WOW! Hello there. It's been like, uh, 2 years. Fancy seeing you again. I won't keep you long, but I've truly missed writing this story. I plan to have it totally done by HTTYD3.
A lot has changed: I'm in college now, for one. I have a job too. I hope to update this fix more often.
Please enjoy!
Auger stood with his back against the house, watching the Haddock children play. Astrid had run off to handle something perused by Toothless, and both of the older girls had been left in charge of the little ones.
He watched as the girl his father wanted him to woo, Irena, play with her little sisters and the older boy. She would be a great mother, but she was still young. She was younger than him and sure, she was pretty and she seemed like a sweet girl, but he had no real interest in marrying her. He had no interest in taking her away from the family she clearly adored, he had no romantic interest in her at all. He wanted to marry for love someday, not for alliances or to please his father.
Irena's cheerful laughter filled the air and he smiled. He almost wandered over to talk to her, but a familiar-looking brown haired boy was headed towards the house. The twin girls noticed him first and went running towards him down the hill. One cried out "Jakob!" and he laughed and caught them both in a hug.
"It's like you haven't seen me in years!" teased Jakob, grinning at the girls. "You saw me yesterday!"
"We like you lots!" said one of the twins. Auger could not tell them apart, even though they were dressed differently.
"Well, I like you lots too." Jakob replied, taking each twin by the hand as he headed towards the house. "Where's your sister?"
When they climbed over the crest of the hill, the twins let go of Jakob's hands and went back to playing with Gabe, the older boy. Irena went over to Jakob and much to Auger's surprise, he greeted her with a kiss. Irena giggled. They exchanged a few words and then Irena took his hand and pulled him over to Auger, where she introduced the two boys to each other.
"Jakob, this is Auger. He's the son of Hacksaw, the Meathead chief. He's visiting. Auger, this is Jakob… my, boyfriend?" Irena said a little shyly shooting an uncertain glance at Jakob.
Jakob smiled at her. "If you're comfortable with that, sure you can call me your boyfriend."
Irena smiled and blushed. Auger had been under the impression that Irena was young and not dating from his father. His father had been wrong.
Auger extended his hand towards Jakob, and Jakob took it. "It's nice to meet you, Jakob."
"You too," Jakob replied. "How long are you visiting for?"
"About two weeks," replied Auger. "My dad sent me to do some basic diplomatic stuff."
"I see," Jakob replied.
After a few more minutes of polite chatter, Irena and Jakob sat down together under a tree hand in hand, watching the kids play.
They were so comfortable together. Auger was happy for her. And he also had one solid excuse down for his father- she's dating someone and they seem fairly serious. He didn't even want to try to flirt her to begin with, but especially now, knowing she was with someone, he certainly did not feel comfortable trying to convince her to marry him. He didn't want to be that kind of guy. He didn't even really see her that way. Sure, the thought had crossed his mind briefly at the festival, but it was based solely on her looks. If he had to pick someone random to marry, he had hoped for someone he found attractive at least. The more he learned about Irena though, the less he wanted her as a wife. Not because she was unattractive or mean or incompetent, simply because he didn't think they'd be a compatible couple. She would, however, make a good friend.
A squeal of delight from a baby shook Auger from his thoughts and he turned his head a bit to where the eldest girl, Nova, was sitting with the two babies who he had been told were Hiccup IV and Evelina, or Hic and Evie for short. Hic looked strikingly like his late father, even at one, which must have made it hard for Astrid and everyone else.
Nova had been bouncing Evie on her knees and then tipped her back, supporting her all the while. Evie had clearly enjoyed it.
"Me! Me!" said Hic.
"Okay, Hic's turn." Nova said, gently setting Evie on the grass and scooping Hic into her arms. His squeal of joy sounded much like Evie's when Nova dipped him back. Nova laughed.
Now she, she was… she was special. She was quiet, blunt, sassy, loving, and sarcastic all at once. She was gorgeous and her laugh was mesmerizing. Auger felt his feet move before his brain had totally decided and before he knew it, he was beside Nova. He suddenly grew nervous, but decided to speak to her anyway.
"Is this always how it is? Irena takes the big kids and you get the little ones?"
Nova glanced up at him as she rolled a small ball back to Evie. "For the most part. It's just easier."
"Are you better with the babies then?" Auger asked.
"You could say that... that one is mine." Nova said nonchalantly, nodding at Evie.
"She's… your daughter?" Auger clarified.
"Yup. She doesn't look like the rest of them at all, does she?" Nova asked, sounding sort of annoyed.
Auger glanced back at the other Haddock kids. Fair-skinned, light-haired, light-eyed, freckled, willowy kids. Evie was tan-skinned, with dark brown curly hair and brown eyes, in other words she looked just like Nova, who apparently was her mother. But, wasn't Nova Hiccup and Astrid's daughter too? Or perhaps, she was just one of theirs? Maybe she was the adopted one and he got things confused.
Evie crawled into Nova's lap and Nova held her close. Auger's face must have portrayed his confusion, because Nova spoke again. "What, never seen a seventeen year old with a kid before?" She knew it wasn't all that uncommon.
"I… uh…" Auger blinked. "You don't look like them either…"
Nova chuckled. "It'd be really weird if I did."
"So you're the kid they adopted?"
"No, that was Irena. Just so happens she sort of looks like Astrid. I… just live with them."
Auger made a noise of understanding and looked back towards Evie, who sitting contently in her mother's lap, watching Hic play with the ball. This girl he was so attracted to, she had a baby. She was a mother. It shocked him, but only for a moment. That didn't change anything for him, he still thought she was beautiful and he wanted to get to know her better. He knew his father would never approve.
Auger grinned. Good.
"Can I sit?"
Nova nodded, and Auger sat beside her.
Hiccup was leaning back against the wall, his face in his hands. He didn't think he could cry anymore. He just felt empty inside.
Coral was gone.
She had passed in the morning while he was holding her and it had looked like she had just fallen asleep. He had seen people and dragons die before, but this was different. This was a child. He barely knew her, but he had loved her. He still loved her. He felt as if she may as well has been another of his daughters. In the short time they knew each other, he had grown to love her that way. He had promised her so much, so much she'd never see. And it hurt.
He held onto her for longer than he probably should have, but eventually he had placed her on the floor and covered her with the thin blanket she had always used. She had fixed her hair out of her face and retreated to the back corner of the cell and he cried. He cried for all the pain she had suffered in her short life, he cried that he hadn't been able to keep his promises to her. He cried because the world had just lost a beautiful little light. He cried for himself a little, too. He just cried until he couldn't cry any more. And then he sat surrounded by darkness and his own thoughts.
At some point, someone had come and taken her little body away. Hiccup half-remembered calling after them to be careful with her, to be gentle. He doubted they would, he doubted anyone cared about her from the way she spoke about things and the ways he had seen her treated.
He had tried to cover most of the scars and cuts that riddled her skin when he had wrapped her in the blanket for the final time. He wanted to remember her as the sweet girl she had been, not as the punching bag everyone else seemed to view her as.
He tried to console himself by telling himself that her last few hours were spent with someone who had genuinely cared for and loved her and she had passed peacefully. Those thoughts could only do so much for his broken heart. He wanted to sink into the floor. He didn't want to do this anymore. He was so incredibly lonely now, and it had only been a matter of hours since he had lost her. There was nothing he could do.
He sat up suddenly. There was something he could do. He had promised Coral he was going to escape and even though she couldn't come with him, he felt as though that was the one part of the promises he made to her that he could keep. To get out of this place.
Yes, he would do that. He would bring her memory to Berk. He had to. For Coral. For himself. For his family. He had to go home.
And he was going to figure out how.
A/N: A lot happened in this chapter, huh? What do you think will happen between Auger and Nova? How will Hiccup make it home? Did you miss me? Leave your thoughts in a review! Hope to see you soon!