Hiccup allowed himself a moment to let out a laugh of pure joy as he fell through the air before he straightened out, extended his arms, and pulled on the mechanism that would extend the 'wings' of his flight suit. They snapped out as he hoped they would, slowing his descent and allowing him to glide through the air.

A shadow passed over him. 'That's not going to work,' Toothless trilled from above.

Hiccup let out another laugh. His dragon doubted his scheme – arguing that if Hiccup was meant to fly through the air it was only on his back – but he had confidence that he could get his flight suit to work.

A particularly strong gust of wind buffeted him, tearing his right 'wing'.

'Eventually,' Hiccup corrected in his mind. 'Eventually I'll get it to work.'

He tumbled a bit through the air briefly before correcting his fall. He wasn't worried. Sure enough, Toothless flared his wings to slow down, adjusting to his rider's speed. Instead of angling himself so that he could fly beneath Hiccup, however, Toothless remained above him, snatching him up in his claws as he flew toward land.

Hiccup let out a startled yelp of protest.

'If you're going to keep coming up with these reckless ideas like a hatchling who doesn't know any better, then I'm going to treat you like one,' Toothless growled in response, amusement clear in his tone.

Hiccup laughed even as he protested – they'd had this argument many times since he'd finally gotten the opportunity to start making and testing the many old designs in his sketchbook. They were designs he'd never been able to make in the seclusion of his cove, without full access to the forge or the right supplies.

And now, back in Berk, Hiccup could use the forge as much as he wanted. It was freeing to work again with Gobber, to be able to ask the more experienced blacksmith questions without having to be subtle or hide what he truly wanted to know. It was nice, too, to be able to teach his pseudo-uncle things as well – mostly about dragon fire and using it to help in the smithy.

It was even more amazing to be able to do all this with dragons by his side. Toothless was never far from him while they were in Berk and Forge, the little Terror who'd shown an interest in smithing and had helped him periodically when he'd needed to sneak into Berk and get a hot fire going quickly, as well as Strangler, who spent half his time on Hiccup's shoulder, often helped out as well.

Hiccup shifted in his dragon's grip, watching the land grow as they approached it. Life was good for both rider and dragon, but neither had quite managed to settle in Berk. It was too loud and too enclosed and too… too human. In Berk, Hiccup was rarely left alone and though it excited him to be able to forge friendships between Vikings and dragons, it was also incredibly draining. He missed his time spent alone with Toothless and he missed being able to speak Dragonese freely without odd looks or questions and he missed the other dragons. Toothless was anxious as well, unwilling to trust most of the Vikings. The Night Fury didn't hide – he didn't care about scaring anyone with a sudden movement or a loud growl – but nor could he be himself in a crowd.

On top of all this, there had been a nagging feeling that Hiccup hadn't been able to place – a sort of unease that had sat in his gut ever since the euphoria of reconnecting with his father had worn off. It had taken Hiccup to realize what it was.

He was waiting for the other shoe to drop. For the next casually spoken insult to fall from someone's lips. For the laughter to turn mocking. For eyes to slip over him as he passed. He was waiting for something that he hoped would never happen again, but that he couldn't quite convince himself wouldn't.

And so, after weeks of being cooped up in Berk, Hiccup had finally gathered up his courage and spoken to his father. Stoick hadn't seemed to fully understand his son's request – but it was clear that he was making an effort to.

Hiccup had told his father that he needed space, and time. Berk was his home once again, like it had never been before, but that didn't mean that Hiccup would be able to live there every day. In his mind he was already picturing it as more of a home base – somewhere to return to between journeys, somewhere to work on his projects, and yes, even somewhere with friends to welcome him home. But Hiccup wasn't a Viking and he couldn't stay cooped up in one town every day.

He had his saddlebags packed only an hour after he'd told his father he was leaving, promising to be back after three nights away. They would start small, to ease his father and the rest of Berk into the idea of it, but eventually Hiccup hoped that he and Toothless would journey far and wide, exploring places they'd never seen before.

They neared the approaching island and Hiccup prepared himself to land, rolling through the tall grass as Toothless dropped him barely a foot from the ground. The dragon himself quickly landed only a short way in front of Hiccup, turning quickly to face his rider.

'Perhaps now you will agree to fly like a normal human,' Toothless said, emphasizing the word human, 'and use the saddle that you made.'

Hiccup ignored the jab, examining the torn 'wing'. 'Ah c'mon bud,' he said easily. 'I could have this fixed in no time.'

Toothless growled a warning out but Hiccup only laughed and began to take off the flight suit, including his new helmet that helped shield his eyes from the wind.

'Don't worry – I left all the supplies back on Berk. All my flying will be done on dragonback for the rest of this trip,' he reassured his best friend.

The Night Fury stepped forward, eyes narrowing as if to hold Hiccup to his promise, and the young rider slipped his torn flight suit into a saddlebag.

'Though, if we're going to do a lot of flying we should take some of these saddlebags off.'

Toothless turned his head to look at his rider standing by his side. They weren't planning for a long trip far from Berk, merely hoping for some alone time, or time to catch up with old dragon friends they hadn't seen since they'd moved their residence to Berk.

'Timberjack Island,' the dragon suggested, knowing that Hiccup's lean-to was likely still standing.

'I was thinking Midnight's cave,' Hiccup countered thoughtfully, reaching out to scratch behind his friend's ear flap almost absentmindedly.

Toothless grumbled and shook himself. 'There are hatchlings there,' he almost whined.

Hiccup laughed. His friend didn't mind younger dragons so much, Ripwing was younger than him after all – it was the smaller ones who tended to climb on him that irritated the black dragon. (Hiccup knew the Night Fury secretly didn't mind.)

'I am a Night Fury,' Toothless said indignantly, 'not a perch!'

It didn't take Hiccup and Toothless long to reach the cave where Midnight, Blizzard, and their hatchlings had taken up residence. Tucked into a cliff face and nearly inaccessible from the ground below it was the perfect place for a nesting dragon. Despite the rocky cliff, there was nevertheless a tree growing on one side of the ledge protruding in front of the opening of the cave, providing a small amount of camouflage while at the same time making it easy for those who knew about the cave to spot it. Even with the hidden nature of the cave, and the speed and stealth of a Night Fury, Hiccup and Toothless were nevertheless easily spotted as they approached. The three not-so-young anymore hatchlings were playing on the cliff face, hopping from ledge to ledge without flying. Midnight was perched on the edge of the cave, her deep purple color blending in with the darkness of the hole in the cliff, watching her children play with an amused look in her eyes.

As they spotted dragon and rider the three small Nadders leapt from the cliff and greeted them with wordless cries of excitement.

Hiccup laughed but before he or Toothless could do anything Midnight barked out a command. Ceasing their frantic flapping around the larger dragon, the flight of the three young ones evened out and they followed Toothless' smooth glide into the cave.

'Hiccup,' Midnight greeted them, stretching as she rose, 'Toothless. Nice of you to visit.'

Her tone was sarcastic and Hiccup grinned, somewhat sheepishly. He slid from the saddle just as Toothless began pushing away the young ones with his wings. ('I'm going to be a Night Fury when I grow up!' Shadow chirped loudly. Toothless growled playfully.) Hiccup laughed at his friends' antics, reaching up to hug Midnight's large head just as she stretched downward.

He pulled out of the hug, scratching her neck and the underside of her jaw, where Nadders liked it best, and had to take a step forward as Snowball careened off his leg from behind him.

'I remember when you didn't have any hatchlings,' Hiccup said, unable to keep the grin off his face. 'I visited you more then.'

Midnight turned one large eye onto Hiccup. 'And I remember when you were a hatchling,' she countered softly, amused.

Hiccup winced, remembering that time as well, all gangly uncoordinated limbs, clumsy feet, and hesitant mangled Dragonese. The only time he'd felt at home back then had been in the air with Toothless. 'Don't remind me,' he joked playfully. 'It's a wonder I even survived back then.'

Behind him, Toothless growled and butted up against him.

Hiccup absentmindedly reached back and patted his friend's head, humming his agreement with the dragon's unspoken words. If Toothless had had his way Hiccup would still be bundled up in the back of a cave somewhere, protected from all the evils of the world – but then, they wouldn't get to fly together.

'I'm sure you've had your fair share of close calls – venturing out in the middle of a dragon raid for one.' But Midnight's voice was grateful rather than reproachful – she'd been the first dragon he and Toothless had ever freed from the Red Death's grasp.

Hiccup grinned sheepishly but accepted the subtle praise (somehow it felt more real coming from Midnight than random Vikings in Berk. Perhaps because he'd heard it many times through the years). 'Enough about the past,' he said. 'Toothless and I came to see how you've been.'

'A lot of dragons were freed by the beast's defeat,' Toothless contributed, using his tail to sweep the young ones out of the cave, an amused glint in his eyes. 'Any territory disputes?'

Midnight shook her head, a gesture she'd picked up from many years of knowing Hiccup, her eyes fierce and proud. 'A Deadly Nadder tried. They didn't get very far.'

'Good,' Toothless growled, pleased. He sniffed the air as if to affirm Midnight's words.

As the two larger dragons caught up, Hiccup knelt down to greet the three younglings. They swarmed him, but had known him long enough and were old enough to recognize that he wasn't a dragon and needed a slightly gentler touch. Hiccup greeted them all happily by name, laughing as they kept butting each other out of the way to get scratched under the jaw in a way that only a human hand was capable of. It had been a while since he'd seen the three of them.

Ever since their run in with Astrid in the Cove, Midnight, Blizzard, Toothless, and Hiccup had all agreed that it would be best for them to stay out of the way for a while. Even after Fishlegs and Astrid had realized the truth, there had been the danger of retaliation from the Red Death and the Nadder family had stayed in their cave for the most part, only coming to Timberjack Island periodically, and only as a family. Hiccup had seen them a few times since then, but only once after the beast's death. Hiccup had snuck out of Berk in the dead of the night after the trial (some part of him feeling like nothing had changed) and visited his dragon friends who had helped him win the battle.

He glanced up from showering the hatchlings with attention (Hiccup was well aware that he spoiled them) as Midnight asked about the Nadder who Hiccup had helped escape from the arena.

'Stormfly?' Hiccup asked rhetorically, standing. 'She's still in Berk. She took Astrid as her rider.'

'And the Vikings have no problem with this?' Midnight's question wasn't hostile, but it was skeptical.

Hiccup shook his head. 'Midnight, even with your hatchlings, I'd almost be willing to invite you to come to Berk and see for yourself.'

'They've really changed so quickly?'

'They were forced to swallow a bitter truth,' Toothless growled, half amused, half annoyed.

Midnight had known the two of them for too long though. 'That's good to hear. And yet, it's not everything, is it?'

Hiccup hesitated and Toothless, with his own hesitant glance at his rider, spoke for him. 'We think they really have changed.' Any dragon could have heard the hesitation in his voice.

Midnight merely shifted expectantly, as if to say 'but?'.

Hiccup reached out unconsciously for his friend, placing his hand comfortingly on the Night Fury's dark head. (Shadow, Spike, and Snowball had gone back to their game of navigating the cliff without flying, bored by the conversation). He shrugged.

They'd only just realized where their unease had come from recently. To put it into words was difficult.

'I don't- it's not...' Hiccup trailed off, unsure how to phrase it.

'Home?' Midnight suggested gently.

But though Hiccup shook his head, he himself wasn't sure of his response. Maybe Midnight was right, and Berk wasn't quite home to him, but he wanted it to be. He wanted to have a real relationship with his father, wanted to keep his growing friendships with Fishlegs and the others, wanted to spend time with Gobber in the forge.

He shrugged helplessly. 'I don't know.'

Midnight, recognizing the sensitive topic for what it was, let it go. Though she'd been busy caring for her three hatchlings, Midnight's mothering of Hiccup hadn't lessened much with their birth. He didn't mind though – at times he and Toothless both welcomed it.

The Night Fury and his rider stayed a while longer in the Deadly Nadder's cliff-side cave, telling her of their plans to fly around the area and asking to leave their belongings there and return for the night. Midnight happily agreed to let them stay with her.

They stayed close immediately after flying from the cave, Shadow, Spike, and Snowball chasing after them on a wild flight through the sky. The three young Nadder's had the advantage of size, dodging easily, but Toothless had power on his side. All he had to do was flap his wings strongly in their direction and the much smaller Nadders would go tumbling through the air.

Eventually they managed to tire out the energetic younglings and the three Nadders flapped clumsily back to their cave. Hiccup wave out a goodbye as Toothless called out a farewell to Midnight, watching from the entrance, and then they were off again.

It had been a long time since Hiccup had felt so light and his worries were far away.

'Where to next bud?' he asked, leaning down so Toothless could hear him over the wind.

Toothless thought for a moment, gliding along through the warm afternoon sun. 'Timberjack Island?' he finally suggested.

Hiccup knew that his friend wasn't talking about visiting the mostly empty lean-to that still stood there, but rather the dragons for which he'd named the island. He nodded, and nudged Toothless in the direction of their friends' home. Timberjack Island it was.

That day the two of them soared through forests with Timberjacks and napped around a fire with Terrible Terrors. They shifted through a forest with Changewings and hovered in a quarry with Gronkles. And when darkness fell and they had had their fun for the day, the returned to Midnight's cave and nested with Deadly Nadders.

In the darkness of the Cave, resting between Toothless and Midnight with Snowball, Spike, and Shadow curled up beside him, Blizzard on the other side of Midnight, Hiccup had never felt more at home. Maybe, Hiccup thought as he drifted off to sleep, maybe he could find a way to make this work, to stay in both worlds with the people and dragons he loved. It would be worth it. Hard work, but worth it.

AN: Well, you could either look at this as a very, very late update, of a very early holiday present? Seriously though, thank you. This story never would have gotten finished without all the support I got from it's readers.

As for a sequel... I don't yet. It took me a long time to get this written, so if there ever is a sequel, it will be a while in the future (after I've already written most of it!).

I'm not great at writing endings, so hopefully this worked out.

Thank you.