A/N-An important note I forgot to add at the end of the last chapter: Jordan's name is pronounced with a "y" sound, like "Yordan;" after all, there is no "j" sound in the Hebrew language...

Also, since nobody guessed on the meaning of the title of last chapter: Havah means Hope. Try again with this one though; the answer will come in the epilogue.

Chapter 22

Chadash

It was a hard time, but it also felt like the moment when everything started over. We were all hurting from our losses, surrounded by the ruin of our homes, but at the same time we all had exactly what we needed to pick ourselves up and repair. A terrifying chapter of our lives was over, the worst past, and that alone made everything somehow just bearable. That evening, we all took moments to mourn, to look back, to reconcile with what had been taken, but then in the weeks to come everything simply seemed to fall off our shoulders. Once more we were happy, and we had new life; we were free.

~Astrid

Mildew was not the only soul that we lost to the horrors of war that day. When the evening came, over 50 funeral pyres were set adrift from the bay, carrying upon them warriors we had all come to be familiar with: Bertha's general Erika, Rolf Svenson of Berk, and Dogsbreath's apparently close friend Evin, to name only a few.

The elders and children of Berk had been brought back from hiding, with Gobber most notably distraught upon announcement of the manner of Mildew's death (we later learned of the conversation that had transpired between them). Now, those who had lost friends or family members stood solemnly on the cliffs, watching each and every arrow that flew, lighting the blazes that made their way out to sea. Because of his actions prior to his passing, Mildew received a special recognition, a pyre laced with fresh pine boughs from the forest. We had also made arrangements for Fungus to live with Gobber's sheep Phil, ensuring the old man's last wish was fulfilled. For the first time in decades, nearly the entire village shed a tear for the old man.

The event hit Hiccup the hardest though, despite not having lost anyone really close. While we'd all experienced instances like this a couple of times before already, with Stoick still unconscious it fell to the chief's son to lead the funeral ceremony, reciting the revised lines he'd had to learn over the years and praying for every soul that we were saying farewell to. The only time I'd seen that look on the young man's face had been when he thought he'd in the same day lost both his father and brother. Truthfully, I think the only thing that kept him standing through the whole ceremony was the fact that Toothless stood steadfast at his side, and Valka stood near as well to provide solace.

Once the tribes had all begun to disperse for the night, I approached Aurianna, who stood alone on the cliffs near where Jordan had chosen an out-of-the-way location to lay. When she saw me, she smiled thinly before her face dropped back to sorrow. Clearly she had been watching the proceedings from afar as well.

"Had I known…" she began, but stopped when I shook my head at the admittance. "Aurianna, as I have had to tell my own friends multiple times recently, there is no honor or comfort, no point in dwelling over the past," I admonished quietly. "Not one of us has the power to go back, nor should we want to because everything works for a purpose. We can, and are meant, to learn from what has occurred though, and use that wisdom to move forward from here."

Aurianna nodded slowly. "Yes, I guess you're right. I shall start, as promised, by helping you and your friends rebuild this place." She held out her hand, and I took it reassuringly. "Tell all of your friends thank you for pulling me out of that terrible state I was in."

"I will," I assured, before smiling and reaching into my pocket. "Speaking of which, something that they promised," I began, pulling out the short cylinder of metal decorated in letters that Odin had given me many months prior, "you've been in that addled mindset for centuries, and I know the one thing that is sure to fix your ailment."

As I grasped the cylinder and began to turn the carved sections of it, aligning the letters, they began to light up one by one with a soft bluish glow. Aurianna's eyes lit up with them, and out of the corner of my vision I saw Jordan's head swing above us to watch with great interest.

"That's…that's one of my…" Aurianna stuttered, a smile growing on her face. I chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure you recognize it," I said, "considering you probably helped make it. I uh, I've never used it before myself, so I'm not quite sure what to expect happening, but"-

I was cut off as I turned the last part of the tube into place, hearing a little click. Light raced up the outside edges of the device, and the entire thing began pulsing like a beacon. I stared at it for a few moments, before Aurianna became the one to chuckle.

"Actually, that's all that really happens," she said lightly. "Now whoever has the receiver should pick up the notice, and if you and your friends have been telling the full truth then soon…."

Her words died off when, just a little way down the hill from us, the air rippled and opened up, faint traces of light swirling and undulating in the tesseract. Aurianna didn't move, too shocked by the possibilities after all this time, but I walked down the hill to await the new arrivals.

Moments later, a group of very familiar figures stepped into view, all of them fully dressed up and armed just in the manner I had last seen them, though perhaps slightly more disheveled as they seemed to have recently awoken.

"Hawken my friend!" Odin greeted as he approached, holding his hand on his sword in case of any danger. "Is there trouble here? Has Jezebel returned again?"

I smirked. "Actually, Jezebel has been…thoroughly taken care of as of today. She was here, but I called because there is a far more urgent matter that you all need to attend to." Odin raised an eyebrow, an expression mirrored by the rest of his family (Fenrir as well, which was almost comical to see), before they followed the gesture of my hand up the hill.

Nine hundred years of thinking someone (or in this case now even two someones) dead, and then seeing them standing before you perfectly alive and well, would bring anyone to shocked silence. Everyone present stood stock still, staring in shock at each other, before Odin finally gathered his wits and took a hesitant step forward.

"A-Aurianna?" he whispered, tears forming in his eyes as he beheld the strawberry-blonde woman before him who was just as close to crying. She nodded, before exclaiming, "Father!"

The ice broke, and they rushed to each other with arms wide, colliding and sinking to the ground in joyful sobs. Freyja and the rest of the family soon rushed in behind Odin and surrounded Aurianna as well, crying unabashedly. In that moment Jordan leaned down toward the group as well, and one of the brothers (still not sure who) managed to recognize him and reached out, grabbing the Oceanguard's snout and pulling him in to involve him in the embrace as well, the others reaching out and laying hands on both Aurianna and the reptile.

I smiled at the sight, letting a couple of tears fall myself before quietly backing away toward the village. This was a time for them, and them only, and I was sure they'd find me later after they were done catching up and bombard me with unnecessary thanks. For now though, what they needed was simply time together to themselves.

A month passes quickly when there's plenty to do. Granted, Vikings are well-versed in rebuilding houses as we all know, and with Aurianna around to help and dragging her family along with her the process went by even faster, but there was still a great deal to be accomplished. Two weeks or so after the battle, the village was back in shape (mostly), and everything was a little better reinforced too thanks to the work of the alchemist.

While she was there, Hiccup and I also managed to find out the actual recipe for making the Mysteel: purified iron (the best kind is that made by Gronckles, a secret Aurianna had discovered long before we had) combined with titanium, and then strengthened using a specific frequency of sound energy of all things. Of course, only Aurianna could combine the raw materials and energy in the proper manner, but she was more than happy to lend us all of the Mysteel we could work with, having felt indebted to us and mystified herself by the secret Hiccup and I had found: our ability to produce Myscale from the metal.

Turns out Aurianna also like the name I'd had for the metal better than her own ("rolls off the tongue easier," she said), though I had to admit that I wasn't the one who'd coined the term.

During the process I also caught Loki hanging around with Hiccup and Toothless a lot, and when I finally managed to corner him and ask, I found out a very interesting detail: back when the Asgard family had been very active in keeping the world in order, and when Night Furies were more common, Loki had struck up a close relationship with the race. Odin and the others attested to it, commenting how the man always seemed to find them wherever they went and had several who stuck to him like glue near their home. With Toothless confirmed as the only remaining Night Fury, Loki was trying to at least keep a strand of that old flame alive by becoming friends with the dragon and his rider. Thus far they'd gotten along well enough, though I could see all of them hiding the sorrow or pity for Loki never being able to rebuild that kinship himself.

Eventually, the restoration finished, and Odin, Aurianna and the other Asgardians bade farewell for the time being, taking charge of the imprisoned soldiers from the battle and sending them off with Jordan to be dealt with before disappearing back through a portal to their own home in northern Europe once more. Berk's Viking allies, however, stuck around for a while. I don't know who got it rolling but they had all gotten the idea into their heads that a lifting of spirits was in dire need, so preparation for an impromptu festival went underway almost as soon as the other guardians had left.

Through all the hustle though, Stoick stayed fast asleep. A week after the celebration plans had begun and the other allies had begun bringing in supplies for it on dragon-back, I found myself heading up from the forge toward the Haddock household. Astrid was headed in the same direction, so we met up and walked there together.

Cloudjumper lay atop the house, the Stormcutter dozing away a lazy afternoon when we arrived, and Thornado was stationed along the side of the house, and both their eyes flickered open and turned our way as we approached.

::If you're looking for Hiccup, he's inside,:: Cloudjumper drawled, affirming our suspicions. We both nodded, and carefully opened the door to step inside.

Hiccup was in the kitchen area preparing something for dinner to be had later (though we'd mostly known beforehand, two months of experience had told all of us his mother was not to be allowed to cook), and Valka was nearby sowing up some sort of torn garment or cloth. Both of them looked over and offered smiles as Astrid and I stepped into the house and took seats around the main table.

"So how is he?" I asked, looking toward the bed where the chief still lay.

"Not much different from when you asked yesterday," Hiccup remarked sarcastically before he could stop himself. "Hiccup!" Valka warned, catching the ever-present tone, before turning to us. "He's still healing, but Gothi and Sigrid both said he should be well enough any time now. Good thing too, as he's lost a lot of weight with only us there to force-feed him."

Now it was Valka's turn to be sarcastic as she eyed her husband. "Though not all of that weight will be missed, I'll admit," she quipped. We all chuckled a little, before the hall fell into a comfortable silence.

It didn't stay silent for long, as Toothless decided to join us from Hiccup's room, and Astrid turned to Hiccup with the question she had apparently actually come up here for.

"By the way, how are you holding up under your temporary position now?" she queried. Hiccup sighed in response. "Well, better than I had originally expected, all things considered, but it still weighs on me more than I'll ever want. Toothless and I are lucky to escape for our flights for more than a few minutes every day before one of the riders is sent out to lob a new request at us." He looked at Toothless, and the both of them shared a pitiful expression that I couldn't help but snort at.

Then I softened up and smiled. "Well, cheer up. It'll at least get easier again when everyone leaves after the festival."

"That still means a week of putting up with four whole tribes on the island," Hiccup replied. "So grow a backbone and use it," Astrid quipped, not hiding her smirk. "I know you have one in there." "Gee, thanks for the encouragement, Astrid." "Any time."

I saw Valka smirk at the banter between the three of us, before Toothless butted in to interrupt. "Hiccup, as much as I hate to say this, and we both know why, you do have a duty to perform at the arena in a few minutes," he muttered, glancing at the door. Hiccup groaned, glanced at what I assumed was a soup recipe he'd adapted from my house, and then looked between his mother and girlfriend.

"Alright, I'll be back shortly," he sighed. "Mom, Astrid? Don't even think about touching the stew. Hawken, do me a favor and make sure they don't? I want it to be edible when I get back."

I smirked and saluted mockingly. "Yes, sir!"

Hiccup laughed as he set down the spoon and headed out the door as fast as he could to avoid Astrid's repercussion for his comment, Night Fury in tow.

A/N-Alright, only the epilogue left, and then we prepare for the final installment. Let me know what you've thought of the story thus far, and as always I like to hear predictions of what's to come!