Fearless Fables

The Second First Anniversary

THUD.

"Why does Mom have so much junk?" Finn asked as they dumped the third chestful of miscellaneous items onto the kitchen table.

"Why do you give Mom so much junk?" Adrianna retorted, pulling a poorly carved miniature bow and arrow set which Finn had made for their mother's birthday when he was six. "Oh dear, it's broken. And the blueberry-staining is wearing off."

"Shut up." Finn snapped. "Its not like your one-glove wonder is much better."

"It was supposed to be decorative."

"Calm down, you two," Benen called from under the heap of discarded knickknacks. "Your parents will be back any time now from the Academy. We only have a few more minutes for you to finish your...er... 'cleaning.'"

"It was your idea we do this instead of making something for Mother's Festival this year." Finn said as he began to sort through the items to "re-sort" into drawers which they would be able to close. "Father's Festival is always better than Mother's. All we do for Mother's is clean, and decorate, and have dances, and sewing competitions, and other girly things."

"We have a baking competition," Adrianna threw in, helpfully. "And we all know how much you like-"

"Eating," Finn interrupted, reddening slightly. "And I do love eating, but in all honesty it's much more exciting watching the ax-throwing and the sports meet, and the great hunt-off. I mean, when else get to eat fire-roasted eagle?"

"When someone accidentally shoots one into forge?"

Finn glowered at his sister over Benen's laughter. "That was a rhetorical question."

"Wonder who taught you that one..."

Finn's comeback was choked back in his mouth as he opened the worn out parchment he had just pulled from inside of a misplaced slipper. The smudged and faded charcoal on the outside of the folded sheet was labeled, "To My Beautiful, Talented, and Patient Wife".

"What in Asgard's name is this?" Finn gingerly began to pull open the document.

"Don't read that! That looks like it's a personal letter from Dad to Mom!" Adrianna took a swipe at the paper, but Finn pivoted on his heels to prevent her grasping hands from taking their prize.

"Oh, come on. When will we have this chance again? And its not like she was hiding it, really—I mean, it's in the kitchen!"

"But it could be a love letter, and do you really want that?"

"If it's Dad, yeah. Mom's letters to him, not so much." Finn cleared his voice to begin reading aloud. "'A Proclamation of My Love, on This Day, Our Second First Anniversary, to My Dearly Beloved Wife-"

Adrianna groaned, "This is going to be horrible! What on earth is a 'second first anniversary'?"

"Sounds like he messed up pretty badly," Benen winked at Adrianna. "Are you sure you don't want to know?"

It was too late, Adrianna and Finn were both poring over the writing at once, stifling giggles and battling for prime reading positions.

"What on earth is this? It makes no sense-" Finn began, just as the main door swung open.

"-But if they can't keep their dragons out of Gobber's outhouse, they can't very well complain about us telling them to bathe them more often, Hiccup!"

"Look, it's not their fault that Gobber-" Hiccup stopped speaking suddenly as his eyes landed on the paper his children had. He made a mad lunge for it, snatching it forcefully from their hands.