I struggled with this one a little bit. Took a few days of thought to do it. I hope it's okay. Seems a little dark do me, adds more complication to the story. It is the longest chapter I have as well. I am hoping to have another done this time next week.

Also, guys, I work 2 jobs and have a ton of animals. I barely have time to write and crochet, but I go on binges and cannot stop! Please be patient. If you get antsy, drop me a friendly hint ;)

Astrid sighed as she watched the sun begin to set below the horizon. She leaned against Stormfly at the highest peak on the island. She felt lonely. She had hoped this would be where she found Hiccup after he barged out of the house at sunrise. She couldn't locate him. Knowing he couldn't get off the island without Toothless, without the saddle, and without a pegleg, she had decided not to worry. If something was wrong, Toothless would have come looking for someone.

He needed space. She understood that. He'd had three of them motoring him for nearly five days, Valka, Eret and herself. Valka had pushed his buttons. Usually, he wouldn't have acted like that. Hiccup typically could keep his cool in pressing discussions like that, especially with his mother. He'd had enough, and took off without looking back.

She twisted her wedding band on her finger, rubbing her thumb against the metal. Hiccup had made their bands himself prior to their marriage. It was something she actually hadn't been expecting since he had been putting a lot of his time to his other gadgets. It was a nice surprise when Gobber had gotten towards the end of their ceremony, had asked Fishlegs for the rings. She had thought they had discussed there were none, but, of course, Hiccup had changed plans. Somehow, he had managed to get her sizing just right.

Hearing something behind them, she didn't move. She could tell it was Hiccup approaching them. He was never good at keeping quiet even if he tried. With him now being dependent on a crutch, he really wasn't quiet.

"Evening," he said quietly to her once he was in her preferable vision. He glanced down at her awkwardly.

"Have a seat," she said gently.

She realized Toothless wasn't with him, and she started to look for him, but noticed the dragon had taken a seat a little farther behind them. Not exactly sure why, but the dragon remained distant.

Hiccup threw his crutch down at his foot, and took a seat beside her in the grass. He grimaced when he jarred his ribs, but that pain soon went away. Astrid and he sat in silence for a few moments, both just watching the sunset. Hiccup was the first to speak.

"I'm sorry I left you like I did this morning," he said to her gently.

She turned to him, and saw the sorrow in his eyes. He looked troubled, and exhausted.

"I just needed some space from Mom," he said. He took in a breath, watching how deep he inhaled, and sighed. "When I left a few weeks ago, Mom had been hounding me."

"I heard her talking to you that morning."

"It wasn't exactly talking to me—it was more like—telling me how to do this, when to do that, and almost as though she was telling me if I wasn't home for dinner I was grounded."

Astrid sighed. "I wish I knew how to help you with that, but I don't."

Hiccup chuckled slightly, then pulled her closer to him, relaxing against Stormfly with her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and she leaned her head against him. She relaxed in his arm.

"I know Mom is just trying to be helpful."

"Hiccup, you've been running the village under Stoick since you were sixteen years old," Astrid began. "A duty here—a job here—a mission there. She wasn't here to see you do those things. She showed up on Berke, and you were declared chief an hour later. It's been a year and a half. By this point, she needs to trust you can run the village without her breathing down your neck telling you how to operate."

"Something else is going on with her," Hiccup said. "I think—I think it's something to do with how long she was gone. She was the wife of a chief. She had jobs to do with Dad. When she left, she grew into the responsibility of caring for the dragons in the valley of the mountains. Here, well, she's—a widow. A mother to the chief. I—I wonder if she's a little lost, you know?"

Astrid smiled a little bit. "Sometimes, Hiccup, you care too much—"

"She's my mom, Astrid," Hiccup said.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way—" Astrid sat up and looked at her husband. He wasn't mad. What a relief!

"I don't know how to handle telling her without hurting her feeling," said Hiccup. "I know she wants to be helpful and give suggestions. But, sometimes she acts as though it's a done deal, no argument."

"You know, I always assumed you got your stubbornness from Stoick," Astrid said. "Now, I am not so sure."

Hiccup laughed gently. "Dad said the same thing."

The finished watching the sun set across the sea. A gentle cold breeze hit them. Although it was soothing for Astrid, Hiccup wasn't feeling the same way. After a few moments of feeling him shake against her, Astrid urged him to get up and head back to the house.

"I'm afraid you may have over-exerted yourself today."

"Okay, Mom," he said to her.

"No, seriously, Hiccup, let's get you back to the house."

Halfway down the hill towards home, Hiccup couldn't keep going on a crutch. Instead, he helped himself up on Toothless and allowed the dragon to walk for him. He didn't like it, but he knew he needed to.

"Astrid, can I ask a favor?" He paused.

"Of course."

"I am going after Cecil, when I heal. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try—Not after the kindness he showed me. Can you support me with that? Or do you think I am crazy, too?"

"Hiccup, I don't think you are crazy for wanting to go get him.

"I'll go with you," Astrid said to him. "I won't let you go alone."

He smiled. "I knew you wouldn't. When I'm back up to par, when I am able to make another saddle and make the gears, test them and Toothless and I get back to ourselves, I'm going—we're going."

Gobber woke up suddenly to a loud bang outside his home. He recognized the noise. He hadn't heard it in years, not since the dragon academy had started. He pushed himself out of bed, and walked out the door and the ten feet into the door of the Forge. Sure enough, just as he had suspected.

Hiccup was on the ground. Toothless was trying to help him up by lifting him up by the back of his shirt, and a pile of supplies laid just in front of him. A shelf had fallen down from the wall.

"Ye' up to no good ou' here, I see," Gobber said to him, his hand at his waste.

"Sorry, Gobber," Hiccup sighed. He struggled to get back onto his good foot, and Gobber helped him up and into a chair. He could see the embarrassment on Hiccup's face. For a moment, he looked like the clumsy ten-year-old that caused the havoc in the Forge years ago.

"Hiccup, why ye' out this late a' night?" Gobber asked him, as he grabbed a broom and started pushing everything Hiccup had knocked down back into a back closet.

Toothless had leaned himself against where Hiccup sat. He cooed quietly up at his rider.

"Well—it's—" Hiccup had attempted to not make his need sound so pathetic. But, no words came. He sighed. "I can't walk—"

"Ah, I wondered when you'd be over," Gobber said to him. Gobber pulled his apron on. "Now, let's get to work—"

"What?" Hiccup asked, in shock.

"Ye' want ter' make yourself a new leg, righ'?" Gobber asked. "Well, I'm right here."

"You're serious?"

Toothless cooed excitedly, his back end started dancing.

"I'm up—yer' up. Why not?" asked Gobber, as he started the fire. "Gronkle iron?"

Hiccup nodded, excited. He felt like it was Snoggletoff. "What can I do to help?"

"You just sit back on tha' chair and keep me company. And watch what I be doing. I think I kno' how you did it before, but I usually don't put that extra Hiccup charm in my work like you do, lad." Gobber winked at him.

"Okay, Gobber." Hiccup was silent for a moment. "Thank you."

"No problem. I figure' you'd be down when you go' tired of walking with tha' crutch. I expected you sooner than this, though."

Hiccup didn't comment, but merely nodded. He had wanted to. He just didn't know if he could actually do anything with an injured shoulder. When he fell down the stairs earlier to get something to eat, he'd had it and made his way to the Forge.

"You okay, lad?" Gobber asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"You seem, lost in a bi' of thought," Gobber said, placing a piece of metal into the fire.

"A little bit," Hiccup replied back. He sat in silence for a moment and watched Gobber turn the metal as it softened. "Gobber, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, lad," said Gobber.

"Do you remember someone who used to live on the village named—Cecil?" he asked. He hesitated.

Gobber seemed to stiffen slightly at the mentioning of Cecil's name, then he relaxed a moment. "I do." Wasn't like Gobber to shorten an answer like that.

Hiccup sighed, somewhat frustrated.

"Ye' don't want to be barking up that tree, Hiccup," he said after some silence. "Yer' mom doesn't like to talk about Cecil."

"Why?" Hiccup asked. "What did he do so bad that she cannot forgive him?"

"Never mind that," Gobber said. "He's a man with a troubled past. If he sets foot on this island, it won't be pre'dy."

Hiccup's eyes narrowed. "Gobber, do you realize he saved my life?"

Gobber sighed. "I do, Hiccup. But, to be 'onest I don' know why."

Hiccup watched Gobber place his tools down. He seemed sluggish. He pulled up a chair and sat down close to Hiccup.

"What do you know about Cecil?" he asked after a moment.

Hiccup sighed. He didn't know exactly where to start. He chose his words wisely. He could tell he was treading on thin ice.

"Over in the caves on Outcast Island I wasn't shown kindness. Dagur's anger and—and level of crazy has elevated. He did ALL of this damage to me pretty much single-handedly. He went mad—madder than I have seen him before. I couldn't stop him—at all. I couldn't talk him out of anything. I could barely get him to listen to things I was telling him.

"When I thought for sure I was going to die, Gobber, Cecil stood in front of me and defended me. He fed me when I was too weak to feed myself. When my fever was getting worse, he made sure to give me medication to help me sleep. He dulled my pain with herbs."

Tears were now in Hiccup's eyes.

"I haven't been that scared in my life. Even with the giant queen dragon. With Drago—even when Dad was KILLED—" Hiccup was half sobbing by this point. He struggled to catch his breath. His chest heaved.

"Slow down." Gobber began to him, but Hiccup put his hand up to stop him. Gobber had started to come closer to Hiccup.

"Without Cecil, I would have died. I don't—don't understand WHY I cannot get YOU or MOM to understand that!"

Gobber swallowed and sighed. He let Hiccup cry for a moment, then he put his hand on Hiccup's leg and gave it a little pat. He'd expected Hiccup to push him away. He didn't.

"I talked to your mom today," Gobber said to him gently. "When your mom and he ran into each other after she disappeared—Cecil almost killed her with his bare hands."

Hiccup's stomach dropped. "What?!"

"It didn't come easy for your mother to tell me," Gobber said. "She's struggling just as much as you are with the idea of Cecil. He saved you, but wanted her dead at one point in his life."

Hiccup let out a deep breath. "I wish I'd known."

Gobber shrugged his shoulders. "People change, Hiccup. Your father did at the idea of living among the dragons. You changed. You mother is afraid Cecil may be using you for some other reason. She's just wary. She's being a mom."

"Earlier today it seemed as though she was trying to tell me how to do my job," Hiccup said. "Gobber, I didn't want this job."

Gobber placed his hand up this time, stopping Hiccup from continuing. "We all know ye' didn't, Hiccup. I think you are a good chief." He stood up. "Let's put this conversation aside, and get ye' back on two legs, okay?"

Hiccup nodded. "Thanks, Gobber."