Valka appeared in the castle gardens while everyone else was enjoying a morning picnic. "I am determined to choose my destiny," she said with a confident smile. "Are you sure that this is what you want?" Hallan said standing up with a serious face.
"I am." She looked at Hiccup. "I don't know what kind of life I left but I'm sure it will worth all possible bad memories."
Astrid jumped towards her with her mouth still full of food and her eyes full of tears. Hiccup, on the other hand, just nodded calmly making eye contact with his mother.
"Ok, then," Hallan said holding her hands. "Whenever you want."
"Let me say something before. The woman I am right now is different from the woman I'm going to be and, there is something this one needs to say. Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, Sven," she said turning towards them. "I can't believe how lucky I was to fall into your hands. You are amazing people, animal, and... snowman, nevermind, you are all amazing and the time I have spent with you has been tremendously fun and enjoyable. Thanks for your help and for your care. You will always be special to me."
Anna ran towards her and hugged her with all her strength and with some tears rolling down her cheeks. Kristoff put a hand on Valka's shoulder. "It has been great to share this time with you and we are so happy you found your family."
"And knowing who they are, we can assure you that they are incredible people. In the best way." Anna added.
Valka squeezed their hands lovingly and then addressed Hallan.
"I'm ready, dear."
Valka took gently Hallan's hands and nodded with a sweet smile. Hallan nodded too in response and closed her eyes. Suddenly, the same lights which shone on the glacier a few days before, wrapped them for a while and vanished inside Valka. Slowly, Valka opened her eyes and big tears began to flow from her eyes uncontrollably. She fell to her knees and wept bitterly.
Hiccup ran up to her and hold her in an embrace. Valka cried nonstop until she fell asleep in the arms of her son.
"It's a tough process. She will probably be better when she wakes up. For now, she should rest in a comfortable bed," Hallan told.
Hiccup agreed and Kristoff took her to her bed and he went back with the others. Valka's nap lasted about three hours that everyone spent in that uncomfortable tense calm that precedes the storm. After that time, Valka joined them and sat calmly between Hiccup and Anna. Everyone followed her with their eyes without even blinking.
"Hi guys," she smiled a little uncomfortable.
"How… are you?" Hiccup said concerned.
"I'm fine I guess? I mean… this is so weird. I already know who I am and who you are, and I can even remember all the feelings that you provoke in me but... I don't feel it, just remember the sensation."
"So..." he said scared of what he knew he would hear.
"So… I remember loving you two, but..."
"But you can't feel it truly, right?" he clarified.
Valka nodded guilty and he sighed deeply.
"It's Ok. Don't feel bad. I… I just need a walk so..." Hiccup pointed back, backing away, but Valka stopped him.
"You can't go, Hiccup. There are things I want you to know." "O-kay..."
Hiccup sat down and Valka began to tell under everyone's attention.
"The first o all, I have to say that it makes me happy that my son is such a sensitive, brave, intelligent, and noble person. I can't say that I had much to do with it but... I'm proud of you." Hiccup smiled sadly. "And now… I finally know why I'd leave and what happened to me."
"And are you Ok with telling us? You don't have to if you don't want to," Anna said.
"I have to, Anna. I owe it to you."
"You don't..." Anna started to say, but Valka interrupted her.
"Please."
Anna nodded understanding and Valka began her narration.
"Hiccup and Astrid are already twenty-seven years old." "Oh! Just like me!" Anna exclaimed excitedly and then realized. "Oh, sorry. Continue, please."
"Thank you," she smiled enjoying Anna's enthusiasm. "They married almost five years ago."
"Oh, my God! Just like us!" Anna exclaimed again.
"Anna, please..." Kristoff whispered.
"Oh. Sorry… again."
"It's Ok, dear. The fact is that they still have no children and I was wondering if they had no intention of having them or if they were trying but were having trouble getting it so I talked to them. What I discovered made me feel frustrated. They wanted to be parents, but they were careful not to do so because the leadership of Berk had rolled them so they feared not being able to spend time with their own children." Anna and Kristoff exchanged a glance. "I thought about how could I help them. I am his mother, the previous chieftess, but I didn't know what to do. There is a lot of work for chiefs that only they can handle. However, the day after our talk arrived that ship. A wrecked ship that reached the harbor by the grace of Thor. Their navigators got off the ship claiming that a terrible giant monster had attacked them and that they should inform the chief. I thought it must be an unknown kind of dragon and that I could get along with him just as I did with many others many years ago. So I decided to solve this problem by myself to take the weight off their shoulders."
"Oh, mom..." Hiccup complained. "I know, Hiccup. I should have told you. In the end, I only have given you more work looking for me."
"That's not the problem!" he argued.
"I saw it, Hiccup. That's not a dragon. Is something...evil."
"What? Is not an animal either?" Astrid asked.
"It looks like it, but… that kind of giant octopus leaned out of my boat and spoke to me."
"Spoke?" Elsa asked this time. "Can't be."
"I have to remind you that you have created lots of living snowmen and that this lovely lady is the spirit of a glacier?" Valka answered.
"Yeah, you have a point. No arguments." Elsa said selfconscious.
"However, that thing didn't speak with its mouth; it spoke in my mind trying to convince me that there was no one left who really loved me in this world. That my best friend, Cloudjumper, abandoned me and that the only person who had ever loved me had been killed by my son." Hiccup lowed his head and she took his hand. "Of course, I didn't believe him. He got angry and broke the ship. The impact made me jump through the air, although I was lucky to fall next to a board to hold on to. I thought it would eat me up, but it just disappeared. I spent so much time adrift that I lost track of time. And I must have passed out from the heat or dehydration because I don't remember anything else until I woke up here."
"Where was that?" Hiccup answered with concern drawn all over his face.
"In the waters of the southeast, beyond the archipelago. In a place with absolutely no land in sight."
"Oh, Thor." Astrid and Hiccup said at the same time looking each other. Hiccup rubbed the back of his head. "I think we know who he is. In fact, is like an old friend of almost all of us."
"No!"Anna yelled. "The spirit of weakness?!" Hiccup and Astrid nodded and Elsa gasped. "Not again..."
"I'm going to kill him! Take me with him! That son of a troll is going to pay for everything he did to us!" Suddenly aware of her words, Ana stopped yelling and made an apologetic face at Kristoff. "Oh, sorry, honey..." "It's Ok," Kristoff chuckled. "And what do you plan to do against him, feistypants?" he said holding her with a smug smile.
"I'll figure it on the way!"
"Calm down, Anna," Elsa said relaxing thanks to the caresses that Hallan was giving her on the back of the hand. "We will think of something altogether."
"Thanks for sharing it with us, mom," Hiccup said walking away from Valka.
"Hiccup..." she said with a sad tone.
"Don't worry about me. I'm fine knowing you're safe." He stopped walking. "And… if you want to stay here in Arendelle, just do it. I understand that living with a son you don't love must be really uncomfortable."
"Hiccup… I loved you so much," she said in tears.
"So do I," he answered in almost a whisper. "By the way, please, don't blame yourself. I'm not mad. I know you always did what you considered the best for everyone and that things have simply complicated."
"So, after all, you forgive me?"
"Of course I do. We all make mistakes, and I know it very well..."
He sighed and turned to continue walking when the others gasped and a crash made him looking back. Valka was unconscious on the ground.