Wellp, here ya go. Second to last chapter. This is one of my favorite fanfics that I have written so far, actually. :D This is my THIRD update today, and I hope you all enjoy it. Now, if you guys want me to write the "For the Dancing and the Dreaming" scene, please tell me, because I honestly don't know! :D Shout-outs (thank you e-mail haha):

VulcanTrekkie: The Adventures of Studying...fun (sarcasm or not, you pick which one). I want to say thank you for your awesome reviews. They are REALLY REALLY encouraging! :D I love hearing from you, and thanks a bunch! Good luck with your studying, and thanks a ton! :D

Mikowmer: I know, I just couldn't think of a better one. Stupid me. HAHA. When I think of one, I'll correct it for sure. Thank you for reviewing!

silverwolvesarecool: Me too! Poor Hiccup...I am SO not fair to him. Haha. :D

Lord Jaric: Yes, I suppose at that point, Astrid was just trying to give Valka an idea about how they treated him. Because, I mean, you can be annoyed and take it differently than you would do when you hate someone. I know the villagers didn't really hate Hiccup, they just treated him like they did. Thanks for all your reviews, they make me feel soooo happy! :D

Ninuhuju: Yes, I love Hiccup and Valka being Mother and Son. I'm so glad Hiccup found her in HTTYD2. :)

BloodDragon2626: Funny you should mention...I am actually supposed to be on hiatus right now, but I just can't stay away for very long, so once this fic is finished, I will be off until January (except I will post a special fic on Christmas). I normally try to post two to three times a day (my updating record is eleven chapters in one day), but it really depends. I will post all through January and February, and then go on hiatus for the entire month of March (after finishing any current stories of course), and then come back and update through April and May, and then take off June, and so on. :)

Wanli8970: You weren't joking...she just tried to burn my computer, and all I did was ask her her favorite color! *frowns* Oh well...I guess this will be harder than I thought. Any tips?

Edlover23: YAY! I love Astrid and Valka getting to know each other. :D

Valka poured some sharp-smelling liquid over the arrow wound. Hiccup groaned in his sleep, but other than that, made no noise as Valka started working with the stitching.

It took about half an hour for Valka to finish. She and Astrid sat in silence, and the quiet continued as Valka began re-wrapping it. Then, she stood up, packed her supplies away, and looked back at Astrid.

"I should get going," said Valka.

"Going?" Astrid frowned as she spoke. "Going where?"

"I need to patrol the nest," said Valka. "If Drago attacks, we need to be ready at least a little bit before hand."

"Oh, okay," said Astrid. In truth, she was a bit disappointed. She had been wanting to talk to Valka more about different things, such as what she did with the dragons in the past twenty years, ask her what different things she had learned about them, and so on. But, Astrid guessed there was time for that later. If Drago and his trappers really were putting together a dragon army, they were all in danger.

Valka turned and walked outside the cave, Cloudjumper following her without even being told to do so.

"Valka, wait a second!" Astrid called, jumping to her feet and racing towards Valka. Valka stopped and turned around to face her. "I'm...I'm sorry I was being so hard on you earlier," said Astrid. "I just didn't want anything else to happen to Hiccup, and...never mind. It's no excuse. You didn't do anything to make me act the way I acted. And I'm sorry."

"I understand," said Valka. "And thank you, for taking care of Hiccup." She offered Astrid a smile, which Astrid returned twofold as she watched Valka walk out of the cave. As soon as Valka and her dragon were outside, Valka mounted him and took off.

Astrid sighed and went over to Hiccup. Toothless perked up slightly before laying down once more, ignoring Astrid entirely. Astrid sat down beside Hiccup and sighed once again. This had been a long day. And it wasn't even beginning to get dark out.

A few minutes later, Hiccup woke up, blinking a few times before squinting up at Astrid.

"Hey, Sleepy-Head," she teased gently.

"Thanks," said Hiccup. "How long was I sleeping?"

"Ahh, you got a few hours at least," said Astrid. "Not too long, actually. You feeling any better?"

"Yeah, a bit," said Hiccup, making a seesaw motion with one of his hands in a more-or-less type fashion. "I suppose sleeping helped it a lot, huh."

"Yeah, I'm sure it did," said Astrid. "Your Mom stitched the wound while you were sleeping, by the way."

"Where'd she go?" Hiccup asked, gazing around the room, realizing that Valka wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"She went out a few minutes ago to patrol the nest," Astrid explained. "So, yeah, I suppose you and I are alone."

Hiccup had a love-hate relationship with the word "alone."

Alone meant he was safe; yet at the same time, it meant he was by himself. Alone meant he had time to think; yet it also meant he had no one to share his thoughts with. Alone meant lots of positive things, and lots of negative things.

At this time, "alone" meant many. He wanted to be alone to think about what he had just recently learned, but he also wanted to talk to Astrid. Alone so he could sleep, with Astrid so they could talk. Alone so he could forget about everything, with Astrid so he wouldn't. All in all, "alone" was a confusing word for him.

At this point, he decided not to be alone. He sat up, leaning against the wall, Astrid moving over to sit beside him, crossing her legs and sighing. They sat in silence for roughly five minutes before Astrid spoke up.

"So, your mother," she said.

"Yep," said Hiccup.

"How do you feel about it?" asked Astrid.

"Honestly, I don't know," said Hiccup. "I mean...it's cool, but it's so strange to think about."

"I know what you mean," said Astrid. "It's hard to think about. Not strange. Hard. Imagine that, Hiccup. Just think about what your Father would do..." She suddenly thought about what she had just said, and gasped. "Oh my goodness, Hiccup!" she shouted, causing Hiccup to jump. "Your Father. The Berkians...Hiccup, we've been gone slightly over a day! And no one knows where we are!"

Realization dawned on him, and he smacked his forehead. "Dad's gonna be so mad," he said.

"Ah, I think he'll give you a break," said Astrid. "Probably."

"Thank you," said Hiccup.

"No, seriously," said Astrid. "I mean, Hiccup...the only reason we didn't go back to Berk was because you were hurt. And now...you've found your MOTHER. Your Mother, Hiccup!"

"I still can't believe it," said Hiccup, leaning back. "All those years, I...I'd thought she had been killed. And now to have her alive...moreover, coming back in a little bit...maybe in a few minutes, probably...I just can't...my brain won't compute."

"I don't even know what that means and I agree," said Astrid. They sat in another bout of silence. "So, what are we going to do, Hiccup?"

"About what?" said Hiccup.

"About Drago," said Astrid. "About the entire attack those trapper-whatsits of his said he was planning. A dragon army, was it they said?" She shook her head. "Do you have any idea on what we're going to do?"

"Not even slightly," said Hiccup. "You got any?"

"Nope," said Astrid. "So I guess we should wait here for Valka to get back, huh?"

"Really, do you have a better idea?"

"Nope again."

"That's what I thought."

Suddenly, Toothless and Stormfly jumped to their feet, staring towards the enterance. They growled, baring their teeth towards the mouth of the cave. Hiccup and Astrid looked up, instantly wondering what was going on.

"What was that?" Hiccup whispered.

"I don't know," Astrid whispered back. "But we should probably do something."

Hiccup nodded and tried to stand, but stopped when he suddenly felt dizzy. His injury, not to mention blood loss had done wonders on his well being. Astrid seemed to have noticed, because she moved over and helped him lay down again.

"Stay here," she said, her voice just barely rising above a harsh whisper. "I'm going to go check it out. Whatever you do...don't follow me."

"But Astrid-" Hiccup started.

"No," said Astrid. "Stay here, I'll see what's up. I don't want you to risk getting hurt again." Really, she didn't. She suddenly remembered the sounds of his screams when Valka had removed the arrow from his side...

She stood up, drawing her axe, ready to fight if it came to it. She headed outside of the cave slowly, Stormfly following her, Toothless growling from where he remained in the cave.

Astrid spun in a slow circle, looking around, her eyes scanning for intruders. Right now would be a really bad time for Drago or one of his trappers to attack, with Valka gone, even if she was just patrolling the nest.

After what felt like hours (although in reality it had only been about five minutes), Astrid turned around, looking at Stormfly. The dragon had stopped growling, and now looked around as if looking for the threat she sensed only a moment before.

"I don't see anything, girl," said Astrid, sheathing her weapon. As if trying to directly contradict her words, she felt something press over her mouth. Astrid struggled against whoever-it-was' grip, but she wasn't strong enough.

When she finally was able to yank the hand away from her mouth, she managed to scream, "Hiccup, run!" before drawing her axe and whipping around to face the intruder. But she was shocked by who it was.

"Stoick?"

Yeah, so Stoick found them. :) WELL IT'S ABOUT TIME HE DID, ACTUALLY, NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT. He should have been faster! HAHA! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, there should be one or possibly two more. :) Have a great week! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!