Disclaimer: How to Train Your Dragon belongs to Dreamworks, not me.

"Val?"

Valka took another careful stitch. "I'm in here," she called absently, focusing on the collar of the tiny shirt she was making.

"Valka, I have a little Viking here who's looking for his mother," Stoick said.

Valka set aside her sewing as her husband walked into the house. "And which little Viking might that be?" she teased. She stopped. "Oh, Stoick!"

Stoick grinned sheepishly at her. He held their three-year-old son in his arms; Hiccup was soaking wet and wrapped up in his father's cloak. "Someone fell in the sea," he said.

Hiccup sniffled hard. His hair hung in wet clumps over his forehead. "I thought I saw trolls," he whimpered.

"Oh, Hiccup," Valka sighed. She brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Poor love."

"I've told you a million times, son, Gobber's just teasing when he tells you about trolls," Stoick said, jostling his tiny son in his massive arms. "You shouldn't listen."

Hiccup's mouth drew down in a pout. "But I like troll stories," he objected.

"Yes, but they're just stories," Stoick countered. "That doesn't mean you should lean so far over the side of the boat looking for them that you fall in." He patted Hiccup's narrow back. "A good Viking knows better than that."

Hiccup's mouth trembled. "I'm not a good Viking, Daddy," he said. "I'm a bad Viking. Snotlout says so."

Stoick looked from his son's tearful eyes to his wife, clearly at a loss for words. Valka shook her head. Her husband was a good father, but he still had no idea what to do when his small son cried. "Hiccup, my love, you're not a bad Viking," she said gently, taking his cold little hand in hers. "You're a very little Viking, and you're still learning. Even grown ups make mistakes too."

"Even D-Daddy?" Hiccup said, swallowing down a sob heroically.

"Even Daddy," Stoick reassured him. "But only sometimes. Not often. I- hm." He stopped midsentence, disguising it as a cough, when he saw Valka raising an eyebrow at him. "Listen to your mother."

"I know you just wanted to find the trolls," Valka said, and Hiccup dropped his head, sniffling hard and wiping his nose on his sleeve. "But you need to listen to your daddy when you're out on the boat, all right? Good Vikings listen to their chief."

"And someday, you'll be chief," Stoick added. "So now's the time to learn."

Hiccup bit his lip, overwhelmed by this new information. "I don't want to be chief till I'm old," he said, concerned. "Like eleven."

Stoick laughed. "You'll be a bit older than that," he said, pinching the boy's nose lightly.

"Much older," Valka said, squeezing Hiccup's little fingers. He was still a little teary, his eyes red and wet around the corners, and she bumped her forehead lightly against his. He looked up at her from under his lashes. "You're going to be a very good Viking when you're older, love, but for right now, how about we try not to fall out of boats, hm?"

Hiccup nodded, and then let out a tremendous sneeze. Stoick laughed. "You're too small to have a sneeze that large!" he said. He squeezed Hiccup affectionately. "Here, off you go to your mother. She'll put you back together."

Hiccup leaned out of his father's arms, reaching for his mother. Valka picked him up, adjusting his damp weight on her hip. "Poor little kitten, you're soaked to the bone," she sighed. "Stoick, you'd better talk Gobber into making dinner tonight. I've got more important things."

"Already on it," Stoick grinned, leaning in to kiss her. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Take your spare cloak, this one's going to take a while to dry," Valka called. She unwrapped the sodden cloak from her son, balancing him carefully as she peeled it away. His clothes were drenched and spotted with mud. "How do you always come back so dirty when Daddy takes you out?"

"I dunno," Hiccup shrugged.

Valka set him down on the floor. "Take off your boots and go get some dry clothes," she said. "Then come straight back. No dawdling."

"Yes, Mommy," Hiccup said, kicking off his dripping boots before he ran upstairs. Valka stifled a sigh. It was going to take quite a while for those to dry out. She set them by the fire and hung up Stoick's cloak as well, checking the heavy fabric for rips and tears.

Hiccup zipped back on the room with his dry clothes clutched in his hands. "Mommy, I'm cold!" he said, flinging himself against her legs.

"That's why you're staying down here, Hiccup, it's warmer by the fire," she said. She knelt down and helped him pull off his wet clothes. He shivered, his bare freckled skin popping in goosebumps. "Did you at least have fun with Daddy before you fell in the water?"

"Uh-huh," Hiccup said, shivering as he wrestled his arms through the sleeves of his dry tunic. "I almost caught a fish."

She smiled. "Good boy," she said.

He plopped down on the floor and wriggled into his leggings. "Daddy told me about the dragons he killed," he said. "Mommy, have you killed a dragon?"

"No, dearheart, I've never killed a dragon," she said.

Hiccup paused, looking up at her in confusion. "Why?" he asked.

"Because I haven't had to," she said.

"Why?" he pressed.

"Because I don't fight with the other Vikings," she said.

"Why?"

She thought about telling him the story, about the dragon that burst into the house only to play with her baby rather than harm him, how it nearly carried her away because it thought she was in danger, how Stoick grabbed her from its talons seconds before she was out of reach and she still had the scars to prove it. How she couldn't reconcile what she knew with what the people of Berk believed.

"Because I'm not a fighting Viking, I'm a fixing Viking," she said. She picked Hiccup up, setting him back on his feet, and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "And I've fixed you all up. Now you stay warm by the fire until dinner, all right?"

Hiccup nodded, grabbing the basket of building blocks Gobber had made for him and settling down to play. Valka smoothed his damp hair again before settling down in her favorite chair with her sewing again.

She'd tried so many times to explain to Stoick why she couldn't do it, and he never seemed to listen. He heard her, all right, but he didn't understand. She just couldn't find the words to explain why she felt killing dragons was wrong, why she was so sure they needed to find another way. Every discussion she attempted fell flat and failed. Instead, she turned her attention towards learning from the healers. It made her feel useful, and it allowed her to avoid fighting- as a healer, she was too valuable to spare. And Stoick understood that, even if he didn't understand dragons. He defended her and her choice fiercely; no one was allowed to say anything about how the chief's wife was the only woman on Berk who didn't fight.

Besides, since she was a healer it meant she could keep Hiccup close and away from the raids, unlike the other mothers who had to hide their children at home or in the great hall while they went to fight. She could keep him safe.

"We're home, and we've brought dinner!" Gobber hollered as he banged the front door open. Hiccup jumped in surprised, knocking his block tower over, and frowned at the small disaster. "Evening, Valka!"

"Evening," she smiled.

Gobber hung a massive cast iron pot on the hook over the fire. "And how's the littlest Haddock?" he asked. "Heard you got a bit of a dunking today, little fish."

Hiccup looked up from his partially rebuilt tower and scowled. "I thought I saw a troll, and I fell in, and there wasn't a troll, and Daddy says you made 'em up," he said.

"Now, why'd you go and say that?" Gobber said to Stoick, who shrugged. "Trolls exist! I've seen 'em!" He squatted down to Hiccup's eye level. "They look like rocks, round and smooth, almost as big as you are."

"Oh, fantastic, Gobber, now he's going to go around talking to rocks," Stoick said, but he was grinning. He scooped Hiccup up, tossing him in the air and making him shriek with laughter.

Valka laughed. "There are worse things than talking to rocks," she said. Stoick settled Hiccup on his shoulders, the little boy still giggling as he held on tightly to his father's red hair, and leaned in to kiss her on the lips. Hiccup reached over to pat the top of her head.

"Are you three going to be adorably soppy like that all evening, or are you going to come and eat?" Gobber asked. "I've been slaving away all afternoon!"

"Oh, of course you did, Gobber," Valka teased. She held out her hands for Hiccup, beckoning to him, and he slid off Stoick's shoulders and into her arms.

It was rare that Gobber didn't join them for dinner. She had always been a terrible cook, and Stoick didn't know the first thing about cooking at all. They'd muddled through as best as they could the first few years of their marriage, but after Hiccup was born it had taken a long time for her to feel like herself again, and when she was up and about she was taking care of her baby. Gobber had taken over the cooking while she was distracted, and even after she was well again and Hiccup was growing stronger he had just stayed. Now it was normal.

"Hiccup, sit still," Valka said, picking up his spoon again and putting it into his hand.

Hiccup wriggled on the pile of cushions on the bench, trying to be taller. "Mommy, what makes boats go?" he asked.

"The water moves under it, and the wind blows the sails," she said. "Keep eating."

He spooned up another bite of his dinner and stuck it in his mouth, then looked at Stoick. "Daddy, what if the wind stops blowing?" he asked.

"Then we use oars and paddle it ourselves," Stoick said.

Hiccup waved his spoon around. "Like this? Like this, Daddy?" he asked.

"Yes, son, now eat," Stoick said. "You have to eat if you're going to grow up big and strong."

Hiccup started to take another spoonful, then whipped around to look at Valka. "Mommy, am I going to be big like Daddy when I grow up?" she asked.

Valka hid a smile. As far as she could tell, Hiccup was going to take after her more than his father- slim and long-limbed and tall. "You'll never know if you don't eat like you should," she said. She took the spoon, scooped up a little bite of stew, and held it out for Hiccup. He ate eagerly like a baby bird. "Five more bites, and then you can go play."

Hiccup brightened and took the spoon, shoveling the required bites into his mouth. "Now?" he asked, his mouth still full. Valka nodded and he took off, running back to the fire and plunking down beside his blocks.

Stoick smiled fondly at his small son. "He actually did pretty well fishing today," he said. "Before he fell in, that is."

"Think he's ready for his first battleax?" Gobber asked.

A hopeful gleam shone in Stoick's eyes; Valka elbowed him. "Oh, go on, you two, he's only three years old!" she said. "Besides, he's barely strong enough to throw his fishing pole around. He's not ready for an ax." She looked right at Gobber, raising an eyebrow. "And have you already remembered the hunting knife incident?"

Gobber ducked his head. "Aw, Val, it was just a little cut," he wheedled. "Barely a scratch."

"He needed four stitches!" Valka exclaimed.

Stoick laughed. "You're right, my love," he said. "I promise, Val, no axes. Until he's at least six."

She shook her head, smiling, as Gobber bicked with Stoick about the usefulness of axes and Stoick countered with his usual argument about hammers. It was an old, old squabble, one they had at least once a week. She started gathering up the dishes and carried them off to wash them while the men argued happily.

She had just dried the last bowl and stacked it away when she felt a small tug on her skirt. "What's wrong, lovey?" she asked, looking down at her small tousle-headed son.

"Mommy, I'm sleepy," Hiccup said, leaning his head against her knee and tangling his fingers in her skirt.

She leaned down and rubbed his back. "Ready for bed, then?" she asked. He nodded, flinging himself against her. Valka picked him up. "All right, love. Let's go say goodnight first."

Stoick was still shouting cheerfully about hammers, but he paused when his wife approached. "Hiccup's going to bed," Valka said.

Hiccup leaned out of his mother's arms to hug his father, disappearing briefly into Stoick's broad arms and beard. "Goodnight, son," Stoick said, ruffling Hiccup's hair. "Sleep tight. Don't let the Terrible Terrors bite."

"Night, Daddy," Hiccup said. "Night, Gobber."

"Night, little one! Now, Stoick, there's no way you can-"

Hiccup settled back in Valka's arms, locking his arms around her neck as the men went back to their debate. She shifted him on her hip. "You feel a little warm, love," she said. She touched the back of her hand to his cheek, then kissed his forehead. "You might be coming down with something." Hiccup sniffled and shrugged his shoulders. "You go upstairs and get into bed. I'm going to get you something to make you feel better."

"I'm okay," he protested, but he wiped his nose on his sleeve as she set him on the floor and headed up the stairs to his little loft bedroom. Valka sighed. Of course he was coming down with another cold.

She made elderflower tea, pouring into Hiccup's favorite cup, and carried it upstairs. "Hiccup," she said firmly. "I said pajamas, not playtime."

He started guiltily, dropping his toy dragon. "Sorry, Mommy," he said sweetly, running to grab his clothes. Valka set the cup of tea down and pulled the blankets back. Hiccup climbed up on the bed and settled back against the pillows.

"Drink your tea," she said, curling his small fingers around the cup.

He wrinkled his nose. "Mommy, no," he said.

"Yes," she said. "You don't want to get another cold, do you?"

He sighed and took a sip. Valka picked up his discarded clothes from the floor, hanging them back on the pegs on the wall. "Did you have a good day?" she asked.

"Uh-huh," he said. "I almost caught a fish. And I almost caught a troll." He frowned. "And I saw a dragon."

"You did?" she said. "What kind?"

Hiccup tilted his head, thinking. "The big one," he said. "The big one that looks like a owl."

"An owl," she corrected. "You saw a Stormcutter." She smiled, sitting down on the edge of the bed beside Hiccup. "What do you remember about Stormcutters?"

Hiccup brightened. "They're fast when they dive!" he said, gesturing broadly. "Whoosh!"

Valka caught the cup before he dumped it out on the bed. "Yes, they're very fast," she said.

"And their wings look like a X."

"An X."

"Uh-huh!" Hiccup said. "And he's shiny."

Valka nodded. "Drink your tea before it gets cold," she said, smoothing his hair. At some point, maybe, when he was a little older and could understand a little better, she'd introduce him to Cloudjumper. The dragon came and went as he pleased, but for the past three years he'd spent a great deal of time hiding in the cove, waiting for her. Privately she thought of him as "her" dragon. Although she couldn't let Stoick know about that quite yet. Maybe later.

Hiccup drank the last of his tea and held out the cup. "Done, Mommy," he said.

She set the cup aside. "Lie down, then," she said.

"Mommy, can I have a drink of water?" he asked.

"No, you don't need another drink," she said. She reached down to pick up his toy dragon from the floor, hoping that Hiccup's nightly barrage of questions wouldn't go on for too long.

"Can you tell me a story?" he asked.

"No, no stories tonight, love," she said. "You need your sleep."

"Can you sing to me?" he asked.

She handed him the soft toy dragon and he hugged it to his chest. "One song," she said. "And then it's time for all little Vikings to go to sleep. Okay?"

"Okay," he said, nestling into his pillow. She smoothed his hair as she sang to him, keeping her voice soft. Occasionally he hummed along with a few notes, but his eyelids began to droop. By the time she finished he was nearly asleep, his head tilting on the pillow.

"That's your song, so now it's time to sleep," she whispered.

He nodded drowsily, holding out his arm for a hug. "Night, Mommy," he said, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"Goodnight, love," she said, kissing the tip of his nose. "Sweet dreams."

He nodded, shifting around in his bed to get comfortable. Valka blew out the candle and left the room, leaving the door open just a crack.

She didn't expect to see him till morning- Hiccup tended to be a deep sleeper- but in the middle of the night she woke up slowly, sensing a presence near her. She forced herself awake, rubbing at her eyes, and tried to focus on the blurry shape in front of her. It moved and she nearly had a heart attack.

"Hiccup?" she mumbled sleepily.

Her small son stood beside the bed, a blanket draped around his head and shoulders like a cloak and his dragon clutched in his arms. "Mommy," he whispered. "I had a bad dream."

Valka touched his cheek. "Are you all right, baby?" she asked.

He inched a little closer, his green eyes wide. "I have to sleep with you and Daddy," he said.

Valka nodded, lifting the covers. He scrambled onto the bed and climbed over her; Valka winced as he elbowed her in the stomach on accident. "What kind of bad dream was it?" she asked as Hiccup curled up between her and the warm sleeping form of Stoick.

"Scary," he said. "I don't remember but it was scary."

Valka tucked the blankets around him. "Well, you're safe now," she said. "Daddy and I are right here." She kissed his cheek. "Go back to sleep."

Hiccup snuggled between them, his dragon hugged to his chest. His small fingers sought out Valka's in the dark, closing around hers, and he sighed as he dozed off. Valka kissed his fingers and draped an arm over him, her hand resting on the safe solidity of Stoick's upper arm. When she was sure Hiccup was asleep again she closed her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep, her husband close and their son safe between them.

Author's Notes:

I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS.

So I wrote this because of an adorable picture I saw on Tumblr. Now I'm slightly obsessed with writing Haddock family nonsense. And I have a specific headcanon about Valka not being taken- Stoick grabbed her from Cloudjumper's talons just in time. So she stayed in Berk, but Cloudjumper came back to check up on her, and now he spends a great deal of time visiting her in the cove. At this point she's started training him and flying him, but she hasn't told anyone yet. I think she introduces Hiccup to him when he's five or so.

I've already been asked to do a drabble series or a full story about what would have happened if Valka stayed, and I'm seriously considering it.

Also, I'm trying very hard to differentiate Hiccup from Kurt, since that's the toddler I'm the most used to writing. But Hicucp's very different- bright and constantly asking questions and touching things he shouldn't touch and getting into trouble. And I think Valka is a very absentminded mother- she adores Hiccup, and takes excellent care of him, and clearly very affectionate, but she also just sort of lets him go do his own thing a lot of the time. And Hiccup isn't very clingy, unless he's tired or doesn't feel well. (But his legs are very short, and his parents are very tall, so nine times out of ten if they're walking somewhere one of them picks him up and carries him because otherwise there's no way on earth he can keep up.)

Also, I'm slightly obsessed with the idea of Hiccup being Anna and Elsa's younger cousin, and I've started drabbling in that. Anyone want me to start posting those?

Also, I'm having a delightful time picturing baby burrito Hiccup standing beside his parents' bed, breathing heavily, staring at them until they wake up and then being like "I HAVE TO SLEEP HERE." Even in canon, with just his dad, that would literally be the cutest thing in the world.

And as always, if you have prompts or questions or just want to talk, my tumblr is themetaphorgirl! You should come by and visit!