After the "Thorston Massage" Tesla had been out of commission for a full day. He had just gone up into the loft and slept. After I'd woken up the second morning, and still couldn't get him up, that's when I got worried. He just had a dazed look the few times I could get him to open his eyes, and he wasn't responding to anything. I went to investigate. I marched myself into the hall and right up to the twins. They stopped eating and looked at me.

"Does your massage normally leave dragons limp and dazed on the floor?"

"Uh, yeah, that's what's so great about it." Ruffnut said as if it was obvious.

"…For two days…?" They looked at each other. Then looked back at me while speaking in unison.

"Take us to him."

««{{¤}}»»

The twins were poking at Tesla and checking his eyes. It's almost like they weren't even there, there was no reaction from Tesla at all. I stood there with my chin in my hand.

"When did this start happening?" Hiccup asked. Him and Fishlegs knew more about dragons and their health than anyone else on the island and had come to offer any advice.

"After those two gave him that massage, he came up into the loft. He won't eat, he won't even move." I sat on the bed and put my hands on the sides of my head, staring at the floor. "What is happening guys? I've only just gotten to know him, to know dragons…I couldn't possibly imagine what's wrong." Hiccup sat on the bed next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder for comfort. Fishlegs was mumbling to himself while looking over a couple of books. Ruff and Tuff were, for once, counseling each other seriously under their breath.

"We're going to figure this out, and he'll be better in no time." Hiccup said confidently. I felt a surprising amount of dread fill my heart. I had only known him for a short time, but there was already such a strong connection.

"What if we can't figure it out? What if it's nothing you've ever seen before?"

"Well, we've never dealt with any Skrill before. Our guess is as good as any dragon riders right now." My anxiety kicked in and my thoughts began to race.

"What if he stays like this? What if he doesn't recover…" I stood up, walked over to the wall. I drew a deep breath and cocked my arm back. "NO!"

*CRACK* The sound of bone meeting wood made everyone gasp. I let my hand fall to my side and dropped my head against the wall. Hiccup got up and gently grabbed my hand, trying to check for any damage. I jerked my hand away from him without looking.

"I'm fine."

"You just punched solid wood. You are not fine, now let me check it for any damage." He tried to grab it, but I pulled away again, this time turning to him. He was obviously surprised to see tears in my eyes.

"I'll get it checked after we help him!" They were silenced by my raised voice. I collapsed against the wall and slid to the floor, my head falling into my hands. The others' gazes met, and they all grew even more concerned.

"Rai-"

"I'm. Fine." Hiccup's face, though I couldn't see it, hardened into a frown.

"You are not. Well get Tesla back up in no time, we've been in tighter spots than this." Hiccup tried to reassure me. Fishlegs jumped in.

"We've lost control of our dragons in the past, a few times they've even attacked us." Hiccup gently waved at him, that probably wasn't helping. He knelt down in front of me.

"Point is, we never lost hope. We always found a way to solve our problems. And we will find a way to help Tesla. It just might take some time." Fishlegs spoke up after a solid minute.

"…Wait…you said this started two days ago, right…?" I looked up at him, confused.

"…Yeah…why?"

"Didn't he put on that light show for us two days ago?" I frowned deeply, not exactly getting the point.

"Yeah…he did…"

"Maybe he somehow…overcharged himself, when he put on that show for us!" I slowly raised my head, my brain beginning to process the information.

"I…That's actually…possible." The twins looked up, both of them looking a mix of disappointment and relief.

"So it wasn't our massage?" I shook my head, there were a million thoughts running through my brain, and I was barely keeping up.

"That probably didn't help, but all of that lightning he pulled in from the clouds…it makes sense." Hiccup spoke up.

"So, what do we do now? If he overcharged himself, how do we 'uncharge' him?" I had an epiphany, and I quickly pulled my sword out of its scabbard, looking at the blade. Everyone else jumped at the sound "Whoa, what are you doing?!"

"I'm trying to disperse the charge." I grimly stated. I stood in front of Tesla and firmly planted the sword in the floor, only a few inches from his nose. I knelt down and reached forward with my hand, gently rubbing the side of his head. "Tesla…it's me, Rai. You've just had a bad couple of days haven't you? You must have overcharged yourself, pulled in too much lightning…you remember my sword, right? The one that attracts your lightning? Just shoot your lightning at the sword and you should feel better. I want you to feel better, I only just met you, and I already hate seeing you like…this." I paused. I was feeling more emotional than I thought possible. After all, it hadn't even been three days since I met Tesla, most of which had been him just lying there.

'Why am I having such an extreme reaction to this?' I wondered.

"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. Because of something, something I could have prevented. I-I just want to see you well again…Tesla please, just one blast… Please…Tesla…?" No response. I squeezed my eyes shut, silent tears falling down my cheeks as I sucked in a shaking breath.

No one said anything. I didn't know what to do, Tesla wasn't responding to anything, and if he didn't get the extra lightning out of his body, it might completely overload him, frying his whole body. Tuffnut suddenly got excited and pointed, waving his finger in excitement.

"Hey! Hey, did you see that?!" Hiccup gave him a half-hearted glare.

"Not now Tuff."

"No, you don't get it! I saw a spark!" I looked up when I heard those words, my eyes running up and down Tesla's body. Fishlegs spoke up next.

"I just saw one too!" I slowly pulled myself into a sitting position, weakly wiping my tears. My eyes were moving and searching so quickly it almost hurt. Hiccup and Ruffnut shouted at the same time.

"There's one!/I saw one!" Then I saw it, small sparks were hopping across his back spines, gradually growing in amount and size. I pulled myself forwards, gently placing my hands back on his head.

"Yes…come on Tesla, you can do it. You can do it!" Sparks turned into full streams of lightning, connecting different parts of his body. The lightning was getting so bright it was illuminating the room. I got zapped hard, and instinctually started to pull back from the pain, but I pushed back to wrap my arms around his neck. A strong jolt hit me.

"Just…a little more bud, please, you c-AH! You can do it!" My vision was wavering in and out from the pain, this was way worse than when we jumped in the lightning.

"Rai, get away from him!" Hiccup called out and tried to pull me away, but Fishlegs grabbed his arm.

"You can't! Your leg!" My muscles were shaking from the electric currents running through my body but I was holding on as tightly as possible. I was gritting my teeth so hard I thought that they would shatter. Hiccup had to shout over the noise.

"Rai! Get away from him!"

"I c-ca-n't! I WON'T!"

"RAI!"

"TESLA! PLEASE! DO IT!" I screamed. Blinding light filled the room, making everyone cover their eyes and turn away.

««{{¤}}»»

I felt weak. A weakness I'd never felt before. There was no energy left in my body…or did I have a body…? I couldn't remember. The only thing I could remember was a blinding pain, and someone screaming. Why would someone be screaming? What happened?

My awareness in the darkness faded in and out for an unnumerable amount of times. Then my focus began to recenter, and my train of thought became clear.

'I-I remember now. What happened to Tesla?! I need to check on him! I need to make sure he's okay! Where am I?! Hello?! What's going on?! Please! HELP MEEE!'

"RAI! WAKE UP!"

"AH!" I yelled and swung blindly, catching something with my fist. I heard a cough, then a loud thud. My eyes snapped open. A young man with brown hair was laying there on the floor.

'Hiccup.' The name came back immediately. There was a black dragon nudging him to his feet. 'Toothless.' Hiccup got up, shaking his head.

"What'd you hit me for?!" I flinched away, still startled. I pulled my fist back and gently held it with my other hand. It was throbbing more than it should have.

"S-sorry…you scared me…" Hiccup looked at me like I had grown a second head.

"I scared you? You're the one waking me up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder." He sighed and sat down on the bed near my feet. "So, now that we're both wide awake…how are you feeling?" He reached up and gently touched his cheek where I had slugged him. I tried to apologize with a look.

"I don't know…it's, all foggy right now…I…I can't remember much, except-!" I was shaking my head, trying to clear the cobwebs and confusing thoughts. I suddenly snapped my eyes up to him, gripping the blanket draped over me. "Tesla!" I started to throw the blanket back, but Hiccup stopped me.

"Whoa whoa! Stay still, you're still hurt from that massive amount of lightning you took." I felt like I had to move. I had to get up. I tried getting out of bed again, but he gently pushed my shoulder back onto the bed, forcing me to lay down again.

'When did Hiccup get so strong?' I gave Hiccup a small frown at how easily he pushed me down. Not understanding the meaning of the look on my face, he gave me a stern look in return.

"Tesla. Is. Fine. You're idea worked almost perfectly."

"…Almost…" I pointed out, trying to get him to finish.

"You guys uh…blew up the stables…"

"How long have I been out?" I was afraid of the answer.

"9 days." I collapsed back onto the bed, trying put my left hand on my forehead, only to wince in pain when I moved my fingers wrong. When I looked at, I found it wrapped in a cloth, tied to my arm with a stiff cord that limited my mobility. I held it up with a question on my face and Hiccup shrugged.

"You broke it when you punched that wall. You shouldn't move it for a good two weeks."

"Great, any more good news…?" I asked sarcastically.

"Well uh, you're not dead. So that's a bonus." I weakly glared at him.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." He just chuckled as he stood up, heading for the stairs. Turned out, I was on the bottom floor of his house…again. Toothless jumped up to his rock bed, blasting it while spinning. Then he plopped down on the now warm rock and went back to sleep.

"I'll let you get some sleep."

"Hiccup?" He paused and turned towards me.

"Yeah?" I gave him a small, pain filled smile.

"Thank you. For everything." He simply smiled, nodded, and went to bed. I rested my head against my pillow and sighed.

'Another night…another adventure. Sounds about right.' A small smile appeared on my face, and I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes.

««{{¤}}»»

I slowly opened my eyes as the sun rose. I sat up and looked around.

'Yep, I'm in Hiccup's place still…I need to get my own place, but first…' I pulled back the covers and stood up. I wobbled slightly, and almost fell back onto the bed. I grabbed the bed post to catch myself. Turns out, laying in bed stone cold still for 9 days straight hadn't done anything to help the blood flow to my legs, turning them wobblier then the fish jelly we would give the dragons as a treat. I heard something shift above me and saw Toothless jumping down from his bed.

He slowly walked over and greeted me with a rumbling purr. I scratched the top of his head and noticed my coat and sword hanging from the bed post. The sword felt slightly heavier than normal when I picked it up. Not by much, but I noticed a slight difference.

'Stupid coma.' I thought to myself as I examined my coat, which now sported more tears and burn marks than fabric.

"Ahh, this was my only one too…I have to see if they have a thread and needle." I slipped the two items on, sighing as the familiar, but now seemingly heavier, weight settled on my shoulders. I looked at Toothless. "Want to go get breakfast?" His head shot up and he smiled gummily. I laughed and we walked over to the dining hall. Okay, I walked and Toothless bounded ahead a ways, then waited for me to catch up, only to repeat the process. If I ever fell though, he was right there to catch me. Once we got to the landing, Toothless bounced inside, knowing I could handle myself. I was just about to go in when I bumped into Hiccup. I almost fell and he had to catch me.

"Whoa! You okay there Rai? I was just coming to see if you were awake." I gave him a look of exasperation and replied.

"…I hate being weak…" He just chuckled and helped me inside to a table. Everyone greeted me, even Snotlout wasn't being that arrogant loud snob he normally was. I landed heavily on the bench and put my forehead on the table.

"Meal for one…?" I asked jokingly. Hiccup simply handed me a bowl of food as he sat down, and I sat up to eat it. I had to use my right hand. Boy was it awkward as all get out. I could feel the Trio of Trouble (you know who they are) staring at me as I struggled to eat without making a mess. The combination of my muscles being sore and weak, along with my left hand being out of commission, made my temper short. I spun my fork in my hand and stabbed it into the table with a solid thud, making everyone jump.

"Stop. Watching me." I wrenched it out and went back to eating. I could see Hiccup giving them a silent reprimand out of the corner of my eye. I stood up when I finished, and noticed the feeding trough was empty, meaning all the dragons had eaten. I looked over to Hiccup.

"Where Tesla? I want to see how he's doing." He stood up with a smile on his face.

"He's about as worried about you as you are about him. Come on, he's in the field out back." He tried to wrap my arm over his shoulder, but I pulled away.

"If I don't start working now, I'll never get better." He shrugged his shoulders and we slowly walked out to the field. About halfway there I almost collapsed, and reluctantly had to let Hiccup help me the rest of the way. I saw a couple of dragons playing in a pond, splashing each other using their wings. Another couple dragons were chasing each other around. Then Hiccup pointed. I followed his finger to a loan tree off to the side. Tesla was curled up under its branches.

I pulled my arm off of Hiccup's shoulders and stepped away from him. I put two fingers in my mouth and a shrill whistle cut through the sound of dragons playing, making a few of them stop and look around.

Tesla's head immediately shot up and look towards us. He froze for a second, then was flying towards us the next. He almost tackled me in his hasty landing. His wings folded around me in a dragon hug, pulling me into his chest as he nuzzled my hair with his nose. I hugged him back the best I could.

I don't know how long we stayed there, but eventually I got too tired to hold my arm up, and I pulled back. Tesla laid on the ground and pulled me towards him with his tail. I sat down and leaned against his side, right under his wing. He brought his head around and set it in my lap. I looked to Hiccup and nodded at him. He smiled, nodded back and quietly walked back to the hall. Tesla closed his wing around us all the way, blocking out most of the sounds. We fell asleep like that, friends that nothing could tear apart.