Chapter 30: Coping Mechanism

Part of this was taken from a prompt I found on Google from Tumblr. Also has a Tangled reference. My sincerest apologies to GuardianDragon98 if this has any similarities to that one one-shot where Eret jumps in front of Hiccup and Zenna right as Toothless and Stryka fire.

(Eret's POV)

It's late in our house on a Friday night. It's about two weeks after our miscarriage. I don't think it's fully hit me yet.

My wife is upstairs, resting. Or so I thought. I hear skin hitting skin, and I race upstairs, fearing the worst.

My wife is punching herself on her leg.

I rush over to her and take her wrists. She fights me, but I'm physically stronger than she is.

"Becky, stop it. Look at me. Look at me!" She looks at me, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I can't take it anymore, Eret. I can't take being a failure."

"Honey, what did you promise me?"

"I promised I wouldn't cut myself. But we never said anything about hitting."

"My love, I wasn't just talking about cutting yourself. I was talking about hurting yourself in general. If you're gonna hit something, hit me or your pillow."

"I could never do that to you."

"Then why would you do it to yourself? My love, I know you're hurting. And that's okay. You're allowed to be hurting. We just lost our baby. I absolutely loathe seeing you suffer like this. It's breaking my heart. But I can't help you if you're going to continue hurting yourself."

"Eret…I'm terrified of losing you. I lost this baby, I can't lose you, too."

"Becky, honey, my darling, you're not going to lose me. I promise you. Until death do us part. Alright?"

Becky nods.

"I just remembered something."

"What?"

"You can't lose me. You lost your mom, and now the baby…you can't lose me, too."

My lip quivers, and I collapse, sobbing, not able to come to terms with losing our baby. Our little piece of Valhalla…gone forever. Becky wraps her arms around me as I sob.

"I want our baby back…I want them back so much."

"I know you do, Eret. I know you do."

"Becky, do you know what my biggest fear is?"

"Losing me?"

"My second biggest fear, then."

"No."

"It's…it's you."

"Me?!"

"I'm scared that one day you'll look at your reflection and see yourself as I see you. You will realize just how amazing you are and that you deserve better than me. I'm terrified that you'll leave."

Becky blinks back tears as her lip quivers.

"Oh, Eret. I could never leave you. You need me now more than ever. We need each other now more than ever."

"We do, don't we?"

I lean my head on my wife's shoulder, and I break down again, heartbroken and hurting. Everything Becky and I have gone through, together and apart, and then we lose our baby.

We soon go out to the cliff side to watch the sunset.

"Becky?"

"Hmmm?"

"I love you so much. I wouldn't trade you for anything."

"And I you. Hey, Eret?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry. For hurting myself again. For not coming to you."

"I forgive you. I'm trusting you to come to me the next time you feel like hurting yourself."

"Thank you for trusting me. Do you ever have any regrets?"

"About meeting you? Never."

"Thank you, but I meant about Dr…you-know-who. Not fighting back to protect me and whatnot."

"You know I never attempted to protect you because I feared he'd break you more if I did."

"Sometimes I just think about what would have occurred had you attempted to protect me."

"Oh, really? Care to share that scenario?"

"It always starts either the day I'm in labor with our son, or the day you get branded. I'll start with the day I'm in labor with our son…"

The next day, Eret arrives.

"Drago! I've got about twenty dragons underneath our small fleet, and I hope they're to your liking." Eret says.

Becky tries not to cry out as the next contraction seizes her. Anthony shushes her as she leans against him, quietly reminding her to breathe.

"I've given you as many dragons as I could find. Where's Becky?"

"She's occupied at the moment. She will be returned to you in a month."

"What have you done to her? She was supposed to be returned to me three months ago."

"That is not your concern. Go."

"No."

"What did you say to me, boy?"

"I said, no. I'm not leaving without Becky."

"She is no longer your concern."

Eret collapses on the deck.

"What the Hel have you done to her? Let me see her. Please."

"Only for a brief moment. Anthony, bring her out here. Now."

"Of course, Drago. Come on, m'lady." Anthony helps Becky up and helps her out the door to Eret. Drago is nearby.

"My love? Is it really you?"

"I-it's really me, Eret."

"You…you're…he did this to you, didn't he?" Becky gives the slightest of nods to Eret.

Eret puts his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Eret, don't. Please. You'll get yourself killed." Becky whispers to him.

Right as Becky says that, Drago comes up from behind and stabs Eret in the back.

He collapses on the deck and Becky collapses right with him. Anthony gives the couple some space as the laboring women cradles her true love in her arms.

"Eret…I…I'm sorry for betraying you, I…"

"You didn't betray me, honey. The conception of our baby isn't your fault. You didn't have a choice one way or the other. Look at me."

Becky looks at her true love, tears welling in her eyes.

"My love, stay…stay strong for me. I'll always be with you."

"Don't you dare leave me, Eret, Son of Eret! I need you. Our baby needs you. I need you to stay and – and – and be with me while I have our child. Please…please don't leave us."

"I don't think I have a choice, darling." Eret coughs, bringing up some blood.

"Nonononononononono. Stay with me, Eret. Stay with me."

Eret gently places a hand on Becky's contracting baby bump, but she doesn't even notice the next contraction.

"Bring up our child right, Becky. For me. You were my new dream."

Tears start falling down Becky's cheeks.

"And you were mine."

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Eret."

Eret exhales for the last time and Becky begins to sob over his body before an overwhelming urge to push overtakes her. She squeezes Eret's limp hand.

"It's coming…the baby's coming. Now."

"M'lady, why don't we get you someplace more comfort-"

"No! I'm not leaving Eret."

Drago steps forward and Becky places her contracting body over Eret's body.

"Halstein."

"Sir?"

"Go get Gustavo. It's time for my child to be born." Drago eyes the young mother-to-be greedily, like he'll enjoy her suffering.

"And it ends like it did in real life…with our son dying."

"That's quite the scenario, my love. You've got quite an imagination. And I mean that in the best way possible."

"Thank you."

"I'll give you a summary of what occurs when you get branded…"

"Wait a second. Do you enjoy seeing me in pain? Dying, even?"

"No, of course not, Eret! My imagination just runs wild sometimes, that's all."

"Alright. I believe you."

"Thank you."

"So what's the summary?"

"Well, you're branded. I scream at you-know-who as I did, and then you struggle to get up, but you do eventually get up with my help."

"What then?"

"You and you-know-who fight, bull hook to sword. It doesn't end well for you, and he ends up stabbing you with his bull hook."

"So, in either scenario, I end up dying, is that what you're saying?"

"Yeah. Sorry."

"No, I understand. He was a lot stronger than me. I have a question."

"Which is?"

"Why do you torture yourself with these scenarios?"

"Sometimes I just wonder 'what if?', you know?"

"I get that. I do that sometimes, too."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. I'll have to tell you one of the scenarios some time."

"Okay."

"What did we learn today?"

"To come to you when I'm having trouble coping. With losing the baby, with my chronic pain, with my nightmares, with whatever."

"Exactly. I hope I can come to you when I'm having trouble coping, too."

"That you can, Eret. That you can."