Adrianna seemed to have gotten over her outburst the night before. In fact, Astrid was a bit unnerved when the girl got out of bed as cheerful as ever and pretended nothing had happened at all. But the mother wasn't about to ask what was wrong. The last thing she wanted was yet another breakdown on her hands. So when the girl suggested that they take a long walk, Astrid immediately agreed, thinking that maybe she could get the information she so dearly wanted.

Stormfly thought that her human and the female young were spending a lot of time together lately. Certainly more than her human was spending with her. She made the split second decision to tag along. The girl seemed comforted by the presence of a large reptile and Astrid thought that anything that made her daughter feel safe was definitely worth the irritated snorts and prods in the back as they walked. But mother and daughter paid her no heed.

"What sort of things do you like to do with your dad?" Astrid asked after a few minutes of silence.

"We talk. Sometimes we make cookies. And ride Toothless. And... hmm..." Adrianna's brow furrowed a bit. "It's not so much that we do things. It's that we're spending time together. Even if we're doing nothing."

"I'm not sure I follow." Astrid admitted. "If you don't do anything, don't you get bored?"

"With daddy? Never!" Adrianna began to skip along as Astrid's pace quickened. "I like doing nothing best of all. Because he always tells the funniest jokes then. And gives the best hugs."

"Don't I give good hugs?" Astrid asked, winking at her little girl.

"Yes. But they're not daddy hugs. And that's okay. I only want daddy hugs from daddy." Adrianna slipped her little hand into her mother's. "You don't have to be daddy. I love you because you're mommy."

"I know. And trust me, your father and I definitely have our differences." Astrid sighed, her grip on her daughter's hand tightening. "But I want a relationship with you that's just ours. Even if we started a little late."

"Me too." Adrianna squeezed her mother's hand. "Can you teach me more about archery?"

"Sure can. In fact, I know a few things Gobber doesn't." Astrid kicked a sizable rock out of the way so that her daughter wouldn't trip on it.

"Like what?" the girl asked, her eyes brightening with excitement.

"Like I'll teach you at our next reading lesson." Astrid chuckled. She never thought she'd look forward to one but she couldn't wait to teach her daughter how to read and how to shoot arrows at the same time. She made a mental note to thank Gobber when she next saw him. Profusely. "But first I have to get you your very own bow and arrows. Can't go using someone else's, can you?"

"My own?" Adrianna gasped delightedly. "But... but I only did one lesson."

"Exactly. In the other lessons, you're going to need your own equipment." Astrid smiled at her daughter. "I never would have guessed that archery was your thing. Axes and clubs certainly weren't."

Adrianna shuddered at the memory. She still had a little scar from the axe's blade. Hiccup had been very upset with Astrid at the time but he had soon forgotten his anger so he could help the healer bandage her hand. He had told her a funny story while he did so and she quickly forgot about the pain.

Soon, the duo arrived at a creek. Its water was pretty deep but large rocks and thick branches created a makeshift bridge from one end to the other. Astrid let go of Adrianna's hand and easily hopped across. She turned around, expecting to see her daughter on the shore behind her, and found herself staring across the creek at the girl, who hadn't moved.

"What are you waiting for?" she called, beckoning for the girl to continue. "It's easy!"

"Umm... I want to go back." Adrianna said timidly, taking a few steps backward.

"Nonsense!" Astrid hopped back to her daughter. "It's so easy, I could do it with my eyes shut!"

"No, I still think we should turn back." Adrianna backed away some more until she ran into Stormfly standing behind her.

"Come on, Adri." Astrid reached forward and took the girl's hands in hers. "Let me help you."

She walked backwards until her foot found the first rock. She slowly stepped back onto the second, allowing her daughter to step onto the first.

"That's it. See? You're fine." Astrid stepped backward onto the fallen log. She gently tugged on Adrianna's hands and waited for her daughter to put a shaky foot on top of the next rock. "You're doing great! Now step onto this log." she inched backwards to give the girl room. "There you go!"

Adrianna smiled. She had never much liked hiking (she preferred walking on level terrain) but it was a lot more fun with her mother guiding her. Fun in a different sort of way. She had to admit that her father would have let her turn back. Well, she supposed he might have carried her across the creek or found some way to walk around it if she was uncomfortable. But her mother was focused on eradicating her timidity. And she did it in such a way that she didn't necessarily act like her fears were unfounded. Adrianna liked that. It wasn't the "suck up and deal with it" mindset she was so used to seeing, it was a new kind of solution. A new perspective. A fresh perspective.

Astrid gently led her daughter, oblivious to the epiphanies the girl was experiencing. "Okay take a step onto that rock there and then you can-"

"Mommy, don't put your foot there!"

"What?"

Adrianna's warning came a split second too late. Astrid's foot found a loose branch that immediately cracked under her weight. The mother toppled sideways, pulling the daughter down with her into the chilly water. The Haddocks shrieked with surprised before being immersed, both bobbing over the current. It wasn't strong enough to carry them away and both of them were quite capable of swimming.

"I thought you said this would be easy!" Adrianna exclaimed with a grin as the initial shock wore off.

"It is! I just couldn't see where I was going!" Astrid retorted with a chuckle.

"But you said you could get across with your eyes closed!" Adrianna giggled.

"You know what? Hush!" Astrid rolled her eyes but smiled as her daughter continued to laugh at her.

"You said it, not me!" the girl paddled toward her mother. "Well I wasn't expecting to go swimming but it's fun! Next time, could you tell me if you're going to throw us both in the water? I would rather wear my swimsuit."

"You'd just love that, wouldn't you?" Astrid splashed her daughter, who threw her hands over her face. "But it ruins the suspense. What if I meant to do this?"

"I know you didn't. You looked too surprised when you fell." Adrianna smirked, splashing her mother back. "It's okay, mommy. You're just clumsy like me and daddy!"

"I'll have you know I am very graceful!" Astrid shouted, sending another wave of water her daughter's way.

"Well you fell off, not me." Adrianna shrugged, acting as if the cold water in her face didn't bother her at all.

Astrid began to swim back to land, the chilly water finally beginning to make her skin feel a bit numb. Adrianna quickly followed. The warm summer weather apparently wasn't enough to stop the creek from being cold.

For a few minutes, Astrid and Adrianna lay back against the wet sand and mud and simply looked up at the sky. Astrid took a deep breath, feeling her muscles relax. So this was doing nothing, was it? It was... actually it was quite pleasant. Closeness to someone she loved didn't mean filling their time with activities and lessons... sometimes it just meant quiet reflection.

She looked over at her little girl, whose eyes were fixed on an oddly shaped cloud. Adrianna had her nose. She hadn't noticed before because she'd only seen the child in a foul temper in recent months. She would look at the girl and see her husband's face looking back at her, albeit with longer eyelashes and fuller lips. But the curve of her nose was different. As the mother continued to look, she started to see a bit more of herself in her daughter. Her eyebrows, for example. And the shape of her face. And, of course, the blonde hair was definitelyinherited from her.

But that expression on the girl's face, the wistful, contemplative one... that was Hiccup. She'd seen that look on him more times than she could count. She continued to look at her daughter, took in the green of her eyes, the shape of her mouth, the distribution of each facial feature in relation to the others... she was Hiccup's. And she was Astrid's. There was no separating them. She couldn't take what was hers. This girl had bonded her and Hiccup forever. As long as she and Finn lived.

So was the divorce such a good idea? Ripping apart the family, the very people who had made two beautiful children now forcing them to take sides?

She shut her eyes, firmly picturing Hiccup's face. The angry looks he had given her. The dead eyes. And then she thought of her daughter, whose eyes were still bright, still full of wonder. Her eyes were Hiccup's... but they weren't that sick, twisted version of Hiccup's. Her Hiccup, their Hiccup, was gone. And she had to get away from him, protect her children from him. She desperately wanted to see those bright, happy green eyes and be reminded of a man who had once shared them. Not one who perverted them through anger and malice.

After nearly half an hour of complete silence, mother and daughter washed themselves off in the creek so that they wouldn't track mud in the house. Stormfly cooed sleepily. While Astrid and Adrianna had been enjoying their quiet time, she had taken a nap.

"What do you say we dry off the quickest way I know how?" Astrid asked, shoving her feelings back down.

"How?"

Astrid walked over and mounted her dragon. Adrianna's bright green eyes widened. With a pang, Astrid was forcibly reminded of all the times she had seen those eyes so full of life, and not just from her daughter... but she pushed it down. She reached down and helped the girl get on the dragon in front of her. She then put her arms on either side of her daughter and gave the command to fly.

Stormfly was very pleased to take her girls high into the sky. The delighted giggle from the smaller blonde made her feel warm inside. Truth be told, she preferred the boy, but she simply loved the girl's laugh. She could feel the young's weight shift slightly as she looked off to the sides and took in all the beauty around her. Berk was a mere speck on the ground. It put all their problems into perspective, that was for sure.

The Nadder suddenly had a little spark of inspiration. She gently glided the mother and daughter onto a cliff overlooking the ocean. She felt Astrid tense but paid her no heed. When she touched down on the grass, Astrid slid off, looking slightly pale. She helped her daughter dismount as well.

"Wow!" Adrianna squealed. "This place is beautiful!"

"Yes." Astrid breathed. "Yes, it is."

"You can see the whole ocean from there! Right to the edge of the world!" Adrianna turned around to look at the lush forest behind her. "Everything is beautiful! Why haven't you taken me here before?"

"Because it used to be... well... it's just..." Astrid sighed. "I really don't know."

Adrianna suddenly gasped and bolted toward a large tree. "There's writing on this tree!" she said cheerfully, tracing the carved letters with her pointer finger. "It's your name! And daddy's name!" she turned back to face her mother, her eyes nearly glowing with excitement. "Didyou carve these? You and daddy?"

Astrid's breath caught in her throat. It had been so long ago that they had carved their names into the tree during the sudden storm. Her breathing became shaky.

"What's the matter?" Adrianna asked, turning to her mother and looking at her with concern. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No. I'm just... it's nothing." Astrid blinked a few times and averted her eyes.

Adrianna's brow furrowed and her lips pursed. "It's not nothing." she said firmly. "It's never nothing. You just won't tell me."

Astrid opened her mouth but no sound came out. Should she tell her daughter the truth? It seemed like such a big burden to put on a girl so young. Then again, it wasn't the first heavy burden her child had carried. If she wasn't so resilient, Astrid may not have told her at all. But what sort of relationship would she have with her daughter if she wasn't honest?

"Adri... sit down, okay?" Astrid lowered herself onto a log and beckoned her daughter closer. The girl sat down next to her. "Do you know what a divorce is?" Adrianna shook her head. "Well... sometimes when two people get married, they're happy for a long time but then things change. People change. You know that. And sometimes they're not able to stay married anymore because they change too much."

"Is someone getting a divorce?" Adrianna gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in horror.

"Listen to me, Adri. I love you. Your daddy loves you. But things have happened and we've been having problems. Problems we just can't solve." Astrid squeezed the girl's shoulder, her voice beginning to shake. "So your daddy and I think it's best to get a divorce so that we can continue to be good parents to you without fighting with each other." Adrianna stared up at her in horror, her eyes wide, her hands clutching her face. "Adri... are you okay?"

"You can't." she whimpered. "You love each other."

"We want to do what's best for you and Finn." Astrid tried to tighten her hold on her daughter's shoulder but Adrianna bolted upright, standing up and looking her mother in the eye. "Adri-"

"You and daddy love each other or you wouldn't have had me and Finn!" the girl shouted, her voice echoing in the woods. "You can't stop being married! Being married is forever!"

"It's not that simple. Your daddy doesn't want to be married to me anymore. And I can't make him-"

"YES YOU CAN!" Adrianna screamed. "You can't give up! You always say never give up! Why are you giving up on daddy?"

"It's not that simple-"

"Yes it is! You don't want to keep trying so you're giving up!" Adrianna stamped her foot on the ground, her lip quivering but her eyes surprisingly dry. "I don't want you and daddy to get divorced! I'm your daughter, why can't I decide?"

"Adri, this is a decision your daddy and I think is best-"

"But I love you and daddy! And why can't me loving you both be enough to make you love each other? Why did you have babies if you were just gonna split them up?" the girl's voice shook with emotion and her face slowly turned red. "If you break up with daddy, you're gonna break up with Finn and me too! If we don't make you happy, are you gonna stop loving us?"

"No, we would never-"

"But you said you'd never stop loving daddy! You lied to me! You lied about everything and I'd rather hate you now instead of waiting for you to hate me first!" Adrianna stormed off, her fists balled at her sides, her body tense, and her jaw clenched.

"Adri, wait-"

"LEAVE ME ALONE! I HATE YOU! I NEVER WANNA TALK TO YOU AGAIN!" the Haddock girl screamed before disappearing into the foliage.

Astrid stood at the edge of the woods, heart pounding in her ears and a burning sensation spreading over the back of her eyeballs. Stormfly trotted over and gently nudged her shoulder. She instinctively reached up and patted her dragon's snout.

"I just thought she was going to cry." she said in a shaky voice. "I didn't think... she always cries..." Stormfly cooed and nudged her with her snout again. "I'm not going after her. She hates me, remember?"

Suddenly, Astrid felt talons on her shoulder. She looked up and found herself face to face with a Terrible Terror. The little dragon squawked and stuck out her foot.

"Pipsqueak?" Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Why did you come to me?"

The dragon huffed a bit, apparently growing tired of holding out her foot. Astrid untied the note and unfolded it so she could read it.

Finn has been sold as a slave. We've managed to track him to a Roman territory called Maero. I think the odds of rescuing have risen exponentially so I'm not worried about his safe return.

However, Hiccup's recent behavior has been a bigger concern. I now have reason to believe that he intends to kill himself rather than accompany Finn and me home. It seems nothing I say can get through to him. He believes himself to be too far gone to be helped.

Whoever receives this note, please pray for Hiccup's sanity to return. I've never seen a more broken man. He's completely miserable. And he seems to believe his family would be better off without him. I've done everything I can to convince him but it'll take a miracle for anything to sink in.

Again, please pray.

Fishlegs

Astrid's heart stopped. She could almost feel her organs shutting down. Hiccup... suicidal? She knew he was angry, she knew he was miserable but this... this was never a possibility.

What the Hel had she done? Pushing away her husband to the point of making him believe he was worthless... pushing away her daughter with empty promises... pushing away her son with her anger... this had achieved nothing.

She hated herself. She had forced her husband to deal with a painful reality all by himself. She had accused him of cheating when he did deal with it! She had condemned everything he did, had insulted him, had mocked him, had convinced him that he wasn't a fit parent... of course he wanted to kill himself. Anyone in his position would.

But not on her watch.

She turned the parchment over and scribbled out her own note. She then carefully tied it to Pipsqueak's leg.

"Get this message to Hiccup as soon as you can. Please. It's so important." she got out some dragon nip from her satchel and fed it to the Terror. "Please make sure he reads it. Please."

The Terror warbled in understanding before taking off into the sky. Astrid watched her fly until she disappeared into the horizon.

Xxx

The sun was setting as Hiccup and Fishlegs finally found the home of the man who had bought Berk's heir. Fishlegs could see his friend stiffen the closer they got. He looked over at Toothless, who seemed concerned about his rider's rigid form. He cooed quietly but Hiccup paid him no heed. Meatlug focused on the ground as she walked, reluctant to witness yet another altercation. She had a feeling that this one would be worse than any of the others. Hiccup was giving her a very strong negative vibe and she didn't like it one bit.

As they approached the house, a man walked out, leaning against a cane as he limped over to a outdoor chair. He had a rather beautiful garden. Hiccup tensed as he realized just how that garden was kept beautiful. Slave labor. He wanted to vomit.

"You!" he bellowed running up to the vile man with his fists balled so tightly his fingernails cut into his palms. "You bought my son!"

"I bought no one's son." the man said in an unnervingly calm voice. "You are mistaken. Get off my land."

"I am not leaving until I have my son!" Hiccup snarled, approaching the man with alarming speed. "Several people saw you buy a little Norse boy with red hair! Funnily enough, I have a little boy with red hair. And no one takes him away from me!"

"I pay good money for him! He is my property!" the man stood up. "If you even think about taking him, I will have you thrown into prison for theft!"

"Hiccup, he can do that." Fishlegs said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Hiccup grabbed the front of the man's shirt, yanking him toward his face. "Now you listen to me, you son of a bitch," Fishlegs blanched; he had never heard Hiccup use words like that, "if you do not relinquish my son, I will kill you. You see that dragon over there? He's a Night Fury. And he never misses!"

The man eyed the dragon, his eyes widening slightly. He then turned his head to face his assailant. "Fine! I make a deal with you. But only if you put me down!"

Hiccup obliged, dropping the man rather roughly to the ground. It took a considerable amount of effort for the man pick up his cane but no one even thought about helping him. He then turned back to Hiccup.

"You come back tomorrow." he said, brushing himself off.

"Absolutely not."

"You come back tomorrow or I won't sell! That is my offer, you may take it or leave it!" the man snapped, sounding almost indignant.

"Hiccup, we should just listen to him." Fishlegs said, approaching his friend the way he'd approach an irate Monstrous Nightmare. "We've got our supplies, we can set up camp for the night."

Hiccup was trembling with rage but even he could see the logic in Fishlegs' words.

"We will be back at dawn." he hissed before turning on his heel and walking into the lush forest near the house.

Fishlegs hurried to keep up. Hiccup didn't break his pace until the house was out of sight. It seemed he didn't even want to think about the vile place his son was living. And if the man could see them, he might rescind his offer.

"One more night without my son." he muttered angrily as he set up the tent. "One more stupid night."

"Only one, Hiccup. And then he'll be free." Fishlegs put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Yeah. Whatever." Hiccup finished setting up the tent. He grabbed his blankets from the carrying cases tied to his dragon.

"You're going to bed?"

"What else is there to do? Stay up and talk? I just want to get this over with!" Hiccup growled, placing the blankets on the bottom of the tent before placing his head on his pillow.

"You just want this problem to go away so you can send Finn home and then deal with your pain." Fishlegs crawled into the tent and sat on his knees next to his friend. "But I'm not leaving you here. And neither is Finn."

"I am not going to have this conversation with you again." Hiccup turned around and placed his blanket over his head.

"This is for your own good-"

"Just drop it! There's nothing you or anyone can do for me! Let it go, Fishlegs!" Hiccup placed his hand over his exposed ear and tried to sleep. If he was going to be up at dawn, he was going to have to be asleep earlier than usual.

Fishlegs stared at the Hiccup sized lump under the blankets before sighing and unfolding his own. As he crawled into them, he looked skyward.

"Please..." he prayed, his heart aching. "Please help him."

The silence of the forest was rather oppressive. Not knowing whether or not his prayer would be answered, he burrowed into his blankets and fell asleep within minutes.

Xxx

Agonizing pain ripped through his chest as he lay there, Dagur the Deranged triumphantly leering down at him. A burst of strength Hiccup didn't know he had coursed through him and he sat up.

Dagur stared at him in shock. "What-"

Hiccup opened his mouth to speak but no sound emerged. He couldn't take a life. Not Dagur's, not anyone's. He would never be able to live with himself.

"Dagur, listen to me." he breathed, the pain almost too intense for him to handle. "You don't have to do this. We don't have to kill anyone. Please, we can work something out."

Dagur grinned with glee. "I don't think so." he said, baring his teeth as he slipped another dagger from its sheath and, before Hiccup could react, plunged it into his stomach.

Blood began to pour out of Hiccup's mouth. His body jolted several times. He was choking, his vision was blurring... and then he was floating. Looking down on the body, which rested on his dragon's back. His body. His corpse.

He was dead. Dagur had won.