"Let me see!"

"Astrid..."

"Hold still!"

Hiccup thought, as Astrid immediately began to work on rolling up his pant leg, that perhaps he shouldn't have put himself in such a vulnerable position. Lying on his back on the couch with his left leg propped up and his right resting beside it allowed his wife easy access. There was also the fact that he was exhausted and honestly didn't have any more fight left.

"Hiccup..." Astrid's eyes widened when his stump was exposed at last. The flesh was bruised and the veins very visibly crisscrossing his skin. It looked more like a slab of meat than a limb. "You... maybe you shouldn't walk for a while."

"Not walk? How am I supposed to officiate the Thawfest games?" Hiccup grumbled, attempting to sit up to get a better look at his stump.

"Allie can handle that. She's the one who insisted on the duel." Astrid nodded to Adrianna, who pushed Hiccup back down on the cushion. "You are going to rest."

"But what about the slap bet? I have to be there to see Snotlout's face when he loses!" Hiccup griped, causing his daughter to giggle.

"While I certainly understand your motivation, you'll just have to wait. That part of the competition is tomorrow anyway. You are staying on this couch until then. No arguments, Hiccup." Astrid snapped. "Finn, go get me a damp cloth."

The boy had nearly forgotten that anyone could see him as he stood in the corner watching the events unfold. He hesitated but Benen's hand on his shoulder managed to snap him to the present. He hurriedly grabbed the cloth and handed it to his mother.

"Okay, this is going to hurt." Astrid said apologetically as she removed the prosthetic from her husband's stump. "Kids, maybe you should go."

"No." Adrianna immediately plopped herself on the ground next to the couch and took her father's hand.

Astrid felt like arguing but she had the distinct impression that her daughter would put up a fight. And she didn't want to attempt to win an argument when she needed to focus on Hiccup.

"You know, Finn, perhaps it would be best for us to go." Benen patted Finn's shoulder. "I'm sure your father will be feeling much better this evening."

Finn nodded but it took Benen's gentle prodding to get him moving. As he approached the door, he saw his mother place the cloth on Hiccup's stump. Hiccup hissed in pain. His ragged breathing was easily audible even from outside the house.

Finn was furious. And unfortunately for those around him, his temper was as fiery as his hair. As he left the house, Benen at his heels, he decided that Allie the Insincere deserved a piece of his mind. And he certainly wasn't about to tell Benen his plan. As much as he adored his mentor, he knew that the elderly man would attempt to talk him out of his plan. And he was no mood to be told that he shouldn't do something he so dearly wanted to do.

Astrid cleaned Hiccup's stump as gently as she could. The raw skin caused the cloth to become slightly pink as she rubbed the inflamed areas. He recoiled when the cloth reached a purple area of skin, very nearly jumping off the couch. His teeth gritted together in a desperate attempt not to cry out in front of his daughter but his hand's tightening around hers told her all she needed to know. She gently reached up and placed her other hand atop his, gripping it tightly so that he knew she was there for him.

He panted when Astrid had finally stopped cleaning the wound. His wife pursed her lips in an attempt to remain as emotionless as possible. "I'm going to get an ice pack. You're going to need to keep it on your leg to keep the swelling down."

"It's okay, daddy." Adrianna patted his hand with the one that wasn't losing circulation. "You'll be fine in no time."

"Promise?" Hiccup asked, a ghost of a smile crossing his features for a split second.

"Yep. But for the next few weeks, you should let mom duel for you." Adrianna said quite softly as Astrid emerged with an ice pack.

"I may lose manliness points for saying so but I think you're onto something, Addie." Hiccup turned to Astrid. "How would you like to be our family's protector from now on?"

Astrid turned to Adrianna with a smirk on her face. "He says that like I haven't already been protecting our family."

"I can hear you." Hiccup drawled. "Sure my leg is a mess right now but my ears work just fine."

"I'm not so sure. I distinctly remember you having brief moments of deafness whenever Finn or Adri were crying in the middle of the night a few months after they were born." Astrid shook her head, hoping to keep her husband's spirits up with a bit of lighthearted ribbing.

"Well that didn't matter much because you pushed me out of bed any- OWWW!" Hiccup suddenly wailed when Astrid placed the ice pack on his stump with no warning whatsoever. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?"

Astrid stood with a satisfactory smile. "What? You were perfectly relaxed and distracted." she shot a wink to Adrianna before walking off to get cleaning cloths and some medicine.

Hiccup pouted. "I hate you."

"No, you don't." Astrid giggled. "Here, I'm going to roll your pant leg up a bit more."

As more of the stump came into view, Adrianna nearly gaped at all the scars on her father's leg. She knew that he was known as the Dragon Whisperer to some people, and it was clear that those things were true. But how much injury had he gone though to get that title?

"Yoo-hoo? Berk to Addie!"

Adrianna blinked at Hiccup's hand (which she hadn't noticed had slipped out of hers) waving in front of her face and shook her head. "Oh... sorry. Lost in thought I guess."

Hiccup chuckled, still gritting his teeth against the pain. "You just looked like you saw a ghost."

Adrianna cracked a smile and shrugged. "No offense, daddy, but your leg looks really... gross."

"All that?" Hiccup glanced at the scars running up and down his leg. He shrugged. "I've had worse."

"I can tell." Adrianna agreed, her eyes darting away.

Hiccup smiled but said nothing. Astrid shook her head. "Yeah, you've no idea how many times I've had to save him."

"Hey now-" Hiccup argued.

"Growing up with him was practically like babysitting."

"No it wasn't!"

"Always had to keep an eye on him."

"Would you stop- leave me alone!" Hiccup poked her in the side, ignoring his wife's and daughter's laughter. "I wasn't that bad!"

Astrid grunted. "And I'm the queen of the Anglo-Saxons."

"Oh come on-"

"You were always at the healer's for some injury. At least once a week from the time you were two until you were thirteen. We all remember." Astrid went on, rubbing some medicine on his stump.

"I'm sorry if I kept business going for her." Hiccup remarked. Adrianna chuckled at Astrid's deadpanned expression.

"I think I've done all I can. I need to get back to Thawfest to officiate in your place." Astrid patted his right foot before slipping off his boot. She then handed him his prosthetic. "I wouldn't be giving this to you if you didn't need it to walk." she suddenly leaned over his face. "But you are only to get up for the outhouse, do you hear me?"

"Yes ma'am." Hiccup said with a smirk. "I see you've assigned me a babysitter in your place." he added, jerking his head toward Adrianna.

"Exactly. You're finally catching on." Astrid winked at him. "Make sure he stays in bed, Adri. Maybe you can read him a story."

As Astrid walked out of the house, Adrianna's head snapped up and her eyes widened. She could do better than reading him a story.

"Daddy, do you want to hear more of the story I was telling you and Ms. Matilda?" she asked him, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"You know what happens next now?" her father sat up slightly to get a better look at her.

"Yep. I told Ms. Matilda a little more but I can tell you real quick before I get her." Adrianna said enthusiastically.

It took a few minutes for the girl to regale her father with the second part of her story. She wasn't as dramatic as she had been when she had told it to Matilda but she made sure that it was as interesting as possible. When she was finished, she skipped out of the house and headed to the library.

"Adrianna, how lovely to see you today!" Matilda chirped when the girl arrived. "Are you enjoying Thawfest?"

"Oh yes." Adrianna said, heading to one of the shelves. "Bits of it, anyway." she paused as she perused the selection of books in front of her. "Ms. Matilda?"

"Hmm?"

"Where's the revenge section?"

"What?" Matilda leaned against the cart of books she had been pushing and stared at the young girl for several seconds. "Well... we don't have a revenge section. Why? Is there a child who is behaving like a bully?"

"Oh, no... not a child exactly." Adrianna's brows furrowed as Allie the Insincere's stupid face swam in her memory.

"Adrianna, are you sure-"

"Do you want to hear the next part of the story?" Adrianna suddenly exclaimed.

"Story? Why Adrianna, do you even have to ask?" Matilda rushed over to grab the chair upon which she had sat for the first two installments.

"Actually, we're going to have to go to my house. My daddy wants to hear it too." Adrianna said, looking slightly guilty. "Do you mind?"

"Not in the slightest. I don't think anyone will be here because of Thawfest." Matilda took Adrianna's hand. "Let's go!"

The trip back to the house took even less time than the trip from it. Matilda was surprisingly agile for a woman of her age. When they arrived at the house, Matilda sat down on a comfortable chair next to the couch and expectantly waited for Adrianna to begin telling the next part of her tale.

"Slowly, very slowly, the Acrobat wrapped her shiny white scarf around her husband's neck." Adrianna said dramatically, standing upright and looking at her audience. "'For luck, my love.' she said, kissing him with the gentlest of kisses. 'Smile; we have done this a thousand times.' But suddenly, she hugged him with the biggest hug in the world, so hard that he thought she would hug all the air out of him. And so, they prepared themselves for the most dangerous feat that had ever been performed." the girl took a step forward. "The great escapologist had to escape from the cage," she pretended to break out of a cage as she said this, "lean out, catch his wife with one hand," she leaned over and made a fist, "grab a bucket of water with the other," she leaned in the other direction and grabbed an invisible bucket, "put out the flames on the specially-designed dress within twelve seconds before the flames reached the Fireworms and burned his wife's head off!" she threw her arms into the air.

Matilda screamed so loudly, the sound echoed off the walls. There was absolute silence for a while as both Haddocks turned identical pairs of green eyes to face her.

"Sorry, go on." Matilda said sheepishly.

"The trick started well. The moment the specially-designed dress was set alight, the acrobat swung into the air. The crowd held their breath as she hurled over the Scauldrons and spiky objects.

One second! Two seconds!

They watched as the flames crept up the dress.

Three seconds! Four seconds!

She began to reach out her arms towards the cage.

Five seconds! Six seconds!

Suddenly, the padlocks pinged open, and the huge chains fell away.

Seven seconds! Eight seconds!

The door flung open, and the escapologist reached out one huge, muscled arm to catch his wife and their child.

Nine seconds! Ten seconds!"

"Oh, I can't look!" cried Matilda, her hands over her eyes.

"Eleven seconds!

And he grabbed her hand, and . . . and . . . and suddenly, the flames were covered in water before they could both be burned to a crisp!"

"Oh how grand! So the story does have a happy ending after all!" Matilda shouted excitedly, her hands in the air.

"No." said Adrianna stoically.

"No?" Matilda asked, sounding quite disappointed.

"No." Adrianna shook her head. "Maybe it was the thought of the child. Maybe it was nerves. But the escapologist used just a touch too much water. And suddenly, their hands became slippy, and she fell."

"No! Was... was she okay?" Matilda asked very quietly. "Did, uh... did she survive?"

"She broke every bone in her body. Except for the ones at the ends of her little fingers. She did manage to live long enough to have their child, but the effort was too great. 'Love our little girl,' she said. 'Love our daughter with all your heart. She was all we ever wanted.' And then... she died." Adrianna put her head down sadly.

Matilda stood up and walked toward the table, upon which were a few spare handkerchiefs She wiped her eyes with one of them.

"And then... things got worse."

Matilda collapsed against the table. "What? Worse? Oh no, Adrianna, not worse! They can't get worse!"

"I'm afraid they did." Adrianna said emphatically. "You see, the escapologist was so kind that he never, for one second, blamed the evil sister for what had happened. So he didn't secure his house tightly enough, thinking that he and his daughter were safe. But one night, the acrobat's sister snuck in and stole the baby, leaving only a cryptic message behind." Adrianna paused for a moment to let it sink in. Hiccup's breath caught in his throat. This evil woman was sounding very familiar... "The escapologist spent the next few years trying to work out the clue and find the evil sister. And during that time, she hid his daughter away in the woods so that no one would find her. She was nothing but cruel to the little girl, making her wash and iron and cook and clean, and beating her if she did a thing wrong. And so the poor little girl grew up with the meanest, cruelest, horrible-est aunt you can possibly imagine!"

"Addie, are you... are you okay?" Hiccup asked, his face etched with sudden concern.

"At night, the escapologist's daughter cried herself to sleep alone in her room." Adrianna continued as if Hiccup hadn't interrupted. "She couldn't say a single word about the evil aunt's bullying because she and the aunt were so separated from other people by the thick wood. And so she suffered in silence." Adrianna pulled the back of her shirt over her head once more. "This only encouraged the woman to greater cruelties until one day, she exploded! 'You are a useless, filthy, nasty little creep!' And she beat her and threw her into a dank, dark, dusty cellar, locked the door, and went out." Adrianna thew herself onto the ground.

There was absolute silence in the house as both Hiccup and Matilda waited for the girl to move again. Hiccup felt as if he was getting awfully close to some kind of realization but he couldn't quite figure out what it was he was supposed to be gleaning from this story.

The girl suddenly looked up at her audience. "But that day, the acrobat's sister forgot to check to make sure the door was securely shut. And so the little girl escaped! She was never found by the evil aunt but no one knows what happened to her. But because she didn't have any memory of her life with the escapologist, she didn't know who she was looking for. So because escapologist didn't know that she had gotten away, he continued to look for her."

There was a long silence as Adrianna stood in the middle of the room, not moving a muscle. Hiccup and Matilda continued to stare at her, both quite on edge.

"Well what happens next?" Matilda pleaded when the silence became unbearable.

"I suppose I'll have to tell you later." Adrianna admitted. "And I guess you should go back to the library so it doesn't stay closed."

Matilda looked distraught but nodded understandingly. She stood up and took Adrianna's hand.

"I'll be back soon, daddy. Now remember what mom said and rest." Adrianna leaned forward and kissed her father on the forehead. "I'll bring back a book for us to read."

"I look forward to it." Hiccup said with a smile, secretly glad that she was leaving because it gave him some time to process what he had just heard.

"Adrianna... you are so smart." Matilda said just after they walked out of the house. "Your friends must feel so lucky to know you."

"Oh yes, they do." Adrianna said as excitedly as she could as she led Matilda down the path to the library. "They're always saying that, in fact, they say 'Anna, we're so lucky to have a friend like you. So very, very lucky to have a friend as... as..." the girl stopped in her tracks, her eyes fixed on her boots. Matilda stared at her distraught expression for a few seconds before Adrianna spoke again. "That's not true, Ms. Matilda. That's not what they say. The other girls don't like me at all. Nobody does except mom and daddy and Erick. And you, I suppose."

Matilda paused for a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking. "Oh, Adrianna... I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Adrianna picked up her pace so that she would reach the library (thus ending this awkward conversation) much sooner. "I'm just different. Always have been."

"No." Matilda said so firmly, the girl was slightly startled. "You're special. It's not everyone who can tell stories as well as you. I can tell just by how you talk to me that you're very smart. And if the other girls don't see that, they're not so smart themselves."

"But I want them to see that." Adrianna sighed deeply. "I don't want to be just the chief's daughter who always needs rescuing. But that's how everyone sees me."

"That's not how I see you." Matilda gently countered.

"But you're different. You're..."

"Smart?" Matilda smiled when Adrianna nodded. "Sometimes I think other girls are threatened by people like us. But we can't let that bother us." At this point. they had arrived at the library. Matilda pushed open the door and led Adrianna to the middle of the room. "There may be nothing you can do to make the other girls like you. But the people who like you because of who you are, those are the people who matter." Adrianna bit her lip but nodded. Matilda then, quite suddenly, took a book off the shelf. "You and your father liked this story, didn't you?"

Adrianna looked at the cover and smiled. It was the spaceman book. "Yeah, we did. We couldn't put it down."

"Then keep it. My gift to you." Matilda tucked the book into her arms.

"But Ms. Matilda-"

"I insist." Matilda patted Adrianna on the shoulder.

"Well... thank you." Adrianna's suddenly filled with tears. "Thank you very much." she quickly wiped her eyes but there was no stopping the barrage of tears now falling down her face.

"Oh, come here, child." Matilda leaned down put her arms around Adrianna. The girl immediately buried her face in her shoulder. "I know how much this can hurt. But things do get better. I promise."

"H-how?" Adrianna whimpered.

"Well when we grow up, we realize just how silly we acted when we were your age. How stupid our grudges were. Most grown-ups don't treat each other this way. And the ones who do are the ones who don't have any real friends." Matilda gently pushed Adrianna away and wiped her tears with the handkerchief she had borrowed from the Haddock home. "Chin up. Don't let them get you down."

Adrianna nodded and stifled a hiccup. "I sh-should go home and t-take care of my daddy."

"That you should." Matilda patted Adrianna on the head once more and smiled fondly as the girl walked out of the library, clutching the book to her chest as if it was the most important object in the universe.