The entire drive to the hospital passed in silence. Even Javier, who always had at least a smile on her face, sat in the passenger seat with shock written all over her face. Oh, how she had screamed and cried after Hiccup had gone into their bedroom to wake them and deliver the news. Gobber had managed to calm her down somewhat, but he was just as shocked as the rest of us. That's why it had taken us almost two hours to get to the hospital.

Hiccup held my hand the entire time, as if I were a lifeline. In that moment, I probably was. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like to receive a call after more than six years, one you'd long since given up hope on. Whatever chaos was going on inside Hiccup's mind, it made my heart ache. I wished I could ease it somehow, but sadly, I couldn't take his emotions away. All I could do was stay by his side and hold his hand if he wanted me to.

Gobber parked the car and we got out. As soon as I walked around the vehicle, Hiccup immediately took my hand again. None of us said a word. Not even at the reception desk, where Dr. Miller was already waiting for us. He only nodded in greeting and led the way. We took the elevator to the fifth floor, walked toward Wards A and B in complete silence. Hiccup's mother was apparently still in the same room. The door was closed and Dr. Miller turned to us in front of it.

"She asked for you, Hiccup. You should go in alone at first, explain everything to her calmly," he said gently.

He nodded. Dr. Miller said goodbye and walked down the hall, turning the corner at the end. Gobber gave Hiccup a pat on the shoulder before he and Javier sat down on the chairs a few feet away.

Hiccup turned to me. I could see the fear and uncertainty in his eyes, and I wished even more that I could take some of the burden from him. I gave him a smile, one that I hoped looked encouraging, and pressed a kiss to the back of his hand. Then I gave it a squeeze and let go.

He looked at me for another two seconds, then walked to the door, knocked, and went inside. Gobber, Javier, and I stayed behind in the hallway and waited.

❁

Hiccup

I would have loved to take Astrid in with me, would have liked to have her as an anchor by my side, but that would have been too much at once for my mother. So I went into the room alone, the room I had known for six years, my heart pounding and filled with hope that my mom was still the person I remembered.

She was sitting on one of the padded chairs, the same ones I used to sit in whenever I visited, and was looking out at the foggy morning through the window. Her brown hair was now streaked with gray and had grown so long it reached down her entire back. It had been brushed and she'd been given clothes, gray sweatpants, a white knitted cardigan, and light slip-on shoes.

When she heard the door close, she turned her head toward me. Her eyes widened instantly, her mouth opened as she looked me over and slowly, with effort, stood up.

I didn't know whether I should run to her or stay where I was. She was clearly shocked, probably because I'd changed so much in the past six years, but she still recognized me as her son. I saw it in her eyes when she looked at my face again.

No words were needed as she stretched out her arms. In three large steps, I was with her, holding her as tightly as I dared, and cried into her shoulder. She really wasn't in a hospital bed anymore, she was standing here, holding me, breathing on her own, and crying just like I was. She was awake, she was awake ...

She pulled back enough to look at me again and took my face in her hands. "Look at you, milaya moya. You've grown so tall and your hair is longer. Are those stubble?" Her voice was hoarse from the machine she'd been connected to for so long, but still understandable.

I let out a laugh that turned into a half-sob. "Yeah, unfortunately. Puberty really didn't need to bring that along with it."

That made her laugh. "You still have your sense of humor." She studied my face again, and her expression grew even sadder. "Oh, my darling, I'm so sorry. For everything that happened. Your father, Antonia, me ... You must have suffered terribly."

"I suffered? You've been in a coma for six years, Mom," I whispered, unable to hold back a fresh wave of tears.

She shook her head, her thumbs gently stroking my cheeks. "But you had to live through it. You had to keep going, go to school, live in a new house with new ..." She swallowed hard. "Tell me, did your new parents treat you well?"

They hadn't told her. She thought I'd been adopted by strangers ...

I shook my head. "Mom, I live with Gobber and Javier." A sound escaped her, something like a sob. "I wasn't taken from the family. They were always there for me. And they'll be here for you now too."

She hugged me tightly again for a little while, gently stroking my hair. Then we sat down at the table and I told her everything that had happened since I'd woken up in the hospital back then. How I hadn't understood the world at first and then was so angry that I had been a complete nightmare for Gobber and Javier. How I met Jack, and we became best friends. I told her about my hobbies, about Elsa, then Stacy, and finally about Astrid. Nearly an hour passed, during which a nurse had peeked in to check if everything was okay. In the end, we sat there with puffy red eyes, swollen faces, and our hands intertwined.

"Moy syn," she said softly. "I can't put into words how proud I am of you. You've become such a good young man, so sincere and tolerant and intelligent. I love you so much, milaya moya, and I will never leave you again. I promise you that. Never again."

I smiled at her. "Ya tebya lyublyu."

We washed our faces in the little bathroom sink before I opened the door and motioned for Gobber and Javier to come in. Meanwhile, I stepped out into the hallway to Astrid, who stood up and came over to me. Before she could say anything, I pulled her into a hug. She immediately wrapped her arms around me and held me tight. I was so damn glad to have her with me.

"How is she?" she asked after pulling her head back.

"Considering the circumstances, I'd say pretty well," I replied with a smile on my lips. "She asked if she could meet you now."

"She wants to?"

I furrowed my brow. "Why wouldn't she?"

She shrugged. "I just didn't expect it this soon. I thought she might want to settle back in with you and the family first."

My hands moved to her cheeks. "You're part of me, so you're part of the family." That made her smile and even though she tried to hide it, I could see her blushing cheeks.

A few minutes later, we went into the room together. Javier was sitting in one of the chairs, crying, with Gobber beside her, comforting her. My mother noticed us, let go of Javier's hand, and came straight to us. She hugged Astrid immediately.

"You look exactly like Hiccup described you," she said softly after letting go of her.

I looked at my mother, puzzled. "When did I describe her to you?"

"Oh, I don't know, sometime. I definitely knew about the blonde hair and blue eyes."

I had told her that when she was still in the coma. But it wasn't possible that she remembered that, was it? I had told her so much during that time, there was no way she could remember all of it.

"You know," Astrid said, apparently picking up on my expression, "there aren't any definitive studies on what a person perceives when they're in a coma. Some remember nothing when they wake up, others recall hearing people talk to them."

My mother smiled at me. "I definitely remember your voice. Not everything you told me, but some things. And when you spoke about Astrid, you were so ... excited and emotional, my brain must have held on to that."

My cheeks turned red, which made both of them laugh. Astrid put an arm around me as we sat down with the now-calmer Javier at the table and enjoyed being together again for the first time in so long.

❁

Three weeks later, we had a family celebration at our house, to which Astrid's father, Jack, and Elsa were also invited. My mother really wanted to meet them all and have them at her "Welcome Home!" party.

There was cake, pastries, snacks, music, and plenty of conversation, stories, and memories. Of course, we didn't overwhelm her, if she said it was too much, we changed the subject, but today, she just seemed to want to make up for lost time. She wanted to know what everyone had done over the past six years and where they were now in life. She was just like she used to be, kind to everyone and a great listener. I was so incredibly glad that she still had the will to live.

After she was discharged from the hospital, she moved into the guest room, which was wonderful for us because it meant we had her close by. She was already looking for something of her own, though she said she would only start job hunting after the doctors had fully checked her out to make sure everything was really okay and would stay that way. So far, things were looking very promising. She just had to rebuild her muscles and get used to eating real food again, which we were helping her with.

Astrid found me in the kitchen, where I was taking a break from my loud family. She had a grin on her face, probably because someone had just shared a crazy story. She wrapped her arms around me and looked up into my face.

"What are you doing here all alone?" she asked.

I placed one hand on the back of her head and the other on her hip. "Protecting my ears."

She laughed, which made me smile. "Understandable. Your aunt can be very loud. You know what I was just thinking about?" I shook my head. "Our final exams are coming up soon. What are we going to do afterward?"

I shrugged. "Honestly? No idea."

A grin spread across her face again. "Then I guess we'll both be doing nothing for a while."

I raised an eyebrow. "You haven't made a decision either?"

"Nope," she said. "I'll probably find a part-time job somewhere, keep up with my training, and then see where life takes me."

"That doesn't sound bad. Maybe I'll do the same, minus the training part."

She laughed and kissed me. "As long as we're together."

I liked the sound of that. A smile crept onto my lips. "As long as we're together."

———

Here the translations again:
• Milaya moya means My darling
• Moy syn means My son
• Ya tebya lyublyu means I love you