Hello there. I have a nasty habit of making horrible things happen to my favourite characters, and this is a bit that way inclined. But don't worry, it isn't all horrible! I get all these ideas in my head, many of them not particularly cheery, and if I don't let them out sometimes the characters in my main story suffer. Readers of my Brave/HTTYD crossover will know about that (sorry!). So, too stop me killing half the village in my current multi-chapter story, I wrote this. This started off really short, but scenes kept being added so now it's a bit longer than I expected. Anyway, I'll shut up now. Enjoy!
Oh, the song right underneath starts off sounding a lot like the start of "Romantic Flight" and the second verse is similar, but a bit lower and you have to bend it a little. I'm not very musical, so it isn't the most amazing of pieces.
Now I'll shut up. :)
"The north wind calls, beckons your name,
And the southern breeze pleads just the same,
But in my arms you are so safe and so warm,
'Cause Daddy will protect you from all harm.
"The day breaks and the sun rises, a dragon calls,
And you giggle, so happy, as the Night Fury stands tall
Over you, protecting you, like Mummy and Daddy do,
Because nothing, not in the world, is more precious than you."
The song faded into the stillness of the room and the cot slowly ceased in its rocking, a final dying creak as it came to a standstill. Hiccup gave a small smile, then slowly began to creep away, almost running into Astrid as he made to leave the room. She was wearing a long white nightgown, her blonde hair loose and framing her face in a tussled fashion. Her face was ghostly white in the moonlight, no candle to add colour to the bleached light.
"Just saying goodnight?" she whispered softly.
"Yeah," he nodded sombrely. He gently shut the door behind him, a quiet thump as it closed.
"It doesn't get any easier, does it?" she asks.
He shook his head. "They say it does, time will make it easier, but they don't know."
"They don't know," she repeated quietly.
They both stood still, stiff and awkward. Astrid fiddled with her fingers and looks up at the man right in front of her.
"Come to bed?" There was only a faint glimmer of hope in her voice.
His face screwed up. Too many lines on his face, Astrid noticed.
"The nightmares?"
He responded with another simple nod. Her face fell, but only slightly, it was the answer she was expecting. Her face flickered with indecision. Finally her hand reached up to cup his face, and he froze.
"I could keep the nightmares away, like I used too?" Her face was a mixture of hope and desperation, eyes glowing in the moonlight.
The hope was quick to disappear though, as he brushed her hand off and turned away, heading downstairs. She stood and watched him silently as he descended and her head tilted sideways slightly. She stared with a sad resolve for a moment, before padding in her bare feet back to bed, hand brushing the closed door reminiscently.
()()()()()
Hiccup was met by a black snout as he reached the bottom of the stairs. He let out a strained breath, before shoving the Night Fury away. There was a sad coo. Hiccup ignored it, only to be shoved in the back by the morose dragon.
"Shoo," he breathed, barely turning his head.
Toothless remained and watched the man with big eyes. Hiccup leant out of the window, and looked down onto the village. It was pretty quiet by now, most souls fast asleep. He breathed deeply in through his nose and out his mouth, trying to get his scrambled thoughts together. He stood there for quite some time, the frosty air soothing the whirling mess of thoughts in his head. Picking up courage, the Night Fury eventually snuck closer to him until his muzzle peered over his shoulder, and then let out a small moan. Hiccup stiffened, and then turned on the dragon.
"I said shoo! Get out! Off with you!" He waved his hands madly at the retreating dragon, who cowered into a distant corner. Chest heaving, Hiccup was interrupted by a wailing from upstairs.
"Now look what you've done," he whispered harshly, looking at the dragon but talking more to himself.
He ran up the stairs and towards the noise, opening the closed door. The shutters were still open, letting the moonlight in. As the door flew open the light revealed Astrid sitting up in the bed with the sheet screwed up against her chest, big fat tears falling down her face as she sobbed. Her face was red and screwed up in pain. Hiccup froze in the doorway, watching the despairing woman. Her hair crowned her head in a crazed fashion, and her knees were pulled up to her chest as she caved over, body racked with sobs. She barely acknowledged his presence.
He stood with his hand still on the door handle, frozen mid-stride, and he just stared silently. Slowly, his face began to come back to life, a sorrowful look filling the blank expression. He moved over to the bed and perched delicately beside his wife. His arm gently wrapped around her and he rubbed her shoulder in comfort as she wept. It was stiff and awkward at first, but he progressively began to settle into it. It was quite some time before the sobs began to fade, and they were still holding the same position. The sobs slowed to hiccups, and eventually to just sniffles. Her head came down to rest on his shoulder in exhaustion, and he rested his cheek on her crown.
"The nightmares?" he whispered softly.
She nodded into his shoulder, cuddling in closer.
His hand came from where he held her shoulder to pull at strands of hair glued to her tear stained face.
"I could keep the nightmares away, like I used too?" he suggested vulnerably.
There was another exhausted nod, and gently Hiccup laid back on the bed, bringing Astrid with him so she lay curled around him, her head on his chest. His hand continued to stroke her shoulder absent-mindedly as she snuggled into him, not speaking a word. They lay there quietly and slowly drifted to sleep with the moonbeams casting shadows over their bodies through the open window.
()()()()()
There was a collective groan as the island began to wake again. The sun began to bring colour back into the surroundings, and everything started to grind back into motion. The Haddock house was no exception. Hiccup started to stretch as he woke, a muffled moan rumbling in his throat as he began to shift in the bed. As he did, he felt Astrid's hand fall from where it was resting on his chest. He paused, his eyes creeping down to the sleeping face of his wife. In a jerky motion he sat up, and then leapt out of the bed. He wearily rubbed the lingering sleep from his face as he became more aware of the mess that was reality. His metal leg, which he never got round to taking off the night before, creaked slightly as he moved to the window and stared out at the misty morning.
He heard Astrid shift behind him, and she began to go through the process of waking up herself. She looked up sleepily at the man staring out of the window.
"Stop letting the cold in would you?" she croaked.
He shifted his weight, but kept his eyes trained on the view. "I like the cold. It's numbing."
Her head lulled back in exhaustion and she let out a heavy exhalation. Nowadays she just found these moods tiring. Well, she decided, she'd had enough.
"Why can't you look at me anymore?" she questioned, staring up at the roof.
There was a sniff, and his head shifted slightly as he continued to stare out over the village. There was a tense pause.
"You look so much like her," he choked out. "The eyes, the smile. So similar."
Astrid eyes burned with tears and her jaw clenched and unclenched as she continued to stare pointedly at the roof.
"And your hair, your nose," her voice wobbled dangerously.
There was a heavy pause as they both tried to contain tears.
"This is silly," Astrid eventually spoke, angrily wiping away lingering tears.
There was something in her voice, an edge that was so much like the old Astrid that Hiccup had to turn to look at her. She climbed out of the bed and hesitantly walked towards him. He watched on warily.
"Everything that reminds us of her, every memory, should make us happy."
"Happy," Hiccup repeated, testing the word as if he had never heard of it before.
"Yes. The way her nose wrinkled when Toothless licked her face, just like yours does," she explained, tapping his nose to further make her point. Then she continued, "The way her eyes glimmered in the candle light-"
"-like yours do," Hiccup finished.
"Yes," she smiled softly, so relieved he was starting to understand.
Slowly his lips began to turn up, and her smile was echoed on his own face.
Slowly, his hand came up to cup her face, reacquainting himself with the feel of her soft skin.
"I miss her," he admitted softly.
"We all do," Astrid affirmed.
"I missed you," he went on to say.
Her eyes began to water again, and her hand came up to rest on top of his.
"Me too."
()()()()()
There was a hefty silence lingering in the room as the two sat at the table eating breakfast. However, unlike so many of the silences they had endured over the past month, there was a hint of hope. It was only small, but the two were holding onto it for dear life. For the first time in so long, there was an air of normalcy to their actions, like they might finally be settling into their new agenda.
Astrid eyes flickered up to Hiccup as she pulled another spoonful of porridge from her bowl. His face was concealed by the auburn hair that flopped over his bowed head, and Astrid's mouth screwed up in contemplation. He continued to ignore her presence. Her eyes narrowed, and suddenly she raised her spoon and flicked its contents at her husband. The glob of grain stuck rather unceremoniously in his hair, and she could see Hiccup begin to stiffen. His eyes shot up to stare at her, and she gave him a daring look.
Though her face displayed playful confidence, her heart fluttered anxiously. He was so unstable these days he could very well begin to scream at her. He stared at her for a moment holding her glistening eyes, then suddenly a lump of porridge came flying her way, hitting her square in the forehead, between her eyebrows. She blinked slowly, then watched in amazement as a smile began to light up Hiccup's face, his second for the day.
The porridge began to drip down her nose and from her brow, and she felt the horrible stickiness already plastering to her skin. She began to fume and Hiccup's eyes widened. He quickly ducked under the table as another large spoonful came his way, causing the globule to splat against the wall behind. Suddenly realising what she had just done, a shocked expression froze itself on Astrid's face. As Hiccup peered up from under the table, he saw Astrid's stunned face. His eyes flickered from her face, to the mess on the wall, and back again. There was a pause, then suddenly a raucous hoot filled the room as he began to laugh hysterically. Her face still frozen, her eyes moved to watch him and, with a slight delay, she began to laugh as well.
Hiccup's hand came up to feel where the porridge was stuck in hair and he began to comb his hands through it. As he did so, he found his hair was made stiff by the sticky substance. He continued to comb his hands through and he looked over at Astrid to find she was shaking uncontrollably with barely contained laughter as she watched him. He froze.
"What?"
Wordlessly she passed him a polished metal platter and he obligingly took it and looked at his reflection. He found his hair was sticking up a bit like a rooster's comb, with flecks of grain thoroughly mixed through. He raised an eyebrow at Astrid and she dissolved into giggles again. He rubbed his hands over his hair in a frenzied fashion to try and rid it of the goo but, according to Astrid's increase in laughter, it only made it worse. Eventually he just huffed and gave up, his air sticking out in all directions.
The giggles faded, and the silence began to settle once more. Astrid stood up and collected what remained of breakfast, washing the food off both the dishes and her own forehead. Hiccup found a cloth and silently began to clean the mess off the wall. When their hands ran out of things to do, they stood awkwardly in the silence, again finding it hard to slip into a once easy routine.
For once, it was Hiccup that broke the silence.
"Do you want to go see her?"
Astrid was picking at imaginary dirt on her hands, but her eyes flickered up at the suggestion. Her eyes shut briefly as she contained a wave of pain, then she gave a slow nod. He reached out his hand and she took it as they moved towards the door. Neither noticed the bits of porridge that remained in Hiccup's hair.
()()()()()
The sun shone lazily through the tree canopy, casting odd patterns over the faces of the couple underneath. They had their arms wrapped around each other and they smiled sadly down at the small stone memorial. Hiccup let go of Astrid briefly to decorate the stones with some wild flowers he had picked on their way down.
"There, now it looks more like her," he commented as he returned to her side.
She gave him a reassuring smile. "I can almost hear her laugh."
"Almost," Hiccup grimaced.
They held each other close as they stared down at the small collection of stones. The peace was interrupted by a small hiccup of a laugh from Astrid. Hiccup threw her a concerned look, and she pressed her hand to her mouth as she tried to regain her composure. Hiccup continued to stare, and Astrid recognised the curiosity in his expression. She decided to let him in on her thoughts.
"Remember the time she grabbed onto Toothless' ear flap, and wouldn't let go?" she grinned.
Hiccup's face lit up at the memory. "He almost dragged her halfway around the room."
"He could have made her let go if he really wanted to, he just didn't want to hurt her."
They both grinned to themselves.
"And then there was the time she hooked onto your hair," Astrid continued.
"Iron grip," Hiccup shook his head in happy reminiscence.
"She would have made a great warrior," Astrid sighed, her face falling solemn once more.
"Taking after her mother," he said, softly kissing the top of her head.
"No, her father," she replied, tilting her head up to kiss him on the lips.
He froze for a moment, they hadn't kissed since that day and it was both incredibly familiar and foreign at the same time. She persisted, however, and it was a routine Hiccup's heart knew well, so it didn't take long for him to fall back into the kiss. Eventually Astrid let him go and they held each other close, tears streaming down both their faces. As they embraced both listened to the sounds of their daughter giggling from beyond, carried by the north wind.
Mmhmm, what do we thinketh? Pretty please let me know. Did it make sense? This was inspired by the start of an episode in "New Tricks" where they interview a father who lost his daughter, then he and his wife split up after that. Turns out there was more to the story than that, but the idea of two parents being separated by the loss of their child was intriguing. The food fight was Astrid's doing, not mine. She just started flinging porridge at Hiccup as I was writing and I was going 'what the hell are you doing woman?!' as I typed. Control over the mechanics of English be screwed, I need control over my characters. :/
Also, the daughter has remained nameless as, at this point, her name was too painful for either to speak. Her name would have come in later.
So, for those who are waiting for an update on The Night's Fury, sorry about this but it needed to happen or I was going to go on a killing rampage in that story, and I promised myself (and others) that that wouldn't happen. It will be another while 'till the next chapter. This was written on my phone to and from school over the course of the week, I've barely had to sit down and have a proper crack at TNF. Sorry. But I hope you enjoyed this for the meantime. :)
Please make my day and leave a review! I will respond to any questions, if I can. Constructive criticism is also welcome. :)