I woke up to the sound of tears. I opened my eyes, I should say eye, My other eye hurt too much to open. I saw Daddy on the side of the bed crying into the blankets. I couldn't make myself say anything. I wanted to touch him but my arms were not listening to me. I noticed a book and a pretty satchel. My arms finally did as I commanded them and I opened the book and saw it was my story book. It had a new cover, binding, and extra pages to write on. Daddy wasn't taring my book apart, he was making it better. I felt my voice come to life.
"Daddy?" I said faintly. Daddy shot up and he looked at me.
"Baby!" He said throwing his arms around me and kissing my face. "You're awake. You're finally awake." He then started to wipe his tears away. "My sweet baby girl." he said as he rocked me. "This was all my fault. I am so sorry."
"No," I started as I was beginning to cry. "Daddy I am sorry, I should have stopped to listen to you."
"No, baby," he said. "It's my fault baby."
"Daddy!" I cried. Daddy held me tightly and let more tears flow.
"Astrid," Daddy called smiling through his tears. "She's awake." Momma came rushing in the room with Hackett behind her.
"Unn!" she said embracing me and also showering me with kisses. "Thank Odin, you woke up." Hackett also had a look of relief on his face.
"I'll go tell Frostbite, boy will she be happy to hear this!" Hackett said running back out. I tried to open my eye but it hurt way too much.
"Ow." I winced.
"You okay sweet stuff?" he asked.
"Yeah, my eye just hurts." I said my tears finally subsiding.
"Are you hungry." Momma asked.
"Kind of." I replied.
"How about some warm bread and yak butter?" She asked. I licked my lips and nodded. As Momma left I turned back to Daddy.
"Thank you Daddy." I said trailing my fingers across the book cover. The cover had a Night Fury crest on it and the pages were perfectly bound.
"This is for you too." he said pushing the new satchel over. It also had a Night Fury crest on it and one of Frostbite's scales served as a button.
"Why?" I said silently. "I don't deserve this." I said feeling guilty.
"I was planning on giving it to you anyways. It was wrong of me to take your book for that long. So I thought I was going to make up for it." Daddy said. I remembered all the lying I did on Itchy Armpit and pushed the book away.
"I don't ever want to write again. It's gotten me into so much trouble." I said. Daddy pushed the book back into my hands.
"Unn, sweet stuff, it's okay to make up stories." Daddy said. "I like that you are creative, but I want you to know when it is okay to tell a story. When you write it is out of fun, but when you are trying to get out of trouble, then it is not okay to tell a story." Daddy then smiled. "I want you to keep writing."
"Really Daddy?" I asked. He nodded. I hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Daddy."
"You're welcome. Now, I want to hear one of your stories." he said.
"Really?" I asked. He nodded.
"This sounds interesting." Momma said giving me a slice of warm bread with yak butter.
"I wanna hear it too." Hackett said jumping on to the bed. I still wasn't sure how I felt about Hackett, but I was more than willing to read a story if Daddy wanted to hear it.
"First let her eat. She hasn't eaten in three days." Momma said. My eyes went wide.
"I've been asleep for three days?!" I asked shocked. I couldn't believe it. I was asleep for three days? Momma nodded. "I am so sorry!" I said. "I must have worried you sick!"
"It's okay." Momma smiled. "You're awake now. That is all that matters." I nodded and scarfed down the bread.
"Can I have more?" I asked. Momma smiled.
"I'll bring in more. Hackett, be sure to feed the dragons." Momma said. Hackett unwillingly got up then looked back at me.
"Don't start the story with out me!" he said going out of the door. It was just me and Daddy.
"Daddy I don't remember much... what happened to Dagur? Is that deranged psychopath still loose." I asked. Daddy cringed. I could tell he was holding back a lot of anger.
"Frostbite killed him." he said. I was then worried. Did the Red-Rage get a hold of her again?
"Oh." I replied quietly. "Why did you even come after me?" I asked feeling guilt riddle my body.
"Because you are my little girl." He said.
"But Dagur could have killed you." I said. Daddy then rubbed my arm.
"Don't worry about it." he said. "He will never bother us again."
"I shouldn't have run away." I said. "I wouldn't have scared you or Momma or Hackett."
"Sweet stuff, that's behind us now. Let's look toward tomorrow and not dwell in yesterday." Daddy said giving me another kiss on my cheek. Momma then came in with more bread and a bowl of fish stew. I ate happily and maybe a bit too much. By that time Hackett was back and all of them were waiting for me to read one of my stories.
"Which story should I start with?" I asked aloud as I thumbed through the pages of my new book.
"How about the first one?" Daddy asked. I nodded and flipped the pages back to the beginning.