For Milady

FORTY-TWO: Hope

"Babe..." she murmured but he sighed.

"I can't leave his side, Astrid," he sighed, his eyes trailing over the still shape. "I mean-he wouldn't leave me." He swallowed and his voice dropped. "And what if he...you know...and I wasn't here? I-I-I'd never forgive myself..." Her hand found his and she rested against him, relieved as he leaned against her, his eyes closing.

"You know he'll pull through, Hiccup," she reassured him softly. "He's Stoick! The most stubborn, strongest, bravest warrior in the history of the Tribe." She nuzzled against his neck and felt his arm slide around her. "You know you can't blame yourself for this, right?" He gave a shuddering breath.

"Who else can I blame?" he asked her simply. "I should have been here. And I would have been...if I hadn't left. If I hadn't abandoned my position as Heir and my people and left...to go after you." Her eyes snapped open. "And it was my choice-because I love you. And I could never consider marrying anyone else. You and Val are my world. And I tried not to make Dad ashamed. But in the end, I was forced to choose between my duty and my love..."

"Also your duty," Astrid reminded him. He managed a wan smile.

"A Chief protects his own," he admitted. "And you are my own, Milady-just as I am yours."

"And Val is ours," she confirmed.

"But it looks like Berk is mine to protect as well," he sighed and turned back to Stoick, his hand finding his father's huge paw.

"And you protected it by leaving, my love," she reminded him. "Heather told me what Camicazi tried. That her mother and their elder tried to effectively subjugate the Tribe by making you promise to 'obey' her. No Chief can ever make a binding vow to obey the Chief or Heir of another Tribe...because that hands your people to him or her!" She bunched her fists. "I should have stayed and fought for you."

"I should have fought more for you," he admitted, but she turned to look into his concerned face.

"Hiccup-neither of us was in the best place," she admitted. "I was heartbroken and devastated that my father wanted to marry me off to whoever would take soiled goods...and you just seemed scared to upset your Dad. And part of me...didn't believe that you could work this out. So I ran."

"And I went after you," he sighed. "Dad-I found Astrid...eventually. But on the way...oh, Dad...I'm sorry. I found some hunters far more ruthless than Viggo, people who tortured and mutilated and killed for fun. And I let Toothless and I become their prisoners. It was my fault, my carelessness that got us captured. And we nearly died. But when we caught up with where she had been heading...and found that Astrid had gone missing, I was so scared that they had got her, that they would kill her and our child...or both...that I..." He paused and took a shuddering breath. "I did whatever I needed to so they would fear me. So they would know that hurting my wife and my child would carry the highest price. But in the end...I found out they didn't have her after all. I destroyed and-and killed for nothing..."

"Not for nothing," Astrid reminded him. "They were still astonishingly brutal hunters, men who destroyed for fun. And who had harmed you and Toothless." Hiccup's hand tightened around his father's.

"In the end, I found her-in labour, alone," Hiccup said and his voice strengthened. "I helped deliver our child, our daughter." He felt Astrid move, hearing a slight whimper from the infant. "We named her Valkana-after Mom. It was Astrid's idea...but I love it. And you would be so proud of her, Dad. I mean, she's anything but a Hiccup! She's bonny and strong and fierce and has a set of lungs on her! I mean, we can certainly tell she's your granddaughter!" He glanced over and saw Valkana's wide eyes staring at him myopically and he took the baby expertly in his arms. "Right, Princess?"