That awkward moment when I thought this was gonna be a one-shot, but then I wrote more...

I like writing about Astrid and Toothless' relationship because we don't really get a lot of it, but I think that its really really sweet. This moment also answers some of those questions about that missing gap between defeating the Red Death and Hiccup waking up from his coma. Hiccup is unconscious so... who gets everyone and the dragons back to Berk? I have a funny feeling that it wasn't Stoick...

Astrid pushed her way through the crowd of people. She needed to see what was happening. When she reached the front, she gasped at the sight of the chief on his knees, and a black dragon lying on the ground with an empty saddle.

Tears rushed to her eyes. Not possible, not possible, not possible, her mind murmured over and over. He had to be okay. He had to be.

The dragon breathed heavily, and he opened his mesmerizing green eyes with a groan. The chief lowered his head in mourning.

Then, the dragon opened its wings, revealing the body of a small boy.

"Hiccup!" She heard the chief exclaim, and he reached for his son. Astrid held her breath as he checked for a heartbeat.

"He's alive!" Stoick announced. Astrid felt her entire body relax, and she laughed, suddenly shaking with relief. The rest of the crowd cheered.

The chief placed a hand on the dragon's head, and Gobber went to stand near him. Astrid felt her legs moving forward before she could restrain herself. She ran over to where Stoick held his son in his arms.

She looked down at Hiccup. He was unconscious, with burn marks and scratches on his face and soot covering his clothes. Then she saw the blood. "Oh my Thor!" she exclaimed. "His leg! It's – "

"Gone," Stoick finished for her, mournfully. The father shook his head in grief.

"We can fix him up, chief," Gobber comforted him. "Every Viking hero loses a limb eventually. It's a mark of sacrifice and bravery." He subtly held up his own missing limbs as examples.

The dragon groaned.

"Toothless!" Astrid knelt next to him and placed her hand on his head. She looked at the broken tail contraption that still steamed from being burned in the fire. He had taken the impact of the fall so Hiccup could live. His big green eyes looked up at her sadly. "Are you hurt?" She asked him worriedly. "Can you move?

The dragon groaned again, and Astrid watched as he effortfully pushed himself to his feet. She felt responsible for taking care of this dragon. Aside from Hiccup, she was the only person who he knew well enough to trust. He achingly opened his wings. When he put weight on his front right paw, he whimpered in pain, quickly lifting the foot off the ground.

"Ooh, ooh! Sweetie," Astrid winced in sympathy. "Let me look at it," she reached her hands to the injured leg, but the dragon nudged her away. He hobbled on three legs to where Hiccup lay in his father's arms.

Stoick had been watching Astrid's interaction with Toothless, and stared at her with a mix of emotions, mostly shock and confusion. Now, he watched in mild horror and amazement as Toothless whined sadly, gently licking Hiccup's face with his tongue.

"He'll be okay, Toothless," Astrid assured him softly, placing a gentle hand on his neck. "Won't he, Gobber?"

Gobber had also been watching the dragon with wide eyes. At the question, he looked to Astrid. "Uh – yes! Yes of course he will!" He answered positively. "We should wrap up his wound to stop the bleeding," he suggested, pulling bandages out of his belt pouch.

Stoick was still watching the dragon with uncertainty, and flinched when Toothless began licking the wounded leg.

"It's okay, Chief," Astrid said to Stoick. "He's just trying to help." Toothless cleaned off most of the blood, and Gobber began wrapping the wound in bandages.

"You… knew?" Stoick asked Astrid quietly.

Astrid, feeling a bit ashamed for keeping the secret from the village chief, looked down and gave a brief nod. Stoick looked back at his son, with an unreadable expression on his face. It might have been pride.

"Toothless," Astrid said to the dragon. "Let me look at your leg," she asked gently, holding out her hands. "Please?"

The dragon whined, and then reluctantly offered her his paw. It wasn't broken, thank goodness. It was very swollen though, and bleeding. "Gobber, could I borrow some of your bandages?" Astrid asked. He handed her some, and she began wiping and cleaning the wound. The dragon yelped in pain. "I know it hurts," Astrid replied sympathetically. Toothless licked his own paw, helping to clean it as well. They needed to get both of them back home quickly. She was worried about these injuries getting infected.

Spitelout ran up to them in a hurry. "Chief, the boats are nearly all ruined!" He said. "It will take at least three days to fix 'em!"

Stoick looked down at his son. "We don't have three days," he replied. The chief stood up, and Gobber took the unconscious Hiccup into his arms. "But we should try to salvage what we can."

He ordered a crew of Vikings to follow him to the boats, so they could get to work on repairs. Stoick left Astrid and Gobber to continue caring for the injured heroes.

"What do we need boats for?" Tuffnut said. The rest of the trainees had come to join them. "We have dragons!" He pointed to their dragons, who stood behind them.

"Only we have dragons, Tuff," Astrid said. "What about all the other Vikings?" She gestured to the large crowd who still mingled. Many had gone to help fix the boats.

Astrid's Deadly Nadder, who she had recently named Stormfly, squawked at her rider. Astrid reached up and pet her new friend.

"Well, stinks for them," Tuffnut said. He and his sister were already mounted back on their Zippleback. "We're heading home."

"See you all back on Berk!" Ruffnut called, and they suddenly took off.

"Hey!" Astrid shouted, standing up. "Get back down here! You guys aren't going anywhere!" The twins groaned, hovering in the air.

"Who put you in charge?" Tuff said.

"Yeah," Ruff agreed. "Just because Hiccup is unconscious, why does that mean we suddenly have to listen to you?"

Toothless stood up beside Astrid, and let out a demanding roar.

"Because the Night Fury said so," Snotlout said, pointing at the determined dragon. The twins landed their dragon quickly.

Astrid grinned at the black dragon. "Thanks, Toothless," she said. He grunted a 'no problem.'

They did need to figure out how to get everyone home. She looked at Hiccup, who was still unconscious, and silently wished that he wasn't. He would have an idea about what to do. What would he do?

Then she noticed several stray dragons, who had been living in the nest, circling above them. Toothless apparently had the same idea that she did. The Night Fury let out another loud roaring call, getting the attention of the other dragons. They came to the call, and gathered around Toothless, waiting for direction on what to do.

"Guys," Astrid said. "I think I have an idea of how to get everyone back to Berk."

While Stoick and his crew worked on repairs, Astrid led the other young trainees in attaching thick ropes to the boats. None of the boats were in good enough shape to float, but several were stable enough to hold about ten people without falling apart. Stormfly, with Astrid on her back, helped gather the other dragons so that they could lift the boats into the air.

There were six dragons gathered around the first boat, including Snotlout on his Monstrous Nightmare, Fishlegs on his Gronkle, and the twins on their Zippleback. Twelve Berkian warriors rode inside the small broken vessel, all watching in awe and uncertainty as the dragons grabbed hold of the ropes, and lifted the wooden object into the air. Everyone cheered, and the young dragon riders began to lead the other dragons back to Berk.

"That is truly something," Stoick murmured to Astrid in amazement. She was mounted on Stormfly next to him.

Astrid smiled, and then took off, circling above the island. Stormfly squawked, calling to the other dragons in the nest. Six more dragons gathered around the next boat, and they lifted it into the air as well, following the first boat home.

After getting several more boats into the air, Astrid went over to Toothless, who was still sitting with Gobber and the unconscious Hiccup. She rubbed his head and he purred.

"What do you say we get the two of you home?" she asked. "You can ride in the next boat."

Gobber stood up, holding Hiccup in his arms. "I wouldn't believe this was happening if I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes," he grinned. "I never thought I'd be happy to see dragons going to Berk. We were always trying to chase 'em away!"

Astrid smiled as well. "We still would be if it weren't for Hiccup," she replied, looking worriedly at the boy in Gobber's arms. "Will he be okay, really?" she asked.

"I hope so," the blacksmith said. "We'll have Gothi look at him, and she will work her magic."

Toothless, who was now standing on his three good legs, gargled and tilted his head at Gobber.

"We owe you one, dragon," he said to the Night Fury. "He never would have made it if you hadn't protected him from the fire. Not to mention the fall."

The dragon gargled again in appreciation, and then nudged his head under Astrid's hand.

"His name is Toothless," Astrid told Gobber, as she obliged the dragon in another head rub.

"A dragon named Toothless?" Gobber chuckled. "What kind of name is that?"

"It's a Hiccup name," Astrid replied, laughing as well.

"That, it is!"

They made their way over to the last burnt boat that had been salvaged. Stoick joined Gobber, Hiccup, and Toothless for the ride. Astrid and Stormfly gathered a few more dragons to lift the boat and, grabbing hold of one of the ropes as well, they led the others back to Berk.

A/N: What do you think? I hope it wasn't too awful... let me know in the reviews!