A GREATER ROLE

It didn't take long for her to find him. Vigilance was, after all, drummed into prospective warriors before they even learned to talk and Astrid was coming on thirty-two years' experience. That, and she had an impeccably honed mommy-compass that pointed right in the direction of sobbing, hiding and general mischief-making munchkins.

It had absolutely nothing to do with his anomalous absence from their (play-) training spot, or the guilt numbing her conscience at the heartbroken expression she'd last seen this morning (and, with equally heavy heart, had caused).

Alright, perhaps it was the latter – in part. It wasn't as if it could've been helped.

"When are Daddy and Zeph coming back?"

"It's still a few days, Nuff. But they'll be back by the end of the week."

"Okay…" Eyes focused intently on the map before her, Astrid's subconscious limned the hurt in her son's gaze. Gold locks came in view as he stood on tippy toes to observe her. "Can we go axe-training now?"

"Soon, honey. I've just got some important work to finish first, okay?"

"But you said we could train this morning and it's almost lunch time," he pouted, folding a petite pair of arms across his chest. "You promised, Mommy."

Astrid sighed inwardly, drawing sea-blue eyes from the parchment to meet jade orbs welling with tears. Stepping around the table, she felt a sinking in the pit of her stomach. Oh, how she hated that look. It was her least favorite look in the entire archipelago.

"I know, honey," she murmured softly as she squatted to his level, "But with your father out, I have to do all the chiefing. I'm the village's mommy too and you know that."

Nuffink frowned miserably, blinking back tears, "I wish you weren't."

That broke her. Though sometimes it was hard to argue with. In her heart Astrid was in love with Berk – the people, the encampment, the woodlands, even century-old Mildew and his pestilent crop – but her family, her dear Hiccup and the two precious children they'd made together… they were her world. More oft than not Astrid wished she could solely be theirs.

Drawing Nuff into a fervent embrace, she lay a kiss to the top of his head. "It's not permanent, sweetie – not like us," pulling back was a struggle of will, "Just for a little while longer, then I'm all yours, okay?"

Jades drowning in ocean, he fought back sniffles with a wistful nod.

She gave his shoulders a comforting squeeze, "Thanks, buddy."

Hastening across the courtyard, Astrid felt a fresh surge of dread with every step. How had she lost track of time like that? It was well into lunch already – no wonder the village was empty, all occupants in the mead hall.

Well, spare for two.

At last she caught the familiar golden mop ruffling in the breeze, an arm clutching a bucket of inks and dyes she recognized from her husband's workshop, and a pair of furry little boots balancing on tiptoes on the nose of–

"NUFFINK HADDOCK! WHAT IN THOR'S NAME ARE YOU DOING?!"

Flinching, her son spun to face her with a wobble, causing Astrid's shock to immediately morph into panic. She dashed toward the huge rock beneath him, dodging a spatter of goop from the bucket in his grasp.

Thankfully he took after her in Viking finesse, so her heart remained intact as he regained his balance. But lamentably – as in the general case of sulking and tantruming – he'd also inherited every ounce of her mordancy.

"CHIEFING!"

"Chiefing," Astrid repeated in a low tone. She placed her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow at the boy's handiwork; stone-Stoick's face was barely recognizable, eyes sporting thick black circles in a feminine touch of khol, once-glorious beard a ghastly green with splashes of crimson matching contorted lips. "By disgracing the statue built in honor of your grandfather?!"

Nuff stuck out his bottom lip, gaze drifting to the puddle of dye at her feet. "He asked for it!"

She pinched the bridge of her nose as he scuffed his boot on the stone one. "He what?"

An indiscernible mumble about 'chiefs' was the reply.

Not having a clue as to why he was acting so bizarrely disrespectful, and – supremely – deeming it best to discuss the matter where he couldn't hurt himself, Astrid threw her son a sharp glower. "Alright, young man, you have some serious explaining to do. Come down here right now."

Nuff lifted sullen eyes to scowl at her. "You're chiefing!" he shouted accusingly, and her heart sank at the sudden tears threatening to spill from them. "Daddy's chiefing! Zeph's chiefing! Everyone's CHIEFING! And CHIEF Grandpa's stupid statue's overseeing us so even he's chiefing!" He wiped his nose with the back of an ink-stained hand, and for a moment it looked like he was about to resume his vandalizing – but then his face crumpled and the tears began to stream.

As the meaning of his words sunk in, Astrid's leaden heart followed suit and all her irritation blew away like chaff. "Nuff…" she said gently, moving to stand beneath him (yet safe enough from getting dunked in a multitude of wet colors). She held out an assuring hand, "Why don't you come down so we can talk, and find a way to fix this together?"

She could see his anger ebb despite the persistent scowl. Oh, that stubbornness he'd inherited from her and Hiccup both – while it usually made her proud to no end, it proved one Hel of a difficulty whenever he was upset.

Though it had been a long time since he was this upset, and it worried her.

"Look, honey, I really want to help. But you're gonna have to help me out first…"

After a long, gloomy stare, Nuff yielded. He glanced uncertainly at the bucket and Astrid gave him a reassuring nod, stepping back as it fell with a loud thunk and the inks spilled inches from her boots.

Watching him descend the drier patches of beard, she wondered how on earth he'd gotten up there in the first place – and how he'd managed to paint such a vast amount of rock without messing all over himself. Truly, the boy was Hiccup's son as much as hers.

Her amazement was short-lived, however, when he froze in a crouch atop the giant axe-blade.

"Nuff? What's wrong?"

Anger abandoned, Nuff looked down with wide eyes. He was now close enough for her to make out the dazzling green in them. "I'm stuck."

"It's alright," Astrid assured him, "You can jump, sweetie – I'll catch you."

His hesitation awed her; he'd climbed up and (almost) down a twelve-metre statue by himself, yet he was afraid of a little jump?

"Or were you thinking of doing a runner on me?" she teased with a knowing grin. "That's a shame, because I could really use a good snuggle right now – especially from my little prince."

Nuff held her gaze for a fraction of a second, then his doubt shattered along with his adamancy and he threw himself into her arms.

Catching his petite form proved no difficulty (thank Odin he took after Hiccup in that regard too) and Astrid hugged him close, one hand shifting his weight more comfortably while the other rubbed soothing circles on his back. Aware of the ruckus that would soon occur over the scene, she sidestepped a splash of hued ground and guiltily abandoned the defiled stone-Stoick.

One of the things Astrid loved about New Berk was that its slopes were built amidst groves and groves of wildwood, so floral hideouts were just a short walk from any part of the village. The layout proved especially convenient when it came to a needed session of tree-slaying therapy. Or, in the present sense, carrying a sobbing little squirt away from the risk of prying eyes.

Settling at a trunk in a sunlit clearing, Astrid crossed her legs and repositioned her son in her lap, cradling his head beneath her chin and wrapping a comforting arm around him.

Nuffink appreciated snuggle time as much as she – and oh, she already dreaded the day he'd grow out of it – so she held him like that for a while, gently rocking him back and forth as he gripped her ever tighter, burying himself into her chest. She made no comment as his salty tears drenched her tunic and he made no effort to stop them. She was, however, troubled by his being this distraught.

"Am I in trouble, Mommy?" he eventually asked in a muffle, breath warming her collarbone.

Astrid pulled back to meet a tangle of blonde locks. Under the cool and lazy sun they shone like a halo around his head – though he'd rather acted like a devilish little sprite today and she did pride herself on honesty.

"Yes," she replied, pressing her lips to his temple, "but I am too, just as much."

Nuffink looked up, green eyes like a flooded forest. "You are?"

Gods, how could such an innocent look melt her insides like that? She tipped him to the side, wiping a tear with tender fingers. "Yeah, I'm sorry I broke my promise to you, Nuff. I shouldn't have let my chief duties get in the way of us spending time together."

Noticing his hope wane at the mention of 'chief duties,' Astrid had a feeling there was more to the story. But she waited patiently, proceeding to dry his other cheek and brush the tangled bangs from his forehead.

"I'm sorry too, Mommy," he said sincerely, "for making Grandpa Stoick ugly."

"I know you are. It's okay, sweetie. But… I get the feeling there's something else upsetting you?"

Nuff dropped his gaze, face falling as he spoke to the grass. "It's… it's nothing…"

Of course, Astrid could read him like a Nadder. "Nuff… I'm Chieftess" – there it was, that sullen flinch again – "If you tell me what's wrong, I'm sure there's some way I'll be able to help."

"You can't help, Mommy," he mumbled wistfully, "Not… n-not this time."

Astrid tilted her head down to meet him at eye level, summoning a fresh influx of tears. "Nuffink Haddock," she asserted, giving him and ever encouraging squeeze, "have we ever met a problem we couldn't solve, you and me?"

He shook his head. "It's just… you and Daddy are both Chief, and- and Zeph's gonna be the future chief… so what does… w-what does that make m-me?"

Astrid's heart ruptured along with his tearducts. "Oh, honey…"

As he broke down in her embrace, she honestly didn't know what to say. It wasn't that she'd never expected a similar conversation, Zeph being the heir after all. But a horrid dread overwhelmed her at the thought of her boy – her baby boy – labeling himself some sort of… outcast because the honors and plights of chieftainship had befallen the rest of their family but not him.

Her little boy: the babe she'd loved more than thinkable from the moment she'd discovered he was growing in her womb; the child she'd spent two days bringing into the world, the most perilous, difficult and tied-equal rewarding thing she'd done in her life; her and Hiccup's second-born, their only son – their strong, breathtaking, precious little miracle – felt inferior because his sister, her Zeph she loved not a jot less or more, had been born first?

It was downright wounding. It made her own eyes sting.

"Listen to me, Nuff," Astrid asserted, gentle but firm, "Being chief is a job, just like any job in the village. The chief is very important, yes, but so is everyone else. Without the blacksmith we wouldn't have weapons to defend ourselves when enemies attack. If we didn't have farmers or fishermen, we wouldn't have food. If we didn't have shipwrights, we wouldn't have ships to travel and trade. Do you think your father and I would even be here without all the other people when a Chief's job is to look after them and their jobs are to look after the chief and each other?

Nuff shook his head slowly, ruffled locks tickling the underside of her chin.

Astrid found herself trailing her fingers through them. "And do you think any of these jobs are less important than the others?"

"N-no… but you and Daddy and Zeph are all chiefs. I'll be the only one who isn't!"

She pulled back a little, gently drawing his chin up. "That's true, but that isn't what defines us. Zephyr won't become Chief for a very long time – and that's only if she wants to. And being Chief is only one of my roles, same as your father's. There's an even greater one… Do you know what that is?"

Nuff sniffled, gazing up at her intently.

She wiped his cheek and pushed the wild bangs from his face once more. "When you told me you wished I wasn't the village's mommy this morning, do you remember what I told you?"

His brow furrowed for a moment, then his puffy eyes widened with wonder and, for the first time that day, the tiniest gleam of mirth.

"As Chieftess I am the village's mommy, that's true. But you," Astrid gave his nose a playful flick, "and your father and sister are the greatest part of my world."

Nuff swallowed. "R-really?"

"Absolutely," she beamed at him, locking her hands together around his shoulders. "Before I was named Chieftess, I was your father's right-hand companion for years. He never looks at me as the village's chieftess, but as his lifelong partner – as me. And to me, he's not just Chief; he's the man I fell in love with, your daddy. And you…"

Watching the awe brim in those eyes Astrid loved more than the archipelago made her chest swell. Odin, it was like looking right at him, yet at the same time a different, both equally and somehow even more breathtaking pair.

"When you and your sister were born, do you know how happy you made us? How proud of you and Zeph we were even then, and have been every day since? Nothing has ever made us prouder or happier. Uncle Eret had to physically drag your father out of the house sometimes to do his chiefing because he never wanted to leave you. And when people came over to get me to do mine, they complained because I couldn't take my eyes off you or put you down. We drove the village crazy for months with our love for Zephyr, and then with our love for you all over again."

Nuff let out a watery chuckle. "You and Daddy really did that?"

"We did," Astrid laughed, "We were even more annoying at times than Uncle Snotlout is to Aunty Ruff. And you know what? We chose what we wanted to be, and we chose to always be with each other and to be your mom and dad. And that had nothing to do with being Chief. You get to choose, Nuff. Only you will know what's right for you, and only Zeph will know what's right for her."

"But… how will we know?"

"You'll find the answer," Astrid placed a hand over his heart, "in here."

Nuffink followed her arm down to his chest, and then his mouth twisted into a grin wider than ever. Curling back up against her, he exclaimed in a long-missed laugh, "Thanks, Mommy!" and as he wound his little arms around her neck once more and nuzzled his nose above her collarbone, Astrid fervidly decided that the evening's chiefing (and restitutional stone-scrubbing) could wait until morning. "I love you, Mommy."

"I love you too, honey." So, so damn much – Astrid felt like growing another heart just for it. Locking him in tight, she blew a series of cherries on his neck, evoking the familiar fit of chuckles she so adored.

"M-Mommy! S-stop!" he exclaimed between laughs, grasping her forearms and seeking refuge in her chest again. She felt guilty for having to crush the moment with her next words (or rueful for a more accurate term; she could get lost in Nuff's snuggles and laughter for eternity), but reality was reality and actions deserved justice.

After pressing a long, passionate kiss to his cheek, Astrid forced herself to pull back. "Now, you've got years to decide what you want to be. But unfortunately, there's someone we left behind in the courtyard who doesn't…"

"Oh…yeah…" Nuff's chuckles subsided with an air of regret. Bravely, he looked up to meet her eyes, "He can be fixed, right?"

She lifted her brow, laying heavy emphasis on her words as both mother and chief within agreed, "Oh, we'll fix him. He'll look brand new."

Nuffink gulped, now fully aware of the trouble he was in, and for a moment Astrid thought he looked ready to cry all over again. This time though, there wasn't a trace of sorrow between them.

She gave him a loving squeeze. "But before that, I believe I owe you a training session."