HELLOOOOOOO EVERYBODY! :D HI! How are you all doing this fine, fine evening? Good? Well, I'm not. My poor finger. :( But other than that, I am doing SPLENDORIFIC! :D IF that's even a word...if it's not, then now it is. :D Snout-outs NEXT CHAPTER, I PROMISE this time! :D Enjoy! :D

"I think his fever is breaking," Astrid said. It was evening, the sky just having gotten black, and Hiccup was stirring for the first time since falling asleep earlier that morning. Valka and Astrid were both relieved he had been sleeping for as long as he had, and now, his fever was breaking.

A few hours after Halima came back, dropping off a small pouch of herbs ("Put them in hot water and give them to him twice a day," she had said before she left) Hiccup's fever had risen, and of course, Astrid and Valka knew that that meant it was breaking. It was a relief for the both of them, as they had already been so worried about him the past two days.

"I think it is," Valka said, watching with both worried and relieved eyes as she put the back of her hand against Hiccup's forehead. He was twitching in his sleep, convulsing only slightly. He leaned into his mother's touch, and Valka cupped his cheek, rubbing her thumb against his face, wiping drops of sweat that were beading there away.

When his fever finally broke, Hiccup was instantly soaked from head to toe in cold sweat. His breathing deepened, and Valka moved her hand from his cheek to his forehead to check his temperature.

"He's cool," she said blatantly. "Astrid, do you think you could get some more blankets from downstairs? They should be in the corner."

Astrid nodded, racing to do as Valka had asked of her. Meanwhile, Valka peeled the sweat-wet blankets off Hiccup's shaking body and marveled about how freezing he looked. He was pale and shivering, and it broke his mother's heart having to watch him and do nothing.

Well, she thought, I don't have to do nothing. Carefully, she lifted Hiccup's upper body into her arms, ignoring his sweaty clothes. He whimpered in his fitful sleep, and she shushed him as she would have done as if he was simply an infant and needed his mother to hold him.

"You're alright…" she whispered in his ear, pushing his bangs off his forehead and kissing his head gently. "You're alright, son…"

Astrid returned a few moments later, handing Valka the blankets she had brought and helping her wrap Hiccup in them. After a while, his shivering ceased altogether, and he was left resting in his mother's arms.

Astrid looked at Valka's face. The woman looked exhausted, with rings underneath her eyes and a fatigued appearance.

"Valka," Astrid said, "I know you probably won't want to, but if you do want to, you could get some sleep, and I could watch Hiccup tonight."

Valka shook her head, holding onto Hiccup tighter, almost defensively. "I'm fine," she said, although it was obvious that she was likely to pass out from lack of sleep. "He needs me."

"I'm sure he does," Astrid said (and truly, she couldn't deny the fact that Hiccup seemed to be sleeping sounder when Valka was cradling him), "but he's going to work himself into a frenzy if he finds out you haven't been getting sleep because of him. You know how he is, always blaming himself. Besides, you look exhausted. I'm sure some sleep would do you good."

"You've already done so much, Astrid," Valka said. "I don't want to ask more of you, or burden you…"

"Burden me?" Astrid asked with a half-laugh. "I'll be alright, Valka. Don't tell Hiccup I said this, but I like taking care of him. I don't like seeing him so sick, but I do like caring for him. I've done it a few times in the past. Like the time he was struck by lightning…"

"I never got a full story on that," Valka said. "What happened?"

"Long story short," Astrid said, "lightning storm, villagers blamed Toothless, Hiccup wanted to prove his innocence, so he stood on the top of a mast like a madman, waving a spear back and forth as if begging the lightning to hit it…which he was, actually…lightning rod, I tell you, Valka. If I didn't know him better, I would say he had a death wish. But of course, I do know him better, and I know he does not have a death wish."

"That's good," Valka said. "Are you sure you don't mind watching him tonight, though? I don't mind if you want to go sleep. I understand if you do."

"No, I'm alright, slept soundly last night," Astrid said offhandedly. "By the looks of it, you didn't."

Valka sighed. "Not really," she said. "Hiccup was up most the night, and I just…I didn't want to sleep, and even if I wanted to, it wasn't possible. He had so many nightmares, Astrid. He woke up sobbing each time."

"Do you know what they were about?" Astrid asked, even though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

"Stoick's death," Valka said, pausing for just a moment before she continued. "But that wasn't really it."

Astrid raised an eyebrow.

"He kept begging me not to leave him every time he woke up," Valka said. "I don't know what he was dreaming about, but it definitely wasn't good."

"He had a lot of nightmares after the battle when he lost his leg," Astrid said. "Actually…I'm pretty sure we all had nightmares after that fight, but…Hiccup went through more than any of us did, so I suppose he got them the worst."

"How did you find out about them?" Valka asked. "I know Hiccup really isn't one to talk about his feelings openly."

"He's not," Astrid said. "Really, it was Toothless who told me, indirectly, of course."

"Toothless?" Valka asked, glancing over at where the Night Fury was watching them with his neon eyes. "How did he tell you?"

"He came and got me one night," Astrid said. "I couldn't sleep anyway. Something just felt off. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but it was just something. I could feel it. Toothless got me, and I found Hiccup sobbing in his bed once I followed the dragon. Since then, Toothless got me multiple times to help Hiccup; so many times I've actually lost count."

"Why didn't Toothless go to Stoick first?" Valka asked. "It would have been easier to get him then it would have been to get you, wouldn't it?"

"I honestly don't know what that was about," Astrid said. "Honestly, I don't think Stoick had Toothless' trust back then. Hiccup and Stoick had an…interesting relationship."

Valka looked at the girl for a moment. "Do you want to tell me what you mean?" she asked.

Astrid nodded. "It's a long story."

"Well," Valka said, "I love long stories."