A Mother's Love
Hiccup had never been so exhausted in all his life.
He stumbled into his hut- the one he shared with his mother and used to share with his father- and dumped his helmet on a chair by the door. He limped over to the fire place, glad to see his mother was nowhere to be seen so he could care for his leg privately.
She still hadn't seen it, although she kept saying that the next time it hurt and needed a good massage to come to her. He had told her he would, although he didn't intend to keep that small promise. Astrid and his Dad had been the only ones to see his leg, and each time he showed them the first time it was beyond hard. His Dad had insisted, and back then Hiccup hadn't wanted to break the weak bond they'd just created. Astrid had practically threatened him, although he knew she didn't mean anything by the obviously empty threats. Honestly, he was glad she'd seen it, because she was the girl he was going to marry someday, and her seeing his worst scar made it easier to know that she accepted him as he was, even if that meant he was missing a leg.
Hiccup winced as he slowly eased into a chair, glancing up to look longingly at his father's large bearskin covered seat, wishing his father was there now to help him.
Hiccup hastily unstrapped his prosthetic, letting it clunk against the ground as he began rubbing his stump in hopes to lessen the achiness, which he was certain would turn into a phantom pain by the time he went to bed. Oh, happy day. (Major sarcasm)
He continued massaging it, biting his lip to the point of where he tasted blood when the pain turned from achiness to sharp stabbings that paralyzed his whole thigh in pain.
"Gods." He hissed, leaning back against the chair and letting his hands slide up to his knees, grabbing them and hanging on for dear life as the pain forced him to rock back and forth. "Thor, thor, thor…"
"Hiccup?" Came a muffled voice from… Oh crap….
His Dad's room… now his mother's room. The door was shut, and he hadn't… he'd forgotten that that was his mother's room now…
He opened his mouth to reply, but the pain raced through his veins again, making his leg feel like it was too close to the cackling fire although it most definitely was not. Hiccup clenched his teeth, but a quiet moan escaped him anyways.
"Hiccup, is that you?"
No no no nononono! I'm not here, please… hmf it hurts…
"Mom…" Hiccup found himself groaning, although he was internally screaming at himself to just shut up and keep his mouth shut. But… gods, he really wanted his mom…
The door creaked open and Valka took one step into the room, her eyes scanning the room till they fell upon Hiccup curled up on the chair, his prosthetic on the floor and his hands clutching his leg.
"Hiccup." She whispered, rushing over in a flurry of furs and soft pads from her boots. Her armor was gone, and she was leisurely dressed in her cloths while her long hair hung in multiple braids down her back. She ducked under an overhanging string of vegetables before coming to a halt before him, her arms shaking as though hesitating to touch him.
Hiccup ducked his head, letting out a pained whimper as the pain washed over him in a wave of agony. He felt arms wrap about him, tightly yet gently, then felt himself being moved. He opened his eyes and looked up to see his mother looking down at him worriedly, her hand gently rubbing his forehead. He glanced about them and saw they were now sitting on the floor beside the warm fireplace where the fire crackled cheerfully, although it failed to cheer Hiccup any. The pain was too distracting…
"Hiccup, please, wh-what do I…" Valka's accent was heavy, heavier then Hiccup had ever heard it before. It reminded him so much of his father it brought a painful stab to his heart and…
"M-mom… please…" He sobbed, pressing his sweaty face against her chest. "Please…" more pain. "M-m-Mom!"
"Hush, baby, hush." Valka whispered, pressing a hand against his head. "Shh, Hiccup, now what is it?"
"Leg, gods, leg… fire, pain… GODS!" Hiccup couldn't help but let out a short scream/shout of pain, squeezing his eyes shut and leaning even more into his mother's comforting embrace.
He felt gentle fingers against the bandages around his stump, bandages that he used to protect his scarred skin from the medal prosthetic. He gave a little gasp, his shaking hand going to grab his mother's wrist. "Nuh, Mom…"
"I have to, Hiccup. I want to help you." She whispered, her fingers pushing his bangs out of his face. He sighed and let his eyes flutter, but not open as he absently pressed into her hand, enjoying how cool her skin was against his.
He felt the bandages begin to fall away, and he tried not to cry out every time her fingers grazed over his sore stump, but more than once he whined or whimpered, hating how pitiful he sounded. He was a twenty-year-old man, he should not be crying out like a baby just because of a little pain…
"Hiccup." Valka gasped, and he winced, moving his left leg painfully away to try and hide it from her view. He felt fingers grasp his knee, and he let out another childlike whine, wishing he could curl up in a hole and hide until this whole ordeal was over.
"Odin…" Valka whispered, and Hiccup knew then that she'd seen the scars. All the puffy white and pink scars that ran over his stump and knee…
"Mum…" He cried, the pain growing stronger as did his discomfort. "Mom, please…"
"Oh, my poor, baby!" She cried, her hand moving from his leg to his shoulder. She pulled him close and rocked back and forth, humming apologies and words of sympathy.
"Mom…" Hiccup mouthed, although no sound came out. He was exhausted, and his leg was still on fire… or maybe someone was pouring lava over it. Either way it was painful.
"Hush, I'm… I'll get some water, just hold still." He felt her shift out from underneath him, gently lying him on the ground with his head against the fireplace where the thick heavy bear rug lay. Hiccup sighed and curled into himself, his brow wrinkling as he clenched his jaw, trying to keep the pain at bay.
He heard the sound of pans clattering and the slight patter of feet, but his mind kind of dazed out for a moment as the heat from the fire dulled his senses, although didn't dull the pain. It still raced and throbbed and pulsed, almost as though his leg itself had a heartbeat.
He jerked and let out a cry of pain when he felt something cold touch his leg, sending tingles of pain and shock shooting up his limb and into his spine. He shivered and curled in tighter, but found arms wrapping about him and keeping him from doing so.
"Sweetie…" Came his mother's soft voice. He shuddered a sob, moving closer to her until he was half lying in her arms, his head resting in her lap. Fingers carded through his hair, making him relax slightly at the comforting motion.
"Do-do you want me to rub it..?" Valka asked hesitantly. Hiccup nodded in response before he could double think, his brain just automatically saying yes to anything that sounded like it would remotely calm the pain.
Soft, cool fingers pressed against his stump, and he whined at how painful it was… but the fingers gradually began moving in small circles over his irritated skin, helping to numb it and gradually ease the pain away.
"Does that feel better?"
He moaned in reply, turning his head slightly to press the back of his head against her stomach. His mother's fingers continued their work, one hand running through his hair while the other was softly scaring away the pain in his leg.
She hit an extra painful area in his leg, and he couldn't hold in the soft whine causing Valka to pause and remove her hand.
"Oh, son…" She whispered, resettling the coolness (which he presumed was a wet rag) against his leg. Her hand trailed up to his arm, gently unstrapping the bulky shoulder guards and letting them drop to the floor. She rolled him over and proceeded to unstrap the chest armor, along with his copper mail armor and gauntlets. Finally, he was free of all the leather and straps, now lying comfortably in his green wool shirt and trousers.
Valka readjusted her position so she was sitting under his head and half of his torso, the rest of his body sprawled out across the rug. She leaned her back against the stone of the fireplace, relaxing and allowing Hiccup to cuddle closer.
"I'm so sorry…" She whispered. "I'm so sorry…"
"Nuh… why?" He managed to say, his voice cracking numerous times with the two short words. His voice scraped painfully against his throat, but he ignored it for the time being, trying to focus on staying awake instead so he could hear what his mother had to say.
"For leaving. For… for not being here to do…" Even though his eyes were closed, he knew she was gesturing to him and his leg. "…this."
"You just gestured to all of me…" He whispered weakly, peering through his eyelids to smile drowsily at her.
She smiled sadly in return, her head ducking and two of her many braids flopping over her shoulders. "I'm so sorry, sweetie… do… do you…"
"Mom." Hiccup whispered, rolling over so he could wrap his arms around her stomach. "I'm just glad you're here now." He murmured.
"But, I should've been here for you when it happened. What- what kind of a mother am I?"
"You thought you were protecting me."
"No…" She whispered. "I-I should've come back to check…"
Hiccup stiffened slightly, wondering why she didn't come back to check on him… she made a good point. "Wh-why… why didn't you?"
"I tried." She whispered faintly. "Cloudjumper wouldn't let me- and I believed him. Plus, Drago's attacks…"
Hiccup sighed and curled closer to her, clinging to her tighter. "It doesn't matter." He reassured softly. "You're here now, that's all that matters."
Valka remained silent, her arms going to return the hug that Hiccup was giving to her so tightly. "What…" She choked on a quiet sob, her head going to lean against his shoulders. "What have I done to deserve you?" she was hugging him so tightly she was lifting his torso slightly from her lap, his head going to rest on her shoulder while her fingers were once again running through his hair. "Oh, Hiccup, son… I love you…"
Hiccup gave a small smile, opening his eyes slightly to look over at the big bearskin covered chair across from him. He smiled again, then closed his eyes and let his mother hold him and whisper words of love into his hair.
"I love you too, Mom…"
Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there!
I hope you enjoyed this fluffy one-shot, reviews are greatly appreciated! And before any of you say "It should be 'Mum', not 'Mom'", sorry but that's just how I like to write Valka. I like Mom instead of Mum, mainly because I'm more used to writing Mom anyways… plus, doesn't Hiccup call Valka "Mom" in HTTYD 2?
Also, I just want to add that the short sentence about Cloudjumper and Drago keeping Valka away was sort of borrowed from thepurplewriter333's fanfic "Why Didn't You Come Back?", so go check that out as well, because it is absolutely beautiful and the mother/son feels are amazing!
Okay, that should be enough of my rambling. Tootles!
-Kat (FanWriter02)