Acceptance
Author: Nightstar Fury from Nightstar Productions.
Rated: M for Mature.
Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD.
Chapter 10: Forgiveness.
It'd had been a week since the battle with the dragon queen and Hiccup was finally showing signs of improvement, he groaned softly opening his eyes slowly. Toothless was at the bed side immediately leaning over it to see Hiccup waking up. "Hiccup?!" Toothless said in shock. Hiccup saw him and smiled softly.
"Hey Toothless..." He said in a soft tone. Toothless licked his face and nudged him a bit.
"You're awake!" Toothless cheered climbing on the bed slightly.
"I'm glad to see you too bud..." Hiccup smiled at him, Toothless accidentally stepped on his stomach making him shoot up in bed, then he noticed where he was. "What...I'm in my house..." He said slowly, Toothless began running around happily. "Um...You're in my house!...Does my dad know you're here?" Hiccup asked.
"Yes he does! I've been sitting with you since we got back from the dragon nest." Toothless told him jumping on the beams of the house.
"Toothless...Come on bud, get down..." Hiccup told him quickly, his hands felt something different. He looked down taking the blanket off him now and his eyes widened. His leg was gone and replaced with a metal one, a spring mechanism that lowered with pressure and lessened with none. Toothless jumped down sadly now looking at him. Hiccup put his good leg down then the prosthetic one as he panted slightly in disbelief. "H–how did this...happen?" Hiccup asked him now.
"When you got hit with the queen's tail, you fell off me and in to the explosion...I flew after you. I grabbed your leg and bit it off by accident. It was the only way I could catch you and wrap my wings around you to save you...I'm sorry, Hiccup..." Toothless warbled looking down.
"Its okay...We're even now." Hiccup chucked slightly as he tried to stand up softly. "You saved my life...I'm not mad at you bud." Hiccup said as he tried to take a step forwards but fell and Toothless caught him with his head.
"Take it slower... You helped me fly with the tail fin, now let me return the favor..." Toothless told him gently. Hiccup smiled as he held on to Toothless as they walked together to the door, Hiccup opened it and walked out in shock almost with Toothless behind him. There were dragons everywhere, but they weren't raiding...people were riding them. He was shocked.
"I knew it. I'm dead..." Hiccup stated. Stoick laughed and put his hand around his shoulders.
"No, but you gave it your best shot. So...what do you think?" Stoick asked him.
"I–I don't have the words..." Hiccup breathed out.
"Hey look!" Someone yelled pointing at them.
"Its Hiccup!" Another shouted as soon he was surrounded. Valka rushed up and hugged him tightly.
"My boy! You're alright..." Valka said looking at him now.
"Well beside the leg..." Hiccup stated.
"That bit is my handiwork. With a little Hiccup flare thrown in, you think it'll do?" Gobber stated pushing through the crowd.
"I might make a few tweaks..." Hiccup said as everyone laughed. Astrid punched him from behind. "What, ow!" He said rubbing his arm.
"That's for scaring me!" She stated to him.
"W–what, is it always going to be like this now because..." He couldn't even finish as she pulled him by his collar and kissed him deeply before stepping back. "I could get used to it..." Hiccup replied now, slightly shocked. Astrid smiled blushing at him.
"Hiccup." Stoick said now as he knelt down with his hands on Hiccup's shoulders, "I know I made mistakes raising you son, I never meant to make you feel the way you did. You were right, I never got over losing your mother that day and raising you alone was hard. You were so different and I handled it badly. You're my only son, and I do love you. Can you ever forgive me?" Stoick asked him with pleading eyes.
"You hurt me pretty bad you know..." Hiccup began. "We'll talk about it later. Now is not the time..." Hiccup said to him.
"I can respect that. Gobber, give the boy his present." Stoick said.
"Present?" Hiccup blinked a few times.
"When you were unconscious, we found some of your old things in the forge, the tail you built Toothless. We know he lost his in the fight...So...Here you go lad." Gobber said handing him the rig.
"Its...red? Toothless is black..." Hiccup asked as he opened it seeing a red tail find and a different piece where his leg would go. Also a saddle and the mechanics needed for him to control the tail.
"Well you two are as different as they come so we thought you should stand out." Gobber said. "Welcome home." He added now. Toothless jumped over everyone and licked his cheek.
"Hey bud!" Hiccup laughed now.
"Can we please...go flying now?" Toothless asked him with a purr.
"You got it pal." Hiccup said as he started to get all the gear on him then jumped on and opened his tail. Astrid was now on Stormfly beside him. "You ready?" Hiccup asked him.
"More than ever!" Toothless roared excitedly. Toothless launched himself in to the sky spinning around with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Toothless flew high in to the sky straight up before leveling out and Hiccup unhooked himself standing on his back.
"Hiccup! What are you doing!" Astrid yelled at him.
"Just watch. Wahoo!" Hiccup yelled as he jumped off Toothless and back flipped heading straight down, Toothless did the same. As they neared the ground, Toothless flipped around and Hiccup grabbed on locking himself in place and opening the tail as they glided safely over everyone's heads. "Yes! We did it!" Hiccup exclaimed.
"Hiccup! You just woke up, no daring moves...Please?" Astrid asked him.
"Come on Astrid, you should know by now that Toothless won't let anything happen to me." Hiccup laughed as they both landed an hour later after doing a lap around the island, it was getting darker now. Astrid was being walked home by Hiccup and Toothless.
"So you sure you're okay?" Astrid asked him softly.
"Yeah, I am..." Hiccup replied as they reached her door.
"Are you...going to leave again?" Astrid asked with worried eyes.
"I can't answer that right now...I only came back here to save everyone from the dragon queen..." Hiccup looked away.
"If you leave, I'm coming with you this time..." Astrid stated firmly.
"No you won't be, Astrid...This is your home." Hiccup said.
"Its yours too! Hiccup, you were gone for 3 years. I cried every day, I screamed your name from the highest points of Berk. I used to sit in the cove alone begging you to come back...Then you save me...Then almost die...I can't...I won't lose you again. I can't..." Astrid said as she tried to keep herself from crying. Hiccup had never seen Astrid this way, except that night in the cove. He'd longed to hold her but forced himself not to. Hiccup sighed as he wrapped his arms around her gently.
"I won't leave again. I promise, Astrid." Hiccup sighed softly. Astrid nodded crying in to his armor. "Now get some sleep okay? I'll see you in the morning..." Hiccup smiled as he kissed her forehead.
"Okay...Thank you..." Astrid said with a soft smile.
"You're welcome...And Astrid..." He paused as she looked at him. "I love you." Hiccup smiled.
"I love you too. Sleep well." Astrid said as she opened her door and went inside. Hiccup got back on Toothless and flew to his home. Valka and Stoick were both there.
"I was worried about you..." Valka said greeting him.
"I was only walking Astrid home..." Hiccup said as he sat down. Valka nodded as she walked beside Toothless now and scratched under his chin.
"Lets go for a walk, Toothless. I think these two need some time to talk." Valka suggested. Toothless looked at Hiccup now for confirmation.
"I'm okay bud. Go on with mom for now." Hiccup smiled. Toothless crooned licking his cheek.
"Call for us if you need us..." Valka said as she and Toothless left now.
"Are you hungry?" Stoick asked him now.
"No thank you. Why did you do all this?" Hiccup asked him.
"What do you mean?" Stoick replied.
"This. Everything." Hiccup said. "Everything since mom was taken...I was all you had left of her and you drove me to not only try and end my life but leave for 3 years and if hadn't been for you stupid decision to go looking for the nest, I never would of come back..." Hiccup stated angrily.
"I made a lot of bad choices when you mother was taken, Hiccup and my anger towards dragons clouded my mind. You were right, your mother was different, and when she was taken...seeing you grow up to be the same as her only made it harder for me. I let my sadness of losing her, affect raising you and those are things I can never take back. I will always regret what I did to you, what I pushed you to do...for the rest of my life..." Stoick said, Hiccup watched his eyes closely.
"You should of been glad I was still alive...Did you know that once I found out mom was alive, and met Cloud Jumper...I have a very old memory of that night? I remember him being in the room, playing with me then getting hurt..." Hiccup told him.
"No, I didn't know that son..." Stoick said looking down slightly.
"That dragon could of taken me, and mom...And you would of lost us both...But he didn't take me and even though mom was gone...you should of been glad I was still there, alive. Your only son, all you had left of mom...But you didn't...You treated me like an outcast who didn't belong...It killed, me it literally killed me inside..." Hiccup told him.
"What do I have to do, Hiccup to prove I'm sorry. I know I can't take back what I did...but I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you..." Stoick said now, pleading eyes. Hiccup closed his and turned away thinking.
"Was Astrid right? The reason you went to the nest was because you thought you might find Toothless there, to get revenge?" Hiccup asked him.
"I won't lie to you...Yes. The night you flew over...I saw only a Night Fury heading East and then the other dragons did the same. I wanted to get revenge for you being gone..." Stoick sighed.
"And when Astrid warned you it was dangerous, tried to tell you how bad it was...You ignored her..." Hiccup said.
"You were there for all that?" Stoick asked.
"Mom and I were flying above the clouds...I heard everything, even when you called Astrid my name..." Hiccup stated crossing his arms now.
"Hiccup, having you gone was the worst pain I ever felt...I'm sorry for everything...I will do whatever it takes for you to forgive me...But I also understand if you choose not too and leave again. At least I know you're okay..." Stoick said.
"Lucky for you...I'm not planning on leaving..." Hiccup stated now.
"You–You're not?" Stoick asked him in shock.
"No. I promised Astrid I wouldn't leave again...No matter what you did to me, how much you hurt me...I can't hurt Astrid again. I care about her to much." Hiccup stated.
"I–I see." Stoick said.
"Do you know how hard it was not to turn back when I left that day...How hard it was to keep going. Hearing Astrid scream for me? Do you know how hard it was spending every night alone with Toothless?...I wanted to come back so many times...But couldn't because I knew you wouldn't accept me. That's all I ever wanted from you! From anyone! To be accepted here as part of the tribe! Not just as your son, as a member of this tribe...All I wanted was to be accepted..." Hiccup said becoming upset again.
"Hiccup...Why didn't you tell me about it, how I was making you feel for so long..." Stoick asked.
"Because you never listened to me dad!" Hiccup yelled now. Stoick backed up. "Never listened to ME. Your son! And you never listened to mom it turns out too. I see where we rate...You listened to this village more than us. Mom chose not to come back to you and me, because she knew you wouldn't listen. And I chose to leave because you never listened...I tried so many times to fit in, to be your kind of Viking, just so you could be proud of me for once. And the one day I got it...was the day I left. You were proud of me for what I could do in the ring, I couldn't of done any of that without Toothless...But did any of that matter." Hiccup said.
"Son I..." Stoick tried to say something, but couldn't because it was true. "I'm sorry..." Stoick said.
"And that's supposed to fix it?...Fix how you made me feel? Fix the last 18 years?..." Hiccup asked.
"No, it doesn't..." Stoick looked down now. He'd really screwed up.
"Everything going on right now...the dragons living in peace with us. Everyone happier, safer...this is what I tried to do 3 years ago. This is what I tried to show you, that it didn't have to be war and death all the time...But you didn't see it. You saw that your only son was best friends with a dragon and lost it, like always." Hiccup said calmer now.
"I do see it, I saw it that day at the nest. When we thought you were dead...the dragons there all looked upset...Seeing you and Toothless, risk your lives...I saw it. I'm ashamed of myself, as not just a chief, but a father. I can never take back what I did Hiccup..." Stoick paused as he knelt down again with his hands on his arms staring up at him. "But I promise you I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you and your mother. She's just as mad at me...But I don't care. I'll do whatever it takes son. Please, give me another chance and I can be the father you've always wanted and needed..." Stoick said.
"How? Tell me how you plan to do that dad..." Hiccup asked him.
"I'll do what I didn't do before. I'll listen to you, I'll make sure you're okay, I'll spend time with you, I'll even learn to ride a dragon if you want. But most of all, I'll be there for you." Stoick said.
"I will forgive you, and give you a second chance...I don't need everything you said before. I just need you to be there for me, listen to me, and accept me for who I am. I need you to be my dad." Hiccup told him.
"I give my word as Chief and as your father...Thank you son. I won't let you down again. I am proud of you, just like I said at the nest. That's when I understood. You are a Viking, and though you're different...you have done amazing things." Stoick said.
"Alright alright, don't get mushy on me now...You're still a Viking chief after all..." Hiccup chuckled slightly as he helped his father to his feet and they hugged.
"I don't care Hiccup. I have you and Valka, I don't care who sees me a big puddle of emotion." Stoick laughed. Toothless and Valka returned now.
"Is it safe?" Toothless asked perking his ears up now.
"Very funny Toothless...Yes, it's safe." Hiccup laughed now.
"The whole village heard that..." Valka smiled.
"Its fine now..." Hiccup said as Toothless licked his cheek.
"Have you told him yet?" Valka asked standing beside Stoick now.
"Told me...what?" Hiccup asked arching a brow.
"Son, your mother and I have been talking while you were flying with Astrid..." Stoick began looking at Valka.
"Okay, you're starting to freak me out...What's going on?" Hiccup asked now.
"Your father and I...are obviously getting back together. And well, since you ended the war between Dragons and Vikings...We think you're ready to take over." Valka said smiling wide.
"Wait...what are you saying?..." Hiccup asked now.
"Son, your mother and I...would like for you to become the chief of Berk." Stoick smiled, Hiccup's eyes widened with shock as he gasped.