Hiccup was warm. That was the first thing he realized on waking up, before he'd even realized he was awake. He was warm and comfortable, and he might've drifted right back to sleep had Toothless not chirped an obnoxiously bright "~Good morning, Hiccup!~" right in his ear.

Hiccup grumbled a bit, not opening his eyes. Toothless nudged him a few times, and he grumbled again, slightly louder. Then the Night Fury licked his face, and Hiccup opened his eyes blearily, pushing Toothless's face away so he could sit up. "~Blegh, gross,~" He teased, sitting up. "~Morning, Tooth-...~"

Hiccup froze as his eyes focused on their surroundings. "~We're in my dad's house. You're in my dad's house... What happened? Why are we in here- Is that Astrid?~" His eyes found Astrid asleep in a chair beside his bed.

Toothless grinned, hopping around excitedly. "~What, don't you remember? We killed the Queen!~"

Hiccup's eyes widened. "~We... Oh. Oh, right.~" His eyes wandered back to Astrid. "~Why is she in here, though?~" He frowned, blinking slowly. "~And why are we here?~"

Toothless calmed down a little, circling Hiccup's bed. "~Well, after we exploded the Queen...~" He hesitated, tail sweeping across the floor. "~You got hurt. Kind of... Badly.~"

Hiccup's eyes widened. "~What? I was? Why don't I remember this? Were you alright?~"

Toothless snorted a little. "~Can you ask any more questions? I was mostly okay. Fell hard, but that's okay. You weren't awake until now, and it's been so long...~"

"~How badly was I hurt?~" Hiccup asked. "~I mean, I was only out a day or two, right?~"

Toothless glanced down toward Hiccup's feet. "~More than that, Hiccup.~" The dragon's tone was gentle. "~I think the moon's been full three times, but I'm not sure-~"

"Three months!?" Hiccup exclaimed, forgetting to use Dragonese. Astrid's eyes snapped open with a yell.

"Oh gods, Hiccup!" She gasped, once she'd calmed down. "Don't yell like that... Hiccup! You're awake!"

Hiccup frowned, stammering a little. "Uh... Yeah. Toothless said I was hurt?"

"That's an understatement," Astrid said dryly, rolling her eyes at the black dragon.

Hiccup grinned. "It must have been some hit, huh? To put me out that long... Is there still a bump?" He raised a hand, gesturing to the back of his head. Astrid looked confused, and then horrified.

"Oh- Oh, no, Hiccup... It wasn't your head..." She hesitated and Hiccup's smile faded a little. "It was your leg. It- you were already hurt, and then it got crushed somehow, and... They tried their best, Hiccup. We tried."

Hiccup wasn't smiling at all anymore. His hands shook as he reached out, slowly, and grabbed hold of the blanket covering his legs.

Toothless sent him a sympathetic look as he stared at his remaining foot, and at the metal thing where the other one ought to be lying. "Oh." He said in a small voice.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup." Astrid offered, standing.

Hiccup nodded slowly, dragging his eyes away from his feet- foot. His foot. "Okay," He said. "Okay." He swung his legs off the bed, putting weight on his real foot before letting the metal touch the floor.

Astrid made sure she was close enough to catch Hiccup if he fell, but Toothless was the first to reach him when he stumbled on his first step. "~Thanks, Bud,~" Hiccup muttered, leaning on his friend as he limped around the room.

"Has he filled you in?" Astrid asked, sitting on the edge of Hiccup's bed.

"Um," Hiccup began. "We killed the Queen."

Astrid nodded. "The Red Death. Yeah. Anything else?"

Hiccup frowned at his foot. "He was getting around to telling me about my... leg."

"~I wasn't sure how to tell you,~" Toothless defended.

"~It's alright, Bud.~" Hiccup took another step, wincing.

Astrid grinned. "Then he didn't get to tell you about everything else. Come on!" She turned, walking purposefully toward the door.

"Every-what? Wait!" Hiccup limped after her, managing on his own for now. Toothless hovered beside him in case he fell.

Astrid grinned, tugging open the door. "Look," She told him.

Hiccup watched as a Nightmare swept past, Snotlout on it's back. "Hookfang?" He wondered. "What are they doing in plain sight of the... Oh." Hiccup's eyes widened as he realized how many dragons were perched on rooftops or flying or being scratched on the chin. "Oh," He repeated.

"Do you like it?" Astrid asked, clearly proud of the huge changes Berk had made.

"I-" Hiccup nodded, his voice failing him. "I never thought..."

She smiled. "You're a hero now, you know."

"Me?" Hiccup asked, half-laughing at the idea.

Astrid nodded. "Yeah. You did end a three-hundred-year war." She punched his shoulder roughly, making him sway.

"What was that for?" He asked, frowning at her.

Astrid smirked. "That was for running away." She paused, then grabbed his tunic and pulled his lips down to hers. "And that," She continued when they broke apart a few seconds later, "was for coming back. And ending the war."

Hiccup grinned crookedly at her, looking a little dazed. "That just made it all worth it," He mumbled, face bright red.

Astrid blushed, and turned to face the doorway again, just as someone spotted them standing there. "He's up!" someone called.

Hiccup took a step back as they were swarmed with happy Vikings, feeling overwhelmed. It had been a long time since he'd stood in a crowd, and even then he'd felt a little claustrophobic.

Nobody seemed to notice his discomfort, however, several Vikings patting him on the shoulder or back.

Hiccup was released soon enough, however, as Stoick approached. "Hiccup," The Chief said, somewhat awkwardly.

"Da- Er, Stoick." Hiccup replied, just as awkward. "Um, thanks for letting me sleep in your house, but I should really-"

Stoick interrupted him, looking confused. "But it's your house too, son."

Hiccup tensed. "I- What?"

"You saved us," Stoick continued."We were..." He hesitated. "We were wrong."

Hiccup nodded, eyes darting around nervously. "Um, this is... Well, I didn't really expect an apology?" His voice cracked on the last word, and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Oh." Stoick said. "Alright." There was a moment of silence, and then Stoick continued. "Well, it's... It's good to have you back."

"Um," Hiccup responded. "I- Um..." He took a deep breath. "Dad, I'm not staying."

Stoick looked shocked. "You're... You're not?"

"I have a- A home, a place where I belong... This, here..." Hiccup gestured at their surroundings. "This isn't... I mean, it's a great place, now with the dragons, and I love it, but... It's not home."

"I see." Stoick said heavily. Hiccup shifted awkwardly.

"I, um... I'll visit?" He offered reluctantly.

Stoick nodded. "Yes. Um, yeah. Yes. Of course."

Hiccup started chewing on his lip. "So..."

Stoick nodded again.