Things Do Get Better (HTTYD Modern AU)

Start Over

I don't think nothing can come as a bigger slap in the face than the woman standing in front of you was, in fact, the one who gave birth to you. The one who was believed to have been dead this whole time was right there.

We didn't say anything to each other as she escorted me outside. But before I left, she gave a sheet of paper before heading back to her work. The paper had an address with a note: My address if you want to come and talk.

I... didn't know how to take it. Even when I told Astrid what had happened, I couldn't believe it. My mother was alive, and she never even tried to come back. To let my dad and I know that she was OK and now she wanted to be a part of my life again after going. How did she survive the fire? Was there ever a fire? I didn't know what to do.

But as I thought about it, I realised that, maybe she had a reason. That she had a reason for being away for so long. I mean, it was clear she wanted to return back to me, otherwise she wouldn't have given me her address.

It was a hard decision, but ultimately, I decided to meet her again and give her a chance.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Two weeks had passed since that fateful day and I was on my way to her house. I took my car as her residence was quite far from where I lived, using my satnav to give me the direction I needed. Each time it told me a direction, I felt the butterflies in my stomach grow bigger and bigger.

"You have reached your destination." The satnav eventually said. I stopped the car, staring blankly out of the distance before turning off the engine and getting out of my car. I looked to my right, seeing her house across the road.

I took a big deep breath. This was it. After 20 years, I was going to meet my mother and I didn't know how to react. After standing and staring at the house for a while, I finally walked across the road and headed to her front door.

Once I reached there, I noticed a small speaker device on the side of the door. It had two buttons – one of them had a speaker symbol on it and the other had a bell. One more deep breath and I pressed the bell button, holding it for about 3 seconds. I stood by the door for about 10 seconds.

"Hello? Who is it?" I felt a sharp quick pain in my stomach as I heard Valka's voice through the device. I felt my hands shaking as I pressed and held the speaker button.

"It's Hiccup." I simply said. A good 10 seconds passed by before the front door opened slowly, revealing her. My mother. She stood there, looking at me in shock and awe. I did the same, both of us couldn't believe who we were looking at.

She slowly raised her arms, reaching close to my face, as if she wanted to see if I was real. But then, she quickly put it down and gave a nervous smile at me.

"Umm... come in, come in." she said. I smiled nervously at her before walking into her house. She then took me to the living room. There wasn't much there, just a sofa, TV, dinner table and a few bits and bots. But the first thing I noticed was that the walls were covered with many photos. There was even some on the dinner table.

"Sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting anyone to come..." She looked at me nervously and I just smiled at her, standing in awkwardness (I guess the awkward silence wasn't exclusive to my dad).

"Well, uhh...take a seat and I'll get some food and drink." she suggested before quickly making her way to the kitchen, which was right next to the living room. I made my way to the sofa and sat down. I immediately looked at the photos on the wall, noticing something they all had in common – it consisted of her and some sort of animal.

Suddenly, I heard a meowing noise, which caused me to jump and let out a short scream. I turned my head to the direction of the sound to see a brown cat, perching on the window seal.

"Umm, hi." I said, waving awkwardly. Just as that moment, Valka came back, with a tray containing biscuits and water.

"Oh, I see you've meet Cloudjumper." she smiled as she placed the tray on the coffee table and sat down next to me.

"Yeah... he's a tabby cat, right?" I asked.

"Yes, he is. He's about 10 years old. He may look unimpressed, but he's a real sweetheart when you get to know him." she explained.

"I see. So... what made you adopt him?" I asked curiously.

"Because no one else would. He was quite hostile, so people seemed to be afraid or didn't even bade an eye at him during adoption." She then whistled and Cloudjumper leaped across the room and landed on her back.

"The thing is no matter what kind of animal, whether they be a wild animal or a pet, we have to take care of them. That's what I've been doing." She pointed in front of us, towards the photos and I noticed another thing – the photos presented her in different locations around the world.

"You...went to Africa?!" I exclaimed in amazement, as I took a biscuit to nibble on.

Valka chuckled. "Not just Africa. I try to go to many places and volunteer in helping animals there." She then let Cloudjumper jump back to his resting place at the window.

"Wow. Dad wasn't kidding; you really do care about animals." I chuckled as I went to drink my water. Then, there was a silence between us, but not an awkward one (for once).

"Uhm... how...is your father?" she asked reluctantly.

"He's alright." I simply answered.

"Oh. That's good to hear." she said. I then took a deep breath. I had to ask her.

"Why did you leave us?" She was still for a while, possibly taking in the question asked. I think she knew I would ask that. She took a deep breath before turning to face me.

"Like you said, I care about animals. I care about them so much... to the point of... endangering you and your father. One day, I brought in a stray cat to our house, but it was a very skittish one, to the point where it knocked a candle, causing a house fire. We all got out, but I went back in to save the cat. I got out in time before the house collapsed, but then, I left. Honestly... I cared about the animal, more than... I did you at the time. I left because I thought I would be a risk to your life. But I can see I was wrong and..."

She suddenly stopped talking, staring down at the floor. Her eyes grew with terror and she covered her month.

"Hiccup. Your leg." she simply said. At first, I was confused at what she meant. But then, I understood, so I pulled up the left side of my trousers, revealing to her my prosthetic leg.

"Yeah. I, uh...I lost my leg. It was from a car accident, but it's OK now. It happened 5 years ago, and I've gotten used to this leg." I explained, trying to shrug it off like it wasn't a big deal, but it was clear she did matter to her. As she looked at me, I could see tears slowly falling down her face. She slowly raised her arm and placed her hand on my face, pushing back some strands of my hair behind my ear.

"I... I'm so sorry, Hiccup." she sobbed. "I'm sorry I wasn't there in your life. I don't know if you can forgive me, and I understand if you don't. But... I want to return. I want to be a part of life now and I promise I will never leave you again. So, can you forgive me?"

I looked at her, seeing the desperation in her eyes. I could tell she meant every word, how she wanted to change, how she wanted to be in my life. I smiled and nodded.

"I forgive you, mum." And with those word said, she leaned forward and hugged me tightly. At first, I was taken back by this, but then I slowly wrapped my arms around her and hugged her back.

To me, it didn't matter that she left because she feared she would be a danger to me. She was right here, wanting to be a part of my life again. And that was enough for me – to finally have a mum in my life.