After So Many Years
Valka was living with all the other dragons inside the ice mountain; she cared deeply about all of the dragons, especially Gruff, but she always missed her old life on Berk. She sometimes missed some of the vikings that lived there; she always missed her husband Stoick and her son Hiccup. Whenever she would feel sad or lonely she would remember the short time she knew Hiccup. She always wished she could have seen him grow up and be happy.
Even after so many years she could still remember the day he was born, on the night of that day she and Stoick showed warm, loving smiles as she held him, wrapped up in a brown blanket. He opened his eyes and smiled as he looked up at them and suddenly his head bounced as he hiccupped a few times.
Valka showed a warm smile as she looked down at him and said, "Hiccup."
She always remembered when he was just a little over a year old. He could walk but he couldn't talk yet but some of his teeth had grown in; he was dressed in a small grass green tunic and pants with little brown fur baby boots (or booties).He had a full head of short dark brown hair; his arms and legs were short and stubby and he had a slightly pudgy face with freckles. His hands were a little pudgy with short stubby fingers like all babies.
She would remember one night when she smiled warmly at Hiccup as she held him in her arms; he smiled up at her as he looked around with a happy and curious expression. Later that night she was still holding him in the same position and was smiling as he was sound asleep, and nuzzled the right side of his head against her chest. She would also remember the day when she went outside and happily cradled Hiccup and showed him Berk. He looked around with a curious expression and let out a cute giggle. Five other moms were out with their kids who were around the same age as Hiccup. One was Fishlegs, he was a little chubby and he smiled as he looked at some pictures of dragons in an open book on the ground. Another was Snotlout, who was standing up, showing an amused expression as he watched a fly buzz around in front of his face. The two other ones were Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who showed angry expressions as the fought over a little baby toy. Finally, the last one was Astrid, she was wearing a little blue shirt, a tiny skirt, and small boots and she had her hair in a short braid. She was playing as she waved a short stick through the air, as if she was fighting something. Valka smiled as she saw all of them, and then she looked down at Hiccup, thinking they would one day grow up to be friends. She showed a warm smile as she stared out forward, seeing the village and the sea and Hiccup smiled as he looked forward too. Stoick walked up and stood behind her and showed a warm smile toward her and Hiccup and they all smiled as they stared forward.
One night Valka heard a lot of noise coming from outside and she looked out the window to see the village was being attacked Gronckles, Nadders, Zipplebacks, and Monstrous Nightmares. She was afraid that they would not be safe in the house, so she hurried into Hiccup's room when he was sleeping. She picked him up and hurried to the door as she held him tight. She opened the door and the second she did a Monstrous Nightmare flew in front of the house, it hovered for a moment and shot a fireball toward her.
She slammed the door shut with her back against it; she held Hiccup tightly and flinched as it blew up on the other side of the door and she showed a nervous expression as she said, "Dragons."
She ran outside with Hiccup through the crowds of vikings who sought to protect their village from the attacking dragons. As she ran Hiccup woke up opened his eyes with a tired expression; he then showed a surprised expression as he saw the dragons flying overhead. As they passed dragons raiding the village Hiccup turned his head and looked around in curiosity and awe. Valka kept running when suddenly a Monstrous Nightmare landed in front of them with its body on fire. It showed a ferocious expression as it roared at them threateningly. Valka backed away in fear as she tightly held Hiccup, who stared at the Nightmare with his eyes wide open in fear and awe.
Suddenly Stoick jumped in front of them with a shield and hammer; he hit the Nightmare in the face with his hammer twice and turned back to Valka and exclaimed, "Go! Get him somewhere safe!"
She turned around and ran away with Hiccup; a few minutes later she was standing behind the right side of an empty house. The house was on the edge of the village, away from the battle; she kept her eyes on the skies to make sure there were no dragons overhead, Hiccup also looked at the skies with a curious expression. Hiccup saw some stars disappear and reappear and showed confusion. Suddenly there was the screeching sound of Night Fury; as the sound continued Valka held Hiccup tightly as she looked up in fear. Suddenly a burst of fire was shot at the roof of the house above them; it caused a large explosion and Valka looked up in fear. She briefly saw the shadowy figure of the Night Fury fly in front of the light of the explosion. Some large hunks of burnt wood fell toward them; Valka held Hiccup tightly as she ran forward, away from the wood. But after the wood landed and missed them she tripped and after she fell Hiccup slipped out of her arms and rolled on his side a few feet away from her. He was lying on his back when she looked up and saw a Monstrous Nightmare land right in front of him. She gasped in fear as it snarled at him with a ravenous expression. Hiccup looked at it with a curious expression, then he smiled and giggled and stood up as he began to walk toward it with his arms out.
It growled at him with a threatening expression and Valka showed a scared expression as she held out her left hand and exclaimed, "No!"
His hands were only inches away from the Nightmare's chin and it began to show a slightly confused expression. Hiccup smiled as he gently put his hands against the bottom of the Nightmare's chin and it smiled and snorted affectionately. Valka's jaw dropped as she stared at them with an astonished expression. Suddenly the Nightmare turned its eyes forward and roared threateningly as Stoick and some other vikings arrived. Stoick quickly picked up Hiccup while the other vikings attacked the Nightmare with their weapons.
The Nightmare roared at all of them angrily and then it flew away; Stoick walked to Valka and helped her up as he said, "Are you alright?"
Valka got on her feet and said, "I'm fine."
Stoick looked down at Hiccup and said, "You're staying inside from now on."
They all began to walk back to their homes, for the battle was over, but Valka could not believe what she had just witnessed. Over the next two weeks, she tried to tell Stoick about what she saw that night; she knew that there was more to the dragons than they knew and that they had to learn about them. Stoick did not believe her; he claimed Hiccup got lucky and that the dragons were too dangerous to learn about. Valka realized she would not be able to convince him, but she could not just forget about it. She decided that the only way she could truly learn more about dragons was to leave Berk. She felt sad about leaving her home and she knew she would always miss the people there, especially Stoick. She spent the night sadly packing her things and preparing to leave; she wanted to take Hiccup with her but she couldn't because she knew it wouldn't be right. She knew that Berk would be a dangerous place for him to grow up but if she brought him with her he would have a lonely childhood. She also couldn't bear to take him away from Stoick since she was already leaving him.
She finished packing her things and showed a sad expression as she looked at Stoick, who was sadly standing in the doorway of their bedroom, and said, "Promise me you'll take care of him."
Stoick did not change his hands and put his hands out twice as he said, "I'll make sure nothing bad happens to him. It won't be easy without you but I'll try. Go take one of the boats. I will tell everyone that you went to search for the Nest alone; we'll hold off on search parties for a month. That will give you enough time to get away."
Valka did not change her expression as she overlapped her hands and said, "Thank you. I'll never forget you, Stoick."
He showed a sad expression as he turned around and closed the door behind him. Valka sadly turned around and she walked into Hiccup's room and saw him asleep in his crib. She gently lifted him out of his crib with his blanket around him; she closed her eyes as she hugged him, then she kissed his forehead and gently placed him back in the crib. Then she placed a little doll she made next to him; it was small and looked like a blue Nadder with Hiccup's name stitched onto the side. She showed a warm smile as she looked down at him sleeping, then she turned around and walked out the door and closed it quietly. She sailed a ship away from Berk and as she sailed she turned around with a sad expression and looked at the village, and her house. Stoick was standing right outside the door as he sadly looked into the sea and watched his wife's ship sail away. He stayed there and watched the ship until he could no longer see it. Ever since that day Valka spent her nights wondering what Hiccup was doing and how Stoick was taking care of him.
One day, many years later, Hiccup was riding Toothless through the bright cloudy skies, exploring new worlds. He felt suspicious, like something strange was going on; suddenly Valka rode her dragon straight up through the clouds behind them. Hiccup looked up at them with a slightly scared expression as they flew next to them at a higher altitude. Valka stood up and looked down at him; she did not recognize him as she did not show her face. She wore armor with dark colors on it; she also wore a long red cape and a mask with six curved horns sticking out in different directions. Her mask was painted a dark white color with black round eyes to look like a skull. She held a shield in her left hand a long staff with hooks on both ends in her right hand.
She stood up on the back of her dragon and pointed her staff down at Hiccup as she said, "Who are you?! Why are you here?!"
Hiccup showed a slightly angry expression as he looked up at her and said, "I'm just exploring new lands. Who are you?!"
She spoke with a threatening tone as she said, "Nevermind who I am, I suggest you go back to where you came from!"
Hiccup showed an angry expression as he said, "And what if I don't?!"
She sat back down on her dragon and the dragon showed an angry expression as it revealed that it had four wings. She rode the dragon as it swooped down towards Hiccup and Toothless. Hiccup showed a scared expression as he ducked his head right before the dragon flew up over it.
Valka and her dragon then flew down toward the Earth; Hiccup showed a determined expression as he looked down at Toothless and said, "Come on bud, let's follow her!"
Toothless showed a determined expression as he quickly flew through the air and pursued Valka and her dragon. As they flew after them they twisted and turned through the air; they followed her through a gorge and between some rock formations, and finally into a dark cave. Toothless stopped flying and stood on his feet and looked around; Hiccup hopped off and looked around curiously. He couldn't see much in the cave, but he could see that there were more dragons looking at them. They were of species he had never seen before; he looked around and suddenly he saw Valka standing a few feet in front of him. They were now surrounded by dozens of the mysterious dragons.
She spoke with a conniving tone as she said, "I knew I could get you to come here."
She twirled her staff around and then hit one of the hooks on the ground. The dragons behind her ignited their flames and let them burn in their mouths like torches.
Hiccup and Toothless looked around for a moment and Valka stood in a fighting stance and spoke with a mysterious tone as she looked at Toothless and said, "A Night Fury. I'm impressed. I've never seen one of those before."
Hiccup stood close to Toothless with an unfriendly expression as he said, "Yeah, that's because I'm the only one who's trained one so far."
Toothless smiled at him and Hiccup kneeled down and scratched his chin but he stopped and they turned their attention back to Valka as she said, "A smart one."
She stood tall as she pointed her staff straight up and she held her shield at her side as she said, "I bet you think you know a lot about dragons."
She then put her shield and staff down and began to walk forward; Hiccup and Toothless looked at her with fighting expressions as she said, "Let me show you some of what you don't know."
She walked toward Toothless as she began to kneel down while she put her left had out toward him. As she got closer she kneeled down on her right hand and Hiccup and Toothless backed away from her. As Toothless backed away he growled at her threateningly, but then she put her hand right in front of his face and he suddenly smiled. He rolled over and laid on his back, smiling as she gently rubbed his chin and he growled in an affectionate manner, similar to a purr.
Hiccup watched in surprise as he asked, "How'd you do that?!"
She sat on her knees and kept her hand on Toothless as she looked up at Hiccup and said, "I've been living with dragons for years; I learned more than you have ever known."
She then spoke with a demanding tone as she said, "Now I ask you again, who are you and where did you come from?!"
Hiccup showed an angry expression as he said, "I came from Berk!"
She spoke with a surprised tone as she said, "You're from Berk?"
Hiccup did not change his expression as he said, "Yeah, Stoick The Vast is my dad!"
Valka turned her body to her right and she took off her mask and stared up at Hiccup with her mouth wide open in shock.
She stared at him as she said, "Hiccup?!"
Hiccup looked at her with a confused expression as he asked, "Should I know you?"
She shook her head with a slightly sad expression as she said, "No. You were only a babe."
She did not change her expression as she tilted her head down with her eyes still looking at him as she said, "But a mother never forgets."
Hiccup let out a gentle gasp as he showed an expression of fear, shock, and confusion, as he was unable to comprehend what was happening.
He did not change his expression as she said, "M-Mom?"
She looked up at him with the same expression as she said, "Son."
She stood up and pulled him toward her and hugged him with her head on his left shoulder with her eyes closed in a slightly sad expression. Hiccup stared forward with his eyes wide open in a baffled expression.
Author's note: I would like to thank GeminiEarthDragon for inspiring me to do this with his fanfiction "A Mother Never Forgets". If you end up reading this: no plagiarism intended; you'll notice there are more than a few differences. I hope they'll actually have a flashback like this in the movie.