Snoggletog.

It was his second holiday without his dad, his second with his mom, and his second as chief.

It was his first without Toothless since he was fifteen, but it was his first with his wife.

They hadn't even considered the holiday when planning their wedding, but the festivities landed right in the middle of their honeymoon month. They watched the village quietly, almost solemnly decorate from their wide bedroom window, curled up with nothing but a blanket and hot mugs of mead. Snow drifted down from the perpetual gray sky, creating a constant covering. There weren't any massive snowdrifts like the ones on Old Berk, but there was still enough powder to require shoveling, for hours of entertainment for children.

The statue where almost two weeks ago they had become husband and wife was decorated in holiday regalia, with the shield tree behind it. Even from their closed vantage point they could smell the kitchens working overtime in preparation for the feast.

"Do you miss it?" Astrid asked with a slight yawn, her cheek pressed up against his shoulder.

"Nah," he kissed her blonde curls, feeling the stubble growing in on his chin. He shaved before their wedding, and if shaving again meant seconds away from Astrid then he was in no particular hurry to take the blade to his chin. "Less chaotic up here."

"Hey we haven't seen any accidental fires or explosions."

"There's still time."

"I'm surprised the twins aren't taking advantage of our absence-"

"Shh…don't jinx it."

She giggled, her toes entwining with his. They were out of mead at the moment, though neither of them was eager to leave their warm haven.

"I'm thinking once the ice thaws we expand the docks into a harbor," Hiccup said drowsily, his finger pointing off to the horizon. "We could go back to how it used to be, with a fleet of ships. With the warmer climate, we could grow a lot more crops and raise livestock other than sheep and chicken."

"And change the lifestyle of Berk? Why Hiccup you wouldn't!"

He nudged her playfully.

"I can't help it: I'm just so good at it."

She hummed, but the happiness faded from her face. He didn't even need to ask her what was wrong, she simply spoke.

"I thought you wanted us to be off the map."

"That was with the dragons-"

"The world still thinks we have dragons Hiccup. They'll just keep coming here until they see for themselves…and then they might see us as weak."

"Berk is never weak. Battered and scarred maybe, but never weak. That's why we'll build up a fleet of trade ships and warships. We can also improve our coastal defenses, make the island impenetrable. We have more land, more resources," he kissed the soft crown of her head, "I just hope we don't need it."

"Same," she shuffled, laying her head down on his lap, "I'd like some peace for a while."

"Anything else you'd like milady?"

The sweet smile returned: "Do you remember that animal we saw a few years back when we went further south? The one that the people were riding?"

"A horse?"

"Yeah that…do you think we could have some of those? I've never seen them anywhere around Berk, and I'm sure people would like them."

He chuckled, "I'll see what I can do."

"Good," she pushed herself up, "Now how about I go make us some yaknog?"

"Noooo-oh hey look something's on fire!"

"Hiccup!"

"No really, look."

Astrid froze, just long enough for a naked Hiccup to sprint out of their bedroom and slam the door.

"HICCUP HADDOCK! WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?"

"To throw out all of the eggs in the house!"

"HICCUP!"

Across the sea in a world untouched by man, dragons rejoiced as hatchlings swam up from the bottom of springs to be collected by their expectant parents. Stormfly cooed proudly over her latest brood of five as her latest mate regurgitated some fish for their hungry bellies. Meatlug was busy wrangling an inquisitive Fishmeat around as his tiny wings propelled him into every other dragon. She grumbled apologies as he dive bombed new families before fluttering up to the rafters of the cavernous underworld.

Watching over the spectacle was a proud alpha dragon. Toothless sat on his crystal perch, scanning the scene below him, taking count as to how many new hatchlings there were. He cooed upon noticing Stormfly's flock of gangly babies, and chuckled as he watched Meatlug chase her precocious yearling. Across the way, he spotted Cloudjumper and his young mate guiding their infant around as her four wings continued to trip her. By the mouth of the cavern sat the ever-watchful Bewilderbeest. Toothless grumbled, still uncertain of his old enemy, yet the behemoth had proven an effective guardian to the Hidden World. His cold gaze met Toothless's, and they shared a nod of recognition.

An affectionate coo perked up his ears, followed immediately by a soft caress against his neck. Toothless warbled as she sat beside him, their tails entwining. He would need to leave soon to welcome the newborns, a tedious task but one he knew he must do. He was not looking forward to babies chewing on his tail or crawling over top of him. He wondered if they would damage his tail fin…

She whimpered beside him, her blue eyes filled with melancholy. Toothless knew why his mate sat so dejectedly, knew why she watched the happy families parade around with their infants. He placed his head atop hers and murmured gently.

It had been a deformed lump of an egg, dead before either of them could spare an ounce of hope. There was time, of course: they were both young dragons…but even Toothless could not help but feel the pangs of envy when he eyed the proud fathers.

With an encouraging purr, Toothless licked his mate's head: there was always next season.