"What did Dad want to talk about?" Astrid demanded when Hiccup emerged sometime later. Her eyes were red and puffy, but earnest, almost desperate.

"He wanted to finalise a few things, get his affairs in orders." Astrid noticed the scroll in his hand; she knew what it was straight away, her breath hitching in her chest. Hiccup touched her cheek kindly, but wouldn't give her the will. "Sorry. But I've been told no-one else is to see it until… after." She flushed angrily. Hiccup said nothing more, didn't protest, simply embraced her. Her anger drained and she slumped against him, trembling, fingers clenching in the back of his tunic. "He's accepted it, Astrid. He knows how it'll affect everyone else, he knows it'll hurt; he wants you all to know that he's at peace, he's not in pain and he's happy." Astrid pressed her face into his shoulder, taking the time to gather her thoughts and composition. "I'm sorry it came to this. If I could change it, I would."

"I know." Her muffled voice sounded. "What do we tell the kids?"

"I'll talk to them. You stay here, help your mum."

"But-" She tilted her head back to look at him imploringly. Hiccup just smiled, looping a stray curl around her ear, palm to her jawline. She leant against his fingers with silent gratitude, rubbing at the reddened skin to dispose of tearful evidence. She put on a smile, blue spheres dim and worried, but determined. Hiccup offered a final hug before letting her and her father be.

Astrid didn't return home until dinnertime. Hiccup had managed to scrap together something for the meal and worked a few household chores from his wife's to-do list. Aloe hopped up from her seat the second she saw her mother, babbling about her day, asking about her grandfather, "Are you alright, Mummy?" Astrid nodded, producing a feeble smile. Aloe stood on her toes, arms outstretched. "You need a hug." She declared, grinning. Astrid obliged, kneeling. Stormfly padded over, sensing her rider's unease, squawking and nudging her. Hiccup wasn't far behind, offering a small satchel of prepared food. The Nadder was already saddled; she needed a long night-time flight, he always knew.

"Make sure you eat something though." She nodded, not particularly hungry, but he would know. She ventured out with a wave to the others, relishing in the cool night air batting her skin. Hiccup watched her go, biting his thumbnail.

"Dad?"

"Mm?" He hummed, not looking round.

"Mum will be alright, won't she?" Alastor drummed his fingers on the table nervously.

"As alright as she can be." Hiccup sighed. "Empty plates you lot, then bed."

"Not tired!" Aloe protested instantly. "I want to stay up and wait for Mummy."

"And what will she say if you did?"

"Um…" Aloe smiled sheepishly. "I will go to bed. But still not tired." She added stubbornly. "Can we see Grampa Fenrir tomorrow?"

"Maybe."

"I will take that as a yes."

Aloe was asleep when her mother trudged in. Stormfly had already joined Toothless upstairs to supervise the hatchlings. Hiccup was sat at the table, reading over a series of letters from neighbouring tribes, updating him on the rehabilitated-Berserkers situation. Astrid fished some soup from the pot simmering over the fire, dunking torn chunks of bread. Hiccup watched quietly, knowing she had barely touched the food he had provided earlier. She was shivering, but her eyes were shining, awakened and a little clearer. The flight had done her some good, had put her jumbled thoughts into a line, her emotions in check. "He'll be in Valhalla." She told him. "We'll see him again, won't we?"

"I'm sure of it."

"I'll miss him here though."

"We all will." Hiccup soothed, covering her hand with his. "Feeling better?"

"Maybe a bit."

"We can work with that."

"I'm worried about Mum. She and Dad married when they were both young- maybe a year or two younger than us when we married."

"She's a Hofferson, she'll come out fighting." Astrid nodded, squeezing his fingers gratefully. "You watch, she'll be round here, telling me off about mess and cooking and colour-coordinating the vegetables or alphabetizing the books and tutting about the dust under the rug."

"That wasn't me this time."

"No, it was Ingrid."

"And you let her?"

"Who am I to tell her off? I do the exact same thing."

"It's a Haddock thing." Astrid simply inclined her head.

There was more to this chapter, but I can't remember it, I stopped writing it halfway through and have only just got back to it. I've written the next chapter though, I'm on a roll :D