Betrothal Gifts
This takes place right after How To Train Your Dragon 2. I just watched the movie and I had to let out my feelings!
Valka watched her son smile as Gobber announced him "Chief of Berk." She watched him laugh and kiss a girl. She smiled as he dragged the girl to her, his face was radiating with joy.
"Mom, this is Astrid," Hiccup said. Astrid smiled and held Hiccup's hand. Valka could tell by the way they looked at each other that they were in love.
"You're beautiful!" Valka said. Then to Hiccup, "How did you manage?"
Astrid laughed at that, and Hiccup sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Well, me and Toothess got her out of a tree..."
Suddenly, Valka saw something that wrenched her heart in half. From Astrid's neck hung a necklace. The pendant which hung from the chain was... the pendant Stoick had given her. Valka's betrothal gift.
Astrid caught her staring and realized what she was looking at. Hiccup did to. "Dad gave that to me to give to Astrid. For our betrothal," he said.
Valka nodded and tried not to cry. Whether they were tears of joy or sadness, she did not know. Probably both.
Her son was betrothed! He was in love with a pretty girl! Her baby boy that was fascinated with dragons had grown up without her. He never knew what it was like to have a mother.
Astrid pulled her into a hug, and Hiccup followed suit. Valka hugged them tight.
"I remember when Stoick gave that to me," she said. "I'm so happy you have it now." Astrid beamed. The rest of the day was spent helping patch up the village, moving ice, and trying not to think about her husband's death.
But after Valka found herself in her house, in her room, her one she shared with Stoick, she couldn't push the thoughts away.
Valka sat on the bed and let the tears fall. "Thank you for giving Hiccup the necklace, Stoick."
Valka put her head in her hands and cried for a minute.
"I love you."