Chapter 5:

Nothing happens for a very long time. At least, not on Hiccup's end. He doesn't have his sword on him, and that's a little too flashy when Hiccup's trying to stay undercover anyway. So, he's reduced to watching helplessly as the Mares swarm Sandy and Jack, forcing them back to back. Hiccup fidgets on his toes, trying to hold himself back from leaping into the fire. He knows that feeling, slow doom crawling onto one's being link ink in a paper. When everything begins to seem helpless, overwhelming, and the simple knowledge of a future failure. He hates just watching it happen. He hated it when people allowed him to fight battles larger than himself, alone. Yet he's forcing it upon the same people who keep the children of the world happy and safe.

The only moment the churning guilt in his stomach subsides is when the rest of the Guardians finally decide to show up from their little nap. But that's pretty short-lived because Santa Clause is sleeping at the wheel. Santa, doing the one thing frowned upon in every state and country that exists. Hiccup groans, throwing his head back to look at the sky as Sandy brings the fight to higher ground. Hiccup's not so sure that's a good idea - on the ground, there are more buildings and structures to force the mobs closer. On the ground, there are more places to hide, run, and maneuver in a fight. The sky has basically become the Boogeyman's domain. Millions to billions of Night Mares, spreading out and surrounding one thing. They can throw themselves to different enemies, but they'll still remain overwhelming - seemingly an impossible foe to conquer. One good thing that calms Hiccup's raging heart - it'll help Toothless in the long run, if he ever decides to show up.

Hiccup searches the sky once more, bouncing on his toes as he waits for his friendly-neighborhood-NightFury. Come on, Toothless.

Finally, just as the Guardians are finally getting themselves together to join the fight, Hiccup spots a familiar blur within the skies. Not caring if he's noticed or even realizing how things might turn out, Hiccup quickly yells at the top of his lungs, "Toothless!"

The Guardians glance back, brows furrow when they see the familiar man from Jamie's house, screaming and waving at the skies. He isn't waving at them, as he's completely turned away from their fight. Glancing at each other, everyone decides to leave it be and simply focus on the fight at hand. Even though Tooth and Jack temporarily admire how much joy and relief Hiccup's eyes hold in that single moment, they have to focus all of their concern on their comrade. That decision gives Hiccup enough time to discreetly leap onto Toothless as soon as the dragon is close enough to touch. With the saddle forever gone now, Hiccup took a few days to get used to riding Toothless without it. After all, what is life in marriage without a few days for just the guys?

Quickly tightening his grip on Toothless' neck, Hiccup sets off to the night sky.

"Alright bud, I've missed you!" Hiccup yells, hugging his dragon's neck as Toothless coos back at him. "Sadly, we've got something to do. Then, we're going fishing!"

Toothless releases a roar, catching everyone's attention. Everyone searches the sky, but nothing seems out of ordinary, and they can't hold their intention in once place as the Mare's swarm the sled. Jack launches himself out of the sleigh as NightMares start to bombard it, trying to reach SandMan before it's too late. He can feel the pressure building up as Sandy's small, golden cloud gets surrounded by the foreboding Mares. Tears pricked his eyes, his grip tightening on his staff as he flies as fast as possible. However, loose NightMares that aren't preoccupying the other Guardians start to launch towards him as well. With very little time to react, Jack only hits the first Mare before two more replace it. Just as he's about to get knocked out of the sky, a high pitched whistle resonates nearby. Before the Mares can reach within a foot of Jack, they're shot out of the sky by a purple beam of fire.

"Woah," Jack exclaims, barely catching sight of a blue silhouette that rushes past him after the blast. Putting it aside, Jack rushes towards Sandy, eyes watering but determined. All around him, NightMares are being blasted out of the sky by the same purple blaze, giving him a straight shot to Sandy.

Sadly, he still isn't able to make it in time. Just feet away from the black cloud of NightMares, Pitch releases the arrow, giving Jack and Hiccup a front-row-view to Sandy's golden hue, slowly melting into black. And as he fades away, Jack screams and rushes towards Pitch. He gets rid of a few Mares before Pitch finally turns his attention to the frost spirit, and as he sends every gathering Mare towards the spirit, Hiccup takes the time for action.

Pitch's eyes stay glued to the frost spirit, witnessing how his powers suddenly spike, sending all of his NightMares to the sky - disguised as dust. Just as he's about to gather more and strike back at the fallen spirit, a burning blaze connects with his shoulder. He gives a yell, turning his eyes to the sky. He can't see anything, but he can feel his paranoia rise as the whistling comes back. He quickly moves a new group into the air, surrounding himself in a dusty dome.

The Guardians, along with Jack, watch as that same sphere is shot down, collapsing within seconds and sending the Boogeyman flying through the air. He disappears within the dark woods, and the team only sees a flash of red and green before all is silent once more.

Toothless lands on the forest ground with a soft thump. They're surrounded by the thickest gathering of trees so none of the spirits would see them, but Hiccup makes sure to land close to home. Sighing, Hiccup hops off Toothless with a click of his leg. He turns to his dragon, who nudges him with a whine upon seeing the frown sporting Hiccup's features.

"I'm alright, bud," Hiccup reassures, patting Toothless's head before scratching under his chin. "You did your best."

The dragon whines again, curling around Hiccup, allowing the man to lay on his back. They sit like that for a while, just gazing at the skies in the silence. Hiccup takes the time to think about everything that's happened in just the span of days. Boogeyman has grown as a threat once more and set his eyes to Hiccup's son. These are the most prominent in his mind as he scratches at his shoulder. It's starting to itch again, the irritating crawl of bugs over the scarred skin. Hiccup can't say he's surprised Pitch is back. He knew the day would come - eventually, everyone gets tired of the dark. However, Hiccup's musing comes to a pause once the moon reaches a little too close to the edge of the sky. Slowly turning to his dragon, he scratches under Toothless' scaly chin and grins as the dragon purrs back.

"I gotta go, bud. We've got family now - it's about time to get back to our kids, don't you think? Come back another time?"

Toothless hums, before quickly licking his rider and sprinting away. Hiccup laughs, even as the saliva sticks to his black sweater and jeans. He shakes his head, trying to get most of the stuff off his hair, and working even harder to make sure it isn't noticeable on his person. He loves Toothless, but Hiccup doesn't want dragon saliva to be the first thing to greet him in the morning. He already knows it's going to be a bad day, considering this saliva isn't washing out of his hair any time soon, and he's lost too many hours of sleep. Shaking one last time, Hiccup walks through the woods in search of home.

By morning time, after a two-hour nap, Hiccup's dragging himself throughout his house. He already snuck his clothes out of the bedroom, being extra careful to avoid waking his wife. He knows her sleeping schedule is almost as hectic as his, and he knows it hits her a lot harder than it does for him. Hiccup wishes he could sleep that well, though. Her schedule may be hectic as an on-call police officer, but as soon as she's out there's nothing in the world that can wake her up. Come to think of it, Hiccup doesn't even know why he snuck into their room. He could've slammed the door and she'd be fine. Surprising, considering how on-edge she used to be. Hiccup's proud to say that she trusts this house enough to let her guard down.

Hiccup smiles, maneuvering through the kitchen on auto-pilot. He'll have to wake their kids soon, and he needs a bribe in order for that to work. Quickly setting about to make quick pancakes and bacon while also stumbling into his black slacks. He's the only one ever awake around five a.m., so he usually multi-tasks with everything he does while he can. Hiccup flips the first batch of pancakes, stumbling to get his leg on. He seriously needs to figure out how to make his leg like a shoe - tie it once and then you can just slip it on.

As he starts to trail off on a few possibilities, he misses Astrid slugging down the stairs. Her eyes droop, the irises blank as she scans over the area. She's had the dreams again - the same haunting ones she thought were long gone. When her eyes find Hiccup's figure, stumbling around the kitchen with his brows furrowing, she can't help the small smile. He's been through everything with her, no one will ever her better than he does. Stepping forward, Astrid wraps her arms around her husband's waist just as he stumbles into the counter. The sudden touch makes him jump even further, causing the pancake he was flipping to fly to the ceiling. The couple watches in silence as the buttery pancake stuck to the ceiling, batter side up. After a moment in silence, in which Hiccup begins to speak, they witness the pancake splat back onto the pan.

More silence follows, but Hiccup feels relaxed. He shakes his head with a smirk, turning his head to look at his wife. "How is it, I only miss when I'm trying," Hiccup jokes. He turns to take the pancake off, tossing it to the trash can. Of course, it falls to the floor, batter down once again. Hiccup deflates, shoulders sagging. Even when his smile spikes, he doesn't move his shoulders. Astrid's laughing, for once. Her quiet chuckles slowly grow into boisterous snorts as she throws her head back. No matter how honored Hiccup feels, he knows his jokes aren't that great. With a short snort, Hiccup stands tall and turns around. He grabs his wife by her stomach, tossing her over his shoulder as she releases a joyous screech.

"First thing in the morning and you're laughing at me?" Hiccup asks though the question holds no malice. He misses her laugh, and how carefree the simple action makes her. He misses the Astrid he knows, under no pressure of a new world and the life of parenthood. He misses them.

Reaching the couch quickly, Hiccup throws Astrid down onto her. He smirks as she screams once more. He's not afraid of hurting her - her punches say enough. She doesn't need anyone to protect her, even if Hiccup refuses to do anything less. He'll never settle for something so small; not when he sees the joy and love sparkle within her eyes. However, he sees something else within her eyes - pain and uncertainty. Hiccup's smile falters and he moves forward to playfully collapse into the couch. Astrid grunts, bouncing slightly as he lands. They're quiet for a moment, taking time to adjust themselves to fit comfortably on the couch. In the end, with Hiccup spooning Astrid close to his chest and Astrid snuggling into his arms, they take a moment to simply breathe.

They both know something is wrong with the other, their simple connection linking their hearts together. They know everything about each other - from the little things to secrets that shall stay within the bedroom. And they love it that way. Astrid sighs, releasing pent-up stress as she sags into her husband more.

"What's wrong?" Hiccup whispers, slowly kissing Astrid's neck.

Astrid hums, closing her eyes and holding Hiccup tight. She doesn't answer for a while, taking the time to enjoy the feeling of Hiccup's smooth lips brushing against her neck. Finally, she breaks the peace, her eyes held open and a frown returning.

"I got that dream, again."

Hiccup pauses, unconsciously tightening his grip on his wife. She hasn't had that in a while - not since Jamie was two. He sighs, tugging her closer and continuing to pepper her with kisses.

"There's nothing to worry about - it's all over. I won't let anything hurt our family, and that includes you. Now, I know you can protect yourself, but I'm allowed to do it for you. We came here for a reason - and we're living a better life. Nothing's going to get at you or the kids."

Astrid's silent for a moment, taking in his words. She knows they're safe. Despite everything, Hiccup has never lied. He isn't wrong about that, even if the children's tales put her on edge. It's never made sense to her, but maybe she's to reconsider her beliefs. Hiccup's never told a lie - and even after she ridiculed him and lectured him, he's still here, holding her tight and chasing away her fears. Maybe, it's time to find a new mind - time to open the walls within her boarder.

Astrid smiles with a little smirk, glancing at her husband through the corner of her eye. She makes sure to look as innocent as possible, though that only puts Hiccup further on edge. He smiles back at her, an awkward, unsure smile as he awaits her words.

"You should really clean up that pancake before we get mice."

Hiccup groans, throwing his head into the couch. Astrid laughs again, slowly crawling out of his arms and working on walking upstairs. She pauses at the bottom, turning to face her husband once more. He's right - even if that's hard to come by. One last look before she walks up that stairs with a reminiscent smile, Astrid whispers the five magic words that started their relationship.

"And that's for everything else."