Here's the second part of what was originally going to be one chapter. Due to an incredible amount of setbacks, I apologize if part of it is terrible because I had to take over writing EmmerzK's parts and I'm not nearly as good as she is.

Chapter Seventeen: More Answers, More Questions

Her first thoughts focused of the pain radiating throughout her head, neck and shoulders. Her body felt stiff and genuinely uncomfortable. No amount of tossing or turning helped. With a sudden frustrated huff, she snatched her pillow from behind her head, punched it a few times to fluff it up, and then set it behind her head again. There, much better.

"I've never seen someone massacre a pillow before."

Inga's eyes snapped open and she froze. The first problem: she wasn't in her room. The second: there was a boy in the room with her. The third: she dearly hoped she was wrong, but that boy sounded like…

She turned her head to the right and in the adjacent bed sat the redheaded boy whom she so despised, a small book propped on his knee and a big smirk on his cocky face. "Haddock." The raven-haired girl nearly spat.

Finn grinned and turned back to his book. "Jorgenson."

Inga growled and gritted her teeth before tearing her gaze away from that side of the room to stare at the ceiling. "What are you doing here?"

"A better question is why you're so petulant after sleeping for so long?"

"Oh! Haddock used a big word!" Inga smiled in fake sweetness. "Are you reading one of your sister's big girl books?"

Finn scowled and twisted the book around. "It's a shortened copy of the dragon manual. Basically the only thing I read." He rolled up his long sleeves. "Besides, Mara wanted me to read in hopes that the dizziness would go away; or something."

Inga frowned. "Dizziness?"

"I was sick and still fighting off some of the after effects."

"Why the heck are you in here if you were-" Inga paused in disorientation. Slowly, she sat up and took in her surroundings. "Mara… we're at Mara's." She remarked dumbly.

"Yes…" Finn glanced at her from his book, pretending to be uninterested. However, he was slightly panicking because she wasn't supposed to wake up while Snotlout was away.

"Why…" She turned to Finn in utter bewilderment and turmoil; a look that Finn had never seen on her before. "What happened? Why am I here? I – I can't remember…" Finn licked his lips and opened his mouth to reply, but she continued, panic evident in her voice. "I – I can't remember anything. I don't know what happened! Why can't I – Finn! I can't remember! Why can't I remember?"

Finn didn't know what to be more shocked about – the fact that the normally very collected girl was panicking or that she actually used his name. "Hey," he slid into a sitting position. "It's –" He groaned and slammed a hand onto the small bedside table when his vision swam but he forced himself to focus on the horrified girl in front of him. "Inga, look at me." He spoke calmly.

Inga lifted her head from her hands and looked at him; her arctic blue eyes wide with fear. Finn felt something in his chest constrict. Suddenly, he wanted to rid the terror from her, no matter what it took. "It's okay," Finn reassured softly, "You're all right now."

"What happened?" Inga whispered.

Finn didn't want to tell her everything; it wasn't his place. He took a careful breath and reassured her. "You went to get the aloe for medicine. Do you remember that?" Inga paused for a few seconds before gingerly nodding. "You had an accident. But I think it would be best if your parents told you –"

"Where are they?"

"They stepped out a couple of minutes ago. Your brothers needed them for something. I'll see if I can find them." Finn set his book down and slowly stood, trying his best not to appear weak in front of a girl – especially Inga. He strode toward the door with deliberate steps, and just as he grabbed the handle, everything spun.

Inga watched as he groan in annoyance and pain. He put his head against the door frame with his eyes closed. "Are you okay?" She asked gingerly.

Finn sighed and shook his head. "Everything's spinning."

"Then don't go out." Inga pleaded. "It's not that important –"

"Yes, it is." Finn stood up straight. "Trust me, talk to your parents while you're awake. They need to see you." With that, the Haddock boy opened the door and strode out.

Mara wasn't anywhere to be seen and he knew she would have his hide for stepping out, right alongside his mother and Benen. But deep down none of that mattered. He had to find Snotlout and Heather. It was worth the extra bouts of dizziness and discomfort to see them happy that Inga was finally awake.

Finn stepped out into the midday heat. The sun's rays blazed through his skull, only reminding him of his dull headache, but, nonetheless, he walked into the square. The boy turned in a careful circle in search of the Jorgensons, willing himself to stay standing and ignore the way gravity shifted his mind's eye. But his freedom was not to last.

"FEARLESS FINN HADDOCK!" The teenager jumped and whipped around, his hands out to steady himself as Mara stomped toward him from the bakery. "What in Odin's good name –"

"Before you yell at me," Finn interrupted with a single finger in the air. He turned and pointed toward her house (or its general direction anyway). "Inga's awake; wants her parents."

Mara's mouth shut and she crossed her arms grudgingly. "Well, I suppose that is ample reason enough to do something stupid."

"Yes. So without further ado, I am going to return to my bed." Finn gave her a mock salute and walked away.

"Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"My house is the other way."

Finn smirked. "Yeah, but mine is this way. I did say my bed, right?" Mara did not seem to be pleased with his humor today. "I'm going now."

Mara enjoyed his pout as he walked back into the house and closed the door, then turned toward the village to locate the Jorgensons.

Finn slumped against the door when it clicked shut. He rubbed at his eyes, willing them to focus on something. He stood there for nearly a minute until Inga broke the silence from her bed.

"You look terrible."

Finn gave her a dry look. "Thanks. So do you. The only difference is I make this look good."

"Psh…" Inga tossed her head, wincing at the stiffness in her neck. "Haddocks are all psychos."

"And Jorgensons are cocky."

"Who are you calling cocky?"

"Easy there, beauty." Finn smirked as he lay back onto his bed.

Inga gritted her teeth. "I told you not to call me that!"

"Hey, chillax! Most girls would love a compliment from me."

"Must be because you're so loveable."

"Careful, might wear yourself out with all that sarcasm weighing you down."

"Wear myself- I'll have you know that I could run circles around you!"

"As opposed to squares?"

"URGHH HADDOCK!"

Finn laughed at the ceiling, absolutely loving the torture he was putting her through. He didn't know why but she was so fun to tease. Maybe it was the 3-year age gap, maybe it was the generational, semi-serious feud between their families, maybe it was simply because he was a guy and she was a girl. Whatever the reason, he simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to irritate her.

The funny thing about it was no matter how much she could really grate on his nerves and how honestly, irritatingly, obnoxious she could be at times, she could keep up with his antics. He appreciated anyone who could keep up with him, even if it was Inga Jorgenson.

The redhead sighed, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "Someday, beauty."

Inga huffed at the ceiling. "Someday what?"

"Someday you too will love me," Finn turned to her and nodded with every ounce of confidence he possessed. Inga raised an eyebrow, undeterred. "Just like everybody else, you'll finally see me for who I really am-"

"Oh no, I'm already well aware of who you are, Finn." Inga looked up at the ceiling again when his blue eyes turned toward her. "Cocky-"

"Driven." Finn interrupted.

Inga scowled and continued, "Over-achiever."

"Hard worker."

"Proud."

"Confident."

"Spoiled!"

"Blessed!"

"Brat!"

"Angel."

"Oh gods." Inga huffed, making Finn laugh once more. "If you seriously think you are an angel, gods help us all." The girl narrowed her eyes at the laughing boy. "Would you shut up? It wasn't that funny."

"I'm hilarious and you know it."

"Obnoxious."

"Witty."

Inga massaged her temples with her fingertips gingerly. "Shush. Just shush."

"I don't take orders from girls."

"SH!"

"As I always say, beauty-"

"Haddock, so help me Thor-"

"A man should be free to lead his own destin-"

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID BOY!" Inga screeched, launching herself from her bed and throwing all of her weight into her arm. Her pillow smacked Finn in the face once, twice, three times before the sound of the door opening caused her to freeze.

"Inga!" Snotlout nearly charged in and crushed her in his arms. Heather and Mara stood in the doorway gobsmacked at the sight of Finn sprawled on his bed with Inga standing over him with a now flat pillow. Heather shook out of her stupor and hugged her daughter tightly after her husband.

"Hi mom, daddy." Inga smiled at them widely. She could see the dark circles under their eyes and the worry etched in their faces.

"How are you feeling?" Snotlout asked gently, brushing her dark hair out of her face.

"Well I was fine until I had to beat someone senseless to shut him up, ahem!" Inga jerked her chin toward the Haddock boy a few steps away, who naturally waved. "But honestly I'm stiff and overall kind of groggy."

Mara inspected the girl's joints and was pleased to note that her injuries seemed to be healing nicely. "She doesn't seem to have any problems with movement. We still need to take it easy though, day by day." Mara instructed, leaning over to glance at the suddenly quiet Finn. She flicked his shoe to get his attention. "Hey, are you okay?"

Finn peeked out from under his arm. "'m okay. Just tired."

"Now who's worn out?" Inga snarked. Finn grumbled in response, but didn't try hard to make a proper comeback.

"Both of you have had hard weeks." Mara patted the girl's shoulder. "But while you're awake, lets get you some food, we can talk to you about everything that's happened, and we can give Finn some quiet time. Do you need anything before I go, Finn?"

"Mmmfhh." Finn grumbled from his elbow.

"I'll take that as a no. Holler if you need me." Mara ushered the Jorgensons toward the door, Snotlout carefully walking his daughter into the front room.

"So how long was I out of it?" Inga asked the moment she and her parents were alone.

"About 3 days, maybe 4. I'm not sure; they all blend together." Heather explained. "We didn't sleep much."

"Sorry I freaked you guys out. But I'm okay now." Inga said cheerfully. Heather and Snotlout exchanged a brief glance before turning back to their daughter. Inga felt her stomach constrict. "I am okay... aren't I?"

"Hopefully, yes." Snotlout replied slowly, his eyes flitting to his wife's every few seconds. There was a long, very tense pause. When the Jorgenson patriarch spoke up again, both Heather and Inga started. "Inga, you know we love you, right?"

"Sure..." Inga raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I know that?"

"I think he meant to say that we love you no matter what happens. And nothing is ever going to change that." Heather brushed a few strands of hair from in front of her daughter's eyes.

Inga's eyes widened in horror. "Am I dying?"

"No!" Snotlout exclaimed a bit too loudly. He cleared his throat before continuing in a softer voice. "No, Inga, you're not dying. But while you were out, something happened."

"Something like..."

"Do you remember anything from the time you were out? Maybe a dream?" Heather asked softly.

"I pretty much remember leaving to get the aloe leaves and waking up here." Inga shook her head. "Nothing else."

"Okay." Snotlout and Heather exchanged a look again before Inga's father continued. "While you were out, you had a kind of... episode."

"Episode?"

"One second you were lying there peacefully, the next you were sort of... twitching. And jerking around." Heather felt a flash of the fear she had on that day and it took quite a bit of self control to compose herself. "Foaming at the mouth and sort of choking."

Inga, rather than feeling fearful, was overwhelmed with confusion. "What? But I'm fine."

"I know." Heather sighed shakily. "Benen was there and he said he'd seen it happen before."

"Sometimes a brain injury can cause these episodes. Now, it may have been a one time thing but there's a chance it could happen again." Snotlout continued, gently reaching forward and putting a hand on Inga's knee. "And if it does, we're going to do everything we can to get it under control."

"This could happen a few more times?" Inga felt a tiny prickle of fear.

"Benen said that was a possibility." Heather stated, exchanging another look with Snotlout. "So we thought it would be best to make sure you know. If you feel anything strange, tell an adult. Us, Mara, Hiccup, Benen, anyone who can get you help."

Inga swallowed thickly, her eyes fixed on her clasped hands. "Okay." she mumbled. "But it's not going to happen again."

"Inga-"

"No, I feel fine." Inga insisted, her eyes finally meeting her mother's. "I can't just have these unpredictable episodes. I wouldn't be able to ride Mystie anymore or do Thawfest or-"

"You could if we prepared for it." Snotlout cut in.

"Well we don't have to." Inga shook her head, this time more vigorously. She ignored the aching sensation that resulted. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Inga, this is important!" Snotlout exclaimed in a slightly higher register but stopped when Heather held up a hand.

"It's a lot to take in. But, yes." Heather fixed her husband with a stern gaze. "I think a change of topic is probably for the best."

As Heather and Inga began to talk about what else had been going on, Snotlout scowled. How could his daughter be so callous about what had happened? She certainly wouldn't have acted that way if she'd seen herself seizing and foaming at the mouth like a dying animal. He felt a flicker of sympathy for Hiccup. If he worried about Adrianna as much as Snotlout was currently worried about Inga, Snotlout was never going to criticize his chief's parenting again.

His train of thought was nearly forgotten when his daughter laughed in response to something Heather said. He loved it when she laughed. She almost always snorted and would cover her mouth and laugh harder in response. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps staying positive about the future would prevent any future episodes.

Even so, he was going to keep a much closer eye on her from then on.

Finn found himself lying on his stomach when he woke up, his right arm hanging off the edge of the bed so his fingertips brushed the floorboards. He heard the distinct sound of a blade softly scraping on wood. He smiled before he even moved, recognizing that sound anywhere.

"Benen."

His elderly friend looked up from his seat a few feet away with a big smile. "Good morning, sleeping beauty."

"Good morn-" Finn flinched and looked up. "It's morning?"

"Yes. You apparently fell asleep around five yesterday evening and didn't wake back up. Mara said better to let you catch up on sleep. Do you feel better?"

Finn yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, I do actually." He pulled himself into a sitting position and smiled in realization. "Hey, the dizziness is gone."

Benen smiled widely. "Good! I'd still take it easy though. It may come back."

"Don't worry, Benen. I don't think I'll be pulling any real crazy stunts anytime soon." Finn replied as he untwisted the cord on his necklace. He touched the wood fondly for a moment before looking at Benen with a prompt look. "I'm starving."

Benen laughed and set his carving aside. "Then let's find this strapping young man some food, shall we?"

"Sounds perfect." Finn followed Benen out the door and noticed the Jorgenson family eating breakfast by the fireplace. He gave a short wave and received a greeting from the twins first. Inga raised a critical eyebrow at him with a certain mischievous look, but if she had any roguish thoughts about his survival from last night's pillow attack, she kept them to herself.

"Heading out?" Mara asked from her table of herbs and medicines.

Finn shrugged. "Can I?"

"I don't see why not. You look a lot healthier, standing up straighter already." Mara smirked when Inga snorted from the fireplace.

Finn leaned toward Benen and whispered, "She knows she likes it."

Snotlout stiffened. "Don't be getting any ideas, Haddock."

"I wouldn't dream of it sir- ahh Snotlo- Mr. Jorgenson. Yeah." Benen and Snotlout smirked while Inga buried her face in her bowl of oatmeal, trying not to laugh out loud. Finn was sure his face had never been redder. He cleared his throat promptly and managed, "Umm food? Great Hall."

"That's fine with me," Mara nodded. "Just stick with Benen and come back if you start feeling woozy again."

"Thanks doc." Finn grabbed Benen's sleeve and nearly dragged him to the door. "Come on, let's go!" Finn skipped out into the morning light and inhaled the chilly morning air deeply. "Freedom!"

Benen laughed. "Free from sickness, the healer's, or the icy Jorgenson stare?"

"Hey, pipe down," Finn commanded with a finger poke to Benen's stomach. "I'm just hungry, need some… food. Yeah."

A snort from the old man was the first response, then a flat, "Yes, food. That's the problem."

"What're you going on about exactly, Ben-" Finn began.

"FINN!"

The teenager turned in time to see a blonde attack him from the side. Helga hugged him tightly around the neck so that he almost couldn't breathe.

"Wha- Helga! Hey!" Finn exclaimed in surprise as he reciprocated the hug.

"You're okay!" Helga squealed delightedly. "Oh thank gods!"

"Of course I'm okay. What, did you think a few germs could possibly slow- mmmf!"

Finn was rendered unable to finish his sentence when Helga immediately grabbed his collar in her fist and yanked his head down to her level. The boy was used to her forcefulness but he was surprised to find his lips meeting hers in a sensation that could best be described as... actually there was no proper description for this. Finn wasn't entirely certain of what was going on. His eyes widened as Helga moved her lips against his... and then something clicked in his mind. Heat rising to his face, he shut his eyes and wrapped his arms around her. His heart was pounding so loudly, he was surprised she couldn't hear it. Was this even happening? Surely this had to be some kind of surreal fever dream. But even if it was... it wasn't a bad dream at all. Actually, it was rather nice...

With a small pop, their lips separated as suddenly as they had met. Finn's eyes fluttered open and, for a moment, all he could see was Helga. She, too, seemed to be focused on him. But alas, this was not to last. Finn could see Benen's amused grin out of the corner of his eye and, with a thrill of horror, his parents walking up to the young couple. He cleared his throat.

"So uhh... I was saying..." Finn stumbled through his words, not altogether sure his lips were working properly anymore. "I was saying... something."

"I think you were about to ask if I was busy for breakfast." Helga chirped cheerfully, enjoying the gobsmacked expression on his face. "It's your lucky day, Fearless Finn, because as it so happens, I'm not."

"Oh... well okay. Yeah. That's cool. I'll catch up with you in a sec." Finn said, allowing Helga to hurry up the steps to the Hall. He turned to Benen. "Don't say it." he growled through gritted teeth. Benen let out a chuckle, apparently unable to hold it back any longer.

"Ewww!" Astrid complained as she walked up to him, Hiccup laughing by her side. "Gross!"

"My eyes! I can't take it!" Hiccup, who was walking alongside her, threw his hand over his eyes. "It burns! IT BURNS!"

"Come on, I was never that bad." Finn griped with a scowl on his face.

"Believe me, we're not even close to done." Hiccup clapped his son on the shoulder. "Now why aren't you hurrying after your lovely damsel? What do you want to hang around us for?"

"I was..." Finn began but trailed off with a frown on his face. He eyed Benen for a moment but seemed to decide not to finish his sentence. "No reason."

As Finn hurried up the stairs to see if he could catch the Ingerman girl, the smile melted off of Benen's face.

"That boy..." he mumbled. At Hiccup and Astrid's look of abject confusion, he smiled once again. "I'm sorry. I just didn't think he'd grow up so fast."

"Thank you for reminding me." Hiccup deadpanned.

Benen let out a chuckle. "Yes, I'm sure time does seem to zip by for you. But these last few years have gone by so quickly. It's hard for me to adjust to the fact that Finn is becoming a young man. He's burned into my mind as that cheerful little boy I first met."

"Try constantly having to remind yourself that he used to be the size of a loaf of bread." Astrid sighed deeply. "He was so cute."

"Yeah, now he's a little too handsome." Hiccup remarked dryly. "I don't know where he got that."

As Astrid tittered in response to this, Benen kept his eyes fixed on where the boy had been standing moments ago. He furrowed his brow as he made a decision and then turned to the Haddocks.

"Do you think we can talk in private for a few minutes?" he asked quietly. "There's... something I should have told you and time is going by so fast, I shouldn't put it off any longer. For Finn's sake mostly."

"Is this about what we talked about on Snoggletog?" Hiccup asked apprehensively.

"Hm? Oh, no. Nothing's changed on that front." Benen smiled amiably at Astrid's look of confusion. "I'll tell you in a second. But this is concerning another matter."

"Is something wrong?" Hiccup put a hand on Benen's upper arm. "Because if we can help at all-"

"No." Benen said firmly. "Nothing is wrong, at least not in the way you're implying. But Finn..." he audibly swallowed and looked Hiccup in the eye. "There's something that happened a long time ago. Something I probably should have told you. But Finn is still so young and this isn't the sort of thing he needs to know right now. But later on, it could save him from a lot of heartache. I just fear that I won't live long enough to tell him myself."

Both Hiccup and Astrid felt a wave of deep sadness at the thought of losing Benen anytime soon but they understood his urgency. There was no telling how long he had left.

"Here, we can talk in the forge. Gobber's at breakfast." Hiccup beckoned his wife and elderly friend as he sauntered over to the small building.

"Thank you." Benen nodded to him. He paused for a moment before speaking up again. "I never thought I'd be so nervous to talk to you."

"What's there to be nervous about?" Astrid asked in concern.

"I know that you see me as this wise old adviser who always has the answers. But the truth is, I didn't get this way on my own. I had to make a few mistakes and learn some lessons the hard way." Benen glanced around the forge to make sure no one was listening. "There was one mistake I made that I'm deeply ashamed of to this day. And I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't do everything in my power to protect Finn and Anna from that kind of pain."

"Then we're listening." Hiccup said kindly.

Benen smiled warmly. Though his heart ached to even think about what he was about to tell them, he was deeply touched that they cared enough about him to listen and about their children to make sure what he had done would never be repeated.

Erick wasn't the sort of person who had big emotional outbursts but when he did, he usually regretted them hours later.

But not this time.

The Larson boy was intrigued by his anger at his former best friend. In his head, he knew it wasn't truly her fault. The odds of Olaf surviving even after receiving the cure were slim considering how bad the sickness had gotten. But the rage he contained seemed to consume every last bit of his heart and she was the only one to whom he could channel it. It helped that he had felt so strongly about her before. Turning his infatuation into burning anger was so easy, it was almost unnerving. Was this really where almost exactly 10 years of friendship had to lead? Erick didn't know. And he didn't want to find out.

He had been working since it happened. The smell of leather and the sensation of it in his hands helped calm him. His mind was free to wander where it pleased when he was working. And right now, he was determinedly thinking about anything except Adrianna Haddock. Even his breakfast would be a preferable subject for his mind to fixate on but it simply wasn't meant to be.

"Erick?"

Erick jumped so violently, he nearly knocked the saddle he was working on off the table. Horst took a step backward.

"I'm sorry." he said, feeling rather guilty that he'd distressed the boy further. "I'm about to close up. Probably best to head home."

"Go ahead and close up. I just want to get this done." Erick said through his teeth.

Horst sighed deeply and shook his head. He had no idea how to deal with adolescents, much less grieving ones, but Erick had been working since the early morning. And the dark circles under his eyes were practically speaking for themselves.

"I think you should go home and go to bed." Horst firmly stated. "If you don't get some rest, you're going to wear yourself out. You saw what happened to Finn."

A tiny spark of anger ignited inside of Erick's chest but he choked it down. "I'm not sick."

"You will be if you work yourself to the bone." Horst took a step forward and placed a hand on Erick's shoulder. "I know this is hard. I lost my father at a young age too. But this isn't how to deal with it."

"Then how am I supposed to deal with it?" Erick gritted his teeth and forced himself to stay calm.

Horst gently squeezed the boy's shoulder. "You need to be with loved ones. Isolating yourself won't do anything."

"If this is about Adrianna-"

"It isn't overtly about her but she is part of the equation-"

"I have nothing to say to her." Erick said flatly. "If that's what you wanted to talk about-"

"I just wanted to make sure you're not neglecting your own needs, Erick." Horst shook his head. "And I don't think what you're doing is healthy."

"Well you're not my father." Erick spat. "So you can't tell me what to do."

Horst forced down the lecture about being respectful to one's elders that nearly poured out of his mouth the second his apprentice had spoken. "No, Erick, I'm not. But I know what you're going through and-"

"Maybe, but that was, what, thirty years ago?" Erick rolled his eyes. "Forgive me if I don't jump at the chance to listen to your anecdotes."

Horst's patience was wearing thin and he knew his wife would be cross if he came home late after everything that had happened. He patted Erick's shoulder as gently as he could before taking the lamp next to the work table.

"Horst! I can't see anything!"

"You'll be able to use the sunlight tomorrow. Now go home, Erick. Don't make me drag you." Horst's voice was beginning to sound rather gruff as his irritability shone through.

"Fine, fine." Erick stood up quite suddenly and stopped only to grab his satchel before stomping out of the shop, muttering darkly.

Horst watched him go for a few seconds before packing up his own things. True, Erick had always been a hard worker and fun to talk to since his mind always seemed to be miles away. But this wasn't the boy he had trained. And though he knew that the grieving process wasn't to be rushed, he also knew his apprentice fairly well. This went a bit farther than grieving. And though Horst didn't know much about Erick's history, suddenly he began to wonder if there was more to his story than he had originally thought.

Astrid awoke for no apparent reason so early the next morning that it was still dark out. She moaned in annoyance and tried to snuggle closer to Hiccup only to discover that he wasn't there. She patted the bed beside her before sitting up, her brow furrowed in confusion. What on earth was he up to at this hour of the night?

She quietly put on her slippers and tiptoed down the stairs. There was light coming from the cracks in the door of Hiccup's workshop. But unlike the clanging and occasional muttering to himself one could usually hear when Hiccup was hard at work, there was silence.

"Hiccup?" Astrid slowly opened the door and peered in.

Hiccup was sitting at his work bench and rummaging through the drawer under the table. He looked up when Astrid spoke.

"Sorry if I woke you." he mumbled, turning his focus back to his apparent search.

"What are you looking for?" Astrid asked in confusion.

"Some more purple thread. I know we have some." Hiccup said absentmindedly. "Go on back to bed. I'll be up soon."

"That thread is purple." Astrid pointed to a spool he'd placed on the table.

"It's not the right shade." Hiccup replied without even looking up. "It's okay, really. I'll find it."

Astrid was about to frustratedly retort that now wasn't a good time to be doing anything except sleeping when she caught sight of Hiccup's project. On the table was the mangled hair flower Adrianna had yanked off hours ago. Its lilac shade certainly differed from the royal purple thread on the spool to which she'd pointed.

"Hiccup, come on up to bed." Astrid said in a gentle voice, stepping up and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to fix it tonight."

"Yes I do." Hiccup mumbled through his teeth.

"It'll still be there tomorrow."

"This can't wait."

"Why not?"

"Because it's ruined!" Hiccup snapped, finally lifting his head to stare at his wife. Astrid was taken aback at how exhausted he looked. Hiccup took a deep breath and looked over at the flower. "I knew it would be her favorite because it's the purple one so I wanted it to be perfect for her." Astrid's heart sank at how anguished her husband sounded. "And it was. It was so beautiful and it looked amazing on her. And now it's torn and destroyed. And if I let it sit there in pieces without doing anything to fix it, it'll always be in pieces. And I can't just throw it away and make another one. I could never replace something that precious." his voice shook on the last few words and a tear slowly fell down his face.

Astrid felt her heart break for her husband as she watched him trying, and failing, to push down the emotions building within him. "Hiccup..."

"I just... I just have to fix something." Hiccup shakily whispered before wiping his face and continuing to rummage through the drawer.

Astrid watched him go through the spools of thread for several seconds before she got on her knees and joined him. He paused for a moment to kiss her on the forehead before getting back to his work. A part of him was deeply thankful that Astrid understood. And it was that tiny spark of something positive that kept his eyes dry as he continued to try to fix what was left of his daughter's gift.

Two updates in two days? You all must be shocked. The truth is, I gave up waiting on EmmerzK and decided to just write out what she'd missed. I'm sincerely hoping it all came out okay.

Special thanks to Fritz96 for transcriptions and to Miss Pookamonga for proofreading and for her work on the next chapter, even though she hasn't done any yet. As soon as she gets back from her trip, Chapter 18 will be in the works. I do want to warn particularly my younger readers that it contains an event that could be triggering. We planned it out pretty thoroughly so I can provide details for anyone who asks. However, I will keep it just below the M rating. I'm hoping to have it out by early January so you can enjoy your Christmas unburdened by emotional trauma.

Speaking of the M rating, it's my unfortunate duty to inform you all that the next story will be M rated for a variety of reasons. Anyone who has concern over its content can contact me. The eighth story, despite my attempts to keep it safe, will likely be rated M as well. The ninth will be T, most likely.

If you pray, could you also pray for one of my readers, who is going through a hard time? I don't want to go into specifics but she definitely needs prayers and support. Also I kind of have a job but I am fairly certain I'd be awful at it so I need to switch as soon as possible before my employer figures that out! It's a long story but, in short, I still need prayers and a new job. Thanks!

Don't forget to review!

~KateMarie999