."

The next day, Trevor and Lucille arrived at Hilda's residence and rang the door bell.

"Know what to say to Hilda, Trevor?" She asked.

"Uh...yeah, kinda." Trevor replied anxiously.

"Just take a deep breath, dear. It'll be fine."

The door opened, revealing Hilda's mother, Johanna.

"Oh hello, what can I do for you?" Johanna asked the woman before immediately recognizing Trevor from the previous night beside her. "Oh, it's you."

Trevor timidly waved at Johanna with a nervous chuckle.

"Hello, I'm Trevor's mother, Lucille."

"I'm Johanna." The two women exchanged a handshake.

"I was hoping we could discuss an encounter my son had with your daughter yesterday. Are we interrupting anything?"

"Nope, nothing at all. Please come in." Johanna welcomed Lucille and Trevor into her home, "Let's have a seat in the kitchen. May I fix you up some peppermint tea?"

"Yes, thank you." Lucille said taking a seat at the kitchen table, as did Trevor.

"Let me go fetch Hilda. She's in her room." Johanna said after turning on the stove's heat to warm the kettle.

Lucille looked over at Trevor, who was visibly shaking.

"Relax, dear…"

"I'm trying, mum."

"They're in here." Johanna said, leading Hilda into the kitchen, "You might recognize one of them."

Hilda entered the kitchen alongside her mother and immediately locked eyes with Trevor, who let out a slight gasp. Hilda frowned a bit, thinking why the boy who had blatantly injured the Great Raven was in her home.

"Hi Hilda…" Trevor greeted apprehensively.

"Hello." She replied flatly.

"Take a seat, Hilda." Johanna said.

Hilda reluctantly joined the three at the kitchen table, eyeing Trevor impassively.

"So, yesterday Trevor had let Hilda join his friends for some outdoor activities, but Trevor ended up doing something that greatly offended her." Lucille explained.

"I heard." Johanna nodded, "Something about rocks being thrown at birds. Hilda told me."

"Yes." Lucille continued, "I feel awful about this and so does Trevor. I don't want Hilda to think all children in Trolberg are reckless and mean. My Trevor certainly isn't like that whatsoever. He may take things too far sometimes, but he's truly a kind-hearted soul. Please understand. Dear, do you have something to say to Hilda?"

Trevor, whose head was bowed in guilt during his mother's whole explanation, looked up at Hilda, who continued to stare at him stoically.

"Hilda. It was stupid and wrong of me to throw rocks at those birds. You have every right to be angry with me. The bird turned out to be fine, thankfully, but that's not an excuse for my actions. I'm very sorry."

Hilda relaxed, touched by the boy's genuine words.

"Hilda, what do you say?" Johanna asked.

Hilda pondered for a few seconds before smiling cooly at the boy.

"Apology accepted."

Trevor breathed a sigh of relief and smiled back.

"Well, that settles it then." Johanna said.

"Very good." Lucille held her hand over her heart. "Thank you, Hilda."

The kettle on the stove began to whistle, prompting Johanna to get up and start pouring peppermint tea for her and Lucille in separate mugs.

"Hilda, why don't you bring Trevor to your room, maybe introduce him to Twig while me and Lucille get more acquainted."

"Sure, mum." Hilda obeyed, "Follow me Trevor."

Trevor looked up at his mother, who grinned at him with a thumbs up. He slipped off his chair and followed the blue-haired girl.

Hilda guided Trevor into her room before closing the door behind them.

"So, you're from the wilderness outside town?" Trevor asked.

"Yeah, lived there all my life with my mum, who was from Trolberg actually." Hilda explained, "I do miss it a lot."

"Hilda, Trolberg's not a bad place to live at all. I'm sure you'll get used to it in time. I just wish I gave you a better introduction."

"You're already forgiven, Trevor." Hilda smiled at the boy, "Yeah, it's starting to grow on me somewhat. That parade last night was beautiful."

"That's only one of many amazing things you still gotta see around here." Trevor said, "By the way, who is this Twig that your mum mentioned."

"Over here on my bed." Hilda said, "Come, boy!"

Twig, Hilda's loyal pet deerfox, uncurled from his sleeping position and leaped off Hilda's bed. Trevor couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"You own a deerfox?" Trevor asked, dropping his jaw in surprise.

Upon seeing Trevor, the deerfox timidly hid behind Hilda's legs.

"Yep, that's Twig. He's my best friend." Hilda said.

"I've never seen one before. Only from pictures in nature books." Trevor said.

"It's okay, boy." Hilda cooed, "Relax, Trevor won't hurt you."

Twig poked his head out from behind the girl and gazed up at Trevor cautiously.

"Just kneel down and stick your hand out." Hilda instructed Trevor, "Let him come to you."

Trevor complied and knelt down, extending his arm. Twig came out from behind Hilda and slowly puttered toward the boy.

"Just stay calm." Hilda added.

Trevor took a deep breath and watched the deerfox slowly but surely approach him. Twig sniffed Trevor's hand. His wet nose tickled the boy's palm, causing Trevor to chuckle a bit. Seconds later, Twig licked Trevor's hand and rubbed his head on it affectionately.

"Congrats, he likes you." Hilda giggled.

"This is so awesome." Trevor said before standing up to face Hilda, "You know, Hilda, you really are the most interesting kid I've ever met. I think we're gonna be very good friends. Thank you for this second chance."

"You're welcome." Hilda beamed. "I think so, too."