When Stoick woke up, there was a tray full of pancakes standing on the table, and his wife, armed in a ladle, was transferring heated water from the cauldron that hung over the hearth to the jug she was holding. The chief rubbed his eyes and looked again. Yup, his first impressions were correct.

"Val?"

"Good morning, darling," she replied cheerfully.

"You made breakfast?" he inquired, gesturing to the table. The woman smiled sheepishly.

"Well, I wanted to give you something good to eat, so I went to Gobber and had him make it," she admitted. "Even half-asleep he's a better cook than I am."

To this, Stoick chuckled. "Oh well. It's the thought that counts."

Valka placed a basin on the table. "I did heat some water on my own, though," she said, pouring the content of the jug into the basin. "Here. Clean yourself up before breakfast. And don't take too long. Hiccup should be waking up soon, and I'd rather he didn't see anything out of ordinary."

The chief grinned, knowing what she was alluding to. "Of course, my love."

(...)

What followed was a perfectly peaceful morning. The family had breakfast in good moods and the atmosphere of cheerfulness. Valka mentioned how she had Cloudjumper catch some fish and share with Thornado and Toothless. Hiccup laughed it must have been why Toothless didn't wake him up by jumping on the roof. Stoick stated it was time to prepare the Snoggletog tree. Hiccup suggested making some new decorations, to increase the number of dragon themed element in the village. He asked Valka what she thought. She didn't have any ideas, but promised to think about it. Afterwards they all cleaned the dishes and put them away.

Then, sadly, came that wretched moment when Valka had to draw one big, thick, red line, marking the end of family idyll and the start of family drama.

"Wait. I'd like you to stay seated for a while. There is something I need to tell you."

Her husband and son looked at her with puzzlement, but went along with the request.

The Dragon Whisperer took a deep breath and recited the speech she had been practicing in her head for half of the night.

"I have to leave. For a couple of days. I've come across a piece of information I need to verify. Please don't ask me what it is, I'm not going to tell you. If it proves to be false, I will have troubled you for no reason. I will handle this myself, and I'll explain everything to you when I get back. Before Snoggletog. I promise."

Hiccup and Stoick were taken aback.

Valka resisted the urge to keep blurting out explanations. She'd end up repeating herself or revealing more than she absolutely had to. No, the message she delivered was carefully prepared, coherent and straight to the point. She as much thought to it as humanly possible. Now it was the men's turn to speak.

It was Hiccup who voiced his disbelief first. "You want to leave? Now?"

"I'm afraid so," nodded Valka. "This cannot wait."

Her husband and son stole another look at one another and returned to staring at her.

"But..." blurted Hiccup, "it's almost Snoggletog."

"I know and I'm sorry."

At this point, Stoick became agitated. "Val, what's going on? Is it the Bog Burglars? What did they do this time?"

"Absolutely nothing," she said hurriedly. "I need to verify some information, and that's all there is to it."

This was the strategy she had decided on – to keep it simple. To repeat the same basic explanation. And hope her boys manage to register at least this much before their anger blinds them to anything she might say yet.

But Stoick's reaction was far from anger. He placed his hand on top of hers and addressed her with utmost empathy.

"Val, you don't have to be ashamed," he told her calmly. "I know you are still finding it hard to be around our own people, and that dealing with Bog Burglars must be wearing you out. If you need some time to be alone, tell me. We could always tell people you got sick and can't be with the guests. That's not a problem. Just be honest with me and I'll arrange everything."

As he said that, he looked at her as if she were the most vulnerable being in the world. He gave her his most reassuring smile.

She wished he had yelled at her instead. This wretched tenderness of his was ripping her heart into tiny pieces.

With tremendous effort, she removed his hand from hers.

"I have to disappoint you, Stoick," she confessed. "That's really not the case. I wish it was. But this isn't about my social anxiety. Or incompetence at being a host. I've come across a very disturbing piece of information, and I have to leave for a couple of days to verify it. That's honestly all there is to it."

She forced herself to look at him. To meet his eyes. To take in the picture of confusion and witness her husband's anguish. As if that could make her feel any less guilty. As if it somehow made her actions more civil. As if it mattered in the slightest.

"You have got to be kidding."

The sudden remark caught her unaware. Its sender, Hiccup looked no less surprised. He was beginning to understand what was going on. And it was scaring the life out of him.

Valka turned to her son, a hopeless attempt at comfort. "Hiccup, I know you..."

"Know what?!" he erupted. "How much you're hurting me? How disappointed I am? How much I was looking forward to spending this time with you? If you had the faintest idea, you wouldn't be doing this to me!"

This was it – the reaction she knew was coming. And yet she was finding herself unprepared to handle it.

"Hiccup, I will return in time...!"

"For what?! To show up at the feast?! As if that's what Snoggletog's about!" he argued, his fury unleashed. "You won't be here to help us hang the decorations! To prepare the food! To just BE with us! I was looking forward to having you around for all of this! To spending this time with a complete family, for the first time! I was happy! So ridiculously happy! I thought you felt the same!"

"I do! I swear I do!"

"Fiddlesticks!" he roared, smashing his fists on the table. "You break every vow you make! Why should I believe you now?!"

Valka had no idea how to respond. It was as if the world around her was on fire, and she had but a bucket of water to fight it. She was doomed to failure. She had known this from the start. And yet it hurt, hurt so damn much, to hear her own son call her an oath-breaker.

Before she could figure out what to say, Stoick reached across the table and pat their child on the shoulder.

"Son, that's quite enough," he stated. Hiccup shot him a gaze full of accusation, but Stoick's attention was already on Valka. And his expression left no doubt as to whom he deemed responsible for the conflict in their family.

Hiccup's outburst would be nothing compared to what was brewing inside the chief. This much was clear to all parties involved.

"Val," started Stoick, his tone calm, but dangerously sharp, "Hiccup has a point. We are your damn family. If you are to leave us in such an important time, we deserve a damn good explanation why."

He folded his arms, drilling into his wife an uncompromising glance. Hiccup glanced from one parent to the other, torn between anger at his mother and fear for her. Valka, becoming desperate, grabbed her husband's hand and pressed his fingers to her wrist.

"I am not being threatened, I am not being blackmailed, I am not being troubled by the Bloodybee or anybody from her crew." she spat out words like a dragon spits fire, keeping a strong hold on Stoick's hand and looking straight into his eyes. "I have, by sheer accident, come across a piece of information, a piece of information that I need to verify. If I told you what it was, you'd want to check it out for yourself. It wouldn't have mattered if it was a peaceful time, but with the Snoggletog preparations and Bog Burglars visiting you are needed here. I don't want to keep secrets from you for longer than absolutely necessary, so I want to confirm my suspicions as fast as possible. I know this is sudden, I know this is suspicious, but please, Stoick, trust me. I am doing what I believe is best for our family. I swear to Hiccup's life."

She stared into her husband's eyes, mentally begging him to listen, to give her the benefit of doubt. He looked back at her, puzzled, confused, thrown out of balance. She stared on, ever as hopeful.

Then, in a blink of an eye, Stoick transformed into a raging beast.

Abruptly, he grabbed her free hand. Smashed both her forearms against the table and dug the fingers of both his hands into her wrists. Frightened, she looked at him, and saw that he was furious.

"Is Berk in danger?" he demanded.

Valka felt cold sweat all over her body. "N-no..." she answered, anxious.

"Are the dragons threatening us in any way?"

"No."

"Does it have to do anything with Drago Bludvist?"

"No."

"Is there anywhere else you'd rather be than home with your own family?"

"Gods, Stoick!"

"Answer me!" he roared, grabbing her wrists so hard that bolts of pain flooded her brain. "What could possibly be more important than spending the Holiday with me and our son? Dragon hunters you need to fight? Dragons you need to free? Did that Alpha Beast King or whatever sent you a message telepathically or what?"

"No, nothing like...!" she blurted, fighting back tears. Her arms burned, her heart raced, and Stoick was far from done.

"And what do you expect me to say to our people? To our guests? That my wife pissed upon her duties and flew off? Do you realize what kind of message you are sending across? You are the wife of the chief, my wife! We're having visitors from an allied tribe! We're preparing for Snoggletog! Odin's beard, woman! You are making me into the laughingstock of two tribes! Is that what you want?!"

"No, of course not!"

"Then why?" he asked, finally easing his hold of her. "Why, in Thor's name?"

He might have been tired of yelling. He might have realized he hurt her, perhaps too much, and felt guilty about it. Either way, he calmed down somehow. Was giving her room to defend herself. She sensed it in his voice – the desperate plea for an answer. He was begging her to prove him wrong.

Her first impulse was to say "Because I love you,". She wanted to say that. And yet, the words felt wrong on her tongue.

As the pain from her bruised wrists mixed with that of her bleeding heart, this was the answer she produced:

"Because I am a selfish bitch. Because it hurts me less to accept your anger right now and leave you to question my loyalty for days, than it would to breathe the same air as you do and act like a model wife, while secretly withholding from you information of vital importance. Because I believe, wholeheartedly believe, that whatever I bring back from this quest will be worth the pain I am forcing you to bear."

She paused briefly to swallow a sob.

"You may tell people whatever you deem appropriate. Tell them I ignored your orders. Or that it's none of their business. Or that I sensed some disturbance among the dragons, if it cannot be helped. Just... don't stop me now. Please."

With that, she finally allowed herself to look down.

A long while later, while full of pulsing pain and quiet weeping, Stoick spoke up.

"I don't like this, Val. I don't like this one bit."

"I know," she said, wiping her face.

The chief let out a very heavy sigh.

"Fine," he said, his tone that of bitter resignation. "Go if you must."

She looked up, astonished. "What?"

"Go if you must," he repeated, louder and more decisive. "Just don't make me regret it."

This earned him a protest from Hiccup. "Dad, you can't be serious! You're letting her go? Now?!"

"She wouldn't be doing this to us if she didn't have a damn good reason, son," argued the chief. "I am going to trust her."

The boy threw his arms into the air. "I can't believe this!" he yelled, rushing for the door.

"Hiccup!" Valka called after him. "Where you're going?"

"To Gobber's. The one parent I could ever rely on!" he shot his both parents a glance of utmost indignation and shut the door behind himself.

The spouses were silent for a moment. Then Valka addressed her husband.

"Alright. It's your turn."

"What?"

"I said how I feel. Hiccup said how he feels. It's only fair if you get to vent too. So vent. What do you feel?"

He thought about it for a moment. "What do you think I feel, Valka?"

She sighed, weary and remorseful. "I think you feel like I deceived you. After such a passionate night and such a peaceful morning, I pull something like this. You were probably so happy that I was making progress at being a human, might have been getting hopeful about the next couple of days, and then I served you the worst punch in the gut as of yet. It must be so frustrating, all these ups and downs," she grimaced bitterly. "I imagine you are torn between hating me and hating yourself, wondering if you're doing something wrong, or if I'm just that hopeless. You worry for yourself, for me, for Hiccup, and the whole village. You probably want to scream and cry, but you are the chief, and you have to be strong, so you clench your teeth and pretend to be okay, and that is exhausting beyond belief."

He listened to her attentively. When she was done, he nodded.

"Well, that pretty much sums it up. But there are some points you missed."

She looked up. He smiled at her.

"I am proud of you, for choosing confrontation when you could have left without a word. You told me what you were going to do, rather than do it behind my back. You knew I was going to be upset, and yet you faced me and said what you had to say. You are making progress at being a human, Val. And that is reason enough for me to trust you."

She stared at him, wide eyed. He presenting her with a reassuring smile, a smile that lit up the room and promised that everything would be alright. A wave of relief washed over her, making her forget all the pain. And bless all the deities in existence for the miracle that was Stoick the Vast.

"Oh, Stoick."

"BUT," he interrupted her, suddenly serious. "If you aren't home by Snoggletog, I swear, I am going to spank you. I do mean it, Val."

She couldn't help but chuckle. "Of course, my dear."