Homecoming

Deep in the Hidden World, King Toothless was sitting on the shore of a pond. He was drawing in the sand with a piece of coral. His drawing skills had improved over the years. He was finishing up a pretty good drawing of his old friend Hiccup. A purple orb drifted passed his face. When it floated away, he went back to his drawing. Little Dart pounced on the orb, pinning it down. She opened her paws, and blew the orb away. She then spotted her dad. Curious she flew down next to him.

"Hi Daddy, what are you doing?" She asked.

"Working on my drawing," Toothless said. Dart looked at the drawing, as Toothless drew the last few lines.

"That's a human," Orca said. "Like Auntie Edelweiss, and her parents."

"Yes," Toothless said. Just then Queen Moon, and the other two Night Lights joined them. They looked at the drawing.

"Hello my Sweet Tooth," Moon said, nuzzling her mate. "You looked like you could use some company." Toothless smiled at her. Pouncer and Ruffrunner looked at the drawing of Hiccup.

"Hey we want to draw too," said Pouncer. He and Ruffruner began drawing in the sand themselves, using their claws. When they stepped back the drawing of Hiccup now had dragon wings. Dart laughed.

"Hiccup doesn't have wings," Toothless said. He erased the wings with his paw. Then he drew an island around Hiccup, then drew an outline of himself.

"What's Hiccup like?" Pouncer asked.

"He's really nice, and funny," Toothless said. "He's also really smart. He's my best friend. Maybe I could introduce you guys to him." The Night Lights looked excited.

"Absolutely not," Moon said firmly. "The human world is too dangerous." She stalked off, looking a bit irritated. Toothless sighed and went over to her.

"I'm sorry my love," he said. "I guess I'm still missing Hiccup after all these years."

"I know, and I know he means a lot to you," Moon said, leaning her head on his neck. "But I don't want our babies to suffer the same terrors we did. Dragon killing humans are still out there."

"You're right, I hope the Night Lights do meet Hiccup someday," Toothless said.

"I'm sure they will," Moon said. She yawned. "Well it'll be lights out soon, we should get something to eat." She spread her wings and took off.

"Come on guys," Toothless called over his wing at the Night Lights, then took off as well. Pouncer and Ruffrunner followed. But Dart stayed behind, still looking at her dad's drawing, deep in thought. But then she heard her dad calling her, and she flew to catch up. They took off and left their cave above the Sunstone.

The Sunstone was starting to fade as dusk approached. Waiting at the base of the Sunstone was Edelweiss. She was standing alone in a pale gray cotton dress with gold embroidery around the hem and waist, white snakeskin fingerless gloves, her brass claws, and her feet were bare. Her black hair was pulled back into pigtails that exposed the patches of white scales on her face. She smile at the sight of the dragons.

"Hey guys," she said happily.

"Hello Edelweiss," said Toothless. "When did you get here?"

"Just now," said Edelweiss. "Black Widow dropped me off, but she couldn't stay. Eclipse is home and she didn't want to miss one minuet with her." Toothless nuzzled her. She smiled and hugged him, then she hugged Moon.

"It's always nice to have you visit us Edel," the Light Fury said.

"I love visiting you guys," Edelweiss said. Just then Pouncer jumped in her arms, excitedly. Edelweiss laughed and hugged him. "Hi Pouncer, good to see you too."

"How come you stayed away so long?" Pouncer asked.

"Well, I have friends and family to help out," Edelweiss said. She shifted Pouncer's weight. "Wow, you guys are getting so big. Soon I won't be able to pick you guys up."

"You're welcome to join us for dinner Edel," said Moon. Edelweiss smiled humbly. Draco's Nest had no human food for her, so she always had to bring food with her.

"Thank you ma'am, I'd love to," she said. She put Pouncer down and followed them to a patch of green mushrooms. Edelweiss sat on a large piece of coral next to it.

"I was just telling the Night Lights about Hiccup," Toothless said.

"I remember Hiccup," Edelweiss said, as she pulled out a large orange fruit. "You must miss him a lot." Toothless nodded.

"I wonder what he's doing now," he said. Edelweiss peeled the orange as she thought a moment.

"Well, it's winter, so I would guess he's preparing for Berk's winter holiday," she said.

"Yes, Snoggletog," Toothless said. Moon and the Night Lights laughed.

"Why do they call it Snoggletog?" Moon giggled. "It's such a silly name."

"Funny names are kind of Berk's thing," Edelweiss said. "Mother told me about Berk's first Snoggletog with dragons. It was pretty special."

"It was," Toothless said.

"What made it so special?" Moon asked, disapprovingly.

"Hiccup first made me this fin," Toothless said, holding up the mechanical fin on his tail. "I used it once, then smashed it."

"That's not very nice," Moon said, disapprovingly.

"I agree," Toothless admitted. "But turning around a just flying away, leaving him, that wasn't very nice either. So I smashed it to show him I wanted stay with him, it made him happy."

"So humans give each other gifts on this winter celebration?" Moon asked.

"Yes, that's one of the reasons they love it so much," Toothless said.

"What did Hiccup get you every Snoggletog after?" Edelweiss asked.

"Just a big bowl of fish, always trout," Toothless said, licking his lips. "Then we'd go flying afterwords." The dragons started grazing on the mushrooms. Edelweiss ate her orange. Dart jumped up next to her, and sniffed the orange.

"Hi Dart," Edelweiss said, stroking the little dragon behind the ears. "What'd you guys do today?"

"We went up to the surface," Dart reported. "And played in the ocean."

"That's fun," said Edelweiss. She handed an Dart a slice of the orange. She ate it, and really liked it.

"Wow that's really yummy," she said. "Can I have another one?"

"Dart, you have your own food," said Moon firmly. "Edelweiss has to bring her own food so she doesn't go hungry."

"Yes Mama," said Dart. She jumped down and joined her siblings.

The dragons finished their meal, and Edelweiss finished her orange. She put the peel in a small bag. Pouncer and Ruffrunner yawned.

"Bed time it think," said Moon. "Are you spending the night with us Edel?" Edelweiss shrugged.

"I'm here until Black Widow comes back for me," she said. The Night Lights were delighted by this news.

"Yay, maybe you can go flying outside with us tomorrow," said Ruffrunner. Edelweiss jumped down from her seat.

"And maybe you can fly in your dragon form," said Pouncer.

"I only use my dragon form in times of danger," Edelweiss explained. She yawned. By now the light was rapidly fading from the Sunstone.

Toothless gave Edelweiss a ride as they all headed up to their nest. They went over to their sleeping spot. Edelweiss went to the large, flat mushrooms she used as a bed. She sat down as Toothless and Moon warmed up their spot. The Night Lights cuddled up together between their parents. There was a glowing green stone near them, which they used as a lantern. The dragons all made themselves comfortable. After a while everyone feel asleep. Except Dart.

Dart couldn't sleep. She snuck back down to the pond, and looked at her dad's drawing of Hiccup. She really wanted to meet this human she'd heard so much about. She considered going to find him. She remembered hearing her dad tell stories about the final battle between humans and dragons. It sounded really scary, but she liked hearing how Hiccup and her parents had saved the day. Dart decided to go to the human's island and meet Hiccup.

She went back into their nest and approached her brothers. She poked Pouncer in the eye with her wing. He and Ruffrunner woke up and untangled themselves.

"Dart, what are you doing?" Ruffrunner asked, keeping his voice low.

"Lets go find Hiccup," Dart said. They both gapped at her.

"Are you out of your mind?" Pouncer said. "You don't even know where he lives."

"Plus our parents would be really mad if we left Draco's Nest," said Ruffrunner, nervously. "You heard Mama, the human world is too dangerous."

"Stormfly said Hiccup's island is the closest one to the Great Falls," said Dart. "I'm not going to let angry parents keep me from going on an adventure. You two chickens can stay here if you want to." She spread her little wings and took off. A few seconds later she heard her brothers following her.

"What if something happens to us out there?" Ruffrunner asked.

"I'm sure nothing will happen," said Dart confidently. "We just have to be careful." They sped up as they left the cave.

They flew through the dark Sunstone Chamber, through Draco's Nest, through the tunnel, and out of the Great Falls. The sun was just starting to come up as they headed out over the ocean.

"We're heading out on our own," said Dart excitedly. "Just like the first dragons."

"Yeah, but they didn't have scary humans to deal with," said Pouncer.

"True," Dart agreed. She did a fancy flip in the air. She found a tail wind that was going in the direction she wanted.

Back in Draco's Nest Edelweiss, Toothless and Moon were still asleep. Toothless woke up and looked over at the three lumps laying near them. Reassured, Toothless rolled over and went back to sleep. But then Moon woke up and looked over at the same spot. They didn't seem to be moving. She lit the green stone with her pink plasma blast, and the light showed that the three lumps were just piles of rocks. Moon sat up, panicking.

"Toothless wake up!" She yelled. "The Night Lights are gone!" Toothless woke up again and saw that it was true.

"Oh no!" He said. The two of them jumped up and looked all around the nest. The noises roused Edelweiss. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Guys, what's wrong?" She asked.

"Our babies are missing," said Moon, her blue eyes filled with worry. Edelweiss jumped up. She picked up the glowing stone and used it as a flashlight. She scanned the dark cave, while the two dragons kept looking in other places. Edelweiss shined the light on three sets of tiny paw prints. They led to the pond's shore, where Toothless had drawn Hiccup in the sand.

"Toothless!" She called. "I think I know where they went." Toothless and Moon came over and saw what she was looking at. The same thought struck both of them at the same time.

"They left the Nest!?" Toothless said horrified. "They're going to get themselves hurt."

"It's all your fault!" Moon scolded him. "You kept talking about your human friend, and that's what gave them the idea to go out and look for him."

"What, it's not like I told them to go to the human world," Toothless argued.

"You might as well have," Moon growled, glaring at him. "And if they get hurt I'll never forgive you." They both glared at each other.

"Hey guys," said Edelweiss, shining her light in their faces. "Lets find your babies first, then argue about." The two dragons looked at her. They calmed down.

"She's right," Moon said, sighing. "We should go get them before they get into any trouble." Edelweiss grabbed her bag and put the glowing stone into it. She jumped on to Toothless's back and they took off.

The sun rose all the way and the Night Lights could see where they were going. They played as they traveled. Their wings were starting to ache from flying such a long way, but they tried to ignore it. Eventually they spotted an island in the distance. They all grew excited at the sight of it.

"That's got to be it," said Dart. She lead the way to the island. It was a beautiful island, with a sparkly white ground and sparkly white trees. Among the trees were large wooden buildings with sparkly white roofs and porches. Vikings were bustling all around the area. They Night Lights found a clear patch of ground and landed on it. The first thing they noticed was how cold the ground was.

"Burr, this stuff is really cold," Pouncer complained.

"Daddy called it, snow," said Dart, fascinated. "It falls out of the sky, a lot. But Queen Avalon said it's fun to play in." Hearing this, Pouncer used his tail throw the snow at his brother, but it was a very poor shot and it ended up hitting Pouncer in the head. Ruffrunner rolled over laughing. Dart went to the top of the hill and looked down at the human village. The Vikings were bustling about. So far there was no sign of Hiccup. Pouncer and Ruffrunner came up on either side of Dart.

"Hiccup's down there somewhere," said Dart. "Let's go." She led the way down the hill.

Out over the ocean Edelweiss and the two adult dragons were still far behind the Night Lights. Edelweiss was using her brass binoculars. They had no luck so far.

"I'm betting the've made it to the island already," said Edelweiss. "I don't see them anywhere." Toothless sighed.

"I hope they're okay," said Moon.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Toothless said. Edelweiss noticed the distracted tone in his voice. She lowered her binoculars for the moment.

"Are you okay sir?" She asked.

"Yeah I'm okay," Toothless said. "I haven't been back to that island since we all left it all those years ago. I just don't know how to feel about that." Moon smiled sympathetically at him and Edelweiss patted his neck.

"I'm kind of looking forward to it," said Edelweiss. "You haven't seen the village that's there now. I kind of like that one better then the one on Old Berk. It's more spread out."

"I bet Hiccup has changed too," said Moon. "He'll be older, and maybe taller." Toothless smiled.

"And I'm sure he'll have kids too," Edelweiss added.

"Yeah," said Toothless, smiling bigger. "Well what are we going to do about those Night Lights."

"Oh, I'm so grounding them to the hollow," said Moon, glaring. "I haven't decided for how long yet." Edelweiss went back to scanning the horizon with her binoculars.

"Two weeks should do it," Toothless said. "And Edel, you should head home once we get them back. Playing with you has now become a privilege that they must earn back."

"What no!" Edelweiss protested, lowering her binoculars again. "Don't make me apart of the punishment. I did nothing wrong."

"We're not blaming you at all," Moon explained. "But this is probably going to cause a big argument between us and the Night Lights, and I'm sure you don't want to be apart of that either." Edelweiss considered.

"All right," she said. "Two weeks."

"We'll make it up to you later," Toothless said. Edelweiss looked back through her binoculars. The two dragons sped up.

The Night Lights wandered around the village, staying out of sight. They eventually spotted long rows of benches set up in front of a large wooden platform with an archway overhead. There were a few humans on the platform setting up for something. The Night Lights quickly scurried under the platform. They spotted a trap door above them, and carefully peeked out of it. They suddenly came face to face with their dad. Startled, they ducked out of sight. Dart carefully peeked out of the trap door again. And found that it wasn't their dad but just a dragon costume. Dart breathed a sigh of relief. Then she spotted the man next to the costume. The man was tall with broad shoulders, and dark brown hair. He wore all leather, and a thick fur cape. Dart quickly saw the man's left foot, which was made of leather and metal. Dart beamed, he matched her father's drawing. Hiccup was glancing up at the dragon costume, beaming at his hard work. Dart was about to jump out and run over to him, when Pouncer and Ruffrunner pulled her back.

"What are you doing?" She asked, annoyed. "That was Hiccup."

"Can we get out of here Dart?" Ruffrunner asked. "We can watch all this from a safe distance. I don't want to anger the humans. Mother said they're very unpredictable."

"Plus I think these humans are about to put on a show," said Pouncer. They looked to see more humans heading for the rows of benches

"Fine," she agreed. "Lets go." She led the way out from under the platform. By now other humans were finding their seats.

The Night Lights ran though a trench in the snow that hid them from the human. Suddenly their path was blocked by a large animal with thick grey fur. The Night Lights froze at the sight of it, and the animal froze at the sight of them.

"What is that thing?" Ruffrunner asked. "It's so weird looking."

"I think Daddy called them sheep," said Dart. "Come on, lets just go around it." She lead the way around the sheep.

"Eeww, it smells awful," Pouncer explained. "How do these humans stand it?"

"They can't smell things as good as we can," said Dart. They hurried passed the sheep and up to the top of a small hill. From here they could see the Vikings find their seats.

"Hey this is a great spot," said Ruffrunner. "We can see the whole show from up here."

"Yeah, kind of a shame Mommy and Daddy can't be here to watch this," said Dart.

"Er Dart," Pouncer warned, looking behind them.

"I'm sure Daddy misses Hiccup a lot," Dart continued.

"Dart!" Pouncer said, louder. He tapped her wing. Dart turned around, and quickly alerted Ruffrunner who was having trouble staying awake. They all turned around, to see their parents glaring down at them. Edelweiss was still on Toothless's back, distracting herself with the commotion below.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in!" Toothless roared. "What were you guys possibly thinking?!" All three Night Lights pointed a talon at each other. Toothless was not amused. "I don't care who's idea it was. You all left Draco's Nest, in the middle of the night. Therefore you will all be confined to the cave the minuet we get home!" All three Night Lights cowered under their parents' angry glares. Just then Edelweiss looked through her binoculars.

"Hey what are they doing down there?" She asked. A fanfare played, and it carried clear up to them. The dragons all followed her gaze.

"They're going to put on a show," said Ruffrunner excitedly.

"Can we watch it Papa?" Pouncer begged. "Can we please?" Toothless considered.

"What do you say Moon?" He asked, turning to his queen.

"Hmmm, I suppose so," she said. "But we head for home the minuet it's over."

"Yes of course," said Toothless. They all set back and looked down at the stage. Edelweiss watched through her binoculars.

Down on the stage, a spot light was shone on the ragged curtains. Some one out of sight started playing music. The curtains lifted, revealing Gobber dressed as Stoic the Vast and Tuffnut dressed as a younger Hiccup. The real Hiccup was not in sight yet. The audience cheered.

"Hiccup, today is the day everything changes," Gobber said loudly, mimicking Stoic. "I have tamed a dragon." Tuffnut paused to read the script.

"I am so tiny, and afraid," he read aloud.

"Hiccup, you are weak and fear dragons," Gobber continued. "I am strong, and understand them."

"Oooh, that's kind of harsh," said Edelweiss, grimacing. "Poor Hiccup." Just then a metal version of Toothless was pulled onto the stage, suspended from a pulley system on the top of the stage. The crowed oohed and awed. The Night Lights a jumped up and down.

"Look Daddy, it's you!" Dart said, happily.

"Yes," Toothless agreed, grinning.

"I bet that's Hiccup in there controlling that thing," said Edelweiss. Toothless smiled wider at the thought. The metal dragon came to a stop at the front of the stage. Then its leather ears twitched, then its wings extended.

"Yeah that's defiantly Hiccup doing that," Toothless laughed, twitching his own ears.

"That's a pretty cool costume," said Moon. "But it's no where near as cute as the real thing." She batted her eyes at Toothless, who blushed. Just then they heard Gobber wailing. Edelweiss aimed her binoculars at the stage. She saw Gobber go over and blow his nose on the curtain. He turned back to the center of the stage, but his fake beard fell off and landed in a fire pit. The cinders jumped onto a rope and it slowly caught the backstage area on fire.

"Oh no, the stage is on fire," said Dart.

"It's okay," Toothless said. "These guys were around dragons for hundreds of years. And if there's one thing they're good at, it's fighting fires." They went back to watching the show. Sure enough Snotlout had spotted the fire, and ran out from his hiding place and tried to put out the fire. But he ended up making it worse. It didn't take long before the audience noticed, then the other people on the stage. They all pitched in to try and douse the fire, bit it only got bigger. Hiccup was still stuck on the ceiling, trapped in the dragon costume. Eventually the fire burned through the ropes and Hiccup fell hard onto the stage. He slowly sat up. One of the costume's eyes had popped out and was only attached by a spring.

"Wow, this is getting good," said Edelweiss.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Moon asked.

"Who knows with these guys," said Edelweiss. Down below, Hiccup had gotten to his feet. But he was still stuck in the costume, and it made it hard for him to keep his balance. It caused the costume to claw the air, and snap its jaws. The audience drew back, frightened.

"Do something!" Gobber roared. The costume's mouth opened again, and jets of blue fire erupted from its mouth. The audience gasped, and some screamed.

"Why did you give it that functionality?" Gobber asked. He ducked out of sight, before he got roasted. Hiccup stumbled across the stage, towards the cliff. Hiccup couldn't see where he was going, and could see the cliff coming. All the dragons started to get concerned.

"Daddy, do something!" Dart cried. "He's going to fall." Toothless jumped to his feet. He took off so fast that Edelweiss didn't have time to jump off. She scrambled to stay on the dragon's back, dropping her binoculars. The Night Lights cheered him on.

"Get him Papa!" Ruffrunner exclaimed.

Toothless sped over the theater at Night Fury speeds, and down the face to the cliff. Edelweiss held on tight as they close in on a plummeting Hiccup. Toothless soon managed to snatch Hiccup before he hit the water and sharp rocks. Toothless pulled out of the dive and hovered for a few minuets to catch his breath. Unfortunately Hiccup's head was still trapped in the metal costume, and thus did not see who'd caught him.

"Good catch sir," said Edelweiss, patting Toothless on the neck. The Night Fury carried Hiccup back up to the top of the cliff. He landed near the theater and set Hiccup down. Edelweiss dismounted, felling slightly winded. Hiccup staggered about, still blinded by the costume.

"Gobber?" Hiccup asked, his voice echoing from the costume's mask. Toothless grabbed Hiccup and tried to steady him. "Gobber? Is that you?" But he got no answer. Edelweiss giggled softly. Toothless smiled with relief, and licked the costume's face. "Ugh! What did you have, raw trout for lunch?" Toothless gave a soft laugh. He let go of Hiccup hoping he'd be able to walk now. But he took one step and fell on his face. Toothless sighed.

"Not easy being dragon," said Edelweiss. "Especially if you've never been one before." She looked over at the stage. By now the fire had been put out, and the whole area was filled with dense black smoke.

"How did you lose you other two limbs Gobber?" Gobber was saying to himself, annoyed. "Oh it was the pageant."

"Gobber!?" Hiccup called from the ground. Gobber looked up. Toothless looked over at Hiccup, who was clearly not in a position to continue. So he decided to fill in for him. With the dense smoke and his black scales, no one would know the difference. He quietly walked on to the stage, staying within the smoke. He sat on his haunches and opened his dark wings. The audience oohed.

"Wow, nice one Hiccup," Gobber praised, thinking he was looking at Hiccup in the dragon costume. Gobber turned back to the audience. "Greetings, magnificent creature. Will you allow Stoic to tame you with his gentle...touch?" He then lifted his wooden hand towards Toothless. The dragon looked over at Edelweiss, hiding in the shadows. She smiled at him. Toothless then looked up at his family up on the hill. Then he pressed his snout against the wooden hand, a wave of nostalgia coming over him. Gobber wrapped things up. "Let man and dragon be forever bonded in trust and love." The audience erupted into a loud applause.

Up on the hill Pouncer tackled his brother, and they rolled around playfully in the snow. Moon looked over at them, before looking back down at the stage. Dart's eyes were wide with enthrallment.

"Wow, Daddy is so amazing," she purred.

"He sure is," her mother agreed.

Down on the stage, Toothless snuck off into the darkness. Edelweiss followed him, passed Hiccup who was still on the ground. Suddenly Toothless heard a little girl's voice as she approached backstage.

"Hey dad?" She called. "Dad?" Toothless emerged from the smoke and saw the small girl in front of him. She gasped at the sight of him. She pulled out a sharpened stick, but dropped in her haste. Toothless slowly walked closer to her. She looked up at him, her eyes widened. Toothless smiled at her, with his famous gummy grin. The girl gave him a tiny smiled in return. Looking closer at this girl, Toothless noticed that she looked a bit like Astrid but with the same color hair as Hiccup. Was this their daughter?

"Hi," she said very quietly.

"Hello there," Toothless answered, though of course the girl didn't understand. He and the girl stared at each other for what felt like forever.

"Um, Toothless," Edelweiss whispered. "We should probably go sir." Toothless nodded at her. Suddenly they heard Hiccup still struggling in his dragon costume on the ground.

"Er, a little help here!" he called out. "Gobber? Anyone? Literally anyone?" Edelweiss went over to him and pulled him to his feet. He stayed up this time.

"Great show Hiccup," Edelweiss complimented him. "It was awesome."

"Thanks," Hiccup said, still not able to see who he was looking at. Toothless smiled one last time at the girl then he turned an ran off the stage, Edelweiss jumped onto his back mid stride, and they both vanished. The girl, Zephyr, was completely mind blown by her encounter with Toothless. She laughed and ran to find her family.

Toothless and Edelweiss met back up with Moon and the Night Lights. They landed near a large house. There was no one there for the moment. Edelweiss dismounted, and Dart handed her her binoculars.

"Sorry I took off on you Edel," Toothless said.

"It's okay," said Edelweiss, patting his head. "I'm used to it." The Night Lights ran around bursting with energy.

"That was so awesome," said Ruffrunner. "How you flew to the rescue." Toothless purred.

"Felt like old times," he said. Just then Pouncer sniffed the air.

"Hey something smells good," he said. The other dragons sniffed the air as well. Edelweiss could smell something too.

"It's coming from in there," said Moon, looking at the house. They went over to the house's window and looked inside. They saw a warm looking living room with a blazing fireplace, decorations, and a lovely furniture set all wit dragons carved into them. Sitting on the mantelpiece, was a very large bowel filled to the brim with fish. The Night Lights smacked their lips at the sight of it.

"This must be Hiccup's house," Edelweiss observed.

"He's left a bowl of trout," said Toothless. "Just like he used to do for me in the old days."

"Well if it's for you, can we go have some?" Pounced asked. Toothless looked over at Moon.

"How about it Moon?" He asked.

"All right," said Moon. "It is a long way home. And it seems no one's around here yet."

"They're probably cleaning up from the show," said Edelweiss. "It'll keep them occupied for a while." She went over to the door. She suddenly spotted a tight rope running along the back of the porch. She followed it with her eyes, and spotted a series of booby traps lurking above the entrance. There were two cross bows and a large heavy log with sharpened ends all pointed right at them.

"Watch your step guys," Edelweiss warned. "This house is booby trapped."

"But why?" Moon asked.

"How else are these guys going to protect themselves without us dragons," Toothless said. Edelweiss opened the door carefully, and led the way inside. The dragons treaded carefully, as to not to trigger any of the booby traps. They made their way over to the fireplace. Edelweiss picked up the large bowel of fish, and set it down in front of the dragons. They dug in, while Edelweiss kept a lookout. Dart swallowed a large fish then looked over at Toothless.

"I'm sorry we ran away Daddy," she said solemnly. Toothless looked down at her.

"Yeah we're all sorry," said Pouncer, Ruffrunner nodded in agreement. Toothless and Moon exchanged a glance. Toothless nuzzled each dragonet in turn, and Moon followed suit.

"We forgive you," said Moon.

"Maybe it was meant to be," said Toothless. "If you hadn't run away, then we wouldn't have followed, and I wouldn't have been here to prevent Hiccup from falling to his death."

"Does that mean we're still grounded?" Pouncer asked.

"Yes," both adults said in unison. The Night Lights looked down in disappointment and went back to their fish.

Soon the fish was all gone. The dragons all cooed with satisfaction. Edelweiss remained at her post, twirling her small knife.

"Opps, we didn't leave any fish for you," Toothless said to her.

"It's okay," said Edelweiss. "I'm not much of a trout person."

"Those were really good fish," said Dart, smacking her lips.

"Yeah they were good," Moon agreed. She looked over at Toothless. "Perhaps we should leave them something, as a thank you."

"Okay, but what should we leave them?" Toothless wondered aloud. They all thought for a few minuets. Then Edelweiss snapped her fingers. She reached into her bag and pulled out the glowing green stone, though now it had gone out.

"You think they'll like this?" She asked.

"I think they will," said Moon. "That's perfect." Edelweiss picked up the empty bowel and placed it back on the mantlepiece. Then she put the stone next to it, right in the middle of the mantlepiece. Toothless lit it up, it cast a vibrant green light around the room, just like Aurora's Fire.

"You think I should leave them instructions on how to relight it?" Edelweiss suggested.

"No, Hiccup's smart," said Toothless. "I'm sure he'll figure it out." Then he squared his shoulders. "Well we should head for home now."

"That's a great idea," said Moon. "Come little ones." The Night Lights turned and followed their parents out of the house, again treading lightly to not set off the booby traps. Once they were outside, Edelweiss closed the door behind them. They walked into the yard, where Edelweiss mounted Toothless. They took off and circled over the village.

A few minuets later; Hiccup, Astrid, their two kids Zephyr and Nuffink, and Gobber were heading home after cleaning up from the pageant. Hiccup was pleased with how things had turned out, though he had no idea how they'd finished the pageant without him. He'd been on the ground trying to get up for the last little bit of it. Zephyr and Nuffink were running about talking excitedly about the show.

"I love dragons!" Zephyr exclaimed. "And I love Toothless. He's beautiful. Why didn't you tell me you were really going to bring him here?" Hiccup was bewildered. Toothless was supposed to be miles away in the Hidden World. He exchanged a look with Astrid and Gobber.

"I have no idea what she's talking about," he said. He then sighed and turned to his wife. "You were right, it was exactly what everyone needed. For the kids, and for the memory of my father." Astrid smiled at him, and he hugged her. Hiccup then turned to Gobber. "Gobber you have well honored my father, and your friend." Gobber beamed.

"It was my deepest privilege to do so," he said. Then he heaved a huge sigh. "Well, guess I'll be heading home, alone. All the best Snoggletogs I spent in solitary, cavernous, silence." Hiccup and Astrid exchanged a glance.

"Gobber, if you're free tonight..." Hiccup began.

"I'd love to," Gobber answered the unfinished question. So they all headed for the Haddock house. It was dark except for a strange green light that came out of the windows. Gobber was about to walk up onto the porch.

"Gobber wait," Zephyr warned. She grabbed her brother's helmet and slid it across the porch. Seconds later it was flattened by a mace, followed by two arrows. "You're good." Zephyr smiled and ran to the door. She opened the door and they saw the green light filling their living the room. Zephyr and Nuffink ran to the fireplace, where Edelweiss had left the glowing stone. Everyone looked in awe at it, surprised to see it there.

"Hiccup did you do this?" Astrid asked.

"No," said Hiccup, just as dumbfounded as everyone else. He looked at the stone. He vaguely remembered seeing such bioluminescence, in the Hidden World. Then he spotted the bowel of fish he'd left on the mantelpiece earlier that day. Astrid noticed it too.

"The bowel!" She exclaimed, as Hiccup took it down. "It's..."

"Empty," Hiccup finished. They looked at the bowel, then at each other. "Toothless?"

"It can't be," said Gobber. They all hurried outside and looked up at the sky. They were greeted with a sight of Toothless gliding over the trees, with Edelweiss Dragonborne on his back. They were followed by the Light Fury, and three baby dragons. Edelweiss spotted them and waved to them. They waved back at her, beaming. Hiccup was so happy to see his old friend, with his family. He guessed that Toothless had been the one that had caught him when he fell, and had filled in for him for the last scene in the pageant. They all watched in silence as the dragons circled over them.

"Maybe it's our turn to visit them," Astrid suggested, as the dragons left the island behind and headed back towards their home.