Epilogue

Hiccup balanced his stump on an overturned bucket as he stood next to his workbench in the forge. Since he hadn't left on good terms with Alvin his old leg had stayed on Outcast Island. He'd woken up after the battle with the Red Death wearing the prosthetic so this was the first time he was truly legless. He wanted to finish the new one quickly. It'd been week since he'd arrived back on Berk, and it'd taken him that long to heal and get strong enough to stand on his own and hammer the metal. Gobber had offered to make him another leg while Hiccup recovered in bed, but Hiccup wanted to make his own. Finally put some of those tweaks in it. That hadn't made it any easier to wait, though.

He was hard at work when Astrid came in. At first she didn't say anything, she just watched him manipulating the metal, hammering it into the size and shape he needed. She was amazed that people could create things out of what appeared to be nothing only a few minutes before.

She cleared her throat when Hiccup looked to be in a safe place to stop. "Hiccup?"

"Oh, hey Astrid. What brings you here on this fine evening?" He seemed happy enough to chat, but Astrid could see the stress around his eyes. His greeting grin was more fleeting than usual.

"I was just wondering if you were ok?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be? I escaped from Alvin backwards and legless. You should have seen the look on his face as we flew away! I've had food and my arm is nearly completely healed. Toothless's wounds are healing as well and he's eaten half the fish in the ocean by now! And it turns out it looks like Toothless trained the dragons to do what he said, not what Alvin said, so we haven't even been attacked."

Even though his words were chipper and very much Hiccup, Astrid could tell he wasn't as happy as he was trying to be.

"Hiccup..." she began. "I know you too well. What's the matter?"

"Everything's fine, Astr..."

"Drop it, Hiccup. I know it's not. You're in here sulking."

Hiccup's mouth closed with an audible click.

"I...I...I can't believe you said that. I am NOT sulking, Astrid Hofferson. I'm working on my leg. I can't even believe you'd think that, that I'd...I'd be sulking, that I of all people would sulk..."

Astrid cocked an eyebrow at him, stopping his verbal barrage in its tracks. She stared until he broke eye contact, looked down, and scratched the back of his head.

"Astrid," Hiccup sighed. "When I was there, Alvin made Toothless do things. He left me alone in a cell where I couldn't stand, even if I wanted to. I couldn't feed myself. Every time I went somewhere someone carried me. I just... I've never felt like not having my leg mattered before. But there on Outcast Island I didn't feel like a human anymore. I didn't feel worthy of anything. I was a sack, an object that made Toothless do what Alvin wanted.

"Then you guys came and rescued me, and it made me feel better. Especially leaving backwards on Toothless, just to dig it into Alvin how much of a dragon rider I am. But now we're home. I still can't walk. Toothless or my dad carries me everywhere. Even Gobber when I'm here in the forge since there's not enough room for Toothless to move about well without burning off his tail. I have to wait for someone to come and get me. And flying on Toothless backwards is hard work, so he hasn't had a chance to go up since we've been back and better and now he's cranky.

"I've never been without my leg. You were there when I woke up. Gobber'd already put it on. So it's like the Red Death battle just happened. When I woke up after that there were dragons to figure out and an academy to get up and running, and so many things to do. Now it's settled down and we're healthy again, and I'm…I'm... "

"Mourning?" interjected Astrid.

Hiccup nodded sadly. "I never had time to do it when I lost it, and the one Gobber made was pretty good. I mean, sure, my stump bothers me when it gets cold and the leg squeaked a little when I walked on it. But I've never been without. I'm just a little sad today. I want to finish this. I needed a new one soon anyway. The old one was getting a little short, but I would have been able to stand on my own to make it if it wasn't for Alvin."

"I understand, Hiccup." She paused. "I'm done with my chores for the day. Do you want some company?"

Now it was Hiccup's turn to stare at Astrid until she was uncomfortable. She never stayed at the forge with him. "Uhh, yeah, sure. If you want, that'd be great. I could actually use your help when I'm done."

Astrid hung around and they chatted while Hiccup pounded the metal and heated it and bent it to fit his stirrup, and to be able to walk on it. He attached straps and buckles, and with Astrid's shoulders under his arm and her arm around his waist he was able to stand up on it and walk out of the forge and test it out.

"All right there, Dragon Conqueror," she said as she stepped away from him and he stood on his own for the first time in nearly two weeks. "You look legged. Feel better?"

Hiccup smiled and nodded. "I do, young lady."

"Great. In that case..." she gave a whistle and Stormfly and Toothless came running from around the corner. Toothless came over to Hiccup's new leg and gave it a sniff, then a nudge of approval. With joy he tossed his rider onto his back. Hiccup slid his new leg into the stirrup. A perfect fit. For the first time in days an honest to goodness smile came naturally to his face. He felt like himself again. Like his whole self. Toothless let out a contented rumble as well. Hiccup looked to his side and saw Astrid astride Stormfly, both of them eager to fly as well.

"Ok bud, let's go try out this new leg. UP!"