Author's Note:

Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter. This one is set just after HTTYD 2 and we look at my version of Snotlout dealing with Stoick's death. The final story in my 'Family of Fire' trilogy is now up so please take a look at that if you can, it's a crossover so you won't find it in the HTTYD section of the site so go via my profile instead. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

I own nothing.

Empty Chair

The chair was empty.

Drago had been defeated, Hiccup was now chief and Toothless had shown off incredible power and made himself Alpha of all of Berks dragons. These were all things that deserved celebration but at this moment Snotlout couldn't bring himself to do that. Instead he'd slipped off back to the house along with the now-back-to-normal Hookfang and was standing staring at the large chair that stood in the main room empty.

His uncle's chair.

Throughout all the years he'd spent growing up in this house Snotlout knew that neither him nor Hiccup had ever sat in that chair. It wasn't that Stoick didn't let them or told them not to it was just they never felt they should, it was his chair and anyone else sitting there felt…wrong.

Technically you could argue that he had sat in that chair many times before but it was always when he was sitting on the chief's lap. As a young child he'd often sat on his uncle's lap when the man had been in his chair, listening to stories or playing with some toy while the chief attended to some form of written work. Several times after his parents had died Snotlout had spent the night snuggled up to his uncle as the man comforted him in his grief. Even as he got older he'd spent many a night on that same lap in the same chair when nightmares used to ravage his sleep and his uncle cared for him, he would sleep peacefully clinging to the man who'd taken him in when his parents were lost and his uncle never once complained if he lost sleep himself because of his nephew.

In recent years such times became far fewer, Snotlout was older and things like nightmares bothered him less. The comfort he'd needed as a child was no longer necessary as he grew more independent. Spending time on the Edge made that independence grow even more and looking back Snotlout couldn't actually remember when he'd last hugged his uncle, when he'd last hugged the man who'd basically become his second father.

Now he never would again.

In one moment it was ripped away, Stoick was lost to one man displaying his power and now Snotlout would never be able to speak to his uncle again, his second father was gone.

The grief hurt.

Of course he was far from the only one grieving, Hiccup's pain was as strong, if not stronger, than his own and Valka's would be equally as acute. However they had most of the village grieving with them, after the initial joy of their victory the fact that Stoick was dead had sunk in and many villagers had come alongside Hiccup and Valka in their grief. They were his son and wife and they needed support but it seemed that in the midst of their desire to comfort them Berk had slightly forgotten about Snotlout.

In some ways it was understandable, he was just the nephew after all, but he'd lived in his uncle's care for most of his life and he was basically Stoick's second son, he was hurting to.

Seeing everyone else flock around Hiccup and Valka was part of the reason he'd slipped away, he felt himself getting jealous and angry so he'd decided to leave quietly before he did or said something he'd regret later but the first thing he'd seen coming home was the empty chair.

The chair that reminded him of what he'd lost.

The loss of the man who'd cared for him for so long, who'd spoken about him with the same pride he'd speak about Hiccup, who'd clap him on the shoulder with a booming laugh and a smile, who told everyone who'd listen about how 'his boy Snotlout' had managed to hunt and kill a fully grown bear, who'd had said bear pelt made into a shoulder cover just for his nephew in honour of his achievement and who'd pull him into an enveloping hug whenever he felt upset. His uncle was gone and suddenly Snotlout was aware of just how much he'd lost, no more booming laugh, no more bragging about him to everyone else and no more enveloping hugs that he'd found so much security in. All that was left was an empty chair that would likely never be filled again.

Slowly Snotlout walked over to the chair and placed a hand on one of its arms, the wood was worn and rough reflecting the hands that once gripped it. With trepidation Snotlout turned and lowered himself into the seat gripping the arms the same way his uncle had every day when he'd get up to start his duties for the day. He sat for a couple of seconds then shot back up to his feet and stepped away from the chair refusing to look at it with his now tearful eyes.

It felt wrong.

There should be someone in that chair, someone with a fiery red beard and usually holding a block of ice to his head because of his difficult day as chief. He should've sat on a warm lap not cold wood and he should've felt a pair of arms wrap round him because he was feeling sad and the hug always helped him through it. He should've been able to bury his face into a broad chest and cried the tears he couldn't shed because that was when he felt safe enough to do so.

There should've been someone sitting there.

But the chair was empty and that was the way it was going to stay because it was his uncle's chair and no one else should sit there.

The front door creaked and Snotlout looked up expecting Hiccup to walk in but instead he saw Valka standing in the doorway looking at him in concern. Her eyes wandered over his face no doubt seeing his unshed tears and they fell on the chair behind him, a look of understanding crossed her features and she softly closed the door and walked up to him.

"I thought I might find you here."

She looked at the chair again and spoke quietly, "It feels wrong doesn't it."

Snotlout looked up at her again and she continued speaking quietly, "He always sat there just like his father had always sat there before him." She sniffed slightly, "He used to sit there in the evenings bouncing Hiccup on his knee, they both loved it and he looked so happy. It was better for him than an ice block when things had been difficult in the village." Her eyes grew slightly distant as she kept speaking, "The strange thing was he wouldn't sit in that chair for a long time after his father died, I think it reminded him too much that he was gone. However after some time he began to sit in it, for weeks it had remained empty but then he started to use it. As time passed it became the only seat in the house he'd use, it made him feel closer."

Valka turned and gently placed her hand on her nephew's cheek, "The pain doesn't vanish completely but it will one day make you feel closer to him instead of further away."

Slowly Snotlout nodded and his aunt guided him to the chair, he slowly sat once more and this time Valka pulled him into a hug and soon he let himself bury his face into the embrace and cry. For a long time they stayed that way, neither speaking as Valka let him simply cry the same way his uncle had let him do so long ago when he'd lost his parents.

Eventually his tears stopped and he looked up at his aunt, "Thank you."

She smiled down at him and then helped him up, she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and guided him out of the house and off to join the rest of the village. Behind them they left the chair sitting empty in the house.

One day someone would sit there again.

PS-Some Snotlout/Valka family bonding there. Please take a look at my new story 'Family of Legend' and let me know what you thought of this chapter.