A/N: FINAL CHAPTER! But there will be an epilogue. NOTICE: The epilogue will not be like the one in + the book with 85 year old Hiccup and such. I don't know, I just thought people would like it better if I added a little funny-sorta epilogue instead. If enough people request 85 year old Hiccup although, I will do 85 year old Hiccup.

Disclaimer: Excuse me, while I go cry.

Chapter 12

Berk

Without Alvin on his back, Toothless was shooting faster through the icy-waters. It was absolutely freezing; it felt like needles were piercing my skin the faster he went. Closing my eyes tight and shrinking closer to the warm flank under me, I counted the seconds it took us to reach the surface. Finally, after ages, Toothless broke the exterior of the still waters.

We all gladly sucked in air, blinking the salt water out of our eyes. I looked at Astrid, who gave me a small smile. I smiled back crookedly, earning a giggle from her. Toothless peered one eye at me, concerned.

"You both ok?"

"Yes, we're fine bud," I replied.

"Oh, no," I heard Astrid mumble.

"What?"

"You two!" I looked at her, questioningly. She smiled playfully back, "You two are gonna have all your little secret conversations! That's going to get on my nerves. . ."

All I did was chuckle lightly back. Toothless rolled his eyes, but with a small smile. Astrid shook her head slightly, but kept the light-hearted smile.

"So. . . ." I began, "any idea where Berk would be?"

"No idea," Astrid replied.

"Eh hem," Toothless said, looking expectantly at us. I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to explain. "Well look right in front of you."

I did what I was told, and mentally slapped myself. The cliffs of Berk were right there, greeting us. It was a pleasant comfort, finally seeing something that reminded me so much of home. "Oh," I murmured. Toothless smirked a bit, before straightening himself out and doing his best to swim the nearly 200 yards to the shore. Coincidentally, it was the same shore we had swam too when the ship had crashed and we found the coffin.

Toothless kept getting dragged under water with our weight. I felt bad, what was this the 6th time he saved us from drowning?

"Toothless, you ok buddy?" I asked, getting concerned.

"Please, I'm fine. Water never hurt anybody."

"Really? Cause it looks like we're about to drown you," I protested.

"Hush. We're almost there," he commanded, seeming agitated. Not wanting to annoy the dragon, I shut my mouth. Within just a few more minutes, Toothless gratefully came to the shore. Astrid and I let go of him when our feet could touch the bottom. Toothless then quickly paddled himself to the shore and thumped to the ground, exhausted. And then, of course, he sneezed a great big ball of fire in the other direction.

Astrid and I looked at each other with a slight frown. She grabbed my hand and we finished walking the way to the shore; we parted, and sat on both sides of Toothless with our legs crossed. He looked between us, almost confused.

"What?" he asked, looking to me.

"Umm," I stumbled at first, "Thanks Toothless. For, you know, saving us from dying. Again." I smiled, scratching the dragon behind his ear.

He narrowed his eyes in thought, then gave a hearty chuckle. "You're very welcome," he said, nuzzling against my hand, "but I swear on the dragon gods if you, or Astrid for that matter, get yourselves in a near-death situation again, I'm locking you in your room. Forever. Got it?"

I scratched the dragon again, making him purr, and gave a small laugh. "Yeah. Got it." Astrid looked to me with curious eyes. "He said that if any of us risks our lives again, he's locking us in our rooms."

She smiled lightly, but the confused expression stayed on her face. She gave a small giggle, patting the dragon on the head. "Hm. He's a bit over-protective, isn't he?" she said with laughing eyes. I nodded anxiously, mouthing the words yes. Toothless then looked to me, and I quickly shook my head and started mouthing the word no, giving the 'she's crazy!' look. Satisfied, he grumbled and rested his head on the sand. I looked to Astrid again, again nodding in agreement with her. She snorted, making Toothless shoot his head up to give us both a confused look. I smiled crookedly, and patted him on the head.

"What? Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

"No bud, you're fine," I said, giving him a warm smile. He still looked confused, rolling his eyes.

"Geez and she said it would get annoying when we started having secret conversations; well look who's talking now!" he said with an annoyed look. I burst into laughter and scratched his head again. He snorted, closing his eyes and laying his head on the warm sand again. Astrid and I both lied slightly against his flank, feeling sleepy ourselves. Before I knew it I heard the Astrid's breathing even into a soft pattern; she had fallen asleep. Toothless turned his head to look at both of us with groggy eyes, before placing his wings over us. Looking pleased with himself, he laid his head back down giving a content sigh. I smiled, giving the dragon a final scratch. My eye-lids began to feel heavy, and soon the warm flank of the dragon and soothing pattern of Astrid's breath had lulled me to sleep.

O~~~~~~O

It was nearly sun-set when we woke up. The sky had just begun to develop an orange and pink hue, making the white clouds stand out against the colors. It was breath-taking, reminding me of when Toothless (I had no part in it!) had 'kidnapped' Astrid and flew through the clouds. Smiling to myself, I laid my head back down and waited for the two to wake up.

I didn't have to wait too long. They slowly came back to reality, and without talking we all stood and tried to find our way back to our village. Luckily we knew the way because of the previous ship-wreck. Doesn't mean it didn't take us a shorter amount of time, unfortunately.

The trek was long, uneventful, and just a full-on nuisance. I tripped at least 7 times, not even able to catch myself because of my arm. Luckily the other 10 times Astrid or Toothless was there to break my fall.

"I swear Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III, you will be the death of me!" Toothless joked.

I simply smiled to him, and we continued. An hour and a half. An hour and a half is how long it took us just to see the lights of the village flicker on as the moon shadowed above the horizon. I smiled, knowing we were just minutes from home. Everybody probably thought we were dead. Heck even I thought we were going to die!

I looked down at my chest, wondering if the Dragon Stone was visible or not. Luckily the tunic and vest hid it pretty well, and as we all know my tribe isn't exactly observant. Or smart for that matter. For once I praised the Gods for my tribe's denseness.

Finally, after defeating Skullions, an evil Outcast, and the so called 'Strangulator', we had arrived to the comfort of home.

All the windows were shut. Not a door was open. Nobody bustled about and no children darted around to be yelled at by their parents. It was eerie. The air held a sad thickness that could choke you. Had everyone made it back alright? I felt Astrid squeeze my shoulder harder, fearing the worst. I was almost shaking with anxiety. But then, ever so faintly, we heard the clinking of metal far off, in the shop where Gobber and I worked. Then I heard the cursing of a familiar voice with a strong accent.

We froze. Astrid and I looked at each other, our hopes soaring.

"Gobber!" I yelled. Astrid and I both started sprinting towards the forge, eager to see a familiar face. Toothless followed behind, getting anxious and excited. I practically busted the door down, praying to any Gods that would listen everyone was ok. I heard some more cursing, and the slight thud of Gobber's wooden peg leg thumping against the ground. He came to the front of the forge, looking down and rubbing his head as if he had hit it on something hard. He muttered a few more curses under his breath.

"For the love of the Gods, what do ye-," he finally looked up and saw us, his eyes widening and a smile forming, "Hiccup?"

Astrid and I both smiled ear to ear. "Gobber!" We both ran to him and he pulled us into a quick hug. We stepped back, smiling and grateful to see someone we knew, and didn't want us dead. Gobber looked totally flabbergasted, and then of course I knew why the village was so quiet. Astrid, Toothless, and I had been last seen trapped under the boat. Everyone thought we were dead.

"But, how boy! The whole town thinks ye' two ar' dead!"

I just grinned, and gestured to Toothless. Gobber looked back and forth between all of us at first, then a smile grew on his face. He gave a loud, hearty laugh, tossing his hands in the air.

"I don't know how you do it boy, but if you didn't have that dragon I don't know what would've happened to you by now!" he bellowed. He started pacing back and forth in the shop, babbling about what a klutz I am and he's surprised that I still have most of my limbs (with the one exception, of course). "For the love of the Gods, I have no idea how your Father," his face then became serious, almost concerned, "Oh Thor Stoick! He thinks you're dead!"

My own eyes widened, and I felt myself panic a bit. "What? Where is he!" I demanded.

"Most of 'em are in the hall, mourning your loss!" he exclaimed. At first we just stood there dumbfounded, before Gobber ushered us all out the door. "Well what are you doing here! GO you two!" Coming back to our thoughts, we sped out the door and raced to the hall.

Gobber followed close behind, looking as frantic as us. Astrid raced in front, me right behind her. Toothless kept alongside me, looking worried. And of course, letting myself get distracted, I tripped. Toothless was barely able to swoop down in time to catch me.

"Thanks bud," I mumbled. Not even waiting for a reply I straightened myself and sprinted towards the hall again. Finally I saw the dim-lit building almost glowing in contrast with the rest of the village. Astrid had already busted threw the door when I was still feet behind. I heard her shout for her parents, before I threw myself through the doorway.

"Dad!" I shouted.

The hall was filled with people, but all were silent and completely dumbfounded. I looked over and saw Astrid in a hug with her family, but who I really wanted to see then was my dad. I finally spotted him at the front of the hall as usual, his eyes glazed over and looking totally surprised. I felt my smile grow and I ran forward to him.

"Dad!" I yelled, running into him as he pulled me into a hug. I stiffened, surprised. I eventually calmed and hugged back. I felt his body shaking as he pulled away to look at me.

"But, how! We saw you go under," he said, his voice quivering a bit.

I smiled once again, and looked at my dragon who was hovering in the back. But dad looked to Toothless, then back to me. His hard eyes lightened, and a broad grin cut through his fierce features. He hugged me again, but this time lifting me off the ground.

"Dad!" I choked out, "Put me down! You're crushing my ribcage!"

"Give me a moment, I thought you were dead 5 minutes ago!" he protested, getting a bit of a laugh from the crowd.

"Still can't breathe!" I squeaked. He bellowed with laughter, before gently setting me back down. I stood to the side of him, his hand on my shoulder. He beckoned Astrid forward; she smiled and made her way to my side. She held my good hand, and we smiled to each other. "HOOLIGANS!" my Father bellowed for the second time that day, "My son, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III, and Astrid Hofferson has returned!" The whole crowd exploded with cheers and whistles. Astrid caught up in the excitement smashed her lips against mine. As she pulled away I could feel the slight blush on my cheeks and the goofy grin peeking it's way on my mouth. I laughed and put my good arm around her, hugging her tighter. As the crowd cheered, my Father looked to Toothless.

He smiled broadly, and waved his hand to sign Toothless closer. Toothless at first looked nervous: sure he knew my Dad but it didn't mean they were the best of friends. Toothless stepped back a little. My Father's smile dropped the slightest bit. "Come on Toothless, I won't hurt you now!" he assured. Toothless looked surprised when my Father actually called him by his name. It was usually 'black beast' or 'devil' or in a good mood 'that creature'. Toothless looked to me, searching for reassurance.

I stepped forward a bit, and gestured for him to come closer. "Come on buddy," I whispered, "Everything's fine."

"Hiccup. . ."

I raised my eye-brows. "You're fine," I mouthed. With one more nervous glance to me, Toothless made his way forward. He stopped in front of my Father, still looking a bit nervous. My Father smiled broadly, and kneeled down so he was eye-level with Toothless. My Dad raised his hand and placed it on the Night Fury's snout. Toothless at first looked puzzled, his eye's widening.

"Thank you, for saving my son."

Toothless gave my Father a gummy-smile; he closed his eyes and nuzzled against his hand. My Dad gave a hearty laugh, and stood back up.

"Well I wasn't going to let him die. . ." Toothless said, rolling his eyes. I shook my head and stifled a chuckle. Toothless noticed my laugh. He gave me his signature grin, and came to stand by me. Astrid patted his head, making him purr, and with a peck on my cheek she went to reunite with family and friends. I sighed, giving Toothless a crooked smile. I bent down to be eye-level with the dragon, placing my hand on his snout.

"We've been through a lot, huh bud?" I whispered.

"Yes," he chuckled, "and knowing you, I can guarantee we're nowhere near done."

O~~~~~~O

A/N: I was thinking about continuing, but I'll just save that for the epilogue ; ) I really hope you guys liked this, it was probably the most fun thing I've ever written. And guess what? I've got drabble ideas! And even the first chapter of the sequel planned out! Drabbles will be first, sequel second. Review please! They make me feel special! : )

God bless! 3

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