Chapter Seven
"Hiccup… No, no…It's okay… He's okay… It's your eyes playing tricks on you… okay…" Astrid breathed in and out before slowly pulling herself back to her feet, she leaned over the bed and placed her ear to Hiccup's chest. Nothing. Not even the faint flutter of a weakening heart, there were no sounds- he wasn't breathing. Astrid took hold of the boys' shoulders and shook them vigorously, desperate to wake him up. But it was already too late, she'd failed. What was she going to tell his father? What would she tell the other teens? What would she tell the village?
The shock began to ebb away and grief began to settle, a choked sob broke free from her mouth. Tears blurred her vision and she laid her head against his chest and looked up at his face, it was too late to tell him how she felt.
"Hiccup…" Astrid croaked out with a small sob, how could she have not seen the signs?! This was all her fault! She should've gotten the poor boys' temperature down before it got to this point! What had she done?! He was gone now, and Hiccup was never coming back. She'd never see those bright green eyes again, hear one of his sarcastic comments; never feel his soft lips upon hers.
A loud cry from Toothless interrupted her thoughts. Toothless, Hiccup's first true and best friend, the only being that was there for him one-hundred per cent even when nobody else wanted him. They'd never sail through the clouds again; Toothless probably wouldn't fly again; not on his own; not without Hiccup. Why did all the bad things seem to happen to Hiccup? The poor lad never intentionally did wrong; he'd saved the whole village on more than one occasion. So why?
"Hiccup?!" A shout came from downstairs. Astrid didn't even make an attempt to dry her eyes as she walked down to meet whoever was at the door. "Astrid?" Snotlout's voice rang out as she reached the last steps.
"Hey where's- Hang on, what's wrong?" Fishlegs began, instantly walking forwards along with Snotlout and the Twins, all with concerned expressions. A sudden agonized shriek ripped through the air, Toothless, Astrid gave a quiet sob and bowed her head.
"What…" Ruffnut began but trailed off; they all had significant sinking feelings right about now.
"Hiccup…" Astrid cried softly, trying her best not to have an emotional breakdown.
"Oh no… What's happened?" Fishlegs breathed, Astrid looked him in the eye, but she couldn't find the right words to say. How was she supposed to tell her friends that Hiccup had died?
"Follow… Follow me." She motioned with her hand and led them upstairs, the loud sound of Toothless whining and crying out in grief almost splitting their ear drums. They got to Hiccup's room and gasped as they gathered around the bed,
"No way…" Tuffnut gasped; a minute or two of shocked silence rippled around until Snotlout broke it, stepping forwards to place a hand on Hiccup's shoulder- surprised about the warmth still radiating from his shoulder.
"Is he…?" He breathed, tears building up in his eyes, he wasn't the only one. Astrid nodded with a loud sob.
"…He's gone…" Her voice croaked, no one really knew what to say. Instead, actions were of much more help. Snotlout removed his helmet and bowed his head, Fishlegs repeating, Ruffnut and Tuffnut copying shortly afterwards, Astrid simply bowed her head and looked to her floor.
Toothless whined a little softer upon seeing the other Vikings paying their respects to his friend and leaned towards Hiccup. The Night Fury lay own on the floor besides the bed and saw Hiccup's pale hand hanging limply outside the bed, Toothless pushed his head upwards until Hiccup's hand was touching the dragon's snout. Recreating the action that had first bonded them… and using it to say farewell. Toothless always knew that Hiccup would pass before he would, yet not this soon. Toothless could sense that this was definitely not the time his friend was supposed to journey to Valhalla, yet here they all were. Things would never be the same again.
Bright white light, that's all he could see. Everything around him was a brilliant white colour- clean and crisp. Hiccup stepped forwards and noticed that there was no ground, well at least not a visible one. So what exactly was going on? Then it hit him like a ton of bricks, he was ill and burning up. Every event from the past few days travelled back to him in short bursts; then he remembered the last thing he saw. Toothless. Hiccup couldn't believe it- he'd gone and died! How could he do that to everyone back on Berk? What was going on down there? Was his body still in the bedroom? Probably.
"Hiccup." A loud feminine voice rung out against the silence as the shroud of white began to shift way and present Hiccup with sight. The tall Viking was standing in a cove. But not just any cove, it was the cove in which he'd befriended Toothless. "I knew you liked this place." There was the voice again. This time though, it sounded like it was very near him rather than surrounding. Hiccup smiled slightly as he realised that he recognised that very voice. He turned around and that small, lopsided smile turned into a rather large, overjoyed grin.
"Mom!" He exclaimed as he ran towards his mother's figure. She was roughly about the same height as Hiccup, maybe a little shorter, with the same auburn- brown hair and green eyes as her son. She too beamed upon seeing Hiccup once again.
"My boy!" She laughed, "You've gotten so big! I'm so proud of you!"
"I can't believe it! I'm finally meeting you!" Hiccup pulled her into a hug, she gratefully accepted, thankful to even get the opportunity to see her son again.
"And me, you! My son, I have missed you so much! Valhalla isn't the same without family, I tell you I have gotten quite lonely." She spoke into Hiccup's ear.
"So much has happened since you were with us!" Hiccup beamed, he leaned a little to his left and suddenly wondered why he wasn't falling over.
"What the…?" Hiccup muttered as he pulled away and looked down. His prosthetic was there, yet he'd also broken it when he angrily threw it out of the window and used it to kick at his desk. Valhallarama laughed at her son's confusion.
"I couldn't have you falling over all around the place whilst I'm trying to talk to you now, can I?" She laughed, patting his shoulder. Hiccup looked up and smiled. "Whilst I'm on the subject. I want you to give your father a message from me when you get back-" She started with a smirk,
"Get back? What do you mean? I died!" Hiccup threw his hands into the air for emphasis.
"My boy, I only wanted to see you again, and I knew that you wanted to see me! You fell ill and if I hadn't intervened you'd have been ill a lot longer, and your bad leg was going to get a lot worse, so you'd be in so much pain, so-" She told him before Hiccup cut her off again,
"So you killed me? Yeah, great way to get a conversation going: mom!" Sarcasm lacing Hiccup's voice.
"Sorry son, I saw the opportunity and I took advantage, I think I may have gone a little overboard. But there was a high chance you would've died anyway, your fever was going to get too high either way. And by bringing you here myself, I have the power to give you your life back- which is what I will do. If you'd died naturally, you would've stayed dead, but this way you get to meet me and then go back again." Val explained, trying to make sense and put the words into a way that would make the situation seem a little better.
"Well… I sure have an interesting life…" Hiccup raised his eyebrows and rubbed his chin. "What about Astrid and Toothless? They're still on Berk… with my body…" Hiccup shook his head, "That felt really weird to say…" He muttered. Val smiled; she tucked a stray strand of hair back behind her ear before speaking.
"No matter how long I keep you up here with me, it will always be just a few minutes after you died down there. But I'm not going to keep you for too much longer, I don't want you forgetting about all this!" She tapped a finger to Hiccup's nose and ruffled his no longer sweaty hair. Hiccup swatted her away with a laugh, smoothing his hair down not even seconds after his mother's hand left his head.
"Mom!" He whined, feeling like a normal teenager for a moment or two- he almost forgot he was in Valhalla.
"Anyways, would you like to see what is going on down there right now?" Val asked, her face slowly turning serious. Hiccup pursed his lips and nodded.
"Yes." He answered; she looked into his eyes carefully.
"I'm warning you now, this is what's actually happening- so don't be too shocked okay? There are quite a few tears."
"Okay, I'm ready to see." He took a deep breath and followed his mother over to the small body of water, Toothless' favourite fishing spot. Val looked over to Hiccup once more before both of their gazed settled to the water.
All the teens were there; Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, Snotlout and Astrid. All with heads bowed and silent tears trailing down their faces. Hiccup's heart almost broke when he saw where Toothless had positioned himself. Astrid suddenly raised her head and seemed to be asking the teens something. Hiccup couldn't quite make out the words but the other teen's looked up and left- she must've wanted a moment alone. Hiccup leaned a little closer to the water until he could hear what Astrid was saying. The blond Viking sat on Hiccup's bed and lifted his upper body and head onto her lap.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered, her voice thick with tears, "This is all my fault. I'm so sorry, Hiccup. I never meant for any of this to happen! I should've taken better care of you; I should've brought your temperature down. I hate myself for this." A sob broke through her lips. The normally strong Viking was breaking down in front of his eyes. A tear fell from Hiccup's eye and his lower lip quivered slightly. Val wrapped a caring arm around his shoulders to comfort him, watching as he quickly wiped the tear away, taking a deep breath.
Astrid began stroking Hiccup's hair and kissed his forehead lovingly.
"I can't believe I was so stupid to never tell you." She breathed through the sobs. "I can't believe I never told you how I felt, we could've been together, I bet you would've loved that." She laughed slightly, looking up and blinking. "That's right; I saw the way you looked at me when you thought I wasn't looking. Truth is; I felt the same way about you. I was just too scared and stubborn to say anything."
"Then, Just as I'm about to ask you if you'd like to be with me, you went and grew up. I saw how you were attracting all the other girls; they all wanted to know you. But I was the one who wanted to actually be with you. You made me- me of all people- nervous whenever I even saw you. Every time I looked at you, my heart skipped a beat, my hands went sweaty and words seemed to jumble into my head. Every time you so much as breathed near me, I wanted to hug you, kiss you. It seems stupid telling you now that you're gone- but at the same time it seems so right." Astrid hugged him even closer to her body and kissed his head again. Hiccup couldn't help but cry, he can't believe Astrid really felt this way, she felt almost how he did when they were thirteen and Astrid didn't even like him. A barely audible whimper came from Hiccup as he brushed the warm tears away; he never knew that he was so loved, paired with the fact that he couldn't bare seeing Astrid like this was bound to bring a tear to his eye.
"I know you can't hear me but I have to at least speak it out loud whilst your body is still here, before it's burned. Okay…" She sniffed and looked down at his face. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third I love you."
"I love you so much, and it hurts to know that I never told you. I'm sorry, Hiccup. I- I am going to make sure people never forget you; I'm going to take care of Toothless and help your father. Then one day, I'll meet you again, and then we'll be together- You wait for me up there Hiccup!" She smiled slightly before breaking down into even more sobs, Toothless moaned and whined in grief, his eyes closed and Hiccup's limp hand still on top of the his head.
Hiccup bit down on his lip in a desperate attempt to muffle the tiny whimpers of sadness, tears were running down his face just seeing and hearing how broken Astrid and Toothless were. Val hugged Hiccup closer with her one arm, she kissed his temple and embraced him in a way that only a mother can; the teen slowly turned around to hug his mother. The perfect bond; mother and son. Hiccup pulled the woman close to him and rested his head on her shoulder, Val stroked Hiccup's hair again; he used to love it when he was younger. Said boy fought to control himself, so many emotions were surging through his body right about now, he wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, he felt angry and frustrated yet overjoyed and peaceful. He was also still trying to get over the fact that he was in Valhalla.
"Son, I think it's time for you to go back." Valhallarama whispered into Hiccup's ear. Hiccup shook his head stubbornly, "Just like your father," She laughed. Hiccup smirked slightly.
"You know, I really wish you could come back to Berk. I really miss you, so does dad." Hiccup murmured into her shoulder, enjoying the feel of the embrace.
"You know I can't, I'm already settled up here, my boy. And, just so you know, I've been watching you from up here since I passed. And you know what? I couldn't be any more proud of you. I can't believe what you managed to pull of single-handedly along with the help of that Night Fury. He's one extraordinary dragon you know."
"I know mom, he's my best friend." Hiccup moved his head slightly to rest his chin on his mothers' shoulder. He noticed a shroud of white mist beginning to settle around them, the cove area gradually disappearing.
"There's so much more I'd like to say son, but your time in Valhalla is up for now. I just need to find something to anchor you back to Berk, a way to travel back." She hummed under her breath, clearly thinking that she wouldn't have gotten this far into her plan to start with.
"Well somebody came prepared…" Hiccup muttered playfully, the two pulled away from the embrace, Hiccup's face and eyes still slightly red from crying.
"Hey, don't use your sarcasm on me again, mister!" She chuckled, Val looked around at the mist and muttered something under her breath, then she caught sight of the water again.
Astrid's face contorted into misery as she stared down at Hiccup. She gently shifted over slightly before tucking a tear-dampened strand of hair back behind her ear. Astrid leaned down and sniffled, she leaned her head a little further and slowly, gently, touched her lips to Hiccup's. At first she broke away after a second or two but then she decided it was the only chance that she was going to get, she bowed her head and locked her lips to his, hating the fact that it was a one way kiss.
Val smiled, "I think we've just found your way back!" She smiled; Hiccup turned a light shade of red.
"I guess this is it." He frowned slightly; Val reached over and brought Hiccup's face to look at hers.
"For now it is, but don't worry, Hiccup, we'll meet again. Just remember that I love you, okay?" She asked as a semi-final request. Hiccup nodded and wrapped his arms around her one last time.
"Remember I love you too," The green-eyed teen whispered, he relished the feel of his mother's loving arms before pulling away.
"One last thing…" She moved her head closer to Hiccup's before whispering something into his ear, "Make sure you tell Stoick!"
"I will, mom." He wiped a single tear from his eye. "I love you… to the moon and back." Hiccup spoke gently, remembering what they used to say when Val was alive and Hiccup was younger.
"Well I love you from Valhalla to Berk and back three times over! Beat that little man!" She laughed ruffling his hair one last time before smiling sadly and taking his hand in hers, "I'll see you again."
"Goodbye…Mother." He gently slipped his hand from her grasp and turned to walk. After a few steps he turned back to catch that last sight of his mother, the mist beginning to shroud her from sight, she was waving to him; then she was gone and Hiccup was pretty sure he felt his heart break just a little for the second time.
The mist quickly grew thicker and soon enough the cove was no longer visible, then as quickly as the mist had veiled the area, darkness took over. A dark glow penetrating from beneath the white before nothing but black remained. Hiccup took a shaky deep breath before he felt himself falling. Then slowly, limb by limb; he began regaining feeling, then sound and then smell and then taste, he could suddenly feel Toothless beneath his hand, Astrid's warm lips upon his. The last sense he regained was sight, still not breathing enough to notice, Hiccup's eyes shot open.
And everything seemed to stand still once more.
Hello, and thank you for reading. Thanks again to the reviewers, followers and the people who've favourited- you guys are the best!
Sorry for not updating sooner, my internet company unexpectedly cancelled our internet… and we can't get it back for a few weeks. Therefore, I must fight through the sadness of losing the beloved internet for a while by reading through any reviews I gain. I have my phone signed up to my E-mail account and still allows me to read reviews, I just can't reply- sorry about that.
I'm thinking that the next chapter will be the final, then we'll be done here.
I hope you've enjoyed the ride so far, things are going to even out in the next chapter, as you probably guessed the worst is over for our good friend Hiccup.
By the way, for the sake of the story I went with the theory of Hiccup's mother being dead, I have watched the second trailer through, I know there are other possibilities and all. But anyway;
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT SO FAR!
Until next time, (When I'm able to use someone else's internet to update :D)