A Rainy Reunion (part 1):

This is officially the craziest day of my life, Hiccup thought as he fell back towards the ocean. (He couldn't really call it the worst, considering how well it had started off with Astrid, and his father had been enthusiastic about his dragon catcher weapon, so... crazy was going to have to suffice as a description.)

Above him, the Night Fury that could talk telepathically was held in the claws of a huge brown Stormcutter, and above that, the horned helmet of his mother (at least, he hoped it was his mother) was peering over the side of the dragon she was riding.

It was quite a sight to die to.

Because, of course, Hiccup didn't expect to survive yet another dunking in the ocean. Not while missing half a leg, already half-hypothermic, and feeling completely drained of energy and strength.

The Stormcutter, though, had no intentions of letting Hiccup drown, as he dove almost immediately after him, wings tight to his body. The armoured person kneeling on top of him grabbed on to the horned head frills to stay with the sudden motion. Hiccup's eyes widened as the dragon's sharp teeth became all could see just before he was caught by his soggy vest and tunic in the tight grip of deadly-but-oh-so-careful teeth. "Gotcha!" came the clear thought in Hiccup's head at the same time by a deeper mental voice than the Night Fury had.

Hiccup stared into the warm yellow eyes that were peering down at him from only inches away as they levelled out and then started flying higher again. He gulped and gave the only answer he could. "Thanks."

The Stormcutter's mouth widened into a grin around his teeth and Hiccup's clothes. "You're welcome. Now... up you go!"

Before Hiccup could do more than think, What? he was being flung back up into the sky with a flick of the dragon's head. If he screamed, "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" and squeezed his eyes shut for a couple seconds, surely that was perfectly understandable?

Hiccup landed on the back of the dragon, two human hands instantly steadying him, and a soft, husky voice saying, "Easy," made his eyes pop open again. As his heart pounded frantically and the adrenaline rush momentarily warmed his sluggish blood, the startled boy stared right into the eye slits of the turquoise mask, adorned with eight intimidating horns, and thought he saw the gleam of blue deep within.

Ignoring the fact that he was still feeling nauseous and shaky from the loss of his leg, was soaked and shivering from being in the ocean too long, and how the wind and rain was whipping past his face at speeds he'd never felt before because he was FLYING ON THE BACK OF A DRAGON! Hiccup reached up and touched the cheek of the mask tentatively. "Are you... Are you my mother? Is your name Valka?"

He heard her gasp behind her mask as she froze, chest stilling within her armour as she even stopped breathing. And then, in slow motion, she raised a visibly shaking hand and pushed the mask off her head, hanging onto it with a white-knuckled grip, revealing a face that Hiccup knew well from the painting that hung above his father's bed. She was so much more beautiful in real life, so real, and so much more shocking to see than the glimpse of her he'd caught in the dark last year. Hiccup felt like Fishlegs might as well be sitting on his chest with how much everything in the region of his torso hurt.

My mother was alive.

Alive.

All these years. Alive.

And she's stayed away from us on purpose.

Hiccup would likely be having some very emphatic words with her about that later, but for now, all he could do was stare and rejoice that he'd found her. (Or she'd found him, whatever.) Maybe I can convince her to come home! Dad will surely freak out! I know he still misses her like crazy.

Her eyes were wide, stormy blue, and swimming with tears as she stared back at him like she couldn't quite believe he was real. (He completely understood.) "Ye.. yes. I'm Valka," she whispered, just barely audible over the rushing of the wind. She touched his face with her free hand, still trembling, tracing his features slowly from his eyebrows, to his nose, to the his cheek, to the tiny, almost invisible scar on his chin, and finally fingered one of the drenched braids Astrid had put in his hair, exactly the same shade of auburn as hers. "Look at you, my wee Hiccup, so grown up now. So brave."

He didn't feel particularly grown up or brave at the moment, sitting motionless and trembling just as much as she was, while also being marginally aware of the danger of his position on the back of a powerful dragon. Mostly because he wanted to hang on to her indefinitely and bawl like a baby at finally meeting her for real for the first time in his conscious memory.

He lasted all of a handful of seconds while he gulped back a sob before he couldn't hold himself back anymore.

Hiccup threw himself forward and hugged her as hard as he could, tears leaking from his eyes as he buried his face in her armoured shoulder. A broken cry of, "Mom," was muffled by it but still heard.

She stiffened in his hold for a moment, surprised and not knowing what to do at first, but then she sighed into his hair and her arms wrapped around him in return, holding him just as tight as she whispered back, "Hiccup. My son."

Hiccup had imagined this moment (more or less; they definitely weren't flying through the clouds in his dreams) for as long as he could remember, wanting so much to have a mother to call his own. And now that it was true, he never wanted to let her go, so for now, he didn't, clinging to her while the Stormcutter flew them far away from his father and everything that he knew. He had questions, so many questions, about why she'd stayed away and where she'd been and how had she tamed the dragon and how had she made her armour and so on, but they could wait for now. Simply being held by her as his tears accumulated on her shoulder was enough for now.

Hiccup fell asleep like that, exhausted and feeling safe on the back of a dragon even though his entire upbringing said he should be terrified.

"Toothless."

"Toothless. Can you hear me?"

"Are you awake yet?"

"Come on, Toothless, wake up and tell me you're okay. I can't take this kind of stress right now!"

The constant ringing of his mate's voice in his mind, even faint as it was due to the distance between them was, was impossible to ignore, so... Toothless woke up to the sight of clouds as his rescue dragon soared effortlessly through them. He immediately closed his eyes as another wave of dizziness sought to overwhelm him again. As Luna's words replayed through his mind, he immediately winced because he knew how much trouble he was going to be in. And then he winced again at the equally insistent and just as unignorable throbbing pain in his tail.

At least the ache in his tail would fade eventually once the missing part grew back. (Thank the Great Dragon he was a reptile with regenerative capabilities.) On the other wing, he was fairly certain Luna would remind him of his own failings for years to come. (What kind of idiot leaves their pregnant mate behind just to protect a Human?)

(Myself, apparently.)

"I'm awake, my beautiful, caring, moondrop of a heartmate," he sent in reassurance, hoping extra endearments would help his case.

The dry, unamused, "Oh, good. Finally," he received in reply told him otherwise.

Toothless winced again. "I'm sorry, Luna. I'll be back as soon as I can. Are you okay? How's the egg laying going?"

At least this time, when she answered, her tone was warmer. "That would be good. I'm resting now. And it went. I just laid the last egg. We have three perfect eggs to watch hatch in a few days."

If Toothless wasn't currently being carried by a stranger (Cloudjumper, his hazy brain helpfully supplied) and feeling like, well, like he'd just lost a chunk of a very important appendage, he would have whooped and done a few loops around the clouds. But he was and he did, so... instead he managed a smile and a very fond and sincere, "That's wonderful, darling! I can't wait to see them! And you! I can't wait to see you and show my appreciation for all your hard work!"

Luna laughed at that even as her mental voice became fainter as Cloudjumper flew them further and further apart. "Good try, Toothless Night Fury, but I'm still going to make you take care of the children all by yourself for a month straight to make this up to me."

Honestly, that was better than he was expecting. At least she wasn't going to give him the silent treatment, because he really hated that. "No problem, sweetie. I'll cherish every moment."

Luna snorted in disbelief that he reluctantly admitted was probably semi-accurate if watching over his little brothers was anything to go by. But there was no question that he would love and adore his children no matter how much they disturbed his sleep or amount of trouble they caused.

"On another note, any guesses as to when you'll be able to fly home? How badly was your tail injured?"

Those were good questions. And ones that Toothless was also curious about.

To start with, he craned his neck around and curved his tail towards his face.

That turned out to be a bad idea, because the sight of his missing fin and the streaks of red blood that covered the long point and other fin made him want to heave up every meal he'd eaten in the last week. It was only by quickly turning his head away and through some dedicated deep breathing that Toothless managed to keep his breakfast where it belonged.

"Toothless?"

He'd been quiet too long. "Yeah. Yeah. I'm okay. Just, uhhhh, assessing."

"All right." She didn't sound convinced. "So what did you conclude?"

Toothless swallowed hard. She wasn't going to like this. He'd never had to regrow a body part before, but he'd heard the stories about the time his great uncle had been caught in a Human trap and had lost a foot in the process. It had taken two months to fully grow back. A tail fin was much less complicated, but still vital to his ability to fly. (And swim, apparently. Who knew?) "Ummmm. Well, I've lost an entire fin, sooooo, best guess is at least two weeks to grow it back. But maybe I can talk my rescue dragon into carrying me home sooner."

"That would be good. I miss you already."

"I miss you too, my moonlit queen." And oh, how he did. Toothless would give a lot (the other half of his tail fins even, because why not at this point) to be home with his precious mate right now, snuggled up against her side as he stared in awe at the eggs that she'd made for him. "I'll be home as soon as..." Actually, he had no idea where they were even headed other than away from his home island that the Humans called Berk. Even the sun was missing due to the thick cloud cover and steady rain they were flying through. "Hang on. I'm going to ask where we're even going."

"Sure. And ask if your saviour is willing to detour back towards me while you're at it. I can barely hear you now."

"Of course, love. Just give me a minute."

Valka held her beautiful, injured, courageous, sleeping son in her arms and felt fifteen years worth of regret crushing her heart in a punishing vice that she wasn't sure would ever let go and felt was highly deserved.

She'd stayed away because she'd firmly believed that she'd never be able to teach her Viking clan to live in harmony with dragons, not when they were so set in their ways. And every time that she'd thought about returning, a day or two of spying on Berk and their dragon-killing ways (they even built an arena to capture and torture the poor things just so the children could learn to kill them faster!) would persuade her that she was still making the correct decision.

But... Here was Hiccup, her precious son, proving that not all Vikings had hearts made of stone in regards to the sentient winged beings. He'd risked his life to save a Sliquifier caught in a net of rope. And then a Night Fury – one of the rarest and most dangerous dragons of all – had risked his own life to save Hiccup's. She honestly hadn't believed her own eyes. It was Cloudjumper who'd taken the initiative to save the Night Fury and Hiccup all on his own because she'd been in such a state of wonder and shock. (Gods, she loved her dragon.)

Which means that... she'd been wrong to stay away. Hiccup, at least, was capable of working with dragons instead of against them, and she'd been wrong.

I should have gone home. For Hiccup's sake, if for nothing else. Why didn't I even try?

"Valka." Cloudjumper interrupted her self-flagellation, sending feelings of regret along with his mental voice.

She tipped her head up to the rain, letting the precipitation wash away the tears on her face, and just now noticing that her dragon was hovering in place instead of flying them towards Sanctuary. "What is it, Cloudjumper?"

"First, I'm sorry I took you away from your family all those years ago. And second, we have a small problem with our Night Fury."

Valka blinked away the frigid water sitting on her eyelashes as she tipped her head down again to watch Hiccup sleep in her lap, snug in the ragged red cape that she'd wrapped around him. Her shoulders heaved with a heavy sigh as she thought back to her best friend, "No. Don't be sorry. I undoubtedly would have left Stoick soon enough because I couldn't bear how he viewed dragons as nothing more than pests to be killed. But... I would have taken Hiccup with me, so... there's that."

"See. My apology was justified."

"I suppose. Don't fret over it, though. One of us downing in guilt is more than enough."

"As you wish. I will endeavour to believe that what I did was for the better good of everyone concerned in the long run."

Valka reached back and stroked a grateful hand along Cloudjumper's neck, knowing he'd feel it despite his thick, protective scales. "And that is undoubtedly true. Just look at how many dragons we've rescued together over the years. I couldn't have done it without you."

Cloudjumper let out a pleased rumble that was felt and heard and even above the pitter-patter of rain on his scales and her armour. "Very true. And speaking of rescuing other dragons, our current project wants me to take him back to his home instead of to Sanctuary even though that will leave him in the territory of the Red Death and under her thrall."

Valka's eyebrows rose at that as she resisted the urge to displace Hiccup and lean over the side of Cloudjumper so she could look at the Night Fury with a very pointed expression of dubious disbelief. "Even though you explained that he'd be safe from that wretched Queen and that our Alpha could break her hold on him and that he would then be free?"

"Yes."

"And you explained that I could help heal his tail?"

"Yes."

"Did you tell him that we have a whole flock of Night Furies on Sanctuary?"

"I did. He was very excited about that, especially since it turns out that this is Toothless, the missing son of Longwing and Ebony."

Valka startled at that and then smiled to herself a little. "Of course he is, considering the relative closeness to where we found his family. If he was enthralled by the Red Death, that explains why he never returned home."

"Exactly. Toothless said he would gladly welcome the chance to be free of the Red Death and come for a visit to Sanctuary in the near future, but first he has to go home."

"Why?"

"His mate, of course. She just laid her first ever clutch of eggs while he was saving Hiccup – whom Toothless is bonded to, by the way – and he says if he doesn't go home to her immediately, she'd likely never forgive him."

Now Valka really wanted to lean down and look at the Night Fury, just to see the expression on his face and to show him her own expression of surprise, but she once again refrained for Hiccup's sake. "Oh dear. I suppose we're going back the way we came then."

"I hoped you'd say that," Cloudjumper thought as he turned himself around and started flying somewhat slower than normal through the grey rainclouds.

"Why do I hear a 'but' in there?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because you know me too well, my friend, and because Toothless lives on Berk."

Valka froze at the wince-filled ending of that statement, once again not breathing as she dealt with the trepidation and stressful thoughts of returning to her home island and possibly her husband for the first time in fifteen years. But once she got over that, she just had to look at this Night Fury that had bonded himself to her son.

Valka settled Hiccup in the safe place between Cloudjumper's wings and then she hooked her staff on one of his strong horns so she could lean down and out over his side. Toothless looked up at her with surprise in his green eyes at the movement. "Seriously?" she said to the dragon clutched carefully in Cloudjumper's hind claws. "You willingly chose to live on Berk with Stoick the Vast, dragon hater and killer?"

Toothless grinned gummily at her, his tongue lolling out a little. "Yes, Hiccup's mother known as Valka, I did. Nesting right under his nose and maybe occasionally stealing his sheep is vastly satisfying."

Valka gawked at the cheeky young dragon for a moment and then she laughed loud and long before shaking her head at him. "I like you, Toothless Night Fury, and I'm very glad you've chosen to look out for my son."

The mirth faded a little from Toothless' eyes as he tilted his head solemnly at her. "It is my privilege to do so. Hiccup and his mate are unique amongst his clan and now that I've met you, I understand why."

"Thank you," Valka whispered, tears gathering in her eyes once again at the knowledge that Hiccup was loved so well.

This was going to be a very emotional day.