A/N: Oh I am really excited about this one! I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD The Hidden World.
Guilt.
That's really what all of this came down to.
Guilt was what he seemed to be feeling constantly over these past couple of weeks. Guilt when Toothless met the Light Fury, guilt when his best friend was unable to fly alongside her, guilt was what had driven him to give him a new tail. Guilt was what he was feeling when Berk was burned to the ground, guilt when he left the old village behind. Guilt was what he felt when the mission to capture Grimmel had failed because he didn't have his dragon there to save him. Guilt was what he felt when he followed his best friend to the Hidden World and he realized that he didn't belong there, that he couldn't be in the world of the dragons, but that the dragon had to stay…
Guilt was what he was feeling now, after watching his best friend and all the dragons get captured because of the mistakes he made.
But this feeling of guilt that was plaguing him now was not new. It was an old guilt, the oldest guilt, that he had been suppressing since the moment he shot the dragon down in the first place.
He let himself think about that night, so many years ago - that night he never wanted to remember.
"Come on. Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at."
That feeling of determination, that hope, that desperate need to prove himself.
"I - I hit it. Yes I hit it!"
And there it was. That suppressed, hidden feeling from the moment the weapon had hit the dragon - the creature had let out a pained cry and the sound pierced his heart with guilt.
And then he found the dragon in the woods. He looked at him. And then he looked again.
Guilt guilt guilt guilt that's what this all came down to.
That's what was driving him then, and that's what was driving him now.
Maybe his mission to save dragons, all of this determination to bring peace between humans and dragons, everything that he had devoted his life to – maybe it was all just trying to make up for the very first mistake he ever made. Maybe he was just trying to fix the one thing he never really fixed in the first place.
"You gave him his freedom."
Astrid had told him that when he gave him the new tail. He had done it without even realizing it. His best friend, his dragon, who he loved more than anything in the world, who he would die for in an instant if it meant saving his life, who he was terrified of losing, who he wanted to keep forever – was he just being selfish? Was he actually just keeping his best friend captive because he was scared he would leave and never come back?
Well now, because of his selfishness, his best friend was in real danger. His dream of dragons and humans living together was dangerous. It couldn't work. It wasn't meant to work. It wasn't what was best for the dragons, and it wasn't what was best for Berk. It was what was best for him.
Maybe it was time to finally fix the mistake he never fixed. Maybe it was time to set him free.
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