STOP!

THIS IS A SEQUEL!

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "FRACTURED FAMILY" THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE YOU WILL BE CONFUSED!

Hello friends! This is the first chapter of the sequel to "Fractured Family"! It is, and will continue to be rated T, due to the fact that this story is darker and considerably more triggering than anything in FF. Read on with caution, friends. And enjoy. :)

Gone were the days of quiet mornings in the Haddock house. Thankfully, Irena was old enough to assist her parents with her little siblings' commotion.

Gabriel was nine now and a strong-willed, tough little boy who could be classified as a bit of a troublemaker. He was a bit bossy and never sugar coated anything. He was proud of his 'heir' status and could be a little arrogant about it at times, but he knows not to push his limits with Astrid as his mother. His eyes had, rather surprisingly, turned brown, not the expected cloudy blue, by his first birthday and his hair was a sandy blonde.

And then, there were the twins. Linnea and Lily. Sweet little six year old twins with their grandfather's vibrantly red hair. They had oddly gray eyes. Lily was the extrovert and often spoke for her shyer sister. They understood each other incredibly well and did everything together. Despite being exactly identical, their family had always been able to tell them apart.

Finally, the newest member of the family, was a little boy born too early with auburn hair and forest green eyes and lots of freckles. He was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock IV and he was ten months old. Astrid fought Hiccup tooth and nail on the name, but eventually she won, and he was appropriately named as he was his father's duplicate. He loved to be held and, even though he could speak pretty well for his age, he cried often.

And that wasn't even including the new dragons. Given, there were only two- two Terrors: a lavender one named Blossom that belonged to Linnea, and a magenta one called Petal that belonged to Lily. Blossom and Petal were two of Irena's Terror's year-old babies.

Irena had grown up a lot in the past years. She was nearly as tall as Astrid, having outgrown her birthmother by a couple of inches. Her hair was a shade of blonde somewhere in between Astrid and Gabe's and it came to her mid-back went it wasn't tied up in a ponytail. Her eyes were still the sparkly sky blue she had when she was little. Of course, as fourteen year olds tend to be, she was a bit gangly from her uneven puberty-induced growth spurts. And on top of her gangliness, she was starting to look more like a young lady. She was getting curves and hips and she couldn't say she was particularly pleased with her body just then (Hiccup wasn't too happy about her growing up either) due to all the changes. She was still sweet and loving and loved hugs-both giving and receiving.

Astrid and Hiccup, of course, had also gotten a little older. They were thirty now, but you probably couldn't have guessed ten years had gone by unless you saw Irena with them.

Toothless, of course, had aged a bit, so had Stormfly, but they didn't seem like it either, both being still as active as ever. Safira, Irena's blue Terror, had gotten visibly older, however. Unfortunately, Terrors didn't seem to live as long as the other breeds of dragons and several seasons of egg-laying had affected her negatively. She wasn't anywhere near death, thankfully.

And then there was Patches. The calico-kitten-turned-adult-cat that still stole Astrid's attention from Hiccup when she wanted to.

It was a very full house with never a dull moment.

"Mom, make him stop crying!" Gabe complained to his mother, pressing his hands over his ears and grimacing. The twins were doing the same thing, looking at their baby brother with worry. Irena looked up from her journal curiously.

"I'm trying, buddy, I really am." Astrid promised her eldest son, bouncing the ten month old on her hip, trying in vain to get him to cease his wailing.

Hiccup IV, affectionately nicknamed Hic for everyone's sake, was screaming one of those awful screams that sounded painful and his mother couldn't figure out what was wrong with him for the life of her. He had already eaten and was dry and he wasn't sleepy (he woke up on his own).

"Hic, work with me here, what's wrong?" Astrid asked, adjusting him in her arms so she was looking him right in the eye. He stopped crying for a second, only to sniffle and breathe, before screwing his face back up and resuming his fit. No words were coming out of him.

Astrid sighed exhaustedly. It was too early to be tired. She had a class today.

"What is all this commotion?" Hiccup asked, running a hand through his hair, already messy from sleep. Toothless bounded along behind him, the ever-loyal overgrown scaly black puppy.

"Hic won't stop crying." Gabe told his father, hands still over his ears. They weren't great at blocking out noise, considering he heard Hiccup speak.

"And I don't know why." Astrid added, exasperated. "Take him. Please. I need to eat something."

"Of course, here." Hiccup took the baby into his arms and Astrid practically collapsed into a chair next to Irena. "What's the matter, little guy?" he asked Hic.

At the sound of his father's voice, the baby quieted immediately.

"Well, good morning to you too. What was all the fuss about?"

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy," Hic giggled.

"All of that to wake you up." Astrid muttered, rubbing her hand over her face. "I can't believe it."

"You have to admit, he does have dramatic flair." Hiccup shrugged with a grin, moving the now-happy baby to his shoulder.

"I wonder where he got that from," Astrid replied.

Hiccup chuckled and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Good Morning, Astrid."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Astrid waved her hand dismissively, hiding her smile.

Hiccup kissed all three of his daughters on the tops of their heads and ruffled Gabe's hair in greeting. "It seems like no one else is having a fit this morning, that's good news." He sat next to Astrid but didn't eat anything. He never ate right after he woke up.

"You're telling me," Astrid agreed. She glanced at Linnea, who still had quite a bit of food to finish. Irena, Lily, and Gabe had finished breakfast a long time ago. "Aren't you eating, Linny?"

"I'm not hungry." Linnea replied softly, pushing her plate away from her. Lily looked at her twin funny and Irena frowned. Gabe just looked genuinely uninterested.

"Are you sick?" Astrid asked, reaching across the table to check for a fever. The girl shook her head. "Well, no fever."

"Are you sure you're done, flower?" Hiccup asked, concerned. Usually all the kids had healthy appetites, this was odd.

"I'm sure, Daddy." Linnea replied.

"Can we go play now?" Lily asked suddenly.

Astrid smiled. Maybe Linnea would eat more later. "Yes you can."

"Yay!" cheered the little redhead, slipping from her chair. "Come on Linny." Linnea joined her sister with a smile.

"See you later," Hiccup told them.

"Bye Daddy!" Lily replied, grabbing her sister's hand. "Bye Mommy! Bye Toothless!" the two darted out the door, followed by their dragons, eager to get outside.

"Be careful!" Astrid called after them. She smiled at her girls' enthusiasm. The dragon grumbled.

"I'll try not to be." Gabe replied with a grin before getting up.

"You heading out too, buddy?" Hiccup asked, shifting Hic to his lap.

"Yup."

"Be good, young man." Astrid reminded. "No fighting without a cause."

"Yes, Mom." Gabe answered obediently before trotting out the door.

Irena was leaving too, she had promised to meet Jakob and Colby at their special spot first thing after breakfast.

"Bye Mom," Irena said, giving Astrid a quick hug.

"Bye, little one. Have fun." Astrid hugged her back.

"No kissing, okay?" Hiccup teased.

"Gross, Daddy." Irena scrunched her face, but hugged her father anyway.

Irena patted Toothless lovingly and called for Safira.

And the she was gone too.

"Peace and quiet." Hiccup observed. The baby was still in his lap, contently gnawing on his little fist.

Astrid laughed. "It's a miracle." She looked over at Hic and smiled at him, he smiled back and she smoothed his soft baby hair back with her hand. "You're a good boy when you're not screeching loud enough to wake up the whole Barbaric Archipelago."

Hic giggled around his slobbery hand.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Like father like son. I can't believe I got stuck with two of them."

"Hey," Hiccup protested. "At least we're both devilishly handsome, right?" he ruffled the baby's hair.

"Yeah, whatever." Astrid rolled her eyes again and playfully punched him in the arm. "Unfortunately, the devilishly handsome chief has to leave now or else he'll be late."

"Unfortunately," Hiccup sighed. He hugged his little boy tightly before plopping him into Astrid's lap. She didn't have a class today. He leaned over and gave his wife a peck on the lips. "Don't wait up for me tonight, okay?"

She sighed. "I'll try not to."

He gave her a sad smile. "I love you,"

Astrid smiled back. "I love you too,"

Hiccup stood up to leave and Hic started to whine.

"I'll be back later, okay, little guy?" Hiccup promised before leaning down and kissing the baby's head. "Be good for Mommy?"

Hic pouted even when Toothless gave him a nuzzle.

"Bye Astrid,"

"Bye,"

"What's gotten into you this morning?" Astrid asked her youngest after Hiccup and Toothless left. She stood and balanced him on her hip. "I've never seen you so grumpy."

"Mama," Hic said in response.

"What?"

He rubbed his eyes. "Tired,"

She let out a long breath. Kids. She loved them, but sometimes she wanted to pull her hair out. "Of course you are,"

Irena heard Jakob before she saw him.

"Come on, Rocky, down."

His yellowish brown Hobblegrunt grumbled before obeying him. Jakob only had him for less than six months and they were still getting used to each other.

"Good boy,"

Irena hadn't bonded with a riding dragon yet, but Safira still followed her everywhere. She still wasn't in the Academy due to that (and she probably didn't need to be with her parents, but she was going to anyway). Colby didn't have a dragon yet, either.

"Hi Jakob." Irena said, coming to sit next to him. Safira immediately curled into her lap.

"Hey," Jakob replied, looking over at her.

He had grown a lot recently and his voice occasionally did the weird skippy thing that boys' voices did at their age. He still had the mousy brown hair and eyes.

"Where's Colby?"

"He's sick," Jakob replied.

"Oh no,"

"Nothing serious!" Jakob promised, eyes wide. "I talked to his mom before I came up here. He'll be fine in a few days."

"Good," Irena breathed. Colby was every bit as shy as he had been when they were kids. His baby lisp had never really left and he stuttered a little, which was another reason he just didn't really like to talk much. He had grown, of course. He had dishwater blonde hair and dark brown eyes, still.

Irena fished her journal out of her bag and resumed her work on an idea for a dress for her sisters around her dragon. Despite her hatred (and almost fear) of sewing growing up, when she was about ten, she had decided to give it another try with two patient teachers and no one who yelled at her for doing something wrong. She liked to sew now and was rather good at it. She never let her mother try to fix anything anymore, always getting to it before she could. Astrid hated sewing with a passion.

Jakob took a deep breath. Now or never. Maybe it was in his favor that Colby was sick."Hey, Irena?"

"Hm?" the blonde looked up from her work and met her closest friend's eyes.

"There's Uh- well, you know about the party thing we're having in a few weeks, right?" Jakob stumbled over his words, something he never did.

Irena giggled a little and smiled, closing her book and putting it on the ground. "Of course," It had been her father's idea, after all. He invited some of their old princess friends and some other chiefs and their families for a summer sort of festival with dragon races and lots of food and general good feelings.

"Well, there-there's a, um, a sort of, Uh, dance thing on of the days and I was wo-wondering if you'd come with me." Jakob asked, flushing scarlet.

Irena blinked in surprise and started to blush as well. She hadn't been expecting that. That was certainly an out of the blue question. She bit her lip and nodded, smiling shyly.

She had to admit, she always thought Jakob was handsome and he was lots of fun. And there was the whole 'I'm pretty sure he had a crush on me when we were kids' thing. It'd be lots of fun to go with him, but it was also a big deal. She was fourteen now, plenty old enough to start seeing boys in a different light (Her parents' first kiss had been when they were about her age). And her first date ever was going to be in a public place. And she was the chief's oldest child. This was a very big deal indeed.

Jakob looked incredibly relieved and smiled back. "Okay, great." He had just been her friend for ten years, this was a step in a completely different direction. Hopefully not too sudden of a step.

"Yeah," she replied quietly, still blushing.

Neither of them did anything for a few moments. And then Jakob reached out to grab Irena's hand. She didn't pull away.

"Mom!" Irena exclaimed, running into the house, Safira hot on her heels. The twins looked up from where they were playing with their dolls and dragons on the floor. Baby Hic just smiled at the appearance of his favorite sibling. He didn't like loud much, but she was the exception. Gabe was still out with his friends.

"What's the matter?" Astrid asked, turning around. She had been trying to organize Hiccup's papers (she couldn't understand how he found anything on that messy desk of his).

"Nothing's the matter!" Irena chirped.

"What is it then?" Astrid approached the teenager, who was smiling and still flushed with excitement. She still didn't look convinced that everything was okay.

"Jakob asked me to go to the dance with him during the summer festival."

"What'd you say?"

"I said yes!" Irena bounced on her toes happily.

Astrid smiled and pulled Irena into a hug. "Congratulations, little one."

Irena giggled.

"This is a big deal, you know." Astrid reminded, pulling away and looking at Irena from arm's length. It was about on the level of a princess' first party when she wasn't announced with her parents. It meant Irena was growing up. And, as she wasn't heir, this would be her official 'coming out' as a young adult so to speak.

"I know," Irena replied studiously.

"Irena's going on a date?" Lily asked.

Irena nodded at her sisters, smiling.

"With a boy?" Lily asked again.

"Jakob," Irena answered.

Lily scrunched up her nose. "Are you gonna kiss him?"

Irena shrugged and shook her head, blushing again.

Lily and Linnea both stuck their tongues out in disgust, making their mother and sister laugh.

"ReRe!" Hic demanded from the floor.

Irena picked up her baby brother and touched noses with him. "Don't worry, I still love you, little guy."

Hic giggled and Irena kissed his cheek before shifting him to hold him more comfortably.

"In all seriousness, Irena. If you have any questions about anything-"

Irena made a face at her mother. "I'll ask you. I promise." They had been through 'the talk' some months before. Irena didn't think there was anything else to know, but apparently, there was a lot.

"That's my good girl," Astrid smiled.

Irena smiled back.

"Astrid!" shouted Eret suddenly from outside as he knocked. "There's a problem with one of the trade ships and Hiccup wants you to help him."

"I'll be right there." Astrid replied.

"I'll watch them, Mom." Irena nodded towards the girls and the baby in her arms.

"Thanks. I'll be back." Astrid said before ruffling Hic's hair. The twins waved at her and she waved back before leaving.

Astrid saw the commotion from a distance. "What's going on?" she demanded of Hiccup, who was waiing for her with Toothless.

"They say stowaway but she won't talk."

"She?" Astrid questioned, heading towards the docks. Hiccup motioned for Toothless to stay and the dragon obeyed.

"Yeah," Hiccup replied. "That's why I sent Eret to get you. Maybe you can help. I can't get her to say a word to me."

"Let me go!" the mystery stowaway shouted, struggling against the men who were trying to hold her arms. "Let me go!"

"Not a chance," one of the men snapped, pulling roughly on her arm. "We don' need ya runnin' wil' 'round 'ere!"

Astrid scowled. "Let her go."

The men, though not being from Berk, knew not to mess with the Chieftess. They dropped the arms of the Stowaway obediently and the girl stopped fighting. She didn't even make a move to run. She just crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the ground.

"What's the problem?" Astrid asked.

"She was on our ship, Ma'm, tried to sneak off 'ere. Didn' do too good of a job." explained of the men.

"No excuse for hurting her." Astrid snapped. She was against senseless violence or injuries, especially towards children. She always had been in a way (war was an exception, so were people like Dagur, and practice fighting) but ever since Irena came into her life, it was about double what it was before. Irena still scratched at the scar on her arm when she was nervous even though it had been over ten years.

"And I'm sure she had a reason." Hiccup added. "Right?" he asked the woman.

The stowaway looked up, her looks surprising Astrid and Hiccup. She had long dark hair and light brown eyes. She looked dirty and unkempt, from her hair to her clothes and she was scowling.

And she couldn't have been any older than sixteen.

"What'd they do with her?" the girl snarled.

"What did who do with who?" Hiccup questioned, glancing at Astrid. He wasn't the only one who was lost, right?

Astrid shrugged. She had no idea.

The girl didn't answer. "I want her back. They're going to hurt her."

It was obvious this girl was troubled in some way. But she was also scared. And she needed help.

"Who? You have to tell us who." Hiccup replied patiently.

One of the men that had attempted to restrain her nudged the other. He sighed and trudged back onto the ship, returning a moment later with a small, shreking child wrapped in a ragged blanket.

The girl practically ripped the child from his arms before cradling it closely. The child hushed instantly. She scowled at the men. "Don't you dare touch her again."

They just blinked at her.

Hiccup and Astrid looked on curiously. Her? Was that... her baby?

"Who are you?" Hiccup tried, walking a little closer to the girl. She stood up straight, but took a step back.

"Why do you care?" she never looked directly at him.

"Maybe we can help you." he replied.

"I don't need your help."

"You have to be hungry." Hiccup tried to reason. He felt bad about his next statement, but he felt it was necessary. "If you tell us your name, we'll get you some food."

She scowled again, looking from him to Astrid and back again. She looked thoughtful and something changed slightly in her face. "Nova."

"And who's this?" Hiccup gestured to the baby.

"Evelina," Nova replied sharply. "She's mine. And anything else is none of your business."

What had happened to them?

"Will you come with us, Nova?" Astrid asked. "So you can talk to us?"

"And get some food?"

"Fine," Nova replied, still frowning.

"Come on," Hiccup motioned for her to follow him and Astrid. And she did, begrudgingly.

Astrid looked at Hiccup and he shrugged.

What exactly had they just gotten themselves into?

A/N: Well, I just dropped you headfirst into the plot, didn't I? Nova is a very dynamic character, as you will see.

Anyway, the first few chapters are going to be set-up and the rest will most likely switch back and forth from 3rd person points of view of Irena and Nova (and possibly the other teenagers? I haven't quite decided...) This story is going to get interesting, all the kids are very different from each other and will be fun to write about! Also, baby Hic is the cutest gosh darn baby ever, I'm sorry. And he loves his daddy and mommy.

I've only dipped my toes into this plot and there's a lot more to go. Buckle up for friends, foes, romance, and the very possible heartbreak!

Thanks for reading and please review!

See you next week!

~Pink