This is it. The end of the journey.

Chapter 21: Home at Last

It was late afternoon on Berk. Astrid was out looking for herbs for Gothi. She needed to do something to keep her mind off of her missing friends.

Normally, Astrid would have been in the forest mutilating trees, but Stoick had confiscated her axe, saying she had chopped down enough trees to heat the Great Hall for the next year and a half. Which was saying a lot, considering the weather patterns of Berk.

As tedious and distracting as sorting medicines was, Astrid was still restless. The only thing keeping her from going after them was Stormfly. Although the Nadder was faring much better, Astrid wanted to be sure she back to her usual 110% before letting her fly any long distances.

"The gods help them," she muttered as she stormed back to the healer's hut. "If they are not back by tomorrow morning, I am going after them, even if I have to take a rowboat!"

As soon as she had said this, Astrid thought she heard the flapping of wings. She silently cursed her imagination for playing tricks on her and continued on her way. She thought she heard her name being called, but she ignored it, unable to bear the disappointment she would surely face when she turned around and saw no one there.

She released a soft sigh, pining for her friends' return. Her walls were crumbling. She was worried for her friends, and maybe the whole village could tell. If only she had her axe…

Her train of thought was broken as she thought she heard a dragon land behind her. This time she did turn around as she heard the familiar squeak of a metal leg.

"Hey Astrid." Hiccup greeted sheepishly.

Astrid was speechless. He was here! He was alive! Astrid took a couple deep breaths to regain her composure.

"Don't you 'Hey Astrid' me!" She threatened. "You went missing, and I had to send the rest of the riders out after you while I've been stuck on Berk."

"Oh yeah, how's Stormfly feeling?" Hiccup asked nervously.

"She's much better, but DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" she warned. "You didn't come back to Berk. I was worried you were in trouble."

"The great Astrid Hofferson was worried for me?" Hiccup smirked.

"You are so lucky your dad took my axe away," Astrid growled at him.

"Why did he do that?"

"He said I had mauled too many trees."

"Oh." Hiccup's face softened as he realized just how worried Astrid had really been.

"Excuse me," a voice spoke from behind Hiccup, "I hate to break up this reunion, but I think the dragons are a bit tired from their long flight."

Astrid looked over Hiccup's shoulder and saw, standing next to a red and yellow Nadder, a young man in a Berserker uniform.

"Hiccup, why is there a Berserker standing next to that dragon, and what is he doing on Berk." She hissed to her friend.

"Astrid, meet Simon," Hiccup exclaimed. "He was a scout for Dagur, but he helped me escape. I helped him train Shadow and they came back to Berk with us."

"Hello," Simon greeted. "You must be Astrid."

"Yes I am," Astrid responded warily.

"It's a pleasure to meet you at last. I've heard much about you."

"Oh? What exactly have you heard?"

"Well, from Snotlout I have gathered that you put up with no-nonsense; from Hiccup I learned you are a very dedicated dragon tamer and axe wielder; Fishlegs tells me you are strong-willed; And the twins admire your willingness to beat up Snotlout… and they are also convinced you and Hiccup are dating." Simon relayed.

Astrid blushed a bit at the last one. "I will confirm most of those," she told Simon. Turning to the twins she added, "But I will get you two later for that last one."

The twins looked at each other, fear evident on their faces. As much as they loved pain, when Astrid delivered it they would be handicapped for at least a week.

"See you later Simon!" They took off towards the village, Barf and Belch following closely behind.

Hiccup chuckled, and turned to Astrid.

"Just go easy on them, will you? They did come to rescue me... Even If they didn't really do much."

"So what exactly happened that you ended up enlisting the help of a Berserker?"

"When we got to Lava Flow Island, Toothless and I went in search of the Dragonwood blossoms. Just as we were leaving, Dagur got us."

"So he was the 'old friend' you referred to in your letter." Astrid realized.

"Right. He let me write a letter home to you, but he wanted to read it."

"That explains the uh… filler."

"Yeah. Y-you didn't let the others read that, did you?" Hiccup blushed.

"Just Fishlegs," Astrid replied.

Said teen waved sheepishly as Simon and Snotlout looked on with curiosity.

"What would this 'filler' be?" Snotlout asked.

In response, Astrid sent her elbow crashing into his gut.

"Missed you too," the injured teen croaked.

"Anyway," Hiccup said, changing the subject and continuing his story, "When Dagur found out the other riders were there, he relocated his base. Simon had found this Nadder while on patrol. He became curious and wanted to befriend it, so in exchange for freeing me, I helped him train it."

"I was also quite sick of Dagur and his Derangedness."

Astrid was silent a moment. "So this Berserker-"

"Ex Berserker." Simon corrected.

"Right. So this ex-Berserker helped you escape?"

"Basically," Hiccup confirmed. "Then we met up with the others and destroyed his armada. Dagur might be on Lava Flow for a while now."

"Does your dad know you brought a Berserker scout home?"

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Uhh, I haven't exactly told him yet…"

"That's what I thought." Astrid sighed.

"With all due respect," Simon said, "I don't think chief Stock would be too happy to learn I was here."

"Once we tell him you saved Hiccup's life he should be fine."

"I'd rather not begin my new life as a hero."

Snotlout, who had just finished groveling in the pain caused by Astrid's elbow, looked at him in disbelief.

"You're telling me, you don't want to be a hero?"

"That's right. You see, I want to be free to explore. If I were marked a hero, I would always have people begging me to help with something, or run higher risk of being a target. Besides, I don't want Dagur to know I am still alive,"

"Even heroes can explore and be mostly free," Astrid told Simon. "Take Hiccup for example."

"Exactly, wait...what? You think I'm a hero?" Hiccup blushed.

"Hiccup ended a war that was centuries old. Look at him now; he is the leader of the Berk Dragon Academy, and he leads the rest of us on grand adventures."

"I think I've had enough adventures for a long while," Simon chuckled.

"You are surprisingly sane for an ex-Berserker," Astrid noted.

Simon and Hiccup shared glance and started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing really." Hiccup replied. "It's just that you are the third person to say that about Simon."

"So you're going to head out on your own?" Hiccup asked once they had regained their composure.

"Yeah. I'll come and visit though, if that's alright."

"Of course," Astrid replied. "Any time you're in the area, just stop by the academy. We'll give you a tour of the island."

"Yeah, and Hookfang and I will show what it's like to be a real dragon rider!" Snotlout added. "Before long, you'll be just like me and have all the girls swooning when you come in sight."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "If you know what's best for you, you'll go and hide before I get my axe back from Stoick." She warned.

Snotlout gulped and took a nervous step backwards. "Uh, I'll go tell the twins that Simon is going to become a nomad…" He said quickly, as he leapt astride Hookfang. "Bye!"

Astrid smirked as she watched him leave. "I can't believe I almost missed that jerk."

"You almost missed Snotlout!" Hiccup cried incredulously.

"Hey, it was too quiet here without him and the twins fighting over everything."

"I can only imagine," Simon said. "And I was only stuck with them for the ride from the volcano island. What was it you called that again?"

"Lava Flow Island." Hiccup replied.

"If I were you, I'd keep an eye on that place, just in case Dagur manages to build a new fleet using the timber from the forests." Simon advised.

"Will do."

Simon climbed aboard Shadow, who squawked in glee.

"I guess I'll see you later, Hiccup. It was nice to meet you Astrid."

"Likewise."

"Do you have to leave so soon?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah. Shadow and I are going to head out and start our lives over… Wish us luck." Simon said as Shadow readied to take off.

"Wait a second," Astrid stopped them. "I know you want to leave, but just WAIT A MINUTE!"

Simon and Hiccup watched as she ran into town.

"Where is she going… and should I be worried?" Simon asked Hiccup.

"Umm…Not sure, and hopefully not."

Shortly thereafter, Astrid returned and handed something to Simon.

"It's one of Stormfly's old saddles." She explained. "It should make your flight a bit more comfortable."

"Thank you. I don't know how I ever could repay you."

"Don't worry about it." Astrid replied.

As Simon welcomed the gift, she leaned in close and whispered in his ear.

"Thank you for saving him."

Simon could not help but smile. It was clear there was something going on between these two, even if they would never admit it.

It didn't take long for Shadow to get accustomed to the saddle. With a final farewell, Hiccup and Astrid watched the pair fly away towards the horizon.

"May the gods protect you," Hiccup whispered after them.

When Shadow was out of sight, Hiccup turned to Astrid.

"So… what now?"

"Well, I can name a certain Nadder who has been dying to stretch her wings."

"How 'bout it, bud?" Hiccup asked his dragon. "Got enough energy for one more flight?"

Toothless warbled happily in response and bounded off to the arena to greet Stormfly.

Hiccup and Astrid followed behind at a slower pace.

"I never got to thank you." She told him.

"What for?"

"For saving Stormfly's life."

"It was nothing really."

"Nothing? Hiccup, you got captured by Berserkers, and still found a way to get the flowers to me."

"Well, when you put out that way, then-"

Hiccup's response was cut short as Astrid pulled him in for a quick kiss. His mind immediately went blank.

When she pulled away, he was smiling in that ridiculously dorky way of his.

Astrid smiled and took off towards the arena.

"Come on Hiccup," she called over her shoulder, "I thought we were going flying!"

Brought out of his daydreams, Hiccup smiled and chased after her.

Maybe being captured by Dagur wasn't so bad after all.

So, what'd you think.

I would once again like to thank everyone who read, followed, Favorited, and reviewed. I would like to especially thank MartytheMartian and KodiakWollfe13 for their continuous support.

I don't know when I will be ready to post another story, but I will try to make it soon-ish. Like I said, I have hectic life.

I think that is all I have to say, so yeah. Hope you enjoyed!