I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. Direct quotes from the movie will be bolded.

A New Beginning

Hiccup and Sunset were unconscious for over a week. The injuries they had sustained meant that their bodies needed a long period of rest in order for them to recover. Still, the people of Berk could not help but worry over the slim possibility of the teens never waking up.

"When do you think they'll wake?" Fishlegs asked one afternoon during their daily visits. The Viking teens checked up on Hiccup and Sunset at least once a day.

"Soon, I hope," Astrid sighed, eyeing Hiccup's limp form with worry. Toothless rested by the side of the bed, occasionally nudging Hiccup's arm to see if he could stir the boy awake. The Night Fury alternated between Hiccup and Sunset, making sure that both of his kids were well looked after and that he kept the same amount of attention on both.

After a while the teens filed out, knowing that they could do nothing. All they could do was wait for their friends to wake up.

And eventually, they did.

...

"Ugh..."

A soft moan rumbled in Sunset's throat as she came to consciousness. Her entire body ached, especially her head, which felt like it was being pounded on by a hammer. Gingerly the redhead sat up, probing the bandages wrapped around her head. Bruises and cuts covered her arms and she could feel the scab of a healing burn on the side of her face.

"What hit me?" she mumbled, slowly sitting up and pushing the blanket off of her. She glanced around in confusion at the unfamiliar furniture. "An even better question-who's house am I in?"

Before she could worry too much about the fact she was not in her own bedroom, the recent events came rushing back and a more alarming question took over-what happened to Hiccup and Toothless?

Panicked, she flew out of the room and out of the house, the afternoon sunlight nearly blinding her after two weeks of darkness. Ignoring her aching headache Sunset pushed on, tearing through the village as fast as she could. Exclamations sounded as she streaked past the clusters of Vikings, but she did not slow down to acknowledge them.

"Sunset!"

"What are you doing out here?"

"You should be resting!"

The redhead had made it to the foot of the slope where Hiccup's home was. This was where her energy ran out and she crumpled to the grass, panting heavily and her vision swimming. "Hiccup..." she groaned.

The door to Hiccup's house slammed open. Sunset glanced up and smiled brightly when Toothless bounded towards her, cooing happily. She rubbed his muzzle and giggled when he licked her face in excitement. "Hey, cutie. I missed you."

"Sunset, what are you doing?" Stoick demanded, a little alarmed when he noticed her pale face. "You ought to be resting!"

"I needed to see if Toothless and Hiccup were alright." Sunset leaned against Toothless in exhaustion. The dragon immediately helped support her. "How's Hiccup?" she asked.

"He'll be fine," Stoick assured her. "He'll just...have to adjust to a few things."

"There you are!"

Sunset turned around to see Gobber lumbering up towards them. "Hi, Gobber."

Gobber slapped her shoulder affectionately. "I turn my back for one second and you disappear!"

Sunset was confused for only a moment before realizing that it must have been Gobber's house she was in. Right. Father officially disowned me. "Sorry. I had to make sure Hiccup and Toothless were okay." Sunset debated for a moment before hesitantly asking, "So...where's my fath-Moonlight?"

Gobber and Stoick exchanged glances. "He...left," Gobber answered slowly.

Sunset blinked in surprise. She knew her father hated her, but she didn't think it was strong enough to push him from Berk. "Wow. I guess he really can't stand me."

"It's not so much that," Gobber said, attempting to make the girl feel better. "It's mostly the dragons."

"But it's only Toothless." Sunset frowned and stroked Toothless' head. "I know he can be intolerant, but really. It's one dragon!"

"You really didn't take a good look around, did you?" Gobber grinned.

Confused, Sunset turned around and scanned the village clearly for the first time since she stepped outside. An expression of pure disbelief crossed her face when she spotted dragons of all kinds combing the island, most of them with Vikings on their backs. "Whoa."

"This is all you." Stoick smiled. "You and Hiccup."

Sunset smirked. "So I guess all of this isn't so bad after all," she said as she gestured to herself.

"No, it certainly isn't." Stoick laughed. He then grew serious. "Sunset, I want to thank you for sticking beside Hiccup during all this, especially going to battle the Red Death with him."

"It's nothing." Sunset smiled. "It's what we do-watch each other's backs."

"Aye. And I'm glad Hiccup has you to do that." Stoick then glanced pointedly at Gobber, who got the hint.

"Sunset, you know you're like family, right?"

"Well, I have been hanging around since I was three, four years old." Sunset grinned. "I certainly think of you guys as family."

"Oh, that's good. Or else this might have been awkward," Gobber said with relief.

Sunset tilted her head to the side. "What might have been awkward?"

"You can't be living by yourself," Stoick pointed out firmly. "I'm afraid I've seen too many of your antics to be assured by the thought of you living alone."

"And since Stoick already has one hellion to handle, I thought I'd take the other," Gobber said cheerfully. "That's you, by the way."

"Thank you, for the clarification," Sunset drawled. But she couldn't stop the bright grin from crawling across her face. "And I really, really appreciate this."

"Eh, it's like Stoick said. You're like family. Someone has to keep you in line," Gobber said fondly, ruffling her hair.

Toothless cooed softly, nudging Sunset in the direction of the house. Sunset carefully got up and looked at her new caretaker hopefully. "Can I stay with Hiccup?"

"I don't see why not."

Stoick rolled his eyes. "Oh sure, push her off on me already."

"Come on Stoick, you know these two. Thor forbid if they be apart for more than six hours," Gobber joked.

Sunset giggled at their exchange and followed Toothless into the house. She entered the main room and found her best friend lying on his bed, his chest rising and falling gently. The scars he had received on his face were healing nicely. Sunset gently brushed his hair off of his forehead and settled into a wooden chair, closing her eyes with a yawn.

You know what, Moonlight? I think leaving was the best thing you've ever done for me.

...

A few hours later, Hiccup stirred. Toothless cooed excitedly and nudged his arm, hoping to urge the boy into consciousness. Sunset, awakened by her dragon's soft squeals, rubbed her eyes and watched her best friend as he opened his eyes.

"Hi, Toothless," Hiccup said groggily, not quite processing what was happening.

Toothless licked his face eagerly and jumped on him, accidently stepping on his stomach. Hiccup jolted up with a yelp. "Easy, bud. It's good to see you too-wait, we're in my house."

The Night Fury bounced happily, knocking things over as he went. Sunset ducked to avoid his tail and giggled when Toothless ended up on the wooden rafters, eyeing his kids with joy. It was then Hiccup spotted Sunset sitting in the chair across from him. "You let him in my house?" Hiccup asked incredulously. "Does my dad know about this?"

"Oh sure, we nearly die from battling the Red Death and this is the first thing you say to me when you wake up?" Sunset asked, mock-pouting.

The recent events came back to Hiccup and he grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. It's great to see you, Sun."

"That's much better." Sunset smiled. "And yes, your father knows Toothless is here. He's the one who lets him in."

"Huh," Hiccup muttered. He stretched before shifting to get out of bed. A sudden frown crossed his face. He peeled back his blanket and an expression of horror, shock and fear appeared.

"What's wrong?" Sunset asked, concerned.

Hiccup swallowed hard and slowly lowered his feet to the wooden floor. Sunset closed her eyes upon seeing the metallic leg. "Oh, Hiccup."

Hiccup gripped the bedpost for support and stood up. He gritted his teeth against the unfamiliar sensation and took a step. He immediately buckled to the ground, but Toothless was there to catch him. "Thanks," Hiccup breathed.

Sunset got up and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "You'll get used to it," she assured him, helping her friend to the door. "After all, Gobber did."

Hiccup nodded, a little overwhelmed. Sunset opened the door, revealing a Monstrous Nightmare on the other side. Startled, Hiccup lunged forward and slammed the door shut. "Dragons!"

"Well, duh!" Sunset giggled. "Hiccup, we've missed quite a bit."

She opened the door again, revealing that the Monstrous Nightmare was carrying Snotlout on its back. Hiccup watched in awe as his cousin led the rest of the Viking teens into the air. He gazed around the village in amazement. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

"No, stupid!" Sunset rolled her eyes.

"But I must admit, you gave it your best shot," Stoick said, happy to see his son up and about. "So, what do you think?"

Hiccup beamed as he observed dragons and Vikings interacting peacefully. His fellow tribe members spotted the duo and rushed over, cheering and singing their praises. The trip travelled down the slope to meet them, Toothless lingering behind. Sunset squeezed her friend's shoulder. "We did it, Hiccup!"

"You sure did," Stoick confirmed. "And all we needed was a little of this."

Hiccup smirked. "You just pointed to all of me."

Stoick winked. Gobber pushed his way through the crowd, grinning. "Almost all of you. That right there is my handiwork with a little Hiccup flair tossed in. What do you think?"

Hiccup studied his prosthetic leg, coming to terms with his new situation. "Eh, I might make a few adjustments."

The surrounding Vikings laughed. Astrid, who had spotted her friends from the sky, rushed over and promptly punched them both in the arm.

"Violence not necessary," Sunset whined.

"That was for scaring me," Astrid snapped.

"Is it always going to be like this?" Hiccup asked in exasperation.

Astrid answered by planting a kiss on his lips. The crowd hooted and hollered. Hiccup smiled goofily when Astrid pulled away. "Well, actually, I could get used to this."

"Where's my kiss?" Sunset asked.

"Thank you, Sun, for ruining the moment." Hiccup gave his friend a dry look. She beamed innocently back.

"Alright, alright. Break it up," Gobber joked, handing Hiccup a brand-new prosthetic tailfin and saddle. Hiccup took it, touched. "Welcome home," Gobber said with a smile.

"Thanks," Hiccup breathed. "I love it."

Toothless pounced on the crowd, wagging his tail happily. The Vikings who were crushed under the dragon yelped in surprise.

"Sorry!" Sunset called. "Toothless, come here!"

The Night Fury obeyed, running up to Hiccup and Sunset and nudging them affectionately. "I think he needs some exercise," Sunset grinned.

"Don't have to tell me twice." Hiccup immediately attached the new gear to Toothless and saddled up. Sunset sat behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. Astrid got on her Deadly Nadder, a joyful grin on her face. The teens took off into the air, the wind rushing through their hair and the world spilling out before them.

As they twisted beneath bridges and around boats, Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins eventually joined the flight group, led by Hiccup and Sunset. Hiccup looked at the sprawling scenery before him and smiled. "You know, other places normally have parrots or ponies as pets."

Sunset smiled, glancing at the village below. "But not us. We have..."

They finished the sentence together, with full confidence in the new world they had created would benefit everyone, especially-

"Dragons."

Be sure to check out the sequel, Two Dragons Trainers and a Night Fury.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Until next time,

AnimationNut out.

Peace!