Through The Ups & Downs

Couple; Harrison X Briana

Rating; Mature

Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD or any songs I might use! In addition, from this point in the story and in future chapters, I do not own the character Ella (Eira) Solveig. She belongs to a good friend, ShadowSpirit020.

28) I'm Needed Here

{Harrison's POV}

[January 2016-Fort Benning, Georgia-USA]

Another long day of work had ended at last. Monday through Friday, I was up at 5 am to get through my morning workout and a flight with Toothless until 6:30 am, by then I would have until 7:30 am to get ready for breakfast. After that, it was training with dragons until lunch hour from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. Following lunch was more training. My day would end at 6 pm for dinner at 6:30, after which I would go for another flight with Toothless, and then take a long, hot shower before lying down in my bed and usually knocking out within ten to fifteen minutes after my head hit the pillow. That was my job after all. In other updates, Briana was completely healed and I'd taught her everything there was to know about owning, training, and riding a Night Fury since I was the only other person at Fort Benning who had that type of dragon.

Oh, did I mention that Toothless and Nightstar are mated now? Yep, they mated over Snoggletog and were no proud parents of three hatchlings. Two males; Streamwing and Stormsky, then a female named Luna. Streamwing was black with dark blue eyes. Stormsky was had the body color of a storm cloud with green eyes. Finally, Luna was medium gray with light purple eyes. In addition, Luna's scale pattern showed a crescent moon on her chest. Those little ones were only hatched a few days after Snoggletog; Nightstar had birthed the eggs on Snoggletog morning so that had been a nice surprise for us at Briana's house. I ended up spending a few days there to celebrate the holiday with them, I roomed with Alexander on military cot that Carter had stashed in the basement. I talked to my family a little bit, but not much because with the five-hour time change and being so busy with work.

Briana was fully licensed for Nightstar now, but she did not go out for the full trainer license as I had and I think she explained her reasoning to be that she wanted to focus on handling Nightstar. In addition, Briana and I learned that because Toothless and Nightstar are mated, we have rights to own their babies too. Not forever, just until they were older and ready to be trained. The law stated that the younger Night Furies would be allowed for bonding and training purposes when they were six years old, about the time that a child would attend Kindergarten seemed like a suitable time to start training them. No one would be allowed to try to bond with them until they were ten, unless the dragon picked their owner themselves. I honestly had to say, it did not feel like two months had passed since the Fury Fire unit and I had been here in the US. You had to figure, we left Berkville at the end of October 2015, and now it was only the beginning of January 2016 so it was about two months on my calendar.

That dinner with Briana's family had been incredible! I got thanked again by her family for trusting my instincts with Nightstar and following her to Briana's location. I suppose that if I had not chosen to believe that there was a bigger meaning behind Nightstar's appearance that day in Kuwait, Briana might not alive right now. The dinner was great! We talked a lot about my life in Berkville, possible plans for the future if things with Bri and I went well. I felt like they were and Gods, I loved this girl so much, I never knew I could feel this happy. On my count now, Briana and I have been dating for five months on the 7th of January. Today was only the 2nd, a Saturday, and I was currently waiting to speak with Major General Wright because he pulled me away from training to talk to me so I left Dexter in charge while I was here.

I wasn't sure what this was going to be about, but I hoped it was news about when we'd get to go home to Berkville. Although, in some sense, I didn't want to leave because it meant I'd be away from Briana. In addition to that reasoning, I had to think about Toothless and the baby Night Furies too, we couldn't very well separate the family.

"Sergeant Haddock, you may go in now," said the soldier standing outside MG Wright's office. I stood up and moved into the room, then offered a salute to the man.

"Have a seat, Haddock," Ethan invited to the chair on the other side of the desk. I sat down slowly, remaining tense. "Relax, you're not in any trouble," he offered a smile. At that, I felt some relief wash over me and I relaxed a little. "Do you know why you're here?" he asked.

"No, sir, I do not," I replied to Ethan.

"You're unit has fulfilled their duties here and I just got off the phone with Major Hagebak, he has arranged for you to all fly home in two weeks to Arc Isle," Ethan informed. I sighed some, I hoped that we'd be staying longer so I could figure out what to do about the Night Fury situation.

"That's…great news. I'm sure the group will be pleased to hear of it," I answered softly.

"You don't sound happy about it," Ethan pointed out.

"I suppose that is due to what me leaving entails, Major General," I stated to him.

"Explain?" Ethan motioned for me to continue.

"Well, as you know. There is a personal relationship between Private First Class Briana Grayson and myself, we're dating and have been for five months on Thursday coming up. While I have no problems coming to visit her on free time because it wouldn't take long with my dragon. Another situation I'm encountering is that my dragon and Miss. Grayson's are mated with offspring and I do not feel it would be fair to split the family up," I elaborated.

"Yes, I do see how this can be a vexing problem," Ethan rubbed his chin while sitting back. "You and Miss. Grayson own the rights to the Night Fury babies until they are six years of age, correct?" he inquired.

"Yes, sir," I nodded.

"Hm. Why don't you give me a little time to speak to Hagebak about this and I'll figure something out before two weeks is up, alright?" Ethan suggested.

"Much appreciated, Major General Wright. Thank you," I replied to him calmly.

"Very good then. You are dismissed, Haddock. Go let your unit know about the good news. Once I have the information about the departure from the US, I will convey it to you to pass along," Ethan said. I nodded again as I got to my feet, offered a salute, and then exited the building.

{Normal POV}

[Three Weeks Later-1/25/2016; Arc Isle Airport]

The gang was all there after getting the news three weeks ago that their soldiers were coming home from the US after a long three months. Trevor, Olivia, Syrus, Dexter, and Chelsea were making their way to baggage claim and passenger pickup after the aircraft landed and allowed them to get to their waiting families. However, one member of their unit was not present; Harrison Haddock. However, due to the last minute decision, his family and friends didn't know that Harrison wasn't going to be here when they went down those stairs to see everyone. Harrison's family was excited, so were his friends. Even Addilyn had come out to welcome him home and they were going to be in for a shock when they found out Harrison wasn't coming.

"Who wants to be the bearer of bad news?" Syrus inquired as they were making their way to the escalators.

"It doesn't matter who says it. I'm sure they'll realize that Harrison isn't with us," Olivia sighed softly.

"I just hope they will understand," Dexter closed his eyes as they reached the point of no return.; once they were on the escalator they watch happy faces turn to some thing close to confusion. "There was nothing we could do, it was Harrison's decision," he added as they neared the bottom and stepped off.

"Welcome home!" the families and friends cheered. The group of soldiers put on their smiling faces and greeted everyone. Hailey jumped into Dexter's arms, Syrus's parents hugged him tightly. Trevor, Olivia, and Chelsea saw their families or lovers. Olivia did have a boyfriend that she had been with for two years as far as they all knew. Chelsea had a crush but nothing was made official due to her joining the army and not having any time to talk before she left for training. From what the Fury Fire Unit soldiers understood, it was looking promising that Chelsea would have a boyfriend very soon now that they were back on Arc Isle.

"Where's Harrison?" the five soldiers stopped what they were doing when the fabled question was asked. The group sighed and looked to Spencer, the one who inquired about Harrison's whereabouts.

"What's the matter? You all look like something happened to him, is he alright?" Nate mentioned curiously.

"Dexter, you're Harrison's second in command. You tell them," Chelsea stated softly.

"I'm afraid that Harrison will not be coming home for a long while," Dexter informed as the Haddock parents gasped along with the friends too.

"I don't understand," Viviana says confused.

"Toothless and Harrison can't really leave right now," Syrus sighed.

"Why can't he leave?" Addilyn questioned.

"Toothless and Nightstar mated over Snoggletog and have three babies. However, the dragon laws state that the babies must stay with their parents," Dexter explained.

Trevor closed his eyes. "In short, the law won't allow the family to be split up. So, Major General Wright spoke to Major Hagebak about the situation and that is why Harrison has to stay there for now,"

"We don't know much about the situation, you'd have to talk to Harrison. I know there's a lot of legal stuff involved," Olivia mentioned. Viviana looked at Spencer worried now.

"Let's get out of here, then we'll call him," Spencer told her. Viviana nodded as the group exited the airport terminal and reached the parking lot where the dragons waited for them. The other soldiers left with their families, all the Haddocks and Harrison's friends wanted to know was what was going on and why Harrison wasn't allowed to come home. Spencer got his phone out and called Harrison, hoping he would be available to talk. At the moment, it was 6:45 pm for them and if they subtracted five hours that meant it was 1:45 pm in the USA.

"Put it on speakerphone," Viviana demanded quickly as Spencer sighed and did so. It went right to voicemail.

"Try Skype, sir. Harrison usually talks to everyone there," Frankie offered.

"Nathaniel, call your brother on Skype. We don't have it on our phones," Spencer told his youngest. Nate nodded and pulled out his phone to dial his elder brother. Four rings in and Harrison answered, though, with the camera on it looked like he was very busy.

"Little busy at the moment, Nate. What's up?" came Harrison's voice.

"Harrison Haddock! Explain yourself and why you can't come home, right now!" Viviana ordered.

"Mother, I do not have time to expl-Hang on. Bri! Get everyone back!" Harrison called.

"Got it, babe. Fall back, everyone get back!" Briana yelled. After that, others began retreating backwards and the camera view was shaky and confusing. Harrison yelled out in pain and that worried his family and friends. "HARRISON! Are you okay?!"

"I'll live. Get to safety! Toothless! Alpha mode, bud!" Harrison told his friend. Within seconds, there was a loud roar heard and those who were able to see Nate's phone screen saw Toothless having a blue glow to him. "Well, that takes care of that. Toothless, have the dragons stay calm for the soldiers to get them," Harrison panted.

"What happened, Harrison?!" Spencer demanded now.

"Oh, right, you're still here. Nothing, I'm fine. I just got burned in the wrangling process, it's kind of my job, remember?" Harrison remarked.

"Don't get smart, young man. Why aren't you home with the others?" Vivian asked.

"Because I'm the head dragon trainer here due to unforeseen circumstances beyond my control. The easiest explanation I can give you is this, all right? Pay attention because I don't have time to go more in depth right now," Harrison said as his family and friends nodded to him. "Toothless and Nightstar mated during Snoggletog and they have three babies; two males and a female. However, the law says we cannot split the family up until the babies are eight, old enough to bond, but they can start being trained to follow basic commands at six. Its dragon laws that Toothless and I have stay here for at least six month before the babies are ready to start flying, and even then. Briana and I have to move together because we share ownership of the babies due to owning Toothless and Nightstar. Any of that make sense?" he asked them after giving a brief explanation.

"So we won't see you unless Briana comes with you and even then, it's just visits, right?" Nate asked.

"Basically. We don't know what's going to happen after the six-month mark. Briana and I haven't had time to talk about it. For the time being, I'm lead trainer here at Fort Benning. It's the job I was offered and at the moment, it's hectic trying to wrangle wild dragons while I'm on the phone. I gotta go, guys. As soon as I know more, I'll let you know. I'm sorry, but for now, I'm needed here. Love you, bye," Harrison hung up after that, leaving his family and friends in utter shock of what he said. All they could do was go home because it was very evident that they wouldn't see Harrison for a long time because he was needed there.