"And it's done!" Hiccup exclaimed happily, stretching out the tailfin as the three of them looked at the invention. Toothless's new tail had been decided to go red because it was the only Toothless would agree with. It had a skull, half dragon and half human blended together, in the center of the tail. For the most of the time, Hiccup worked on the tail while Astrid assisted him on getting things since he couldn't walk properly just yet. She enjoyed watching him do such amazing things, draw sketches and paint the leather with a skull. It just really made her realize how good Hiccup was at mostly, well, everything. But it also got her wondering why no one other than Gobber had noticed it, and how Hiccup always failed on showing things, but making them in secret? He was absolutely talented.
"You wanna try it on?" Astrid asked, but immediately regretted the question.
"I'm sort of incapable of that right now," Hiccup said sadly, swinging his left leg, or what's left of it, a little back and forth. He let out a sigh, sitting back down in the chair to rest his feet. Over the few days he's been walking, he have noticed how much stronger his right leg was than his other. The walking with one leg and crutches was a great workout, but what really needed some workout was his left one. It needed to build some muscles since his was practically torn out of him, but it always got him wonder how he was supposed to move his lower leg. Not once had he even tried to move it. He was afraid he would feel less than he already did.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked, but Gobber said your father wanted you to learn how to use it in a few days. He just said it was important," Astrid explained, kneeling down to his eye level, which was still looking at his legs. "Don't worry. Whatever happens next, I'll gladly be by your side. Besides, you are the one to choose if you feel like training or not," She slowly stood up and reached out her hand for him to take it. He took it, and surprisingly pulled her into a hug, whispering in hear ear.
"Thank you, again," They both let out a chuckle and let go, looking into each other's eyes. Toothless looked at them in awe. How two humans with such a horrible past together, as Hiccup told him, could be reunited to a better future? How two humans could easily fall in love by only looking in each other's eyes? To be honest, he had to agree they would fit perfectly together. Both were skinny, just that Astrid had a stronger figure, both had mesmerizing eyes that could make any person faint of amazement, both intelligent and both of them had something no Viking was supposed to have, a warm heart.
Later that day, they went their separate ways to their homes. Astrid went to get some rest while Hiccup had to go through his evening habit. As he opened the doors, two of the healers in Berk sat by the table with his father, talking and laughing which abruptly stopped as he walked inside. The healers let go of their mugs of mead and went to get a few bandages. Sighing, Hiccup walked in with the support of his crutches and sat down on the bed. Not once did he dare to meet his father's eyes. He was still unsure of forgiving him, but he couldn't avoid him for the rest of his live, could he? He had two options, either make his father go through the same as him and let him feel the pain of being ignored by family members, or he could forgive him and everything would be fine. Then again, he wasn't a person to let anyone feel pain if it was from his own causes. Looking up, he scanned the room and noticed no one there but him and his father sitting with his back to him.
"I'm willing… to forgive you…," He said slowly, taking deep breaths as he looked up to see his father's back still facing him. "I'm willing to forgive you for everything," He repeated, and this time his father turned around, his eyes shocked and great full. But what escaped his lips was another thing.
"Why?" He asked simply, looking down in shame.
"Because I'm not the person who… who could let someone be in pain… Because I'm not Alvin. I'm not a heartless person who wants to watch someone live in pain on my own terms, and not as long as I can fix it. Just promise me you won't do something like that, ever again," A tear escaped his eyes. He wiped it away with his sleeves and looked up. His father stepped up from his chair, leaving the mead by the table as he walked closer and closer. Kneeling down to face his son, he wrapped his arms around the tiny boy and let out a heavy breath.
"I wouldn't dream of it," He said, burying his head in his son's shoulder. Tears streamed down his face as he held his son tightly in his arms, once and for all. It had taken him so much effort to feel like this again, and thinking about it, he hadn't really felt like this since the day he embraced his son in a hug after finding him alone in the woods. He was scared half to death when he came home that night after a raid, finding the house empty. It turns out Hiccup went out searching for trolls, but ended up crying in the dark as he fell over a log. "How are you feeling?" He asked, thinking of the whole, losing-a-limb-at-the-age-of-fifth-teen-thing.
"I'm fine, dad. I just hope it won't be as horrible as I imagine it to be," Hiccup explained to his father, but didn't seem to notice that he hadn't got anything he said after the word he'd been longing to hear for so many days, the word any father would hear constantly, the word that could bring joy to a family and people individual. Finally they let go of each other and stared into each other eyes, joy and happiness in their eyes. Hiccup smiled one of his crooked smiles, but it soon turned into a frown as he heard someone entering the room. As instinct, he knew what it meant and so did his father. The healers stepped forward as Stoick made room for them. They kneeled down with bandages, a cloth and some water. Hiccup just sat back and tried to relax as the bandage loosened, making him flinch in pain.
"By the looks of it, you may try to move to the next level in a week or so," One of them said, placing the wet cloth on his 'battle wound'. Once again, Hiccup flinched, moving his leg back a little as the coldness sent him shivers down his spines, and the water sending knives up his leg. He tried to hold a firm face, but failed many times as the cloth began to press in force and rub back and forth slowly.
Stoick watched every move the healers did, feeling very over-protective over his son, even though he knew they were only helping him. He noticed his son pull his leg a bit back by the touch of the soaked cloth. The one holding the cloth had to his leg, lightly, in attempt to hold it still as they did their job. He noticed how much his son's expression told him how uncomfortable he felt by the touch around his stump. Just as he was about to say something, someone cut him off.
"All cleaned up now!" the healer to his left side said, attaching the last part of the bandage. Hiccup let out a sigh of relief, but wince in pain as his broken ribs sent a painful feeling through his whole body. The healers was about to speak up again, but this time got cut off by their chief.
"I'll take care of it, thank you for the help," Stoick gave them a warm smile before they left the house. He walked over to Hiccup and kneeled down once again, taking a roll of bandages in his hands. "I need to check your ribs."
"What? No! I-I mean… I'm fine; everything's alright, nothing wrong with-ahck!" Hiccup tried to sound cool, gesturing to himself but managed to get the painful feeling back for a short second. Stoick gave him a look saying how-is-your-definition-of-fine-to-you-? Hiccup sighed in defeat, taking the tunic off, revealing a few faint blue and red marks, and a bandage around his chest.
Stoick unwrapped the bandage, holding him up, and examined him. His hands went over the ribs, scanning for anything unusual, but received a groan of pain from his son, right underneath his right arm. He took that as a queue to where the pain was felt the most and held his arm above his head. None of the ribs were tearing at his skin, and he sighed in relief that it was nothing but the same broken bones. The area was bluish and a little hint of yellow. He took a bowl of ointment on the marks around his body, and wrapped the bandages back on.
"Get some rest now. Wouldn't want that rib to get worse," Stoick chuckled, helping his son put his clothes back on and lay him carefully down. "All good?"
"A little cold, but all good," Hiccup said, closing his eyes. Stoick took another blanket of fur and wrapped it carefully around his son; making him moan in delight of the warmth and safe feeling he gave him. He took a step back, looking down at his son who lie peacefully and cozy in his spot. It was great, having the feeling of finally doing something good again. "Mhhmm, Good night, dad," He whispered, but loud enough for the both of them to hear clearly.
"Good night, son."