Little Miracles

The Strongest Man in the World

Chapter Sixteen: The Strongest Man in the World

Stoick sailed back to Berk in complete silence. He did his best to live up to his name on the voyage home but it was exhausting. Hopefully his granddaughter would have healed enough to let him talk to her... to apologize to her. His son would never forgive him but Adrianna was a child. If anyone would be willing to forgive him, it would be her. At least she had the distinct advantage of likely forgetting most of what happened in the years to come. He knew that he never would and neither would Hiccup.

As soon as he arrived on Berk, he noticed the villagers all walking with very specific destinations in mind, all clutching their children. None of them knew the full story of why Adrianna had been taken and Stoick thought it was best that they didn't. The real obstacle he faced was having to assure the village that the children were now safe. Would anyone believe him? Hiccup's anguished sobbing earlier that week had been very audible and it was a sound that no one was likely to forget anytime soon. By the end of the ordeal, all of Berk knew the devastation of a parent who had lost his child and they were going to do everything they could to protect the youngest members of the tribe.

The chief didn't look anyone in the eye as he traipsed home. He didn't want any sympathy, any weak encouragements. He had killed his own sister. He had ripped his family apart. As far as he was concerned, he might as well just pretend he had no family left. Goodness knows they would.

Although one family member didn't seem to hate him as much as he hated himself. Gobber was sitting by his front door with a barrel next to him. At first Stoick stopped and stared, trying to figure out why his best friend was waiting for him. And then he thought it might be a good idea to ask, seeing as this was his house.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be... at the forge?" he asked his friend, not quite meeting his eye.

"Yeah, I could be there. But I had a feeling you'd be needin' this." he patted the barrel. "All the mead we can drink. I think we should have a little chat."

"I don't want to talk to anyone." Stoick muttered.

"Yeah you do. You just don't know it yet." Gobber smiled and rolled the barrel through the chief's front door.

Stoick felt rather irritated but he didn't show it as he followed the blacksmith into his house. Gobber had two full tankards of the rather potent brew on the table within seconds. The chief sat down and took a swig but he didn't start talking. He wanted to pretend his friend wasn't there. Heck, he wanted to pretend he didn't exist.

"You did the best thing for everyone." Gobber said in a low voice.

"I'm not so sure." Stoick replied, closing his eyes and resting his face on his palm. "Trista won't be hurting anyone anymore. And that's good. But she didn't deserve this. If I had just tried harder as a kid, maybe I could have helped her..."

"You did the best you could. Some people can't be helped." Gobber paused for a moment. "If she'd killed Adrianna, you'd be feeling a lot worse."

"I know that." Stoick stared into the amber liquid.

"Do you? Well then stop beating yourself up. You did the right thing."

Stoick looked up, finally meeting his friend's gaze. "Not for her. The right thing would have been to give her mercy. After everything she'd been through, that's what she deserved. She spent her entire life paying for my mistake." Stoick slammed the tankard on the table with surprising force. "If I had just been a better brother to her, none of this would have-"

"But you weren't." Gobber said in unnervingly nonchalant tone. "You weren't a good brother. This happened. The question isn't what you should have done. It's about what you're going to do now. And if I weren't here right now, I'm willing to bet you'd be lying down and feeling sorry for yourself for the foreseeable future."