A/N: Hello! I figure I should put a warning on this chapter, just in case, because of angsty things.

Warning for implied self-harm and hinting at thoughts of suicide.

—

How to Fix Something Broken

Everything looked so much more gloomy and dark than it actually was as Hiccup's parents slowly made their way back to the village of Berk. Their son's words— the desperation in his tone, his broken spirit... it all haunted them. They had no idea, Hiccup hadn't shown any signs... or had he? Did he really think all those things to be true?

Both Stoick and Valka felt so much guilt, it was consuming them. They had failed Hiccup so much more than they had originally thought. The way Hiccup felt, the thoughts he had admitted to... they were heartbreaking and had cut them to the core.

They walked back along the path that led from the village to the cove, but this time in thoughtful silence as parts of what they had heard played back through their heads. Once the voices had carried over to them, they had stopped to listen, waiting for the right opportunity to show themselves and talk to their son, but that opportunity never came.

The conversation they had walked in on had escalated into, what seemed like, a small argument. Then things had gotten very emotional and dark as Hiccup admitted to how he felt in regards to their family. Stoick and Valka had decided to just leave when Astrid and Hiccup had started talking about their future together, deciding that was too personal to listen in on. Waiting until that particular conversation ended wouldn't have been a good time to walk into the cove and join the young couple either. Astrid was making Hiccup feel better, their presence wouldn't have helped.

Valka covered her mouth with her hand, the rising feelings of guilt and sorrow too much for her to contain as a sob escaped. Her son... he thought that she and Stoick would be happier if he were... if he was... she couldn't finish the thought.

"Valka?" Stoick stopped walking and looked to his wife. He wasn't sure how to comfort her, he was pretty sure that he was feeling something very similar to what she was feeling. There was no reassuring himself or his wife after what they had heard their son admit.

"I made my own son believe that he would be better off..." Valka took in a deep breath, needing to confront their son's feelings for what they were. "Stoick. Hiccup thinks we would be happier if he had died."

Stoick took a shuddering breath. It was a hard truth to swallow. He was beginning to wonder just how dark Hiccup's thoughts often were. Had he ever felt he was better off dead before, when he had been little more than an outcast in his own home? What had he almost driven his son to...?

"...do you have nothing to say about that?" Valka needed to hear her husband say something. She needed to know what to do about it, how to handle everything she was feeling— like nothing she had ever felt before. Not even the feelings of grief and guilt at her decision to stay away from Berk, or the feelings of longing and regret at the thought of her baby boy being without her... none of that compared to the horror and heartbreak at what they had heard their son say.

"...I should have been paying closer attention." Stoick finally spoke in a quiet and defeated voice, so unlike his usual booming and cheerful tone. He was thinking back to things Hiccup had said or the ways he had acted, in the past. Little things, small comments, but so significant. Hiccup was good at hiding his true feelings, even as he desperately wanted someone to help him. "How long...? What if he had...? I would have never been able to forgive myself..."

Valka closed the distance between her and Stoick, placing her hands on his chest and looking up at him. She knew what he was trying to say, and it caused her fear as well.

"He didn't." She told him. "Hiccup is here now, and so are we."

"Why is it that I never noticed how he really felt? I should have. It's all I can see now..." Stoick was horrified. "If Hiccup feels this way now, then how did he feel back then? I wouldn't have known, I wouldn't have suspected... he could have just been gone and I... I..."

"Shh..." Valka rested her head on his chest, doing her best to comfort him. It didn't do them any good to linger on worst-case scenarios, it would only make them feel worse. Stoick wrapped his arms around her small frame and held her close. She had realized, upon reuniting with her husband, that she had caused a new fear to arise in him. Everyone feared losing their loved ones, but it was almost crippling for Stoick. With her gone, Stoick wouldn't have been able to cope with the loss of their son. "We're here, we're together... and we're going to learn how to be the best parents we can be, for Hiccup. He's here now, so we can still fix this."

Stoick simply held onto his wife with desperation. He loved his family, but all he had ever done was push them away and make them feel like they couldn't be themselves around him. Valka may have decided to stay away, but he felt responsible for that because they both knew he wouldn't have taken well to her love for dragons. Then Valka being away had affected their son, and Stoick had made things worse by pushing Hiccup away when his greatest fear was losing him. He had failed his family, but he was determined to make things right.

—

Walking out into the main room of the Hofferson household and coming upon a pile of dragons and his daughter's boyfriend had not been how Arne thought his day would begin. Hiccup was sleeping on the floor, Toothless on one side of him and Heimy on the other. The only one missing from Hiccup's growing squad of dragons was Sharpshot, the Terrible Terror, but he was always flying around and delivering T-mail.

Arne was aware of what had happened the day before. He had been one of the workers helping to construct the new stables and had witnessed the entire conversation between Hiccup and Valka. He hadn't seen the confrontation between Stoick and Hiccup, but his wife had and Sigrid had told him about it when he asked her why Astrid was out so late. He figured that the young couple would camp out, like they had plenty of times before, but apparently Astrid had brought Hiccup home.

Arne didn't agree with Valka or Stoick on the entire matter and so decided that having Hiccup there was probably for the best. He grabbed a woolen blanket from off of a nearby shelf and let it unravel from its folded state before tossing it onto Hiccup, who was looking a little cold.

As quietly as he could, Arne fed the dying fire for the morning. Sigrid would be needing it later for cooking, and Hiccup would surely appreciate the warmth. Arne went about quietly putting together a simple breakfast when he heard someone coming down the stairs.

"Oh, dad." Astrid said quietly. "I can explain-"

"No, Astrid. I'm pretty sure I know what's going on." Arne held out a hand, indicating that she could stop trying to justify her actions. "Hiccup is welcome here, anytime."

Astrid sighed. She walked past Hiccup, stopping to adjust the blanket more comfortably around him, then joined her father by the table where he had set out some food. She helped herself without hesitation.

"So, what's the plan?" Arne asked, continuing to talk in a low voice so that he wouldn't disturb their sleeping guests.

"...plan?" Astrid asked between bites of food.

"Hiccup can't live here forever. He can't avoid going home for the rest of his life— he is the next in line to be chief, after all." Arne answered.

"Uh..." Astrid didn't really have a plan. It was all she could do to get Hiccup to calm down enough to even come back to the village as opposed to hiding out in the cove for the unforeseeable future. "I just want to give him some time. I'm going to take over today, unless Stoick is back and ready to oversee things. I know Hiccup doesn't feel ready to even go out there today. Can you just let him stick around for the day, let him gather his thoughts?"

"You'll have to tell your mom she's got company today. I'm going to be out there too, working on those stables again." Arne informed. He would leave Astrid to figure things out with Hiccup. She knew more about the situation than anyone else on Berk, so if she said Hiccup needed a day, he wasn't going to argue.

"I'll let her know." Astrid agreed, then felt the need to assure her dad. "I'll lure Hiccup outside later. But it's... it's a bigger issue than just the typical disagreement between him and Stoick."

"Astrid." Arne held his hand out in a placating way. "I heard the argument between him and Valka, a lot of people did. I heard the things he said. It was a lot." That was an understatement. Arne couldn't understand how someone's child could believe such things, or how a parent could lead a child to believe such things. But the Haddock household was a special case and Hiccup had a rough childhood. "You know your mother and I love you, right?"

Astrid rolled her eyes and gave her father an amused look. "Of course I do."

"Good." Arne patted her head, succeeding even though she tried to duck away, and walked to the door. "I'll see you out there."

—

There was a lot of whispering and side glances being tossed around in the village and Astrid did her best to ignore them. She, of course, had been the last one seen with Hiccup as she led him away the day before. As his girlfriend and betrothed, it would be assumed she knew the most about what going on with Hiccup, especially since she seemed to be taking over for him today and he was no where to be found. But she wasn't going to tell everyone about Hiccup's personal feelings, she was going to be all business today.

The first thing on Hiccup's agenda for the day— according to his meticulous and scatter-brained notes that she was accustomed to reading— was a stop by the forge to see if the new tools to be used for the stables had been completed so that more people could be working at once on multiple stables.

Astrid was looking down at Hiccup's papers as she neared the forge. At the last possible second, she looked up in time to avoid Eret as he stepped out of the forge with a few buckets of new nails. "Whoa."

"Oh, Astrid!" Eret exclaimed in surprise, stepping around her and taking a step back. "Didn't see you there."

"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." Astrid apologized as she indicated the papers in her hands. "I'm deciphering Hiccup's notes."

Eret chuckled as he got a glance at the pages, filled with lines and lines of writing, arrows, circled words, crossed out sentences, diagrams, and the occasional doodle of a Night Fury.

"Good thing he has decent handwriting. It's just the part where I have to follow his weird line of thinking and interpret how he got from Point A to Point B." Astrid explained.

"I wish you luck with that. If anyone can figure him out, I'm sure it's you." Eret commented. He really wanted to inquire about how Hiccup was doing, but didn't want to intrude on their privacy or seem eager for gossip. He honestly did care about whether or not his new friend was okay. "I've got to get theses nails to the construction site."

"Don't let me stop you." Astrid didn't offer any information about Hiccup, so Eret left and she walked into the forge to check on those tools.

"Everything's done." Gobber's voice informed her before she could ask. He expanded when he saw her surprised expression. "You really think Hiccup would let me overlook something like that?"

" I guess not." Astrid smiled. It might just be easier than she thought to get through Hiccup's list of things to do.

"Any chance for him to get to boss me around for a change." Gobber mock complained as he showed her the new tools.

"I'm sure." Astrid went along with it, amused. "These look great, Gobber. I'll have some people come by and pick them up."

"They'll be here." Gobber assured her, though it was obvious that his mind was elsewhere.

"Hiccup is at my house, sleeping." Astrid answered the unasked question. "I got him to talk to me and... I don't know, he's got a lot on his mind."

"He's okay?"

"...kind of." Astrid answered vaguely.

"But he went to your house, even after Stoick and Valka talked to him?" Gobber asked, concerned that things had gone very wrong instead of getting better when the family had talked.

"What do you mean, Stoick and Valka? I haven't seen them since yesterday afternoon." Astrid was confused.

"They returned, said they wanted to try and make amends with Hiccup. I told them where to find you two." Gobber explained. "Did they not show up?"

"...no." Astrid narrowed her eyes. "They never showed up."

"But they seemed so eager to make it up to Hiccup. Why wouldn't they follow through?" Gobber didn't expect Astrid to answer, he was mostly asking himself. He was a little irritated that Stoick and Valka hadn't followed through.

"It's probably for the best anyway." Astrid waved the matter aside, though she looked indignant on Hiccup's behalf. "Hiccup wasn't in a good place last night and I don't think that them showing up would've gone over very well."

"I'm going to go confront them about it anyway." Gobber glared past her. "Not following through and then not showing their faces in the village yet today. Letting Hiccup wait overnight to hear from his own parents. I'm not letting them get away with that."

Before Astrid could say anything more, Gobber had marched out the door and headed for the chief's house. She wasn't so sure how all of that was going to play out. There was already enough gossip going around today, so hopefully they would argue inside the house. She had to admit, she was annoyed with Stoick and Valka too, but Stoick was the chief and she wasn't going to disrespect him or encourage others to, that would make her feel disloyal.

The chief's home life and family, ideally, would be an example to the rest of the tribe, but the Haddock family drama wasn't exactly inspiring others or instilling confidence in anyone. Although, most could understand the odd situation they happened to be in. Astrid just hoped that they could fix things and be a happy family someday. She wanted Hiccup to have that with his parents.

—

The pounding at the door startled Stoick and Valka as they sat across from each other at the table, long-forgotten food littered across it. The two had stayed up all night, unable to even consider trying to sleep. They were too upset, stressed, and worried.

"Come in." Stoick's loud voice carried through the door easily. Gobber let himself in and without a word stood at the head of the table with a disapproving look on his face.

"Gobber?" Valka asked uncertainly. "Is something wrong?"

"I just spoke with Astrid." Gobber hinted, but Stoick and Valka just exchanged worried glances.

"Is Hiccup okay?" Stoick asked.

"Why didn't you go talk to him last night? I told you where to find him." Gobber got after them, thinking them negligent.

"We were going to." Valka said and at Gobber's look, she insisted. "We really were, Gobber."

"But we heard Hiccup and Astrid talking before we could make ourselves known." Stoick continued the explanation. "We waited for the right moment to join them..."

"Last night was not the time to interrupt them." Valka continued. "They were having an important conversation... and... we likely would have only upset him further."

"We left them to their privacy." Stoick finished.

Gobber raised an eyebrow at their shared explanation. They used to finish each other's thoughts like that all the time. It was throwing him for a loop, hearing them talk like they did in the past. It could've been like old times, if not for the depressing topic at hand and all the family drama.

"Okay. So what are you going to do, then?" Gobber moved on, feeling an odd sense of nostalgia that had him feeling regretful for a future that should have been.

"That's what we've been discussing." Stoick informed his friend. "But I suppose I should go check on things, do some damage control."

Before Stoick could fully stand up, Gobber stopped him. "No need, Astrid's got things under control. You need to focus on being a father."

Stoick gave his old friend a considering look, then settled in his seat again. "Astrid is handling things?"

"Where's Hiccup?" Valka asked with concern.

"He's at the Hofferson's place. And Astrid's doing a fine job, by the way." Gobber answered as he took initiative and invited himself to sit down next to Valka at the table. Neither Stoick nor Valka protested or minded.

"Right, yes, I'm sure she is. I'll thank her for the hard work she's done, later." Stoick agreed. Astrid was so great, she always stepped up when there was a need. She could be relied on and Stoick was so grateful for her and glad that she was always going to be there for Hiccup.

"Maybe if we get Astrid to bring Hiccup home, he'll be more willing to talk to us. He'll have Astrid for support in case he isn't comfortable..." Valka directed the conversation back to business.

"I don't know if that'll work in the long run." Stoick doubted. "He'll say things are fine and then pretend that there isn't anything bothering him, it's what Hiccup does."

"That's true." Gobber backed his friend's words. Valka looked thoughtful as she tried to think of what they should do.

"I know one talk isn't going to fix everything we heard him say yesterday." She ran a hand over her face. "Gods... the things he said." It broke her heart.

Gobber raised an eyebrow but didn't inquire further at Valka's vague words. He didn't know what they had overheard, but he had a general idea of how Hiccup felt. Gobber had been around Hiccup the most, after all, before things had gotten better for him. The blacksmith had witnessed some of Hiccup's sorrow, even if he hadn't acknowledged it other than to tell him to be strong. He regretted not paying more attention, but he was pretty sure Hiccup's mind went to some very dark places back then and probably still did on occasion.

"I think... maybe the three of us could use some time together. Just us." Stoick suggested. "We can't just apologize and expect everything to get better after that. There will always be some things left unsaid, especially from Hiccup, if we don't try to work through things now."

"If he's willing to, of course I plan to spend more time with him." Valka said, not quite following where Stoick was going.

"So do I, but that's not what I mean." Stoick continued. "Hiccup needs to be our primary focus right now, no distractions. We have to show him how much we care, we need to get him to open up to us so we can assure him that what he thinks about us, isn't true. We need time together, just us, for a little while."

"So what, keep ourselves cooped up in the house and not come out until we're getting along?" Valka asked with some skepticism. "I don't want Hiccup to feel trapped."

"No, not like that. Hiccup would slip away and avoid any situation that involved talking things through. He wouldn't respond well to that at all. He needs to be able to get out and have some space if he needs it." Stoick explained more in depth. "Hiccup likes to go for walks in the woods to clear his head. That is, if he isn't flying. Besides, so long as we're on Berk, something will always come up that'll require my attention."

"Okay... then what do you want to do? Go camping?" Valka still wasn't so sure.

"When I was a boy, my father used to take me on father-son trips." Stoick said.

"Oh, yeah. I remember that." Gobber thought back to when Stoick's father was still alive.

"Maybe we can do something similar with Hiccup." Stoick suggested.

"Great idea. Take him to that island your dad used to take you to and get him to sit quietly and fish, hunt some innocent little animals, maybe a couple sparring matches. He'll love that." Gobber's words dripped with sarcasm.

"Well obviously we would have to come up with different activities." Stoick rolled his eyes and Valka couldn't help the small smile of amusement at Hiccup's supposed lack of interest in those things, but her smile faded quickly. "But during those trips with my father, we became very close. It was good to have some time together as father and son instead of having to share him with the entire village, as chief."

"Doesn't that seem a little... superficial?" Valka asked. "Distracting him from his feelings with activities. He would see it as us trying too hard, it could come across as fake."

"It wouldn't be like that. I didn't really think too hard about it at the time, but I know now that my dad took me away from Berk to spend time with me so that he could show me that I was just as important, or even more so, than his chiefing duties. He never wanted me to feel like he didn't have time for his son." Stoick finally explained in full detail his plan, and the others seemed to be more thoughtful about it. Stoick wished that he had started up that tradition with Hiccup a long time ago. But he hadn't, too worried about finding the nest and keeping Hiccup out of trouble. And... honestly, the idea of so much time alone with his son, back then, was daunting. What would they have said to each other? What activities could they have done? They were so different and didn't know how to navigate around all that awkwardness back then.

"It meant a lot to me, that my dad would take time every year, to spend with just me. No distractions, no people demanding his time and taking him away, no chiefly duties. For a week, he was just my dad and nothing more."

"That sounds nice, Stoick." Valka reached across the table to set a hand on his. "Would Hiccup see it that way, though?"

"What else can we do?" Stoick asked with a touch of desperation in his voice. "All we can really do is apologize and make an effort to fix what is broken in our family. We have to keep reaching out, keep assuring him that we love him. If we spend at least a week together, on our own, surely we can get him to give us a chance to try again at being a family."

Valka stared into her husband's eyes, seeing the desperation and worry. He sincerely wanted to reconnect with Hiccup and fix things. A week together, no one else around, and Hiccup would surely see the depth of Stoick's love and care. Her's too, hopefully. "Okay, let's give it a try."

—

The house was comfortably warm and a wonderful smell was wafting throughout the modest structure. Most days, Sigrid was the one to wake first and create an inviting atmosphere for her family before everyone went their separate ways for the day. However, today was different.

Her husband, Arne, had to get up earlier than usual to help out with some construction, and her daughter... Astrid had really been stepping up lately. Sigrid always knew her daughter had a lot of potential and talent, but she never would have guessed that she was raising the future chieftess of Berk.

Astrid had woken her mother before leaving for the day to take up the chiefly duties on Hiccup's behalf, and she had told Sigrid about the situation. Hiccup had spent the night downstairs and Astrid was worried about him and some of the things he had said the night before, though she didn't give any details. Astrid had requested of her mom to keep an eye on Hiccup, and she had agreed. Sigrid didn't know all the details, but she knew enough. She had witnessed the altercation between Hiccup and Stoick and had heard about what had happened with Valka.

Since Hiccup had still been sleeping and Sigrid had no other pressing duties, she had decided to sleep in a little longer. She had woken when a delicious smell had wafted into her room.

Descending the stairs to the main floor, she wasn't sure what to expect, and she had certainly not expected to see Hiccup zipping around the house in a flurry of activity. He seemed to be taking on several tasks at once.

"Good morning, Hiccup." Sigrid greeted with amusement. Hiccup startled and turned around, a broom in his hands. Toothless remained crouched on the floor, batting at the broom's bristles with a paw, much like a cat. Heimdall, ever the one to sleep in, was curled up by the fireplace.

"Oh... Mrs. Hofferson." Hiccup looked like he had been caught in the act of doing something he shouldn't have been doing. "I was just..." He gestured broadly at everything before awkwardly continuing his explanation. "Doing some things that needed to be done..."

Sigrid looked around the kitchen and living areas. Everything was tidy and something had been baked. She raised an eyebrow as she noticed something in particular. "Did you work on my knitting?"

Hiccup's eyes darted to the pile of knitting that had been moved to the table. "Yes, sorry. I noticed the pattern you'd been working on for that blanket, so I continued it for a couple rows..." When Sigrid raised an eyebrow at him, Hiccup got nervous and kept talking. "...I also made you some breakfast, did your dishes, dusted, and I started sweeping..." He trailed off, not really knowing what Sigrid was thinking.

"Not even Astrid knows how to knit, she doesn't have the patience." Sigrid finally said something. She was fairly amused by Hiccup's behavior, though she suspected it didn't stem from the best of places. She liked to keep busy too, especially when there was something bothering her or consuming her thoughts. She strode into the kitchen and discovered what Hiccup had been baking. It appeared as though he had found her recipe for a sweet bread and it sat on the tabletop along with a bowl of washed fruit. "This was nice of you, Hiccup, but... what's this really about?"

Hiccup fidgeted with the broom handle as he avoided her eyes. Toothless batted at the broom again, though Hiccup tried to move it out of the way. Honestly, how did he ever get things done with Toothless around? Sensing Hiccup's shift in mood to one of anxiety, the Night Fury stopped messing around and nuzzled his friend's side with a purr.

"I was going to go out... I wanted to help Astrid." Hiccup admitted, setting a hand on Toothless' head. "But then... I saw some things that I could do around the house and I decided to... uh... do them, because..."

"You needed a distraction." Sigrid finished for him, knowing the feeling. Hiccup gave her an embarrassed look. "It's okay, Hiccup. I certainly don't mind the help." She gave him a grateful smile, then gestured to the table in invitation as she sat down.

After a moment of hesitation, Hiccup set the broom aside and joined Astrid's mom at the table. She began to serve herself some of the food while Hiccup watched quietly, not quite knowing what to do.

"You know... your mother and I were in the same age group. We went through dragon and combat training together." Sigrid started talking as she focused on the food in front of her. Hiccup looked at her with a renewed interest, he couldn't help but be curious. "Your mother was always different, like you were."

Hiccup took a breath, he had heard that before. It didn't make much sense to him. Valka hadn't been outcast, she hadn't been bullied, to his knowledge. She still maintained Stoick's interest. If they were so alike, why hadn't he been allowed to be those things?

"Don't get me wrong, Hiccup. She stood out as different." Sigrid had seen the saddened expression on Hiccup's face. "Valka had different interests and high morals. She liked to wander off and spend time in the woods. She liked to read her books. She could never bring herself to attack a dragon, though she could defend herself and others. She was always talented at combat and she fought as needed, and that kept her on the right side of things, in everyone's opinion. Woman aren't always expected to fight, but should be capable. So no one thought too much about it when it came to Valka. She seemed more interested in learning about healing anyway."

"She wanted to be a healer?" Hiccup hadn't known that.

"I don't know if she even knew what she wanted for herself back then. But for someone with obvious compassion for dragons now, being a healer must have been a more appealing option, right?" Sigrid didn't expect Hiccup to answer and continued talking. "Besides, it wasn't long before Stoick's interest in Valka became evident, and she felt the same way. Her future was set after that, to become the future Chieftess of Berk. She'd proven she could fight as needed, even if people thought her weird for not having the same blood thirst that most Vikings had. And Stoick wouldn't let anyone treat the one he loved with anything less than the respect she deserved."

Yet, Stoick had allowed everyone to disrespect Hiccup and cast him out for those differences. Granted, Hiccup hadn't shown any talent for combat and his mom had. He was also the heir of Berk, and Valka hadn't been. If he had been capable of wielding a weapon, would he have been treated better? Would his dad love him then? Hiccup could wield a weapon now, but it didn't seem to make a difference to his father. Hiccup was still unloved by his parents.

"...Hiccup?" Sigrid looked at him with concern. She had been talking and he wasn't reacting anymore. He needed to hear what she had to say. "Hiccup, is there anything on your mind?"

"No. No, I'm fine." Hiccup gave her his attention again, denying anything to be wrong, although Sigrid knew it wasn't true.

"Hiccup..." Sigrid hesitated for a moment, then continued. "Your parents wanted to start their family for so long... they were both so thrilled to find they were pregnant. Valka was so excited to be a mother."

It seemed as though Sigrid had lost Hiccup. He had started staring at his dragon, the silly Night Fury watching Sigrid pick at her food, with huge, begging eyes. It didn't matter what food was being eaten, Toothless had to have a bite of it. Sigrid smiled with some exasperation and decided to give in. If she gave Toothless what he wanted then maybe she could keep talking to Hiccup without him getting distracted. Astrid had told her once, Hiccup was prone to distraction. She was finding that to be true.

Toothless gratefully accepted a small piece of bread, not his usual preference of food, but he swallowed it so fast it's not like he had the chance to taste it anyway. Satisfied with having had some of the people's food, Toothless settled down by Hiccup's feet.

"Your parents were both so-" Sigrid picked up where she left off, but Hiccup interrupted her this time.

"You don't have to do this." Hiccup said, the tiniest hint of frustration in his eyes. "I appreciate it, but I know how they feel."

"Do you?" Sigrid questioned. She was a mother and she couldn't believe that Stoick and Valka didn't love their son. They weren't good at showing it and they had made mistakes, but they loved Hiccup.

Hiccup was usually so respectful around Astrid's parents, more so than he needed to be. He, of course, wanted to make a good impression on them, assure them that he would treat their daughter well and love her. But this morning, Hiccup was in an odd mood and Sigrid could see a difference. Hiccup gave her an annoyed look, full of exasperation. He didn't want to hear it and was making that abundantly clear. Sigrid almost laughed at the look he gave her, he had never looked at her like that before.

"I know how it seems, Hiccup." Sigrid pushed forward. "But you were their whole world when you were born."

He still didn't seem to be buying it. His expression didn't change. Maybe they had been excited to have a baby. That part he could believe. But once they saw what they had ended up with... once they had set eyes on their runt of a son, they probably had changed their minds. Valka had been able to abandon her newborn baby. Stoick had been unhappy to be stuck with him when he could have had his wife instead. He had disappointed them before he was old enough to even know what he was doing.

Hiccup buried his face in his hands, his thoughts too overwhelming to bear. He needed to reign in his feelings before he lost it in front of Astrid's mom. That would be so embarrassing. He breathed through it and calmed down, pushing everything back down inside.

Toothless cooed at his side, resting his chin on the table next to Hiccup, showing that he was there to support him. Sigrid watched, not quite sure what she had said to upset him, but wanting to fix it.

"You and Stoick got along so well when you were a young child." Sigrid mentioned. "Remember that?"

Hiccup removed his hands from his face, immediately seeking out Toothless' scaly head for comfort. He didn't look at Sigrid, but nodded his head.

"You were all the family that Stoick had left, and once you started acting more like Valka than him... and I'm not saying that he did the right thing, Hiccup, but I think that he was worried that he would lose you like he lost her." Sigrid tried to explain.

Hiccup was looking at her with some consideration, though he still seemed skeptical. Even if that were true, Hiccup had been hurt in so many ways and forgetting all of that was hard.

"I heard about what you said to Valka and I saw what happened with Stoick." She told him and Hiccup nearly groaned in embarrassment. Part of the reason he hadn't gone outside was because he felt like a complete idiot. He had been holding things in for so long, then he went and said so many personal things in front of half of Berk when he yelled at his mom. He regretted letting his frustrations out, in showing any emotion. Gossip traveled fast. Now everyone was likely to know what he had admitted to feeling. They would know how much he doubted himself now, they knew how pathetic and weak he was. How un-chiefly he was.

"Hiccup... I don't know if anything I've said has meant anything to you." Sigrid said. "But... I think that you should give them another chance. Let them gain your trust and prove their love. Family is so important, I think you know that."

"I'll think about it..." Hiccup answered without much conviction. He was leaning against Toothless and petting his head, soaking in the comfort that his best friend brought. Sigrid realized that that was the best she could do, the rest was up to Hiccup.

—

People moved around her as she stood in place, turning the paper in her hands in an attempt at reading Hiccup's notes. One particular note had been too long for the page, so instead of moving on to form another line of writing like any sane person would do, Hiccup had rounded the sentence along with the corner of the page. Hiccup was unique, and oh did she love him.

Astrid shook her head with an amused and exasperated sigh. She had made a decent amount of progress on the things that needed to be done today. Hiccup made it easy, everything was organized and in place, all she had to do was mention something to whoever was in charge of that particular thing, and they would assure her that they had it taken care of— Hiccup had already arranged things.

When she finally lowered the paper in her hands, having figured out what needed to be completed next, she was surprised to find Snotlout, the twins, and Fishlegs standing in front of her, looking uncertain and a little nervous. Astrid immediately glowered at them, she remembered what they had said about Hiccup, and herself.

"What?" Astrid demanded, her annoyance showing through. The group of young adults shuffled their feet and fidgeted, but Astrid didn't relent. They would have to speak up first or she would leave and get back to work.

"...how's Hiccup?" Fishlegs was the first to speak up.

"What do you mean?" Astrid wasn't about to make things easy for them either. They had betrayed their friend, had hurt him. Friends weren't supposed to act like that. She didn't care what they had said about her, it was true, she did side with Hiccup, and she would continue to do so. Hiccup was already sensitive and incredibly insecure about the past, what they had done had not helped matters.

"Well... just that we all saw what happened yesterday." Fishlegs continued for the group, the others still looking ashamed and unsure. "...with Valka and Stoick."

"And?" Astrid didn't let up, her hands moving to her hips.

"Is Hiccup okay or what?" Snotlout impatiently took over talking for the group.

"Why do you want to know?" Astrid asked, her tone remaining even despite her anger. She was going for neutral, unwilling to give them what they wanted and not wanting to make a scene and disgrace her temporary position as acting chief.

"...because he's our friend." Tuffnut answered as if it were obvious. Astrid took a deep breath, controlling her sudden rage. Now he was their friend? Now they cared? They all pulled a lot of crap, messed with each other and Hiccup, but that was just them and their Viking demeanors. Their friendship and loyalty had still always shone through and rang sincere. But talking like that behind another friend's back? That was a new low she hadn't thought they would ever resort to. She was disappointed in them above all else.

"We wanted to be there to support Hiccup, but you guys looked like you needed time alone. Hiccup was acting... different." Ruffnut referred to the moment after Stoick had yelled at Hiccup.

"You really care?" Astrid gave them scrutinizing looks. She wanted to believe them, they had all been through so much together, but she felt a need to remain loyal to Hiccup and consider his feelings. He didn't believe that they had ever been his friends.

"Of course we do!" Fishlegs sounded desperate to convince her.

"Why are you being weird?" Snotlout was blunt and to the point, as usual. "We just want to know how Hiccup is. You know, because he is so emotional all the time. It's always about feelings-"

"We want to know, because we are sympathetic as to what happened." Ruffnut elbowed Snotlout and emphasized what she was saying.

"You guys ever think he has reason to be so emotional?" Astrid argued, ready to put them in their place. They didn't understand all that Hiccup had truly been through, the depth of which it had all affected him. The things he had said... the things he hadn't said that Astrid could only imagine. If Hiccup thought his parents, and even herself, were better off without him... just how did he feel back then while he was living through so much rejection and neglect? When he had been lonely and without hope... she hated to think of where his mind might have gone. "You don't know anything about him."

"We're his friends, Astrid... I think it's safe to say that we know Hiccup fairly well." Fishlegs disagreed.

"Oh, do you?" Astrid was usually protective of the ones she cared about, and she was feeling very defensive on Hiccup's behalf right now. "Then why would you say such things behind his back? Why would you talk about one of your 'friends' that way? You don't even understand what he's going through right now, what he has been going through in just the past couple weeks. If you did, you wouldn't have gotten mad at him, you would have been supportive."

"Wait..." Snotlout narrowed his eyes. How did she know about what they had said? He didn't want to ask her, neither did the others, and confirm what they had done while feeling sorry for themselves.

"Yeah, I know." Astrid answered the unasked question. "Hiccup heard you."

"Oh gods..." Fishlegs worried, he had not liked that conversation. He hadn't really participated in it, but hadn't done much to stop it either. That was how he always handled things, by not participating and not doing anything.

"What was Hiccup doing out in the woods?" Tuffnut asked curiously.

"That's not what's important." Ruffnut reprimanded her brother. "Although I'm wondering the same thing."

The twins looked to Astrid expectantly, wanting their curiosity to be satisfied, but she only glared back, unwilling to tell them anything.

"We're sorry about that, okay? We didn't feel like Hiccup had treated us fairly and so, yeah, we complained a bit. We complain. You guys should know that." Snotlout said, brushing aside the twins' inquiry about Hiccup being in the woods.

"Why were you complaining? You blew up Berk and got yourself and Hiccup injured in the process. You were resting while Hiccup fixed your mistakes." Astrid accused Snotlout.

"I didn't-" Snotlout stopped before he could attempt to defend his actions. "Hiccup got hurt too?"

"Of course he did, he was right there when the explosion went off." Astrid informed them. "We had to force him to see Gothi and get some rest, but as soon as he could, he was out there pushing through the pain so that he could take care of Berk. That's what Hiccup does, and meanwhile his friends are tearing him down, behind his back."

"We didn't know he was hurt too..." Fishlegs tried, the others nodding their agreement.

"Maybe you should've asked how he was doing and how you could help, instead of complaining about being reprimanded for your mistakes." Astrid told them, bluntly. "Because you all did make mistakes. Hiccup lets you guys get away with a lot of things, it's about time he held you responsible for your actions. He has other things to worry about without having to babysit you all the time!"

"Ouch." Tuffnut muttered, though he figured it was fair, and Ruffnut agreed. Fishlegs looked thoroughly abashed and embarrassed.

"Whoa, that's rude." Snotlout argued. "You and Hiccup are just so much better than us now? He becomes acting chief and he can just yell at everyone and boss them around? I don't think he handled the situation well. We're supposed to be his friends and yet he gives us crappy jobs while he praises Eret for his deeds. Eret isn't even a Hooligan, he's not from Berk. But Hiccup trusts him more than us?"

"Eret has proved himself." Astrid argued back, taking a step forward. "You have consistently let Hiccup down."

"Okay, you guys... people are starting to stare." Fishlegs tried to move between them, endeavoring to take action for once.

Astrid took a step back and straightened herself. She wouldn't be dishonoring her temporary position, not for Snotlout and his pettiness. She respected the position of chief. With one final glare, she moved on, leaving the group to stew and think about what she had said.

"Can you believe her?" Snotlout asked, still indignant on his friends' behalf.

"Yes, she had some good points." Fishlegs took up the argument that Astrid had dropped.

"Really? What about the other day, when you said that Hiccup was being unfair to you." Snotlout brought up.

"I... was wrong." Fishlegs admitted. "I didn't like what he had to say, but he was right. I once wanted to prove to him that I have what it takes to be a leader, instead of someone who just lets people walk all over me. But, I've done a terrible job at keeping up with that. I fell back into my old ways. We all did."

Snotlout let out a breath. How could he remain angry on his friends' behalf when they weren't angry anymore themselves? Besides, even if he had been friends with this group for longer, Hiccup and Astrid were also his friends. He let out a frustrated groan. "Okay, fine. Maybe Astrid has a point." He fidgeted for a second as he remembered how he had felt that one time on Dragon's Edge, when he thought that the others didn't think he was good enough to be a Dragon Rider and thought they talked behind his back, when Spitelout had put ideas in his head and made him think he had to prove himself. Snotlout decided to confide in his friends. "I once told Hiccup that I wanted to lead the Dragon Riders someday, when he became chief... He told me that I had some things to work on if I ever wanted to be a leader. Even though I ended up deciding that leading might not be my thing, I stopped trying to better myself."

"Was that when you were being a bad member of our team?" Ruffnut asked.

"And almost got us killed?" Tuffnut added.

"Then Hiccup refused to let us banish you?" Ruffnut continued.

"Yeah, yeah. When we had to get rid of the dragon root that the Dragon Hunters were growing and Hiccup let me try to head up the mission." Snotlout answered, a bit annoyed. He had messed things up back then, but Hiccup had let him keep trying.

"Hiccup told us that you were going through something and that we had to be there for you, even if it was hard... because we're a team and we look out for each other." Fishlegs recalled that particular time on Dragon's Edge. They should have done the same thing for Hiccup, since he was clearly going through something as well. "A fractured team can take years to fix."

"Ugh." Snotlout was frustrated. Hiccup had, of course, made sure that he had been supported when he had been going through a rough time. Snotlout had been trying to support his friends, but had gone about doing it the wrong way. He had supported some of his friends at the expense of two of his other friends. Hiccup needed their support right now, and Snotlout knew he was being a jerk. He hated feelings of guilt, and they came all too often. "We have to apologize and show him that he can depend on us."

—

It took a lot of effort not to roll her eyes as Astrid walked toward the forge. She had just dealt with the other Dragon Riders and now Hiccup's parents were watching her as she approached. She was heading toward the forge to talk to Gobber, but it seemed she would be talking to Stoick and Valka now. Astrid was beginning to get irritated.

"I've been hearing about all the good work you've been doing, Astrid." Stoick complimented her in greeting. Astrid simply gave him a tight smile, trying to hide her frustration with him and Valka, but he could tell. "Thank you, for your hard work."

"That's not what you want to talk about, is it, sir?" Astrid got straight to the point. Stoick raised an eyebrow at the formality.

"Why don't we talk inside?" Valka suggested. There were a lot of curious people around, though most of them were too busy to pay them much mind.

"I'll go check on the construction." Gobber made his excuse to leave as the group entered the forge for more privacy.

"Hiccup is okay, he stayed at my house. He's still there." Astrid answered before either Stoick or Valka could say anything. "But he wasn't in a very good place last night."

Hiccup's parents exchanged a glance, both concerned for their son and relieved that Astrid had made sure he had been taken care of last night.

"We were going to talk to him yesterday, but..." Valka trailed off, not sure if they should admit to overhearing part of their conversation.

"We saw you and Hiccup talking in the cove and didn't want to interrupt you." Stoick finished vaguely. Astrid gave them a suspicious look, wondering just how much they had heard and seen. They seemed very worried. Astrid had been worrying too, about the things Hiccup said and what his words implied.

"I'm worried about him." Astrid admitted. This wasn't something she thought she could handle on her own, or that she should handle on her own.

"So are we." Valka said.

"Hiccup is... he's hurting, but would rather ignore his problems than confront them." Astrid told them. "I don't know how easy it'll be for you to get through to him."

"I know how he can get." Stoick spoke softly. "It's my fault, that's how I raised him, not to show weakness... and that's what he thinks he's doing. He thinks that he is showing weakness when he lets things from the past affect him."

"That's how we were all raised." Astrid defended Stoick, feeling the need even though she was still upset with him.

"And everyone else was accepted, but him." Stoick countered. "All of us, Vikings, everyone shows emotions, everyone feels. We just claim that we don't. Hiccup wasn't accepted, and he tried harder than all of us to be what we claim a Viking should be. I'm responsible for so much of what he struggles with today."

Valka set a comforting hand on Stoick's arm, silently supporting him as he admitted to something that was hard for him to accept. She knew that she had played a big role too, in adding to Hiccup's struggles.

"We want to make things right." Valka told Astrid. "We'd like to talk to him and apologize. I know that's not enough on it's own... but we have some things we need to discuss with him."

Astrid looked between both of them, scrutinizing them and gaging their sincerity. She didn't believe what Hiccup said to be true, that they didn't love him and would be happier if he had been taken instead of Valka. She couldn't believe that two parents could not love their child. But even if she believed that they cared about Hiccup, because of what he believed to be true,

Stoick and Valka could still do some damage, even with the best of intentions.

Astrid was worried for Hiccup, in a way she had never worried about him before. She had gotten a view of his deep, inner feelings and what she had seen had shaken her down to her core. What Hiccup had said raised questions in Astrid about how he had felt before he had met Toothless. So many of his past feelings affected him today, so what if those dark thoughts still lingered in his mind? What if Hiccup was just one bad day away from being pushed too far?

"I can't lose Hiccup." Astrid tried to reign in her emotions, but her voice wavered. Stoick and Valka gave her a look of concern. "He means everything to me... and, and I'm worried about him. About some of the things he said last night... Hiccup isn't in a good place right now and I fear that... that he was in an even worse state of mind before he met Toothless." She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, she wanted to feel in control of herself. She opened her eyes again, seeing as the couple exchanged a worried glance. "If you're going to talk to him, I'm going to be there too."

"Yes, of course. Astrid, that's more than fine." Valka assured her. She and Stoick had a pretty good idea about why she was so worried. They were worried about the same thing. It was heartbreaking to see the young woman so torn up about the situation, consumed with fear and concern for the one she loved. "I'm grateful Hiccup has you in his life."

"I think you should know something, before you talk to him." Astrid bit her lip, not sure if she should confide in them but feeling like she couldn't quite handle everything on her own.

"Astrid, I think you should know... we did hear part of your conversation last night." Stoick felt the need to assure her that they knew how serious the situation was. "We know how Hiccup feels about us."

"I figured as much." Astrid gave them a look before resuming her worried expression. "That's not what I wanted to bring up."

"...what is it?" Valka asked tentatively. She wasn't sure how much more she could take. What else could be wrong with Hiccup?

"It's just... I know Hiccup very well." Astrid took a breath, feeling some anxiety well up inside at the topic she was about to bring up. She didn't even have definitive proof, just suspicions. She had never brought it up with Hiccup, afraid that he would close himself off to her. But if she was right... she wanted to make sure Hiccup was supported enough to not resort back to such behavior. "There have been times where... I've seen... I've seen, uh." It was really hard to talk about, especially with her chief and Hiccup's mom, whom she barely knew. Astrid almost felt like she was betraying Hiccup's trust, but knew she had to bring it up for his well-being. Stoick and Valka were waiting, both looked very concerned. She really just needed to come out and say it. "Hiccup is a very private person, but he let's his guard down around me. He's never said anything about it or acknowledged it, but I've seen... marks on him. Injuries, old scars, that didn't look like they were... accidents."

Stoick and Valka looked stunned by the implication. Neither said anything as they stared at Astrid with a renewed sense of concern.

"I know Hiccup doesn't like to talk about how things used to be for him, and part of me thinks this is why. He's ashamed of how far he was willing to go to... I don't know, feel something different. Or distract himself from his everyday life of misery on Berk." Astrid expanded on her theory, not wanting to stand there in awkward silence. It was a hard thing for her to talk about too, because she felt partially responsible for Hiccup's past pain. She also couldn't say for sure that she was right. Hiccup had plenty of scars from the forge, and maybe he could tell her how he got each one. But... she was sure that at least some of them were... self-inflicted. Hiccup had seemed happier ever since he met Toothless, so she hadn't thought that she needed to bring it up. But it had become clear that the past had a strong hold on Hiccup, and now especially, with his recent confession of feelings to her, she worried about his state of mind and what he would do. "Please, say something?"

Stoick cleared his throat. "Hiccup has a lot of scars from the forge, or from just being clumsy." He tried to come up with a solution that was less dark.

"Those were my original thoughts too." Astrid responded. "I know a decent amount about injuries and scars."

"You really think Hiccup would...?" Valka let her question trail off, she couldn't say it. She didn't think she could feel more sorrow than she did in that moment.

"I was surprised at first." Astrid said. "But the more I thought about it... the more sense it seemed to make. Hiccup was not happy, back then. He was lonely and fed up. He was ridiculed and cast out. He never smiled sincerely, he was cynical, he didn't seem to even care about his own well-being— he was so reckless. What would someone who felt like they had no one who loved them and didn't think they could ever be what everyone wanted them to be, what would that person be willing to do... to feel better?"

"How would that make someone feel better?" It was not an easy concept for someone like Stoick to understand and he did not like the implications that Astrid was making. But he supposed that he had been wondering if Hiccup also felt like he would've been better off dead, back then, just like he felt that way in regards to their family. He truly did not know the depths of Hiccup's sorrow and pain.

"If the pain one felt on the inside was worse." Astrid speculated. She couldn't say for sure, she had never felt that way before. But she was trying very hard to empathize with Hiccup's past feelings. "What I'm saying is... be careful with Hiccup. I'm worried about him and I don't want him to feel the way that he used to. I want him to heal."

"We'll be careful." Valka found her voice again.

"We know how he feels now and we've realized how neglectful we've been." Stoick told Astrid. It felt kind of odd, to be discussing his son with Astrid. It felt like she was his protector and they had to ask her for permission to see their own son. It was kind of... backwards, but also not. She was to be Hiccup's wife, so her protective nature was also warranted. "We wanted to ask him if he'd be willing to spend some time with us, so that we can try to become the family we want to be. If it would make you feel better, we can go to your house when we talk to him."

Astrid took a moment to respond. "Why don't we go over there now?"

—

It seemed like a win-win situation. Sigrid kept Hiccup's mind busy by letting him continue to work on her knitted blanket, and progress was made on the blanket without her having to be the one doing the tedious task. She would never admit it to Astrid, but she didn't care for knitting much either. It was boring and she would also prefer to be throwing her axe around. But it was an important skill, so she would keep trying to teach her daughter. Though, much to her amusement, it seemed like Hiccup had the knitting thing down, so Astrid might not even need to use such a skill in the future.

Toothless perked up, having been watching Hiccup's hands move as if in a trance. The dragon looked to the door and started bouncing around. Astrid was coming. Hiccup turned his attention away from the yarn in his hands, knowing why Toothless was so excited.

"Is someone coming?" Sigrid asked Toothless, reaching to pat the dragon on the head as she walked to the door. She had been sitting by the fireplace, petting Heimy, since Hiccup had accomplished a lot of the morning chores already and the blind Hobblegrunt was very keen on being pet as often as possible.

The door opened before she got there and Astrid walked in, Stoick and Valka just behind her. They all stood there for a moment, staring at each other.

"Hey, mom." Astrid finally greeted. "We just want to talk to Hiccup..."

Sigrid got the message. They wanted to speak in private. She glanced at Hiccup, seeing as he tensed up, like he wanted to run away. It had taken some time, but he had finally relaxed after she had talked to him and given him something to do to get his mind off of things. It seemed a shame, that after he had managed to calm down, that he was already so tense.

"Come on Heimdall, I'll take you to get some fish to eat." Sigrid motioned for the dragon to follow her out the door, even though she knew he couldn't see it. The Hobblegrunt perked up at the word 'fish' and eagerly moved to her side. Toothless' made a cooing sound, wanting fish too, but he didn't follow. "You can come too, Toothless."

Toothless looked to Hiccup, then sat by his side, resolutely. Hiccup needed him, so he would not leave.

"Go on, Toothless. You haven't eaten yet today." Hiccup encouraged.

'I'll stay.' Toothless stubbornly refused to leave.

"It's fine, you can go." Hiccup insisted.

'I'm not that hungry.' Toothless made an excuse that Hiccup easily saw through.

"I don't believe that for a moment." Hiccup reprimanded. "You're always hungry."

Toothless huffed at Hiccup, rolling his eyes as he made a face. Hiccup almost laughed at his friend's stubbornness.

"Really, Toothless. Please go eat." Hiccup reached out to pat Toothless' scales and the dragon relented.

'You'll be okay?'

"Yes." Hiccup met Toothless' eyes. The Night Fury could see that Hiccup meant what he said and was assured by the fact that Astrid was there. He cooed, nuzzled Hiccup's face, and followed Sigrid to the door. Sigrid gave Hiccup a puzzled look before shrugging and leaving, closing the door behind her.

"Uh... okay." Astrid had a confused expression on her face too, as did Stoick and Valka. "I didn't think you and Toothless could get any weirder."

"...what?" Hiccup scrunched his face up in confusion.

"You just had a very weird conversation with Toothless." Astrid answered as she moved a chair next to Hiccup and sat down right beside him. "It was like there was a part of the conversation only you could hear."

"Uh..." Hiccup mentally reprimanded himself. He should have been more careful. It was something he intended to tell Astrid about, probably later when there weren't other matters to deal with and when he could talk to her in private. He didn't really know what was going on with him and Toothless, and he didn't want to make a big deal of it either. As far as Hiccup knew, not even his mom and Cloudjumper had a connection as strong as his and Toothless'. "That's... ridiculous." He finished lamely. "I just... know Toothless well."

"Right." Astrid narrowed her eyes at him. If Hiccup hadn't tried to explain it away, she wouldn't have thought that much more about it. But she knew how flustered Hiccup could get when he was making excuses or trying to lie or deceive, not that he did it often. She decided to drop it for now and get back to business. Astrid gestured at the chairs on the other side of the table. "You can sit."

Stoick and Valka exchanged a glance, also wondering about Hiccup and Toothless. Though that wasn't why they were here, so they let it go and sat as directed.

"Were you knitting?" Astrid noticed the yarn and the unfinished blanket sitting on the table in front of them.

"Uh, yes." Hiccup looked down at the project he had been working on for Sigrid. He had needed something to do with his hands before he drove himself and Astrid's mom crazy with his anxiety. "Your mom said she could use some help with it..."

"Of course she did. She just didn't want to do it herself. I know she doesn't like knitting, she's been working on that thing for months and has barely even made any progress." Astrid looked at the thing in disdain.

"Do people often ask you for help with their knitting?" Valka couldn't help but be a little amused.

"If it involves making something— anything really. Hiccup is the person to go to." Stoick answered for Hiccup. Really, Hiccup had a lot of these skills because Stoick had been too busy and impatient to do them. His son had taken up the chores that went ignored or undone, due to the missing member of their family.

The small talk died off and the four sat at the table in awkward silence for a minute. Hiccup was tempted to grab the yarn and needles and start working on the blanket again, really wanting to be doing something with his hands again as his anxiety returned.

"Hiccup..." Valka spoke up first. "I was wrong... when we argued yesterday I said a lot of things and made a lot of accusations, and I regret everything I said. I'm so sorry. I should have listened to you. There's more than one way to do things, and Berk's way seems to have been working well for all of you. You were right about... about how I adapted to live amongst dragons, so my way won't work here. The dragons have adapted to live on Berk, and the Vikings have changed for the sake of peace. You've done a wonderful thing here."

"...um, thanks." Hiccup wasn't sure what to say in response. Did she really just change her opinion overnight? It seemed unlikely.

"But what I really want you to know..." Valka scooted her chair in closer to the table, and as close to Hiccup as she could get. She moved her arm on the table, her hand scooting a little closer to Hiccup, though he didn't meet her half way. "Hiccup, I'm not disappointed in you, not in the least. I love you, and it really did tear me up inside when I decided not to come back to Berk. You were my baby boy... I longed to hold you in my arms again. I convinced myself that Berk, that my family, would be better off without me. And it turns out, I was wrong about that too."

Hiccup opened his mouth to say something, to reassure her that it was fine. He didn't want her to feel bad and she seemed so upset. He could just push forward, let her into his life again, and pretend that nothing was wrong. But he didn't want that anymore, so he closed his mouth and remained silent, not meeting her eyes. Astrid took his hand under the table, in silent support.

"I owe you an apology, too." Stoick decided to say what he needed. Valka was feeling rather rejected, but she figured that she deserved as much. It wouldn't stop her from continuing to try. Hiccup took a deep breath, bracing himself to hear more, still not sure what to believe.

"I'm sure, by now, my apologies don't hold much weight. I feel like I'm always asking your forgiveness for something." Stoick tried to meet Hiccup's eyes, to show him how much he meant what he was saying, but Hiccup wouldn't look directly back at him. Stoick wasn't so sure their apologies were having any kind of effect on him. "But I am sorry, Hiccup. I acted without thinking. I let my fear and concern during the situation take itself out on you, in anger. You didn't deserve to be yelled at in front of everyone. You weren't at fault. We've been neglecting you when we should have been finding time to spend with you."

Hiccup still didn't say anything, though he felt the need to tell them that everything was fine, he was fine. He was always fine, even when he wasn't. The burden on his shoulders felt so much greater. He was always trying to please people, always afraid that they would leave him or turn on him. The people of Berk had turned on him before, when the lighting had been attracted by the metal dragon perches. Hiccup wasn't sure what to think anymore. Everything, everyone, was so inconsistent. Eret, Astrid, and Stoick had all told him how supportive the people were of him, and while he had been interim chief, they had all been so nice and cooperative. They had listened, they had respected him, they had supported his ideas and decisions. However, his so-called-friends had turned on him this time. His parents had moved on without him, had gotten mad at him for trying and... for being himself. Astrid and Toothless were the only constants in his life. They were his rock. Meanwhile, everyone else seemed to flip-flop about him. It was confusing, and annoying, and frustrating. He didn't know what to think anymore.

"Hiccup?" Astrid nudged him with her shoulder. He had been staring at the table for a while, the others watching him closely.

Hiccup blinked as he came out of his thoughts. He didn't know what to say, so he told them as much. "I... don't know what to tell you."

"We understand completely, if you can't forgive us." Valka rushed to assure him. "We've been terrible parents, we've failed you in so many ways."

"We just want a chance to try again." Stoick added. "To be a family."

"...What if our family can't be..." Hiccup swallowed hard. "...can't be fixed?"

Astrid squeezed Hiccup's hand tighter, knowing how he felt about his family. A lot of damage had been done to make Hiccup think that his parents would be happier without him. Hiccup always gave people another chance, always forgave and moved on, but it was only damaging him and hurting him further because many of those people kept hurting him and needing more chances. Hiccup could only give so much before it became too much.

Stoick and Valka exchanged glances again. Hiccup didn't seem up to giving their family another chance. He seemed to have given up on the idea. What if their broken family couldn't be fixed...?

Valka would't let it end this way, her eyes shined with determination and hope. "Maybe... maybe it's not about fixing something broken... but about starting over and creating something better."

Hiccup finally looked up at her, meeting her eyes for the first time since she sat down across from him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, the family that we should have been? That's a fantasy, we won't ever achieve that because that time has long since passed and things are so different now." Valka explained, hoping to get through to her son. "We made mistakes, and we will always be sorry for how our decisions have affected your life. But maybe... we can try to be a family the way we are now. Your father and I, we want to go on a little trip with you. Just the three of us. It would be good for us to be able to get to know each other better, to discuss how we feel, to support each other, and learn how to be a family the way we are now. We won't ever be that conventional family, but we can move forward and become a loving family, in our own way."

"It will take time and effort." Stoick joined in, the considering look on Hiccup's face giving him hope. "But I think it would be worth it."

"No matter how you feel, Hiccup, we're not going to give up on you. We're going to be there to support you, from now on." Valka continued firmly. "When someone truly loves you, they won't ever let you go."

Hiccup looked between his parents, considering what they were saying. Sigrid had told him, family is important, and she was right, he had known that. But he was weary, not sure if he wanted to trust again only to be hurt, but he also really wanted to be a family with his parents. He had always wanted that, always imagined what it would be like to have his mom and dad. So far, it hadn't been what he had imagined, and that was disappointing. He still felt like it was his fault, still thought that his parents would have been happier without him. They were trying so hard, though.

If he didn't give them another chance, what would that mean? He was to marry Astrid soon, so he would be living in a different house anyway. But it would put a strain on things. Hiccup was supposed to learn the ways of a chief through his father. He would have to work with his mom when it came to the dragons. Berk's village wasn't huge, they would all come into contact with one another. Did he really want a strained relationship with his parents for the rest of his life? What about when he and Astrid started their own family? How would his relationship with his parents affect his children? How would the strained relationships of the chief's family affect the rest of Berk? Hiccup didn't want any of that. He also hated to hold grudges.

It felt like a risk, opening himself up again and letting people in. But it seemed like a risk worth taking. No matter how his parents felt about him, he still cared about them. He would always love his dad, and he would always want to know his mom better. If he didn't love them, then the idea of them being so disappointed in who and what he was, wouldn't hurt so much.

The hand squeezing his brought him back from his thoughts again. Astrid knew how distracted he could get, when he was thinking about something. When Hiccup looked at her, she gave him an encouraging smile and he knew what her thoughts on the matter were. She thought he should give them another chance. Hiccup turned his head back to his parents, seeing the concern and worry on their faces. They didn't think he was going to agree.

"Where did you want to go?" Hiccup asked tentatively.

Both Stoick and Valka couldn't help the smiles that came to their faces at Hiccup's answer. He was willing to give them another chance. He would go on the trip with them. All they wanted, was the chance to make things up to their son and try to become the loving family they knew they could be one day. Now they had that chance.

—

A/N: Looks like there is still hope for the Haddock family, though there is still plenty more angst and drama to come! Thanks for reading!

Silver Sentinel: Yeah, that chapter was full of a lot of self reflections and admissions of deeper feelings. Not only is Hiccup keeping a lot of things bottled up, but Stoick and Valka were as well. Though, Hiccup's feelings are more intense and severe, having been affecting him and adding up for years now. It's true, Valka hasn't seen how Vikings and dragons work together willfully and needs to take the time to learn how Hiccup handles the dragons on Berk. His way isn't wrong, just different than what she's used to.

Yubel578: I'm glad you liked the chapter! I think you're right, once Hiccup admits to certain things, it starts to feel more real. Then, he has to figure out what to do with those feelings and confront them rather than continue to ignore them. It's true that without Hiccup and Toothless, Berk would still be at war. They have a lot to thank Hiccup for.

Twilight81598: So sorry if the ending to the last chapter ended too soon for you! I like the enthusiam, haha. I hope this chapter was more satisfying for you.

Romantica 123: Thanks so much! I'm glad you like the story. I enjoy writing all the emotional stuff and digging deeper into how those emotions affect the characters. It won't be so easy for Stoick and Valka to fix things, though they are going to try.

Animation Adventures: Stoick and Valka still have a lot to learn about Hiccup and how he feels, but they seem to be on the right track. They're not about to give up on him and are ready to face things as opposed to glossing over them. The gang also have alot to learn about their friend. I really do think they take advantage of Hiccup's kindness and willingness to brush aside their behavior. They often cause him a lot of problems and need to learn to respect him more. Eret may have been an enemy at one point in time, but he was just scared of his boss. he quickly saw the truth and switched sides, then was loyal to Hiccup without hesitation. I like the idea of those two becoming close friends.

CHSHiccstrid: I'm glad you like "Snoggletog Showdown" and "Hiccup." Have you seen the show "Chuck"? There were a lot of raw emotions in this chapter. Hiccup finally opened up a bit and Stoick and Valka admitted to some of their own feelings. I agree, I ship Hicstrid and nothing else. Those two are great together. I always hated unnecessary love drama in shows and like that Hiccup and Astrid are portrayed as a strong couple. I prefer to write them that way, as a couple who care deeply for each other and depened on one another. And don't worry, I'm good at finding ways to add angst into a story!

Jazmine Ashley: This site can be finicky about random things. Thanks for reading my stories and reviewing! I appreciate all of my story followers and their support of my writing. I'm glad you like my fan fiction! I think in HTTYD canon, they don't address how the past would affect Hiccup in the future. I think everything he's been through would take a toll on him. It really doesn't make sense that Hiccup would survive, as a premature baby, being flown away in the cold and probably not being held correctly with his head supported and all that, and taken to a nest of dragons. Even if the dragons didn't mean him any harm, they don't know how, and don't have the means, to care for a human baby. Thanks for all the compliments!

animeArty: Haha, yeah, some of it was cheesy, but they're expressing their feelings and not holding back. Acknowledging how they feel is kind of what they need to be doing right now. I'm usually picky about grammar and spelling too, and I proofread through each chapter several times, but sometimes things still slip through. I did read through the last chapter and corrected the things I found. Hopefully I got most of them, if not all of them this time. I'm glad you liked the chapter and hope you liked this one as well!

Whiskerface: I think by now, Stoick should be practiced at realizing his mistakes when it comes to Hiccup. Now he needs to learn to stop himself before he makes those mistakes in the future. Stoick and Valka had a small talk, about Valka choosing to stay, in an earlier chapter. After that though, they didn't discuss anything that they needed, choosing to instead flirt and and have fun. While they were reliving their courtship, they were also ignoring the other member of their family. It's not just about them anymore, Hiccup is part of their family too. You're right, Valka is very accustomed to running away from her problems and not sharing her feelings or admitting to her wrongs. She hasn't been around people much. Stoick, however, has been trying to be more open and honest with his son. He's more used to admitting his wrongs and taking a look at himself and making change, though I'm sure it's hard for him. Gobber I think has been closer to Hiccup for longer than Stoick has. Gobber has seen Hiccup during his lowest points and was there with him during the things he endured in the past, even if it was just light observation at the forge. He's also willing to tell Stoick how things are, no matter what it is that needs to be said, and despite Stoick being the chief. I think, other than Toothless, Astrid knows Hiccup better than anyone. They make a great couple. Thanks for giving me the info on that story, I'll check it out!