Jack and the Dragon

by Mjus

Beauty and the Beast storyline with Jack Frost/Jackson Overland as Belle and a different curse. "He wished he had a friend. Just one friend. He wished he wasn't alone." Jack feels like he doesn't have a single friend. Then his father disappeares, and Jack desperately searches for him, despite all the warnings. Meanwhile, the Enchantress is looking for...

23. The price of ten years

I'm sorry this took so long, but hopefully you'll forgive me after seeing the size of this chapter. I'm getting REALLY good at writing super long last chapters. I can't even explain why.

Malin; Because I refuse to allow you using Deus Ex Machina.

Me; Yeah, there's that... and with this kind of story, an all-is-good-with-the-world ending wouldn't fit quite right.

Anyhow. To all of you who have reviewed, favoured or just read this story; thank you. To those of you who has followed me since the start and those who only found this story just now; thank you for reading.

Now I'm done; on with the last chapter. ENJOY!

---

The price of ten years

Rapunzel was controlling her breath, holding onto Time's glowing, golden cogwheels with both hands to keep them still, feeling them pulse and hiccup in her hands as they tried to keep their forward motion.

Between her hands was a glass dome holding a timer; a blue rose that had counted down to the last second.

The Enchantress didn't need to see with her eyes. She could feel it in the air she breathed; the spell, the despair, the death.

This was Mother Gothel's idea of a fun joke.

From her back, Eugene, in the form of a bat, crawled down to her feet, unlocking the flash-shoes the Enchantress had used to make it here, making sure she wouldn't fly away uncontrollably like she had done when she first tried them on and just adjusted her stance. The familiar had rested a little bit during the night and recovered from his high, but he was still weak, and he suspected this was his last morning as well. The flash-shoes did require magic, making it here had taken all night, and now Rapunzel didn't have enough left to do all the things she wished she could.

"Why?" Rapunzel asked, in this moment of time that wasn't moving forward, staring at the timer in a glass dome that reflected her own face that to her eyes looked like Mother Gothel who was sneering back at her. "Why didn't I know about this?"

"Mother Gothel wasn't bound by anything but the borders of her realm," Eugene answered from the floor. "For some reason, you made an alliance with the king and became his tool, in a way, and he has controlled your knowledge since."

Rapunzel's eyes burned. She'd been young back then. She'd heard the speech of the knights that said the king protected the people. "I wanted to protect people too! I wanted to heal what Mother Gothel hurt!" She tried to pull Time backwards, like she usually did with objects that broke in front of her, but right now Time was holding so much, was heavy with the lives lost in the past few minutes, that it wouldn't budge.

"We can have that discussion with the man himself, though you should get familiar with the people you want to save first," Eugene said. He'd never expressed his dislike of Rapunzel's choice of handing her power over to the king, because Eugene was only a familiar and did what his mistress asked of him.

Rapunzel stared at the rose and steeled her resolve. "As soon as I've saved everyone here. Not the area, just the lives within the bounds of the spell."

The Enchantress lifted her elbows for better leverage, channelled all of her magic into this one task of reversing time hours, days, months and years. She grit her teeth and pulled for all she was worth!

One second. Two. Three seconds and one life returned.

Rapunzel cried out when her left pinkie broke, stuck inside Time's cogwheels. Frustrated tears flowed down her cheeks.

"You can't save all of them," Eugene said quietly.

"NO! I'm the Enchantress! I manipulate Time! I can do this!"

The familiar looked carefully at the girl, at his friend who fought and cried to save Mother Gothel's unfortunate playthings, took this moment to be thankful he'd known her and that she had been his mistress. He had already decided this, because Rapunzel had given him that kind of freedom.

Two more seconds returned and Rapunzel groaned in pain.

Eugene crawled up the Enchantress's leg to her back, pressing his forehead against her neck. "I don't know how much it will do, not enough to take back ten years, that's too much, but maybe enough for this morning. And then you'll need to nullify the spell. I love you, Rapunzel."

Too late the Enchantress realized what her familiar was doing. She felt his life enter her. Familiars are beings of magic that exists outside of her control of Time.

The loss of her friend tore through her along with his gift, and Rapunzel screamed and pulled at Time's cogwheels.

Another life returned. The Enchantress pulled again, her screams sounding like that of Mother Gothel when she'd pushed the old witch out of a window.

A third life came back.

Time resisted with the weight of ten years.

Her index finger broke with a loud snap.

Rapunzel grit her teeth against the pain. How could she dare complain and stop when the people here had suffered much worse for far longer. Because of her inattentiveness. Because she'd believed the king was a good man who cared about everyone and would inform her if anyone was unhappy, allow her to do something about it. She couldn't let Eugene have sacrificed himself for her to give up before all of her fingers were broken!

Another second, one more life, two fingers. Eugene's last words echoed in her mind.

"Nullify the spell."

Three seconds and one life returned for the price of her thumb and second pinkie.

"Just a little more! I still have four fingers left! I'll give you both my hands if you want them! Just give me more! Just a little more!"

Time seemed to listen, gave her a couple more seconds and one life, then pulled Rapunzel's wrist off its socket.

With only one working hand and two fingers functioning on it, the Enchantress opened her eyes and glared at the blurry image of the timer she could see through her tears.

"Flower, gleam and glow," she said, the old words of the chant Mother Gothel had taught her to reverse time, the words Rapunzel had learned to keep Mother Gothel young and powerful.

The fallen petals of the rose immediately started stirring at the order.

"Make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was mine."

The timer started to quickly wheel back, its petals returning from where they'd once fallen, forming the head of a blue rose in full bloom.

"Change the fate's design. Heal what has been lost. Give back what was mine before this time."

The flower closed itself into a bud, and the magic that had been tied to it dispersed.

Ten years too late.

Ten years that hadn't affected the petrified dragons.

Jack in the courtyard, Ruffnut and Berk's hunters inside the castle all came awfully close to dying from heart seizure when a hundred dragon roars echoed all around them and the stone statues came alive. All still fighting an enemy that was long gone, causing disorientation and confusion amongst all of them.

The last Ruffnut remembered, she'd reached into the fire to get Fishlegs out, only for Bear Oak to pull her back. Now before her wasn't burning wood, broken furniture or Fishlegs pages disappearing in a blaze.

All around them lay people. People that had been missing for a decade.

Ruffnut felt Bear Oak's hands go slack against her arms. She immediately broke out of his hold and rushed to Fishlegs' side. Beside him lay a petite woman with a pixie face, and beside her…

"Astrid."

A cooing cry and a scaly head entering her vision had Ruffnut almost fainting. She hadn't felt like this in so long that her body and mind had difficulties keeping up. Ten years ago this had been a daily occurrence; the dragons.

Stormfly, a beautifully sky blue and pale yellow Deadly Nadder, her shape a scaly cross between eagle and crane, was carefully nudging Astrid's limb body.

From the other side came the gruff grunting of Meatlug who stared at Fishlegs motionless form in confusion. She looked up and stared at Ruffnut for a long minute, nostrils flaring as she sniffed the air.

Dagur stared straight ahead, his mind blank and uncomprehensive of what he was seeing. He'd been listening to the cries of the battle, waiting for the people to come and take him apart.

In front of him was Tuffnut who had been so torn between wanting to join the mayhem and staying back to watch it that he'd been unable to move and instead stood frozen on the floor, staring at the door.

He'd always been tall, that Tuffnut, and had let his hair grow long. The Terrible Terrors were sniffing curiously at the cup's legs and bare feet.

The oven turned his gaze to the other side of the room. The counter was suddenly a lot higher than before. Had he collapsed in on himself? The woman seated leaning against the cupboards staring straight ahead had a hawkish face, her nose so perfectly shaped as a faucet. Dagur had often mocked her, despite her respectable status as a teacher and the best tracker Berk had ever seen.

Dagur turned back to watch the door.

"What's that strange noise?" he asked. "It sounds like dragons."

"Yeah…" Tuffnut answered, sounding distracted. "Is it just me or is the door suddenly a lot smaller?"

The oven looked the door over. He moved a metallic arm to rub his chin in thought, and felt something there he shouldn't have.

"I'd say bigger, actually… it feels like I have a beard."

Tuffnut jumped around, and Dagur saw his eyes widen in terror as he unexpectedly toppled over. The oven reached forward with everything on him to catch the boy.

It… hurt. Dagur stared, trying to understand what had happened. For a long time he hadn't been able to feel touch or pain. When he scrubbed himself clean after cooking he felt neither the brush, the grime or the refreshment that came from being clean as a human. So what was it that hurt now?

"I didn't break?" Tuffnut's voice said in a questioning tone. He wiggled a little, trying to roll around so his face would be up, but it wasn't happening. "I didn't break but I'm flat?"

Dagur was still staring, and becoming aware of more sensations; ache, cold, weight, pressure, strain. He stared at Tuffnut. The cup was a lot bigger than before. And heavy.

"T-Tuffnut?"

A voice sounded from outside. Dagur moved his gaze, but his movements were even more restricted than before. Something was off.

The door opened and Dagur immediately went limp, his reaction a ten year old routine of staying invisible to newcomers.

Footsteps entered and a pressure disappeared. Curious, Dagur opened his eyes a slit to see what was happening.

"I-I found more people! Tuffnut Thorston!"

It was one of the old hunters from Berk! Holding… a limp human in his arms.

"…how can you tell it's me?" Tuffnut's voice spoke from the unmoving body.

Jack's vision was blurred from crying. His breath shallow. Something had happened, like a shift, but he couldn't say what exactly. His feelings were still a tangled mess he couldn't sort out. All he could tell for certain was that Hiccup lay before him, but it wasn't his scaly skin Jack could feel under his hands.

Hands that he pulled away like he was burnt when Hiccup suddenly gasped and started coughing.

Jack wiped his eyes and moved away from what had been his friend just a moment ago. Whoever was rolling in the dirt before him right now Jack couldn't even guess.

The stranger shook himself in a manner that looked terrifyingly like the way Hiccup did it. But this wasn't a dragon. This was a human.

A white man. Not black like Hiccup.

The stranger slowly sat up. He was naked aside from a leathery apron, the same one Hiccup always wore.

The man lifted his hands and stared at them, touched them and flinched away as if it hurt. He brought them to his face and again jerked away from his own touch. Then he slapped his hands against his face rubbing it up and down and up through his wild, tousled hair.

He turned around.

The sun was coming up, lightening the world enough for Jack to tell the one in front of him had the same green eyes as Hiccup.

"Jack?"

The voice was both familiar and not, and the single syllable had the stranger curling in on himself as another round of coughing tore through him.

Jack couldn't answer, but a thought slowly crossed his mind. It didn't ease the sense of dread or the anxiety. He wondered what he had expected.

Then, a familiar roar echoed through the air, followed by a shadow Jack definitely recognized.

"Hiccup!"

The black dragon came sailing down from the west wing balcony, and Jack's hopeful smile faded. It wasn't Hiccup. This dragon was slightly bigger, and was letting out grunts and whines Jack had never heard before. It also went straight for the stranger, shoved him onto his back and snorted repeatedly as it nuzzled the stranger's face and chest.

The naked man slowly lifted his hands and tentatively touched the dragon's face.

"Toothless."

The dragon let out a small roar and licked the stranger's face, covering him with slobber which had the man erupt in a series of sounds that meant a wide variety of things before wrapping his arms around the dragon. Jack felt lost. All he could see was his friend that was no longer his friend and a strange man and none of it made sense.

"Hiccup?"

The man turned, wiped his face best he could and smiled at Jack with tenderness and joy and sorrow.

"I never introduced you," the man said, and it was Hiccup's familiar voice that came out of his mouth. "Jack, this is Toothless, the dragon Alpha. Toothless, Jack, a friend I made recently."

The dragon looked to Jack and opened its mouth to show toothless gums and a thick, split tongue. It resembled a smiling dog.

Jack just sat there, uncomprehensive.

"The curse is broken," the man said, and the first tear dropped down his cheek. "I'm back. And everyone's dead. We said goodbye."

"I… I'm sorry."

Everyone started at the new voice. Behind the dragon stood a young woman with brown hair, wide, green eyes and a dress fit for nobility. She was crying and holding her hands close to her body, her fingers swollen and sticking out at odd angles.

"I… I didn't know you were suffering," she said with eyes that flickered between all of them. "Mother Gothel… I'm sorry, I didn't you she did this. I…"

She tried to lift a hand, probably to wipe at her tears, but clearly her hands were hurting too much.

Hiccup just stared at her. She wasn't at all what he had imagined. The Enchantresses he'd encountered had both had a power about them, an air of unrivalled authority. This girl looked like a child. Ten years ago Hiccup's heart would have gone out to her and try to ease her pain. Ten years ago he hadn't tried to piece together a mirror that had once been human just to find out it wouldn't become animated again. Ten years ago he hadn't watched people he once knew come to kill him just to meet their own horrible ends.

"Ten years is a long time," he stated.

The girl just nodded, and her acceptance killed any budding resentment in Hiccup. Beside him Toothless nudged him, purring in concern. When Hiccup looked at him he saw black scales, flesh that twitched and moved and green eyes looking back at him.

Toothless was flesh and blood again. He was warm to the touch and he reacted when Hiccup rubbed his skin, made sounds and moved. He was no longer the cold, unresponsive stone Hiccup had spent years crying to.

Over his shoulder Hiccup once again spotted Jack. He couldn't begin to imagine what the teen was feeling. Hiccup supposed the apprehension was a lot more what he deserved than anything else he could think of.

Rapunzel just stood there and wished she could stop crying. She wasn't expecting forgiveness. Spending six years oblivious to all the pain Mother Gothel's magic had caused wasn't forgivable. All she could do was accept this reality and do better. She couldn't stay blind. She couldn't stay bound.

"I will… do what you ask of me," she said to the man on the ground.

He didn't look at her, and Rapunzel decided the lack of response was a good sign, no matter what she felt. She wanted punishment, but she could almost hear Eugene's voice say she only wanted it to feel better about herself, so she tried her best to ignore it and instead concentrate on what to do for these people.

She noticed the man was naked, save for a leather apron, and it was a small thing to turn it into a pair of pants. Which revealed another nasty surprise.

"Y-your foot!"

"Old wound," the man said hurriedly with a wave of his hand, eyes still wide from the unexpected transformation of the material he wore.

The dragon promptly bumped his head into the mans' rear and more or less flipped him onto his scaly neck, stomping in place like a dog anxious for play.

"One thing at a time," the man said, rubbing his forehead against that of the dragon affectionately before turning to the other boy.

Rapunzel couldn't tell if this one had also been cursed. He seemed out of place. But the man steered the dragon towards him.

"Come Jack. Berk's trackers are waiting outside the walls, you can wait with them for now. I'm sure all the hunters are eager to return home too."

Hiccup glanced towards the doors into the grand hall and dreaded going there. No matter how many times he'd seen his friends in pieces before him, it never got easier. Still he needed to go there and pick those pieces up because nobody else would. He just needed to get Jack away from him first. Away from his pitiful self that tried to fit the pieces back together.

The Enchantress was following behind them, and Hiccup was happy to ignore her for now, even if her sorry state and obvious pain was starting to prick at his empathy. She was clearly not the high and mighty Mistress of Cruelty that her predecessor had been, and her magic didn't seem to be much help right now.

Or maybe she was biding her time?

Hiccup went right back to ignoring the Enchantress as paranoia settled in.

All around him were confused dragons crawling over the building, investigating the land that had changed a lot since when they were petrified. Toothless was still shooting his rider questionable looks as he sniffed the ground and simultaneously calling the rest of the dragons to calm. It didn't ease the confusion, but Alpha offered a sense of security.

Jack was walking beside them, close enough for Hiccup to reach out and touch him, but holding himself like he tried to become smaller, unnoticeable.

Hiccup didn't blame him. There were a lot of things to clear up, and no matter how Hiccup wanted to hold Jack close and comfort them both, he couldn't. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Hiccup had had years of practice accepting his presence was generally unwanted.

It didn't hurt any less though.

Toothless easily pulled open the gate. Always so intelligent. Hiccup felt his face smile in pride.

The trackers weren't far away. They weren't as into the killing of the prey as their partners, but they were far from helpless, so Hiccup was not too surprised when they started shouting and stomping the ground; a classic tactic to have the prey turn back into the arms of the hunters. Even Toothless knew of this tactic and only his ears turned down to lay flat against his skull.

Jack however cried out in fright and flailed with his arms. His very much human noise caused a pause, and people took a closer look at what had come out of the gate.

"Night Fury!" someone shouted.

"Yes, Night Fury!" Hiccup yelled back and nudged Toothless to stand more sideways and hopefully call more attention to himself and Jack.

His human sight was painfully different from his dragon eyes, and daylight was still barely more than gloom around them. Still, Hiccup could make out the shadows of the faces before him, and was dismayed at seeing so many young ones, but someone had recognized Toothless so there must be at least one here who was familiar.

"Hi… Hiccup? Is that… you?"

The dragon rider searched the crowd before him for who had spoken.

"Who is he?"

"Wait, that's Jackson! How did you get here?"

"I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, son of Stoick the Vast," Hiccup spoke clearly, with Toothless adding an "so there" grunt, because if there was one name that should get attention, it was that of his father.

A stunned pause followed his declaration.

"How…? Where have you been? And the dragons? What about my daughter?"

"We've all been trapped here," Hiccup explained. "Jack is the first to come here that would try to break us out rather than kill us all."

"Astrid!" the person shouted again, and Hiccup finally spied him. "Where is my daughter! She disappeared with you!"

"Like I said; Jackson is the only one who came here that didn't try to kill those of us who were trapped. Astrid was killed by the hunters who arrived this morning."

"She might…" the voice of the Enchantress spoke up, and everybody turned to her. "She might be alive. I… manipulate time, somewhat, made time reverse but… only for a few minutes. I could only save six lives."

Hiccup felt something simultaneously loosen and tighten in his chest as the Enchantress's words echoed in his mind.

"Jack, you stay here. All of you, stay right here!"

Inside the castle there was no less confusion than outside. There were the hunters of Berk, old and young alike, backed into corners or running around, there were bodies strewn across the floor, some in pieces, others with blinking eyes and blank faces.

Ruffnut was coming out of what had once been a kitchen half carrying and half pulling her brother along with his arm around her shoulders and him awkwardly trying to hop beside her as if he'd forgotten how to walk.

Tuffnut was looking around, still not quite comprehending what was going on.

Bear Oak had found his wife.

"Ida. Ida, my dear, it's me. Your husband. Please."

Near the stairs one of the bodies started to groan. "Oh, I swear that Snotlout."

Snotlout was pretty much petrified. He stood in the middle of the floor hugging his hammer and shield close to his body.

The candles and lamps were still burning, so the room was well lightened when Hiccup barged into the hall. Toothless reared back when the scent of blood hit his nose. Hiccup's head spun and he slipped off Toothless' back, fell on his face since he no longer had too feet, and instead crawled over to Astrid.

Her body was whole, her chest moved up and down, and she was blinking at him.

"Astrid. Can you hear me."

"I… yes…" she answered slowly, staring at Hiccup with confused recognition.

Hiccup stroked her hair and cheek. She was cool to the touch, but it was also winter and the door was open.

"Master dragon."

Hiccup looked up at Tooth's voice. She was looking towards Toothless.

"I'm not a dragon anymore."

Dazed eyes a colour that were a mix of grey and blue searched around, passing by Hiccup several times before they focused on him.

"We survived," Hiccup said before his eyes landed on Bear Oak and Ida. "Some of us survived."

Bear Oak was staring at Hiccup, begging him, but Stoick's son was looking at Ida's face. Rather than the soft roundness of the teapot, Ida had once been tall and intimidating with a squarish face and a straight nose. The miscarriage she'd once suffered through had made her age fast and her hair was all salt and pepper now, unlike being mostly straw-coloured last time Hiccup had seen her.

"There are more victims in the west wing," Hiccup said to Bear Oak. "Let's take them all back to Berk, so that they can finally be properly buried."

Out of almost a hundred people who Mother Gothel had cursed, Rapunzel had managed to save twelve.

Eleven of those had spent the past decade as wood, porcelain, paper and steel, and were having trouble adjusting to bodies made of a skeleton dressed with flesh and muscle, fit with skin and filled with blood, able to feel cold and pain.

The man who had been a dragon was either hopping around on one foot, dressed in the extra clothing the hunters and trackers, once friends and neighbours, had provided, or riding a dragon that didn't recognize the landscape.

Rapunzel stood aside, feeling detached from reality, wishing Eugene hadn't sacrificed himself, if only because right now Rapunzel needed a friend more than ever. At the same time she wished she was stronger. She wished she had never been content with the power she controlled. Rather than twelve, if she had been strong enough, she could have saved almost a hundred people, and Eugene would still be with her.

Her hands throbbed and ached, but Rapunzel was the Enchantress; her wounds would heal in the same pace she regained magic.

Once she was done here, once her hands were healed, as soon as she had talked to the people of Berk, she would return to the king. He needed to know how displeased she was with how he had used her, how he had treated her as an asset to himself and not his subjects.

Then she would break away, travel her realm and study. She needed more knowledge if she wanted more power. She needed it to cleanse the world from Mother Gothel's magic.

"…what if Mother Gothel isn't the only Enchantress indulging in games like this?" Rapunzel whispered. "Is it right that we stay out of each other's way?"

Hiccup was white.

Somehow Jack couldn't get used to that. Yes, Jack could tell that the slim man riding the dragon that looked similar to Hiccup as a dragon, was in fact the same Hiccup who had been a dragon. He could see it in his expression, in his eyes, in the way he moved. But his skin was white, and he was growing paler the more daylight chased the gloom of the winter day into early noon.

The rest of his friends Jack had to be reintroduced to.

Eret was huge, had been a hunter in his prime a decade ago, and his only connection to the feather duster he'd been was the feathers he used in his hair. He was staring at his legs in wonder, face scrunched in concentration as he tried to wiggle his toes.

Bunny was a lanky man with salt and pepper hair, sitting off to the side devastated that he wasn't dead. "I was supposed to join Easter."

There was a woman whose face reminded Jack of the faucet from the kitchen, and she had offered a mild, "good morning, Jack", to which the teen had at least remembered to thank her for.

Dagur was a redhead with wild eyes, tongue sticking out as he was trying to learn how to walk, or was touching things and just looked around with appreciation. "Haven't been outdoors in so long."

There was a man with a bucket on his head holding the part of his arm he still had, and Jack knew from experience that he wouldn't respond to anything for a long while. Too much was happening and changing around Bucket for him to comprehend and react to within twenty-four hours.

Tooth Fairy was much more petite than the dresser that had kept Jack company at night. She sat against a tree holding herself under a blanket someone had wrapped around her shoulders. She smiled at Jack in that familiar, sad way she always had, and then kept staring into space.

Tuffnut was taller than Jack and he was undeniable Ruffnut's twin brother. He hadn't had legs or arms in ten years, and was practicing moving his hands as he lay in the crease of the long necks of a two-headed dragon.

Jack's brain still couldn't comprehend the swarm of colourful dragons that was all around him and jumped every time one would pass him.

Astrid was beautiful with a powerful body, a heart-shaped face with full lips. Even as she held her arms out and jumped the same way she'd done as a candlestick, she followed Hiccup around, helping him get things done or made sure his orders were carried out.

Fishlegs was apparently the lump that lay plastered against the boulder-like dragon that had once guarded the grand hall in the castle, laughing or crying or both. The dragon had a long tongue and would occasionally lick Fishlegs' arm or face.

Ida was dead. Mulch had been cut in two.

Nobody seemed to fully comprehend what was going on. And at the heart of it all was Hiccup.

Jack couldn't tear his eyes away from him. Because the hunters and trackers of Berk were making simple carriers to bring their dead back home, and Jack couldn't look at that. He couldn't look at the covered remains of Ida without the memories of her stern care tearing at his heart. Couldn't bear to look at what had become of Mulch who had kept Jack company in the stable, taking care of Philippe.

Before all this happened; when the people of Berk said the dragons had disappeared with half of their numbers, they hadn't been joking.

What had Tooth once said?

"People don't come back from the dead, and that's better than thinking they will and blame the curse and then curse Master when that doesn't happen."

Jack hadn't understood what she meant back then. Back when he'd been planning parties and games to chase away the heavy atmosphere and naïvely thought it could make his friends happy.

"Hey Jack. Come here and sit with me."

Jack turned towards Gobber's distinct voice, seeing a badly bruised barrel of a man seated against a dragon of muted, dark colouring. It was the familiar blue eyes and lopsided grin that had Jack relax. It was still Gobber, just no longer a clock. His long, braided moustaches reminded him a little of the arms of the clock's face though.

"You look uncomfortable. How are ya feeling?"

The teen looked warily at the dragon, but it seemed to be asleep.

"Don't worry about Grump, the only difference between him now and when he was a rock is that he breathes," Gobber offered with a weak chuckle and wave of his hand.

"You look like you were mugged," Jack commented carefully as he sat down. The dragon radiated warmth in a way that Hiccup hadn't.

"Snotlout was never the sharpest tool in the box, but definitely one of the strongest. Apparently he's suffered a lot since we left. Can't really be angry with him when he's like that."

Jack looked in the direction Gobber nodded at. Snotlout was walking around, hugging his hammer and looking carefully at every face with an expression as if he was waking up from a dream. Ruffnut punched him square in the face, making Tuffnut cackle and comment on how he wished he had arms again, just to frown and look down at himself.

"Oh right, I do have arms."

Ruffnut, whom Jack had once known as Ghost Girl, was everywhere and offered the worst kinds of unfitting insults.

"Tuffnut, you look like a dead fish! Oh, Astrid, pretending to be a tree? Your armpits smell like puke! Hey Hiccup, never seen you so ugly, and that's saying something!"

"Great to see you too, Ruffnut. Your hair looks even worse than the rat nest I recall," Hiccup said back.

"Oh, right," Jack muttered to himself. "I forgot insults is the way to show affection in Berk."

"I understand your old man is from the country in the north?" Gobber said unexpectedly, causing Jack to stare at him until he understood the question.

"Yes, he fled here with his parents and married my mother in Burgess."

"Your mother and little sister are there still? I think you were talking about them once."

Jack just grunted in reply, not understanding why Gobber would even bring this up. The man who'd been a clock peered at Jack through swollen eyes.

"So you're not going to take your old man and run straight to mama once we return to Berk?"

The teen straightened. "What do you mean? Of course not?"

"We would like to still have you around, you know. Ida told me you hadn't had many or any friends in Berk, and now she's gone. But I believe she genuinely loved you."

The reminder that Ida was gone struck Jack like lightning, and he swallowed around the lump in his throat.

"I… really liked her too. And Mulch. What's going to happen to Bucket now?"

"It was a process to adjust to the curse too, but as long as we're alive, we'll find a way to live." Gobber's big hand landed on Jack's shoulder, the weight warm and firm. "So dry your tears, Jack. Ida and Mulch were happy to have known you."

The teen sobbed again.

It was evening before the group of men, women and dragons started the journey back to Berk. Hiccup would have preferred if they could fly, but too many of the young Berkeans had never seen a dragon before, much less ridden one, and Hiccup was not up for holding a class in dragon riding to people who looked at him like he was a monster. It also didn't help that his pegleg was gone, and without it Toothless couldn't fly either.

The only reason the group hadn't suffered from internal fighting was that there were so many dead to care for, and the original Berkeans were grieving for their family members.

"Why are we walking with these monsters?!" a young tracker hissed behind Hiccup, who turned Toothless right around.

"Would you rather carry all the dead yourself?"

The girl glared at him but didn't answer. It was true that the dragons were the ones doing most of the work of carrying the bodies, since only a handful of horses had been brought along, plus Philippe and a pony who had arrived with Jack.

Hiccup steered Toothless to the side and followed the line of people and dragons to the tail of the procession. There, looking as out of place as rain on a sunny day, the Enchantress was following them on bare feet. She was still holding her hands close and her face was pale and stiff from pain. She'd been lurking around all day, staying close enough to see each body that was carried out of the castle, but far enough that she wasn't getting in the way. With her hands in such a state there was clearly very little she could do to assist anywhere.

Toothless made a humming sound, staring at Hiccup as if he was supposed to do something.

"It's been yen years, buddy," Hiccup sighed.

He said that, but Toothless' look of total disapproval was one Hiccup hadn't missed at all. It still made him feel like a petulant child.

"Oh, all right. Enchantress, come sit behind me. The forest isn't a place to walk barefoot."

The woman looked up, clearly surprised. Hiccup didn't meet her gaze, and instead dismounted to help the small woman onto Toothless' back.

"You did something to make trousers for me before," he said as he swung his footless leg over Toothless' head. "You can make something to tie yourself to me, right?"

Hiccup had barely finished talking when he felt the Enchantress flesh against his back, her head on his shoulder, and strips of fabric snaking around his waist and torso.

"Right."

Toothless started towards the head of the procession again, but Hiccup held him back. Gobber looked quite fair with his face beaten into a rainbow of colours, all saturated by the light of the sun that was peeking through the clouds, and Gobber seemed to know how pretty he looked the way he sat on Grump's back.

Jack walked close beside him.

"Gobber," Hiccup called and steered Toothless towards the man. "Can I ask you a favour?"

"I don't know, Hiccup. I'll need my forge before I can make a leg for you. Unless you want to use a stick?"

The blacksmith lifted his right leg to show where he'd tied a piece of wood to help him walk around.

Hiccup couldn't help but smile a little. Good old Gobber would always be Gobber.

"Grump's not pulling a body, and I feel like Berk deserves a fair warning of what's coming."

"Oh. I see. Yes, Stoick will probably appreciate that. And the gravedigger too."

"Pitch?"

Both men looked at Jack.

"What about Pitch?" Hiccup asked.

"He's the gravedigger in Berk."

Hiccup and Gobber shared a wide-eyed look.

"I just can't seem to find it in me to be surprised at anything lately," the blacksmith huffed, almost indignantly.

"I forgot about him," Hiccup admitted and thought back to what had happened that morning. "Pitch disappeared into the abyss, I think. He was caught in the landslide."

The Enchantress looked up behind him. "So this person was not within the castle walls?"

"No, why?"

The woman once again pressed her head against Hiccup's shoulder. "I only manipulated the time within the castle walls. If this person was lost outside of them…"

Hiccup reached back and squeezed her knee. He wanted to say it wasn't a loss, but the words died in his mouth.

"You saved us," he said instead, his words full emotion he couldn't name himself. "Regardless of how few we are, you saved us."

"Yes, and I'll see you all back in Berk," Gobber said. "Would you like to come along, Jack? Your old man must be worried sick."

Hiccup gave the trusty old blacksmith a grateful look. "Stay away from the ladies. I'm not sure you can fend them off without your axe arm."

"Don't worry! As soon as they spy these fair features they'll all swoon at my feet."

Even Toothless chuckled at that.

Stoick felt like he hadn't slept in a week. He hadn't had much rest since he'd seen the Overhands had returned, and he could no longer say how long ago that was. Now he stood like a guard on the path north, waiting for his hunters to return. The village wouldn't manage without them. Food was scarce enough during winter, and everyone needed the village hunters alive come spring. They couldn't live on potatoes and porridge.

"When did people stop listening to me?" Stoick growled out loud.

"People will always listen to what sounds best to them at that moment."

Stoick glanced at North, seated on a large rock beside the road, and went right back to pacing.

"The sun is going down, brother. You should go home and rest. Or at least go see what's going on in the village," Spitlout suggested.

"I can tell you what people are doing; waiting for the victorious return of the dragon hunters."

Stoick didn't even pause in his pacing this time. Ruffnut was a strong woman, but Thorston was a husband and father who'd lost both wife and son to the dragons, so the chief hadn't bothered to tell the man to go home. All they could do was wait.

Wait for Pitch to return with the head of a dragon that supposedly was Hiccup.

Or wait for only a fraction of the people who'd left come back defeated.

Stoick couldn't tell which option was worse. Berk needed the hunters to survive. Their community was built on farming and hunting. Why were the youth so short-sighted that they didn't realize it was the hight of winter and their sparse storages weren't going to replenish themselves once spring arrived and the fields wouldn't give them anything before summer.

The chief looked towards the forest as he turned in his pacing, paced across the road again… then stopped and looked again.

A Terrible Terror dove from the trees into the dead carpet of grass that made up the field beside the road.

"What… was that?" North asked tensely.

Another small dragon came up the road, spotted the group of men and squealed happily.

"My terror," Spitlout breathed.

The small dragon, emerald greed and with red markings, flew into Spitlout's arms, biting his clothing and arms in excitement.

Something buzzed in the air.

North stood frozen, face as white as his hair staring at the dragon that was quickly calmed under Spitlout's hands.

Stoick, Spitlout and Thorston were all had their gazed locked at the sky with rapt attention, all wishing they could wave away the trees blocking their sight.

The next dragon that appeared was big enough to ride, but slow, and Stoick fought a wave of dread.

It wasn't Toothless. It wasn't Hiccup.

North was backing away.

Someone waved from the back of the dragon, which apparently decided the best way to land was to simply stop flying. It crashed onto the road so hard the ground shook, and looked awfully happy about it.

"OH YOU BIG, DUMB FISH ON DRY LAND! Couldn't you wait until we reached the forge, at least?!"

Stoick's mouth hung open. He knew the dragon. He knew the one yelling at it. He even knew the much smaller person crawling away from them, rubbing his behind.

Both North and Thorston were running forward.

"Jack!"

"I'm fine! Fine!" the teen cried and waved at the men to stay away as he got to his feet. "This dragon is really not comfortable."

"You can say that again. And now he's asleep!" Gobber smacked the dragon with his one and only hand before hopping his way over to Stoick.

"Ruffnut!" Thorston cried at Jack. "Where's my girl! She left with you! Where is she?!"

"She's fine. Busy taking care of Tuffnut."

The world was spinning and had Stoick been any less of a man he might have fallen to his knees. He was still grateful for the supportive hand that landed on his bicep.

"Close your mouth, Stoick. You're the chief. You too, Spitlout. Good to see ye both."

Unlike his older brother, Spitlout did go down, sat on the grass and took deep breaths with the terror dragon rubbing against his throat. Stoick closed his mouth, just to open it again, several times.

"Hiccup's on his way," Gobber answered the question Stoick failed to formulate. "Pitch is dead, though. I'm just happy he was the only casualty this time around."

"Only… Snotlout and Dogsbreath are coming back?" Spitlout asked.

"Yes, and all the dragons. It's a really long story I'll save for Hiccup to tell. He knows how to speak to a crowd."

Stoick was just nodding along, slowly digesting the information, and Gobber thankfully stayed quiet during the process.

Behind him North was making sure Jackson was unharmed while Thorston asked for the fourth time if Jackson was really talking about Tuffnut, Ruffnut's twin brother.

"Hiccup is alive, but Pitch is dead," Stoick summarised.

"There's an Enchantress involved somewhere in there as well," Gobber offered unhelpfully, and since that didn't make a lick of sense Stoick decided to forget about it right away.

"All the hunters and trackers that left… they are coming back?"

"Every single one of them. I mean… eh, it's a really complicated story."

"Tuffnut is returning too?"

Gobber was silent for a while, and Jack came to stand beside him, despite North's urging that they should go home.

"Hiccup and the hunters are coming back," the teen said. "Tuffnut is alive," he said with emphasis while looking at Thorston, "but… most of the people who… disappeared with the dragons are dead. Hiccup is bringing them home."

To the chief of Berk, it felt like the weight of the world just fell off his person and he joined Spitlout on the grass. His son and his people were coming home. They were all coming home. The nightmare was over.

"We should pack up and leave Berk," North said again.

Jack answered with the same words he'd used since this repetitive argument started; "I'm not leaving."

It was evening. The Overlands hadn't been out to welcome the sombre procession Hiccup had brought back home this morning. Instead Jackson was watching the village from a window, patting Sandy's fur while the cat ignored him, too caught up by all that was happening outside. Jack didn't exactly blame the cat for not being overly welcoming since his humans had more or less abandoned him. It would probably take some time to rebuild the trust between them.

A pang of guilt ran through Jack at that thought. He'd never viewed himself as shallow, but clearly he was. Both Ida and Hiccup had pointed it out and put it into perspective. Now that Hiccup was human again, just because he didn't look like Jack was accustomed to seeing him, Jack had distanced himself.

Sandy suddenly shook of Jack's hand and slipped away.

Swallowing, Jack forced himself to not think about it anymore and instead concentrate on what was happening in the village. He supposed all the dead had to be identified, and with Pitch gone there was clearly some uncertainties about the burials, not to mention that it was the height of winter and despite the fairly mild weather they'd had, the skies had cleared last night and Berk had experienced the coldest night of the year thus far.

"You said before you're unhappy here," North argued meekly.

Jack turned away from the window and stared at his father seated at the table, peeling potatoes.

"I was," the teen agreed. "I was unhappy because Flynn and Pitch… because of them. They're gone now. Snotlout has his friends back and I actually hope the Enchantress can cure his madness. I want to see what kind of person he is without it. I want to attend Ida and Mulch's funerals, I owe them that. I want to be there for Tooth when they bury her daughter and I want to get to know the dragons now that they're alive and not stone. You should have a word with Bunnymund too, don't you think?"

North stubbornly refused to look up from his task, and he thankfully didn't point out Jack hadn't mentioned Hiccup.

The teen stared out the window again, and gasped when he thought he saw Hiccup the dragon run across the bridge towards Jack's house, when he suddenly took flight.

Jack rushed out of the house. The sky was suddenly filled with dragons circling the village, and from the other side of the river a song was rising from the people gathered there. Jack recognized it as a hymn for the dead, sung in Berk's traditional language.

From above, the dragons seemed to chime in as they fell into a rhythm and the circle they made in the sky created a shadow that encased all of Berk like a protective shield.

North came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. They stood there, at a respectful distance, just listening. All Jack could think was that he wished he knew the words so that he could join in.

The hymn ended and the dragons came sailing back down, landing on rooftops and in trees. Jack watched hopefully as the only black dragon glided towards them, just to keep circling until it reached Stoick's house.

'It's your own fault,' Ida's voice said in Jack's thoughts. 'You made the bed, now you sleep in it, or do something about it.'

The teen nodded.

Everything felt like it had changed, yet life went on as usual. Time ticked forward unhindered, and even if she did stop it, there was nothing she could do to make a difference that mattered to the people here.

Rapunzel had been accepted into the village because she was the Enchantress, and was given a room in the chief's abode. People treated her politely, except for the twelve survivors of Mother Gothel's spell. Rapunzel accepted their wariness and the way they steered clear of her, even though it hurt. Instead of dwelling on it and wallowing in self-pity, she was going from home to home to talk to people, wanting to know their relationship with the kingdom.

"I moved here with my wife because the nobles of the capitol were starting to become a pain, eating all we made for them but barely paid for it. Sugar and white flour is expensive but you can't live off of it," said a tall man with dark grey hair.

"It's profitable to live here where the knights don't take all the profit we make. But I assure you we don't take part in the bullying of the tax collectors!" said the book-dealer.

"I was a slave in the land in the north," said one man who lived on the outskirts of town. "I have no right to complain about how the country's run when slavery is forbidden here."

"The village has been attacked by bandits more than once," his son explained.

"How? Why?" Rapunzel had asked. "The king should have knights posted across the country to avoid that from happening."

"We don't pay our taxes, but from what I heard in the village that wouldn't make a difference."

"It doesn't," the chief confirmed when the Enchantress took it up with him. "We brought the issue up with the knights collecting taxes several times. The only difference between paying our taxes and not is that less people starve to death during the winter."

"I don't believe for a second that our side of the story is even brought to the king," said Hiccup.

"I will bring them to him," Rapunzel promised.

Hiccup just nodded and kept working the metal under his hands with the Night Fury positively shaking with excitement nearby. Rapunzel wanted to offer help, tell him she could use the magic that resided in all things to change its shape, but didn't think it would go over well. Hiccup had spent a lot of time in this forge since they came back, and Rapunzel suspected it was therapeutic for him.

"Calm down, buddy. I need to get this done and then we'll go for a flight, okay."

The dragon jumped up and down, making happy noises.

"I'm excited too, bud. Go play with Stormfly and I'll call you when this is done."

The dragon almost tackled Hiccup, covered him in slobber and Rapunzel dove out of the way when the excited dragon ran out.

"Ew, Toothless. You know this doesn't wash out!" Hiccup called after his friend while attempting to wipe the slobber off, but he looked happy. A light that left him as soon as he looked at Rapunzel.

"I've been thinking," Hiccup said after he'd placed the metal in the forge to heat up again. "The castle."

"What about it?"

The man didn't answer right away, and Rapunzel didn't pry. With the way Hiccup very deliberately didn't look straight at her he didn't need to say out loud how much he didn't trust her. The Enchantress wasn't even about to feel sorry for herself over it. Not when graves were still being dug.

"When I grew up, I was told the Enchantress protect the people," Hiccup eventually said, clearly testing the waters before diving in.

Rapunzel closed her eyes and tried not to fold in on herself.

"Not… exactly," she admitted. "We protect the land. I know you humans have divided the land into kingdoms, but the Enchantresses has it divided by realms… so to speak, and that's what we protect."

"From what?"

Rapunzel started fiddling with her haphazardly healed fingers awkwardly. She'd known people in general said the Enchantress protected the people, and the truth did sometimes coincide with this belief.

"It's not actually so much that we, quote on quote protect anything. We are overseers of magic, strictly speaking. You'd might say we're the rulers of the magic realms."

Now Hiccup was looking at her, and Rapunzel felt like she was shrinking under his gaze. She really missed Eugene right now.

"Well, clearly, with that kind of power, and the fact that we are not supposed to clash because it could harm the realms, some Enchantresses…"

"Abuse that power," Hiccup finished, and Rapunzel flinched at his tone.

The man took his metal out of the forge and started working it under the hammer again.

"For giggles," he said between the rhythmic beats.

Rapunzel couldn't even answer, because Hiccup was right, and she was too ashamed to stand up for herself.

The hammer stilled.

"What about you then?"

The Enchantress opened her eyes, unsure when she closed them and why she'd expected to be hurt. Hiccup was looking at her, eyes intense.

"What about me?"

"You're not like the Enchantress Alvin made a deal with and put that curse-"

"Spell," Rapunzel corrected, because to her there was a significant difference.

"…yeah. That wasn't you. You broke the spell, and you've shed tears for us." Hiccup adverted his gaze and made a complicated face. "I… thank you for that. It doesn't… change anything, but somehow… my heart feels lighter."

The iron he was working was cooling so Hiccup put it back into the forge. He wasn't offering forgiveness, rather an admittance that he didn't resent Rapunzel, that it wasn't her his anger was aimed at, and it made tears well up in her eyes.

"So if I ask you…" Hiccup started again before cutting himself off, still not looking at her. "If I requested," he rephrased, "you send the castle thumbling into the abyss, what would your answer be?"

Rapunzel took a deep, silent breath, wiped at her tears and pulled at her hair. "In this instance, I can and I will. However, and I say this only because it's you; I want to do everything you ask of me, but that would be no different from the mistake I did six years ago when I allowed the king to control me."

Hiccup met her gaze, and almost seemed to smile a little. Not really, but almost. It was a softening around his eyes and the way his forehead smoothened out. It felt like acceptance and respect.

"You're right; the overseer of magic shouldn't involve herself in human affairs. It's better that way."

The tension between them was suddenly gone, and Rapunzel found herself smiling back at the man at the forge. "The king won't take my decision as gracefully as you."

"I never had high thoughts about him to begin with. Well, this is finally ready. Toothless!"

Twelve days had passed since the dragons returned, snow had covered Berk since, and Jack was still no closer to reconcile with Hiccup. Just like when they lived in the castle, Hiccup was elusive; either hard to find or hard to approach when Jack did see him. Looking at it from the bright side; Dagur's home was long gone, so he had promptly taken up residence at Jack's house, despite North's objections. Jack appreciated his presence immensely.

"Has Hiccup always been like this?" Jack asked one morning after bringing in the milk and eggs.

"Admittedly; yes. I wasn't born here, but Gobber has said Hiccup more or less grew up in the forge after the loss of his mother. How do you feel about pancakes?"

"Dad prefers porridge. But Hiccup is Stoick's son, why would he grow up with Gobber?"

"Humph, well, better appease the elders," the former oven muttered and scooped oatmeal and milk into a pot before answering. "Because Gobber never married, was Stoick's best friend, and with Stoick being chief, Gobber ended up being Hiccup's stand-in… parents."

Jack gave Dagur a strange look from the table he was cleaning. "Parents? As in both of them? Gobber is a man."

"Sure, but it was something of a joke in the village that Gobber was like Hiccup's mother since Stoick was the dad."

Jack held up a finger and opened his mouth to disagree, just to close it again. "I actually can see that."

"Yeah, but at least Hiccup didn't adopt Gobber's horrible way of speech."

"No, the poetic way he talks is a lot more like Stoick."

"Poetic? That's what you call it?" Dagur laughed as he cracked the four eggs into a bowl, then held it out to Jack so he could fish out the shells.

"Yes I do. How would you describe it?"

"Complicated. He just thinks too much."

Jack chuckled. "As if you didn't have a lot of time to think."

"Hey, I had a reason. Hiccup could move around all he wanted and he had hands and thus a way to occupy himself."

Scooping up the last eggshells, Jack threw them in the little bucket beside the kitchen, planning to feed them to the hens later.

"You do realize Hiccup probably can work and think at the same time."

Dagur was staring at his hand in concentration, his thumb twitching. "Sounds like a headache to me. Good morning, North."

Jack looked up to see his father come from the stairs to stare suspiciously at Dagur finally managing to figure out how to work his thumb to hold a whisk against his hand and started whisking the eggs.

"What are you making?" North asked sharply.

"Scrambled eggs, because I'm sick of eating eggshells."

Neither Overland argued. Despite having been human again for almost two weeks now, none of the people who had spent the past decade as objects had fully realized they weren't objects anymore. Only yesterday Jack had caught Astrid jumping after Ruffnut with her arms up.

North grunted and sat at the table, and Jack placed a plate and mug in front of him.

"What's this?" the old man asked and picked up the cup.

"I visited Bunnymund yesterday," Jack explained. "He's practicing his fine motor skills by doing pottery and panting it. He let me have that."

The toymaker nodded with a light in his eyes Jack hadn't seen in quite a while. The mug itself wasn't anything special, a bit wonky, uneven and rounded. It looked like something a child might have made.

"You made a doll once that looked a lot like this," North said to Jack with the brightest smile. "You said it was supposed to be me."

Jack's face heated, wanting to deny it but clearly remembered the wood doll and how proud he'd been of his handiwork.

"You've been going into the village a lot more… willingly lately," North went on, staring at the mug. "And you don't come home unhappy or with a book to hide in."

Dagur placed the food on the table, but didn't speak. Jack sat down and picked up his spoon.

"Were Pitch and Flynn really so bad?"

Jackson swallowed the first mouthful of porridge, happy to eat food based on goat milk again. Obviously Dagur had only had water in the castle.

"Flynn was just an asshole that wouldn't leave me alone…" Jack thought about what had happened soon after North had left for Burgess just a few months ago. "He told Mr Arendelle and the whole village I was sleeping around with their daughters, just to have everyone's attention aimed at me while he snuck into said daughters' bedrooms, and their mothers'. Pitch said I put on a good show."

"Why didn't he go to Stoick?" Dagur asked. "He could have declared this Flynn character the town whore and made it official. That would save him the stress of being found out and have his balls crushed."

Both Overlands stared scandalized at the redhead.

"What? Sounds to me like that person isn't in for anything else."

Jack shoved another spoonful of food into his mouth, unsure what exactly Dagur's comment made him feel.

"How'd he die anyway?" Dagur went on as she chewed on an apple. "He is dead, right? Oh, good. But you only stayed in the castle for a little more than two months. I'm fairly sure someone told me Pitch was the only casualty, so I guess this person wasn't among the hunters."

"We… don't know," Jack said. "Pitch said Hiccup chased him down and killed him."

"He didn't," Dagur stated with certainty. "Hiccup never went far from the castle after he tried to get help from the next Enchantress over. I believe he physically couldn't. No, I put my money on Pitch."

North almost choked on his food. "Pitch was a gravedigger, yes, but he'd never kill anyone."

"He'd kill Flynn for sure," Jack said with insight. "Besides me, Pitch was Flynn's favourite to play pranks on and spread rumours about." He finished his scrambled eggs. "I should probably take that to Stoick."

"What good would that do?" North asked.

"It would save Hiccup from the nasty glares he's receiving in the village," Dagur answered, and then shrugged when North glared at him. "I spent ten years looking very closely at the people that entered the castle. I believe Stoick is hearing a lot from the people from the inn as well."

"I'll leave right away," Jack said and shovelled the rest of his food in his mouth.

North took in air as if to protest, but then just heaved a deep sigh, rubbed his face tiredly and stood. He reached for the wool hat and scarf to wrap his son in while Jack struggled into his coat.

Jack looked at his father for a moment, then glanced at Dagur still seated at the table, and recalled what the redhead had said about Gobber. He grinned innocently at them both. "See you later dad, mother Dagur."

He heard a raging protest before he slammed the door behind him and took off as fast as the snow allowed him, shaking with laugher.

"Jack!"

The teen looked up. He'd only passed the bridge, and he wasn't too happy to see who had called out to him.

"Anna. Long time no see."

"Are you going somewhere?"

At first, Jack just stared at the girl. She seemed somewhat… different.

"I need to see Stoick about Flynn," Jack answered at length.

Anna's eyes widened almost comically, and she grabbed onto Jack's arm with fingers that felt like claws. "Take me with you! I can support all your claims about that black dragon killing Flynn! I can't believe the chief would allow these dangerous creatures to be here. Why aren't we chasing them off? They're a nuisance!"

By now Anna was pulling Jack through the village, throwing so many angry complaints around that Jack couldn't get a word in sideways. What was it about this girl he'd once found so charming?

Ahead of them on the main road Jack suddenly spotted Hiccup and Toothless; the black dragon that was pretty much glued to him these days. Hiccup was walking unsupported by the reptile, and speaking to the Thorston twins.

It was honestly nice to see Ruffnut these days. Ghost Girl that had silently drifted through the village was nothing but a memory as Ruffnut's laugher almost echoed and she was playing so many pranks around the village Jack felt proud of her. Except for the instance when they set their own house on fire. That was a bit of a shock.

Tuffnut was crouching on the ground making snowballs while Ruffnut was trying to wrestle with the black dragon.

Hiccup's face had that almost smiling softness to it.

At Jack's side, Anna suddenly released him and bent down. Jack caught her before she could throw the snowball.

"Calm down! You'll help nobody by starting a fight."

Anna glared heatedly at Hiccup, but relaxed. Jack thought she'd quietly follow him, but she unexpectedly broke away and hauled the snowball at Hiccup with a cry.

Jack watched with wide eyes as the snowball flew towards Hiccup, and he thought he saw the other spit before the snow hit him square in the face.

"Serves you right!" Anna yelled furiously.

Jack stared, gobsmacked, then joined the twins' boisterous bout of laugher. Tuffnut pulled his arm back.

"Heads up!"

The snowball sailed over Anna's head, and someone cried out behind Jack, but he was still giggling as he made his way over to Hiccup.

"You're not a dragon anymore. You can't spit fire."

"I know! I miss it," the man huffed as he shook snow out of his hair.

Another snowball hit Jack in the neck, and he turned to find the whole village was slowly starting to throw snowballs at each other until a full-on war had started.

"Toothless, cover us!" Hiccup yelled and pulled Jack down. Under the protective wings of the dragon, Hiccup and Jack spent four seconds squeezing as many snowballs as they could before the dragon reared and the duo shot up, arms full of snow and throwing them at anything that moved. Including the dragons. A mighty red dragon with a long neck sat on a roof happily trying to catch snowballs in its mouth, Terrible Terrors were chasing both snow and each other, a gronkle was going after anyone that threw snow at it with its tongue hanging out and tail shaking like that of a dog. Some were throwing snowballs from the backs of their dragons.

Everyone was running, everyone was laughing, Jack joined forces with Astrid for a minute before she betrayed him and dropped snow into Jack's coat. She laughed at him with tears running down her cheeks and air misting around her. Then a snowball hit the wall of the house Astrid stood beside, causing an avalanche from the roof. Astrid and Jack both quickly jumped clear of the snow.

"Hiccup! You're cheating!" Astrid cried.

"Anything goes!" Hiccup shouted back.

Spotting the other, Jack started running after the him and tackled Hiccup straight into a snow pile. He heard a victorious hooting from Ruffnut.

"ALL RIGHT! THAT'S IT FOR TODAY!"

Stoick's voice was loud, clear and demanding. Jack looked up and saw a happy-looking chief and a clearly disappointed Enchantress at his heels, releasing the snow in her hands she'd clearly been squeezing into a ball.

Had she wanted to join?

Hiccup's arm came around Jack's shoulders and pushed him up. The black dragon came up to them, and Jack didn't hesitate when he reached out and allowed the beast to more or less nudge him out of the snow. He wanted to hold onto Hiccup, but the other had already stepped away.

"All of you go home and warm up, Bucket has predicted a blizzard since last week and I don't want anyone caught in it. Hiccup!"

"I'm here, dad."

Behind the chief Jack suddenly spotted Anna, and judging from her expression she had not realized Stoick and Hiccup were father and son.

"I need to talk to you. Let's go home."

"Actually!" Jack inflicted, "I… really need to talk to you, too. It's about Flynn Rider."

The chief paused, the light in his face dimming a little, but he nodded and waved at Jack to come along.

Gathered in his old home, warm from the fire and the people, was pretty much the old gang with Gobber, Stoick, the Enchantress and Jack as extras. Fishlegs had quickly gotten very familiar with the book store that hadn't been there when he lived in the village, and he had become an unwelcome face to the Arendelle. Hiccup would always side with his friend, but apparently that was the wrong thing to do against a businessman. Fishlegs had only bought a few books after several long arguments with the book-dealer, just so that he could correct the information in them by himself. Hiccup appreciated this newfound aggressiveness in his formerly so timid friend.

Astrid had her arm around Snotlout with a sort of motherly care in her touch. The tough man they all remembered was gone, replaced by a wreck that had suffered just as much as them, just in a different way.

"Since he wasn't directly under a spell or enchantment, but rather just affected by yours as a side effect, there's not much I can do for him," the Enchantress, Rapunzel had explained.

Hiccup had mixed feelings about the way Astrid was leaning so much on Snotlout, but wasn't going to mention it. The relationship they'd once shared was irreversibly broken and they both knew it, they both grieved it.

Ruffnut was stretching Tuffnut's fingers until he cried out. They'd always had an unhealthy relationship with pain, but out of all of them Tuffnut was the one who was regaining control over his body the fastest.

"So why have we gathered here today?" Fishlegs started the meeting, looking suitably wary.

"Mostly to inform you all that Rapunzel, the Enchantress, has agreed to send the castle into the abyss," Hiccup shared.

Astrid, Gobber and even Tuffnut closed their eyes and released a sigh.

But Jack and Fishlegs looked alarmed.

"Even the library?" he asked. "I'm sure the Arendelle family will accept them!"

"Don't you dare give good books to those people!" Fishlegs growled out in a slow drawl.

Hiccup felt more bad about the fact he didn't feel bad at all.

"All of it goes. But if you'd like to go back there and grab a few…?"

The teen deflated.

"I actually agree about saving the books," Rapunzel piped in. "One should never erase knowledge. How big is this library?"

"I can show you!" Jack offered eagerly and reached for his satchel. From it he pulled the magic mirror.

The Enchantress' reaction was immediate. "You have… Where'd you get one of those!?"

Hiccup stared at her. "The Enchantress gave it to me."

Rapunzel suddenly looked livid and was tearing at her short hair. "Of course. OF COURSE she did! Oh, no! If I'd only known that before. Why didn't I know about this before?! Have you used it?!"

Everyone was staring at her now.

"Smoke and mirrors," came a soft comment from Snotlout, who was staring emptily at the wall, right before he sat up straight. "Hookfang can swim!"

Uncertain if he should be more worried about Snotlout making such a connection or that he himself understood it, Hiccup kept his mouth shut since Tuffnut was probably not making anything easier by his commentary.

"How come a dragon that can light itself on fire would ever swim?"

"Speak clearly, Enchantress. What is this thing?" Fishlegs demanded from Rapunzel.

"It's an eye," the Enchantress hissed. "A type of familiar. I read about them but didn't know Mother Gothel had such a network. I should have known! She was obsessed with mirrors! Mirrors! Not her reflection!"

Jack was suddenly holding the mirror very far away and very delicately. "Is this thing bad?" he asked.

"Yes. No! Wait! This is what I mean about not erasing knowledge." Rapunzel took three really deep breaths, still pulling at the hairs of her neck as she spoke in a more composed manner. "No, the mirror isn't anything harmful. It's a part of a familiar created to be the Enchantress's eyes around the realm. In other words; Mother Gothel was watching you all through that. And no; I was unaware of this and had thrown away all of Mother Gothel's mirrors when I took over the position." She leaned her head back and groaned. "How very stupid of me. Why did I throw her out so thoroughly?"

"I haven't seen that mirror in years," Gobber commented.

"You shouldn't have. I kept it in the west wing. Face down most of the time because I couldn't stand to look into it," Hiccup said.

"What did she tell you it was?" Rapunzel demanded.

Hiccup shrugged helplessly. "An enchanted mirror that would show me anything I wanted to see."

The Enchantress gave him a strange look. "And how did you use it?"

"Well, I asked it to… here let me demonstrate." He held his hand out and Jack handed over the item. "Mirror, show me…" he cast his eyes about for inspiration, "Jackson Overland's house."

He turned the face of the mirror for Rapunzel to see Jack's house.

"You…" her face broke into a strained smile and she finally let her hair go and instead rubbed her face. "I can't believe you did that."

"What did I do?"

"This mirror shows you anything you want to see. It could show you the future you wanted to see where all of you were alive and human. Mother Gothel definitely left this to both torment and keep an eye on you, but you didn't use it as she intended." She huffed out a laugh. "Okay, good. So, do you want to keep it?"

Hiccup readily handed the enchanted object over.

"So what about the library?" Jack returned to the original question.

"I'll save it for you," Rapunzel promised. "Knowledge shouldn't be erased."

"So that's it?" Stoick asked. "You were all imprisoned by a spell and all you want to do is destroy the building that held you."

"You'd understand us if you'd also spent ten years held in place by both your own body and the stone walls that surrounded you," Gobber sighed, his hand moving over the table, but never actually touched Stoick.

"It's good enough for me," Hiccup said. "I just thought you'd all want to know, and I wanted to hear your opinions. You think any of the others would object to destroying the castle?"

"I know I would want to see it happening," Ruffnut said.

"It would be beautiful," her brother agreed.

"For once, I do agree with Tuffnut," Astrid said with a look at Hiccup that said she worried about this fact. "But I might want to find that coat hanger."

"You do realize it won't come when you call it, right?" Hiccup said around a small smirk, earning a slap on the arm.

"You can discuss the details amongst yourself and head home for today. I wasn't joking about the blizzard," Stoick said. "Jack, what did you want to tell me about Flynn Rider."

Hiccup barely listened as his friends started to rise, until he heard Jack's answer.

"Pitch said Flynn was killed by a black dragon."

That had everyone's attention. Hiccup looked to his father. "There's another black dragon around?"

But Jack shook his head. "No, I actually think Pitch killed him."

Silence followed his words.

"That's a harsh accusation," Stoick commented.

Hiccup stayed quiet for now, since he didn't have all the pieces to the puzzle, like who had Pitch killed and when?

"But it makes sense," Jack argued. "Pitch hated Flynn for harassing him… I think. At least I know Flynn loved to tease him. And Pitch's father was a dragon hunter, right? A really respected one?"

"I need to know one thing first; who is this Flynn character?" Astrid demanded, and Hiccup sent her a grateful look. No matter what she was still not shying away from asking questions where Hiccup had always been afraid to voice them.

"Didn't he come to the castle?" Jack asked. "He's this tall… the girls in the village would describe him as handsome…"

"Who screams like a girl?" Tuffnut laughed. "Yeah, we saw him. Really soon after you left. Mulch scared the shit out of him."

"Wait, that guy? The one who ran out? I thought he would be the one to rally the dragon hunt." Astrid said.

Stoick shook his head. "Flynn went in search of Jack, so when both Overlands appeared in their house, everyone got worried when Flynn was still missing."

"So Flynn was in the castle," Jack breathed and sat up straighter.

"But I didn't see him long enough to do more harm than a fright," Hiccup protested.

"Yeah, and he startled you just as bad," Gobber added his two cents.

Stoick was staring at Jack with a strange look on his face.

"Pitch went out in search of Flynn," he stated. "I gave him two flares…"

Hiccup turned to his father. "You're still making flares? Without dragons?"

"We're making flares, but a simpler version. I had two of yours saved and gave them to him when I permitted him to go out and search for Flynn."

"So Pitch did have two dragon fire flares," Hiccup summarized.

"I saw one go off. When Pitch returned he said he'd used the other to scare away the dragon that had attacked Flynn."

"What's a dragon fire flare?" Jack asked. "I mean, I know the hunters use flares when they get hurt or separated."

"Yes, that's what I invented them for," Hiccup nodded.

"Flynn did have a wound that looked like he'd been hit by dragon fire," Stoick shared. "I never thought flares could kill a man."

"No, the gas in the flares are made to fire a spark quite high in order for it to be seen over the trees. If fired at close range, or even straight into a person's body, it would definitely kill them." Hiccup ran a hand through his hair. "Seems I have to make some adjustments."

Stoick stood. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Jackson. Hopefully that blizzard isn't upon us yet and I'll have time to call for a town meeting tonight. Flynn's parents will want to know this."

Hiccup looked discreetly at the teen. They hadn't talked much since the spell was broken, and he missed the boy. At least Jack didn't seem to resent him and wasn't afraid of the dragons like some others were. That book-dealer family was a real headache. But at least now he understood why the couple running the inn followed every precaution to keep the dragons off their roof and property.

"Jack, how's your dad holding up?" Astrid said.

The teen looked surprised. "He's fine. Why?"

"Just wondering," the blonde shrugged, catching Hiccup's eye for just a split second before her attention returned to Jack. "He was quite terrified of Hiccup as a dragon. I thought he would… not be happy about living surrounded by them."

"Oh. Well, we had a…" Jack glanced at Hiccup, then looked away. His face was bright red. "It's a bit… well, I yelled at him for hating Hiccup and calling him a monster."

"Does he still hate me?"

Jack looked up. "I… don't know. It's not like you ever came around to talk to him."

Astrid was definitely smirking to herself as she pulled Snotlout out of the house. Hiccup almost glared after her.

"Let's remedy that, then. I'll follow you home."

"Don't stay in the forge, tonight," Stoick said over his shoulder before leaving as well, heading down the hill towards the village.

"I'll prepare to leave for the castle first thing after the blizzard has passed," Rapunzel said as she followed Hiccup out the door. "I'll come see you before I leave."

Hiccup just nodded and closed the door after Jack, but rather than following the rest of them, Hiccup turned to see Toothless playing with Stormfly and Hookfang. The relief of seeing them alive and moving, spitting fire and shedding scales everywhere was still so intense Hiccup found himself afraid of breathing.

If he blinked, the dragons would be grey stone again.

"Hiccup?"

He gasped, startled by Jack's voice, but Toothless turned towards him, blinking, his ears up. Alive, not stone.

Hiccup rubbed his face, gave the dragons one more long look before turning his attention to Jack.

"Sorry. I just never thought…" Toothless came up to them, and his snout was warm. "I guess I gave up hope some time ago. Now I live in fear that all of this is just a dream, and I'm about to wake up."

Jack was looking at him with blue eyes that radiated understanding. Toothless purred. He wasn't fully aware of what had become of Hiccup in the past ten years, but he knew something was drastically different.

"Dagur lives at my house," Jack said quietly. "I've seen him with the same expression as you just now. It's scary. I don't know what to do when it happens."

"All we need is a reminder that we're not dreaming." Hiccup breathed deeply and swallowed the fear best he could. "Mind if Toothless takes us back to your place?"

Jack's whole face lit up. "Please!"

Swinging his leg over Toothless' neck felt natural, and Jack didn't need more encouragement than that to follow suit, his arms snaking around Hiccup's frame grounded the rider. This was real, and he followed Toothless' movement to kick up into the sky.

Jack screamed behind him as Hiccup and Toothless pushed to get higher. The adrenaline kick was as heady as always, and Jack's arms trying to break him in two somehow made the experience even more real.

Hiccup leaned back, Toothless stopped the movement of his wings, and they started falling backwards. Jack would probably kill him for this once they were back on solid ground like he'd promised after their last flight together.

The dragon stretched out his wings and sailed down at breakneck speed before leaning up, his powerful wings beating once before landing, making several leaps before he slowed and stopped.

"We'll go for a proper flight later, bud," Hiccup promised with a scratch under Toothless' ear.

Behind him, Jack was gasping for air, his face pressed against Hiccup's neck.

"I hate you, Hiccup," he cried. "No, I love you, but I hate you! Why do you always do that?! I'm so scared of hights! I can't fly! What would I do if I lost my grip?"

Hiccup's hand had frozen over Jack's. Behind him the teen kept talking, voicing a hundred baseless fears like he hadn't just placed Hiccup's heart at a knife's edge.

Toothless ignored them in favour of the sand-coloured cat that was coming to greet him, and Hiccup spotted Dagur in one of the windows of Jack's house, with a face of sudden understanding before quickly disappearing. Likely to distract the toymaker.

"I'll never let you die, Jack. Please trust me."

Jack clammed instantly, and his silence made Hiccup's heart tilted dangerously towards its breaking point.

His hand was still placed over Jack's, now hoping the boy wouldn't pull away.

"I-I trust you," came an answer Hiccup hadn't really believed last time either. His thumb carefully stroked the back of Jack's hand. He remembered the day on top of the wall with such clarity Hiccup once again wondered if that had been a dream or if he was dreaming now.

Toothless reared back when he got a little too close to the cat and it swiped and hissed in warning.

"I'm just human," Jack suddenly sputtered loudly. "I'm terrified, I've no control! I trust you but I'm scared!"

Jack wasn't releasing him, wasn't hurrying to get away, wasn't even pulling his hand away from under Hiccup's. But hope was a cruel thing Hiccup would never trust again.

"Me too," he confessed quietly. "I'm always scared, but all I can do is push forwards without ever trusting anyone. Even those who survived with me, I feel like I lost them long ago."

With no warning, there was a sob behind him. Hiccup and Toothless both spun around, startled, but Jack pressed his face tighter against his neck.

"I hate this," Jack said. "It's like you're still caught in the curse and I hate it! I hate that people think you're a monster just because Flynn isn't here to fuck them anymore. I'm sorry I pushed you away and I miss you. I'm scared. If I release you now you'll just say we should go inside and I won't see you again for weeks! Why am I even crying? I'm angry!"

The knife was gone now. Hiccup's heart wasn't whole, but for the first time since he could remember, it felt solid and safe.

The wind was picking up and it was cold outside, but it couldn't chase away the warmth spreading inside him.

"Come, Jack. We should go inside."

"NO!"

"Is your father still afraid of me?"

Jack finally looked up, and his pained frown slowly relaxed into surprise.

"We should go inside so I can talk to him, and I want Toothless to go back to dad's house before the blizzard hits. Okay, bud?"

The dragon grunted in agreement.

Jack slipped onto the ground, not releasing Hiccup's hand. Toothless took off, and Hiccup was suddenly aware his dragon had landed them behind Jack's house, out of sight from the village. Good thing, since it was barely noon yet and some of the gossipers would of had a field day interpretating whatever they thought they'd witnessed.

Jack made no movement to head inside, and was holding Hiccup's hand tightly.

"You're smiling," he said, somewhat dazed. "You never smiled before."

Hiccup was still full of warmth as he stared at Jack's face. "I suppose I'm glad. I'm grateful even, though it's probably selfish of me. Nobody's ever cried for me before," he reached up and wiped a tear away from Jack's cheek with his thumb.

Jack leaned into his touch, even reached up to hold Hiccup's hand against his face.

"Will you forgive me for loving you?"

Hiccup pulled Jack closer and pressed a kiss against the crown of his head.

"Will you accept that I love you?"

---

THE END!

Done! It's over! I don't care about any more loose threads, I'm done! I'm sorry it took so long. And there might be an epilogue, depends on the response. But until then...

...
...I'll continue to write the stand-alone sequel, since I've finally figured out a way to rewrite Aladdin.

P.S. Someone pointed out that Merida from Brave is a horse in this story, but nobody noiced Merida's mother also made an appearance and that her brothers were mentioned... oh well, it's not like all easter eggs hidden will be found...