Must... resist... urge...

Seriously, I could write forever about baby dragons, especially babycutters! But I won't. They'll undoubtedly play a big role cus, well, they live in the same room. But I will try and remember to story too.

-HTTYD-

With Alva nestled securely in his lap, Eret smiled as the baby cooed excitedly on their flight. It was a gentle glide, but first times in the sky had been exhilirating for him (after the panic), and Alva seemed equally enamoured. Vali seemed just as happy in Valka's arms on Cloudjumper's back.

"Having fun little lady?"

Alva chirped, wiggling her tail happily so that it banged off each of Eret's legs, but she was so happy there was no way he'd chide her for it. They were getting bigger already, but from what Valka had said, it would be a few years before they were the same size as their parents. Eret knew it ranged from six months to two years for most dragons, but Stormcutters were a pretty big species, so maybe a little longer made sense.

They'd be flying on their own within a couple of weeks, though supervised by their parents and unlikely to be able to go for very long. Eret was still excited to see it, adoring every moment of watching them grow.

When they got back, Valka was oddly quiet for a few minutes, fussing with little things like the paperweights on the desk Eret had built - reading maps on the floor when there were baby dragons interested in everything was hard! - before she turned to him.

"Eret, I... would you mind if I asked for some time alone?"

"Sure, but is everything alright?"

She nodded, looking toward the desk again.

"I... I wanted to write to Hiccup."

"Oh. Right. Sure, we'll give you some privacy" he hugged her gently, kissed her to reassure Valka he didn't feel slighted "you want Cloudjumper here with you?"

She nodded again. Eret turned to the others.

"Come on you two, me and your mom will take you to play and get you some lunch. We'll be outside Valka, take all the time you need."

Alva and Vali agreeably let Eret pick them up, though Vali immediately climbed up to sit on Eret's head and Alva huffed at her brother, but they didn't start squabbling as Eret and Tripfire made their way outside the nest to their little island patch outside.

"Come on kids, I'm gonna show you the ocean!"

His mind kept wandering back, hoping Valka was alright, but it was still very sweet to see the babies hesitantly letting the water wash over their feet, scuttling back in surprise before sniffing and exploring, curious about the strange liquid. Vali got water up in his nose plates and sneezed, wailing in shock at Tripfire who soothed her son before joining them in splashing her feet, showing them it was ok.

Glancing back, Eret headed back in toward the mountain - his vegetable patch was close, open enough to get some sun but covered to protect it from the frost. The ash from Caldera Cay had definitely helped, and there was a decent crop of some of his plants promised by the way they grew. When he got back, Alva and Vali were flapping and hopping around, Tripfire flying a few feet away before diving down into the water. They soon calmed when she came back with food for them, and now they'd seen it wasn't so bad, they enjoyed splashing around more.

Tripfire dropped fish at Eret's feet next, looking up at him expectantly.

"We've had this conversation, I can't eat raw fish. If you want, I'll build a fire to cook them."

Seeming offended still, Tripfire huffed while Eret grabbed some bits of driftwood and dead grass, building a little set up. Before he could ask Tripfire to light them, she ruffled her wings in that way he knew meant only one thing, turning to see Cloudjumper landing with Valka on his back. He could see her eyes were red, felt her arms wind around him tightly and did his best to hug her as comfortingly as possible.

"You alright?"

"Yes, yes. Just... emotional."

"I get it. Well, I try."

Wiping at her face, Valka looked around.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I showed Alva and Vali the ocean. Tripfire tried to get me to eat raw fish, and I was just about to put a fire on so I don't get sick, because Tripfire won't let me not eat them."

Laughing lightly, Valka hugged him tight again before circling around him to greet the babies, clearly cheering already. Eret smiled at them, kneeling down to make sure the fire was assembled. Alva sniffed at the pile, grass irritating her nose until she sneezed and, to everyones surprise but hers most of all, a little bit of flame came out too.

Well, he didn't have to ask Tripfire now.

"Hey, look at that!"

As they sat around the fire, cooking fish and just quietly basking in each others company, Eret compared it to the year before, when Valka had first tearily admitted she was a mother, told him how she ended up the woman he met over a decade after being taken, cried on his shoulder and kissed his cheek. They'd certainly come a very long way since then.

Eret was usually a pretty sound, dead-to-the-world sleeper. So when Valka woke to his violent twitching and low whimpers, it raised immediate concerns for her. And Tripfire, who was already stirring to right herself from ceiling to ground.

"Light the fire for me so I can see?"

It was a glowing ember by then, enough for Tripfire to revive a little so Valka could shake her lover until he woke.

"Eret!"

He jerked, gasping, clutching his chest and when he opened his eyes, they were wild and unfocused for several seconds before he seemed to realise where he was.

"V... Valka?"

His face was clammy with sweat as she stroked him, trying to calm Eret down as little tremors ran through his limbs. The noise had roused the baby dragons too, who pulled themselves up on to the bed to investigate. Eret seemed stunned by their presence for a moment, but soon enough Valka felt the tension leech from his body, one hand reaching out to stroke Vali's pink scales.

"Sorry. I don't usually get nightmares."

"It's fine. Happens to us all."

She kissed his sweaty forehead, turning to pour him some water. Eret took it gratefully, downing it a little too quickly and wincing, but the colour was already returning to his face and his breathing seemed less rapid.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Maybe tomorrow. I'm tired."

Nodding, Valka let Tripfire lean over her to snuffle at Eret, checking for herself he was alright. After a little scratch on the chin, she accepted his assurances and went back to her roosting spot on the ceiling. Eret shuffled to lie down, curling around Valka as best he could - Alva and Vali had decided they were staying, apparently, and so the two humans had to navigate their bodies around their new bedmates before they could get to sleep.

Even before they fell back to sleep, Valka had some suspicions about Eret's bad dreams - he'd clutched his scar when he woke, and so she suspected Drago had starred in his nightmare. He seemed much better when they woke, save for complaints of aching legs where Alva had used him as a pillow through the night. But he scratched at his chest until the scars reddened again, not even seeming to notice it until Valka pulled his hand away.

"Do you want to talk about your dreams now?"

"Eh. Not much to say. Just reliving... that" he gestured to his chest "and I know a lot of people say you can't feel pain in dreams and pains how you know you're awake, but... it seemed pretty real."

Ignoring his attempts to brush it off, Valka hugged the stubborn man until he relaxed into her hold, Alva and Vali clambering up to join in the cuddle and Eret cheered further.

"Thanks. But really, I'm ok."

Valka cradled his jaw, kissed him gently.

"You don't have to be brave for me. I love you as you are, feelings and fears included."

Eret sighed quietly, leaning into her again. They'd been so very vulnerable with each other, physically and emotionally. She was happy to remind him that hadn't changed how they felt about each other. And he had good reason to have old fears with Drago Bludvist - he'd been branded and almost died from that, and probably would have if he hadn't gotten himself kidnapped by Valka, who treated his wounds despite constant complaining.

"Come on, let's get up properly and go flying."

"Good plan."

That always perked him up. Especially when Alva and Vali went with, taking their first shaky flight attempts over the updrafts to help them feel secure in the air. They weren't too fond of it just yet, but they'd get there, and they definitely liked flying on mama or papas back.

Eret and Tripfire were very unhappy about having to say goodbye to each other that evening, but duty called and they had dragons to rescue, hunter plans to scupper. Saddling up on Gustnudger, it was quite strange for them all but they were adjusting, and it wasn't forever. Once Alva and Vali were big enough to be left alone, Tripfire would be back in the air with Eret, causing her usual brand of destruction.

As a nursed-back-to-health rescue himself, Gustnudger was always up for helping in a fight, and Eret's saddle tweaks meant they flew together fairly well. His ice blasts made a change too, less predictable than Stormcutter fire from both 'vigilantes'. Eret knew his way around bases better than Valka, simply because he'd been in so many and the basic layout tended to stay the same, with a spot well away from the noisy cages for the leaders hut or cabin. That was the best place to find things like maps, plans, correspondence with other hunters, which helped them do even more damage to the dragon trade.

Armed with a bundle of papers and the leaders tent ablaze behind him, Eret joined Valka in time to clock a hunter over the head with a discarded hammer, then wrench open a few more cages before they circled, checking they had them all. Satisfied, they took to the air, a flock of new rescues coming along behind them to what would hopefully be a new, safe haven for them all.

"What did you find?"

Valka asked when they'd landed, tending to injuries and checking on others before they were free to settle back in their room for tea and affection from small Stormcutters. Eret frowned as he flicked through, scowling.

"I thought these went down a couple of years ago, but looks like they're back."

He handed her the parchment, the handwriting atrocious but that wasn't uncommon for hunters.

"Yes, I thought I'd stomped those out too. Looks like we shall have to re-educate them."

The letters and plans were all details for dragon fighting rings - prices, places, how to discuss them so the information didn't fall into the hands of 'do gooders'. Valka supposed that meant she and Eret.

"Yeah. According to this, a new shipment is being dropped off at the closest one tomorrow, so I think we should go the day after, in case the ships a bit late. We don't want to miss any."

"And then after that, we will have to hit the others fairly quickly before news gets out too far that we're on to them."

Eret nodded in agreement. Just when things seemed to be getting calm again.

"I'll do a supply run tomorrow, we're gonna need a lot of bandages and stuff if we're raiding fight rings. Lot of injuries."

"Did you ever go?"

Valka wasn't sure why she asked, except that it hadn't come up before. Eret's face darkened, but he shook his head.

"Me? No. Never saw the appeal in violence for the sake of violence. Besides, I got plenty of dragon-fighting action just from trapping, I wasn't about to make it my hobby too."

She took his hand, squeezing it in reassurance - she knew he wasn't that man anymore. Eret let her, other hand stroking Vali's horned head until he began to wobble and purr, close to falling asleep on the spot.

"They're getting a bit big to be lap dragons, but somehow I highly doubt that's going to stop them."

"Well, are you surprised?"

"Not really. Any child of Tripfire is going to be a little over the top. Cute though."

Tripfire preened behind them, sneaking up to lick the side of Eret's face and roaring with laughter when Alva climbed over onto him to try and do the same. Valka was laughing too hard to help as he flailed under lots of wings and tails and little squeaks, but Tripfire eventually took a little pity on him and summoned her children, allowing Eret to sit up.

"Why me? Why don't you ever get covered in dragon drool?"

"I'm sure it just means you're special to them."

Eret rolled his eyes as he wiped his face and discarded his soiled tunic, but he was soon back tickling little scaled bellies and throwing the dragon grass bags for them to chase and flop over with. For all the adventure in him, the one who'd thrived living at sea and who fought dragons fearlessly, Eret seemed so content with the quiet, the playtime, even the mundane things like keeping chickens and carrying fish around the nest. It gave Valka foolish notions - this was their life, and she accepted that. But she could still dream, just a little.

-HTTYD-

So its (sort of) clear... Valka + Eret have been together a little over a year, and time-line wise, HTTYD2 is about a year and a half away, give or take a couple of months.