I pulled Toothless into a dive, and then pulled him up, his powerful machine wings working to speed us up. I was enjoying myself immensely, as we swooped and dived. Wind buffeted me with every turn and adjustment, but I had grown used to it over the years. Finally, I pulled up, and had Toothless fly basically straight up, past clouds, until my head spun a little from the height.

"Alright, Bud. One more time?"

Toothless sighed. "You and your inventions are going to be the death of us!"

"C'mon, bud, it'll be fine. This is the third version, I made some major adjustments, and now-"

"Fine, just do it, don't talk me to death!"

Here goes.

I let myself slip off Toothless and into a headfirst dive. My stomach clenched at the speed I was falling, my heart pounding. It was exhilarating. I looked at Toothless. He was diving beside me, and he let a silly grin slip onto his face.

"Woo!" I yelled.

He grunted in agreement as we plummeted. Finally, I braced myself, slipping my arms into two small loops on my legs, one above my boot, and the other above my prosthetic. Then, I snapped up my arms, and felt a sudden burst of air below me. Two thin leather flaps were stretching from my arms all the way down my sides like wings, creating a pocket of air below me, just barely keeping me in the air. I quickly folded my arm in to press a button on my belt, and a fin popped out of my back, stabilizing my rickety flight enough that I wouldn't rock side to side. I looked back at Toothless, who was flying just above and behind me, watching.

"See? I'm flying just fine!" I yelled back at him.

He rolled his eyes. "For now!"

I grinned and turned back to where I was going. Suddenly, I pitched wildly to the left. I turned back and saw that my left wing had ripped off my leg. I was plummeting now. I heard a roar and a whistle as Toothless dived after me, trying desperately to catch me. The ground was coming up fast.

Uh oh.

I looked back at Toothless. He wasn't going to make it in time. He was too far back. I felt my body jerk again, and I went from falling to having my arm nearly ripped off as something grabbed me. I looked up and saw Stormfly's legs and body. Astrid was peeking off the side, looking thoroughly amused.

"Flight suit malfunction, babe?" She asked, looking barely able to keep a grin off her face.

"Yup."

"Third time this week." Astrid remarked, one of her eyebrows raising.

"I guess I can't stop falling for you." I grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes and angled Stormfly toward Berk, dropping me right side up on the ground, and I had only just gotten to my feet when Toothless walked up to me, looking terrified and furious.

"I told you!" He yelled at me. "And this time, you nearly died!"

"As usual." Astrid put in.

"This is not normal!" Toothless continued as if no one had spoken. "It's like you don't even want to live to fifty! I am tired of having to save you from yourself!"

I sighed softly and walked up to him.

"So you want an apology?"

"That would be nice!" Toothless snorted.

"Alright, I'm sorry, Toothless." I moved up and hugged him.

"Yeah, until next time." Toothless mumbled. He glared at me, clearly unimpressed. "Next time you test that stupid contraption."

I sighed again. "Alright bud, guess I'll stop testing my flight suit."

He grunted. "Better."

There was a roar from above, and four heads snapped upwards. Inferno landed on the ground, and Chief Richard stepped off. He had grown a lot since he had been named Chief. He was much taller, still strong and kind as ever, and now he had a rather nice beard. His eyes were twinkling with a smile.

"Hey. Whats happening, guys?" He asked, walking forward.

"Oh, Hiccup nearly got himself killed again." Stormfly chuckled. "Status quo."

"Again?" Richard raised an eyebrow and stroked his beard. "You should get a less dangerous hobby, Hicc."

"I can't help it if I have an adventurous spirit." I stated, walking up and hugging him. It wasn't uncommon to see us hugging because of how good friends we were.

"Yeah, I suppose so." Richard agreed.

We all turned and walked toward the village, with Toothless cheering up, and the six of us bantering and chatting as friends do.

Eight years. Eight years since my father's death. Eight years since Richard became Chief. A long, worthwhile eight years.

The village came into view, and Fish waved at us as we passed his lab. It looked like he had a new project in the works. He was our scientist, always working to make our lives easier. I waved back at him.

So much has happened since then. Richard's dad finally passed away. He went in his sleep, but not before telling his son just how proud he was of him. Richard changed. But for the better. He's a fine Chief, strong and fair. He trains our new generation to fight for Berk. He does what's best for his people. He always did...

We passed the house my mother was living in. she was sitting outside with Cloudjumper, watering her garden. She gave me a friendly wave as well, her eyes sparkling with pride.

I fell in love. Astrid and me have been getting closer and closer, and for these eight years, I have been enjoying every moment. Every kiss, every tear, all of it was worth it. We had our bumps, of course, as any couple will, but they became smoother and smoother the more we learned to trust each other. And now... we're going to be married. Richard will say things like "It's about time.". But I feel like he really is happy for us.

He has yet to find anyone, and I wonder if he ever will. After all... he has to have an heir.

I spotted Tuff standing next to Barf and Belch, gently shining the AI's parts. He turned and gave me a respectful nod. I nodded back.

Tuff lost his sister in the battle against the Cyborgs. It turns out one had her, and when Barf blasted it, it dropped her. She died from the fall, and Tuff was heartbroken. He's never been the same since. He's never played a prank since Ruff's death, never told a corny joke... he just takes good care of Barf and Belch, and hangs out in the forest a lot.

I guess a lot of things have changed. A lot of people have changed.

And I have, too.

Only days later, I was standing next to Astrid as Richard oversaw the wedding, and we exchanged vows, became a couple.

Weeks more, and we were in our own house that kind of awkwardly stood in and around the forge. I had worked hard to build it for us and the family we would have. Toothless had his own bed to sleep in, with charging station designed by Fish.

Months passed, and I was becoming a father. I couldn't describe the joy I had felt when Astrid had announced it.

Years, and I was frolicking with a young girl as she chased me through the snow, letting out excited yelps as Toothless bounded in front of her, showering her in snow. I laughed and ran up, Toothless knocking me into the snow with his tail.

"Freya! Help me!" I yelped. Instead of helping, my daughter jumped on top of me, grabbing snow and mushing it into my beard. We all went inside caked in snow, and Astrid made us hot chocolate.

"You're hopeless." She joked, nudging me in the ribs.

Yet more years, and two more children later, I was writing a book describing my early adventures with Toothless.

Decades, and I'm sitting in front of my wide-eyed grandchildren, describing what life was like during the war, and how it changed.

A century. I've decided to put all my memories in some books. Only Fish had a different idea. He had passed years earlier, and he had left me a gift. I pick up a book that he left. I open it and read.

Dear Hiccup,

My good friend. I know you'll read this eventually. I remembered how much you felt sad when you knew Toothless would fall into disrepair without you years from now, and I decided to do something for you.

I have created a perfect replica of you. It won't age. All you have to do is follow the instructions, and you'll live forever as long as you keep your new body healthy. It took a long while to engineer, and I won't go into all the boring details here.

All I know is that the world still needs you. And this is the only gift I could give you to match what you gave me.

I know you'll put it to good use.

Love and friendship,

-Matthew

(p.s.)

Be careful.

I am now staring down at this book. Finishing the last pen-strokes. After Astrid passed away, I found Fish's gift and took Toothless and left Berk. Now, I'm young again.

I feel old.

It's a weird feeling to be in this new body. I look like I'm only fifteen, but In reality, I'm about a century older. It responds perfectly, and I feel great. Now Toothless and me can stay together for as long as I can maintain us both. Who knows how long we'll be able to live?

I never did figure out anything about the Blue heart. Apparently, I built it in the future. Or more accurately, will build it someday. Who knows how it got into Viggo's hands? Maybe fate had something to do with it. Maybe it's a mystery for another day. Or maybe you will figure it out yourself. One way or another, I suppose it'll get built and Viggo will get it. And everything that happened years ago will happen to my younger self, that will lead me here, to make it someday. Who knows how time travel really works, and if it is actually possible. Maybe I'll try doing it myself someday.

I have all the time I need.

For now...

I will leave my books for someone to find, buried down in the cave where I made Toothless, hidden in a chest. I've finished writing now, and I've decided to finish what I started. I'm going to go make a difference wherever I can. There's still so much to do. Berk was just the beginning. The world needs me.

And it needs you, too.

If no one does anything to stop the injustices in this world, nothing will change for the better. Things will get worse and worse, and innocent lives will be ruined. You have to try.

You have to do something.

If you're reading this... I hope you realize that, with all my heart.

If I can make a difference, a useless runt born out of times of war...

Then certainly, you can too.

If not now, then later.

But only you know what you can do.

And there might be things you can do you simply haven't discovered yet.

All you have to do is try.

Don't be afraid of the unknown.

Remember, if you will, back to chapter twelve. My father's songs, full of warning and foreboding. Full of disguised hope.

Let me sing a new song for you.

Can you hear that song?

That's the sound of hope.

With each new dawn comes a new wrong.

But we can make a change.

It starts small, a tiny seed...

But with time, hope grows.

There may be much injustice...

Lives taken in vain...

Racism against fellow man...

Wars that destroy homes...

We cannot ignore it.

It would be horrible if we did.

Instead, we learn...

That with a new dawn...

Comes a new beginning.

Comes new life.

Comes hope.

(p.s. I know it doesn't rhyme. I didn't inherit my father's rhyming skills.)

Looong A/N: I know it's been a long wait for this story to end. But here we are! I know this story used to be really popular, and now is barely getting a few reviews, but I'm proud of it nonetheless.

...I have a few confessions to make.

I didn't plan anything past just after the battle with the red death.

I literally came up with this while just lying in bed playing with action figures.

And Richard, who oddly enough is sort of a Snotlout replacement... is sort of based off of Hiccup more than Snotlout. So... all you people who ship Hiccup and Richard might want to rethink that a little because you're basically shipping Hiccup with another version of himself. Awkward. Richard is also sort of his own character, though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And, I have some little FYI for you, too.

The AI Hiccup kills at the beginning of the story looks like the Angel of Death form of Asriel Dreemurr from Undertale.

The entire chapter "Frankenstein" was originally different, but I lost it so I had to redo it. So it's different and you'll never read the original. Sorry.

Toothless originally had a brown fin in the story because Hiccup ran out of black rubber and had to use some brown stuff, but I ended up not mentioning it at all in the story. You decide if he does or not. He does get the red one, though.

Hiccup also originally didn't hook up with Astrid, but I added it in because someone kept accusing me of not liking the ship. Proved them wrong.

Ruff's death was totally ad-libbed. I'm gonna come out and say it. But before Threni wonders if I did it to mirror his story? No. It was written in before I knew Ruffnut died in TDK. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Richard wasn't originally going to be chief, he was going to die, actually, but I realized that I was just killing too many characters and Hiccup wouldn't be very ready to be chief after being freaking tortured for three years, then losing his father and Richard, so I cut that out and made Richard chief instead. It suits him. And if you were wondering why he's chief instead of Hiccup and it unsatisfied you, just remember Richard is kind of Hiccup. If that doesn't make you feel better, tough, it's my story.

Viggo was treated much like Drago at the end, and If you're wondering why he acts differently by the end, It's because he's not exactly very calm. He's having to put up with this goshdanged kid who won't die- And also, even though it isn't mentioned, he does die when the AI rip him apart, but his men revive him with the blue heart.

Blue heart ex machina!

Actually, even though it doesn't have an explanation in the book, I assure you, I put lots of though into it after I introduced it. Here's a run down on how it works.

Hiccup does end up experimenting with time travel, and that ends up being dangerous, so he makes the Heart, a gadget that isn't quite fixed in time that will keep him alive through time. It's quite a piece of engineering, but ends up traveling itself through time back to a long time before Hiccup is even born, where it's tinkered with, buried, travels all over the place, and even malfunctions a few times. But it eventually falls into the hands of Viggo Grimborn, who modifies it to clone things and keep clones stable, and it seems to work. He makes more hearts, but they don't work nearly as well. Hence why Clone disappears when he removed it. The heart they use to find Hiccup breaks and is useless.

There you go. Even Hiccup isn't entirely sure what happened, but now you know.

Any questions for me? Ask me in the reviews.

Any questions for any of the characters in the story? Ask them in the reviews.

And just in general, please review and tell me what you think. I'd like to thank anyone who has read this far.

...The end.