Promises, Promises (HTTYD × Reader)

Finding the Spark

Valka's POV

As I sat there, listening happily to my children banter, I contemplated telling them about my past. They weren't ready to know or maybe I wasn't ready to tell them. I leaned back, my eyes taking in the wonderful sight of my family.

If only Stoick were here... If he could see them like this, maybe then I could...

I shook my head. I had kept it a closely guarded secret for nearly twenty years. What was a few more days? Surely, Stoick was looking for Hiccup. He couldn't be that bad of a father, could he?

Their arguing must have annoyed Toothless. He used his tail to bat them both upside the head, his prosthetic fin smacking y/n lightly on the nose a moment or two before the other side caught Hiccup's ear. I laughed as they turned to the ebony-scaled Night Fury. Y/n rubbed an apologetic hand across his belly while Hiccup scratched Toothless' head thoughtfully. The black mass rumbled contently, purring as the two showered him with affection.

Zyphur bumped y/n's arm with her nose horn and y/n turned to rub her own dragon, smiling brightly. It was the first time in a long while that I had seen a look of pure joy on her face. It warmed my heart.

This was a rare perfect moment. I wrapped it gently like a gift in my memory, clinging to it for the trials ahead. Nothing in my life was ever easy so I had learned to take the good with the bad and keep those few memories close for when I needed them most.

Sighing, I pulled myself from the warm blanket of my thoughts. "What happened next?" I asked eagerly. Hiccup gestured for y/n to take a turn as he crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back. She obliged, nervously sharing the details of how she saved Fishlegs from being sucked into the Submaripper's whirlpool.

Your POV

Words flowed from you as your thoughts drifted. That week felt like so long ago, but the memory came back easily. Those large glassy eyes that pleaded for help, the harsh sting of the burn that made it difficult to stay upright, the green eyes that shot ceaseless concerned glances, the trumpet of warning horns that called you to return home, the chill of the water...

Your shoulder muscles twitched painfully, forcing your head to jerk to the side. Your gaze fell on the heap of canvas and splintered timber. Instinctively, you knew that you would never be able to solo glide again. Valka had warned you that it was probably a temporary fix and trying to use one arm to steer while the other hung uselessly put you into too many precarious positions. It wasn't as if you could use it in battle, even if Valka would let you fight.

Still...

There had to be some way for you to be able to fly with Hiccup. The feeling of rapturous freedom as you glided through the frigid air, the adrenaline that surged through your veins as you quickly predicted which way the air currents would drift, and knowing that you weren't completely in control of where you were going...

"This is what it is to be a dragon..." You remembered your parents explaining on your first flight together. Valka had repeated those words to Hiccup only a few hours ago. Your eyes darted from Valka to the fire, your gaze finally resting on a small shelf that was eroded into the rock. Curosity drove you to wonder if it was an old Fiena teaching or something that she and your parents had shared at one of their numerous evenings around the hearth during the dark winter months.

You sat silently for a few minutes, your emerald gaze glazed and glaring thoughtfully at the fire.

You closed your eyes, feeling ghostly large hands closed around your trembling digits, reaching blindly for the knife you had left on your now empty plate. His dark brown orbs stared back at you as they divulged their hard earned wisdom. Wisdom that he had been smart enough to write down...