When Inga arrived at work for her usual allotted morning shift, she hadn't expected Mara to thrust a large basket of medical supplies into her arms and point a stiff finger out the door.

"Maggie has the flu. Can you refill the medical supplies in the Academy for her?"

Inga nodded firmly. She turned and marched out the door, pulling it closed with her ankle as she went. Just before the door closed she thought she heard raucous laughter coming from Cliff's corner of the hut. Good, that meant he could go home soon and stop ruining her days with painfully cheesy jokes.

The Jorgenson girl marched through the streets purposefully, her head held high as she went. She gave a warm smile to everyone she came across, thinking about her work schedule as she went. A few streets away from Mara's, she was delighted to be joined by her Changewing, Mystie.

"Hey girl!" Inga grinned. "Care to give me a ride to the Academy?"

Her Changewing grinned toothily as if to say Of course! She crouched for the teenager to slide into her saddle before they took off. Inga sighed in relief, thankful they had dragons. It saved so much time and energy from walking across the entire village. She couldn't imagine a time where dragons were enemies, born from a blood feud centuries old. She gave her dragon an affectionate scratch as the Academy loomed into view. Mystie hummed appreciatively and dove toward the entrance.

"Thanks Mystie," Inga slid to the ground and walked into the stone tunnel that led inside, her dragon on her heels. She heard the clashing of metal against metal and yelling. She stood in the large doorway, the iron gate looming above her head. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight before her.

Fearless Finn ducked from an oncoming sword and parried a blow from his other side. Thorein and Evan circled him, a grin present on the former's face and a scowl on the other's. Evan pitched a yell and lunged forward; Finn spun out of reach and blocked an oncoming blow from Thorein, who'd crept up on him from behind.

Evan kicked the back of Finn's knee, forcing him to crumple beneath Thorein's sword. Finn slid his blade across Thorein's in a swift diagonal motion and swung it toward Evan, who leapt back to avoid the swing. Finn used his momentum to roll backwards and pop back onto his feet.

The boys continued to spar around the Academy, a few adults watching on with critical expressions. Who exactly they were critiquing Inga wasn't sure, but all three boys seemed to know what they were doing. She was impressed anyway.

Inga winced when Finn smacked the butt of his sword into Thorein's nose. The dark-haired boy went down, nose streaming with blood. Evan and Finn's swords flashed, Evan backing the heir further into the arena. Finally, a gradual look of irritation overtook Finn's face.

Throwing up his sword, Finn blocked Evan's sword overhead and shoved it to one side. Evan noticed his error too late. Finn came forward in a single fast movement and smacked his forehead against Evan's.

When Evan hit the ground hard, Inga realized her eyes were wide as saucers. She knew Finn had a talent for hand-to-hand combat... but wow.

"Good work," Astrid strode into the center of the Academy. "But we have a lot of work to do. Thorein, you're too slow. Evan, your right side is weak; put some muscle into it. Finn..."

Inga wished she could see his face, but unfortunately his back was to her.

Astrid pondered her words. "Don't get cocky. Boys, ice your faces."

Thorein and Evan dragged themselves off the cobblestones with groans. Finn turned to the side, sheathing his sword and quite suddenly looked toward her. Inga gave a startled, rather undignified "eep" before scuttling off to the medical area.

As she stuffed rolls of cloth and ointments into the box, Inga fumed to herself. She simply couldn't understand why she was acting so weird all of a sudden! She'd always disliked Finn from the start. But it seemed since their little encounter in the woods a while back had sparked a new fire in her soul and mind that she just couldn't destroy.

Inga Jorgenson prided herself in honesty and loyalty and a no-nonsense attitude. But she couldn't lie to herself anymore... She liked Fearless Finn Haddock.

With a groan of annoyance, Inga turned a glare over her shoulder. There he was across the Academy, standing tall in his protective armor. The ends of his red hair were a shade darker from sweat, a few strands plastered to his forehead. He laughed at something one of the other boys said; he even went so far as to bite his bottom lip, which for some strange reason made her insides turn to jelly. When he took a long swig of water from a cup she couldn't help but think that he was perhaps the most gorgeous boy she'd ever met.

Inga blinked and slapped herself, turning back towards the medical supplies. This was ridiculous. It wasn't fair! He shouldn't be allowed to have this effect on her! Especially when such a thing could never be reciprocated. Finn would never come to like her. Their age difference alone made that difficult. To him, she was still just a little kid, she was sure of it.

Sure they teased each other relentlessly and bickered like an old married couple, but that didn't mean they had THAT much in common. She wasn't that concerned about boys anyway, who was she kidding? She had enough to worry about from working at the healer's and trying to keep herself healthy, even help out at home when she could. At thirteen, the last thing she needed to worry about was boys. Especially that one.

Inga's gaze flitted back to Finn when he laughed out loud. Her eyes slid to his chest; the fact that she now knew just how toned his body was certainly did NOT help things.

While she was staring and thinking, she barely noticed Thorein smirk from under the cloth holding his nose and mumble something to the other boys. Finn and Evan turned toward her and they too smirked. That's when Inga realized they'd just caught her staring.

Twisting once again back to her work, her heart pounding in her chest, she set to haphazardly throwing items into the box. Surely this job didn't take very long anyway. Mara would be wondering where she was and what was taking so long. She couldn't tell her what had delayed her. Inga Jorgenson was focused and on time and-

"Hey."

Inga jumped, nearly dropping a box of cloths. Her eyes landed on Finn, who'd just materialized beside her without her notice or permission. She quickly turned a look over her shoulder, which showed minus one Fearless Finn by Thorein and Evan (whose relentless snickering she ignored). She turned back toward Finn, ignoring his wild smirk and raised her chin. Gods, he was even more gorgeous up close.

Inga! Focus!

"Hello Finn." Inga said in a clipped tone.

Finn leaned against the stone wall. "How's your day going?"

Her day? Why was he asking how her day was going? It's not like he thought about her outside of the few times a week they maybe ran into each other, so why would he care how her day was going?

Instead of voicing these thoughts, she replied, "Good. Yours?"

Finn watched her fumble with more supplies. "Fine. Just stocking things up?"

"Yup." While the conversation was mainly small talk, Inga was freaking out inside. Why did he come all the way across the Arena to talk to her? Did the boys put him up to it? Did he feel bad because she was by herself?

"Need any help with that?"

Inga frowned at him. "Why?"

Finn shrugged. "You're shaking."

"I'm not shaking!" Inga pronounced perhaps a little too loudly.

"You're nervous."

"Pft," Inga closed the drawers to the medical box. "What do I have to be nervous about? It's just-"

"Just what?" Finn asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. He looked like he was feigning innocence.

Inga narrowed her eyes, staring him down. "Just you." Her heart plunked to her boots. She'd meant it to sound cold; it came out a lot softer and warmer than she meant. Aaaaaand now he was smirking. She felt heat rise to her face. She couldn't decide if she wanted to stare into his icy blue eyes forever or look away.

Finn blinked and looked away, smirk evaporating. "Anyway... can I ask you a favor?"

A favor? Inga gulped, but feigned nonchalance. "Like what?"

What could he need from her? She didn't have much to offer him. Pass a message from parent to parent? No, the chief wouldn't use his son to pass a message to her to pass a message to her father who was on the council. That wouldn't make sense. Maybe he was wondering about Cliff? Well, that wouldn't be a favor... he'd just ask. A small, teensy-weensy part of her freaked out and wondered if he wanted to meet sometime, like that one time in the woods-

"Could you look at Thorein's nose? I think I might've broken it."

Inga deflated. "Oh. Sure."

Finn's brow furrowed. "You okay?"

Inga gave him a resolute "yup", turned on her heel and marched toward the other boys.

Finn seemed to sense the sudden shift in her mood because he merely followed her and didn't press the issue. Stupid boy and his stupid words and stupid face that made her turn to goo and then ask stupid questions to fix stupid things that were his stupid problem anyway. Stupid boy! Stupid feelings! Stupid-

"OW!" Thorein yelped.

"Oh!" Inga winced, shaking her hands in front of the teen apologetically. "Sorry..." She gingerly tilted Thorein's face upward so she could inspect it better. Carefully she inspected the bridge of his nose, which was swollen and turning purple and blue. "It might just be a sprain but if you want the best opinion I'd go to Mara's. Just ice it when you get home. Should at least bring the swelling down."

"Hm, tanks doc," Thorein moaned nasally and leaned back against the wall. He glared up at Finn through heavy eyelids. "Why're 'ou so vicious?"

Finn held up his palms. "Sorry. Don't put your face in front of my sword."

"So competitive." Thorein moaned, a hand hovering over his face. He clearly wanted to hold his nose but didn't for fear of making it bleed again.

"That's what happens when you're born a Haddock," Finn shrugged. "The love of competition is in the blood."

"Please, we Jorgensons have more competitive spirit than you." Inga smirked.

"And yet who won the last Thawfest Games?" Finn shrugged his eyebrows.

Inga turned and punched his arm, which barely moved. "I loathe you." She tried not to think about the feel of his strong bicep under her fist.

Finn smirked, crossing his arms and leaning against the stone wall. "Nah you love me."

Heart pounding, Inga scowled. "No."

"Yup."

"Nope."

"Eeeeeyup."

"No, I don't so shut your stupid face!"

Finn breathed a laugh and looked away. Evan snorted from a nearby stool; Thorein wore a triumphant smirk on his face. Inga couldn't believe how he could always find something to laugh about concerning her when she wasn't even doing anything. Did he exist to mock her?

Oh, that was the gods' curse: Make her birth happen almost four years after him so there'd be a humongous age gap, but make him totally and irrevocably amazing in every way so she couldn't just not have him, she'd have to suffer day in and day out by watching. The unattainable boy Fearless Finn and the forever alone Inga Jorgenson, destined to never be together forever.

Oh, for the love of- This was ridiculous! Here she was standing around moaning and griping inside over a boy! This was unacceptable behavior!

"Ohhhhh Haddock!" Inga growled and snatched Thorein by the arm.

"Owwww..."

"Oh shut up and come on."

"Where're 'ou 'aking me?" Thorein asked in a whiny, nasally voice.

"The healer's, dummy," Inga pulled him up and ushered him toward the entrance. She just needed to get out of here before she embarrassed herself further.

"Take care of my bro, sweetheart!"

Inga whirled around with stormy blue eyes. "Don't call me sweetheart!"

Finn grinned. "Whatever you say, Beauty."

Xxx

Erick was bored out of his mind. He hadn't felt like going to dinner and listening to Finn, Thorein, and Evan talking about their fighting techniques one more time, nor did he much feel like getting punched on the shoulder if he as much as dared sit down next to Inga and her friends. As he began to think about making himself some soup, a loud BANG shook the house and he nearly fell out of his chair. He whipped around to find the door dangerously close to detaching from its hinges and a figure standing in the middle.

"I have arrived!" announced Cliff, arms outstretched.

Erick leaped to his feet and nearly tackled him in a hug. Cliff began to laugh openly.

"I should get poisoned more often!" Cliff chirped when Erick let him go, massaging his ribs but smiling from ear to ear.

"Don't." said Erick, clapping his friend on the back. "Let's just pretend this didn't happen."

"Done and done!" Cliff eyed the floor. "You didn't pick up your sock."

Erick glanced over at the sock on the ground. "Would you be okay with it if it was abstract art?"

Cliff narrowed his eyes. "No. And why didn't you come to see me?"

"You were only out for two days." Erick rolled his eyes. "And I did! You were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you up or Inga would have let me have it. Is it true you and Taryn were making a racket?"

"It is undeniably true." Cliff waggled his eyebrows. "But my absence should not excuse you and your poor cleaning habits."

"Meh!" Erick stuck his tongue out at Cliff before picking up his sock. "There. Happy?"

"Almost." Cliff crossed his arms. "Now toss it in your room."

"What if I just hold it?" Erick tossed the sock in the air and caught it.

"No! Throw it in your room!" Cliff's face reddened slightly.

"I really wouldn't have pegged you as a neat freak."

"I'm not a neat freak, I just don't like socks all over the room!"

Erick looked around. "All over the room? Only sock I see is in my hand."

"Well I still don't like socks in the living room! Socks belong in the bedroom. Or the clothesline. Not the floor!"

"And dishes belong in the cupboards and dirt belongs outside. Face it, buddy. You're a neat freak."

"No I'm-"

"Catch!"

Cliff nearly dived out of the way of Erick's sock when he threw it. Erick laughed uproariously.

"Really though, I've missed you. Life's been boring without you." said Erick, jogging over and picking his sock up off the floor. "I'll take care of this right now."

He threw it into his room and closed the door so Cliff wouldn't have to look at it. Then the boys sat down and Erick asked Cliff to regale him in the adventures at the healer's. Most of the time, Erick didn't mind listening to Cliff's chatter, even if it was annoying. But today, he hung onto every word. He added his own thoughts, which only seemed to inspire Cliff to talk even more. The atmosphere in that little hourse was energetic and cheerful for the first time in weeks. With all the drama Erick had gone through and with Cliff gone for days, a bit of happiness was sorely needed.

They were surprised to hear a knock at the door a few minutes later. Adrianna was waiting outside, looking somewhat apprehensive. When Cliff leaped from his seat and hugged her, she hugged back but Erick could see an almost guilty expression on her face.

"Mind if I borrow Erick for a sec?" she asked when Cliff relinquished her.

"Be sure to bring him back in one piece!" he said cheerfully.

Adrianna averted her eyes when Erick turned back to look at her. For a moment, he wondered if she was going to cry. They walked out the door and shut it behind them.

"What's up?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"Brandyn's gone." Adrianna mumbled.

Erick felt slightly uncomfortable. "Um... I know. Hiccup told me."

Adrianna nodded. She still wouldn't meet his gaze. Finally, she took a deep, shuddering breath.

"I'm sorry I said what I said." she told him. "Brandyn wanted me to cut ties with you but I never wanted to."

Erick felt a surge of anger. He knew it. He knew Brandyn had told her not to talk to him. Her behavior had been so strange, it couldn't have come from her. Trying to arrange his features into a far less angry expression, he chanced a step forward.

"It's okay. He's a big guy. Intimidating. Or, at least... well I hope that's not why you said all that."

Adrianna bit her lip, staring blankly into the distance. Erick knew this to mean that she was either thinking hard or not thinking at all. He wasn't sure which one it was. Finally, she audibly swallowed.

"He wasn't a very good boyfriend." she said in a choked sort of voice. "I learned that a bit too late."

Erick smiled at her in what he hoped was an understanding way. He couldn't help but notice that her eyes darted down to his dimples for a split second. He'd always known she liked them.

"C'mere." he said at last, figuring that she didn't know what to say next.

He extended his arms. She didn't flinch or turn away, instead she hugged him tightly, as if deeply relieved that he didn't hate her.

"I'm sorry!" she repeated, sounding close to tears now.

"It's fine. Forget about it." Erick muttered into her ear. "I was stupid too. We've both got plenty to apologize for."

Gods, her hair was soft. She was wearing it down today, just as she had the day they'd kissed. He resisted the urge to run his fingers through it. Instead, he took a deep breath through his nose. She'd washed it recently. Today or yesterday. It smelled like a kind of flower he couldn't quite place. It was probably lilac, considering her love of the color. He could breathe it in all day.

When they finally broke apart, Adrianna smiled at last. "I'm really relieved." she admitted. "I thought you'd hate me."

"We've gotten into worse fights, Annie." Erick said softly. "I'm not mad. To be honest, I'm relieved too. I missed you. Even if it was just a few days."

"Yeah. So... we're cool?" Adrianna asked timidly.

"Absolutely. Although..." Erick thought about how to phrase what he was about to say. "I... think we should talk about it. What happened. If... if that's okay."

Adrianna stiffened slightly. "I think I want some time to deal with it on my own. With all this. I mean," she took a deep breath, "I know that kiss kind of... made us both feel some things. I'm not denying that. But after all this, after everything that's happened, I don't want to think about that right now. I just want some time. Okay?"

Erick dearly wanted to raise an objection but he held his tongue. She'd just broken up with her boyfriend of over a year. Any girl would want time to sort through her feelings after that. He tried to imagine how he would feel if the situation had been reversed, if Adrianna wanted to talk about their mutual feelings after he'd broken up with Taryn. He wouldn't have been too keen on that either.

"I'm always here when you need to talk." he said, trying to give her a friendly smile that didn't come off as pitying.

"I really appreciate that." Adrianna said through a deep breath. "But now isn't the time. I should probably let you get back to Cliff."

Erick didn't want to let her go. Something seemed so incredibly wrong about how she was acting but she was right. These things took time. Expecting her to confess her secrets to him now, especially after everything they had gone through, was foolhardy. He was just relieved that she wasn't angry at him for blabbing about their kiss to the village. He felt a prickle of guilt at the thought.

"You'll be okay?" he asked as she turned to walk away.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." Adrianna said, shrugging.

If Erick had looked at her a split second longer, he would have caught it. Her mouth turning downward ever so slightly, eyebrows pinching together. He would have known that she had lied to him about being fine.

But he didn't.

Xxx

An evening flight was enough to make Hiccup feel completely relaxed. Toothless had been pleased that he had the extra time today so the sun had already set before they landed in town. It was the first time in several weeks that they'd had this much extra time. Hiccup had been rushing around, dealing with altercations and harvest meetings and talking to Adrianna about her free falling. He felt at least somewhat surprised at how easily she had been convinced to stop until she had the proper equipment. She hadn't argued at all.

Life on Berk was finally getting back to normal in Brandyn's absence. Gobber had started training Vidar Jorgenson as a second apprentice and Finn seemed to like the boy's company. Adrianna had been moody for sure, eating less and snapping at people, but Hiccup was convinced she was still dealing with her break up.

It wasn't until he handed from his flight that Adrianna's emotional state came into question again. As he walked through the village, several Berkians waved to them and engaged them in conversation. Hiccup was just thinking about heading home and having a snack when he nearly ran into Matilda.

"Oh, I'm sorry." he said, helping her pick up the books she had dropped.

"It's fine." Matilda gathered her things and faced him, her brow furrowed slightly. "Actually, I have a bit of a concern, if you have a minute."

"I've got time. What's on your mind?"

Matilda took a deep breath, apparently thinking about how best to phrase what she was about to say. "It's Adrianna. She's acting... strange. Or she was today."

"Strange how?" Hiccup asked.

"She hardly ever comes in anymore but today, she showed up just as I was about to leave. Didn't even say hello, just ran in the back room and said she'd close the place when she was done." Matilda sighed. "I know she's going through a lot but still, that seemed off. I'm sure it's nothing but I wanted to let you know."

Hiccup glanced over in the direction of the library, where only one of the windows was illuminated. "I'll go see what's up."

"Thanks. Good night." Matilda nodded to him.

"Night."

Hiccup and Toothless trotted over to the library seconds later, the former deep in thought. Adrianna had been acting unusually for days but he hadn't thought much of it. He and Astrid had agreed to keep their distance to prevent her from shutting them out completely. They had thought that surely she would be okay if she had some time to deal with what happened.

He opened the door to the library and stepped in, Toothless at his heels. It was very dark. He didn't like his daughter being alone in the dark building where anyone could come in and do gods knew what to her. But now was not the time for lectures. He quickly found the back door and pushed it open.

The door immediately hit a small pile of books. Hiccup looked down and saw books littering the floor, most of them lying open on the ground as if they'd been thrown there. An overturned bookshelf was to the left and in front of it was his daughter, standing rigidly with her back to him.

"Matilda, I said I'd-" Adrianna snapped as she whipped around. Upon facing Hiccup, her mouth dropped open in shock. "Oh..."

Hiccup edged his way in, leaving the door open so Toothless could see but silently instructing him to stay out of the smaller space. The dragon plopped to the ground with his head resting on his paws, concern for Adrianna etched in his features.

"Um..." Hiccup was at a loss for words. Finn was the sort of person who threw things when upset but Adrianna never did. At least not often enough to be noteworthy. "Everything okay?"

Adrianna pursed her lips. "Smashing."

"I can see that." said Hiccup with a small chuckle.

Adrianna didn't laugh. After a long pause in which neither of them seemed to have anything to say, Hiccup bent down and began picking up several of the books. He had no idea what could have upset her. A goofy comic book? No, she loved silly things like that. Maybe this book on common medical ailments? Well if they were common, it wasn't like she was dying. Perhaps this book on knitting patterns? Heavens no, she didn't have the patience for knitting. He looked up to find Adrianna's shoulders slumped, her arms crossed in front of her chest as if she wanted to shrink until she disappeared.

"What's the matter?" he finally asked, righting the overturned shelf and returning the books to it.

Adrianna's frown deepened. "Nothing."

"Addie."

"Nothing!" she snapped, turning so he couldn't see her face.

Hiccup straightened up, leaving the stack of books he'd collected on top of the shelf. "You know that's not true. Finn is the one who breaks things when he's upset. And he lashes out at just about everyone. But I've never heard from Matilda that you've ever lashed out at her once." Adrianna didn't respond but he could see her jaw clench. "So what's wrong?"

Adrianna shook her head, her hand now covering her eyes like she was about to cry. Hiccup felt conflicted. Her positioning implied that she certainly didn't want to be touched but at the same time, if she was this upset, wasn't there something he could do? Something he should do?

"Addie, really, what is it?" Hiccup asked again, this time more softly.

"I hate boys!" she blurted out so suddenly, Hiccup jumped.

"Yeah." said Hiccup with a small, wistful smile. "They're the absolute worst."

He was half expecting a sarcastic comeback. He certainly wouldn't have let the opportunity go to waste and his daughter could be very snarky when she felt like it. But a few seconds of dead silence later, he knew she was far too upset to make a joke.

Hiccup didn't know much about breakups. He knew how painful it could be to see a relationship crumble, his near divorce ten years ago had given him that lesson. But that was a different situation. He and Astrid had worked out their problems. Adrianna would never work them out with Brandyn, that much he knew. She had descended into deep depression in the last few days. It wasn't just her constant exhaustion and refusal of meals that concerned him, it was her sudden change from near recovery. Did she just miss Brandyn now? He wished she would tell him, like she would have when she was small.

He made a decision in an instant as her shoulders slowly hunched over even more. Walking over to where she was standing, he gently touched her shoulder.

"Addie," he murmured, "come here."

He had almost expected her to refuse, and he wouldn't have blamed her if she had. Instead, she turned around and immediately put her arms around him, clinging to him as if this was their final goodbye.

"It will be okay." he whispered to her, holding her tightly. "Things will get better."

"He ruined everything." she whimpered, burying her face in his neck.

"Not everything." Hiccup smoothed her long hair in the middle of her back, at a loss for what to say. He knew that having a relationship end so suddenly had to be devastating, especially for someone her age. He couldn't imagine what she was going through. But he knew one thing for sure. "He didn't ruin you."

He didn't know whether it was in response to his words but she clung to him tighter. Ordinarily he loved being hugged by either of his children. But this one felt more like the one he'd given her when he was on his way to Brawn for his duel with Dagur. They didn't know if they would ever see each other again. Adrianna had held him tightly then, sobbing into his shoulder. She wasn't crying this time but he wondered if she was holding herself back. Whatever the reason, she was clearly devastated about something.

"I'm sorry." Hiccup said softly. "Breakups aren't easy."

"You and mom got lucky." Adrianna swallowed thickly.

"Still, it was never easy. No relationship is." they broke apart and he kissed her forehead. "You just need a bit of time to heal."

His daughter nodded but didn't quite meet his eye. "I'm sorry. I'll clean up."

Hiccup had been so focused on Adrianna that he had forgotten that the room was still a wreck. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'll take care of it. You should head home." he patted her back. "It's dark outside so take Toothless with you. I'll be back." Adrianna nodded and walked toward the door. "I don't know if this will make you feel better, Addie, but if I ever see him again, I will punch his face in."

"He deserves worse." Adrianna said darkly before disappearing into the night, Toothless at her side.