"Do you remember the first time you saw the sky?"

Astrid whipped her head up from where she was reading. "Huh?" she asked her husband quizzically. He smiled bitterly, putting his pencil down. "I said, do you remember the first time you saw the sky?"

Astrid shut her book, taking note of the page number as she did so. "Well... yeah... yeah. I do. Vividly."

"Do you remember the sunset down below, and the clouds up above that looked so fluffy you could just sit on them?"

Astrid got up and walked over to Hiccup's chair. "Yes, Hic. I do..."

Hiccup looked up at her, and Astrid absent-mindedly placed one hand on his shoulder, and with the other started playing with his wild auburn hair. "I remember all those things, Dragon Boy. But... do you remember the green, blue and purple lights that were dancing while we flew?"

Hiccup glanced down at his hands. "They were mint, aqua, and lilac... do you remember how T- Toothless hated you back then?"

Astrid furrowed her brows in melancholiness. "I remember. Do you remember how I was so scared before I actually opened my eyes? And how... he refused to let me go until I apologised?"

Hiccup raised a hand to his face, nodding wistfully as he did so, and Astrid looked downwards at him. "Don't work yourself up, Hic. You remember what happened last time you got yourself into a state. I don't think I can deal with that again..."

Hiccup sighed shakily, wiping away a few stray tears. "I know... I know. I'm sorry."

Astrid shook her head firmly. "Don't apologise. It's not your fault. I miss them too... hey, you should be getting to bed. I'm gonna go about now. You can't spend your time grieving, as easy as it is to do so. Toothless... would want you to be happy. So would your dad- you know that, right?"

Hiccup glanced up at his wife, opening his mouth to answer- but before he could do so, a small girl rushed into the room. "Daddy?" she asked in a small voice, seeing the tearstains on her father's cheeks. "Daddy, will you come read me a story? Will that make you feel better?"

Hiccup laughed despite his tears, and responded, "I've already read you four stories tonight, monkey. But thanks for the offer. Why aren't you asleep? Is Nuff asleep?"

Zephyr nodded. "Nuff snores. I don't like it when Nuff snores. Can't you gag him or something?"

Both parents chuckled. "No, sweetie!" Astrid grinned, picking her five-year-old daughter up. "C'mon- let's get you back to bed. Daddy will go to bed- won't you, Hiccup?- and I'll tuck you in. Hiccup: go to sleep. I'll be there in five."

Hiccup gave her a mock salute and kissed Zephyr's forehead. "Goodnight, sweetie. See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Daddy."

As Hiccup walked upstairs to his and Astrid's bedroom, he wasn't looking out the window. If he had been, he would have seen a fleck of something blue and yellow fly across the sparkling black cosmos, and a black shape flit across the moon's looming silhouette. If Hiccup had been listening, he would have heard the roar of a Night Fury echoing from the same black shape.

But Hiccup wasn't looking out the window.

As Toothless and Stormfly raced each other across the dark atmosphere, they weren't looking down at the ground. If they had been, they would have seen a large village with candles lighting up the island, and if they had been listening, they would have heard cries coming from one particular house.

But Toothless and Stormfly weren't looking down at the ground- and they weren't listening.