Little Miracles

Last Day

Chapter Fifteen: Last Day

Stoick made certain that Trista was on the ship to the Berserkers at dawn the next morning. She held her head high, a sort of dignity emanating from her. She knew where she was going. She knew she wouldn't be returning. And she had accepted her fate.

If only the same could be said for the Hooligan chief. He had been up most of the night trying to convince his son to snap out of whatever had taken over. But Hiccup remained unresponsive. Even when he moved, usually to use the outhouse, he seemed dizzy. Like everything was instinct. He didn't seem aware of what he was doing. And with his owner in a catatonic state, Toothless had never been so depressed. Like Hiccup, he refused to eat or to sleep, instead deciding to curl up next to his human and try to be of some comfort to him. The young man acted like he didn't even know his own dragon. Stoick briefly thought of bringing in Finn to try to get some reaction out of Hiccup but he immediately quashed this idea. Finn would surely be alarmed at the sight of his father in such a state. With his granddaughter already broken, Stoick didn't want to risk the same thing happening to his grandson.

"Set sail." he said to the closest Hooligan once they had all boarded the boat.

As the coast of Berk slowly disappeared into the horizon, Stoick took a deep breath and wondered if things would ever go back to normal. And then, as the memory of his actions on the day his brother had died brimmed to the surface, he was certain that they never would.

Xxx

"Is Anna gonna tome home?" Finn asked Snotlout, gripping the man's hand very tightly on the way to the Great Hall.

"Of course she will. She's just a little sick." Snotlout explained, his stomach tightening as he prayed that the child would stop asking questions.

"Why tan't I see daddy?" the boy continued with slightly furrowed eyebrows. "Did daddy get sick too?"

"Yes. Your daddy needs to feel better and then you can go home." Heather said, giving his other hand a small squeeze.

For a little while, Snotlout and Heather continued to walk the boy to the designated location in silence.

"Is Anna gonna die?" Finn asked quite suddenly.

Both Snotlout and Heather stopped in their tracks and faced the small boy, looking horrified.

"Why would you ask that?" Heather gasped, rocking Inga with one hand so that she wouldn't wake up at the disturbance.

"Because evewyone is sad." Finn replied, sniffing loudly. "Why is evewyone sad? Din't they want Anna back?"

Snotlout crouched down so that he was staring into Finn's eyes. "Everyone is sad because Anna is sick. And they want her to get better. But she's home and that's what matters."

"Oh." Finn thought very hard for a second. "Ca-I see her?"

Snotlout and Heather exchanged a split second glance. "I think you should ask your mom." Snotlout said after a second's hesitation.

"Otay." Finn replied.

Snotlout stood up and led the boy to his mother, who was waiting in front of the Great Hall. Upon catching sight of her little red haired son, Astrid rushed forward, dropped to her knees, and embraced him. Finn could feel his mother's heart racing and wondered why it was beating so fast since she hadn't just been running around. After a very long hug, she put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back so that she could see his face. She brushed his bangs out of his eyes and kissed his forehead.

"Why were you gone so yong, mommy?" Finn asked her quite seriously.

"We went out to go find Anna. Were you good for Uncle Snotlout and Aunt Heather?" Astrid asked, brushing his bangs away from his eyes again.