The Legend of Puff
Chapter 12
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Hiccup stared down at the patch of freshly turned earth that had just been spread over his son's body. He couldn't look up. Every tree, every bush, every inch of the hollow, reminded him of Jackie.
Hiccup didn't know why he had insisted that Jackie be buried in the beautiful little clearing he had spent so much time in. Maybe it was because of his last words. Maybe it was because, when he thought of Jackie, it was where he imagined him to be.
He also didn't know why he had insisted on such a small party present at the burial. He didn't think he could stand being with a lot of people … why? Was he afraid? Angry? Simply too sad?
Astrid stood beside him, and they dampened each other's skin with their tears. Astrid was devastated, sobbing so hard her body shook in Hiccup's arms, but her despair could never reach the place Hiccup's reached.
How many hours they stood there, both sobbing blindly, sharing each other's pain.
Slowly, as the sun traveled across the sky, Astrid and the others moved away.
Hiccup could not.
He remained, kneeling on the cold ground, for hours more. He couldn't bear to be there. He couldn't bear to leave.
He closed his eyes, and rocked back and forth, while tears seeped out from under his eyelids, crying harder then he had in years. His lungs burned, and every breath seared his throat.
A little movement at his side… an extra-long tail brushed his hand. Puff curled beside him.
As Hiccup watched, a few scales from the little dragon's side fell to the ground. It was his way of crying.
The little Night Fury ears were drooping, and, as Hiccup looked at him, he realized that this was not his own story. Nor was this story all Jackie's. This story was Puff's - the story of finding and losing, seeking and losing again - he had regained his power of flight, but lost a friend, and now -
"Come with us, Puff," whispered Hiccup. "Come with us. Honah Lee will grow to love you. I love you. Come with us."
Puff looked up at Hiccup with his giant black eyes… then shook his head.
"Please," Hiccup said.
Puff moved slowly away, away from Hiccup, away from the path that led back to the village, away from Jackie's grave, away from all the sorrow and pain.
And as he walked, a sparse trail of his greenish scales lay scattered behind him.
Hiccup picked one up, and rolled it in his fingers… then pocketed it. He would keep it. Keep it forever.
He looked up, and for the first time, looked around the little clearing.
A flash of brightest pink caught his eye.
He looked up. There … just above Jackie's grave… the first cherry blossom was bursting into bloom.
Puff crawled dejectedly back into the cave he had once shared with so many other dragons. They were all still here, but he ignored them as he made his way deeper into the mountain. They didn't know what it was like. They had no idea what he felt.
He remembered, so many months ago, before he had met Jackie, and lost him, when he had first learned to fly. When he had first been balanced on the edge of the cliff.
How he had longed to crawl back into his eggshell.
He had reached the dragon nurseries, now. Thousands of baby dragons lay curled on rocks and sprawled on the floor. And, on the ground, were shards and shards of eggshells.
Puff nosed through them, and found a piece he recognized. It was a fair size… about a third of the shell he had once lived in.
It took him hours, but he finally found all the pieces among all the other dragons' shells.
They still fit together.
He curled up into his tightest ball, and squeezed himself back inside the dragon egg.
It was still warm and cozy in here.
Maybe he would wake up, and it would all be a dream.
He hoped it was, but he also hoped it wasn't. He didn't want Jackie to lose the place in his heart. Puff swore to himself, deep in his eggshell, that he would never forget.
Still not the end, there's one more chapter. An epilogue.