WARNING: HTTYD2 SPOILERS!

The damage caused by the Great Bewilderbeast's attack had been extensive and encompassing. All across Burk, families were lucky if they could manage to find even a wall of their manors' still left standing.

Everyone had lost something in this battle. But no one had lost as much as her and her son.

With so much work to be done, Valka knew it was only right for her to chip in and help, despite the grief she still felt at the death of her husband. And as the ice was cleared from the wreckage of Burk, so too was the bitter coldness in her heart. It was good that she had something to work on. She felt better when she was distracted.

With gloved hands and a clouded mind, she poured all her focus into pulling a splintering pile of wood from the marshy ground. Beside Valka was her steadfast friend and ally, Gobber. His interchangeable hand was currently fastened as a hook, and with it he jabbed and lifted at the remains of the shattered building before them.

They worked in comfortable silence until Gobber suddenly stretched a robust arm upward and yawned. "How ar' ye holding up, Valka?" When she started out of her focus with wide eyes, Gobber pressed his lips together and added, "Surely ye must be gettin' hungry? I feel like I could eat a whole Nightmare!"

This coxed a weary laugh from the women, and with a smile in her eyes, she replied, "Aye, I'm sure ye would, if ya could catch one!"

And so they headed to the make-shift dining hall for a warm meal.

As they trotted down the worn, fractured path towards the smell of food, they heard a shout from beside them. Two men were wrestling in the remains of a shattered home, a shiny brass shield held between one man's arms. The man on top, a large, dark haired fellow, swung hard at the shorter and rounder man's bald head. "Gimme back tha shield, you DungSkulled SheepKisser!" "Who are you calling a SheepKisser, you weak minded BumLicker!?" "You, ye SheepKisser!"

Gobber took a step forward with a fierce shout bubbling in his throat, but Valka placed a hand on his shoulder and motioned for him to stop. She was the former chief's wife and the current chief's mother. It was her place to stop this.

Wasn't it?

She took two steps towards the men but stopped cold as a young girl swooped passed on a Nadder, dismounting mid-flight with an arial twist, to land on the larger man's chest, promptly knocking him to the ground.

"Just what do you think you two are doing? Fighting over a stupid shield when there are families without homes- children sleeping outside in the cold?!" Blonde hair swooped in front of one of the girl's angry eyes, and though she was thin, the kick she delivered to the smaller, rounder man's gut effectively knocked him out of air. "I ought to break your knees and leaving you to the Terrors for this!"

Valka found herself dumbstruck. "Gobber, who is that?"

This question did not seem to sit well with her friend, because Gobber's stuttering response was, "Wh-what? Ye don't know Astrid?"

"Astrid," Valka muttered to herself. With a raised eyebrow, she asked, "No, I don't know her. Should I?"

"Aye, probably, seeing as how she's ta marry yer son."

"What? Ta marry him? Since when?"

Gobber laughed, seemingly finding some pleasure in Valka's confusion. "Why, since he asked her to marry him a few months ago." When a strange look of hurt twisted on her face, Gobber's laughing subsided, and he added, "It was before you were back with us, Valka. No need to look so sad."

The women simply shook her head. "There's been so much that I 'ave missed."

And then she walk away.

Later that night, when the sun had set and the stars were dancing in the night sky, Valka returned home- their house was one of the few that had remained standing. There were several families taking shelter in the extra bedrooms that the chief's house provided, and she and Hiccup had even donated their rooms to others more in need. So she was hardly surprised to see her son was slumped into some papers at the dining hall's table, sound asleep, rather than tucked into his warm bed. He had taken to his new role with the pride and responsibility that everyone but himself had known he had. But even a chief had to sleep sometimes.

She was surprised, however, to see that Toothless was not with him. She may have only known the dragon for a short while, but she considered him a son as well, and knew him well enough to know that he did not like to leave his best friend and rider alone without good cause.

So she backtracked a few steps, and using her years of experience and wisdom, she tracked him down.

It was especially easy since Toothless could not fly alone- she followed his footprints.

"Toothless, what's the matter with you, you silly boy?" She heard a girlish voice chime in gently as she grew nearer to the dragon. As she got closer to them, she saw the Night Fury nuzzle the tiny blonde from before -Astrid?- in a protectively caring way. Valka smiled lightly at the sight, as her future daughter scratched lovingly at the dragon's neck. "You're acting awfully protective today," the girl added, a smile on her lips.

Toothless just hummed and, using his tail as a guide, prompted for her to go inside her home. While the ground beneath the two was jagged and damaged, Valka doubted the agile young Viking needed help getting up the hill to her house. Astrid rolled her eyes but none-the-less used the tail as a handrail. "I can walk on my own, thank you very much." Her words were sarcastic but her tone was kind. As she made her way towards her house, Toothless carefully watched her steps until she was safe on the flat footing of her home. "Goodnight, Toothless." The dragon gurgled happily in response, then turned towards Valka, making eye contact with the women knowingly, before trotting towards her. Astrid followed his gaze, and when her eyes met Valka's, she jumped slightly in surprise before shooting a hand up into a nervous wave. Valka smiled back sweetly and nodded- she'd already decided she liked the girl- and placed a hand on her son's dragon's head before turning to walk away.

She heard the girl's door shut as they began to leave, and Valka chuckled at the dragon before muttering softly, "Ye know something that even they don't know, don'tcha Toothless?" The dragon just smiled back in response. It hardly surprised her- dragons were very intuitive creatures.

While she may have lost a husband, she had gained a daughter. And this was the first real thing that had managed to dull the pain.

Yes, she's have to get to know this girl better. But first she'd have to convince her son to move faster with the wedding.

After all, it'd be a shame if the baby was born before they were wed.