Hiccup had been absent for most of the day. No one knew where he had gone and when he was finally seen that evening, he didn't offer up the information. He arrived at the Great Hall like his father had wanted. As he walked in, the Vikings present had averted their gaze. All except Gobber, who had jerked his head slightly to invite the young man to sit beside him. Hiccup obliged, feeling rather dead inside.

"He would have wanted to go this way." Gobber said, staring at his mead. "Wouldn't have wanted to grow old and frail. You know that."

Hiccup nodded. Stoick had once made a joke that if he ever went senile, he hoped someone would put him out of his misery. That he would rather it be quick. Well... he had gotten his wish.

Someone placed a tankard of mead in front of Hiccup and, without really thinking about it, he took a sip. It was the first sip of anything with alcohol since the night he had gotten drunk over five years ago. Stoick had helped him stumble home... he'd laughed when Hiccup had told him he looked like a yak. The young man looked around at the Great Hall... everything reminded him of his father. The way his voice had boomed so loudly, anyone could hear it. A table near the corner had been where Stoick had sat him down and told him everything he needed to know about growing up (and a lot of things he didn't need to know, at least not at eight years of age).

"Hiccup... listen, if you need anything..." Gobber continued after a long pause.

"I know. Thank you." Hiccup patted him on the back. "Dad said he... he had something for me?"

"Aye, he did. I'm not sure where he would have put it." Gobber said thoughtfully. He turned to his best friend's son. "There's nothing you or anyone could have done. He saved Spitelout and Olaf. Your father died a hero."

"I'm not ready to talk about this." Hiccup drained the tankard. "I... I need to go home. We have to tell the kids."

"Do you want me to-"

"No, I think... I just want this to be a private thing. I d-don't know how Addie's going to-" Hiccup put a hand up to his face and took a few deep breaths. "I just... I don't know. It's too much to process."

"The service will be tomorrow. About noon." Gobber said, watching Hiccup stand up, still in a bit of a daze.

"Thank you for everything. Really." Hiccup walked back to his dragon, his eyes fixed on the ground ahead of him and ignoring the stares he was receiving.

Toothless had been sitting in a corner, allowing his human some privacy. He didn't know why Hiccup was upset but he knew that it was his job to be supportive and try to cheer him up. Whatever had happened was so big, he knew it was going to be an incredibly difficult task. When Hiccup reached him, he cooed and put his snout up to his human's hand. Hiccup gently rubbed it before mounting him and flying home.

Astrid had come by to quietly tell Lotus what had happened. The two women had stayed with the twins, thankful that no one else had interrupted them. They decided that Adrianna needed to be with her parents when she found out. Lately, Hiccup was the only one who could calm her down. As for Finn, it seemed only logical to wait until nightfall when both of his parents could speak to him.

Hiccup touched down on the soft, earthy path to his house at sunset. Toothless followed him, trying to support his human as best he could. Inside, he could see Astrid and Lotus playing with a cheerful looking Finn. Adrianna wasn't there but Hiccup figured she was probably napping upstairs. The moment Astrid caught sight of his blank expression, her insides seemed to freeze. Hiccup noticed the look of terror on her face and walked up to her, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Hiccup..."

"I made you a promise and I intend to keep it." Hiccup hugged her, burying his face into her shoulder. "I won't do that again. You need me, the kids need me, Berk needs me."

The tears wouldn't come. Since finding out his father had died, Hiccup had felt something in the pit of his stomach but he simply couldn't cry. He wasn't sure if he wanted to but this numbness was greatly appreciated moments later when Finn tugged on Astrid's skirt.

"What's going on, Mommy?" he asked, the frightened gaze returning.

Hiccup and Astrid exchanged a look, both nodding once before sitting their son down. Lotus stood up and walked up to the door, Astrid following close behind.

"Thanks, Mom." Astrid whispered. "See you tomorrow at the service."

Lotus kissed Astrid on the forehead. "I love you." she said, holding the young woman's face in her hands. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Mom. You know I do." Astrid said, wiping her mother's tears with her thumb.

Lotus sniffled and nodded, quietly shutting the door behind her. As Astrid walked back to the couch, Finn looked at both of his parents, gripped with fear at what he was about to hear. He knew it was big. They were acting like they had when Adrianna had gone missing. Even after she had gotten home. They always acted like this when very bad things happened.

Astrid put a hand on his knee. "Finn..." she sighed. How could she explain this to a little boy? He shouldn't have to deal with this.

Hiccup took her hand and squeezed it before turning to his little son. "Poppy died this morning when the tunnel he was in collapsed."

Finn's mouth opened in shock. "But... he's coming back, right?"

"No, sweetie." Astrid wiped a few tears away with the back of her hand. "No, he's not."

Finn shook his head. His Poppy was a big strong man. Big strong men didn't die. Only old, frail men and women died. They were the only ones who died on Berk... weren't they? His lower lip trembled but he fought the tears back. He couldn't cry. His mommy was already crying. He had to be strong for her, tell her that it was going to be okay.

Hiccup sat down next to him and put an arm around his shoulders. "I know you're probably feeling a lot of things right now, buddy. And that's okay. But you don't need to hold them back."

After a few seconds, Finn looked at his mother, who was still wiping away her tears. He then looked at his father, who looked so... so lost. Like he was in the middle of the woods and didn't know how to get home. The boy shook his head.

"I want to go upstairs and play now." he said to his clasped hands on his lap.

Hiccup patted him on the back. "Okay. Let us know if you need to talk to someone."

Finn nodded and scampered off to his room. Hiccup and Astrid were silent until they heard his bedroom door shut.

"Do you think he understood?" Astrid asked, not quite able to look at her husband.

"No. I think we're going to have to make sure we're there for when... when he does." Hiccup shook his head and looked into Astrid's eyes. "How are we going to tell Addie?"

Astrid shook her head, looking almost fearful. There was simply no way to tell their daughter what had happened without distressing her. A whole year and a half's worth of progress was likely to be completely undone that night. Adrianna was already so fragile and to put this burden on her was too much... Hiccup was beginning to feel angry. After everything she had gone through, why did this have to happen? Why was she going to have to suffer more? Didn't she deserve a break? He loved her so much it ached. The pain she was about to feel... he could hardly bear it. He was a grown man and he was hardly holding it together but she was an innocent little girl. Except she wasn't so innocent anymore. That angered him the most.

It had probably been about twenty minutes of absolute silence in the Haddock home before Adrianna woke up and descended the stairs but it felt like seconds. Time always passes when you're dreading something and the sight of their daughter, ignorant of the pain she was about to feel, was agonizing. Hiccup sat on the couch and beckoned her over, allowing her to sit on his lap. Astrid sat down next to them and the girl gasped when she saw her mother's face.

"Mommy, don't cry." she said, immediately going to work wiping away Astrid's tears. "Why are you crying?"

Astrid took her daughter's hand, lowering it so that she couldn't wipe away any more tears. Adrianna's deep green eyes seemed to pierce her the way Hiccup's often would. Two pairs of eyes were now focused on her. She squeezed the girl's hand.

"This morning, a tunnel collapsed. Your Poppy was there and he got everyone out but he... he couldn't..." Astrid took a deep breath and looked her daughter straight in the eye. "Poppy died, Anna."

Adrianna shook her head, wrenching her hand out of her mother's grip. She turned to her daddy, the strongest man in the world, and could see the truth in his eyes. He wasn't crying but she knew sadness when she saw it. She saw it in her daddy's eyes whenever she had a nightmare. She saw it in Poppy's eyes when he talked about her grandmother. She saw it all around her... but she never thought she would see it like this. It wasn't just sadness... it was brokenness. Her daddy was in pain. Her mommy was in pain. And her Poppy...

Her Poppy wasn't coming back.

The reality crashed over her like a wave in the ocean, destroying whatever shoddy barriers she had put together to protect herself. Poppy was dead... there would be no more tea parties. No more bone-crushing hugs. No more booming laughter that sometimes made her ears hurt in the most wonderful way... it was over. She felt like her heart was being squeezed and before she knew it, a hiccup escaped her throat. Her daddy put his arms around her and she felt her entire body explode with misery.

"No..." she whimpered. "No..."

Hiccup and Astrid had been expecting tears. Screaming. Heaving sobs. They had known it was coming. But it was worse than they could possibly imagine. The howls of misery erupting from her lungs were so horrible, so agonizing that it seemed like the entire world had to go silent for them to exist. Hiccup gripped her tightly, feeling every heartbeat, every hiccup, every ragged breath that escaped from his precious little girl... and he felt completely helpless. He couldn't make this any better. He couldn't bring her Poppy back to her. He couldn't mend her broken heart. All he could do was hold her as she sobbed, feeling like the most horrible person in the world.

It was a long time before Adrianna's cries died down. She was clutching her father's shirt, breathing heavily, her energy spent. Astrid hid her face, unable to contain her sobs. Only Hiccup's eyes remained dry. The pains he felt increased and he dearly wanted to cry with them... but he couldn't. It was like a vicious animal was clawing at his insides; the agony was too much to handle but he couldn't release it. Instead, he continued to hold his sniffling, hiccuping little girl, reminding himself that a miserable Addie was better than no Addie at all. As painful as this had been, there was a time in the past in which he would have done anything to have her in his arms, even if she was sobbing like this. He couldn't be completely angry. And that fact was by far the most frustrating.

After several minutes of silence, punctuated by the occasional sniffle or hiccup, Astrid gently put a hand on her daughter's back.

"You... we should go to bed." Yet again, those words tumbled out of her mouth, making her feel completely useless. There wasn't a thing she could say that would make this better.

"We should." Hiccup replied, scooting forward so he could stand up.

Adrianna squeaked and shook her head. Hiccup and Astrid exchanged a look and knew what had to happen next if she had any chance of feeling better.

"Addie, do you want to sleep in our bed tonight?" Hiccup whispered to her, still holding her tight.

His little daughter nodded. Hiccup kept her in his arms as he stood up, holding her with both arms to support her. He wasn't sure if he would be getting any sleep that night but having his little girl in his arms might help. At the very least, he would be certain that she was safe. Astrid went to Finn's room to tuck him in as Hiccup gently lay Adrianna down on the bed.

"Daddy?" Adrianna whispered in a shaking voice as Hiccup stood up to take some clean sleepwear out of a drawer. "Please don't die."

Hiccup dropped the shirt he was holding and scurried over to the bed once more. His daughter looked up at him with wide, terrified eyes. He got down on his knees and met her gaze.

"I am going to try very, very hard to stay alive for you, baby." he told her, wiping away a few tears that had fallen in her fear. "But I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere."

Adrianna didn't look convinced. And, as Hiccup stood back up and left the room with the sleepwear so he could change in private, he thought that it was completely unfair that she and Finn should have to deal with something like this at all, let alone at this young age. Unbeknownst to him, Astrid was thinking the same thing as she kissed her son goodnight.

Xxx

No one slept well that night. Finn tossed and turned because he didn't understand why his parents had said that he couldn't see his Poppy again. Adrianna was frequently awakened by steadily more horrifying nightmares that made her scream and covered her with sweat. Hiccup and Astrid were kept awake but Adrianna's cries. The couple had a strong feeling that she would be joining them each night for a long time.

When the sun had finally risen and Adrianna had fallen asleep once more, Hiccup slipped out of bed and took some clean clothes to the girl's room. As he got dressed, he looked around at the butterflies on the walls. The boarded up window. His daughter's small bedroom was so innocent, girlish, childlike. It had been the place Adrianna had faced her worst fears and had her most frightening nightmares. If he had known she would suffer this much before her fifth birthday, he would have spent every moment hugging her tightly and begging the gods to show his beautiful, innocent child mercy.

But, more than the feeling of frustration he had about being unable to protect his daughter from life's biggest tragedies, he was angry that now his little boy was going to have to face this. They had worked so hard to protect him from pain like this. Adrianna's innocence was compromised but Finn's wasn't. And now both his children had to face one of the harshest realities they could possibly face in life. It simply wasn't fair. Hadn't they suffered enough?

His clothes were on and he had the urge to go out and see if they had recovered his father's body. They may have done it the day before. Hiccup had no idea what was going on, not anymore. He didn't want to know. Yet he needed to know. Needed proof that his father was truly gone.

He arrived at the Great Hall once more. Were he unable to see, he might have thought it was empty. The silence was ringing in his ears as he stepped forward, his prosthetic making a noise every other step. It echoed in the still silence.

Stoick's body had been recovered. It had been laid at the farthest end of the room. Berkians were flocking to the Hall to pay their last respects. Hiccup spotted Gobber standing near the body at around the same time Gobber spotted him. Almost like he was in a daze, Berk's new chief stepped forward to say his last goodbye to its former chief.

Stoick the Vast might have been sleeping. His eyes were shut and were it not for the dull gray tinge of his skin, Hiccup might not have known he was gone at all. There were cuts and bruises on his face but Hiccup had seen much worse. He placed a hand on one of his father's arm. It was devoid of any of its usual warmth. This was the arm that had cradled him when he was a newborn, that had cradled his children when they were newborns. The arm that wrapped around him when he needed comfort as a child. The arm that still had light scars from battles long ago. And it was cold.

A warm hand rested on his shoulder. Hiccup jerked his head sideways and spotted Gobber in his peripheral vision.

"Hiccup?"

Hiccup shook his head. "I'm okay."

"No you're not. Blast it, Hiccup, you're killing us. You've lost your father and you haven't shed a tear." Gobber said, rubbing the young man's shoulder. "Come on, one tear to show that you're in there. Just one."

"I can't." Hiccup looked back at his father's body. "They won't come. Not when Astrid told me. Not when we told Finn or Addie. Not now." he shook his head, shutting his eyes tightly. "I can't. It isn't that I won't. But I'm here."

"No you're-"

"I can't afford to go out again. Berk can't, my family can't. I'm here... maybe not in the way you would want but I'm here." he blinked, begging for the burning sensation behind his eyes but felt nothing. "I wish I could... could show that emotion. But I can't."

Gobber was silent for a few minutes, staring at the body of the closest friend he had ever had. And then he sighed and looked back at Hiccup.

"They said it was instantaneous. He probably didn't feel any pain." he said, his hand squeezing his former apprentice's shoulder. "Exactly how he would have wanted to go."

Hiccup nearly smiled. His mouth turned upward the tiniest bit. "I would have thought he would have wanted to die in battle."

"Stoick the Vast? Die at the hand of an enemy?"

Hiccup shook his head. "True, true."

"He saved our lives." a gravely voice behind them made them turn around and face its owner. Spitelout looked the saddest they had ever seen him, his eyes fixed on the body of their former chief. "Healer says Olaf will probably never walk again but he's alive. As are you and I because of your father."

Snotlout, who was standing just behind his father, didn't make eye contact with Hiccup. The new chief thanked Spitelout for the information and tried to silently relay to Snotlout that he harbored no hard feelings or ill will toward him. Stoick's death wasn't anyone's fault. It would have happened eventually. He wasn't a young man, though not as old as some of the Elders. People died younger than him all the time. But it was different when it was someone this important.

The rest of the morning was a blur. People were shoving food and small gifts into his hands, offering their condolences. Hiccup greatly appreciated this. His family would be well fed for at least a week, probably longer. But the words seemed oddly hollow. It wasn't that they didn't mean what they said, Hiccup knew that they did. They all knew Stoick, had been very fond of him. But they didn't know him like Hiccup and his family knew him. The man who had led Berk into successful battles and had once been a fierce dragon killer had been so much more than that. So few people saw that side of him, the side that allowed a tiny girl to weave flowers into his beard... the side that had told his son stories while cleaning his wounds so that he wouldn't notice the pain... the side that had long ago caused him to look at his wife with such adoration and love... no one saw that. And it was better that way. Stoick was more than just a tough, strong Viking. He had been a rock on whom to lean in times of crisis. He had been a loyal friend. He had been a wise leader. He had been an affectionate grandfather. And perhaps that legacy was enough.

By the afternoon, the body was fully covered with a sheet and placed in a wooden ship. All of Berk met outside as Gobber pushed it out to sea. For a few minutes, they watched as the ship slowly sailed away.

Hiccup dipped the tip of an arrow into a small fire that had been lit a few minutes ago. Behind him, he could see others doing the same. He stared out at the sea, his father's ship bobbing farther and farther away. He knew the time was now. The time to send his father off as every Viking hero should be sent off. But the thought of letting go, of saying a final goodbye to the man he had known all twenty nine years of his life, it was too much for his brain to process. Though his eyes remained dry, the pain on his insides seemed to intensify, to claw at his heart and cloud his head with more memories than he even knew it contained. The flame in his arrow seemed to contain his father's proud face just before Hiccup had gone up against the Red Death. He saw Stoick cradling one newborn in each arm, beaming with happiness. There seemed to be infinite images flashing through his head and in front of his eyes before he became aware of warm hands resting atop his own. Astrid's sapphire eyes finally broke through the swarm and Hiccup felt his hand let go of the arrow. It soared in an arc above the water before landing directly on the ship, igniting it instantly. The shy turned to fire as dragons and humans alike paid their last respects to their chief of over thirty years. It was over. Their great leader had fallen. And before he was truly ready to let go of the memories, the ship finally sank in a haze of smoke and ash.

Hiccup turned back to his people, his trembling hands clasped behind his back. Astrid stood beside him, looking out over hundreds of Vikings who now looked up to Hiccup as their leader. The official ceremony would be later but everyone knew that Hiccup had become chief the moment Stoick's heart had stopped beating.

The new chief cleared his throat. "My father was a great man." Hiccup said clearly in the very tone his father had taught him to use when addressing large crowds. "And as he often said, great leaders aren't born, they're made. But I like to think that he was both a born leader and a learned one." he felt a small surge of confidence, which caused him to raise his head a fraction of an inch and speak more clearly. "As a child, I looked up to his muscles and strength, to his legacy as the great dragon killer he was at the time. As a teenager, I looked up to him as a great leader who facilitated the necessary changes, even though he had no idea how it would turn out. As an adult, I looked up to him as an adviser who taught me what I needed to know about leadership and about being a good father to my own children." he glanced over at his stony faced son and silently crying daughter. "I can't promise I'll be as good a chief to you as my father was. He and I certainly were never the same person and it wouldn't be fair to tell you to expect the same of me as you did of him. But I can promise that I will try to be as great, as brave, and as selfless as he was. It's going to be a difficult journey and I ask only for your patience and your support." Several villagers nodded at these words, many still wiping tears from their eyes. "I'm going to fight for Berk until my last breath if need be because this is my home, our home. And you all are my people, all equals and all deserving of a voice in the community. I will do my best to listen and to lead as my father would want." Hiccup paused to look over at Astrid, whose now tearless face shone with admiration for her husband. "Thank you so much for coming out here. My family and I really appreciate it." Hiccup nodded to indicate that the service was over.

The Haddocks stayed near the dock to talk to those who still wished to offer condolences as the villagers finally left the service. Hiccup was barely aware that anyone was around. Adrianna had rushed forward the moment he had ended the service and now gripped his hand tightly. Astrid put an arm around his waist. Finn sat down on a small bench, his eyes glazed over and his face completely devoid of emotion. By the time most of the Berkians had left, it was late in the afternoon. The Haddocks and Gobber followed a small procession of Stoick's closest friends as they hauled a stone to the cemetery to serve as a reminder of Stoick's life. It brought Hiccup some small amount of comfort to think that his parents were now reunited in Valhalla.

As the men carefully dug a hole in the earth deep enough to admit the stone, Hiccup remained standing. He felt like he needed to watch this. To stay until it was all over. Astrid finally took the twins away as the stone was finally mounted in the dirt

The men were gone. It was just Hiccup and Gobber now. They were silent for a long time, so long that the sun was beginning to set when they finally spoke.

"I guess this is it." Hiccup said in monotone.

"Yes." Gobber patted him on the back. "You'll make a good chief."

Hiccup nodded. "He always believed in me. I guess... I guess it's time to find out if he was right in doing so."

His eyes still refused to burn. It was like there was a ball of emotion deep within him that wouldn't come out, that forced his face to remain expressionless while his insides screamed in agony. Hiccup knew that the emotions would bubble to the surface. They always did eventually. But now it was more than he could take. It made him want to reach into his body and take them out so that, for just a few seconds, he would be free.

Instead he felt like he needed to say something. Last words. A goodbye. He didn't know if his father could even hear him. He hoped that he could.

Berk's newest chief stepped forward and dropped to his knees in front of the brand new stone that bore Stoick's name and other meaningless details. He placed a trembling hand on it.

"I don't know how I'm going to get through this. But I'm going to do everything I can to still be the man you were so proud of." he whispered in a slightly shaking voice. "Goodbye dad."

And with that, he stood up and brushed the dirt off of his knees before walking home, almost in a daze. Toothless met him on the edge of the cemetery, his head low almost like he was paying his respects. Hiccup gently stroked him as they walked back to what was now the only Haddock house. The dragon cooed in a comforting sort of way.

"We'll get through this, bud." Hiccup told him. "You and me, we've been through a lot. We can get through this too."

Toothless looked up at his human. The young man looked lost and even a bit frightened. And, though Hiccup couldn't possibly know it, the Night Fury promised himself that he would do just about anything to make his human happy once more.