Camp was still in sight. Astrid and Big Hiccup had wandered away from the stream, over to where there were more trees. Astrid brought her axe with her, and found a small dying tree to chop down.

"Here, let me." Hiccup began, reaching for the handle of the axe.

"Stop it! Stop smothering me!" She shrieked.

Hiccup withdrew quickly and silently began to pick up little sticks for kindling.

A few chops later, and the tree fell, and Astrid began to cut it up into smaller pieces. "I don't need anyone looking after me." She said suddenly, vehemently.

"I know you don't." Hiccup offered, "but I worry about you."

"Why?" She pressed, meeting his gaze. "You never worried about me before. We've never really talked before. Is what Snotlout said earlier…true? Are you and I…betrothed?"

"Yes," he answered plainly and truthfully.

Astrid was quiet for a while, then offered, "Is it arranged?"

"No, it's mutual. We…really like each other."

She sighed, her shoulders relaxing. "That's good then. I was hoping…that I wasn't forced into being someone's house wife…but if I choose it, and you become chief…that can't be too bad, right?"

Hiccup smiled at her and came closer, then he took her hand a pressed a delicate kiss on her knuckles. "You're my best friend, Astrid. And I only have your best interest at heart. Even if we are betrothed, we're moving slowly just enjoying our lives together."

Astrid managed a little smile as she blushed. "That sounds nice." Then she frowned, "But I hope you get your act together before you try to get anywhere near me."

He grinned and swooped in to kiss her cheek.

She flushed bright red and froze in place.

"Sorry," Hiccup giggled, "it's a habit."

"It-it-it's okay." She stuttered back.

"Trade you?" He held out the armful of twigs he collected. She took them gratefully while he stacked the logs on top of each other. Then they returned to camp.

The teens left behind at the site and all huddled together, facing Toothless with horrified looks on their faces.

Toothless looked totally and utterly relaxed. His eyes were half closed, amusement dancing over his dragon face.

"What took you so long!?" Snotlout hissed.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "We were gone for five minutes." He set the logs on the ground and set them up in a little cone shape, and put the twigs in the center. "Toothless, if you would?" He spoke to the Nightfury.

The dragon audibly scoffed at him.

"Oh right," Hiccup chuckled. "You've never met me before." With a little melancholy, he took out Inferno and scraped the Monstrous Nightmare gel from the blade onto the wood, and then ignited it.

"Whoa, how did you do that?" Fishlegs asked, relaxing a little now that Hiccup was back.

"Oh, Monstrous Nightmare gel." He answered simply. "Snotlout gets really good at farming it."

Snotlout sat up a little straighter with something akin to pride. "Oh I do, do I?"

The group seemed to relax and chat idly as the sun set. Hiccup noticed a lot of things in this time. One was that Snotlout was even more obnoxious than in the future. He constantly shut Fishlegs down and tried to suck up to Astrid and even Hiccup now. No doubt, if he was his younger self, he would have been pushed in the river by now.

If he had even been invited with the group.

"You good?" Astrid asked with a nudge.

Hiccup hummed affirmative, and then replied, "I'm just worry about my younger self. The Hiccup that you all know."

"Ugh, Hiccup the Useless, you mean?" Snotlout groaned.

"Yes! That's exactly what I mean. Gods, I wished you all would remember all of this when I went back…or at least this one thing."

"What one thing?" Astrid asked.

"Ease up on him." He begged. "He's in a dangerous place right now."

"Yeah, he's gotten real close to dooming the village," Snotlout scoffed.

"I understand," Astrid said quickly, picking up on his tone. "I'm going to try, try to remember that." She said, earnestly. "If everything you've said about the dragons is true, we can't lose him. We can't lose you."

At this point, the sun had set, and the world around them began to grow dark. Hiccup nodded at Astrid and stood, glancing at the water. As it rippled against the rocks, it began to glow. The algae was lighting up in the dark.

"Ah!" Hiccup exclaimed, seeing the little lights. "Here we are!"

"Oh wow," Astrid murmured, looking over. "That's awesome!"

The assembled teens all rushed over to see the mystery of nature and gawk at it's wonder. Eventually, this devolved into a dare to eat them, and then Tuffnut getting his head dunked into the mudding bank.

Hiccup took out his empty inkwell and dipped it in the water. He worked carefully, trying to fill it up with as much algae as possible.

Finally, he corked it and sighed. "Well, all that's left is to go home tomorrow."

"Wait, that's it?" Asked Snotlout.

"That's it. Thanks for coming out here with me guys."

"Yeah, whatever. Do you have any more stories about how cool future me is?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. Though he had seen the differences, some things never changed.

—

Little Hiccup stood in Gothi's hut, surrounded by Stoick, Gobber, and Astrid.

"Well," he began. "This is it."

Astrid knelt beside him, to meet him at eye level. "If there is one thing you could remember, one thing you could take back with you, make sure it's that we love you. Okay?"

He nodded once and wiped under his eye. "I still don't want to go back."

"Aye lad, but you're so strong for it! Doing what's right, even when you don't want to, that's the mark of a true man!" Stoick raised his fist.

Hiccup smiled a little. "A man!" He put his hands on his hips, only for his pants to fall down. "I can't wait to get my clothes back."

Gothi stirred the concoction, the water turning a glowing purple. She beckoned him over with a crooked finger.

Hiccup shimmied out of his clothes, being that he arrived naked in the first place, and stood in front of the old woman. She drew the sigil on his chest and forehead again, and urged him to get in the tub.

"Well, see you all in five years!"

And Gothi shoved him under the water.

As her arm was still in the tub, her eyebrows wrinkled in worry, before she yanked up a much older, much familiar looking Hiccup. He panted from his little swim, and glanced up. "Astrid! Dad! Gobber! Oh Thank gods!"

He struggled a bit to stand, as his leg slipped on the floor of the tub, but he got out anyway, dripping water all over the floor. He held out the inkwell to Gothi. "Just as promised, North Swamp Flightmare Algae."

"Well done, son!" Stoick praised.

"Dad…" Hiccup sighed and rushed over to hug him. "I missed you."

The chief was startled by the comment. "What? Was I not in the past?"

"No…not really." Hiccup said, cryptically. "You were…but you were…angrier, sadder…filled with hate."

Stoick nodded sagely. "I see what you're saying. Well, I missed you too."

Astrid waltzed up. "So, did you have a fun time with young Astrid?"

Hiccup sighed. "You used to be such a bitch."

She hit him, but couldn't help but burst out laughing. "That's basically what Little Hiccup said!"

Hiccup snagged her around the waist and pulled her into a loving kiss. When he pulled away, he had a coy little grin on his cheeks. "But past you wasn't totally disgusted at the prospect of marrying me."

"It was about the power. And yes, I did think about it."

Gothi cleared her throat and crossed her arms.

"Alright, we're leaving." Gobber huffed. "Stubborn old goat."

As the others piled out, Hiccup approached Gothi, thoughtful. "Gothi?"

She glanced at him, her eyes calculating.

"Thank you. I saw what you meant. I needed this. And I think my past self did too."

She nodded once, and then waved him off.

—

Little Hiccup broke the surface of his tub at home. He panted heavily, as he had been holding his breath.

"You okay in there son?" Stoick called from the other room.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hiccup replied. He sighed, relaxing against the back of the tub. Just then, when he was underwater, he had a thought. A strange thought, about the future. But just as he considered it, it was gone.

Just a silly little daydream, after all. No way it was real.

Hiccup finished his bath and dressed for bed. Then, he approached his mountainous father, who was sitting at the table, drinking as he always did in the evening.

"Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you come tuck me in, and tell me a story?" He hadn't asked for a story in years, but just for a moment, he wanted some love.

"Aren't you a little old for bedtime stories?" Stoick asked, his tone short.

Hiccup hunched his shoulders. "Yeah, you're right, I just…" He didn't finish his sentence, just sighed and went up to bed.

He laid awake for what felt like hours. His chest hurt. There was a gaping hole in his heart that felt like he was bleeding internally.

Tomorrow would be another day, long, agonizing, and filled with misery. A lonely day of pointing fingers and harsh words. He couldn't take this any longer! Each night, he swore he would end it, but he never followed through. He always lost the nerve. Not tonight.

Hiccup threw off his blankets and stood, rifling through the items on his desk. He had stolen it earlier and hidden it away.

His father's dagger.

He wasn't supposed to have weapons, and he wondered if his dad could see the desperation in him.

Little Hiccup gripped the handle tightly, the blade shaking in his trembling hands. It would be so easy…He swiped the blade across his palm. With almost no effort, the dagger cut and he began to bleed.

So he raised it up to his neck, feeling the tip resting on his throat. All he had to do was push…push…

But he was so scared. Suicides didn't get into Valhalla, it wasn't honorable…but it wasn't likely that he'd get an honorable death any other way…Would it hurt? Or would he be gone in a instant?

Tears slipped from his eyes as he held the knife steady. He could do this!

"Hiccup!"

Stoick's voice jolted him and he dropped the dagger with a clatter.

Father and son looked at each other, speechless. Hiccup only took in the red face and the heaving shoulders and fell backwards on his rear.

"I was just—I didn't—I only—…" Hiccup stuttered as he scooted away into a corner. "I'm sorry…" he finally whispered.

"What were you doing…?" Stoick's steps were slow and so so careful. "Hiccup…?"

"I-I-I was…" He couldn't lie. There was nothing to lie about. Stoick saw him. He knew exactly what he stopped. Hiccup started to sob and curled up into a little ball. "I'm sorry…"

Stoick couldn't speak, his throat constricted and dry.

Hiccup gasped out a breath, and then finally admitted. "I don't want to live anymore."

Utterly dejected, Stoick fell to his knees in front of his broken son. "Oh Hiccup…"

Hiccup couldn't fight or argue or insist. All he could do was cry. Cry and apologize. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"

Stoick finally got some sense and scooped his son up into his arms. He pet his hair, and rubbed his back and just hushed him softly, just as he did when he was an infant.

Finally, when sobs became hiccups, Stoick spoke. "Once upon a time, there was a very mighty viking named Hiccup…"

—

Nighttime descended on Berk, and Big Hiccup was relaxing at a bonfire with his family. The medicine had been successfully mixed and administered, and soon, folks would be getting up and walking around.

But for now, the panic of the illness was gone, and Big Hiccup was home.

Everyone was so excited to tell him about the shenanigans they got into with Little Hiccup. Astrid bragged about her revenge on him from their first flight, and Hiccup had laughed outright.

Then, things got quiet. They all felt it, the topic that was too sensitive to be breeched.

Little Hiccup's confession.

"How was the past?" Fishlegs finally said.

Hiccup had been strangely quiet about his trip, only mentioning that he was glad to be back. "It was…insightful. Nostalgic." He glanced at Tuff. "I didn't know Gothi sent you back in the past too."

"What? When did she do that?"

"When I told past Tuffnut about why I was there, he said Gothi did the same thing with him, because Ruffnut broke her back."

"I never broke my back," the female twin answered.

"Yes you did. And then it was fine. It just like…wasn't broken anymore."

"Oh my gods…" Hiccup put a hand to his forehead and laughed, "you never went back."

"What?"

"That's such a Tuffnut thing…" He just crossed his arms and continued to giggle.

The twins looked at each other and shrugged.

The night was calm. No wind, the fire crackling peacefully.

"I saw Toothless." Hiccup stated. "With both fins."

All attention was on him, each person wondering where he would go with this.

"And I wondered if there was some difference I could make, something I could do to prevent him from getting hurt. But then I realized…all of my regrets from the past, all the things I wish I could change, were just the sacrifices I had to make to get here. And instead of dwelling on them, I need to own them. Yes, I shot off Toothless' fin. Yes, my father disowned me. Yes, I almost killed my entire tribe…" He sighed. "But it worked out okay in the end."

Astrid scooted towards him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "When…Little Hiccup was here…" she began haltingly. "He said something that was…worrisome."

Immediately, Hiccup began to hunch his shoulders, and she recognized the behavior.

"He said he was going to kill himself."

Silence reigned for far too long. Hiccup's mind whirled with memories, dark thoughts, and destructive behavior.

"Yeah, I almost did." He finally admitted. "But those days are over, nothing to worry about anymore."

"No Hiccup, it is something to worry about. There was a lot of pain and suffering going on. We're your friends…"

"We just want to see you thrive, son." Stoick urged.

Hiccup glanced around at his friends and family, seeing them all smiling encouragingly.

Then, he began to speak, and let go of the past.

—

The end! Thanks for sticking with me!