Silence fell over the group as Hiccup walked slowly forward to stare at the wreckage of his father's plane. Time and the harsh Berkian winters hadn't been kind to the remains, half the body of the plane and a wing completely missing and the rest crumpled and smashed. The exposed metal was corroding and the remains were overgrown with a creeper, grass and moss. He silently reached the cockpit and rested a hand against the warm metal, feeling the still smooth surface under his hand.

"I-I'm sorry, Dad," he said quietly. "I'm not the son you would have wanted me to be, not the protector you expected me to become. I-I guess I'm just...just..." He shook his head and a tear slid down his cheek. Astrid sighed: she had only seen him cry once before, when his mother died and she knew what he wanted to say. She gently made her way to his side and took his hand in hers.

"I'm here," she reassured him. "You don't have to do this alone." He nodded.

"I'm just a disappointment, Dad," he sighed. "I tried...but I wasn't strong enough to stop Alvin. I wasn't brave enough to stay, to cope with it. I just had to keep pushing him back, to try to let him know I wasn't broken...but he broke Mum from me...and then, when I was thrown out, I wasn't there to stop him." He lifted his head and stared up at the sky. "He got her to stop her meds and...and try for a baby...and that killed her. But I should've been there to stop it...." He closed his eyes. "I failed."

"Hiccup...no..." Astrid said, her grip tightening on his hand. No matter what she said, he persisted in beating himself up over Valka's death. She pulled him to face her. "No one could've done more! You endured absolute Hel to try to stay at home, to stay with your Mom. You were starved, beaten, neglected, bullied at home and school. You had almost no clothes, no real possessions and Toothless was your only friend. How you managed to stay strong amazed me...and I thank Odin that you called me that night because if you hadn't, you wouldn't have made it. You would have frozen to death on the streets..." He dropped his head, his eyes still closed and leaned back against the mangled fuselage. "My love, you were sick, freezing and alone. In the end, she sent you away...and you admitted you were willing to go back to Alvin, to endure whatever torments he put you through just to be with your Mom...but you were rejected over and over...until it was too late."

He nodded silently. She pressed her hands to his cheeks.

"Look at me," she commanded him and he reluctantly lifted his ashamed emerald gaze. "Hiccup-you did everything humanly possible to save her. Alvin was too evil for you to stop...it almost cost you your life and it did screw up years of your life and put you in danger. His actions set Dagur after you..." Hiccup gave a reluctant nod.

"But I could have turned him in for child abuse earlier," he said in a shamed voice. "It would have stopped him...maybe jailed him..."

"And you told me that your Mom almost certainly would have sided with him, called you a liar and disowned you anyway..." Astrid reminded him. "She became so dependent on him that she was blind to everything that happened to you. She sent you away. She turned away when he beat you up. She told my Mom it was a wrong number when she phoned when you were in surgery! It wouldn't have stopped her going back to him. You did all you could..."

He nodded again and his expression broke her heart. She kissed him tenderly and he kissed her back, though she could still taste the salt of his tears on his lips. Finally she pulled back and stared into his eyes, seeing how heartbroken he was.

"In the end, she wanted you, not him. She spent her last moments with the son she loved...because you were the one person she did truly love. She died holding your hand, not his. And you're here to make sure she rests with her real husband. You're a fine man, Hiccup-the man I am proud to love. The person who is to blame is Alvin. Just remember your Mom and Dad as they were. And remember you still have me."

He finally managed to smile, a very small tilt of the lips.

"I'm not sure if I could go on without you," he sighed. "I love you, Astrid. And I owe you everything." He kissed her again. "Now let's do this." They turned to the wreckage, hand in hand and Hiccup fished out the plain bronze urn containing Valka's ashes.

"Ready?"Astrid asked him gently and he nodded. He took the lid off and grasped her hand again.

"Goodbye, Mom...rest in peace..." he said hoarsely and tipped the urn over, the breeze catching the ashes and gently spreading them over the crash site amid the grass. The empty urn fell to the ground with a thud as he turned to hug Astrid, burying his face in her shoulder. She held him for a long time...until suddenly a shout rang out.

"What're you doing there?"

The gang looked up and Hiccup swiped his face with his hand.

"We're just visiting the crash site," he explained, turning to face the man. "My Dad was on this plane...he died on this plane..." The approaching man looked the skinny shape up and down and gave a curt nod. he was a small, round, bandy-legged man with greying blonde hair and beard and thoughtful blue eyes.

"Name's Sven. I live about these parts," the man introduced himself, sticking out a gnarled hand which Hiccup took and shook firmly. "Have for the last fifty years!" Hiccup's brows dipped.

"You remember the crash?" he asked, trying to keep the enthusiasm from his voice. The man scratched his stubbly beard and frowned, adjusting his Berk Vikings cap self-consciously.

"A little, I think," he admitted. There was a pause and Astrid saw Hiccup almost say something but then visibly stop himself. The older man frowned again. "Look, son-I can see it means something to you...come up to my cabin and I'll tell you what I know." He glanced around the gang. "You're all welcome..."

"Is it far, sir?" Astrid asked politely. The gang were all flagging and she could feel Hiccup fidgeting, trying to keep pressure off his pinned ankle. The man grinned, a reassuring gappy smile.

"Just up that slope, young miss...but I do have sodas and a cool breeze..." he invited them.

"I'm in!" Snotlout announced. "Lead on!" Hiccup rolled his eyes as the stranger, Sven, turned and stomped easily up the narrow track through the vegetation up the steep slope. They had been walking for ten minutes when Snotlout changed his mind.

"This wasn't a good idea," he hissed. "He's a mountain man..."

"And...?" Hiccup asked, frowning. He was breathing hard and was soaked with sweat. His ankle was really sore and he wouldn't care if Sven was a certified flesh-eating zombie as long as there was a cool drink at the end of the walk.

"No-didn't you see that film? The one where the hiking teens met those isolated mountain people?" Snotlout hissed worriedly.

"What, the one where they were hunted then humped then eaten?" Tuff asked guilelessly.

"That was an awesome movie!" Ruff added with a grin.

"Yeah-and the sequel was just as good!" Cami added. "Right, Ast?"

"Really couldn't say, since I had my eyes closed and my ears covered for most of it...them..." Astrid panted.

"What...really?" Heather asked, surprised. Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"You mean you still didn't tell them?" he teased her.

"No," she growled. "Never got round to it..."

"Tell them what?" Cami asked him tersely.

"Astrid hates horror movies," Hiccup announced calmly. "She doesn't like being scared."

"But you always come with us..." Heather said in shock.

"You're my friends," Astrid said quietly, wiping her brow. "You all wanted to see horror so I was outvoted anyway."

"So you went and hated every single one?" Ruff checked.

"Yeah. Sorry," Astrid mumbled.

"We are horrible people," Cami announced. "We never ever asked you what movie you wanted to see, did we?" Astrid shook her head. "We just assumed you wanted to see what we did..." Astrid nodded.

"I am so sorry," Heather said genuinely. "What would you want to see?"

"Something I can snuggle against my boyfriend in," Astrid replied happily and Hiccup gave a small grin.

"Horror," he smirked, recalling how she had snuggled against him in the horror movie in her own home.

"NOT Horror! Aargh! Romcom! Action! Even French language period drama..." Astrid told him.

"Is no one worried about the being hunted and humped and eaten issue?" Snotlout whined.

"Snotlout-firstly, just assume I was totally penniless and haven't been to the movies for years so have no clue what you are talking about," Hiccup said impatiently. "Then assume this is a normal person who lives in an isolated cabin as people tend to all over Berk because Vikings are hard-headed and frequently prefer their own company. He's not about to cannibalise us or...or anything else!"

"No humping?" Snotlout asked.

"What is it with you?" Hiccup sighed.

"No being hunted for my life?" Snotlout asked.

"I can if you want me to..." Sven shouted back. "But really, it's too hot. We don't hunt strangers at least until September..."

"AARGH!"

"I like him already," Astrid commented as the ground finally flattened out and they arrived at a very neatly tended cabin with the screen door open and a satellite dish on the roof.

"He's got satellite?" Fishlegs gasped. Sven huffed.

"It's isolated here...but I'm not a savage, living in the Dark Ages!" he said sarcastically.

"Okay, I like him as well," Hiccup added. Sven grinned and invited them in, fishing cans of soda and beer from a well-stocked fridge and passing them around. The teens all settled on various chairs or on the floor, savouring their drinks. Snotlout had carefully made sure he was right by the door in case of some horrible turn of events. Hiccup took a long drink and sighed. Astrid rested against him, her head on his shoulder and his arm automatically slid round her waist.

"So...the crash...?" he suggested. The man chugged on his beer.

"It was one of them misty nights over the mountains," he explained. "I was watching some crime drama thing..."

"Watching?" Fish asked from by the fireplace.

"Got meself a flatscreen TV..." he said and pointed to the device over the fireplace. "Satellite, generator...not a savage?" Fish blushed. "Suddenly, heard this terrible noise...heard a plane real close...then crashing noises, an explosion...and nothing..." Hiccup's arm tightened around Astrid and she opened her eyes and looked into his face. He was taut with anxiety.

"So you didn't see the crash?" he asked.

"No...but went down in the dark to see if I could find any survivors," Sven admitted. All eyes were on him now. "Sorry, lad-I didn't see anyone..." Hiccup sagged...but the man gave a smile. "My neighbour may've seen." Hiccup's eyes widened.

"Can you take us to him?"