Finding you

Chapter 23: Drawings from the past

Astrid's POV

I was busy eating breakfast when my daughter called my name from upstairs. "Mom?"

I put down my spoon and replied: "What is it, Zeph?"

"Can you come upstairs for a minute?" Zephyr's voice rang through the house as I stood from the breakfast table with a sigh before dumping my empty bowl in the wash bucket.

As I was making my way up the stairs leading to Zephyr's room, I found my eyes wandering to the wardrobe of memories in the darkest corner of the main room, in which I had been busy rummaging through the night before. As if on cue, the circular medallion in my pocket tapped gently against me leg, just to remind me that it was there. I hadn't seen the medallion in years and now that I had finally gotten it back, I wasn't ever going to let it out of my sight again.

The sound of tone-deaf terrible terrors singing on our rooftop that morning echoed through my mind as the weariness from staying up so late the night before finally hit me like Snotlout and Hookfang trying to nail a gentle landing at the academy. Though that day may have started off on a somewhat bad foot, that didn't mean the rest of the day was going to be the same. Today was the day of Hiccup's return and in true Berkian fashion, we were throwing a feast at the Great Hall in honor of our returning Chief.

Just the thought of seeing my husband again sent a swarm of butterflies loose in my stomach. Zephyr and I had missed him terribly over the past few days, some hours more than others. For example in the afternoon, when I found myself stuck in the Great Hall all day doing paperwork he had put off for ages, something which I assumed he had done just to torture me. In those moments, I only wishes him back so that I could beat him to a bloody pulp.

"What is it, Zeph?" I asked as I made my way over to where she was sitting at her desk, a small, but ornate chest resting in front of her.

I raised a curious brow as I leaned in to get a closer look at the chest, immediately recognizing the Berkian crest that had been engraved into its front. "Oh, I see you've found one of your father's things."

"Do you know what it is?" She turned to me, curiosity gleaming in her eyes as she silently begged me to let her open it.

"I have no idea, but if your father left it in your room, he can't be mad at you for wanting to know what's inside." I explained to Zephyr as I waited for her to open the chest, quite eager to see its contents myself.

When Zephyr didn't quite catch that I had given her permission to open the chest, I cleared my throat and nodded towards it. With a sheepish smile and beet-red cheeks, she carefully pushed in the crest and watched as the chest opened revealing ... a stack of papers. "What the hell?"

"You don't even know what's on these papers, Zeph." I narrowed my eyes at her for her demeaning reaction, even though I found myself a little disappointed as well.

"I guess not, but still, it's just a bunch of paper. To be fair, I was expecting something a little more ... exciting." Zephyr said in a monotone voice as she was about to close the chest back up again, but before she had the chance, I snatched out the top piece of parchment.

As I turned the piece of parchment around, I couldn't help but gasp at the sight that met me. It was like I had taken yet another trip into the wardrobe of memories and I had been faced with the face of my past self and a beautiful rendition of it if I do say so myself.

I held the parchment in one hand as I let my fingers trace the delicate, coal lines that had marked the untanned animal skin that rested in my grasp. To think that Hiccup had wasted parchment on drawing me was already too far fetched for me, but as I peeked back into the chest, there were dozens more and I couldn't help but wonder what else my dear husband had deemed worthy to permanently mark down.