Chapter 3, everybody! :D I am so excited for this fanfiction...awesome. :D :D Just to clear everything up, I'm going to be taking this all the way to the end of HTTYD2. And I know some of you think I'm making Hiccup act too harshly towards Valka, and know that it is intentional. It's all part of the story. ;) Anywho, enjoy chapted 3! :D

"I can't believe her!" Hiccup said as he paced back and forth in front of Toothless. "She leaves for twenty years, is thought to be dead for twenty years, and then comes back out of no where and acts like nothing ever happened?"

Toothless growled.

"I know, I know," Hiccup said. "Maybe I was a little hard on her, but what do you expect me to do? I can't really...I don't know how to forgive her, Toothless." He sat down across from his dragon, staring at his hands. It wasn't easy for him not to forgive Valka, because he was a naturally forgiving person, and plus the fact that she was his mother, but his anger was winning over at that time. It was all he could think about. "I know I forgave the Berkians," Hiccup said, "after they acted like they hated me, but having my own mother abandon me is..." He sighed.

Toothless cooed worriedly, getting up and moving to curl up around Hiccup before plopping back to the ground with a thud. Hiccup scratched Toothless' head gently, and Toothless purred.

"I don't know what to do, buddy," Hiccup said. "I don't know how I should be acting, or reacting...I just don't know, Toothless." He leaned over, laying against Toothless' side with his arm draped over Toothless' neck. "I just don't know."

Toothless wrapped his tail around Hiccup's waist protectively, and Hiccup closed his eyes, falling asleep effortlessly, feeling safe with his dragon, and burdened by his new discovery.

…

Valka followed Hiccup without his knowing. She didn't know what else to do. She couldn't let him wander alone…

...No, actually, he would probably rather wander alone than wander with his mother following him, but Valka couldn't help it. She hardly knew her son, and she knew he was mad at her, but the problem was, she couldn't blame him.

When she finally caught up to him, she found him laying against Toothless' side, curled into himself, sleeping soundly. She froze when Toothless lifted his head, regarding her with a growl.

Valka couldn't help but be amazed at Hiccup and Toothless' bond. The way Hiccup had run straight towards the Night Fury once her dragons brought him to their nest, how Toothless had been so protective over him…

She thought about what Hiccup had said. She was wrong about peace not being possible. Hiccup made peace with the dragons when all she did was run from her problems. Plus, she had abandoned Hiccup. Being abandoned was enough to make any child mad.

Valka paused. No, Hiccup wasn't a "child" anymore. If she was correct, then he was twenty years old. Twenty. Not the baby she had left on Berk. Not the infant who wasn't even one year old yet. Hiccup was a young man now, going into adulthood. Soon, she reckoned, he would be taking place as Chief of Berk.

She approached Toothless and her son slowly, holding her hand out to the dragon. Toothless snarled, but sheathed his teeth when she didn't seem frightened. He didn't lower his guard, however. He had seen how upset Hiccup was with this woman. He wasn't going to let her harm his rider.

Valka already knew this. She knew how protective dragons were of their kin or family, and by the looks of it, this Night Fury considered Hiccup as his family. Of course. If Valka was correct, then Toothless (as Hiccup had called him) was the last of his kind.

Although Hiccup was pressed against his dragon's side, he was still shivering. The air was cold, and the wind was strong, so Valka didn't have any reason to question his shaking. Taking off her cloak (ignoring Toothless' eyes regarding and watching her every move), she draped it over Hiccup's shoulders. After a few moments, Hiccup's shivering ceased.

Toothless sniffed his rider, and then looked up at Valka with a confused coo.

"I didn't mean to hurt him so much," Valka said. "I didn't know how much me staying away affected him."

Toothless cocked his head sideways, cooing in acknowledgement. Valka sighed sadly.

"I don't know how to make it up to him," Valka said. "I don't know how I can possible do something to make him forgive me...well, I can't make him do anything. I shouldn't have stayed away like I did, Toothless. I should have come back for him."

Toothless growled in agreement, laying his head against Hiccup's side. Valka looked at the dragon and her son with a sad sigh. She then thought about Stoick. What if he reacted the same way Hiccup reacted? Oh, she didn't think she would have been able to handle that. Her son seemed to hate her, and if her husband did, too, then she wouldn't know how to react. Hiccup and Stoick were the only family she really had.

If Stoick did hate her, however, she would only have herself to blame, as she was to blame for Hiccup's anger with her. It wasn't his fault he was so upset. It was what one would expect from someone who was abandoned.

"I hope he will let me make it up to him, Toothless," Valka said, although she thought that at this point, she was really talking to herself more than she was talking to Toothless. Toothless cooed, just before falling asleep, curled up with his rider. Valka watched them for a few moments before looking back at Cloudjumper.

She had chosen to stay with the dragons instead of her family, and now Hiccup was shunning her, yet sleeping soundly beside a dragon.

Then, turning away sadly, she and Cloudjumper walked away. Valka couldn't help but feel doleful. However, she made a silent promise: one way or another, she would make it up to her son.

Twenty years...she had a lot to make up for.