Things Do Get Better (HTTYD Modern AU)

After All These Years

I'm sure (and hoping) as you have been reading, one question came into your mind – 'how come Hiccup never mentions about his mother? He mentions his father like crazy, but not his mother.' The thing is my mother was not part of a good chunk of my life.

I never knew my mother because... she died when I was only a baby (at least that's what my dad told me). Because of this, I didn't even know what she looked like because most, if not all of her pictures were perished in a house fire, in our old house. That was where she 'died'.

I write it in air quotes because my dad said that while she was confirmed dead, her body was never found in the fire, so he would like to believe that she was still out there. Also... I know she's not dead. Because... I found her again.

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We'll skip a couple of years ahead, to when I was 20 years old. As mentioned before, I was living in a rented apartment with Astrid, as well as with Toothless and Astrid's pet, Stormfly. I was in my second year of university, studying Mechanical Engineering while Astrid was studying Sports Coaching. I also had a part time job at a retail store on the side. Things were going good for me, until one day when my worst fear came to light.

It was late at night since I had to stay behind for a in-class test. The thing is Astrid stayed behind at her university as well, leaving our pets on our own, so once I finished the test, I rushed straight home (thank goodness I learnt how to drive then).

"Toothless, Stormfly! I'm back!" I shouted when I arrived. I heard Stormfly's squawk. I didn't hear Toothless' bark. I went into our bedroom. Toothless was not here. Then, I saw something that made my heart sink. The bedroom window was open.

"You idiot! You forgot to close the window!" I exclaimed at myself. Toothless must have got distracted by something outside and ran out through the window. I ran back outside, calling out for his name and no answer. The more I called, the more I could feel my tears forming in my eyes.

I couldn't lose Toothless. He was everything to me. He was my first friend (besides Astrid). My best friend. I went back inside, falling onto the crouch and screamed in anger. But I wasn't going to give up. I could never.

For the next two days, after university, I would search the area for Toothless, asking people around if they saw a big black Labrador with a red collar on, but they didn't. So, I kept looking, hoping that someone saw my dog somewhere.

"He couldn't have gone so far, right? " I thought. Toothless is a jumpy dog but is a clever one as well.

Then, someone suggested that I should check an animal shelter nearby the area. At this point, it was my only option. If he wasn't there, I would have lost my best friend for good, and I wouldn't know what to do.

The next day, I visited that animal shelter since it was my day off university (and I didn't have work as well). It was about seven streets away from our house, so I didn't have to travel far. Once I entered, I headed to the reception where a man was sitting behind.

"Hello, how can I help you?" he asked.

"Umm, hi. I...uh...I lost my dog about three days ago and I was wondering whether he was here or not?" I asked.

"Right, OK. Let me check." The man went to a computer next to him and started typing.

"OK. What kind of dog is he?" he asked.

"A black Labrador." I answered.

"His name?"

"Toothless." After a few more typing, the man looked at me again.