The ground was covered in snow which here on the island of Berk was nothing new. Hiccup stared down at the small lake in front of him. Memories were fighting in his mind as he did.

It was a warmer day and the sun was actually shinning without effort. Hiccup was running through the forest chasing after his brown haired friend Jackson. They had known each other for as long as he could remember and the boy was probably his best friend. Jackson was a free spirit who loved to play, he taught Hiccup a lot about that. Today they were going to go ice skating. Jackson was at least three years older than he was but didn't seem to mind that Hiccup wasn't his age or that he wasn't the biggest or best Viking which made the boy smile.

"Jackson, wait up!" he called as he ran to catch up with the boy.

Jackson turned around and smiled dazzlingly at the younger boy he had befriended. Green eyes sparkled and brown turned to honey with warmth. He waited on the boy to come close enough and then grabbed his hand and pulled him along as he ran.

Hiccup was brought out of his memory by the low growl of his dragon friend Toothless. The night fury was cocking his head at him in what looked like possibly worry. He reached out and patted the dragon on his head in reassurance.

No one ever talked about Jackson; it was too unnerving to the parents around here. His family had left the island a month after the accident and Hiccup wondered to this day if Pipa (the nick name he and Jackson had called the boys little sister) was able to remember her brother without feeling the loss as much as she once had.

He stood up and looked around the area once again, looking around he caught sight of the snow whirling around in the middle of the lake and smiled a sad smile the snow had always been Jackson's favorite part of Berk.

"Look at all this snow!" the energetic brunette had called out from his spot against the doorway to the town hall. Every head in the hall had turned to the two young boys who could be found standing close together with smiles only for each other. Oh everyone in town knew that Hiccup Haddock the son of the chief was best friends with the boy from the main lands.

"Yes Jackson its snow it isn't that unusual around here." The smaller child said glaring at the offending snow.

"Aw come on Hic, it is fun to play in right?" the older boys smile caused a shiver to run through the younger who just nodded his head in agreement. Brown eyes meet green for a split second before Jackson ran out into the snow and spun around causing the snow to look like a small tunnel circling him.

"Boy gets back in here before it gets to bad!" Jackson's father called out getting ready to go get him.

His mother holding baby Emma looked on with light sparkling in her eyes. She laughed when the smaller boy ran out into the snow and tackled her son.

"Hiccup?" the voice made him turn around he smiled slightly up at the girl he knew so well now. Astrid who had once been what he thought he wanted was now just a friend in his heart but he didn't know how to tell her that. Her long blonde hair was held back in a long braid that fell to the middle of her back. Beside her were the twins, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, than his cousin Snotlout and finally Fishlegs, these were his friends now and the first of the dragon riders.

"I'm alright just remembering things. Let's head back now." He slowly climbed his way on to Toothless and he flew him up to the others. Once he was back on the ground they began their trek back to the village.

"What was it this time?" Snotlout asked with as serious a look as he could get.

"Just old times." Was the answer Hiccup gave as he continued on. He didn't notice when the group exchanged knowing looks before Astrid and Ruffnut shivered involuntarily. They remembered a time when Hiccup had been happy, maybe even happier than he was when he was flying with Toothless. Neither of them or any of the boys would dare to say the name of the person who was responsible for that…

Toothless following behind watched as his human walked as if the world was tilted and as if he had lost something. The dragon was not sure what caused his human to look like this. It wasn't the first time he had seen this though. Many times he had seen his human stare off into space with a sad expression as if he had lost something. Maybe it was that his human was not feeling well? He went around the group that seemed to have stopped to stare and tackled Hiccup to the ground licking his face in hopes that it would make him smile. He was right it did and for a split second Hiccups green eyes shinned with light.

"Toothless!" He called out and wrapped his arms around the dragon's neck. "You silly dragon, you got me all covered in snow."

"That was only a short time away anyhow and you know it Hiccup." Tuffnut said with a snort as he and the rest came up to the two.

"Oh, were you planning on pushing me?" He asked eyeing the blonde boy.

"Get up Hiccup your dad is going to kill us if we aren't there when the little ones arrive for first training." Ruffnut complained with a whine in her voice.

Toothless moved and let Hiccup up, watching the group once again as they began the rest of the walk. He knew where they were heading the arena. He growled softly to himself.

Just as they went to walk in to the building that now housed the academy for dragon riders a sickening crack was heard and everyone yelled out Hiccups name as he was hit by the falling debris. Darkness meet Hiccup and he saw not for the first time that last day by the lake…

He ran as fast as his feet could carry him. He was going to meet Jackson and Pipa at the lake they were going to skate. Just as he was putting his skates on by the edge of the lake he saw her windblown hair and tear filled eyes staring at a break in the ice. He looked around and suddenly it rushed over him Jackson wasn't to be seen. No! He couldn't be? His eyes searched the small space. He knew that the ice wouldn't hold him if he tried to get to it. He did the only thing he could do; he went to Pipa and pulled her to the shore…

"Where is Jackson?" he asked the girl quietly as she began screaming.

"He, He said we were going to have a little fun and he swung me away from the break, he, he fell in!" her voice was loud and as she screamed more people found their way to the lake. Her parents found them first her mother looking around for her son and her father starring at the lake in shock.

That was the last day anyone on Berk ever Mentioned the Name Jackson and it was the last day Hiccup Haddock smiled until he brought down his dragon friend Toothless, his last really happy smile not weighted down by an even greater sadness was that morning, the morning that would forever be ingrained in the mind of the families of Berk as the Morning that his best friend Jackson fell through the ice into the freezing cold lake water never to be seen again.

Astrid and the others dug through the rubble as quickly as they could; praying that they weren't too late. When they finally got all of it off of Hiccup they could see they were. He wasn't breathing and when they tried to find a pulse they couldn't. With shaking shoulders and tears falling from their eyes they cancelled class and with Snotlout carrying his cousin went to tell Chief Stoic the sad and terrible news.