A/N: I know I haven't updated in like forever. I was going through a lot of make-up work for school and I didn't have any time. Please leave a review; I'd like to hear what you've thought of the story.

Chapter 10

Acceptance to Loving

Hiccup sat in the Meade hall alone, waiting for Toothless to come back for him. His friends had left to get their dragons to help persuade his father in letting Hiccup be with Toothless, but judging by his reaction, the chances of his acceptance were slim and none...

Even if he could convince his dad that Toothless wasn't a boy, it wouldn't matter. Toothless was of an entirely different species, and of course for his luck, the species his people had been fighting for several generations. He scratched his forehead, wondering what happened to his conviction of telling his dad...

"Oh wait that's right, I never had it. Ugh..." He groaned, why did everything always have to be so complicated for him...?

Hiccup twisted his head when he heard the door creak open and saw his Night Fury staring at him. She sprinted over to him, giving him a playful smile and accompanying gurgles. Hiccup smiled back. "I'm guessing it went well for little miss fireball?" Toothless snorted and flicked her ear at him.

"Yeah, yeah I get it." He scratched her neck, and she purred happily. "You really are adorable Toothless buddy. You know... Gorgeous and all that." She purred and rubbed her head against his face. Hiccup simply sat there scratching her neck, enjoying the eye of the storm. "We... we really are an odd couple aren't we?"

Toothless snorted, and looked him in the eyes. "Me, the scrawny Viking heir, and you, the rare demon child of lightning and death minus a tail-fin." He twiddled his thumbs, trying to think of some way to keep them both in the village and no one getting their heads... beheaded.

An idea lit up in his mind, and he tried to stand up and yell his success, but only managed to cause Toothless and himself to fall on the floor. "Ow... Sorry bud." She huffed, but helped her rider stand up anyway.

"The ELDER, Tooth! The elder has the final say on things! Why didn't I remember this before?" Toothless nudged him, gurgling forhim to go on. "If we could convince her to accept this... Dad would have to accept us!" The Night Fury stared blankly, not believing an elderly human could change that sheep-headed father of Hiccup's, but she would settle to just be able to simply keep living where she was.

After all, it was her home now.

She gave a questioning gurgle to Hiccup. "Huh? Oh, uh, she lives at the highest point of the village. I think she has a terrible terror herself, so she'll understand the dragon part, not to mention she..." Hiccup's voice paused, feeling he had almost said something rude about the elder. She nudged forhim to finish, and Hiccup sighed. What harm could it do to tell his dragoness? "...She's a widow. So she'll understand about being separated from someone you love..."

The dragoness gave a small roar to him, nuzzling Hiccup as memories of his mother came to him.

"Well, we... we better go. Dad isn't the the kind of guy to stay down, you know." Hiccup grabbed her neck, stood up, and groaned. "Too bad the elder lives at the top of the village. Beyond hills. And since you no longer have the title, buddy, my new mortal enemy is…"

"Stairs." Hiccup frowned as he looked up the high stairway, spanning a vast hill overlooking the village. Toothless growled, her patience running thin. First she had to back down a challenge from a female rival, then be carried along a ship as a passenger -her, a dragoness!- and keep silent, and to add insult to injury, keep herself from mauling Axebeak for his rude comments.

She shook her head and decided to be lazy and dangerous. She bit his vest and threw him on her back, ignoring his screams of protest as she forced him to cling to her neck as the dragoness ran way up the stairs, deciding going back for her saddle would take far too long.

"To-ooo-othless! Stoo-op! I- can't- stop- bouncing!" Hiccup screamed as she went to the top of the hill. As they reached the top, Toothless skidded to a halt, Hiccup barely holding on enough to have kept himself from flying off his dragoness and into the elder's house.

He hastily climbed off her, giving her a quick glare before shaking his head about having his dragoness learn some manners.

"Oh gods I hope the elder is in a good mood." Hiccup knocked on the elder's door and waited for an answer, while thinking of how to explain the situation. The elder had seen many things in her life, so he hoped all her experience would help her see they were not simply a couple from Hel's depths.

"...Come in, young one."

Hiccup gulped and whispered to Toothless, "Bud, I'm not sure she what's she's going to say, but whatever you do, please, PLEASE be on your best... dragon behavior. She does NOT like people who muss up her house..." Toothless nodded, and gave her friend a gentle shove as they entered the Viking elder's house.

Toothless tilted her head, seeing a gray-haired, short woman, apparently using a wooden stick to stand. She wondered how such a frail, close-to-death human could be in charge of a village of fierce Vikings but she guessed it might have been the knowledge one gets as they age. Her earflaps rose, and she nodded to herself. Older dragons could teach younger dragons much wisdom, though they were seldom leaders unless they could still fight.

The elder walked over and closed the door behind them, as Toothless noticed the house was much like Hiccup's, leading her to wonder if Vikings built their homes all alike...

The elder stared at Hiccup and chuckled. "Stoick's son? What are you doing all the way up here? It's not good to walk up so high with that fake leg of yours."

"Well, I didn't walk. Toothless let me ride her back up here."

She nodded, "Oh... How kind of a dragon." She patted Toothless's head as she frowned, thinking the elder meant that dragons weren't ever kind. She dismissed the thought and smacked Hiccup's leg to have him get on with it.

"All right, all right." He mustered up his best manners, and asked, "The reason we came here today was to ask if you'd..." Hiccup paused as the elder closed her eyes and rested both her hands on her staff.

"It's fine boy. I'm just getting comfortable to listen to you."

"If you would bless... Me and... Toothless's -the dragoness next to me- idea of... marriage-"

The elder slammed her staff against the floor, both dragon and rider wincing at the sudden interruption. "You've come here, to ask a VIKING to bless the marriage of a BOY and a DRAGON?"

Hiccup steeled himself and nodded.

The elder narrowed her eyes. "The same dragon that has repeatedly destroyed this village again and again for years?"

Toothless nodded and gave the lightest, friendly gurgle she could.

The elder walked up to Hiccup, and glared at him hard enough to make him forget the concept of time until she spoke.

"...The same dragon that helped end the war?"

Hiccup's eyes widened, "Yes ma'am."

She turned around and walked over to her bed. "...Very well. Consider my blessing your reward for not only slaying the biggest dragon ever, but ending the war. I believe you've earned the right."

She grabbed a shawl and turned to face them. "And if your father or anyone else gives you any trouble about it, tell him I approve of it."

Hiccup's mouth broke into a wide grin. "Oh thank you, elder! Thank you!" Toothless rubbed against the elder's side, eliciting loud purrs of gratitude.

"All right then, we'll get the other kids to persuade the other villagers. Thanks again, elder!" The Viking elder nodded and the two stormed out of the house.

The elder sat quietly on her bed, her eyes closed. "I've never seen YOU hide from anything... So why now?"

The door opened and closed. "Elder... How- how can you go with this...?"

The elder shook her head. "Look at them, they've ended a war hundreds of us and thousands of them could not end... Isn't my blessing the least I could do for them, Stoick?"

Stoick sighed, and grabbed his helmet, staring at the reflection of himself on his headgear. "I know the boy has done everything I've ever wanted him to and more, it's just... I can't really think of him marrying -betrothing himself to- that devil... It really..."

"Disgusts you? Horrifies you? Makes you feel betrayed? Lied to? Cheated?"

Stoick stayed silent as he rubbed the helmet with his fingers.

The elder opened her eyes slowly and asked him, "...Or is it because you feel like you've let your wife down?"

Stoick gripped the helmet tightly, the headgear slightly shaking in his clutches. "I- I promised her that- that I would make him into one of the best Vikings on Berk, and to get him the best wife he could ever have..."

He put the helmet back on his head and leaned on the door. "Gods know how disappointed I was when I realized he couldn't even light up an axe, and -thank Odin, he slew the biggest beast of them all. But now he wants to ENGAGE a dragon! I- I just... I don't know what to do elder. He's my son, I've just become a father again to him, and I don't wanna lose him."

"If you don't want to lose him? It's simple Stoick."

"How elder? How do I solve this? I can't use the old Viking fallback."

"Go through with it. What Viking lass could ever be a better protector for your son than a dragon? They both have lost a limb, and they both understand each other. I think your wife would like for Hiccup to be married to someone he really loves, don't you?"

Stoick slumped to the ground. "I... For Hiccup, I'll... I'll try."

Author's Note: WEEE not much story left! I think I'll stick off the HxT for a while (Except for one-shots) and move on to under-appreciated pairings, like PoxViper or other fandoms. =) I hope everyone had a good father's day; we ate at red lobster! It was yummy. :D