Finding you

Chapter 4: My Soulmate

Zephyr's POV

"She was ... your mother was everything to me." My father began as he twiddled his thumbs and avoided eye contact with me. "I loved her with everything I had and I will love her with everything I have until the day that I die."

A lump started forming in my throat as my heart constricted painfully. "Wow, you really cared about her, huh?"

"She is the love of my life, my soulmate. I would've given my life just for a chance to see her again." My father sighed, his shoulders sinking as his brows drew closer together.

I placed my hand on his as our eyes finally met. A deep sadness filled his eyes and I could tell that this was very difficult for him. I shot him a small smile. "You ... you don't have to talk about her if you feel uncomfortable."

A small smile pulled at the corner of his lips as he placed his other hand atop mine and gave it a squeeze. "No, you deserve to hear about her. It's been ... long enough."

And so he told the story of my mother, the Chieftess and General of Berk. He told me about their first meeting at a young age and how he had fallen in love with her over the years. He told me about the red death, he told me about their time together as teenagers. He told me about their engagement, their marriage and their happiest days. He told me of my own birth and how overjoyed my mother had been to finally hold me after many hours in labour. Then he told me about that fateful winter night, the night my mother was taken away.

"... it took me ten whole years before I finally decided to give up the search and just accept the fact that she was ... gone and never coming back." My father ran a hand across his face as he finished his story. I wiped away the tears that had been welling in my eyes.

"Thanks for telling me this, dad. I ... really appreciate it. Mom sounds like she was an awesome lady. I just wish I had the opportunity to meet her." I shot my father a small smile as I stood from my chair and walked over to him to wrap him in a hug.

My father held me tight as he began stroking my hair. "Gods, she would've loved to truly meet you. She would've been so proud of you, Zephyr."

"You really think so?" My voice was on the verge of breaking as I fought back the tears that were threatening to spill.

My father nodded as he placed a kiss to my temple. "I know so. She loved you so much, my darling daughter. So much."

***

"Are you alright, Zeph?" Cortie asked, her forehead creased as she attempted to read my emotions.

I glanced over at her before turning back to the pond in front of us. "What makes you say that?"

We watched as the others giggled and fought in the shallowest end of the pond, their smelly shoes resting by their sleepy dragons. As usual, we were spending our free time at our favorite place; the cove. It was where my father had met Toothless and after he showed me the place for the first time, I fell in love. I enjoyed the combination of long and luscious plants and trees, the crystal clear pond and of course how little people there were around here. Most of the villagers rarely ventured into the woods, which meant they would never find the cove without being directed to it. For now, it was my friends and I's little secret. We all hoped it would remain that way for years to come.

"You haven't really said a word since we got here and you're ... well, you're not really acting like your usual self." Cortie informed me, that crease in her forehead somehow growing even longer.

I narrowed my eyes at her as my emotions ran wild inside my mind. "And? What's so wrong about that? Maybe I want to act more mature than those muttonheads that are all busy playing in the pond?"

Cortie blinked, obviously taken aback by my sharp tone. Keldan quickly seemed to have noticed the tension and came rushing over, his hair dripping water as if he had just stepped out of a bath. "What's going on here?"

"This has nothing to do with you, Keldan, so leave us alone." I snapped, which seemed to have startled the large teenager as he took a step back from me. The others seemed to have noticed that something was going down by us as well, seeing as they curiously glanced over at us before quitting their play-fighting and coming over.

"Thor almighty, Zeph, there's no need to snap at me like that!" Keldan ran a hand through his wet hair as his brows furrowed.

"Yeah," Ragnhild began. "Not even our mother could compete with that."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I felt my face grew hot as I clenched my fists together, my blood boiling in my veins as I glared daggers at my supposed friends. "GODS, YOU GUYS ARE SO INSENSITIVE! Have you ever —even once— considered how it might be like for me? How it might be like for me to hear you guys constantly praise and complain about your mothers when you know damn well I don't even have one?"

"Zeph ..." Syver attempted as he reached out for me, but I coldly swatted his hand away, burying my glare in him.

"Don't. Touch. Me." I snarled, feeling like I could bite anyone's head off if they so much as said something wrong to me.

"Zeph, you've never been bothered by any of this before, what makes this time so different?" Keldan asked, exchanging a glance with Cortie before setting his focus back on me.

"Leave me alone!" I barked at them all as I whistled for Firestorm and she quickly woke from her nap. I elegantly climbed atop her and settled into the saddle.

"Zephyr, where are you going?" Cortie asked me as I made Firestorm back up, preparing her for a running start.

"Somewhere I can think. I can't deal with anyone right now, least of all any of you." I huffed as I dug my knees gently into Firestorm's sides, nudging her to run a few steps forward before taking off and shooting the two of us up into the skies.

We flew up to the clouds before dropping down through them and plummeting towards the sea, before barely catching ourselves at the height of a sea stack and calmly gliding through the many other sea stacks that surrounded the island we called home. I glanced back at Berk for a moment, momentarily thinking of how much I must have worried my friends, but I brushed it off as we picked up speed and flew to somewhere far, far away.