A Son of Ice and Fire

A/N: FINALLY, EXAMS ARE OVER! I can't wait to sit back down and continue this story for all of you. Firstly, I would just like to let people know that I have rewrote chapters 1-5 heavily, so for those already at this stage it may be worthwhile to skim over them to catch up, as well as going through all of season 1 (first 23 chapters) and attempting to correct most of the errors I saw when I was rereading the story so far. There aren't any major changes, just a few different interactions that I feel would help the story flow better later on.

I hope to keep updating this at least 2-3 times a week and I hope you all continue to enjoy reading. All reviews will be replied to, and I appreciate it that you can take the time to tell me what you think and how I may improve in the future. Thank you all for the support, and keep reading to see where this adventure takes us :)

Chapter 24: A mother's love

Hiccup

I pulled the thick, black, fur blanket over her, until it was tickling her chin. I tentatively reached out to brush the bangs from out of her eyes, but quickly withdrew my hand back to my side and placed it back at my side, as I stood at the foot of the bed. I was only there a moment, when the dark-haired girl rushed around to the far side of the bed. She dragged a chair out from under the desk and pulled it along the floor to end only a foot's length from the bed. She quickly took her seat, before shakingly reaching out to grab the hand of the other girl.

"Come on, Astrid, we both know you're too stubborn to die!" The girl forced a slight chuckle, as she tried to wipe away the stream of tears from her cheeks with her free hand. "Come on, sister, don't you go quitting on me now," she whimpered, as she ran her thumb across the girl's fingers. She closed her eyes, and started to sway gently as she began to hum

"The sky is dark, and the hills are white.

As the storm king speeds from the North tonight.

And this is the song, the storm king sings.

As over the world, his cloak he flings.

Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep.

He rustles his wings and gruffly sings.

Sleep, little one, sleep."

As she finished, her tears fell heavier as she leaned over the blonde. Her head now fully tucked into the blanket and by the other girl, as she tried to use the fabric to dry her eyes.

"Here you are," I offered, pulling a green handkerchief from one of the drawers in the room and offering it to her.

"Thanks." She snapped, as she ripped it from my hands. As she used it to soak up her tears, she sat up and turned towards me, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I didn't mean that. I'm just a bit all over the place at the minute. I'm sorry."

"Hey, stop apologizing, if it were my family I'd think I would be the same." I tried to calm her. All that followed was an uncomfortable silence as she just sat there in a state of despair at her friend lying there motionless. I tried to break the silence, "that was a beautiful song, my dad would always sing that to me when I was little."

"Your dad?" she questioned enthusiastically.

"Yeah, well I say sing, out of all Stoick the vast's wide rang of skills, singing delicately isn't one." I chuckled, even managing a small grin from her. "He told me that as a baby my mother would sing it to me, and that it was the only way to stop me from crying."

She smiled widely, as she looked past me, to the doorway of the room. I turned to see the older woman was peering into the room with a hand over her heart and a teary expression. The girl got up and walked past me towards the older lady, who stepped forward embracing her into a deep hug. The girl spoke softly, "mum I know this is hard, but could you just give us a minute alone." Her mother kissed her forehead, before giving me a small nod and leaving the room. As the door closed behind her, the girl rushed past me and pulled out the stool from the corner of the room and plonked it down next to the chair. She turned her chair ninety degrees to face the stool and tapped twice impatiently onto the top of stool, "you might want to sit down for this."

"Me? What's this got to do with me?" I asked curiously.

"Can you just sit. Please," she pleaded, her eyes growing big as she looked on longingly. Begrudgingly, I took a seat, as the stool wobbled, and I nearly fell forward onto her. Only a few inches from her, I managed to stop before I completely toppled over. "I'm sorry."

"Hey that's my line," she chuckled. "Right I'm going to tell you something, something crazy. I just need to do something first. Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah that's fine, I just need to know what you…" I started, before being interrupted by the girl bursting out of her chair and wrapping her arms around me as she rested her head on my chest. I froze for a moment, but soon reached my arms around and embraced her into the hug. As she released, I could see tears once again brimming in her eyes, "what was that for?"

"It's just, it's good to finally meet you."

"Me?" I replied

"Well, we didn't travel half the continent for nothing, y'know." She teased.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I should have known dad had planned this meeting to be more than just a meet and greet. I guess you were expecting me to be more enthusiastic for this. I told dad I wasn't planning on this leading to marriage." I replied apologetically.

"MARRIAGE?" she scoffed, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA." As I looked on confused, she just kept laughing widely, "no, no, no, that's Astrid's bounty to collect, if I should put it like that." She turned to face Astrid and grabbed her hand gently again, before softly whispering to her, "When you wake up, we'll have a good laugh about this later." She turned back to face me with a large smile.

"So, if you're not here for that, may I ask why you are actually here? You didn't get a chance to introduce yourself earlier."

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. Well my name is Heather. Heather Hofferson. This is Astrid Hofferson," she said looking over at her. "And outside is my mother…" She started, but then after there was a large pause. "My mother's name for almost eighteen years has been Valerie Oswaldson." I was still struggling to see anything to suggest why they had came this far to see me. "But that is not her true name. Hiccup, I don't know how to tell you this but her true name… it's Valka. Valka Haddock. Outside that door is your mother."

"WHAT?" I exclaimed. "My mother's been dead for as long that I don't even have memories of her. What sick, twisted trick are you playing?"

"Hiccup, please listen to me. Your mother never died. She told me that friends within the castle faked her death, so she could escape the assassins and protect you and our father."

"Our Father? What are you saying Heather?"

"What I'm saying is that when King Robert tried to kill her, she ran to Essos to protect her family. Her husband, her son, and her… unborn daughter." She never broke eye contact, but looked down self consciously as she stated that final phrase.

"She was pregnant?" I asked. This was getting crazier and crazier by the minute. Then it hit me. If she really was my mother. If she really did manage to escape in time. If she was pregnant. If she had waited seventeen years and was now back here. With a daughter. That would only mean one thing. 'HEATHER IS MY SISTER,' I screamed internally. "You're my sister?" I asked tentatively, and she nodded. "YOU'RE MY SIS…" I began to yell joyously.

"MOVE. MOVE. MAESTER COMING THROUGH." The door barged open as master Mildew barged the door open, grumbling to himself as he hobbled through the room. Bucket and Mulch who had came with the elderly healer remained at the door, but Gobber had followed him into the room with Heather's mother, or is that… my mother.

"Right. EVERYONE OUT." Mildew snarled. "Even you, my lord," he said in a condescending tone. "Only those she came with may stay, now the rest GET OUT."

I looked over to Heather, and then to… mother? The absurdity of it all still digging deep inside of me. Still with my inside shaken up so much I could barely walk, I got up from the stool. I turned to leave, but turned back and hugged Heather one more time. I could see the joy in her eyes as I reached over to hug her, and I could feel the reluctance she had to let go.

"You need to stay with her. She needs you now more than me." I comforted, before she eventually released, and she took her seat and turned back to face Astrid. I slowly started to exit the room, but I was halted by the older woman, who placed a soft hand on my shoulder. She must have seen the confused, conflicted daze in my eyes, or just the bewildered expression, as she smiled softly and started to speak.

"Hiccup, I know you have a lot of questions, of which I have the answers. I will tell them all to you. I just can't leave Heather right now. Please understand."

"I've waited over eighteen years, I can wait an hour or two." I snickered. She offered a light chuckle, before moving past me and taking a seat next to Heather.

After exiting the room, and waiting for bucket and mulch to trail off, I turned to the only one who was still following me.

"Gobber, start talking. NOW!" I yelled. He continued walking, and didn't turn to face me until we were back out in the courtyard. As the cold air hit us, I grabbed his arm to force him to stop. He pointed to the forge and we quickly walked over and huddled into the cramped back room. I took my seat and turned to face him. The old man stumbled a bit as he could barely fit his wide shoulders through the narrow doorway. His eyes darted around for a bit, before they found mine and we locked there.

"Start talking Gobber. Start talking."

"Well, y'see lad, erm, I…" he stuttered.

"It's all true then I assume. That woman in there is my mother, and that girl, is my sister."

"Yes it's all true. Yes she is your mother and… sister? Not sure on that one."

"Not sure? What do you mean not sure? Didn't you know she was pregnant?" I asked.

"I didn't lad. I had no clue. I'm telling yer the truth."

"Then start telling me the truth. Why would you and my dad lie to me for eighteen years? Why Gobber? Why?"

"Stoick knows just as much as you do Hiccup, Valka made me promise her that."

"So it was you who saved her? I knew it would be!" I exclaimed.

"Please don't hate me lad, I'm sorry for…" He started apologized, tears starting to form in his eyes. Before he could finish I just ran up and hugged him tightly. He rocked back a bit in surprise, but soon steadied himself and wrapped his arms around me. The metal hook he wore above the joint of his left arm thankfully managing to only slide across my back and not slicing my back open. I've already got a few scars on my back from the man, and even dad wasn't immune to the smith's affections. Those were all from just after he lost his arm and kept forgetting instead of five fingers, there was a lethal weapon attached to his arm. My dad would joke that 'If his sword doesn't kill you, his hugs probably will.' Even Gobber had suffered at his own hands, you can only guess what happened when tried to pick his nose. But through it all, he had always been there, protecting me, protecting mum and albeit inadvertently, protecting my sister as well.

"Thank you. Thank you for saving them." I almost cried out. As we broke from the embrace, I took a seat in front of the desk and then turned it around to face him. "I could never hate you. Never. But I am still waiting for the explanation. From the beginning."

"Alright lad. You deserve that." He sighed. "But don't you want you mother to tell you? I only know what happened here."

"I will talk to her soon, but can you please just tell me what you know. I'm still trying to process it all."

"What I told you months back wasn't a lie. Robert did send people to come to kill her. It was only by luck she survived the first couple of attempts. She told me that she felt like there was someone watching her, a shadow lurking in the shadows, so I made sure to always keep her close. One night, I heard you screaming, so I came rushing in. You never cried when you were in your mother's arms, so I knew something was wrong. When I went to open the door to check on you two, it was locked, but I could feel a piercing heat pulsing through the metal of the door knob. I barged the door open, to find the whole room ablaze, and your crib burned to cinders. All I could do was fall to my knees in despair, knowing I'd failed you both, and that I could never look your father in the eyes ever again."

"But I'm still here, so I couldn't have been in there."

"But you were Hiccup. As I broke down on my knees, I heard a faint coughing. I sprang up, charging through the debris and that's where I found you and your mother. She was trapped under a support beam that had collapsed on top her, her legs were pinned underneath, and you were crying in her arms. She pleaded for me to take you and go, but I somehow managed to prize the beam off of her with my trusty ol' hook, and we got out and to safety." He finished.

"You said my crib had been burned to cinders, how was I not dead. Even the smoke and the fire should have killed me at that age." I enquired.

"That it should. It was a miracle you both survived. Your mother was in a lot of pain, and I'm sure she still has heavy scarring along her lower body from that day. But you, you were fine. Not a scratch, not a burn, not even a singed hair. Valka said the fire had been started under where you slept, you should have been dead within minutes. Yet as that whole side of the room had degraded to a pile of scorched ash, you were unharmed." The blacksmith said softly.

"But how is that possible?" I asked in disbelief. "Are you sure that's what actually happened?" Gobber only nodded.

"That was the first time you and your mother were targeted. A second attempt on Valka's life happened two days later. Then we discovered an assassin who tried to poison her at the end of that same week. We found him just in time, and he was locked in the cells and um… questions extensively… that's how we found out Robert was the one sending them. Apparently, your mother was the primary target, and that the contract ended upon her death. That day she wrote that letter I gave to you. But that was also the day your father came home. If he knew, he would have tried to keep her here and locked under guard for every minute of every day. She knew there was only one way she could keep you both safe. I asked her to tell Stoick, but she shoved that letter into my hand and told me what she wanted me to do. That she wanted me to kill her."

"KILL HER?" I exclaimed loudly.

"Not actually kill her yer idiot, but to make it seem like she was dead. If she knew she was pregnant, I doubt she would have gone through with it, but she took something that feigned the symptoms of death. That's where your father found her. Lying with you in her arms. I told him to take you and go, but he couldn't leave her side. I told him that you needed him now, and to take him away from all the horror. I took her down into the crypts, gave her the antidote, and then by morning she was gone. That was the last time I had ever seen her."

"But how did he not know? Didn't he want to say goodbye? To bury her himself?" I asked.

"Hiccup, your father didn't handle her death well. He spent the next couple of weeks in those cells, with that assassin who tried to poison her. I daren't even imagine what he did, but when I next saw him, he was different. Cold. Unremorseful. Heartless. I tried so hard to turn him back, but as you know, that wound never ever healed. I failed him Hiccup. I failed you." Gobber said, with tears brewing in his eyes as he hunched over with his head bent down.

"No. No you didn't. You did all you could to help him, and when you knew you couldn't, you helped me. You practically raised me when my father abandoned me. It's only because of you I have any relationship with him now at all. And now, the rest of our family is home. That's all because of you." I said cheerily, smiling as the man looked up, tears now freely falling.

"You do know how to make an old man cry, don't yer laddie." The smith chuckled, as he brushed the tears off. "Just take things slow all right, this will bring back bad memories for your mother too. "

"I will. Thank you for telling me."

"Anything for you Hiccup. Why don't you go check on them, see if Mildew has managed to save that girl you like." The Blacksmith sniggered.

"GOBBER! I don't…" I protested. Gobber just raised one eyebrow hen started laughing.

"You don't fool me Hiccup. The way you were looking at her when we barged into that room was the same way you looked at her when yous were kids."

"You remember that?" I asked nervously, facepalming hard.

"Just because your father didn't watch you grow up, doesn't mean I didn't." He chuckled. "Now get going lad, they might need you." I got up and followed the man out of the room. He sat down in the forge, as I headed for the exit. "Oh, and Hiccup, don't go lighting yourself up in flames thinking you're fireproof, I don't think I could handle losing you."

"Nor I you." I answered back. "Thank you for everything." With that I rushed out and back to the main castle. I can't believe it's all true. She's actually here. It's been eighteen years, but mother has finally come home…