It was only a kiss

The moment came when Hella finally broke down, Helena had been waiting for it to happen. Since Hella didn't seem to see the napkins Helena went and pressed a napkin against Hella's cheek. She listened to Hella, she didn't know details about what had happened to her family, but Helena knew Hella's sisters were in bad shape, at least mentally.
"Don't say that."
Helena said firmly and set a hand on Hella's shoulder.
"Don't say you should've done this or should've done that. The past is the past, what's done is done, and all you can do now is move forward. Hella."
Helena tried catching Hella's eyes with her own.
"Listen to me. Being broken is not a bad thing. It can make you strong, you can grow from it. But only if you let yourself do that. I can see you are strong, anyone can see that. Destra can see that. And though you probably don't want to listen to my comforting, I can see it too."

Helena knew that she couldn't possibly understand the magnitude of what Hella had gone through. Helena was priviledged, she knew that better than anyone else, and aside from one measly kidnapping she hadn't experienced anything traumatic. But that didn't mean she didn't want to at least try to understand the hardships of others, after all giving up before even trying was idiotic.
And maybe Hella needed to get to say these things. Even if Helena didn't understand them, and didn't know what they were about, she listened.

Like a daughter...rather than a son? Hella was trans? No, that was irrelevant. Helena frowned a bit, any ordinary words of comfort clearly were insufficient in this situation, and Helena didn't know Hella well enough to know them in the first place.
Helena actually wished Destra was here, he would've known the right way to comfort Hella. To convince her to think better of herself.
But Destra wasn't here, and Helena was still holding a tissue against Hella's cheek.
"I don't know anything about you or your harship, and still I offered light words of encouragement, and I'm angry at myself for that."
It wasn't an apology, not direct one, but the message was clear.
"But I don't want to and won't change my words. Because I know what I see and you won't convince me otherwise. I will stay with you in this room for as long as you need to get it all out, I will listen."
Helena didn't know how the situation had come to this, the girl who had came here to confess she kissed Helena's boyfriend was now broken down crying and Helena was, or at least trying to, comfort her. But Helena considered Hella a friend, and Helena wouldn't leave a friend alone to cry in a library reading room.

This all sounded very serious. Helena had not dealt with things like this, so naturally she felt like she'd bitten off more than she could chew. Helena hoped Hella was getting help, seeing a professional, doing something to help her get better. It had helped Helena, at least, although the trauma still lived inside her. But there was no professional here either, just Helena.
"But you need to keep saying no, Hella."
Helena said, to her mind there was no other option.
"If you hate them so much, if you want them all to die, then don't grant them the satisfaction of breaking your spirit. This might sound cheap coming from me but Destra would probably say the same. Don't lose."
Helena, who still had her hand on Hella's shoulder, squeezed it and shook Hella a bit.
"You're a dragon, Hella. You're stronger than that."