fifteen

IT HAD BEEN THREE MONTHS SINCE THEIR FIGHT WITH THE HUNTERS, AND WHAT THE RIDERS DIDN'T ACCOUNT FOR WAS THE FREQUENT EARTHQUAKES THAT THE VOLCANO WOULD GO THROUGH SINCE IT'D BEEN HIT SO MANY TIMES. It was at this point that Alora was sure she'd be going home with PTSD. The loud rumbles caused her to fall off her makeshift bed.

"Fucking Christ!" she yelled. "Hiccup!"

Hiccup stumbled out of bed and Toothless helped him down.

"Yeah I know," he said. "W-Why are you laughing?"

"Bed hair," she snorted.

"Oh for the love of. . ." He fixed his hair, hoping she'd snap out of her immature act.

Then, the ground shook even more and Alora found herself clinging onto the boy.

"Did that feel—?"

"—More intense than usual? Yeah."

They walked out of the hut and watched as lava spewed up from the ground.

"I'll get the buckets," Alora said.

"Toothless!"

She went up with Toothless and Hiccup to pour the Gronckle Iron into the spots. Hiccup didn't want her to stay in the hut since there was a lot of lava that was nearby. They were up all night trying to patch the holes and as morning approached them, Alora couldn't help but feel pity as she saw the Edge falling apart.

Astrid placed a hand on her shoulder.

"This is bad."

"I've seen much worse," Tuffnut said.

"You mean you've caused worse," Fishlegs corrected.

"Ha! I wish. This is Odin's handiwork himself, my friend. But I– I am a mere mortal."

"Hiccup, we should've left this pile of rocks months ago, but no. You wanted to keep exploring! 'Hiccup the explorer'!" Snotlout sarcastically remarked.

"Don't compare him to Dora!" Alora said.

"Who's Dora?!"

"I'm going to be honest," Astrid said. "I'd rather plant Dragon Root under my fingernails than agree with Snotlout, but I think it might be time to head back to Berk. Viggo and Ryker are gone. The Dragon Eye is destroyed. And we still need to help Aly get her memories back so she can go home."

Alora looked up at the boy and he sighed in defeat. So the next day, Hiccup decided to strategize a plan to relocate all the dragons they'd saved. But unfortunately, their plans were interrupted when Johann arrived.

"Oh, Shady Dude," Alora said.

"Would you stop saying that?" Hiccup told her.

"What? You can dislike people, but I can't?"

"That's not. . . Nevermind. You stay here," Hiccup told her.

"What? Why?"

"Well, I thought you said you didn't like him."

"I don't but it'd be rude not to say hello."

"Just. . . Stay here."

Alora sighed. Just as she was about to leave, a very vivid daydream occurred.

"Aly!" the woman said, holding a spoon. "Come on Aly, would you please just eat."

Little baby Aly giggled as she threw the spoon at her.

The woman closed her eyes, despite the glasses getting most of the hit. She used her fingers to wipe the baby food away.

"Gross."

She sighed and looked around.

"Think Kara. Think. What would motivate a baby to eat?"

The image changed.

"Antonio, do you have her lunch box?"

"Yes dear, she's all ready to go!"

"Mom, Dad, do I have to go to the Animal Hospital?"

"Of course you do! Think about this, soon it'll all be yours!" the woman said.

The young brunette sighed.

"Don't pout honey. Trust me, once you get to know the people there you'll change your mind."

"Lily!"

"Coming!"

Footsteps came running.

"Don't forget to bring Bucky!"

The footsteps retreated.

"Give me a second!"

The image changed again.

It was the woman again, Kara. Only this time much clearer. She had blonde hair, thin glasses, and the brightest blue eyes. The weirdest part? She was wearing a costume. A red and blue costume.

"This is the baby?"

"Yep. This is little Aly."

"Hi little Aly," another woman said. "I'm your Auntie Alex."

"'Auntie Alex'?" Kara repeated.

"Shut up."

"Not in front of the baby!"

"So?"

"Well, I figured if she's going to live here, I might as well give her a name."

"I thought it was Aly?"

"It is, but you know how my cousin went from Kal to Clark?"

"Oh, please don't tell me. . ."

"Aly to Alora."

". . . You know that's actually not that bad."

"Hey!"

Then, she saw another woman. Laughing with her on a park bench.

"Don't worry about your future. I know you're scared but trust me. . .you'll be okay."

"Thank you, uh, stranger," a much older Alora said.

"It's Sara. Sara Lance."

"Thank you Sara."

Again the image changed. This time she was at a police station.

"O-Oh god I'm so sorry."

"No! No, it's okay, sir."

She looked at his name tag.

"Holy," she stopped herself. "You're a CSI?!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah!" he said, smiling. "I'm Barry. Allen. Barry Allen."

Alora bit her lip, and looked around as if she didn't want anyone to hear her.

"I want to be a CSI."

"W-Wait, really?" Barry said. "That's awesome!"

"But my parents want me to run the animal hospital. It's been in our family for generations. . . Well, their family."

Barry gave her a confused look.

"I'm adopted."

Alora woke up in a cold sweat. She was shaking and a figure reached down to calm her.

"Easy, Aly," Hiccup said. "Astrid found you passed out in the clubhouse, what happened?"

That was when all hell broke loose. Alora started crying and Toothless immediately went to her side.

"I know."

"Know what?"

"My background," she said looking at him. "I'm adopted."

Toothless let out a low grumble.

"The woman. The woman I heard, the same woman I saw when I fell. Her name is Kara and she's my mom. Kara is my mother. And I have an aunt, Alex. Then, for some reason, she put me in the orphanage and I got adopted by another family. They want me to run the family animal hospital! I wanted to be a CSI! Like Barry! Even though I have no idea what a CSI is. And then there was a woman named Sara—!"

"Easy!" Hiccup told her, noticing her hyperventilation.

She hugged her knees.

"Take the bed for the night," Hiccup told her. "I'll sleep on the first floor. Toothless, watch after her."

I think it goes without saying that she didn't get any sleep that night.