MK stared at the picture of the baby Mary Katherine for who knows how long, she had that blanket, she still had that blanket. Her fingers touched the page, she could almost feel it beneath her fingers, the green apples, the red-orange leaves, the dark brown trunk, the fiery red letters that spelled out her name. And she had seen pictures of herself when she was a baby, it was an exact match. She pulled the book in against her chest, raising her head to look up as tears of relief spilled. She believed, there was no other way around it, she had to believe. She found her parents, and she found her son. Jamie! MK wiped her tears onto her sleeve as she quickly closed the book and rose from her seat. She paused, there, in front of her, stood two black shapes. She wanted to scream, but she remembered her father's words and didn't make any sudden movements. Oh, it felt good to call him that, so good that a wave of relief washed over her, feeling like a burden had been released from her shoulders. One of the two shapes came closer, and with a start, MK realized that this was Toothless. He sniffed her all over before a big grin appeared on his face as he nudged her, he remembered who she was.
She petted him, "H-hey, Toothless. Hi Morrigan." The other dragon came forward to also sniff her, the two humming contently as she petted them both.
"MK! I think I found it!" MK started to rush towards his voice, but Toothless insisted she ride on his back, and he galloped with her all the way to where Richard was standing. Not Richard, especially now that he was dressed in his old clothes, but Hiccup, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Chief of Berk. MK stifled a giggle, she could see why her mom would make such jokes about his name, it was kind of silly. But that thought was erased from her mind when she saw him standing next to a gnarly tree with a hollow in the shape of a dragon.
Hiccup gasped when he saw her approaching on Toothless' back, "You can see them! You believe!"
"Yeah, I can . . . Dad." Grinning, he rushed towards her as she dismounted and pulled her into a big hug.
"Come on, let's get the phials and get out of here."
MK nodded, "Right." She followed Hiccup to the tree, before letting out a scream as she felt herself being lifted off the ground.
"Dad!"
"Mary Katherine!" Hiccup charged, his sword alight, hacking away at the swinging vines. The dragons lept into the fray, sending in their blue fireballs, only shooting when they knew they would miss MK. The vines tightened around her, the sound of her gasping for breath sent rage through Hiccup's blood. "No! I am not going to lose her to you! Come on bud!" With a roar, Toothless took off, Hiccup brandishing his sword. He sliced through vine after vine, trying his hardest to cut the one that held MK. He ignited his sword, that helped to cut through the vines faster, but more seemed to show up the more he cut. But he kept at it, and finally cut through the vine that held MK. "Morrigan!" Morrigan flew up and caught MK, bringing her gently to the ground. MK gasped for breath, unable to do anything just yet, and watched helplessly as the vines turned with fury on her father.
"Morrigan . . . we have to . . . help," she gasped as she rose dizzily. Morrigan steadied her before pulling a sword to her side. "Thanks, girl," MK smiled weakly. She picked up the sword and leaned on it for a bit, getting her breath and her strength back, before jumping onto Morrigan and rushed to help Hiccup and Toothless. Unused to the weight of the sword, MK swung clumsily, but she managed to connect with a few vines. The vines seemed to retreat because of MK clumsy surprise attack, letting the four land and get some rest.
"Thanks, for helping," panted Hiccup.
"Well, thanks for saving my life," MK smiled. Hiccup grinned, and pulled her in for a hug, planting a relieved kiss on the top of her head.
"We should have brought your mom's bow and arrows, we might have stood a better chance."
"Yeah, well, I don't think even Jack Frost knew that was here."
HIccup gave a slight chuckle, "Yeah, I doubt it. Come on, let's see if we can get those phials before those vines decide to come back." Hiccup rose and reached for the hollow.
"Dad, they're coming back!" Toothless and Morrigan sent a volley of fireballs at the approaching vines, allowing Hiccup to grab two of the phials before he had to get out of the way of a particularly nasty-looking vine. "They've got thorns now!" exclaimed MK as she slashed through the vine that tried to attack Hiccup.
Hiccup grumbled, "Go figure." He stuffed the two phials into his pocket before bringing his sword down on another vine, getting a good look at the changes. The leaves were now large, deadly thorns and the tender, green shoots were now almost hard and woody, requiring more strength to cut through them. The dragons stayed clear of the vines as best as they could, keeping to their fireballs as their primary defense, along with MK's and Hiccup's swords. "Back to back!" shouted Hiccup as the vines came in rapid fire. MK quickly had her back up against his, and the two sliced through vine after vine. The two would turn sometimes, staying in a flurry of motion to just keep ahead of the multitude of vines.
"Ugh, I've had enough of this!" MK pulled out her gun from a pocket on her dress, and fired at the very center of the vine horde, the gun blast giving off a loud vibration. The vines went screaming back into the mother load, and everything went silent. "I should have done that a while ago. Seems like that thing doesn't like sound."
"Ow, neither do we," muttered Hiccup. He, Toothless, and Morrigan had covered their ears, wincing from the shockwave of the gunshot.
"Oh, sorry," grimaced MK, going to return the gun to her pocket, but paused. The vines looked like they were going to come back. "Cover your ears!" The three clamped their ears shut as MK fired off another shot at the plant, but nothing happened besides just scaring it away. "Really? Can't a gun kill something, like it's supposed to?" she wondered, aiming to take another shot while Hiccup made his way back to the hollow.
"Not if it's an enchanted plant," stated a voice. MK glanced over at the newcomer, Jack Frost was watching the plant, his staff emitting a soft, white glow. The plant started moving again, seemingly looking for a spot to attack.
"Mary Katherine, look out!" A long, deadly vine rushed towards her, a gasp the only sound she managed to get out, it was traveling so fast. But it never reached its target as tendrils of ice crawled up the thorns even faster. The plant seemed to scream, quivering and shaking as the ice grew closer to the heart of the plant. Jack sent a burst of icy wind, covering the whole thing in a thick layer of snow, freezing it solid. Jack's staff came back to the ground as the plant fell from the ceiling, splashing into the underground lake. MK stood there panting, not realizing she had been trembling until Hiccup wrapped her in his arms.
"Come on, quick! It won't take Mavis long to realize that Astrid remembers!" exclaimed Jack as he reached in and grabbed two phials. He stuffed them in his jacket pocket before reaching back in and pulled out two more, stuffing them in his other pocket.
"How many do you have in there?" MK asked, still seeking comfort in her father's arms.
"Twelve, I'll go get the basement open so you can fly the dragons out, there really is not much time!" With that, he flew off, a trail of frost following in his wake.
"He can fly!" whooped Hiccup. He burst out laughing, "But then again, so can we." Hiccup quickly thrust his hand into the hollow and pulled out two phials, each glowing a different color. MK reached in and pulled out the other four. They each stuffed the ones they got into their pockets before climbing onto the dragons. The two dragons ran towards the ladder, a thought coming to MK as they quickly neared the way up.
"What if he hasn't gotten the basement door open?"
"He probably already has, but we can stop in the basement to double check, just in case."
MK nodded, "OK." Hiccup and Toothless took off, Toothless' dark form scaling the ladder without touching it. Morrigan followed suit as she flew behind, MK holding on tight. They quickly paused in the basement, noticing that Jack came through and the larger basement door was wide open.
"Let's go!" The two took off again, the dragons ecstatic over feeling the evening wind on their faces and beneath their wings. Hiccup was clearly just as ecstatic at being back on Toothless, flying and carefree. MK let the feeling of freedom wash over her as she and Morrigan followed, but only for a minute as the hospital came into view. Within a matter of minutes, they had landed, Hiccup and MK rushing through the double doors. Sarah May was standing there, apparently waiting for them, but she only spoke to MK.
"Jack's convinced Dr. Lupei to let you see Jamie. You'd better get in there."
"Thanks," breathed MK, hugging her mother. Sarah May didn't even acknowledge Hiccup, which was clearly breaking his heart. But he followed MK into Jamie's room, where Jack, Esther, Mavis, and Dr. Lupei stood around Jamie's bed, all seemingly waiting for the two. Mavis showed her disgust at having MK in the room.
Jack spoke up, "I need the burgundy phial." The two took out the phials in their pockets, MK having the phial Jack was looking for. She handed it to him, and he turned to Mavis, whose curiosity seemed to outweigh her dissatisfaction. "This is what happens when the hair of two people who are meant to be together are united. The hairs blend and become one, this one is of your hair and the hair of your true love. I have one for Heather as well. Here, take it, use it to find your true love, and let MK break the spell." Mavis took the phial gingerly, tears welling up in her eyes as she glanced at Jack. She gave a little, teary nod, and left the room. Jack took the other three phials from MK so she could go to Jamie.
"Wh-what do I do?"
Jack gave her a reassuring smile, "You know." MK got closer to Jamie, his little body had tubes connecting him to the machines keeping an eye on his vital signs.
MK choked back a sob, "I love you, Jamie." She bent over, and kissed his forehead.