Merry Christm- Wait, no this is the HTTTYD fandom… HAPPY SNOGGLETOG EVERYONE! I hope your holidays are filled with love, light, laughter, and of course, dragons. ;) To celebrate the holiday season, I will be posting this 12-piece Christmas themed one-shot series as a little Christmas present for my loyal readers and fellow Stalka shippers. :)

The idea for this came from my good friend MrsAvanJogia (she also writes How to Train Your Dragon fics on here, check her out when you have a chance). I also follow her on Tumblr, where she happened to reblog a list of super cute Christmas AU's. I've been a little low on creativity lately having just finished school, so I thought 'what better way to get back into it than with some Christmas themed Stalka fics?'

I will be posting one of these a day from today (December 14th) until Christmas day. The story details for each will be as shown below. Enjoy, and happy holidays! :D

Set Universe: Modern AU

Age Range: Valka = 18, Stoick = 23

Featured Christmas AU: "Hi, we're neighbours and omg are you alright? I could smell cooking burning - whoa now that's just embarrassing - step aside, I'll handle this..."

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I Didn't Marry You for Your Cooking

And to think, everything had been going perfectly… Seriously, for once in her life it had looked like she was actually going to cook something without it ending in disaster. After all, it was just gingerbread right? Ha, 'just gingerbread'…

'Combine flours, ginger, cinnamon, sugar and chopped butter in a food processor.'

After carefully measuring the accurate amounts of each, she thoroughly combined them, until she was left only with breadcrumbs.

'Whisk golden syrup and eggs together, and add to mixture.'

That had been surprisingly easy. She'd even surprised herself with the lack of eggshell that ended up in the mixture.

'Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.'

By far the messiest step, but having managed to successfully make the dough – which by her standards was an accomplishment on its own – she allowed herself to have just a little fun with it. She'd even had time while it was chilling to finish the latest novel she'd been struggling to keep her nose out of.

'Roll until 5mm thick, cut into shapes, and bake for 15 minutes at 180 degrees C.'

The sudden burst of hot air in her face didn't even bother her as she slipped the trays of assorted trees, stars, gift boxes and candy canes into the oven. As of that moment, all she'd have to do was keep a dragon's eye on the timer, and she'd have a batch of perfect gingerbread.

But as if it was her curse to turn functioning kitchens into disaster zones, things took a terrible turn for the worst. She'd only turned her back for a few minutes at most to look for the food colouring and sugar pearls she'd bought, but that was enough time for her oven to start bellowing smoke…

Suddenly consumed with panic, Valka shoved the bottles in her hands onto the counter, racing over to the oven. Without thinking, she quickly yanked the oven door open. In that moment, a large cloud of thick, black smoke erupted in front of her.

In her haste to avoid it, Valka stumbled back, crashing to the floor. Smoke continued to ooze from her oven, as Cloudjumper, her beloved tan German shepherd, crawled to her side, barking loudly.

"Help!" the brunette screamed, coughing from the thick haze covering her ceiling. "Somebody! Please, help!"

Cloudjumper whimpered as her owner started growing faint, desperately trying to keep her awake. As the world around her began to fade, Valka could just make out a loud crash somewhere in the house, before everything went black…

When she finally came to, she discovered she was no longer lying on her kitchen floor, but safely on the lounge room sofa. Slowly getting up, she waited for any sign of pain, but was relieved to find that none appeared.

"Cloudjumper?"

Walking into the dining room, she was immediately met by her faithful companion, who was clearly glad to see her.

"Glad to see you're up…"

Quickly spinning around, she felt the air being sucked from her lungs. Standing in her kitchen was a tall, muscular man wearing fluorescent yellow pants and a navy t-shirt, his fiery red hair pulled back into a short ponytail and a short beard stretching round his jaw. In short, he was gorgeous.

Nevertheless, she still raised an eyebrow at him, "Uh, who are you?"

He smiled warmly at her, enough so to melt her heart, "Name's Stoick; we're neighbours. I was putting up my Christmas lights when I smelt smoke coming from inside your house…"

Valka blushed a little, returning his smile, "Thank you, for saying my life… I'm Valka."

"I know," he chuckled. "You came to for a little bit earlier. Not long, but enough for me to catch your name and make sure you were ok."

She didn't really know what to say to him, which he must have noticed as he tried to start a conversation.

"So, what were you making? By the time I put the fire out, whatever it was was unrecognisable."

"Gingerbread… It was supposed to be a Christmas present for my brother…" she replied. "I should have known this would happen. Whenever I try to cook something that doesn't come from a can or a cardboard box it always ends in catastrophe…"

Stoick gave her a sympathetic look, trying to lift her spirits, "I'm sure you're not that bad…"

"I assure you I am. When I was 16 I gave my big brother such severe food poisoning he had to spend the night in hospital. I'd been reading a novel set in the Viking age at the time, so he put on his best Nordic accent and said 'my meatballs kill more beasts than a battle axe'…"

He struggled to bite back a laugh, but quickly recovered. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok, I'm used to it…"

"Why don't you try a cooking class?"

Valka cringed, reluctant to relive that memory, "I did once, after the meatball incident. I only went three times, but every one of them was a complete disaster. The first time I accidentally scowled my cooking partner, the second I made the teacher sick, and the third I started a stove fire. After that, the teacher told me she was done wasting her time on me and threw me out. I was so ashamed I gave up cooking all together."

The room was silent for a moment.

"If it makes you feel any better, it wasn't your fault this time. There was a mechanical fault that caused the oven temperature to rise far higher than the one you set it to," Stoick explained. "Eventually it got so high that it caused an internal explosion, and the fire was only fuelled by the gingerbread."

"I'm guessing it can't be repaired?"

"I'm afraid not. The whole thing will have to be replaced."

Valka sighed, worry clear on her face, "I can't believe this... I'm not broke by any means, but all my budgeting has been for moving into my own place and buying Christmas presents. I love my job at the animal shelter, but it will be weeks before I can afford a new one."

"In that case, I'll buy one for you," Stoick smiled.

A soft blush threatened to appear on her face, "I couldn't ask you to do that…"

"You're not asking. I'm offering," he persisted. "I'll take you out on Boxing Day, we can make the most of the sales, and you can pay me back in time."

"Thank you…" Valka smiled, touched by the random act of kindness, before heaving a sigh, "I guess I'll be stuck with take-out for the next week…"

"No you won't. You said yourself that you don't get much variety in your diet, so until your new oven's installed, you and Cloudjumper can have dinner at my place."

"Stoick-"

Stoick held up a hand, stopping her excuse before it left her lips, "I insist. Let me treat you to some nice, home-cooked meals for a change…

Valka smiled, not quiet wanting to admit the soft flutter in her heart, "Has anyone ever told you you're a really great guy?"

Stoick just chuckled, gazing into her aqua-coloured eyes. She'd never know it, but as her eyes shimmered like Christmas lights, he was silently asking a similar question: 'Has anyone ever told her how beautiful she is?'

Valka blushed, forcing her gaze away from his handsome green orbs, "I, uh… I only just noticed how smoky it still is in here…"

"Well then, why don't we get some more ingredients and have another go at that gingerbread?" he suggested, offering her his hand.

Blushing even more, she took it, smiling like a lovesick school girl, "Ok."

With that, he happily led her out, unaware just how ecstatic he looked. As they made their way out, Cloudjumper gave him a quick sniff, wagging her tail in approval. 'Yes, he'll do nicely…'

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Day 1 complete. (: Please note that I only included parts of the recipe for story purposes, so if anyone's planning on making gingerbread after this, I suggest you find an actual recipe… ;)

Since I know someone is about to point this out, I am fully aware Cloudjumper is a male, and that Valka is bound to be able to tell the difference. I have a headcanon where in a modern AU, Thornado and a female Cloudjumper (who are like siblings to their respective owners) would be the parents of Toothless, which would essentially make him and Hiccup like brothers. :)

Anyway, please let me know what you think. Your reviews are like my Christmas presents, so I hope to hear your thought. See you tomorrow…