Chapter Fourteen: Aftermath

For years to come, Hiccup and Astrid never could remember much about the flight back to their village. They barely paid attention when Trista was hauled off to a prison cell. Adrianna was immediately taken to a healer. She shrank back when they tried to come near her and so they were forced to wait outside the main room, relying only on what they could hear from the hallway. Hiccup sat down on a chair near the door and put his head in his hands. He was supposed to be there with his daughter... he was supposed to be holding her...

"It's not your fault."

A voice snapped him back to reality. He turned to his wife, who placed a hand on his knee.

"I should have come." Hiccup averted her gaze. "She doesn't understand why it took us so long to get to her. I made her a promise and I broke it."

Astrid took his hand. "She'll forgive you. You're her hero."

He shook his head and wrenched his hand out of her grasp. "Some hero..."

"You're still a hero, Hiccup." Astrid countered, taking his hand once more. "You worked tirelessly for two and a half days to get her back. You were incredible."

"It doesn't matter, Astrid!" he snapped. "It doesn't matter if she won't even look at me anymore!"

"Hiccup, listen to me." Astrid gently placed a hand on his cheek and turned his face so that he was looking into her eyes. "If not for you, Trista would still be torturing her. She could be dead by now. So even if she won't talk to you, you saved her life. That means something."

Hiccup furrowed his brow, his soul still burning with guilt at his failure. He shook his head and looked away, working his jaw. "Why us? Why did this have to happen to us? Why Addie?"

Astrid looked at him sadly and tried to look at his face again. "Hiccup, bad things happen to good people all the time. You wouldn't ever wish this on any other family and they wouldn't wish it on ours either. No one in their right mind would ever ask for this."

"She's only three years old! I'm nine times her age and I don't think I could have handled what happened to her any better than she did." Hiccup shouted, making Astrid wince. "Did you see her face? She was too scared to cry, Astrid! That's what that... that witch did to her!"

"Just give her time..."

"Two days! That's how long she was gone, two days! And now she might never trust us again!" Hiccup stood up and began to pace back and forth. "What am I supposed to do? I can't fix this... I can't even talk to her..."

Astrid slowly sat down in his vacated seat, watching him with her eyes for a few seconds. He failed to see the irony in his words; he was being just as stubborn as his daughter, never listening to anything anyone said. It was like he'd gotten an idea in his brain and it had started to fester, to take over and control him. She sighed deeply. Now it it felt like she was raising two Hiccups.

"You don't need to do anything. She'll come around on her own." she said, placing her face into her hands. "Please, just stop..."

"Stop what? Being a father?" Hiccup snapped, turning to face her.

"Stop beating yourself up! You did everything you could! Just let her come to you!" Astrid shouted, her head popping back up out of her hands.

"What if she doesn't..."

"Have you forgotten who we're talking about?" Astrid countered. "If I told you that you'd doubt her love for you three days ago, you'd have told me I was crazy! Because you have given her no reason to doubt you! And she'll see that!"

"How could you possibly..."

"Because she's just like you!" Astrid stood up and took a few steps toward him. "And she's being stubborn and emotional right now. It's something I've seen you do countless times!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes, in fact you're doing it right..."

A high pitched scream pierced the air. Hiccup's head jerked to the door and the anger immediately melted off his face.

"Addie..."

Astrid figured out what he was going to do just in time to step in front of the door. His full weight hit her very hard and she stumbled backward but held onto him as tightly as she could.

"Hiccup, she doesn't want to see you right now!" she grunted, fighting back against his flailing limbs.

"Let me in, Astrid... she needs me!" Hiccup wailed, trying to throw himself over her so he could be with his child.

"This is for your own good." she pushed him back but he barely budged.

He might have won the fight had Stoick not showed up at that exact moment. It only took a second for the grandfather to realize what his son was trying to do before he stepped forward and yanked Hiccup off of his wife. Hiccup let out a shriek of indignation as he was nearly lifted off the ground.

"She needs me!" he repeated, punching every inch of his father that he could reach.

"Hiccup, calm down!" Stoick boomed, shaking the young man's body quite violently. "If you lose it, you're going to make everything worse for yourself."

Hiccup took several deep breaths, his eyes burning and his face slightly pink. He finally went limp and Stoick let him go. He panted through his teeth for a few seconds before turning on his heel and walking in the opposite direction. As soon as he got through the front door of the healer's house, he slammed it behind him, making the whole house jolt and the windows rattle.

"Like father, like daughter." Astrid grumbled, sitting back down on the chair.

"Are you all right?" Stoick asked, still staring at the door as if expecting his son to burst through any minute.

"I'm fine." Astrid replied with a sigh. She leaned against the wall. "I hate this. All of this."

"I don't think anyone is happy about it." Stoick said, leaning on the wall and slowly lowering himself to the ground. "How's Adrianna?"

"The healer said she'll be fine. I think she was screaming because of the medicine. The salve they put on cuts stings like Hel, you know that. And the size of some of the ones she must have..." Astrid trailed off. For a moment, they were completely silent. "How's Trista?"

"Upset... understandably. She stopped shouting once we locked her up. Heard her crying when I walked by on the way here. I don't blame her; both her dragons were killed. I guess seeing what they did to Adrianna must have made our dragons angry enough to... but it doesn't matter." Stoick put his face in his palm.

"Serves her right." Astrid muttered, not making eye contact with her father-in-law.

"Does it?" Stoick looked up. "She has spent her life paying for my mistake. If I hadn't been a coward back then, none of this would have happened."

"She could have risen above it." Astrid said through gritted teeth. "I caused my brother's death and I didn't let it define me."

"That was an accident. Far as the village was concerned, Trista killed Hiccup deliberately."

"Well now she's done something just as horrible!" Astrid shouted, her voice wrought with emotion. "You can't just let her go this time!"

"You think I don't know that?" Stoick muttered, wiping his face with his hand. "This isn't about my obligation to her as my sister anymore. It's about my duty to protect my grandchildren. But how can I choose their lives over hers? I'll just be doing exactly what she expected."

"So you think Anna should have to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder?" Astrid countered, leaning forward so that he could see her in his peripheral vision.

"No." Stoick replied. "I will do what I have to do. I just pray that it won't be..."

An odd gurgling noise came from the outside of the house. Both Stoick and Astrid looked up at the door, surprised at the sound. But Hiccup was out flying on Toothless now... it was what he did when he was upset or lost... if he wasn't flying, where did he go?

In an instant, father and daughter-in-law knew exactly where Hiccup had gone.

"Oh no you don't..." Astrid muttered, immediately jumping up and bolting out the door just behind Stoick.

The prison was on the other side of the village but at the rate Hiccup was probably going, he would have to be there by now. Stoick and Astrid ran as fast as they could and brushed past the guards, who looked thoroughly confused.

Hiccup was fumbling with the lock on the cell. Stoick took a brief moment to thank the gods that the lock had a faulty mechanism that required a funny turn of the key to pop open (something he had been planning to tell his son for years but had always forgotten). Trista sat against the wall watching him with mild fascination. She barely seemed to notice her brother and niece-in-law enter.

"You will pay for this..." Hiccup muttered savagely, struggling with the lock. "I'm going to rip you to pieces like you did my uncle."

"Put down the key, son." Stoick commanded in a gentle voice.

"No. I'm not letting her get away. She's going to pay for what she did to my daughter!" Hiccup snapped, his eyes never leaving the lock.

"I said put down the key. Don't make me drag you away, Hiccup."

"No!"

Stoick, true to his word, stomped forward and yanked his son backwards. Hiccup let out his second outraged yell of the night as he kicked and punched everything he could reach.

"NO!" he screamed, unaware of several tears slipping down his face. "I WILL KILL YOU! YOU HURT MY DAUGHTER AND I WILL KILL YOU!"

Trista let out a derisive laugh and Hiccup felt his blood boiling within him; he felt hot with a rage, a hatred the likes of which he had never known was possible. He fought as hard as he could against his father but Stoick was too strong for him. Screaming insults and threats until his throat was hoarse, he found himself forced out of the prison and deposited on the ground next to it.

"Double the guard. See that this doesn't happen again." Stoick said to the nearest guard, who nodded.

"Let me in!" Hiccup cried, throwing himself against his father. But Stoick wasn't called vast for nothing. "Let me deal with her! Let me do this!"

"Your job is to be there for Adrianna." Stoick said calmly, grabbing his son's shoulders. "Leave Trista to me."

"She hurt Addie! She hurt her!" Hiccup screamed, not listening to a word his father was saying. "She has to die!"

"Last I checked, I'm still chief and it's my decision. Trista will be dealt with! Now go back to the healer's!" Stoick gave Hiccup a shove in the direction of the healer's house but the young man was having none of it.

"I'm not leaving until she's dead and I don't care how it happens!"

"Yes you are!" Stoick shouted, his patience finally spent. He suddenly slammed his son against the outside wall of the prison. Hiccup's eyes widened in shock. "If you seek out revenge, you will be no better than she is! Your responsibility right now is to be there for your child! If you want her to trust you again, set a good example for her! Do you understand me?"

Hiccup's mouth opened but no sound came out. Finally, he looked defeated and Stoick lowered him to the ground. As they walked back to the healer's house, Stoick saw Astrid put a hand on his son's shoulder but Hiccup shrugged it off. He turned away and took a deep sigh before nodding to the guards, who allowed him back into the prison.

"Well that was quite exciting,wasn't it?" Trista asked in a casual voice as he walked in.

Stoick didn't respond. He pulled out a chair and sat down, facing Trista through the bars. For a moment, all was silent.

"Give me a reason." Stoick muttered, leaning in slightly. "Just one reason to let you go again."

"What do you mean? What kind of reason?" Trista asked, a small smile on her lips.

"A reason to let you live." Stoick finally looked down at his fists balled in his lap. "You're my sister. I don't want to do this."

"Do what? Have me killed?" Trista's chuckle seemed to suck out anything remotely pleasant.

"What you did to Adrianna was inexcusable. If you were anyone else, you'd already have been shipped off to the Berserkers for an immediate execution." Stoick finally met her cold gray gaze. "I want to give you a chance. You didn't kill Hiccup. You didn't do anything to deserve what happened to you. Let me show you mercy."

"I don't want your pity." Trista sneered. "You took everything."

"You kept the drawing!" Stoick exclaimed very suddenly. "The one I made of you when I was scarcely older than Adrianna! All these years and you still kept it!"

Trista slowly nodded. "You're right. I did. At first it was because I still cared about you. And then I thought it would come in handy. It was nothing but a tool."

"Why didn't you tell me? When I saw you in the Great Hall right after the Welcoming Ceremony?" Stoick asked in a low voice. "If you had told me that it was my fault, I would never have..."

"I thought it was a show." Trista interrupted, crossing her arms and leaning back. "As chief, it was your job to take out perceived threats. Everyone else thought I did it. Of course you had to act like you did too." she paused for a moment, not meeting his gaze. "I never imagined that you truly believed your own lie."

"I was frightened. I saw my father beating you within an inch of your life and I was frightened. I was a coward. If I could take back that day..."

"You can't. You brought this on yourself." Trista suddenly leaned forward, a large smile on her face. "You deserved all the heartache, all the anguish, and you know it."

"Yes. I deserved it. Adrianna didn't. She was innocent. You've taken that from her. You've forced her to doubt her own parents. I don't care what happens to me but if Adrianna never recovers from this ordeal..."

"Then your relationship with your son will never be repaired. It'll have to do."

Stoick shut his eyes tight, breathing deeply through his teeth. "She will recover." he said at last. "She's her father's daughter. I have faith in her."

"You favored Finn." Trista placed her head in the palms of her hands. "Didn't even notice her most of the time."

"That was a mistake. I made the same mistake as our father." Stoick stood up and began to pace back and forth. "But Hiccup is a better man than us both."

"Yes he is. He's a hero. You may have slain thousands of dragons, split rocks in two with your skull, and saved Berk from Odin knows how many attacks. But you still had a prejudice. You still allowed the ideas of our father to cloud your judgment. Something Hiccup could never do." Trista finally leaned back once more. "That's why I had to break him. Because that would be the only way to break you."

Stoick stopped pacing for a second to stare at her. "That's why you took Adrianna. I was wondering... I thought it would have been more logical to take Finn, him being the heir but Adrianna... that would break Hiccup the most. And, by extension, me." he blinked a few times and continued to pace. "You've always been clever but this... well, this was brilliant."

"I studied for a long time. Hiccup would do anything for his family. Especially his oh so precious little girl." Trista stood up and leaned in, her face pressing against the bars. "It was worth it. Everything. Even if I couldn't kill her, it was worth it just to see the look on your face when you had to look your son in the eye and tell him you were a killer. To watch little Addie lose her adoration for you. Completely worth it."

"You're not giving me a choice, Trista." Stoick didn't meet her gaze as he continued to pace. "I'm going to have to give the order to have you taken to Berserker Island for your execution."

"No surprises there. You were always willing to toss me aside. This just continues to prove it."

"I'm not doing this because I want to. I'm doing this because I love my granddaughter. And if this is how I can make sure she's never hurt this way again, I will do it." Stoick opened the door of the prison and stalked out without another word.

Xxx

Adrianna had been silent for an hour. Fishlegs finally walked into the hallway, looking like he was about to lose it himself. His hand was gripping Ruffnut's so hard, both sets of knuckles were white.

"She won't let us touch her anymore." he said to Hiccup as soon as the door was shut behind him. "We had to hold her down to put the salve on her. She won't let anyone near her."

Hiccup slowly stood up and faced his friend. "Thank you." he said in monotone. "I'm going to see if she'll let me come now."

No one had the heart to stop him as he strode forward and pushed the door open. Adrianna was sitting up on a nearby bed, her arms around her knees. The minute she saw Hiccup, she tensed.

"Addie..." Hiccup took a tentative step forward.

Adrianna let out a squeak and nearly toppled out of bed in her haste to run away from her father. Hiccup took several gulps of air; his eyes were burning but he couldn't cry in front of his daughter. Seeing her daddy cry would probably frighten her even more. He was supposed to be strong for her. That was his job. To be strong and to protect her. It was all he had left.

"I'm not going to hurt you, baby. I would never do that..." he stepped forward again and watched as his beautiful little girl backed up against the wall and stared at him with a fear he had never seen before in her wide green eyes.

His third step resulted in his little girl's body beginning to tremble. She looked petrified. Petrified of her own father. His throat began to constrict as he suddenly couldn't restrain his emotion. He turned around so she wouldn't see the tears streaming down his face as he walked back into the hallway. The moment he was out of her sight, he sniffed and wiped his face with the back of his hand. He leaned against the wall and slid down so he was sitting on the floor.

"Hiccup..." Astrid gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

Her husband looked up at her and her heart nearly burst open. There was no hope anymore. No trace of optimism. Just pain etched into his features. It made him look much older.

"She's not Addie." he whimpered. "She's back and she's safe... but she's not my Addie."

His face fell away from her gaze and focused on the floor. All emotion melted off of it, like the life had drained away. He continued to draw breath more as a reflex than anything else. Astrid's hand tightened on his shoulder but he made no move. She began to shake it.

"Hiccup... please don't do this." she whispered, still shaking his shoulder.

Her husband didn't react. He barely even blinked. Her heart racing and her stomach clenching, she got on her knees in front of him and clutched both of his shoulders.

"Don't leave me. Please don't leave me!" she wailed, her shaking becoming rather violent. "I need you!" she let go of his left shoulder to place her hand on his chin and lift it up. His eyes didn't meet hers. "Oh gods, Hiccup, don't do this!" she angrily punched him in the stomach but he still did not react. "Come back!"

Fishlegs stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. Astrid suddenly crumpled onto her husband, forcing herself not to cry on him. She couldn't do that. He had already lost his sanity and she couldn't lose hers. She took several ragged breaths as the hand gently massaged her shoulder.

"We're going to get through this." Fishlegs whispered to her. "I promise."

It was the only hope Astrid had. As she looked up at the doorway separating her from her daughter and back at her husband, who seemed to have lost all function, she realized that, in her entire life, she had never felt so alone.