Can you forgive me?

There he stands, waiting, looking eagerly at the path out of the forest. "Toothless! Toothless!" I hear him scream. "You came back! Come to me, please. I am sorry, so very sorry. Be my friend again".

What? I can hardly believe what I hear. Yes, I would like that. Like that so much. But I too have something to say to you. I walked over to him, nudged his iron foot, and let my head hang low.

"What do you do? Will you not look at me?"

Again I nudged his foot. He did not understand. Then I put my fangs around his other leg and bit just a little. I heard him gasp, then he started to tremble. I let go and he slumped down on his knees, shaking.

I lay down flat, my head on the grass, eyes closed. Please lift my shame off me for I cannot look at you.

Now he understood. "My leg, you mean my foot! So, so . . . you know now. You realized it. It is forgiven, Toothless! You saved me! Look what I did to you as YOUR ENEMY. Can you ever forgive me?"

My head jerked up: YES, I CAN. I felt his arms and head fall on top of my head, his trembling not over yet.

"Oh, you came back, just like the elder said. She came by and told me that you would come, but that you still needed some time. And we are good again, GOOD."

The elder? Incredible. She has us all. But it slipped my mind as we got happier by the heartbeat.

Hiccup looked me in the eye and had started to rattle. "I thought for a moment you were going to bite off my other foot in retaliation. But I am stupid, you are a fine dragon. The finest. My best friend. Let me know, Toothless, please, when you are angry about something, or sad. Don't keep it inside you anymore".

Yes, I will. And you do that too, for you did not let me know either. You are far more complicated than I thought.

He rattled on: "You must have gone mad all this time in our village without any solitude. We'll find a solution. You can go into the woods any time you like, or, or, there is a little island nearby. Yes, with a stream full of fish. I could fly you there and return with Astrid on her dragon. Oh, Toothless, take all the time you need! And you must eat, I have fish ready. And about flying, maybe you want to fly at night as you are a dragon of the night."

Yes, YES! Oh, to fly under moon and stars again.

"And the elder told me that your pride is hurt. But do you even realise how very proud I am of you, how proud my people are? And your kind should be too: you released them from their cruel queen. You ended the war, you and me together, and Astrid an the others and the dragons they befriended. It's just, people are still daunted by your appearance. They do not feel comfortable with you. But people only now realise how much you lost, what it must mean to you, for the elder told them. Many of them went out in search for you. Give them a chance, Toothless. It needs time. We all need time to figure things out."

He .. he understands me. Never have I been understood, even among dragons. Always have I been a loner. It was as if he looked inside me and placed his hand on every hurt, every need. As if the sun had come down to shine inside me and everything sparkled in answer. I could not contain my happiness anymore, I ran around in circles, wings beating. Returning to him, setting off again, and returning to hear more words as Hiccup didn't stop rattling.

Until he silenced and looked a me with a bit of unease. I came to him, puzzled. "Toothless, there is one other thing. It could be difficult for you. Please hear me out?"

I sat down, suddenly worried.

"The thing is: people do not get to know you. You are the only Night Fury around, so they do not get to know the ways of your kind. They are uneasy about you".

Yes, I have noticed that.

"You noticed! I gave it much thought when you were gone. You seem to avoid everyone. You seem to . . cling to me. It's just, there are more people around that you can like and . . trust".

Cling to .. trust .. I got irritated. Trust is hard, my friend.

"Sorry, Toothless, I read your face, how can I speak to you about trust, I realize that. But can you find it in your heart to let go of the past? All in your own pace? The dragon Astrid befriended, and the other dragons that have been severely mistreated in the arena, they do not hold a grudge anymore".

SO I DO?

"Don't you, then?"

It's just .. trust is hard for me. I do not have a past with trust in it, there was hardly a dragon that came near me. You were the first, that is why I was so intrigued and why you are so special to me, why I .. cling to you. ..But I will change that. Change can be for the good, I know that now. It will not hurt to look around a bit more, greet people. See which of the people I like, or that would .. come to me .. and .. touch me (that is difficult, Hiccup, help me with that).
..But, I already do like one: the elder! And Astrid already stroked me once.

"I like what I see, my friend. And Astrid, how bad is she?"

Bad! Huh,huh,huh.

"Ha ha ha, you laugh, that's the spirit!"

Happiness took hold of me again.

Then suddenly Hiccup took my head and lifted it high so it made me sit upright. Then he knelt and rested his cheek and hands against my heart.

What? You do these unexpected things! But at once a beautiful feeling spread its wings, and soared through me. A most wonderful, soft glow, unlike any fire I know, spread throughout all of my body. It seemed to define me all over, fresh and new. It even seemed to include my missing tailfin, as if an after image glowed there. Wonderful, wonderful . . .

"Toothless?"

What?

"Are you all right?"

I must have drifted off. YES I AM. You made something wonderful just happen. Now I want to go fly, summersault with you though the sky. Only I am light in my head, maybe I should eat your fish first.

Fish.

YES, that is what I will do: I will fish and hunt for myself again! Or do what I can, you will think of something to help me with that. And the first big juicy fish I will bring to the elder. I will bring her a beautiful fish so she knows . . or, maybe she guesses already!

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

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