Sucky titles are sucky :/

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy!

It was late when Hiccup finally got home that evening, silently cursing his bad leg for slowing him down and wanting nothing more than to take his prosthetic off so that he could ease the ache spreading through his stump. He still wasn't used to walking everywhere just yet, and he sometimes found himself doubting that he ever would be - he'd relied on flying everywhere for six years, had not had to walk such long distances with the prosthetic and no dragon to support him.

He wasn't surprised that dinner was not being made when he went inside - it was better that Astrid didn't cook, to be quite honest, and he always insisted on being the one in charge of meals if they decided not to go to the Great Hall to eat with everyone else. The house was quiet as he closed the door behind him, and he looked about for any trace that his wife was home; as expected, her favourite axe was resting by the door, ready for any sudden or immediate action - she could just grab it and go.

"Astrid, I'm home!" Hiccup called, shrugging off his furs and waiting for her response. When he didn't receive it, he frowned to himself. "Hey, Astrid?"

Still no word or sound. Something wasn't right - if she was home before him, she would always greet him with a playful smile and kiss, always. Hiccup listened carefully, heart pounding just that much harder in his chest; his wife was more than capable of defending herself if something were wrong, far more than he was of course, but for her to not even call back worried him. He couldn't help it; he had lost his father, lost Toothless - he couldn't lose Astrid, he couldn't…

Finally, after a long tense moment, he heard a creak from the bedroom overhead; relaxing slightly, he carefully made his way up the stairs to the higher floor of the house, preparing himself just in case.

As he pushed the wood of their bedroom door open, he was relieved to see his wife sitting on their bed, her head bowed and blonde hair coming loose of its braid as she examined something. Exhaling heavily in relief, Hiccup smiled again and moved closer to sit with her.

"Good evening, milady," He greeted cheerfully. "How was your-?"

And then he saw just what it was she was looking at: in her hands, clutched tightly, was a helmet. Not just any helmet - he knew this particular one well because he was the one who had made it for her, using dragon saliva and scales to make the armour fireproof. He recognized the blue scales, the yellow spikes on the crown, immediately and felt his heart sink in his chest at the realization of what she was going through.

"Astrid?"

Finally she raised her head to look at him; she wasn't crying, though she looked close to it. "Hiccup...right, I'm sorry, I just…" She swallowed the lump in her throat.

Hiccup sat down beside her, his smile gone as he gently placed an arm around her shoulders; she leaned into him, avoiding his eyes. "It's okay - I know."

"I miss her, Hiccup," Astrid whispered, looking back down at the helmet. "I miss her so much."

"I'm sure she misses you too," Hiccup said honestly, and he didn't doubt it; Astrid and Stormfly had been a good team, almost as perfect as himself and Toothless had been. She had loved the Deadly Nadder so much over the past six years, and the Nadder had loved her back just as fiercely – they were a formidable team on the field of battle, one that he had always been glad to have by his side.

"It's silly," She sighed, shaking her head to herself. "She's safe now, and it's for the best - she deserves to be free. And I know it's silly for me to still be thinking about her every day, we have duties to fulfil now and thinking about like this doesn't help...but I can't help it. Stormfly was my good girl; she was the last thing I saw at night and the first thing I'd see waking up in the morning - I got so used to it, and now..."

"And now you're stuck with seeing me instead," He joked half-heartedly, trying to lighten the mood. "Yeah, I can see why that'd make you miserable."

She rolled her eyes and gave him a playful shove, "Haha, hilarious… But I do miss her, Hiccup; I got so used to flying with Stormfly, to being in the air and trusting her, knowing she had my back. Not having her here feels...wrong."

Hiccup knew exactly how she felt - it was like a part of him was missing without Toothless beside him, without the familiar warbles and growls of his dragon. He knew Astrid well enough to know that she was holding back her tears, that she was trying to remain strong - she had done this since the dragons left, perhaps knowing that she had to be strong for him while he mourned. She shouldn't have had to do that for him; she should have been allowed the chance to grieve too.

"Astrid," He said softly, and she raised her head to meet his gaze. "It's okay, you're allowed to miss her. I'm...I'm here."

"I know you are," Astrid agreed softly, leaning into him even more now and resting her head on his shoulder. "I just...I wish I could see her again, Hiccup, more than anything."

They'd had similar conversations to this beforehand, knowing that they understood each other when it came to this. He knew that they had both wanted the dragons with them when the village was being constructed, had wanted to continue blissfully co-existing with them and creating a whole new life with them. He had seen her tearing up when he presented her with the golden wedding brooches that were engraved with a Deadly Nadder, just as he had teared up looking at his own that were engraved with a Night Fury - without saying it, he had known that they both wished their dragons could have seen them on such an important day. Both of them knew that Toothless and Stormfly would have been thrilled to see them getting married, even if they probably wouldn't have understood why there had to be a big ceremony about it. He suspected that dragons were a lot simpler about the whole romance thing in that regard.

"I just hope she's happy," Astrid sighed, closing her eyes.

"I'm sure she is," Hiccup assured her softly, pressing a kiss to her head. "And I'm sure, even though she's happy, she's thinking of you too, Astrid."

Neither of them said anything else, instead holding each other in silent acknowledgement of the grief they both felt.

The Night Fury was not particularly surprised to see the blue Deadly Nadder alone in her cave, clearly miserable despite having preened herself recently. He knew why, and so he warbled to her in understanding; her answering squawks were mournful and filled with longing.

Her rider had been the mate of his rider, the one the humans called 'Hiccup'; he remembered the Nadder's rider had been called 'Astrid', but they were the only two human names he could remember now - the rest were forgotten, like a memory he couldn't quite grasp. He remembered that the Nadder's rider had golden hair and blue eyes that were a similar shade to the scales her dragon had shed; she was brave, the Night Fury remembered, tough and beautiful - she and the Deadly Nadder were a good fit. He had liked her, even if he could still remember her running at him with a weapon so long ago, and he knew that his rider was very attached to her as a mate - though they had not had hatchlings, which was strange given how much time they spent together. Regardless, she had made his boy happy and protected dragons for many years, and so he considered her a friend too.

The Nadder's grumbles were clear to him, stating the obvious: miss her, miss her.

yes, miss him too, he rumbled sadly, thinking of his boy; he was not as strong as the other humans, not as good with weapons, though his mind was sharper than anyone else's, and he had made lots of useful things over the years. His boy had made him a tail fin so he could fly again, was kind and loved him - he had chosen not to kill him when he was defenceless and injured, had changed the relationship between dragons and humans forever.

He missed his boy more than anything.

The Nadder gave another squawk, looking at him sadly: miss her, miss brave girl, miss her.

girl very brave, The Night Fury agreed, girl love nadder very much.

She ruffled her wings slightly, love girl, love very much; girl save nadder many times, girl look after her.

girl miss nadder too, He informed her - he couldn't know for sure, but he suspected as much given how close they had been. see girl again soon, promise.

yes yes, the Nadder agreed excitedly, perking up; soon soon, when world safe.

The Night Fury managed a gummy smile as he trilled an affirmation, though he couldn't help but wonder… How long would it be until the world was safe? This Hidden World was his home now, all of the dragons under his protection - how would he know when it was time for dragons and humans to live as one again? Perhaps he would feel it in his bones, the same way he knew when a thunder storm was going to hit the world outside or when one of his fellow dragons were in danger; perhaps his boy would seek him out and find him once more. Maybe then they could ride together again, just like they had for so many years, and they could soar through the clouds alongside the Nadder and girl.

He did not know what the future held - for now, all he could do was hope that someday he would see his boy again, and that the Nadder would get to see her brave girl once more.

Fun fact: I have no idea how to write dragons communicating, so for now…yeah. That's how I've written it.

I've watched the film so many times, and no matter how many times I see it I still cry the second Toothless looks out at the horizon and Hiccup tells him "it's time". I'm still getting used to writing the characters, and I know this was relatively short, but I've been EXTREMELY busy – I've got four shows at the theatre this week to perform as part of my degree, and then I'm completely FREE :D

Feedback is greatly appreciated!