A/N: This is kind of a continuation from the last chapter. Not so rated M in this chapter. I wanted to play around with the relationship of Astrid and Valka.

"No!"

I was jostled awake, aware of movement next to me. I blinked my eyes open, slowly at first, but they flew open when a heavy arm swatted at my chest. It took a moment for me to adjust to what was happening, but once I was able to rub the confusion of sleep out of my eyes, my heart squeezed in my chest.

Hiccup.

His whole body was wet, with sweat beading on his forehead. He thrashed his limbs to and fro, fighting an invisible monster. "No!" came again from his lips, teeth clenched, followed by, "Dad! No!" My heart squeezed a little tighter.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time I'd awoken so violently to my future husband's nightmares. It always happened more frequently right after some kind of trauma, but I knew that it would get better with time. Normally just a few times a month once he settled down.

It had only been a few weeks since his father's death, and his fight with Drago that destroyed our village. I'm actually surprised it took this long for his nightmares to start again. Then again, I'd only just started sleeping in his bed on a routine basis. Before it was just a stolen night here or there. Hiccup would steal away to my window, or I to his. Or we'd fly away on our dragons and sleep together far away. None of this ever kept the dreams completely at bay. I knew this was why he wanted me to start staying with him at night. We were as discrete as possible, since we still had a few months until our wedding day, but no one in the village would say anything at this point. Like Hiccup said…. Being the chief has to have some perks, right?

Hiccup was starting to still, but it was obvious his demons were still tormenting him. I sat up and leaned over him resting on my right hand, and with my left, gently stroked the sweat soaked hair out of his eyes. "shhhhh" was all I could manage. "Shhhh, babe, its ok." I leaned down and traced his jawline with kisses, up to his forehead, tasting the salt of his skin. feeling the rough stubble of his jaw. His eyes began to flutter open and I waited for him to come out of his dream.

"Astrid!" Hiccup gasped, grabbing me down to rest on his chest, hugging me tight. "I'm sorry, did I wake you again?"

"Its ok, Hiccup." I cooed. "Another bad one, huh? Have you been having a lot lately?"

Hiccup made a grumbling noise in his throat that confirmed my suspicions. I squeezed him tighter.

"Anything you want to talk about?"

He squeezed his eyes shut, and I could see a lump forming in his throat. "My dad…" was all he could manage to say. After we laid in silence for a moment. He continued. "I hope it gets easier. I mean, with time, anyway." I could feel his chest start to quake beneath me. I was the only one he would let himself cry around, but I knew he still preferred that I didn't see his tears.

"Do you need anything from the kitchen? Something to drink maybe?" I kissed him on each cheek, before finding his trembling lips, trying desperately to soothe his soul. He only nodded meekly.

I jumped up and put on a nightshirt. I hadn't bothered to put it on after last night's lovemaking. I snuck down the stairs, trying to be quiet as a mouse, so I wouldn't wake Valka. When I reached the first floor, I was startled to see her already up, sitting in Stoick's armchair, sipping on a goblet of mead.

She looked at me wearily, but warmly. "Good evening, Astrid." She said plainly, taking another sip of her drink.

"Good evening." I replied back. "Just… getting a drink for Hiccup." Valka and I hadn't really had much chance to really get to know each other yet, and our interactions were still a little… strained.

The woman nodded and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. I turned towards the kitchen to get a few cups of our own mead to take back up to Hiccup. It was dead quiet in the Haddock house, except for the quiet sounds of gentle sobbing that wafted down the stairs, barely audible. If I hadn't been listening for it I may not have even noticed it. I could feel my heart aching to hear him, my own eyes growing wet. I sniffled myself, trying to hold back my own flood of emotions.

"Astrid?"

Valka's voice surprised me. I turned around to face her. She sat still in her chair, her eyes searching mine, pleading almost. "Astrid, I'm worried about Hiccup. The nightmares he has, he has had them nearly every night since…." Her voice broke.

"Every night?" I sighed, feeling defeated. He had been holding back from me. No wonder he'd been staying so late in the forge.

"Well, every night until ye started staying over. Honestly, it's why I didn't say much when I discovered ye here. Ye being here seems to sooth him." She looked down then, looking a bit embarrassed. It was clear to me why, as his mother she probably felt she should be able to take away his tears, but she'd been gone for so long… "Come… come talk with me, Astrid." She said, motioning to Hiccup's chair beside her.

I glanced up to the loft bedroom above us. I could still faintly hear Hiccup's tears. I wanted to give him a few more minutes of privacy anyway, before I came back up with our mead. I nodded to Valka and made my way to sit beside her.

"Did he have these nightmares before his father…." Her voice trailed again. She couldn't seem to form the words. I simply nodded.

"I only really know firsthand about the ones after the Red Death, after he lost his leg." I winced when I saw the look of pain on his mother's face. It must be hard, to realize everything you've missed in 20 years. "But, he told me he had always had nightmares before. They just seem to get worse after something bad happens." I shrugged, taking a sip of my own mead cup in my hands. "…but they never go away fully."

"So… he has nightmares of his battles, like when he lost his leg, and now…" she looked down and took another sip of her mead.

"Well, those are the main ones." I replied. "Sometimes, especially on nights when a large storm is heading our way, his leg hurts him so badly that he can't sleep at all." I sighed as I remembered those nights, which were especially bad the first few months after. He would throw rocks at my window and plead with me to go away with him. We would just hold each other as he grasped at his stump, cursing his prosthetic. "But that's not the only thing he's dreamed about." I looked at her, a little apprehensive, wondering how much she really wanted to hear.

She sat back and looked at me expectantly, her fingers drawing quiet circles around the opening of her glass.

I gulped. "He used to have dreams where he was searching for you." I said finally. "He had one reoccurring one that you were being taken by dragons and he ran after you until he couldn't run anymore, and he felt so guilty that he couldn't catch you in time…"

"He was only a babe!" Valka gasped, surprised.

"I know… he knows… but in his dreams, he was older, and you were just out of his reach." I sighed again, taking another sip of my mead. I tried very hard to accept Valka's homecoming, but sometimes when I thought back to all the pain Hiccup suffered because she wasn't around, it made it really hard for me to forgive her. I know Hiccup had. I tried, but a part of me felt she needed to know just how much her absence had affected Hiccup. We sat in silence for several minutes.

"I wanted to ask him, when I'd hear him waking up from his demons upstairs, but I was afraid I'd be prying. I thought maybe he'd tell me on his own time." She looked guiltily into her goblet, studying it harder than necessary. "And then the one night I decided to check on him…"

She was referring to the night she caught us, the first night I began sleeping at the Haddock household. I could feel my cheeks burning and was glad that there was only a few candles lit, it would be more difficult for her to notice. I was growing more aware of the time that had passed since I came down stairs, I no longer heard any of his anguished cries, and he was probably ready for me to go back up. I looked over to Valka who was still looking down into her cup. I began to stand up from my chair and her face snapped up to mine and she reached out her hand to rest on my forearm. Alarmed, I sat back down.

"Hiccup is probably ready for me to come back up…" I began.

"Aye, I know." She looked up to the loft above us and sighed. "It seems only you can help tame his demons." She looked back at me. "Just, tell me. Do you know why… why he continues to have these nightmares?"

I took a deep breath. "I don't know that I really know, per say, but my theory is that he has never really felt whole." I sighed to myself because I knew that I couldn't make him whole either. "First, I think it was because…, " my voice trailed off as I glanced in her direction, and I think she understood. "Then, he lost his foot. He tries act like it's nothing, but I know it bothers him a great deal. Now his father…" I took another quick sip of my mead, realizing that my cup was nearly gone, a warm feeling spreading through my belly. "To be honest, I think Toothless is the only thing that really helps him feel whole. It wasn't until they came together that he started to feel more confident around the village, really coming into his own."

"Hiccup hasn't talked to me much about his childhood." She admitted.

"Well, it's only been a few weeks, I'm sure it will come." I was beginning to get anxious to get back to Hiccup.

"Astrid?" Hearing Hiccup's voice snapped both of our eyes up towards the loft bedroom.

I looked at Valka and she gingerly removed her hand from my forearm, as though she had forgotten it was still there. "Go on." She said, settling back into her chair. "Thank ye, for taking the time to talk to me, even if fer just a minute."

I nodded to Valka and began to make my way back up the stairs, my nearly empty cup of mead, and Hiccup's about half full. I was about half way up when Valka's voice interrupted my thoughts again. "Astrid, I'm going to go for a quick moonlight ride on Cloudjumper. I turned my head to her in acknowledgement and she winked at me as she slipped out the front door.

I made my way to Hiccup who was sitting on the side of the bed, resting his elbows on his knees. Toothless was sitting at his feet, his large head up in Hiccup's lap while Hiccup rubbed the top of his head. He looked up when I came up the stairs. "What took you so long?"

"Sorry. Your mom was up and wanted to talk." I answered as casually as I could. I sat next to him and handed him his cup of mead.

"Thank you, milady." I took it from me and guzzled it down. I finished the last of my cup as well. Hiccup took my cup and set them on the nightstand. I was glad that he seemed to be feeling a little better. I reached over and stroked his cheeks to remove any residue from his tears. "I'm fine." he said with a tight smile.

"Is there anything else I can do?"

He grinned and pulled me up into his lap, wrapping his arms around me. Out of instinct I leaned down to find his lips. First it was just a short, chaste kiss. I looked into his eyes. "Astrid, you have a way of helping me forget, even if just for a little while."

We resumed kissing and it wasn't long until we put the fact that Valka had left the house to good use.