I have a holiday so I managed to write one more chapter before the end of the year. I hope you will enjoy it, I certainly enjoyed writing it

Hellfire98: Glad you like it, I hope you will like this chapter too =).

dl-o-lb: I have a feeling this is about the translations for the French, but I don't follow T-T I feel stupid.

Tillerton: There will be more of Hiccup's travels later. About arranged marriage... actually surprisingly it is in this chapter O.o... but not the way you expect it XD

Chapter 17: What's most important

Astrid slowly made her way home. Ignoring the glares she got on her way. They even seemed to have gotten worse than before, but she couldn't care less. Finally home she simply dropped on the nearest empty chair and laid her head on the table. Having no energy left to go upstairs to bed.

"Rough night?" she heard her father asked.

Astrid simply grumbled, rolled her head a little and found her father sitting across the table. In front of him lay a map. Her eyes traveled further and she found Old Wrinkly.

"I see my grandson has kept you up all night," the old man smiled.

"Pretty much," she managed to mumble.

"Did you eat anything?" came from behind her.

Astrid sat up straight and looked behind her where she found her mother. It took her a moment to process the question and then she shook her head once, making her mother sigh.

"Sweetie you know Gothi has something to eat for you when you stay the night to watch a patient. Let me get you something."

It didn't take her mother long to put out a plate with some bread, spread with yak butter and the usual cup with whatever it was. Whenever she smelled the liquid something told her she should know what it was, but she never could figure out. It didn't matter, especially not now. After eating her breakfast, Astrid looked over to the stairs and grunted. Next she placed her head back on the table, really not in the mood to go upstairs and go to bed.

Felman and Old Wrinkly looked at the young woman. Felman chuckled at the sight of his daughter, it wasn't often she would be like this. It really must have been a rough night.

"Astrid, go to bed," he said.

There came no response and when the man leaned forward, he saw she was asleep. It really made him wonder what had happened during the night, but for now he would let his daughter sleep. He rolled up the map.

"Let's go find Bucket and Mulch and anyone else willing to go fishing with a dragon," he told Old Wrinkly, who nodded.

The old man had been interested in how Stormfly had been helping and Felman was willing to demonstrate what his daughter had taught him. Stormfly too always seemed happy to help. After giving his wife a kiss on her cheek he told her he would probably be back by dusk since they had decided to not go too far away.

The two men left the Hofferson house and went their way to the docks, trying to find anyone willing to join them. However, having Stormfly tagging along behind them seemed to chase everyone away. Just when they decided to give up on finding others to join their fishing trip a commotion caught their attention. Felman had immediately recognized the voice and cringed at the words. People were crowding around an old man with a staff, a sheep right next to him. He demanded the immediate execution of not only Hiccup, but Astrid as well. Along with the two dragons. Accusing the dragons of ruining his farm and the people of treason. It didn't take long for others to join in with accusing the dragons and their riders of things that clearly had not happened.

"They chased our yaks from their land!" Felman heard on his left as he got caught up in the madness, that only made him frown. All people seemed to like was complain and lie.

"They ate some of our sheep!" was another lie that was shouted around.

Felman knew Toothless had been with Hiccup constantly. As for Stormfly, she had been helping out with fishing, enjoying it too. She was fed well enough and really wouldn't go after any sheep let alone a bunch of yaks.

"That lad of yours should be killed, bring us in this trouble!" Mildew continued, "He's not injured at all, he's just pretending, waiting for the right moment to strike!"

"Astrid's just his informant!"

Felman did his best not to get involved with this, even when his daughter was being accused of something ridiculous as helping Hiccup plotting how to destroy the village. He directed his attention to Stoick, who stood in the middle of the crowd. The man looked angry yet thoughtful. Felman recalled Astrid telling him she wouldn't let the chief see Hiccup. Which could sort of helped the accusation of her being Hiccup's informant.

However something most unexpected happen. Something he hadn't seen in years. Old Wrinkly pushed his way through the crowd, hit Mildew on the head with his own staff who yelped and backed away, then the old man grabbed Stoick by the ear and dragged him along.

Felman gaped and he certainly wasn't the only one.

Astrid moved around, which made her fall of the chair she was sitting on. She cursed as she got up, but was glad when she found no-one in the room to see her clumsiness. She walked outside in search of her mother who would most definitely be home and found the woman near the main path. Shouts caught Astrid's attention and she joined her mother who looked surprised to see her there.

"Awake already?" she asked and Astrid noticed the basket of clothes her mother was holding.

Thank the Gods she didn't have to join doing the laundry. Just when Astrid was about to open her mouth, her eyes fell upon something she never in her life saw before. Her mother seemed to be rather surprised by it as well.

"I haven't seen that in years…" she muttered gaping at the sight.

Before them was Old Wrinkly, dragging his son, the chief, along by his left ear. Stoick was shouting bloody murder that he should be released at once, but ended whimpering when Old Wrinkly only yanked harder on the ear. That ought to hurt, Astrid thought but couldn't help but chuckle a little at the mere sight. Stoick Haddock, the chief of Berk, being treated like a small child who wouldn't listen. Now that was a story she was certainly telling Hiccup.

At last he was freed as the door slammed closed. Stoick rubbed his ear which was throbbing. His father hadn't done that in years and he had forgotten how painful it actually was. Said man then turned around and gave him a glare combined with a look of disappointment. He hadn't seen that look in years and it certainly hadn't been directed at him in years. However, he was no longer the teenager was when he accidently blew up half the forge together with Gobber. Wait…

"Just how much of what I have been teaching you for years have you forgotten, Stoick?" his father asked calm and with a soft tone rendering Stoick speechless as it send some fear through him.

Just because his father kept calm, made him fear him all the more. He felt like his foolish teenage self being lectured.

"I would like an answer."

"I didn't forget anything," Stoick eventually answered with newfound courage.

"Really? I beg to differ. You chased away your own son, after promising you would look after him. In fact you simply went along with everyone and thought of him as useless. From what I heard you were on the brink of executing him or at least banish him. You let yourself be guided by an angry mob of villagers to make decisions and since the moment Valka returned you have barely talked to her. When you did it was mere shouting and accusing. On top of that you're solemnly focused on finding the nest, almost dragged two other tribes along with your death wish. What of any of that shows you remember anything of what I taught you?"

"He joined with the enemy," Stoick started but was quickly silenced.

"Oh stop, you sound like a five year old," Old Wrinkly bellowed as he slammed on the table.

Stoick winched but recovered quickly and stood up.

"I did what I thought was the right thing to do."

Old Wrinkly's glare intensified tenfold and Stoick whimpered away a little.

"So you thought that treating a child as being useless, was right? To blame him for things he did not do was right? It was right to let him get beaten up? It was right to lecture him in front of everyone? It was right to not listen to anything he has to say? It was right to sacrifice everyone's life for the sole purpose of revenge?! Does any of that sound right to you?!"

The chief opened his mouth to say something but his father wouldn't let him.

"Do you want a repeat of what happened to Even?!"

Stoick closed mouth as he stared at his father with wide eyes.

"Hiccup is your own son, for Thor sake, yet you let him be treated the same way as Even. You should be happy you're still alive!" Old Wrinkly spat in his face and Stoick kept himself from whimpering again at that moment.

"If I see you do one more stupid thing, I'll take my position as chief back," his father then stated and left the house with a slam of the door.

For a moment Stoick stood there, overwhelmed by the sudden lecture and the very words that had been said. Then he let a hand run through his hair, making his helmet almost fall of his head. He stared at the door for a second, then turned around and made an exit through the backdoor. For a while he wandered around the forest until he ended up at the hill that would oversee the village. He had been to that place so many times and it held so many memories.

Feeling lost he sat down on the rock there and stared into the distance as some of those memories entered his mind.

"Why don't you just do what they say," Stoick asked his father as he followed the man around town.

At the age of seventeen he was learning about leading the village, but he was left utterly confused when his father ignored the claims of the people. Even had clearly been at fault in Stoick's eyes and everyone knew the boy meant nothing but trouble wherever he walked.

"Because I look at the bigger picture and seek the truth. Let this be a lesson for you son, do not ever be guided by a shouting mob. It is utmost important that in situation like these you stand above the people. They may scream to heavens that it's justice to kill or exile someone like Even, but it is not. The boy is simply clumsy and not given a chance."

Stoick frowned as he tried to make sense of his father's words, but could not see it. He looked around and found Even stumbling home, his younger sister, Ingrid, supporting him as much as she could. It really looked pathetic. The guy was twenty and he still couldn't wield a weapon, then again no-one really wanted him near a weapon.

Stoick's ears were ringing when his father gave him a light bang on his helmet.

"Are you even listening?"

The seventeen year old silently shook his head and mumbled a sorry, which made his father sigh and stop his hike up the mountain. He turned to look at his son with a serious expression on his face.

"What is the most important thing of being a chief?"

"To make sure everyone is safe," Stoick quickly summed up.

"While that is most certainly true it is not the most important thing."

Stoick stared at his father, trying to figure out what the man wanted him to say, but was left clueless.

"The most important thing is to stay calm, collected and not be guided by anger, rage or what everyone else expects from you. Being a chief means at times you will need to make decisions you do not like and people might not agree with the decisions you make. In times like these you need stay calm and collected, use your reason and wits to still make those decisions. So the result will be that everyone is safe."

The boy nodded as he thought about his father's words.

"That's enough lessons for today, off you go. I'll see you at supper tonight," and with those words the chief let his son alone.

Stoick let out a sigh of relieve and started dashing towards the forest. At that moment he wanted nothing more than just chop down some trees whilst training with his axe. About half an hour into his training, he was interrupted by a female voice that he knew all too well. Hearing his name suddenly being said by her made him jump and let loose of his axe way too quickly, causing it to land high up in a tree. He turned on his heels and found a pair of forest green eyes looking at him.

"V-Valka? Wh-what are you doing here?" he stuttered as he cursed at himself for sounding like a fool.

She turned her attention up and Stoick followed her glance. When he found his axe way up high he swallowed, way to go. How in Thor's name was he gonna get that back? Climbing trees wasn't his forte.

"I uh… meant to do that," he lied avoiding Valka's stare, "seeing how uh high I can throw it."

"I see. Pretty high, you're gonna leave it there?"

"Oh no, I'll get it back later," Stoick mumbled uncomfortable, "what brings you here?"

He saw her study him before turning around and climbing on a fallen tree.

"My mother told me to spent more time with you," she started as she balanced herself whilst walking down the wood, "since we're to be married in spring she said it's a good thing to know more about you."

Stoick blushed and was very grateful his fiancé was too concentrated on balancing on the tree to notice that. About a week ago he was told he would be married to Valka, the girl he had a crush on since he was fifteen. She walked her own path and was considered an oddball at points with weird ideas, but no-one would mess with her. She could stand her ground in a fight and socked quite a few older boys who tried bullying her. They spent the next week in bet with broken ribs and black eyes. Stoick had conversed with her a couple of times, making an utter fool of himself, but she had seemed to enjoy his company. She also wasn't outright against the arranged marriage so it gave him some hope she didn't think of him as an idiot, for an idiot he would be when around her. Never before did Stoick think true love existed until it stared at him right in the face with a pair of forest green eyes.

His father knew, not that Stoick ever told him, but he was pretty sure the man knew. So when Stoick suddenly heard he was to be married with the woman of his dreams all he could do was stare at his father with a beat red face. Followed by some taunts of his half-brother Spitelout who just enjoyed teasing him.

"Oh… r-right… uh what would you want to know?" he managed to utter as Valka jumped of the log and stared right at him.

She walked right up to him and Stoick instinct let him move backwards until he fell over a rock. Cursing under his breath he heard her chuckle.

"Apparently you're clumsy," she said still chuckled and extended her hand to help him to his feet.

"Am not," Stoick protested blushing and stared at her hand.

"Oh come on, I won't bite… unless you want me to."

This caused Stoick to only blush more and he quickly got to his feet on his own. Valka let out a snort as he dusted himself off. Then he gather his courage to talk to her, hopefully without the annoying stutter part that would hit him whenever he would talk to her.

"H-how," and of to a great start he sighed inwardly and took another deep breath, "how about we hang out tomorrow? I'll ask dad if he could postpone his lessons for a day."

Valka watched him for a moment, a smile forming on her face, "as in the whole day?"

"S-sure," Stoick answered and pretend to look for any leaves that might possible still be stuck to him.

"Are you asking me on a date Stoick Haddock?"

He froze and dared not to talk, afraid to stumble over his own words, so instead he nodded. Knowing his face was probably matching the color of his hair by now, though he didn't care too much.

"Alright, let me know if your father agrees."

Again he just nodded and what happened next was something that would only happen in his dreams. She kissed him on his cheek and then whispered 'I will see you tomorrow then' in his ear before leaving him. When she was long gone Stoick still tried to calm himself down from the sudden kiss he was given. That woman knew how to play her cards well, he thought as he leant against a tree. He placed his hand on his cheek, grinning like an idiot. Knowing very well she was just teasing him. Knowing that she was all too aware he fancied her and used that to her own advantage. Thor he loved that girl.

About half an hour of daydreaming later he realized it was starting to get dark and should go home. Just when he was about to dash home, the thought of his axe entered his mind. Grumbling he looked up at the tree it was buried in.

"Great," he mumbled to himself.

Twenty minutes later Stoick entered his house. He was covered in leaves and twigs. His cheeks and arms full of scratches. This very sight caught the attention of his younger half-brother.

"You look like you fell out of a tree," Spitelout commented with a smirk.

"I did," was all Stoick said as his stepmother rushed to him.

Spitelout simply snickered.

"Why would you climb a tree?" his stepmother asked as she picked the leaves of him and send Spitelout to get some bandages, water and a cloth.

"To improve my tree climbing skills," Stoick muttered, not willing to admit his mistake.

As his wounds were treated, the chief entered. Both boys greeted their father who then stared at Stoick being treated. After giving his father the same explanation, who rolled his eyes at that, they all sat down around the table for their meal.

"Uhm, dad," Stoick asked after supper.

He slid of the chair and followed his father to the fire in the middle of the house.

"I was wondering… is it okay to hang with Valka tomorrow? She came over to me earlier today stating she wanted to get to know me better before the whole wedding thing," the last words left his mouth in a mumble.

"Hm, that sounds like a good idea," his father said after a moment of silent and Stoick couldn't help to grin at that, no matter how nervous he was at the same time.

A day after his so called day long date, Stoick avoided Valka as much as he could. So far he had been successful at that. Even when walking around town with his father for chief lessons. It wasn't that he suddenly hated the girl, far from it. He just was really embarrassed of what had happened when they had parted after a long day of mentally forcing himself to stay calm and utterly failing at that.

Still frustrated with his own inability to have a coherent conversation with his fiancé and his embarrassment he was training. Or basically throwing his axe at innocent trees.

"If you're trying to chop wood, you're doing it wrong," said a voice behind him.

Stoick sighed visible and turned around to find his younger brother.

"What do you want?"

"Why do you always think I want something? Can't I just spent some time with my dear older brother like we used to when we were kids," Spitelout answered with a frown.

The almost sixteen year old sat down on a nearby rock as Stoick rolled his eyes and looked ahead of him again to throw his axe.

"How did it go yesterday? With Valka I mean."

Stoick cringed as he lowered his axe a little. So that was what he was after.

"That's for me to know and for you to forever wonder about," he replied raising his axe once more and threw it at the tree he had been aiming at.

"I've seen you skillfully avoiding her all day," Spitelout grinned.

"Shut it Jorgenson," Stoick grumbled throwing the boy a glare.

Spitelout glared back, "I'm just as much a Haddock as you are."

Stoick shook his head. Sure Spitelout was his stepbrother, both had the same father. But the chief had made it quite clear that Spitelout was to carry his mother's family name and Spitelout knew this very well. The boy simply did not agree on it.

Just when Stoick was about to say something he heard voices. His heart suddenly began to race when one of the voices was Valka's and before he knew it he hid behind a large rock formation.

"Oh, hello Spitelout," said Valka sounding slightly surprised.

"Hello ladies, how are you both?" Spitelout replied way too amused to Stoick's liking.

"Do you know where Stoick is?"

"I'm afraid I don't. Last I saw him was at breakfast. After that he joined father with the daily chief duties."

"Isn't that his axe?" it was Ingrid, one of Valka's friends.

"Hm? Oh yes, I stole that," Spitelout joked.

Stoick could strangle his brother for many reasons, but at he was thankful he at least was backing him up.

"He's not gonna like that," Valka chuckled.

"Hm, I guess so," Spitelout commented not sounding the least bit interested in the possible consequences if he had stolen Stoick's axe for real.

Moments later Spitelout walked around the rock formation, studying his brother with a smirk.

"This is what's going to be the next chief. You're being pathetic," he stated and dropped the axe he had recovered from the tree.

Stoick really wanted to be mad at him for that comment, but couldn't. His ass was just saved from embarrassment. So he silently took the insulting and made his way home.

The weather was terrible. Heavy rain was falling down, though perhaps it was that what saved most of the town from the flames. Though as Stoick looked around he spotted many fires still being there. The raid had been terrible and unexpected. The guards never saw the dragons coming in this terrible weather and they had been hit by surprised. Food and lives were lost. The young chief in training feared they lost a whole lot more than usual and his father shared that fear. Therefor Stoick was send to walk around and assess the damaged that had been done. So far the forge was in flames, the mill was beyond saving, about three houses had grumbled under the weight of dragons on top of them and another six were in flames. The field of sheep in the west was empty. The barn with food supply was raided of most of its content and Stoick hadn't even assessed the rest of the town.

He rubbed some of the rain of his face even though it wasn't much use as he marched on. Looking left and right and talking to people to find out everything he could about the damage that had been done. On his way back his father his eyes fell upon a sight that had been rather usual. Even was thrown outside by his father. The young man landed in the mud, yet crawled up rather quickly.

"You useless piece of yakdung. Thanks to you we lost our last sheep! On top of that you managed to actually help those dragons destroy half the town. Are you happy now?!" Stoick heard and stopped in his tracks.

He actually had been rather impressed Even had been able to outrun a monstrous nightmare and avoid the deadly nadder spikes rather skillfully. Though he had been chased around half the town so indirectly he was responsible for the damage.

He saw the man slap his son in the face followed by a punch in the stomach. Even dropped down again as the door of the house slammed open and Ingrid emerged.

"Dad, enough! Leave him alone!" she shouted at her father who hoisted Even up to his feet.

"Stay out of this Ingrid, it's time he learnt his lesson!"

Stoick saw Ingrid being pushed away and started wondering if he should interfere. He felt like he should, he was after all the future chief and a chief had to interfere in such things, yet at the same time it felt like interfering with family related business.

Before he could even decide what to do, something unexpected happened. The pocket knife, the only weapon, if you could even call it that, Even had been any good in when using. Even slashed it right across his father's face.

"You're never happy with anything I do. It doesn't matter if I were to maybe suddenly take out any dragon. All you see is what you want to see!"

Stoick stared at the display in utter shock. Even lashed out at his father a couple of more times, both verbally and with the knife. Ingrid stared at the scene just as much as Stoick did. When Even stabbed his father, Stoick started dashing through town in order to find his father. He would know what to do. He found the man guiding people to the great hall, checking on who was still alive.

"Dad!" Stoick shouted and ran up to the man.

Never stopping he grabbed the man by his wrist and pulled him along. Without protesting Old Wrinkly let himself be pulled along, knowing it must be urgent. And urgent this was he found out when Stoick quickly explained what he had witnessed.

Back at the scene Stoick found Ingrid kneeling down near her brother who seemed to have fallen too.

"Ch-chief," she said surprised when the chief kneeled down next to her.

"Sh, it's alright, calm down, Ingrid."

Stoick looked at the two bodies drenched in a pool of blood. The older of the two, cut up in many places. The knife buried in Even's heart, Even holding it himself. He was certain both were dead.

"Stoick, bring Ingrid to the great hall. Ingrid your mother is there, could you send her here? It's up to you if you wish to tell her what you saw."

"Y-yes sir," Ingrid managed to say.

Stoick looked at her and could tell she was crying. He placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her to the great hall as he was told. Arriving there someone offered them a blanket to get dry and warm. Stoick eyes search the great hall, but Ingrid had spotted her mother before he could find her.

"I can't tell h-her," she stammered as new tears rolled down her cheeks.

Stoick guided the girl to a bench.

"Wait here, I'll talk to her."

Ingrid gave him a somewhat thankful look to which he nodded. He then made his way through the crowd as he thought of what to say. Even he couldn't bring himself to tell the woman the terrible news. So once standing in front of her all he could say was, "ma'am, my father wishes to see you at your place."

She frowned but nodded nonetheless and soon after left the great hall. Stoick's eyes travelled back to Ingrid who was still sitting on the bench at the side of the hall. She had pulled up her legs which she was hugging, probably still crying. He wasn't exactly friends with the girl, but knew the people who were. His eyes once again went around to find the one person he was looking for. She was helping out Gothi with treating the wounded. Mostly applying cold cloths to burns it seemed. Stoick walked up to her and just when he was about to say her name the person who she was treating pointed at him. Valka turned around eying him.

"I don't have time now, Stoick, can't you see I'm busy. If you were worried, as you can see I'm fine."

He grabbed her wrist pulled her closer and before she could protest he quickly whispered in her ear what had happened to Ingrid. The usual nervousness he normally had around her wasn't there. This was much more important than his own feelings.

"What?" Valka whispered and backed away looking at him in shock.

"She's over there," Stoick said as he pointed in the direction of Ingrid, "she really needs you."

Without another word Valka dropped what she was doing and dashed over to her friend. Gothi watched her and Stoick quickly explained her as well in a hushed voice. The older woman nodded understanding and waved him away.

Stoick let out a sigh as he wondered what he should do next, when he felt an arm laying around his shoulder.

"Well that was awfully bold, didn't know you had it in you."

"Gee, thanks Hofferson."

Felman Hofferson grinned at him, but that quickly disappeared when he saw the glum face of his future chief.

"What happened?"

Stoick shook his head. Even though he knew Felman was good friends with Ingrid, he couldn't bring himself to be the bringer of this news again.

"Just go to Ingrid, Felman. She lost a lot more than she should have today," he mumbled.

Felman instantly paled and before he could open his mouth to ask where Ingrid was, Stoick pointed it out for him. The teenager rushed over to Ingrid faster than even Valka did. Stoick watched how Felman arrived at the two girls, sat down next to Ingrid and was suddenly hugged. The young chief to be couldn't blame her for her tears, nor call her weak for it. She had not only lost her father and brother, but a mere hour ago she found out her fiancé was dead as well.

Shaking his head to hopefully clear his mind a bit, Stoick decided to occupy himself by being busy. He started helping wherever he could, counted the wounded, gathered more information, handed out blankets and cups of warm tea. But the more he went about, the more he started to think he could have stopped the fight between Even and his father. Eventually everything inside the great hall became too much for him. He needed to go somewhere quiet. When handing out one last cup of tea he left the hall and went into the cold wet weather. For a while he walked and by the time the he was at the top of a hill that would oversee Berk, the rain had stopped. Still drenched he sat down on a rock and looked at what was left of Berk after the dragon raid. The fires had gone, but many buildings lay in ashes, or at least partly.

"You okay?"

It was the voice of his fiancé. Without looking around he shook his head and remained seated. She sat down next to him.

"Shouldn't you be with Ingrid?" he asked not looking up.

"She fell asleep on Felman's shoulder. Thanks for letting me know what happened."

"Hm, I thought she could use a friend," he mumbled, staring the town below.

They were silent for a while until Stoick frustrated ran his hands through his hair.

"I should have done something. I could have prevented this from happening. I saw the whole freaking thing yet did nothing!"

Valka was surprised by his sudden outburst. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Nothing would have changed except perhaps you getting hurt as well. Ingrid has been expecting an outburst of her brother for a long time."

"She expected her brother to kill his father and then take his own life?" Stoick asked in disbelieve as he stared at Valka.

His fiancé sighed and shook her head.

"That she did not. Point is you couldn't have done anything. Even Ingrid understood that."

"What do you mean?" he asked as he frowned.

"Did she try to stop them?"

Stoick thought about that, but had to shake his head. Ingrid hadn't charged at the scene, she hadn't even said a word during the whole display.

Stoick stared at the now night sky. Unlike that night it was clear and he could see the stars. He let out a deep sigh thinking how much of an utter fool he had become. Apparently he had to be dragged by ear by his father to realize this. How could he have forgotten what had happened to Even? How could he have been so blind to not see the same was happing to Hiccup all those years ago.

"Stoick?"

Stoick rapidly turned around.

"Val? How…" he stared and looked at her solemn look, "you got a lecture of my father as well?"

With a sigh she nodded, "he was rather angry."

Valka sat down next to him, just like old times.

"I'm sorry," Stoick said after a while, "I'm sorry for blaming you. Blaming dragons. Instead the one to blame is me for losing sight of what is important."

"We're both to blame, Stoick," Valka said as she grabbed her husband's hand.

He hummed in agreement and let out a deep sigh.

"What should we do with Hiccup? I'm pretty sure he hates me."

"He hates both of us. We shouldn't bother him, I think. Let him come to us if he wants to talk, yet I think all he wants is to leave this island. He already tried leaving whilst injured so I heard."

This surprised Stoick. Yet perhaps he shouldn't be surprised.

"You're right. We'll leave him alone. I'll try to work my way around the madness that Mildew is creating and talk to my dad tomorrow. Hopefully he can help out."

He looked to his side to take everything of his wife in. Her hand was still grasped around his. For years he had thought he had lost her. Now she was sitting next to him once more. In the flesh, not like the dreams he used to have. She was older and looked a whole lot more insecure than she used to be. Nonetheless it was still her.

He lifted her hand a little as he turned slightly to look straight at her. Her forest green eyes, the same as their son, gave him a questioning look that brought back that nervous feeling he used to have all those years ago.

"Val… would you please come home?" he asked.