Of the Northmost Winds and Skies

Chapter 24: The gang goes shopping

Jack came back to his body like waking up from a dream, but that was the only part of what had just happened that seemed dreamlike. The vision, with lack of a better word, was not a dream, and he knew it just as well as he knew all the other times had not been dreams. Still, there was something about this time that felt too good to be true... and somehow too heavy to bear at the same time.

He felt the cold ground beneath his legs and Toothless' ragged skin again his cheek. He blinked his eyes open, and Hiccup's dozing silhouette came into focus, dimly lit by the embers of fire. He was holding his hands out in front of him, like he was begging for money, and Jack realized why when Baby Tooth shifted in his palms. Hiccup woke back up with a small jolt, sending Baby Tooth a slightly panicked look. In the same second, Jamie abruptly sat up, startling Hiccup even further.

"What- What happened?" Hiccup asked. Jack didn't know why he was whispering.

Giving himself a few more seconds to gather his emotions, Jack let out a quiet breath, closing his eyes. He wished Jamie hadn't touched the crystal. He wished he hadn't gone back there in the first place. He wished he could go back. His chest felt so unimaginably heavy.

"We're- We're back," Jamie explained feebly to Hiccup, who smiled uncertainly.

"You didn't... go anywhere," he replied slowly, though it sounded more like a question.

Jamie didn't try to argue. Instead, his voice turned soft. "Jack?"

Jack steeled himself to use his own voice. "Yeah," he replied, and though he tried to sound unbothered, the weight in his chest pulled the word down to a quiet, weary murmur. It didn't sound convincing to himself; it wouldn't have sounded convincing to anyone.

Hiccup was looking at him when Jack opened his eyes, unhidden concern in his expression. "You okay?" he asked.

Jack pushed himself up and nodded. Jamie looked at him as though he hadn't seen him in years, and Jack didn't know what to do with that; everything unspoken between them hung in the air like the electricity before a thunderstorm. After what they'd seen, Jack didn't know how to summon the strength to be big and grown up. It was as if he could still feel the warmth of his mother's hands covering his own, and her laugh as Jack proposed silly baby names to her.

They'd all been silly on purpose; he'd already decided on the name Emily.

Little Emily, all loud laughs and grubby baby hands, stumbling over the creaking wooden floor to follow Jack's every whim. Bubbly Emily, with eyes wide with wonder at every tale and piece of feigned wisdom her big brother would tell her. Jack's Emily, and he hadn't even remembered that he had been the one to give her that name.

Jamie stood up on his knees and hugged Jack tightly. It left Jack a bit dazed, but it also brought him back to the present – their current present, anyway – and he let the tension seep out of his shoulders, bringing his arms around Jamie as well.

"Do you have the crystal?" Jack whispered.

Jamie nodded and slowly pulled back. "I'm not surprised you were an older brother," he replied with a faint smile, switching over to English. He handed Jack the crystal. "In fact, I suspected as much."

A smile so wide it surprised Jack himself spread over his own face at those words, and he let out a quavering laugh. "I'll tell you about her," he promised.

Baby Tooth chirped a soft tune and Jack turned to her, holding the crystal up between two fingers. Beside her, Hiccup's jaw went slack.

"How..." he started helplessly.

"Told you they multiply," Jack said with a wink. He scooped up the other crystals, then looked around with a frown. "You moved us in our sleep?" he asked with a chuckle.