Chapter Text
Chapter Nine
Hiccup hesitated. He had never intended to talk about the incident again, especially with his father. But when he glanced over, Stoick’s eyes were sad and pleading, and he had sounded sincere.
He turned to Toothless and the Night Fury nuzzled his face and spoke quietly. /Tell him./’
So Hiccup told him the truth of that long-ago day, his voice so low that at times Stoick had to lean closer to hear him. There was a silence when he finished. After a few minutes,
Hiccup looked over again, to see that his father’s face was ashen.
Stoick cleared his throat before speaking, his own voice rough with emotion. “Saying ‘sorry’ just isn’t enough, is it?”
Hiccup turned away, squeezing his eyes closed against the sudden rush of tears. But Stoick reached for him, pulling his son close and wrapping strong arms around him. For a second, Hiccup froze before then melting into his father’s embrace, burying his face against Stoick’s shoulder and clutching at the heavy woolen cloak.
“Ssh.” Stoick pressed a kiss to the top of Hiccup’s head, burying his own face against his son’s chestnut hair. “I am sorry though. I’m so sorry.”
Hiccup nodded. “I know.” He drew a deep shuddery breath. “S’all right.”
“No,” Stoick answered immediately. “No, it’s not all right. It’s not all right at all.”
Hiccup wanted to protest, but when he tried to speak past the gigantic lump in his throat, all that came out was a choked sob.
Stoick held him even closer and smoothed his hair. He tried to think of some comforting words he could speak, but what could he say to right the terrible wrong he had done to his son? What were the magic words that could heal the pain of betrayal?
There were so many times he had failed Hiccup and his kind, courageous son had always forgiven him, but Stoick didn’t think he could ever forgive himself for this one. His own heart felt shattered when he remembered how harsh, how cruel, he had been. He couldn’t bear to think how Hiccup must have felt.
“I failed you,” Stoick admitted, when Hiccup had grown quiet and simply leaned against his father. “I should have listened. I should have believed you.”
Hiccup hesitated, but finally said softly, “That was the worst part, that you believed them instead of me. Why? I was never a liar.”
Stoick shook his head helplessly. “I don’t know. Looking back, it seems so clear what I should have done. But at the time, I just remember it sounded like one of your projects gone wrong.”
“But starting a fire didn’t sound like something Snotlout and the twins would do?” For the first time, there was a slight edge in Hiccup’s voice. He leaned back slightly so that he could see his father’s face.
“Yes, it does sound like something they would do,” Stoick admitted heavily. “I guess I didn’t realize that they would do something as low as blame an innocent person.”
“If it had been anyone else besides me, you would have listened and at least considered their side of the story.” Hiccup just sounded hollow now. “You’ve always talked about how important it is to look at all the evidence before judging someone. But that never applied to me.”
Stoick’s shoulders slumped. “I never meant to be unfair to you, but you’re right, I was. I don’t know what to say, except that I’m sorry and I’ll do anything I can to try to make it up to you.”
He paused. “And I hope that one day, maybe you’ll be able to forgive me.”
“I already forgave you, Dad.”
“But you’re still hurting,” Stoick said quietly. Once again he wrapped an arm around Hiccup’s shoulders, pulling him close. “How can I help you to feel better?”
Hiccup leaned against him. “You already have.”
He ducked his head, giving his father a shy glance. “I am glad you know the truth. I hated that you thought I would lie and blame someone else for something I did.”
“Like your so-called friends did to you.” Stoick’s tone turned angry. “I can’t believe they were such craven, gutless, lying little-!”
“Dad, it’s all right,” Hiccup interrupted, though a part of him was touched that his father was so upset on his behalf. “They apologized to me a long time ago, and I forgave them too.”
“But they’ve never told the truth to anyone,” Stoick responded. “They should have done more than apologize. They need to clear your name.”
Hiccup sighed. “Well, yeah,” he agreed quietly.
That was another painful point. His relationship with his cousin and the Thorston twins had changed so much since the day they had first flown with their dragons to save the rest of their tribe, and they were all close friends now. He supposed that once he had accepted their apology, they had considered the matter closed. But he did wish that they had cleared him before the village. It had always hurt that they hadn’t done so, even if he had decided to let bygones be bygones and not press the issue.
“Well, they will now,” Stoick said fiercely. “As soon as we get back, I’m going to—”
“Dad, no,” Hiccup interrupted again. “I really don’t want you to get involved. They are my friends now. They’ve saved my life. They’ve helped take care of me when I was sick or hurt. Whatever happened in the past, they’ve made up for it, and I’ve forgiven them, too.”
Stoick didn’t look happy. “But it’s not right that everyone still thinks you started that fire and lied about it.”
“I can deal with that,” Hiccup said quietly. “As long as you know the truth.”
He hesitated and then added. “And Mom.”
Stoick smiled sadly. “Aye, she knows. She’s the one who blasted me for not believing you to start with, and told me to get out here and apologize.”
His arm around Hiccup’s shoulders tightened, holding him closer. “And I’m sorry and ashamed that she had to tell me. I should have realized it myself.”
Hiccup relaxed against his father. Another of his wounds, buried deep inside, began to heal.
H & T H & T H & T
It was well past noon when they returned home. Toothless and Skullcrusher landed on the hill beside the Chief’s house and, with a promise that he would see them all later, the Rumblehorn headed down to the village where they could see dragons and Vikings carefully attaching green wooden planks to the Snoggletog Tree frame.
“Don’t you need to go help, too?” Hiccup asked, looking over at Stoick.
But the Chief shook his head. “I’ll go down to the Hall for dinner and see how things are coming along, but I put Gobber in charge for now.” He rested a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I told everyone that I had family business to take care of today.”
He and Hiccup smiled at each other.
Toothless bounded ahead of them into the house, with Hiccup and Stoick following him. Valka was sitting on the floor, carefully searching through a medium-sized wooden box beside her.
But she jumped to her feet when the rest of the family entered.
‘Hiccup? Are you all right?” She came to enfold Hiccup in a gentle embrace, then stepped back to study him closely, her hands on his shoulders.
“I’m better now,” he responded. “Um, so Dad told you about that fire in the Great Hall?”
Valka nodded. “He did, but I thought there might be more to it…”
“And you were right.” Stoick came over to place his arms around his wife and son. “Hiccup had nothing to do with it. Our nephew and the twins blamed him-and I was a fool to believe them.”
“I can’t believe they would do that!” Valka exclaimed. “They seemed so loyal and caring.”
“I liked them!” She sounded as angry as if they had betrayed her personally.
“It’s okay, Mom,” Hiccup spoke quickly. “A lot has changed since then. They really are good friends now. I’ve forgiven them and I want you and Dad to, too.”
Valka frowned. “I don’t know if I can. They hurt you.”
Hiccup had to smile. After all the lonely years when it seemed that no one cared much for him, it was really wonderful to know that he had a family on his side. But he had meant what he said about wanting his parents to forgive his friends.
So he smiled at his mother and said softly, “Please try, for me.”
Valka hesitated before slowly nodding. “All right. I’ll try. And Hiccup,” her voice dropped almost to a whisper. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t here for you when you were growing up.”
“It’s all right, Mom. You’re here now.” Hiccup hugged her. “I love you.”
Valka hugged him back. “I love you, too.”
Stoick stepped close to wrap his arms around them. “I love you both.”
Not wanting to be left out, Toothless came over, stood up partway on his hind legs, and wrapped his forelegs and wings around them. /And I love you all, Human Family!/
Laughing, they stepped apart and Hiccup flung his arms around Toothless for a quick hug. “Thanks for everything, bud. You’re the best brother anyone could have.”
Toothless nodded. /I know./ Then he too laughed and nuzzled Hiccup’s hair and face.
Before Hiccup could complain about dragon saliva not washing out, Valka spoke as she moved back to the box on the floor.
“Look what I found. But, Stoick, these don’t look like they’ve been disturbed in years.”
Stoick went to kneel beside the box, too. “No. After you were gone, I just never had the heart to get them out again.”
Valka looked to both Stoick and then Hiccup, her expression sorrowful and guilty. “So you never made any more with Hiccup?”
Stoick shook his head as Hiccup and Toothless came to join them, peering into the box.
“Made any more what?” Hiccup asked.
For answer, Valka reached into the box and moved aside an old blanket that covered a couple dozen small objects. She lifted one into the air, a round pale wooden circle with tiny green leaves painted around the edge and with red letters entwined in the center--a ‘V’ and an ‘S’.
“Your father and I used to make home-made ornaments together and we would decorate the house for Snoggletog with them. This is the first one we made, the year we were married,” she said softly.
Stoick very carefully searched through the box until he found another particular ornament—a wooden ball painted white with a silver beaded snowflake on one side and the letter ‘H’ on the other. “This is the last one we made, when we were expecting you.”
Hiccup reached to touch it, a lump in his throat. But as his fingers traced the ‘H’, he looked up at his parents. “But you didn’t know then if I would be a boy or a girl.”
Valka smiled. “If you’d been a girl, you would have been named after your grandmother Hildegard.”
Hiccup smiled too, and for the first time he wondered what life might have been like if his mother had been there and he’d grown up with brothers and sisters.
Stoick set the ornament down in the box and rested a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Hiccup, we understand if you don’t want to help with the village, but what would you think about helping decorate our house?”
“And maybe we could make a new ornament to celebrate this year,” Valka added.
“I think we could do that, huh, bud?” Hiccup reached for Toothless. Then as an idea occurred to him, he grinned. “Oh, I know what we could make. It might take a few days, but we could work on it in the evenings. We’ll need some wire and wood and paint. I’ll be right back. Come on, Toothless!”
He hurried outside to head down to the forge. Toothless glanced at Valka and Stoick, shook his head, and snatched Hiccup’s cloak between his teeth as he took off after his brother.
H & T H & T H & T H & T
Later that evening the Haddock family, including Toothless, headed to the Great Hall for dinner. Hiccup had hesitated at first. Even now, he tended to avoid the village as much as possible during the Snoggletog season and he had at first planned to see if Astrid would like to have a quiet dinner together and then go on an evening flight.
But he was feeling better now that his parents knew the truth, and working on their own Snoggletog project that afternoon had lifted his spirits so much that when Stoick and
Valka had asked him to go with them to dinner, he had agreed. And maybe he and Astrid could still enjoy that flight afterwards.
The Hall was crowded as usual for this time of year. Everyone was full of good cheer and wanted to make the most of being sociable because they all knew that once Devastating Winter hit, as it soon would, they might be cooped up at home for days or even weeks at a time.
Some of the dragons were there too, and Toothless wandered over to say hello and share some tuna with Cloudjumper and Skullcrusher. Hiccup spotted his friends sharing a table near the kitchens, and he waved to them when they saw him and called greetings. But he decided to stay and eat with his parents and Gobber at their own table by the firepit.
They were finishing up when Astrid came over. After quickly greeting the adults, she touched Hiccup’s arm and asked quietly, “Hey, could we speak alone somewhere?”
“Um, sure.” Hiccup tried not feel nervous. Everyone told him that he was paranoid, but he couldn’t help but always expect bad news.
But when Astrid drew him off to a quiet corner, she pulled him into a fierce hug. “Ruffnut told us the truth about that Snoggletog fire. I can’t believe they did that, and I can’t believe you never told me about it either!”
She drew back to study him, her expression a mixture of sympathy and indignation. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
Hiccup sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to forget about it all, and pretend that it never happened.”
“But you can’t forget about it when it still upsets you every year,” Astrid pointed out softly.
“No,” Hiccup agreed.
Astrid squeezed his hand. “Well, those muttonheads are lucky I didn’t tie them up to the Snoggletog Tree. The only reason I didn’t was because I figured you wouldn’t want that.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“But they owe you big time,” Astrid continued with determination. “And they better watch out. Fishlegs is furious with them too. You should have heard him. He really let them have it about being terrible friends to you.”
Hiccup had to smile. Fishlegs was normally so easy-going, but the few times Hiccup had seen him angry about something, he had been every bit the terrifying Viking warrior.
“Really?”
Astrid nodded and started to say something, but before she could, a metallic clanging interrupted.
They looked around to see that Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut had gone to stand on the dias and that the twins were banging their helmets together to get everyone’s attention.
“Um, hey everyone,” Snotlout called, looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable. “Ruff and Tuff and I need to make an announcement. It’s actually something that we should have said a long time ago, or really, it’s something we never should have said at all, but um, I guess when we were kids, we weren’t always as brave as we are now. So…”
Most people were staring at them with confused expressions. Hiccup himself could hardly believe what his cousin and friends were doing.
Tuffnut spoke up. “What Snot’s trying to say is that Hiccup didn’t start that fire in here, that year we were twelve. We did, the three of us. Not on purpose, I mean. But it was our fault, and then,” he stopped and he too looked ashamed. “Then we were scared and we blamed Hiccup for it. And that wasn’t cool.”
“We wanted to say that we’re sorry,” Ruffnut added. She scanned the Hall until she found Hiccup and nodded to him. “Hiccup, we’re really sorry. If there was a way that we could take it back, we would. But we’re sorry and we’ll do anything to make it up to you.”
Hiccup stared at them in amazement. Although he had once hoped that his friends would clear his name, he had given up thinking that they ever would. He looked back over to his parents, who smiled at him, and grinned back.
The villagers in the Hall sat in shock for a minute, then everyone began talking-and some sounded angry. Hiccup hesitated-he did not like taking center stage-but then he hurried over to climb the dais and stand next to Snotlout and the twins. Everyone grew silent again to see how Hiccup would react.
He took a deep breath. “It’s true, what they said. I didn’t start that fire.”
He turned to his friends. “It was really wrong for you guys to blame me. But I think you’ve made up for it. You’ve saved my life more than once, at the risk of your own. You’ve helped me when I was in trouble, took care of me when I was sick or hurt, and I know that you’ve changed. I know that you are true friends and I forgive you for everything that happened in the past.”
Ruffnut sniffled and Tuffnut swiped at his eyes. Then both twins exclaimed, “Thorston sandwich!” and threw their arms around Hiccup.
He laughed and hugged them back. When they finally stepped apart, he and Snotlout eyed each other.
“Aw, what the hell,” Snotlout shrugged and flung his arms around Hiccup too.
Hiccup and Astrid never did have a chance to fly that evening. Everyone wanted to come by and apologize, and tell Hiccup how much they wanted him to fully participate in the Snoggletog celebrations. Gobber was the last and by the time he had finished reproaching both himself and Hiccup (“Always thought it didn’t sound like you. I shoulda never believed it, but why didn’t you ever tell ole Gobber the truth, laddie?”), it had grown late.
“Maybe we could go tomorrow night?” Astrid suggested.
“I’d like that,” Hiccup smiled.
They started for the doors, where Astrid’s parents were chatting with Stoick and Valka, and the dragons waited for them. But Snotlout and the twins came over again.
“So we’re really all right?” Snotlout asked.
Hiccup nodded. “Yea, we’re all right.”
“You’re sure there’s nothing we can do to make it up to you?” Ruff asked.
“We really want to do something for you,” Tuff agreed.
“He said we’re all right,” Snotlout put in quickly.
“Well, actually, there is something,” Hiccup remarked.
Snotlout sighed. “I knew it. All right, what do you want us to do?”
“I want you to help move the elders into the Great Hall after Snoggletog,” Hiccup told them. “And to check on them regularly and help them with anything they need this winter.”
There were always several elderly people who moved into the Great Hall for the winter; the ones who didn’t have close family to take them in. Staying in the Great Hall made it easier to keep them warm and fed, and for the other villagers to keep watch over them.
Ruff and Tuff nodded. “You got it.”
“Yea, we could do that,” Snotlout agreed. He smiled at Hiccup. “Good idea, cuz.”
He slung an arm around Hiccup’s shoulders as they walked off.
H & T H & T H & T H & T
The Snoggletog Feast and Celebration was a couple weeks later. It was a beautiful evening, with a blanket of snow covering the ground and a bright full moon rising over the horizon. A crisp wind blew in from the ocean, but twinkling lights strung between houses and the warm glow of lanterns as everyone gathered in the village square gave Berk a festive air.
“Hurry up, we’re going to be late!” Stoick grumbled as he waited on the steps of the Chief’s house. He adjusted his great fur mantle, worn over his bottle-green tunic and trousers.
/Don’t worry, Dad. They can’t start without us./ Toothless said cheerfully, sitting beside him.
“I wouldn’t be so sure. I could barely keep people out of the kitchens today. Gobber’s been talking about the roast yak for days now,” Stoick replied. “Valka, Hiccup!”
“Calm down, love. We’re here.” Valka swept through the door, resplendent in a new midnight-blue velvet dress and her long chestnut hair worn down in loose curls.
Stoick simply stared at her, his jaw dropping open.
Toothless looked back and forth between them. /You can close your mouth now, Dad./
Stoick stepped close and took her hand. “You’re always beautiful, my love. But tonight…” He shook his head. “I’m speechless. You’re the most gorgeous woman in the world.”
Valka kissed his cheek. “Well, I’m the luckiest, definitely.” She looked deep into his eyes. “I love you so much, my dear. And I’m so sorry for all the pain I caused you.”
But Stoick shook his head again. “Tonight is a joyful occasion. Let’s just celebrate being together again.”
“All of us,” he added as Hiccup came outside to join them, also looking very handsome in his dark red woolen tunic and trousers.
Stoick, Valka, and Toothless started for the village. Hiccup closed the door, pausing a moment to gaze proudly at the wreath fastened to it. It was the wreath he and his family had made together, attaching painted green leaves to a metal frame and decorating it with red wooden circles for berries. Each red ‘berry’ bore a white letter in the center—an initial for each member of the family: Stoick, Valka, Hiccup, Toothless, Cloudjumper, and Skullcrusher.
And although Hiccup had not mentioned it, he had also made one extra ‘berry’ and tucked it away in a desk drawer, to keep for the day when Astrid would join the family as well.
“Hiccup!”
He smiled. For the first time in years, he was truly looking forward to the Snoggletog Celebration, to enjoying a night of feasting and dancing with all his family and friends.
His village. His people.
Hiccup hurried after his family. “I’m coming!”