Lenora's Gift of the Night Fury

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this

A/N: In order to make this work with my previous HTTYD fic, I'm not making some things about the dragons the same as they were in the Gift of the Night Fury vid. My apologies, but I hope this works and everyone enjoys it regardless.

The village of Berk.

Boasting the kind of balmy, fun-in-the-sun climate, that would give you frostbite on your spleen. It was wintertime in Berk. Winters in Berk were terribly cold and dreadfully long, lasting several months at a time. There wasn't a year that went by that Berk didn't have a huge blizzard. The only upside about the winter season was New Year's Eve on the last day of the year and of course, the special annual holiday, which was before New Year's, Snoggletog. Although why they chose such a stupid name remains a mystery, even to this day.

For Lenora Horrendous Haddock the Third, Snoggletog was the best holiday of the year. Lenora was the daughter of Stoick the Vast, Chief of the Tribe. Not only was she the future Chieftess of the Tribe and the apprentice of Gobber the blacksmith, but she was also Berk's special Dragon Instructor and Trainer.

It had been several months since the Battle of Red Death, when the evil Queen of the Dragons had been vanquished. And where there had once been a great war between humans and dragons, and Lenora had been the village reject, there was now peace and harmony between the two sides and Lenora was no longer looked down upon, rather everyone in the village was her friend and looked up to her as their heroine and a source of guidance when it came to the dragons. And that was all possible because she'd done what no one else had dared to do before—befriend and train a dragon, specifically, a Night Fury she'd named Toothless.

Lenora had never been so happy before in her life, having gained acceptance and more friends in Berk than just Toothless and Gobber, and finally gaining the close relationship she'd always longed for with her father, Chief Stoick. Four times a week, she taught all who sought to learn about dragons and worked with future dragon riders. She was a good teacher and many of Berk's people enjoyed her classes.

With things going so wonderfully, the war long over and dragons happily living amongst the people of Berk, Lenora just knew that this year's Snoggletog was going to be everything that she'd ever dreamed of and more. It certainly promised to be one that wouldn't be forgotten.

A few days before Snoggletog, Lenora was asleep in her room, when she was awoken by the sound of thumping on the roof and a certain someone's impatient rumbling. Yawning, Lenora sat up and fumbled for her helmet she'd inherited from her mother before getting out of bed. She'd gotten in the habit of wearing it on most winter days and like everyone else on Berk, she was going to leave it out next to the fireplace on the eve before Snoggletog so Odin could leave presents in it.

She buttoned up her jacket and rubbed her arms to warm herself as she stepped outside into the snow and ice. She smiled when she saw Toothless on the roof, looking hopeful and smiling at her.

Toothless usually slept in Lenora's room, and tended to stick close to her ever since the Battle of Red Death when she'd nearly been lost to him. He only left her to get his breakfast when he woke up. He was very protective of her and they were the best of friends. Every morning, they went flying together. If Lenora wasn't awake for it by the time Toothless had eaten his breakfast, he'd wake her up either by nuzzling her or his favorite method—stomping on the roof.

"Well, good morning to you too, Mr. Bossy," teased Lenora "Someone's excited to go out this morning, I see."

Toothless nodded before he garbled at her.

"Same to you," said Lenora, laughing. "Seriously, though, do you always wake me up so early to go fly-i-i-ng—?" Her prosthetic leg, which was proving to be slightly hazardous on ice, caused Lenora to slide on the ice beside her house and she would've fallen had Toothless not caught her with his head just in time. Like always, he was watching over her and keeping her safe.

Lenora shot Toothless a grateful look before scowling at her prosthetic. "Stupid leg," she muttered.

Toothless let out a soft, concerned little whine as he looked at her prosthetic leg and she steadied herself against him. Despite the fact that it'd been a few months since she'd lost her real leg in the Battle, Lenora was still adjusting to it. Most days she didn't even notice her prosthetic, but other times it was a slight annoyance. Gobber, her godfather and blacksmith mentor, who had a prosthetic hand and leg, assured her that it'd be all normal sooner or later. She'd just have to take his word for it.

"Oh, thanks, buddy, I'm okay," she assured him, as she rubbed his favorite spot under his chin. "Don't worry so much, okay? Nothing will happen to me as long as I'm with you." Lenora knew this for a fact because Toothless wasn't just her best friend; he was also her personal bodyguard. "So, do you want to take a quick walk to see the Snoggletog decorations before we head out?"

Toothless beamed as he licked her face and then he eagerly wagged his tail as he jumped up and down impatiently, making Lenora laugh as she got out his flying gear.

XXX

By the time Lenora and Toothless took their walk, everyone else was out and about, getting ready for the winter holiday.

Gobber was instructing people on where to hang the decorative weapons as they flew on their dragons, a heavily decorated tree stood in the center of the village, glowing colored lanterns hung on a hook on everyone's house, and delicious smells were emitting from peoples' kitchens as they were making the annual Snoggletog feast.

Lenora's boyfriend, and everyone's favorite Viking boy, Aster, was working with his Deadly Nadder, Brightscales, to pin the decorative shields to the walls. He'd throw them up and then Brightscales would pin them to the wall with her spikes.

"Morning, handsome," said Lenora, smiling.

Aster smiled back when he saw her and then he gently kissed her. "Morning, beautiful. You and Toothless heading out already?"

"Yeah. You know how impatient he can be," joked Lenora, as Toothless stuck out his tongue. Toothless knew how to be patient when he wanted to be and he didn't seem to have a problem with Aster anymore. "Want to come with us?"

"I'd love to, but I can't. I've got to finish up here and then I promised my mom I'd pick her some wintergreens for her herbal tea," said Aster, looking apologetic. Wintergreens were one of the few plants that survived in the winter. The plant was used not just for healing, but it also made a nice tea and the berries were delicious. "But I should be free tomorrow, if you're interested."

"It's a date, then," said Lenora. "Well, I guess I'm going to see my dad and then take off, then. Oh, and by the way, the best place to find wintergreens is just north of Raven's Point." Having helped the village healer collect herbs for most of her life, Lenora knew the best places to pick herbs.

"Alright, thanks," said Aster. "Love you!"

Lenora kissed his cheek. "Love you too."

She waved good-bye and started walking towards her father and godfather, only to stop in her tracks and smile when she saw some of the little children playing with the dragons. It warmed her heart to see such a sight and even after all this time, she still found it amazing that the people of Berk had gained what she had with Toothless.

I never thought I'd see this time, a time of peace between Berk and the dragons. It's miraculous. This is going to be the best Snoggletog ever!

She looked up when she felt her father's enormous hand on her shoulder. "Well, Lenora, what do you think? We're spending the winter holidays with dragons!"

"Grandpa would think we'd gone crazy," said Lenora, chuckling.

"That he would," agreed Gobber. "But Val would've loved this."

Lenora and Stoick nodded sadly at the mention of Val, Lenora's mother and Stoick's late wife. They still missed her, but sometimes the holidays made it seem like she was still with them.

"Aye, she would've," agreed Stoick. He gently patted Lenora's shoulder. "Are you heading out with Toothless now, Nora?"

"Yes," replied Lenora, as Toothless nodded. "But we can go later if you need me for something."

"Nah, we're good for now. Go have fun, but don't be gone too long. We've got a lot to do and you wouldn't want to miss out on it," said Stoick. He turned to Toothless. "Toothless, keep Lenora out of trouble and bring her home safe, okay?"

Toothless nodded and garbled a response, which made Stoick smile. Ever since the Battle of Red Death, the two once sworn enemies had come to a truce of sorts. They weren't exactly friends, but they'd both agreed nothing mattered to them more than Lenora. They respected each other and were allies, if nothing else.

Lenora just laughed before she and Toothless headed out for the day.

XXX

Toothless had once been a downed dragon, due to Lenora shooting him down and unintentionally permanently damaging his left tailfin. But as means of apology and to help him, she'd managed to create a prosthetic and a new flying system for him. It'd bonded them as friends and they'd been flying together ever since. Ever since their first successful flight together, flying had become one of Lenora's passions and favorite pastimes. Plenty of people in Berk agreed that there was no greater thrill than flying above the clouds to great heights with the wind in their face.

That morning, they were trying out a bunch of different moves. After taking off at one of the cliffs, they flew until they gained momentum and then Toothless did a spin upward before gliding above the clouds. He then took a sharp dive downward before gliding again and then he and Lenora came to an enormous stone arch.

"Ready, Toothless?" asked Lenora. They'd been trying to do a certain trick for weeks now.

This move is going to work for sure this time!

Toothless nodded and then Lenora unhooked herself from his flying gear and stood on his back. "Easy, easy…now!"

Toothless quickly dove underneath the arch while Lenora did a flip over it and landed on his back in record time.

"Whoo! Yes, we did it!" cried Lenora, happily. "Great job, Toothless! You're getting extra codfish in the dinner dish tonight."

Toothless let out a happy croon and smiled his famous toothless grin at her.

"Do you want to go again or—whoa!"

Suddenly, there was a loud roar and then countless dragons of all forms came out of nowhere, causing them to try and steer their way out of a collision course. In the process, Lenora's precious helmet got knocked off by one of the dragons.

"Oh, crap, my helmet!"

She let out a scream as Toothless took a sudden dive downward before Lenora made him stop. "Toothless, stop, no!"

Toothless obeyed and for a moment, they were just hovering above the sea as he flapped his giant black wings.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do, but we'll get it later, buddy," she said. She was upset at losing her mother's helmet, but right now, they had more important things to deal with. "Right now, we need to head home and find out what in name of Odin's going on."

It's time like this, I wish Toothless could speak English. It'd make this so much easier.

Toothless just let out a wail before taking off in the direction of Berk.

Right after they landed, all the dragons were gone. Lenora quickly got off of Toothless' back and ran towards her boyfriend.

"Aster, what happened?" asked Lenora.

"We don't know," said Aster, looking worried. "They just took off after hearing a dragon's cry. What on earth's going on, Lenora? Why'd they go? I thought after Red Death was vanquished, things were better between the two sides."

"I don't know, I—"

Suddenly, everyone in Berk came over to Lenora, surrounding her and asking her questions about the dragons' outlandish behavior, as she was the person with the most knowledge of dragons in Berk, ever since they'd rewritten the Dragons Manual and renamed it the Book of Dragons, and within moments Lenora felt quite uncomfortable and almost claustrophobic in the enclosed space as she tried to answer their questions, but fortunately, her father intervened.

"Calm down! Give her a chance to speak!" yelled Stoick, as he pushed past everyone and stood before his daughter. "Lenora, where are all of our dragons going?"

Not for the first time in her life, Lenora wished she were invisible because she honestly had no answers regarding the dragons for the first time in her life. "I-I don't know. I really don't know, Dad. I'm so sorry."

Believe me, I wish I did know.

When she heard Toothless' voice, she turned to see him conversing with Brightscales before the Nadder took off with the other dragons and then Toothless looked disappointed. The sight made Lenora's heart clench with fear. Does Toothless want to leave Berk too?

XXX

That night, Stoick called a village meeting.

Everyone was upset. Everyone wanted their dragons back and were wondering why on earth they'd left like that, and some even thought that with the dragons gone, the holidays were going to be completely dismal."

"Snoggletog's ruined," moaned a brown-bearded Viking.

"It's not ruined!" declared Stoick. "We're Vikings! We've been perfectly happy celebrating without dragons for generations and there's no reason we can't do it again! Now, we don't know where they've gone off to, but we have to have faith that they'll be back again soon."

Lenora had to admit, her father had a point. Still, she sincerely hoped the dragons would return before too long, for the sake of the villagers' happiness if nothing else.

"Am I right?" asked Stoick.

"You're right!" said Gobber. "We're Vikings! We're tough!" But it was difficult for people to take Gobber seriously when he was wearing reindeer horns decked out in holly on his head, he was carrying glowing colored lanterns and had his prosthetic hand decked out jingle bells. "Let's sing some Snoggletog songs!"

That did the trick and cheered the villagers up considerably. While everyone else in the hall started following Gobber's lead in singing holiday songs, Lenora and the other former trainees, her friends and boyfriend, headed to their homes. Lenora held Aster's arm as they walked, and no one was in a particularly cheerful mood at the moment.

"That was depressing," groaned Ruffnut.

"I know. I was really looking forward to spending Snoggletog with Puffskin," said Fishlegs, sadly.

Tuffnut glared at Snotlout, Lenora's cousin, who was whistling happily. "What're you so happy about? Don't you miss Firewyrm?"

Snotlout immediately stopped whistling and a strange look crossed his face. "Of course I miss her!" he snapped. "But it's like Gobber said, Vikings are tough, so I'm not going to cry! I'm going to wait at home for her with a fresh batch her favorite fish."

And with that, Snotlout took off for his house, looking and acting very strange the entire way.

"Lenora, are you sure you're related to him?" asked Tuffnut.

"Positive," said Lenora, flatly. "Now, don't be rude right now. It's been a long day for all of us." She thought her cousin was acting weird too, but after being the village joke for years, Lenora wasn't about to point out a person's faults, make fun of anyone or do anything of the like.

Aster snapped his fingers. "Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't we all try and come up with some new Snoggletog traditions? It won't bring back the dragons, but it'll give us something to smile about."

"That's a great idea," said Lenora, smiling. "And since it's our first holiday as a couple, we'll have to make it extra special. By the time the dragons get back, everything will be perfect."

"It's easy for you to say that. Your dragon can't leave Berk without you," pointed out Ruffnut.

At his words, everyone turned to see Toothless on a cliff's edge, looking out longingly towards the endless skies, as if he wanted to join the other dragons.

"You're lucky Toothless is still around, Lenora. Really lucky," said Fishlegs. He let out a yawn. "Well, it's getting late. I propose we all go hit the hay. Maybe the dragons will be back by morning."

Ruffnut and Tuffnut nodded in agreement before the three of them departed, leaving Lenora and Aster alone.

Lenora sighed. What am I supposed to do? What if all the dragons are gone for good? How can I help Toothless leave, knowing I might never see him again?

Aster squeezed her shoulder. "Don't listen to Ruffnut. She's just jealous."

Lenora covered Aster's hand with her own. "You think so?"

"I know it. The other dragons will be back before too long." said Aster, smiling. He kissed her, making her smile inwardly as she returned his kiss until they broke apart. "Come on, I'll walk you home."

Lenora took Aster's hand and tightly intertwined their fingers together as he took her home.

XXX

The following morning, there was no sign of the dragons for miles.

Life went on, and everyone was carrying out their business as per usual, but people were still sad about the dragons. They'd become an integral part of Berk in a way no one had ever expected and to have them gone was upsetting.

It broke Lenora's heart to see everyone so sad about the dragons, especially the little ones. Some of the little ones had made a Gronckle out of snow and were clinging to it, as if they were imagining it to be their favorite companion. The others were holding their stuffed dragons close, as though they were hoping it'd bring their real dragons back.

At that moment, she was in the forge. After Aster had walked her home, she'd found herself unable to sleep and kept thinking about Toothless and the dragons' departure. So, after a great deal of brainstorming and working, she'd come up with her greatest invention yet and the perfect gift for Toothless.

"Lenora, are you in here?" called Aster.

"I'm over here, Aster," said Lenora, waving at him from her workbench. She suddenly caught a whiff of a delicious scent that made her mouth water. "Yum. What's that smell?"

"That would be my new holiday drink," said Aster, as he placed a tray with a hot pitcher and mug on a clear space on the table. "After tasting your food, I thought that I'd try my hand at cooking. It's a hot apple cider with a dash of cinnamon. I made up the recipe myself. Try it. Consider it a holiday gift from me to you."

"Thank-you, I'd love to try some," said Lenora, as she poured herself a mug. She blew on the hot drink to make it cool enough to sip, and when she tried it, her taste buds screamed in delight and she found herself drinking as fast as she could, and she felt quite warm afterwards. "Aster, it's delicious. For your first attempt at cooking, this is fantastic. You'll have to lend me the recipe sometime."

Aster smiled at his girlfriend's compliment. "Thank-you, milady," he said. He beckoned to her latest project and blueprints on the table. "So, what're you working on now?"

"Well, it's probably one of the craziest things I've ever done, but I couldn't stop thinking about what Ruffnut said last night, so I was up all night working on this. Toothless can't fly without help like the other dragons because of me, and that's just not fair, so I think I've found a way to fix that," said Lenora. She showed him her blueprints and explained all the little technical details. "With this attached on, he should be able to fly like the other dragons."

Aster looked astounded. "No way! You actually built him a new tail? Nora, that's amazing! You've really outdone yourself this time. This is a wonderful gift."

"Thanks," said Lenora. "I just thought that if Toothless wants to go so badly, I should let him. Maybe it's selfish of me to keep him here when he wants to go. If you love someone you let them go, right?" Truth be told, she was terrified that Toothless wanted to leave forever, but she wanted to do the right thing and make her friend happy.

Aster's face softened. "Lenora, Toothless would never abandon you. If there's anything I know about that Night Fury, it's how much you matter to him. He loves you as much as I and your dad do. You're the reason his kind have peace now."

"I know, I know, but…" she sighed. "I just want to make him happy, that's all."

"I think he'll be happy just because the gift came from you," said Aster. He brushed a stray strand of her hair out of her face. "Don't worry about a thing. Everything will be fine, you'll see."

Lenora smiled. He always did know what to say to cheer her up. "Have I mentioned how much I love you, today?"

Aster chuckled and kissed her cheek before leaving to continue spreading his special holiday cheer to the rest of Berk.

XXX

When Lenora headed back to her house, Toothless was already stomping on the roof, and even scratching off roof tiles in his eagerness for the day's flight. He'd known Lenora was at the forge, but had assumed she'd returned to the house already.

"Hey, Toothless, come on down, bud!" she said. "I've got you a present."

Toothless' ears perked up at this and he immediately climbed down to Lenora. His eyes widened in eagerness as he began sniffing the bundle Lenora was carrying. He let out an excited croon as he wagged his tail in great anticipation.

"Oh, you like this, do you?" said Lenora, smiling. If there was anything Toothless loved, it was Lenora's inventions as he always found them fascinating. "Well, hold still for a second so I can put it on, and then you can examine it better, okay?"

Toothless purred again as he allowed Lenora to fasten on the new attachment. He did, however, squirm a little bit and let out a few impatient noises, which made her laugh.

"You're going to love this, Toothless," said Lenora, softly. If this works, he'll have the freedom that the other dragons do. That's the best gift I can give him. She felt conflicted as she worked. Part of her wanted Toothless to stay as he was, with her forever. But the greater part of her wanted him to be happy and free. Love and friendship wasn't selfish, so she wouldn't be either. This was the right thing to do for her best friend.

However, the minute that she finished strapping it on, Toothless seemed to dislike the strange contraption on his tail. He swung his tail over and tried to shake it off as he let out a growl.

"Toothless, no! Don't!" said Lenora, as she tried to stop him. "Toothless, wait, please!"

At that point, Toothless stopped jerking his tail when it came to his face and Lenora's invention extended itself. She'd created a special prosthetic for him, made of metal that functioned with gears and had a small metal strap along the bottom of his undamaged tailfin, thereby granting him perfect balance and control again. If it weren't for the brown color and clicking noises of the prosthetic's gears, one would think Toothless' tailfin had just grown back.

The minute Toothless sat it, his eyes widened and his ears went up in surprise. He pulled it close to his face as he flexed his tailfin and looked very pleased indeed.

Lenora sighed in relief at his reaction and smiled. "Well, I'm glad to see that you like your gift."

Toothless let out a happy croon and nuzzled Lenora for a moment, as if he was thanking her.

"You're Welcome," said Lenora, as she gently rubbed his chin. She was glad he was so pleased with her gift. "I'd do anything for you; buddy, as long as you're happy."

Toothless grinned his famous toothless grin, and then a strange look crossed his face. His pupils narrowed to slits and then suddenly, with no prior warning, he let out a screech and took off into the cloudy sky, leaving Lenora alone and feeling heartbroken.

She'd half-expected him to go, but part of her had hoped she'd been wrong and that he'd stay. I can't believe it. Toothless is gone. He's really gone.

Instead of letting her emotions flow, she just bit her lip and went back to the forge, needing something to work on to keep her busy. She had plenty of work to do and it provided her with a distraction until she was finished. By then it was well after sundown and she felt tired, both physically and emotionally.

She'd just finished putting her tools away when she heard her godfather's voice.

"Lenora? Are you in here, lass? Stoick sent me to bring you and Toothless home for supper," said Gobber. Then he came in and saw the look on her face. He looked concerned as he sat beside her. "Lass, what's the matter? Where's that beast of yours?"

"Toothless is gone, Gobber." said Lenora, as her voice cracked. "I helped him fly again and he took off this morning. He's left me."

At that point, she started crying and then she buried her face in Gobber's shirt when he wrapped an arm around her and whispered comforting words into her ear.

XXX

Three days later, neither Toothless nor any of the other dragons had returned to Berk. Any hope of their return was looking more dismal by the day. Lenora was taking it the hardest as Toothless had been the first one to accept her for who she was and become her best friend. Though she tried to comfort herself by saying that Toothless wouldn't have left if he hadn't wanted to and what she'd done for him was for the best, it didn't do much good and nor did it ease the pain she felt.

Despite knowing she'd done the right thing, Lenora still missed Toothless greatly. She missed his presence, she missed his voice, and she missed having him near. It was hard to fall asleep without him beside her or wake up in the absence of his antics or head down to the Dragon Ring to train and instruct the people and the dragons and it was growing harder still with every passing moment of the dragons' absence.

One morning, Lenora awoke to the sound of thumping on the roof. Feeling hopeful and excited, she quickly ran out.

"Toothless! I knew you'd come back!" she said.

However, in her excitement, she failed to notice the ice and slid again. She would've fallen, had Stoick not caught her in time.

"Easy there, Nora. You nearly took a big fall. I'm sorry if I woke you up. I was just fixing the broken roof tiles," said Stoick.

Of course it was Dad. It wasn't loud enough to be Toothless and I didn't even hear his voice. What was I thinking?

Lenora just mumbled, "It's okay, Dad," before turning to leave.

However, Stoick noticed the sadness and disappointment in her eyes, and stopped her. "Hold on just a second there. What's wrong? Talk to me."

Ever since the Battle of Red Death, Lenora and Stoick had become closer. They were talking more and spending time with each other. And in the process of becoming closer, Stoick always knew when she wasn't happy and provided either a listening ear or a bit of good advice, sometimes both.

Lenora sighed as tears came to her eyes. "It's just so hard, Dad. First we lose Mom, then we lose the dragons and now we've lost Toothless. He was my first real friend and this was supposed to be our first Snoggletog together. I know it's only been three days since he left, but I thought he'd be back by now and I miss him so much. What if…what if he never comes home?" She felt silly for crying so much, but she just wanted her friend back.

Stoick cupped her face and gently wiped her fallen tears away. "Nora, listen to me. I know what it's like to miss someone you love this time of year. But what do we do when they can't be here for the holidays? We celebrate them, just like your mother and Toothless would want you to do. And besides, if I know that dragon of yours, he's probably with the other dragons and he'll be back before too much longer. You mean a great deal to him. Before you know it, he'll be back, garbling away with a load of raw fish heads to feed you."

Lenora chuckled at the thought Toothless trying to feed her and smiled, which pleased Stoick.

"That's more like it. A frown doesn't suit you. Only a pretty smile does. Now, off with you. There are preparations for the festival to be done and Aster's been asking for you. He's at the edge of the village, near the cliffs."

"Okay, Dad," said Lenora. She felt considerably cheered up. "Love you."

He kissed her head. "Love you too."

She waved good-bye and then went to find her boyfriend, only to bump into her cousin on the way to her destination.

"Hey, watch where you're—oh, hey, Lenora," said Snotlout, his attitude changing from grouchy to cheerful in a matter of seconds. Snotlout tended to be nicer to Lenora now as the two cousins had become better friends over the past few months.

"Hey, Snotlout. Sorry about that, I didn't see you," said Lenora. She eyed the enormous basket of fish he was carrying. "Hey, did you catch all that just for yourself today? You've got enough fish to feed a dragon."

Snotlout suddenly looked quite nervous. "Yeah, I know. Well, I've got to go. See you, Lenora!"

Lenora frowned in confusion as she watched Snotlout take off and Aster came up to her.

"Aster, is it just me or is Snotlout acting really weird?" asked Lenora.

Aster frowned. "It's not just you. This is what I wanted to talk to you about. Snotlout's been like this for days. He's acting like you did before we found out about Toothless. What say we go find out what he's up to?"

"I say, let's," said Lenora. Normally she wasn't nosy, but if Snotlout was acting strange, then she had to investigate. He was her cousin and she wanted to protect him in case he was in trouble. Aster followed Snotlout to one of the shacks. The minute he left, they opened the door, only to be swept off their feet, literally by Firewyrm, broke her chain and flew off at a great speed with Lenora and Aster on her nose.

"Firewyrm?" said Lenora, stunned. Well, this certainly explained Snotlout's behavior. No wonder he hadn't been missing his dragon. She'd never left!

"Lenora, where in Thor's name are we going?" yelled Aster, as Firewyrm sped up.

"I have no idea!" cried Lenora. But she did know one thing. That is the last time I ever go looking into someone else's business—ever!

XXX

Meanwhile, Snotlout and the other former trainees, were not happy in the slightest about the current events. Snotlout was pouting and in a bad mood because Firewyrm had taken off thanks to his cousin and her boyfriend, and the others were annoyed because Snotlout had hidden and lied to them all.

"I can't believe those guys!" said Snotlout. "What were they thinking?"

"You can't believe them? You kidnapped your dragon!" yelled Ruffnut. "You're such an idiot! What were you thinking, kidnapping a Monstrous Nightmare, for Thor's sake?"

"Uh, guys…" said Fishlegs. But no one heard him.

"I was thinking I didn't want my dragon to leave!" said Snotlout, defensively. "I thought she'd stay! And I didn't kidnap her, I just kept her hidden."

"Dude, you kidnapped her," said Ruffnut, flatly. "And newsflash: Firewyrm wanted to leave. She flew off the minute she was unleashed!"

"GUYS!" yelled Tuffnut, catching their attention. He and Fishlegs had been going through the pile of hay in Firewyrm's nest and found several orange-red colored eggs. The sight of them made the two quarreling ones' jaws drop and Snotlout turned white.

"Oh, great Odin's ghost!" cried Snotlout. "Firewyrm's a mother?"

"Well, that actually explains why the dragons left," said Fishlegs, thoughtfully. "It's probably time for them to lay their eggs. And I just got an idea." He picked up an egg and tied a ribbon on it. "Why don't we leave the eggs as presents for everyone? It'll be the perfect gift and a new Snoggletog tradition."

"That actually not a bad idea," said Ruffnut.

Quickly, they all tied ribbons on the eggs and left them in various homes, eagerly awaiting the surprise and joy that would come from the newborn dragon hatchlings.

XXX

After a bit of difficulty, Lenora and Aster had managed to get onto Firewyrm's neck, which made the flight a little easier, but it was still a bumpy ride to the point where they'd had to dodge several large rocks and the remains of an old ship, and worse of all they had no idea of where they were going.

"Firewyrm, where're you taking us?" asked Lenora.

Firewyrm just grunted before going high above the fog and over some clouds. Soon, an island came into view and then Firewyrm landed.

Aster and Lenora got off the dragon's back and were stunned by what they saw. They were on an enormous island with a large hot spring and several hot pools, and countless dragons of all species and colors were there. The dragons were either warming their eggs or tending to dragon hatchlings.

"Holy crap," murmured Lenora. "It's a rookery!"

"A what?" asked Aster.

"A rookery's a place where animals have their young," explained Lenora. "It makes perfect sense. Dozens of animals migrate to breeding grounds. This place is obviously the dragons'."

"No wonder they left. This place is perfect for it. It's incredible. We must be the first humans to ever set foot here." said Aster. He looked excited when he saw a Gronckle nudging her eggs into one of the hot pools. "Come on, let's go watch."

Lenora took his hand and then they skittered down the rock they were on and headed for the Gronckle while narrowly avoided a baby Nadder and Gronckle that were playing tag. They then watched as the mother Gronckle finished dropping her eggs into the water, and then the eggs hatched. The hatchlings quickly swam up to the surface and climbed out.

"Aw," said Lenora, fondly. "They're so adorable."

"It's amazing," said Aster, smiling. Neither one of them had expected to see such a precious sight.

"Oh, hey, you missed one," said Lenora. She walked over to the one remaining Gronckle egg as it began to hatch, only for the mother to flee in terror as the egg then exploded. The force sent Lenora back, and she landed on Aster. They both looked embarrassed as they helped each other up.

The hatchling, however, just yawned and stretched before going about his business as though nothing had happened.

"Holy crap. The dragon eggs actually explode," said Lenora, stunned. "It's a good thing they don't hatch on Berk."

"I'll say," said Aster, in agreement. "Can you imagine all the damage, they'd cause?"

Lenora nodded and then took his hand. "Come on, let's go find our dragons."

Several hours later, neither one of them had found Toothless, but they did, however, find several other dragons resting on one of the rocks while tending to their young. Said dragons immediately looked up and purred in delight upon the sight of the two young Vikings.

"Brightscales!" cried Aster, hugging his Nadder, as the blue-scaled beast eagerly licked her rider's face and her hatchlings happily squeaked at him. "You've no idea how glad I am to see you right now! I've missed you so much."

"Hey, Puffskin, Smoke, Sparks!" cried Lenora, giving each of the dragons each a hug as they purred at her. "It's so great to see you all." She stopped to admire the little dragons. "And you have your own hatchlings! This is wonderful. By the way, have any of you seen Toothless?"

Unfortunately, the dragons shook their heads, making Lenora's face fall, but she quickly forced a smile and tried not to show how upset she felt. Soon, she didn't have to fake happiness when the dragons' hatchlings came up to her, letting out little squeals and nuzzling her as she tickled their chins and stroked them.

"Your hatchlings are perfect. You must be so proud," said Lenora.

"They're as pretty as their mothers," said Aster, earning a purr and a nuzzle from Brightscales. "This is so amazing. Who would've thought you were all just celebrating your own holiday?"

"Speaking of holidays, we should probably be getting back home to celebrate ours. My dad must be having a stroke with worry by now," said Lenora.

"Not a problem," said Aster. He rubbed Brightscales's chin. "What do you say, girl? Would you be willing to give us a lift back?"

Brightscales nodded and allowed Aster and Lenora to climb onto her back. Aster was steering while Lenora had her arms around his waist.

"We'll see you all back at Berk when you're ready," said Lenora.

However, right after she said this, all of Berk's dragons and their hatchlings began to take flight along with them.

"I think you just started the return migration," said Aster, laughing.

Lenora laughed too and smiled at the dragons. "Well, if you insist."

Unfortunately, when the hatchlings tried to join their parents in taking off, the wind just blew them back onto the island, creating a small problem.

"Oh, crap," muttered Aster.

"Hmm. There's no way the hatchlings can make the journey back to Berk. They're way too young and the wind's far too strong," said Lenora.

"So, what do we're supposed to do?" asked Aster. "Carry them?"

Lenora frowned in concern as she thought for a moment, and then her face lit up when she saw the remains of an old Viking ship and some leftover rope. "Actually, I think you may be onto something. I've got an idea. Help me out."

XXX

Meanwhile, Berk had found out the hard way that dragon eggs explode. The exploding eggs had done quite a bit of damage both to the houses and the Snoggletog decorations. Repairs were well underway, and the baby Monstrous Nightmares were quite adorable and the villagers adored them, but no one was really in celebrating mood, especially Stoick.

Stoick was already stressed due the amount of damage done, the usual winter problems and being concerned over the dragons, but ever since Firewyrm took off with Lenora and Aster and had yet to return, he was nearly in hysterics. He knew Lenora was a capable adult and she wasn't alone wherever she was, it didn't change the fact that she was still his daughter and not knowing where she was or if she was going to come back, just about gave him a severe panic attack.

"Oh, this is a disaster!" he moaned.

Gobber, ever the optimist, said, "Ach, It's not that bad."

"Oh, not that bad?" said Stoick, angrily. "Lenora and Aster are missing, the village is destroyed, and the dragons have gone and left us! Let's face it, this holiday is a complete and utter—what're all these people staring at?" He cut himself off as he'd just noticed the entire village was gathered and gazing at something in the night sky. He narrowed his eyes. "What is that?"

Something enormous was being carried by dozen of enormous winged beasts.

Stoick's eyes widened when he realized what it was. "It's Lenora and Aster!" he said, happily. "And it's our dragons!"

Everyone cheered as the dragons came into closer view and deposited the remains of the Viking ship onto the island. Moments later, countless dragon hatchlings emerged from the ship, making little baby noises as they were immediately fawned over by Berk's people and everyone shared in a joyful reunion with their dragons. While Aster went to talk with his family, Lenora made her way to her father.

"Daddy!" said Lenora, happily.

Stoick immediately ran over to his daughter and swept her into his arms, hugging her tightly. "Thank Thor, you're all right! Well, I've got to say, well done, Lenora. I'm so proud of you!"

Lenora returned the embrace. "Thanks, Dad."

"So, where were you two? What happened?" asked Stoick.

"Firewyrm decided to take us to this rookery with hot springs," explained Lenora. "It's where the dragons go to lay their eggs." She looked as though she was struggling not to laugh when she saw the egg shells and Firewyrm's hatchlings. "I see there's been a bit of excitement while we were gone."

"Yeah, you might say that," said Stoick, chuckling. "Better add this to the Book of Dragons, eh?"

"Indeed," said Lenora.

Stoick smiled. "Come on, everyone! To the Great Hall! We finally have something to celebrate!"

Everyone cheered and went to the Great Hall.

Within moments, the Great Hall was alit with countless colored lanterns, everyone was feasting on delicious food and drink, talking and laughing away with friends, and playing or stroking their dragons and the hatchlings.

XXX

Lenora smiled to herself as she watched everyone with their dragons. It was a heartwarming sight indeed. Fishlegs was tossing two of his Gronckles' hatchlings into the air as they cooed and licked his face, Snotlout kept ticking one of Firewyrm's hatchlings while it playfully let out tiny sparks of fire, two children were teasing a baby Hideous Zippleback with treats and a little girl was carrying her Terrible Terror around like a teddy bear.

Lenora felt happy to see it all, but at the same time envious. Everyone's dragon was home, except for hers. I wish Toothless was here. I miss him so much. She was concerned. If he hadn't gone with the other dragons for the migration, where had he gone? Sighing to herself, she decided to think about it later.

"Hey," said Aster, snapping her out of her thoughts. "You okay?"

"I'm always okay," said Lenora, smiling a little. She'd be all right soon enough. In the meantime, she'd just enjoy the fun and eagerly await tomorrow. Besides, everyone else was happy and that was all that really mattered, wasn't it?

Aster squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "It's going to be okay, Nora."

"Yeah, I know," said Lenora. She pulled out Aster's gift. "In the meantime, Happy Snoggletog."

Aster opened his gift and smiled. "This is great. You made these yourself?"

"Every stitch," said Lenora. She'd given Aster a new knitted sweater and scarf to keep him warm. They were dark blue with gold dragons on them. "How do you like them?"

"I love them. Thank you," said Aster. He then held out a small gift wrapped in brown leather and tied in twine. "Happy Snoggletog. I know that this probably isn't the best of gifts right now, but I just thought it might make you feel a little better."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's great," said Lenora, as she unwrapped her gift. She gasped when she saw it. It was a necklace of a beautifully carved black dragon with painted green eyes. It looked just like Toothless. Instead of upsetting her, it made her smile a little. She put on her necklace and then she kissed him soundly. "It's beautiful, Aster. Thank-you," she said, when they broke apart. "I love you."

Aster smiled before hugging her tight. "I love you too," he said. He rubbed soothing circles on her back. "Toothless will be home soon, I promise."

Lenora just tightened her grip on him, grateful for his presence and comforting words. She silently prayed that wherever Toothless had gone and why, he was just happy and safe.

"Lenora, I have one more surprise for you," said Aster. "Close your eyes and turn around."

Lenora raised an eyebrow wondering what else he could possibly have in store for her, but she didn't question him. She just complied with Aster's request, and opened her eyes when he told her to. The minute she opened her eyes, her entire face lit up as she saw a certain Night Fury that was eagerly approaching her like a puppy.

"Toothless! You came back!" cried Lenora. She couldn't believe it. He was actually home! She ran over to him and hugged him tightly before stepping back and putting her hands on her hips. She tried and failed to give him a stern scolding, as she was just more relieved to have him back safe and sound. "You crazy, overgrown lizard! Where on earth have you been? Do you have any idea how worried I was? You scared me to death! Don't ever do that to me again! And, Toothless, what is in your mouth?" She just noticed that the black dragon was carrying a rather large object that was poking out of his mouth.

Toothless dropped what he was carrying onto the floor and then nudged it towards her as he smiled at her. On the floor was Lenora's mother's helmet, the one she'd lost on the day of the dragons' migration to the rookery.

"Hey, you found my helmet." Then her brain caught up with her and suddenly, Toothless' absence made perfect sense. "You found my helmet! That's where you've been? Oh, Toothless!" she hugged him again. He'd spent the last three days searching the sea in the freezing cold, just to find her helmet for her because he knew how much it meant to her. "You're amazing, buddy. Thank you so much."

Toothless just purred and nuzzled her before he wrapped his wings around her as everyone around them cheered and smiled at them.

It was a fantastic night. The best friends were back together and they were never going to be parted ever again.

XXX

The following morning, right at dawn before anyone else in Berk woke up, Lenora was awakened by Toothless, once again stomping on the roof. Instead

I never thought I'd be so glad to hear that sound. She'd taken so much for granted before. She silently vowed that she'd never make that mistake again.

Instead of yawning, Lenora just smiled as she headed out to meet Toothless. She could hear his impatient cry already. "I'm coming, Toothless. I'm coming!"

She walked to the side of the house. "Alright, boy, come on down. Let's go for a quick flight. You don't want to miss the festivities…" her voice wandered off when she saw Toothless was already sitting by the side of the house waiting for her and right in front of him was his old flying gear.

"Toothless, what'd you pull this out for? You don't need it anymore," said Lenora, confused. She tried to get onto his back, but he pulled away and avoided her while encircling his old gear until he once again, sat behind it and looked at her hopefully.

Lenora frowned. "Toothless, what's up with you? Why do you want this when you've got your new tailfin? It works perfectly. You don't need my help flying anymore."

Toothless held up his tail and looked at his new tailfin. It clicked and made little whirring sounds as it unfolded. Then suddenly, Toothless raised his tail and brought it down onto the ground several times, smashing it to pieces before he flung it away.

"Toothless!" said Lenora, shocked. What on earth had he done that for? Then it hit her. I can't believe it. He doesn't care about flying perfectly without help. He just wants to fly with me. Lenora felt happy tears sting her eyes when Toothless picked up his saddle with his teeth and placed it at her feet, before nudging it towards her with one claw while giving her the puppy-dog pout.

"Toothless, I love you. You're the best friend that I could ever ask for," said Lenora. What had she done to deserve such a loyal and caring best friend? She hugged him tight as he purred and wrapped his wings around her, as if he was saying "I love you too."

So, after an amazing flight together, they returned home and celebrated the winter holidays together for the first time and it was a holiday worth remembering.

Winter in Berk lasted most of the year. It tended to hold on tight and wouldn't let go without a fight. The only real comforts against the cold were the ones people held to their hearts.

It was the best Snoggletog in the history of Berk. If anyone asked, Lenora would say that she'd given Toothless something fantastic, the gift of freedom; but he'd given her something even better, eternal loyalty and friendship. And that was the best gift of all.

The End