They were sitting around the fire, talking, laughing, as a reunited whole family. Plus Gobber. But Hiccup had grown up with Gobber being almost a second father to him, so as far as he was concerned, he was with his family.

Hicupp looked around. His dad was looking at Valka, looking happier than Hiccup had ever seen him. Valka was a part of Stoick, and that part had been gone for far too long. Also, even though he had only known her for a day, Hiccup could feel a sense of completion within him brought by the return of his mother. Throughout his life, he had always been plagued by the questions: what was she like? Was she like me? Was she the tough Viking that everyone said she was?

Valka, meanwhile, was staring at her son. How much he had grown, how handsome he was, how confident, how strong. She remembered when she first brought him to the cave, before she realized his true identity. Valka had been impressed by the way he had not shown any fear when he attempted to tame one of the dragons surrounding him. She had also been impressed by his bond with Toothless. Valka had occasionally seen other dragon riders who just saw their dragons as means of transportation and treated them as such (of course, Valka rescued these dragons from the tyranny of the riders). Now, as she was being filled in by Stoick and Gobber on how Hiccup united Berk and the dragons, she felt a tear in her eye when she realized how great of a person her little baby boy had become.

"So, anyway, when he woke up you could say he was a little surprised to find everyone mingling with the dragons," Stoick said with a booming laugh.

"Oh, I don't think that's the only thing that surprised him," Gobber chimed in, his eyebrows raised, thinking of a certain blonde and a certain kiss. Stoick let out another booming laugh while Hiccup blushed a little.

"Wow," breathed Valka. "After all this time, Berk has finally changed."

"It's incredible." Hiccup said, his eyes lighting up. "While we used to have dragon training, we now have dragon racing."

"Which Hiccup wins every time," Gobber added with a grin.

"When he actually bothers to show up," grumbled Stoick.

"Nah, it's all thanks to Toothless here," Hiccup said, patting his best friend on the head. Toothless who was in the middle of devouring a large pile of fish, purred contentedly.

"So, Hiccup, any young maidens catching your eye?" Valka asked, hiding a grin when she saw her son turn bright red.

"I-uh-what?" He stuttered.

"Oh you know, you're almost at the courting age. My, your father was your age when he met me." Valka looked at Stoick, and for a moment they were both lost in memories. Then she turned her attention back to get son. "Surely there's some girl you're interested in."

"Oh, he's got his eye on someone, that's for sure," Gobber said with a grin before Hiccup could open his mouth to speak.

"Hey, lemme-"

"They've been dating for five years," added Stoick proudly.

"I want to tell-"

"Used to kick his ass all the time," Gobber said matter-of-factly. "On second thought, still does kick his ass all the time."

"Now wait a minute-"

"He had the biggest crush on her when they were younger," Stoick told Valka, who was listening with an amused expression on her face.

"Hold up now!" Hiccup said, leaping out of his seat and holding out his arms to silence the men before they embarrassed him further. "My girlfriend, my story." And he told his mother all about Astrid, from how they got together to her calm blue eyes to her anything-but-calm-personality.