One Step At A Time

i.

Hiccup doesn't mean to, but sometimes when Toothless looks at him, he flinches. He can't blame himself too much, he supposes, seeing as it had only been two weeks since his father's death, and the image of Toothless' narrowed pupils is all too fresh. And even if he knows deep down it's silly, he can't help it. The event haunts his dreams, turning them to nightmares, and sometimes, for a split second, he can swear Toothless is back under the Alpah's control, back under Drago's...

A shiver passes through him and when he blinks and looks back at his dragon, he sees, that like always, Toothless' pupils are nice and round. And filled with hurt. Hiccup winces slightly and Toothless lets out a soft whine. The young man doesn't say anything though - what could he say? So he decides to just ignore it instead.

"C'mon Toothless," he murmurs, trailing a hand along Toothless' crown. When had calling Toothless bud become hard, somehow? After the reality of what had happened set in? "We have come construction to work on."

The rebuilding of the village is taking a long time; long by Viking standards, anyway. The reason it is, is because there's no much to do. Hardly any houses were spared in the Bewilderbeast's attack, Hiccup's own home being one of them. The actual house had been rebuilt so many times, however, that Valka hardly recognizes it at all. Hiccup, however, tries to leave the house as soon as possible in the mornings and return as late as he could. It isn't just that there's a lot to do, but the house and the memories it held of his father threatened to smother him sometimes.

And the village couldn't have a broken Chief, now could they?

His prosthetic catches on a slightly upturned floorboard. He curses, that hasn't happened in years, and stumbles. Toothless surges forwards to steady up. The familiarity of it makes his eyes moist. It seems like Toothless feels it too, because the dragon looks up at him.

This time, Hiccup doesn't flinch. It's not that he suppresses it, or anything, but he doesn't need to. It just doesn't happen.

"Thanks bud," Hiccup smiles. Toothless' earplates perk up.

As they go to the door together, one arm still draped over Toothless' neck, Hiccup's heart feels lighter. It'll be a process of two steps forward, one step back, but he knew they'd get through it. They would get through this the same way Toothless helped him through the loss of his leg: one step at a time.

ii.

Nightmares come. Hiccup's had them for years, they're familiar. The rush of adrenaline and the panic that steadily fades when your eyes snap open and your breathing slows gradually. But now, Toothless gets them too.

Hiccup can tell by the way Toothless moans and snuffs in his sleep, a pained expression on the night fury's face, legs scraping against the stone. It's hard, sometimes. Most of the time. All of the time.

Especially after he's seen Toothless stalking him down, pupils turned slits, gas building up in his mouth. After he's seen his father's dead body, again and again. The only comforting thing is that Toothless must be seeing the same things, only, Hiccup guesses, his own body in place of his father's.

It helps, anyway, when Hiccup curls up in the dragon's side and he knows they're both crying about the same thing, but can hear each other's heartbeats. The thrum is consistent, soothing, and it helps.

It helps so that when Hiccup wakes up from a nightmare and it's morning he can look over to his dragon and say, "Good morning bud," with a smile on his face, strained or small or feeble, but there all the same, he's grateful. It helps Toothless look over at his boy and not be afraid that somehow, he's going to hurt him again. That no one will be there to jump in the way and this time, his worst fear will happen.

And dammit, it shouldn't have to be the only way either can fall asleep now but it is.

But, all the same, it helps.

iii.

It takes a while for them to go flying together again. They've flown before, over the island, helping rebuild houses, to deal with disputes and problems, but they haven't really flown since that day. Not like they used to. It's not just they're busy with new responsibilities shoved upon their shoulders. It's as if there's this large wall in between them, and the sky.

In between them, and freedom, carelessness, and innocence.

But one day, after multiple assurances from Astrid, Valka and Cloudjumper, the two set off together. The way the prosthetic slides into the shift feels alien almost, and a lump forms in Hiccup's throat.

They glide above the ocean at a slow pace, much slower than they had gone for years, but the tightness in Hiccup's chest loosens as the wind brushes his face. He may not be innocent, he may always have things to worry about - but he's still free. And Toothless is free, free from ever being under another dragon's control again.

He laughs - it echoes and it's the first real laugh, not nervous, not forced, he's had in a while. "Want to pick up the pace bud?" he asks breathlessly. Toothless hums happily and leans into his touch when Hiccup places his hand on his crown.

They pick up speed and climb higher in the sky. Hiccup doesn't slid off the saddle; they're not ready for that yet. But they do a few flips and tricks but mostly glide. It's extremely tame, compared to their previous flights, but it's a start, Hiccup knows.

One step at a time, he reminds himself. One step at a time.

iv.

They go back to the Cove. Toothless curls up by the water and Hiccup hugs him and they stay like that. Hiccup breaks and cries and Toothless' warbles are shaky. After a few hours, Hiccup musters up the strength to draw in the sand. Toothless manages to draw too. Hiccup catches a fish from the lake and gives half of it to Toothless, the other half he cooks for himself.

They feel better when they fly home, and even do a loop-da-loop.

The next morning Hiccup can look at his best friend with flinching. Bit by bit, step by step, they're building themselves back up.

v.

It'll never be perfect. It'll never be the same. Hiccup knows that; Toothless knows that; they make peace with it. It doesn't have to be the same. They're not the same. And that's okay.

It takes a long time to accept. It takes a long time to work through. But they do, one step at a time. They lost a lot on that day, but they would not let themselves lose each other.

"Bud?" Toothless looks up. Hiccup's smiling at him. Toothless gives him a gummy smile back.

Some days are better than others. Some days it's hard to get out of bed. But Hiccup knows, and Toothless knows, that they're going to be okay.

Major dumping of my BrOTP HTTYD2 feels don't mind me no im not crying YOU'RE CRYING.

These two love each other unconditionally ok?! OKAY?! *deep sigh*

So *clears throat* I hope you enjoyed this. Let me know what you thought in the box below - or, if you just want to dump your Hiccup and Toothless feels, that's cool too. :)