Chapter thirty already... I didn't think it would take me this many chapters to get here though.

-HTTYD-

With the mystery rider clutched between the claws of her Shovelhelm, Valka led them back to the nest where she could figure them out. A Night Fury... Valka was so wary of anyone around that species, because how were they alive out there without Grimmel or Drago hearing about it? What if they did know, and had opted to try and train their own dragon flyers to contend with Valka and Eret?

"You left my dragon back there! He can't fly on his own, he'll drown!"

She gave no sign she'd heard him - his voice made him sound younger than she had thought - as they approached the nest. There were Seashockers under the ice, the Night Fury would be fine if he had fallen.

"We have to head back for my dragon!"

His urgency was somewhat surprising, but Valka knew the Night Fury would be safe, and there was every chance they were concerned about explaining to evil bosses that the dragon had been lost. Bidding Cloudjumper to stay back for the moment, as he was often the most short-tempered when it came to possible threats to Valka, she crouched amongst the dragons that circled the mystery rider. They would never attack first, though if he threatened them, that rider stood no chance. Valka watched, curious and wary, as he looked all around him.

He seemed more afraid than she expected, but strong despite the fear. Valka watched him lure them with fire, even altering the scent of the air with... Zippleback gas, to make him seem more approachable, more dragon like.

And then he reached out his hand, approaching slowly, showing no hint of threat. Valka was reminded of when she first taught Eret how to approach dragons.

Valka climbed down, watching the rider watch her. She made him nervous, but he didn't run.

"Who are you? The dragon thief?" Valka cocked her head, wondering who he'd heard that from "Drago Bludvist?" Oh, she almost laughed "Do you even understand what I'm saying?"

If he didn't know Drago, then it was unlikely that he... Valka signalled with her staff, and the Night Fury was dropped down next to the rider. They all but leapt toward each other, and he called the dragon Toothless. The Night Fury was as relieved as the human to see the other alright, even offering him an affectionate lick as they consoled one another.

She rattled, and the dragons lit the area all around so she could get a better look. As soon as Valka moved, the dragon curled his tail protectively around the rider, baring his teeth in warning. Valka dropped her staff and shield and crouched down, seeking to seem less threatening.

He still dropped just like any other Fury when Valka wanted him to, and that made his human very, very nervous as Valka scuttled on toward him. He recoiled, visibly unnerved by her as Valka reached out. He leant away from her hand, and just as Valka was about to retreat, the firelight caught something on his chin.

That scar...

The memories of that night she lost her son rushed into her head, almost knocking Valka over as the impossibility of it all hit her.

"Hiccup?"

Her mask didn't entirely muffle her speech, and he heard her. There was a flash of recognition, and Valka really looked at him. Her green eyes and long face and reddish-brown hair, but she could also see Stoick in him now she looked. She lifted her hands, and pulled off her helmet. She needed to see him properly.

"Could it be? After all these years... how is this possible?"

He didn't recognise her. Had no idea, but Valka's heart was thundering so loud in her chest it was amazing he couldn't hear it.

"Should I... should I know you?"

It hurt, but Valka knew he wouldn't have remembered.

"No. You were only a babe..." his confusion did not abate, and Valka could barely look at him as she continued "but a mother never forgets."

He gasped, and so many emotions flashed across his face Valka panicked for a few beats. How could she ever explain...

Hiccup opened his mouth, and Valka did what she knew to do for spooked or upset baby dragons. Her human skills were rusty. Hushing him softly, she did the only thing she could think of.

"Come."

Was he like her? Had she been gone all along while Hiccup took after her?

He scrambled after her, shouting that he had questions and that everyone said she'd been killed and eaten by dragons... Valka would answer his questions, but first she needed him to see the nest, so she could see just how like her he was, so he could see that she hadn't stayed away for nothing.

Though, as her son, Hiccup may well still feel like it wasn't reason enough, which he had every right to feel, and Valka would have to answer for that.

Shedding the top layer of her armour as it made climbing difficult, Valka sat up against the wall with Cloudjumper, so Hiccup could see the nest without distraction. It was almost feeding time, so the dragons were antsy, ready to go. The youngest hatchlings were still small, tumbling around under the watchful eye of nearby mothers.

Hiccup stared around in absolute wonder, looking from place to place as though worried he'd never take it all in. Valka watched, hungrily absorbing his reactions.

His dragon found them first, grizzling at the sight of Cloudjumper, who took Valka's gentle scratch against his neck as a sign to look more friendly and approachable, cocking his head and flaring his fins gently.

"This is where you've been for twenty years?" Valka nodded, watching him closely "You... you've been rescuing them."

Valka nodded again. Hiccup looked at the dragons again, voice lower.

"Unbelievable."

"You're not upset?"

He certainly had the right to be.

"What? No. I-I don't know. It's a bit much to get my head around, to be frank. It's not every day you find out your mother is some kind of crazy, feral vigilante dragon lady."

Hiccup spoke with his whole body, shoulders bobbing, hands moving, head up and down like he was torn between looking at her and looking away to process it all. Cloudjumper felt her move, lifting his wings to help her down.

"Well... at least I'm not boring, right?"

"No. I suppose there is that one specific thing."

Oh, his tone worried her, even as he turned to placate the curious dragon approaching him.

"Do you... do you like it?"

Much as she wanted to give him space, give him time, Valka couldn't help but creep closer, devouring every detail of her grown up sons face. He'd been a small babe, but it seemed he had never gained his fathers bulk, long and wiry like her.

"I don't have the words..."

Before Valka could answer him, 'Toothless' grumbled in discontent as the nosy, rather impolite dragons crowded him a bit, one going so far as to sniff the Night Fury in a way that particular species tended not to do. She laughed, but Hiccup was clearly concerned for his dragon.

"Can... can I?"

She gestured, and Hiccup gave a half-gesture she hoped was agreement.

"Oh, he's beautiful!" and he was, those sleek black scales and big bright eyes, snuffling her hand for her scent before allowing Valka to touch him, bumping his face against hers affectionately before scrambling around excitedly, rolling half onto his back over her lap "incredible... he might very well be the last of his kind! And look" Valka counted the little nubs under his jaw, remembering all the Night Furies she'd seen before "he's your age!"

"Wow..."

It was soft, but Hiccup sounded impressed. Valka hoped he would give her the time to show him more. Even now, Valka found herself learning as Toothless opened his mouth and pulled his teeth away, smile gummy and soft.

"How did you manage..."

Even if Hiccup had her dragons heart all along, a Night Fury was a rare, and sometimes tempermental species. How had Hiccup tamed and trained one all alone?

"I found him in the woods. He was shot down, wounded."

That explained the bola scars she'd seen, Valka frowned to herself. Gesturing to the nearest injured dragons, Valka explained to Hiccup.

"This Snafflefang lost his leg to one of Drago Bludvist's iron traps. This Raincutter had her wing sliced by razor netting. And this poor Hobblegrunt was blinded by a tree snare, and left to die alone and scared."

Finding her scent and shifting colour to happy and relaxed, Gruff nuzzled Valka's hands and let her stroke his jaw, obviously hearing the pain in her voice as she remembered how badly injured he was and seeking to alleviate it.

"And what of this?" Valka knelt down, gentle with the prosthetic tailfin as she lifted it "did Drago or his trappers do this too?"

Suddenly, Hiccup looked rather nervous again.

"Crazy thing is... I'm actually the one who shot him down..." Valka frowned, watching the dragon eye Hiccup's awkward shuffling "but its ok!"

Valka recoiled. How was that ok?

"He got me back! Right bud? You couldn't save all of me, you just had to make it even! So... peg leg!"

Hiccup gestured down at his own prosthetic leg, which Valka hadn't quite registered in her own shock yet. Toothless boosted Hiccup back up onto his saddle, both responding to each other in an affectionate manner.

She wasn't sure if she could ask about how he lost his leg, feeling as though demanding his life history was a little much just yet.

"So... mom?"

Valka almost choked at the sound of that word, hesitant and strange on his tongue by the way he said it. But gods, she'd never thought she would hear that word from Hiccup...

"Yes, Hiccup?"

"What happened? Everyone said you were dead, lost in the raids."

Cloudjumper was edging closer, warbling low in his throat as he approached. Valka leant more on her staff, swallowing around the lump in her throat as that night haunted her memories all over again.

Hiccup leant in, listening avidly as Valka relived it, fingers coming up to brush the little scar on his chin when Valka mentioned how he got it, that curious little giggling babe who didn't think the dragon was scary.

How did she not know then?

"How did you survive?"

"Oh, Cloudjumper never meant to harm me. He must have thought I belonged here" Valka beckoned Hiccup to follow her, Cloudjumper trotting alongside and Toothless following "in the home of the great Bewilderbeast. The Alpha species, and one of the very few that still exist. Every nest has its queen, but this is the king of all dragons. With his icy breath, this graceful giant built our nest. A safe haven for dragons everywhere."

Hiccup looked at the Alpha, obviously surprised by his great size and she wasn't surprised, even Titan species were rarely so massive. Only a very few could sustain such growth, and Valka couldn't remember the last time she'd come across a Brute size dragon, even with nesting queens.

"Wow."

"We all live under his care, and his command. Except for the babies of course, who listen to no-one!"

She giggled as the baby Scuttleclaws scampered around, chased away from Toothless by Cloudjumper and all landing upon the Alpha, who shook them off with all the paience of a father. Valka bowed as the Alpha rose, the dragons following suit but Hiccup looked up, facing him without having to be told, though his face was utterly awestruck. She hoped the Alpha could recognise her son as hers, and was relieved when he breathed out that little puff of ice, snowflakes forming over Hiccup's hair.

"Ah, he likes ya."

"Really?"

Valka nodded as he brushed the ice away, smiling.

"I've lived among them for twenty years, discovering their secrets, learning their ways... are you hungry?"

He blinked at the change, but nodded.

"Yeah, I could eat."

"Good. It's feeding time. We just need to collect the young ones."

"Kids?"

"Yes. Cloudjumpers... wait here a minute?"

Hiccup nodded again, face pulled together in confusion as he saw Valka trail off, thinking hard all of a sudden.

Stormcutters. Tripfire. She'd been going to look for Eret when she found Hiccup. He wasn't back yet. So Valka hastened back up to her room, where four young Stormcutters waited anxiously, having made quite a mess of blankets and pillows in their boredom it seemed. Valka pushed the mess to the side, having Cloudjumper instruct them they were going out to eat.

Then she found a few of the better tracking dragons, and offered them something of her lovers clothing, a mix of his own scent and Tripfire's from all the times she licked him, keeping her panic at bay but only just.

She couldn't leave Hiccup, but going to look for Eret might put her son in danger. So Valka's only options were just to wait, which was not in her nature, or to send out scouts to find them and maybe help if they were stuck somewhere.

Valka sincerely hoped she wasn't sending new dragons straight in to Drago's arms if they were trapped, promising herself she'd go if there was no sign by tomorrow, torn as the choice had her.

"Oh wow, baby Cloudjumpers!"

Hiccup lit up at the sight, laughing as they sniffed and huffed and explored the new person, looking to Valka for an explanation.

"This is my son, Hiccup. Hiccup, this is Alva and Vali, and that's Storm and Junior."

Out of habit with Eret or plain madness, Valka wasn't sure, but she reached for Hiccup's hand to lead him and he let her, following her until they were ready to saddle up and head outside. She took him to the current feeding spot, and he looked quite confused but watched on as he saw her stand atop Cloudjumper, no saddle or grips to keep her there, only trust in her dragon and years of practice.

"I thought we were going to eat?"

"Oh, we are!"

Holding her hand out to still them, Valka looked down pointedly, Hiccup following suit. Soon enough the Bewilderbeast appeared, throwing fish up into the air all around them and she couldn't help but laugh at Hiccup's absolutely bewildered face.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, Hiccup seemed keen on showing her things, pulling out a map he'd made of all the areas he found around Berk. Valka drew her own map to match, though her scale was a little grander - she'd been all around the world, so many times.

"There."

"Whoa."

He actually smiled up at her, and Valka's heart soared. Even when Toothless sort of ruined the map with an icicle, but Hiccup's face suggested it was something he did sometimes and she chuckled along with him. Cloudjumper was rather baffled by it all, but he was showing some tolerance toward Toothless and soon after, Storm and Junior scrambled along to help 'draw' until her map was unrecognisable, but the babes were happy so that was all that mattered.

"Come with me, I want to show you something."

They didn't go far, but she couldn't stop laughing at their faces when they floated over the updrafts, Hiccup barely holding on to his saddle while Toothless' tongue lolled up, both smiling. It had taken a while for Valka to learn her balance there, and standing up was much easier than lying down to resist the upward force.

Hiccup watched her all the while as Valka stepped carefully from dragon to dragon, stroking them gratefully and smiling as they grumbled happily. She could hear Alva and Vali and Storm and Junior letting out their little dragon-laughs, their childlike wonder for the updrafts not faded yet.

She dared to ruffle her hand through his hair when she leapt over him on Toothless' back, and still he smiled, something in Valka so very happy to see Hiccup responding as she did to all the ways that helped bond with dragons; touch and flight and food, no trace of animosity or resentment in his face as she slipped down from his dragons wing, landing safely upon a waiting Cloudjumper's back.

"When I'm up here, I don't even feel the cold, I just feel..."

"Free."

He finished, both of them sharing a smile at the way he finished her sentence, knowing how she felt.

"This is what it is to be a dragon, Hiccup!"

Hiccup moved then, fiddling with his saddle and the system he used to control Toothless' tailfin - she'd not missed how it worked with his own prosthetic, their losses bonding them uniquely - before he was grinning up at her.

"It's all well and good to call yourself a dragon, but can you fly?"

And with that, he literally leapt off the back of his dragon. Valka's heart leapt up into her throat, gasping in panic but before she could do more than lean over Cloudjumper, he spread his arms. Or rather, his wings, pulling fabric from his clothes that had him soar through the air with joyful laughs she couldn't help but copy.

She made to have Cloudjumper help when he almost crashed, but Toothless beat them to it and they both landed in the snow, Hiccup absolutely giddy as he leapt up only to be knocked down by Toothless again in indignation. Valka skipped over the snow to reach him, examining the wings he wore up close in awe, the fin on his back to help him steer like a dragon would.

"Incredible..."

"Well, you're not bad yourself."

He didn't stop Valka, who couldn't quite help herself from patting down his suit, seeing all the little bits and pieces there were, hand touching his face before she could stop herself. She withdrew, but Hiccup didn't seem upset, so she dared to try again. Like any other dragon would, he leant into her hand, eyes closed in relaxation.

Tears stinging her eyes, Valka felt a smile spread across her face as she took him in, no recoiling like before when they hadn't known who the other was.

"All this time you took after me... and where was I?" guilt clutched at her, gripping fiercely around her heart but this wasn't about her anymore "I'm so sorry Hiccup."

His smile faded somewhat, but he didn't push her away like she kept exxpecting him to.

"Why did you stay away?"

"Truly, I believed you would be safer if I did. I knew I could never hurt a dragon, so how could I ever hope to raise a man who killed them with pride? What if I couldn't protect you? Cloudjumper meant no harm, even when I tried to threaten him to protect you then, but you could have died in that fire, and it would have been my fault."

His mouth tightened, but he nodded slowly.

"Will you teach me what you know about dragons?"

Valka knew that wasn't the end of it - a few sentences could never encompass the two decades of motherhood she'd denied him or all the years of loss and grief left in their seperation, but she'd give Hiccup anything to earn another chance with him.

"Everything I know. Like this."

Night Furies were an absolute puzzle box, and Valka doubted they'd discovered this yet. Toothless had to have been alone for some time though, as it was usually passed on through packs. Trailing her fingers down his head, she pressed on the right spot at the top of his spine, and sure enough his back shifted so one nubby spine became two, allowing for better control in the air.

"Now, you can make those tight turns."

Toothless seemed almost as surprised as Hiccup, leaping over to show them off.

"Did you know about this?"

Toothless responded by clapping them together and grinning gummily - Valka had never seen a Night Fury retract their teeth before, and had assumed they must have shed them regularly when she encountered several with barren gums while others had full sets. So he taught her, and she taught him.

"Every dragon has its secrets, and I'll show them all to you. We could unlock every mystery, find every last species. Together, as mother and son?"

It had seemed like an impossible hope only days ago, but with him there in front of her, every bit the dragon lover she was, Valka dared to think he might give her that chance. She couldn't imagine he'd fared much better on Berk than she, if he couldn't kill a dragon. Was he an outcast? Isolated? Exiled, even? She'd found him pretty far from Berk, after all. Hel, he'd almost found the nest by himself, he wasn't that far and if he'd been flying below the cloudline, he'd likely have spotted it in almost no time at all.

"Yeah, that sounds... amazing!"

Valka beamed.

"This gift we share Hiccup... it bonds us. This is who you are, son. Who we are. We could change the world for all dragons, make it a better, safer place!"

Hiccup ran his hands through his hair, and there was a brief hint of wetness in his eyes, but then he was agreeing so enthusiastically Valka couldn't help but hug him. He hesitated for a second, but then he held her just as close, squeezing back when Valka's arms tightened around him, smiling so widely her cheeks hurt.

"Come on, we should be getting back, the babes can't stay out here too long."

Hiccup looked to where Alva and Vali were chasing their younger siblings through the snow, Cloudjumper keeping a watchful eye as they shook off snow caught behind their horns, chirping up at their papa until he nuzzled them softly.

She lit the fire when they got back to warm their chilled hands, flexing her fingers with thoughts of the gloves she hadn't remembered, which inevitably meant thinking about Eret.

Then they shed some of the layers of armour, Hiccup having to unstrap several parts of his to slide them off, before they sat out near the Bewilderbeast's lake and talked. He had questions, so many questions and Valka strived to answer them all. He was more than old enough, and so they shared a couple of drinks to warm them inside, to help ease the sharpness of some of their conversations.

Both avoided the topic of Stoick; Valka was too ashamed of being absent when Hiccup lost his father, and perhaps Hiccup just wasn't old enough when Stoick died to have many memories of him either.

"Does Cloudjumper have a mate?"

"Oh, yes. Her name is Tripfire, and it took him quite a while to win her over, but she came around in the end and they'd had their two clutches of eggs now."

"So where is she? I haven't seen another adult... what species is he?"

"Stormcutter. And Tripfire is... busy. She should be back soon."

Hiccup frowned.

"Busy? Mother dragons rarely stray from their young unless it's for a damn good reason."

"Yes, and it was a good reason. We're forever fighting Drago, she's on a raid. Although she should have been back by now..."

He cocked his head, looking her over.

"You're worried."

"I am."

"Then why not go look for her?"

"I was, but then..."

"You found me."

Valka nodded. Hiccup sighed.

"Then we should go look for her now. Especially since I was looking for Drago anyway."

"You what?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go change his mind about dragons."

Valka blinked, thinking surely she must have misheard him.

"Hiccup, there's no changing Drago's mind."

"But-"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by him yawning, and Valka realised it had been a rather draining, long day for them.

"Rest. We will go searching for Tripfire when you wake."

Frowning slightly, Hiccup didn't argue, curling up where he laid in a manner that said he was used to sleeping where he landed. Toothless padded over, lying next to him as if to provide comfort, or perhaps warmth, although the centre of the nest wasn't cold by any means.

Valka got up and left him there when she saw he'd fallen asleep, doubting she'd be able to get any rest herself when her body and mind were so wired but it gave her a moment to sort out her thoughts. Plus, she thought Hiccup might find it weird if she sat and watched him sleep, much as she wanted to.

Hiccup. Her son! He was there, and real, and he was just like her. So, so like her. Her fingers hovered over the desk, where his twenty years of birthday letters waited. Was now the right time to give them to him? Probably not. It had been intensely emotional already, and he already knew she'd not forgotten him. They could wait a day or so. He'd already said he wanted to help her, so Valka would have other chances.

Just like she'd have the chance to tell him about Eret. It hadn't seemed the time before; they were filling in twenty years of missed time, and Eret was a fairly recent development by contrast.

She didn't sleep, but Valka did sit by the fire with Cloudjumper, the Stormcutter younglings napping nearby. After all the time she'd hoped to reconnect with her son someday, she'd been completely and utterly unprepared for it.

Eventually, Valka got up to go and check on the sick bay, tending to a few dragons in emotional distress over their injuries and doing her best to soothe them until they settled. Would she be able to show all of this to Hiccup now? Would she see him ambling around the nest, helping to tend to them the way she taught him to?

It seemed too good to be true.

Valka headed back to where she'd left him, but Hiccup wasn't there. Assuming he'd woken and gone exploring - maybe for the bathroom? - Valka went in search of him, Cloudjumper snuffling at the ground and indicating he found Toothless' scent. After a few twists and turns, she heard his voice.

Who was he talking to? Toothless?

Following the echoes, Valka came out in one of the emptier chambers, and stopped dead at the sight that greeted her. Gobber looked as thunderstruck to see her as she was to see him (how the Hel had he gotten there, let alone in?), but he didn't say a word. To her, anyway. He turned away, and she didn't quite pick up what he said, but her whole body went weak with shock at who appeared when Gobber moved aside.

He couldn't be there. He was dead.

"Stoick?"

-HTTYD-

Well, there's no way this can go sideways right?