All of Berk remains on the cliff side until the dragons have flown out of sight. Then slowly, in large clusters, people start returning to their homes.
The main gang stay much longer, sinking down into the grassy outcrop when standing becomes too hard. No-one speaks.
Gobber and Eret are the first to depart. Eret squeezes Gobber's shoulder, and the older man looks to the younger with a tentative smile. Eret gets up, and offers Gobber a hand. After a moment's hesitation, Gobber takes it and hauls himself upright. Together they begin the return journey to New Berk.
Sometime later, Snotlout leaves too. He roughly passes an arm over his eyes to dry the tears still lingering there. In one brisk movement, he stands and turns, striding purposefully away. He fully intends on drinking a lot tonight.
He's shortly followed by the Twins. Neither of them say it, neither of them would ever even admit to thinking it, but tonight they're thankful for each other's company. The prospect of returning to an empty house alone is too horrible to contemplate. Tuffnut pats Hiccup on the shoulder as they go.
Fishlegs glances after them; he seems to struggle with himself for a moment, but then he lumbers to his feet. He quietly says to Hiccup "We'll sort everything tonight. You're off duty, chief."
Hiccup nods his thanks. Fishlegs heads back towards the village, jogging a little to catch up with the twins.
The sun sinks lower, and the sky grows dark. Stars twinkle to life. Only Valka, Astrid, and Hiccup remain. The muted sounds of Berkians gathering for dinner mummers down to them on a soft breeze.
When the moon starts to rise, Valka stands. She sighs deeply, wistfully, and looks down to where Hiccup and Astrid still sit. Astrid leans against Hiccup's side, her arms locked around Hiccup's waist and her head resting on his left shoulder; Hiccup sits cross-legged, his arm draped lightly around her torso. Valka's movement causes them both to glance up at her.
Valka smiles sadly back at them, but says nothing. She lightly runs a hand through her son's hair, letting it linger there for a moment before she withdraws. With one final gaze at the empty night sky, she begins the long walk back to the village. She does not look back.
Astrid stays by Hiccup's side. It's only when the distant firelights of the village start to dim, as the Berkians retire to their beds, that she speaks for the first time.
"It's going to be okay, Hiccup."
Hiccup exhales a shuddering breath. "I know. I just…"
She waits for him to continue, but he doesn't. Astrid hugs him tighter. "I know."
A few minutes pass. It's only because she's nestled so closely to him that Astrid notices Hiccup's body start to tremble. She pulls away, and sits up to look at him. His eyes are still fixed on the dark horizon, but he has to have felt her move…. Then she realises he's avoiding her gaze. Tears stream down his face, and his lips are quivering from the effort it's taking to not emit a sob.
"Oh babe," Astrid whispers, taking his hand. It breaks what little control Hiccup still has, and he begins to sob in earnest. Astrid draws him closer to her, lets him lie across her lap. She strokes his back in long, gentle strokes, and lets him cry.
Eventually his shaking subsides. The tears stop falling. Sleep finds him. Still Astrid holds Hiccup. Until sleep finds her, too.
When dawn breaks, and someone is sent to fetch them, that's how the couple are found. Still sleeping, still clad in armour, curled around each other on the cliff side.
No-one wakes them.