AN: Heyooo! Here's a chapter that I really hope is everything y'all wanted. I know I dragged it out for a while and I'm sorry if you thought it was too long, but this is my story and fanfiction is about having fun, soooo... Sorry, not sorry. Hope y'all enjoy.

Music: "Space Between" from Descendants 2

NOTES: "Those two'll never change. They'll always be up to something or other. I'd be worried if they weren't." Merida said confidently. "I don't think I've ever met two people who get along so well, and I used to think it was weird: A Slytherin and a Ravenclaw bein' friends, but now Jack without Hiccup, or Hiccup without Jack, just seems wrong."

Chapter 20: Space Between

There was an uproar when they reported back to Hogwarts. Word of the Dragon Rider being seen in Allied Kingdom territory spread like wild fire before they'd even returned, in fact. Upon hearing the report from half the Guardians, as well as Viggo and his men, the Royal Council leaped right into a long discussion about their next course of action concerning the matter. As far as Jack could tell there were two sides of the argument; Prime Minister Frollo led the majority in wanting to arrest the Dragon Rider and have him charged for his crimes. A very small group that Elsa seemed to be the voice for, advocated for making contact first and seeing what the Dragon Rider's goals were. The numbers, however, were clear, and after a landslide vote the Prime Minister was given power to give the order for the arrest.

Frollo gave a formal order within an hour, assigning the task to the Guardians. He, of course, made the suggestion to send North, Bunny, Percy, and Jack as it would be most efficient since they were the only ones who had seen the Dragon Rider in action. He then proceeded with a public statement shortly after that, claiming it was necessary to 'calm the masses'.

North didn't argue against the Prime Minister's logic, but brought it to the others to discuss. It was eventually decided that North, Bunny, Tooth, and Jack would be going. This was after Percy suggested that one of their initial team should remain to go over the results of the asylum investigation with Mr. Arrow and then also volunteered.

"Are you sure, Percy?" Bunny had looked surprised.

"Yes. As much as I'd love to go chasing after a mystery man who hasn't really done anything, I do have a few other important things to discuss with Mr. Arrow. I'm sure you will do fine without me." Percy had insisted. "Besides, I'm sure Tooth is rather sick of looking after the Royals. I think it's time one of us took a turn. Though I think you all should remember that all our current evidence is only circumstantial, and the dragon rider did, in fact, save that young man, Fred."

Once their team was decided, there was still the matter of finding their target. So, there they were, pouring over a map and trying to figure out where a man and his at least partially injured dragon would go. With word spreading, a few reports of sightings had come in, but it required quite a bit of discernment to decide which ones might be real and which ones were based only in fear and paranoia.

"The majority of the sightings have him traveling south, but why would he do that? According to the hunters, he obviously comes from the far north. It seems counterproductive." Bunny huffed, staring at all of the red dots on the map that marked these possible sightings.

"If his dragon is injured and incapable of making the flight, maybe he's just trying to remain hidden." Tooth suggested. "Going south would be the last thing we'd expect. The Romans likely wouldn't take too kindly to him."

"This search is like a needle in a haystack. Even if we make the assumption that he's traveling south, there's still a lot of ground to cover between where we saw him and the Roman Empire." Percy pointed out realistically.

"Do you have any idea how to narrow it down?" Bunny wanted to know.

"What about the crystal caverns?" Jim spoke up from his place beside Rapunzel. He normally didn't speak much at these meetings, which made sense for an apprentice, but now he pointed to a particular spot on the map. "They're not all that far from where you encountered him, and people mostly avoid them, but there were two reports of sightings at this village just two miles away."

"The crystal caverns can be dangerous. The tunnels are vast and it's easy to get lost. A lot of people have died because they couldn't find their way back out." North nodded, stroking his beard.

"Which makes it the perfect secluded area to lay low." Bunny agreed, waving on finger as he made his point. "And some of the higher tunnels in the mountain are open to the sky. Easy access for a dragon."

"So we assume he's there. How do we search the place but also make sure we can get in and out without losing our way?" Jack asked.

"I can help." Jim stepped up immediately, and they all turned to him. "I've had a lot of experience with dark caverns. And... I know a spell that could help too." Jim shrugged, uncertain now that everyone was staring at him.

"Jim..." Rapunzel started hesitantly, but Jim looked up at her with an earnest expression.

"Please, Rapunzel. I can help with this. Besides, I have the most knowledge of caverns in general, and I've been to the crystal caverns once before when I was really young." Jim pointed and Rapunzel huffed as she pursed her lips.

"If it is alright with you, we would be glad to have him along." North smiled at Rapunzel when she looked around at everyone else.

"Okay, alright." Rapunzel sighed. "You can go. But don't make me regret letting you out of my sight again."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll teach him everything he needs to know to be an absolute terror." Jack smirked, and Rapunzel actually shot him a glare.

"Eugene isn't here to hold me back, Jack." She reminded him.

"He still has your frying pan, though." He grinned back at her.

The crystal caverns were essentially a massive web of tunnels underneath a mountain a few miles inland from the coast. A forest had grown over the mountain long ago, so from above it looked like an old mountain range except for the few cracks and ravines that revealed small glimpses of the upper tunnels and the glowing crystals inside. Rumors said it was once home to an older race of trolls with magic healing abilities and that it became a burial ground when the species was hunted to extinction. Some claimed the mountain was haunted, which explained why no one else had tried to claim it.

Not particularly worried about old legends, their group first stopped by the village to confirm the sightings and, after hearing some positive sounding details of what the villagers saw, they decided the caverns were definitely worth checking out. Finding an entrance was fairly easy as there were several spread out along the foot of the mountain and their group didn't hesitate to go inside. North lead the way as they went deeper and deeper into the tunnels. It wasn't very dark because the tunnels were lined with glowing white and blue crystals.

"I think we're on the right track." Bunny said after they'd been walking for a while. He kept his voice low, not wanting it to echo down the caverns. Jack turned to look at him and found him crouched down, looking at a large paw print in the dirt.

"Dragon?" North asked quietly, and Bunny nodded.

Before anyone could say anything else, a shifting noise came from further down the cavern. They all whirled around to see what it was, and Jack spotted a few smaller crystals falling from the wall as a shadowed figure scrambled away down another tunnel.

"There!" Tooth called out.

"After it!" North ordered.

They all shot off down the tunnel. Jack slid on the rocky ground a bit as he took the corner a bit too quickly, but he managed to not fall flat on his face. He and Bunny quickly found themselves ahead of the others as they chased after the figure. Each of the occasional glimpses Jack got confirmed it more and more in his head as he ran alongside Bunny. His hands were sweating and he glanced over at the pooka, trying to see if he had picked up on anything. The tunnels took them left and right, up and down, but eventually they came to a stop in a fork in the path. In front of them stretched two different paths and he looked to Bunny who seemed just as hesitant to pick one. One path lead upwards with a steeper incline while the other continued on a relatively level path with lots of turns.

"We should regroup with the others." Bunny decided, not seeing any obvious signs of where their target had disappeared to. Jack heard the others catching up to them before Bunny was even done talking, but he kept his eyes flicking between the two tunnels.

"Did you see where he went?" Tooth asked instantly, fluttering around as she looked around the wider area.

"No, we lost him. Any ideas?" Bunny looked to the others, and Jack finally dragged his eyes away long enough to join the conversation.

"Maybe we should split up." Jack said. "There's only two paths, so I'd say our odds are pretty good."

"Ah-Ah, Ah-Ahhhh..."

"Did anyone else hear that?" Jim froze, tilting his head slightly as he listened.

"Yes, I did." Bunny assured him, looking around again as he tried to find the source.

"Ah-Ah, Ah-Ahhhh..."

"This way!" Jim murmured, hurrying over to a very large crystal and walking behind it. "There's another path back here!" Jim called to them, poking his head out again to grin at them.

"That sly devil." Bunny muttered. The others all shared determined looks and nodded at each other before hurrying off to follow Jim down the hidden path, chasing after a mysterious voice.

The others went ahead, but Jack hesitated for a moment, looking back at the paths. Just as he was about to give in and follow the others, he heard the sound of shifting rocks again. He snapped his head around and found a few rocks tumble down from the steeper path. Glancing over his shoulders at where the others had disappeared, Jack stood there for a moment before turning fully to the steep path.

Jim was in the lead now and his heart pounding as he strained his ears to focus in on that quiet voice.

"Ah-Ah, Ah-Ahhhh..."

There was a light at the end of this dimmer tunnel, and when they finally reached it, the group found themselves in a very large cavern. The roof of the cave reached high over head, taller than a building, and the crystals that grew there were massive, emitting soft glows that lit up the whole room. A gentle haze floated through the room, likely the mist off the mountain, adding to the mystery of the caverns and their situation.

"Ah-Ah, Ah-Ahhhh..."

"Where is it coming from?" North whispered as the Guardians backed towards each other to form a circle formation. The voice was definitely louder in that room, but it still echoed as though it was coming from all directions.

The peaceful scene was broken as several nearby piles of crystals suddenly began to move and shift, eventually standing up to reveal themselves as golumns. The others called out as they all dove for cover. Toothiana and North going off to the left, and Bunny to the right. Jim threw himself forward, sliding behind a giant crystal and pressing his back against it just as some crystal spines shot the spot he was just standing in.

Sounds of battle erupted, echoing loudly in the ancient cavern, but movement in the corner of his eye distracted Jim from the fight. He turned and caught a glimpse of long black hair and mismatched eyes on one of the crystals. Jim whirled around, trying to figure out where the reflection had come from and where it went, but he couldn't see anything.

"Ah-Ah, Ah-Ahhhh..."

Jim's eyes darted around before catching sight of a distant shadow through the haze. He squinted, and he could just make out a girl in a blue dress rounding a corner and disappearing behind another one of the giant crystals in the cavern. Jim glanced back at the fight, but the Guardians seemed to be doing just fine against the few golums that were left. He turned back to the tunnel and ran through the mist to follow after her.

"Emma?" Jim called out quietly as he rounded the corner, but there was no one there. Just more of the large crystals that were growing upwards towards a hole in the stone roof where evening light was seeping in.

At the very top of the highest crystal, Emma stood with her back to him and that unknown blade in her hand. She turned and looked down at him over her shoulder.

"Why?" Jim whispered, staring up at her. Unable to cross the distance between them.

But she didn't answer. She was already gone again.

Jack was convinced insanity ran in the family as he flew down the twisting tunnel, chasing after a ghost from his past.

He floated to a stop as the tunnel gave way to a large, empty cavern that looked like it might have been some kind of temple at one point. His feet touched the floor once he was in the center of the room, his staff at the ready as he scanned the area for any threats. He paused slightly in his movement as he felt movement behind him. For a second everything stood still.

Then he spun and hurled an ice blast at the man standing between him and the tunnel he'd come through.

The man ducked and rolled away before lunging inwards. Jack blocked his burst of fire with an arm-guard of ice, but before Jack could follow through with a punch to his face, the other guy rolled to get behind him. Jack followed the movement, refusing to leave his back exposed, and threw another ice blast. The other guy shattered it mid-air with a freaking flame sword of some kind, sending icy powder everywhere as he lunged in again. Jack brought up his staff, icing it over with an extra layer just before it crashed into the other guy's flame sword.

Stalemate.

They were both breathing hard as they glared at each other. While the helmet obscured his face, Jack could still see his eyes. They were locked for a long moment, the only sound in the cave was their own breathing. When they began to get a hold of their breathing, Jack pushed him away, breaking the stalemate, but made no move to attack.

He stared for a moment, and then removed his helmet.

Hiccup looked up at Jack and the two just stared at each other for a very long time. There were a thousand things running through Jack's head and nothing at all at the same time. He didn't even know how to process what he'd learned less than twenty-four hours ago, let alone what to say when faced with it all directly. Hiccup was the first to break eye contact, dropping his gaze and fiddling awkwardly with his helmet. Jack couldn't fathom it. The tall, fierce, grown-up dragon rider performing an act that was so classically Hiccup.

Jack shook his head to clear it.

"I, um... I -" Hiccup stuttered softly, shuffling his feet... Foot. Hiccup's shoulders drooped further before he looked up with a shattered expression. "I'm sorry."

Jack blinked.

"What?" Jack's voice was clipped and icy, even to his own ears. "Wait, Just... Three years of us all thinking you're dead and that's what you have to say?"

"Did you really believe that?" Hiccup questioned, his eyebrows lifting slightly.

"That's not the point!" Jack bit out before stopping himself. "Why did you come back, Hiccup?" Jack wanted to know, his eyes hard. "Why now? Why like this?"

More awkward shuffling followed by a quiet mumble. "Well... It was sort of an accident."

"An accident?" Jack repeated.

"Astrid and the others were stranded while looking for the Buffalord! I helped them get home! Then I found out Emma was in an asylum, for Thor's sake! I was just helping out a little, but when I was ready to go back north where I wouldn't cause you any trouble, I got ambushed by Pitch and dragged into a fight that I had no intention of fighting! And then Toothless got shot, and you saw me, and I..." Hiccup huffed out his frustration, running a hand through his hair absentmindedly. He closed his eyes as he continued, expecting the worst. "I'm sorry, Jack. You have every right to be furious and to hate me."

"Can you stop being a dumb-ass for five seconds?!" Jack finally burst, throwing his arms in the air as Hiccup looked up, wide-eyed. "Look, we'll come back to that other stuff, but... I don't hate you."

Hiccup actually growled, shaking his head. "You should!"

"Why?" Jack demanded. "I've been worried, Hiccup. Merida and Rapunzel have too! I spent two years trying to find you. I was starting to believe you actually had been eaten by a dragon! Now I finally find you and you're some mysterious dragon rider? What the heck is going on?"

"North never told you?" Hiccup gave him a hard, accusing look. One that didn't believe the answer to his question was yes. Jack had to freeze for a moment, knowing he had a point there.

"You knew about the prophecy." Jack said. It wasn't a question.

"I... I had to stay away. Especially after I met Toothless and... I just didn't want to hurt anyone!" Hiccup tried to explain desperately, but he kept stopping himself. He was still hiding. "...And because once upon a time we were best friends. And, yeah, a lot of bad stuff has happened in between, but none of that matters right now, okay? You need me, I'm there. Any time, any place. Even if I don't belong here anymore."

Jack curled his lips in and bit down to keep himself from yelling. Instead he reached out, grabbed the idiot's arm, and yanked him into a hug. It was a bit weird. Jack wasn't used to Hiccup being the same height as him. And Hiccup tensed up, which almost made it weird. it took a long moment before he finally relaxed a hugged back, but once he did, Jack knew it was gonna be okay.

"You're still my best friend, Hiccup. And if it were up to me, you would still have a place here, dragon and all." Jack murmured, and then pushed back to hold Hiccup at arms length. They'd been in this position a million times before; Jack holding onto his shoulders, and Hiccup curling in on himself uncertainly. Now Jack felt weighed down with a bitter wisdom and many more years than he'd actually lived. "I never believed that prophecy. I may not know what's gonna happen from here on out, but I do know that you will always be my brother and I don't want to lose you a second time."

"Jack... You don't know everything that's happened..." Hiccup tried, his voice scratchy and weak.

"I don't need to." Jack told him. "I will always believe in you, even if no one else does. Even if you don't believe in yourself."

Hiccup pressed his lips together and Jack could see his eyes filling up with tears, so he just decided to hug him again. This time Hiccup didn't hesitate to hug back, holding on tight. While looking over his shoulder, though, Jack opened his eyes to see a familiar black dragon slowly creeping towards them. It looked up and froze when it found Jack looking at it.

"Uhh... Hiccup?" Jack inquired, but still hugging.

"Yeah?"

"I still want an explanation for the dragon."

"Oh, right!" Hiccup jerked back, twisting around to look at the dragon, who perked up and then... Smiled a big, wide, gummy smile.

"Oh my god," Jack uttered, staring at it.

"Right, um, Jack this is Toothless!" Hiccup introduced with a forced grin, holding his arms out for display. Jack looked at him and then back to the dragon as it bounced forward excitedly, wiggling the whole way. Hiccup placed a hand on it's snout and it calmed almost immediately, though it's pupils stayed wide and friendly.

"Are you the reason this idiot is still alive?" Jack asked. The dragon looked straight at him and nodded.

Jack couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey," Hiccup muttered, nudging the dragon's shoulder.

"Well, thanks for looking after him. He's a bit of a disaster." Jack spoke directly to Toothless, ignoring Hiccup for now, who gaped at him incredulously. Toothless just snorted with a bland look that could rival Hiccup's. Jack laughed again.

"This definitely isn't how I expected this to go." Hiccup mumbled under his breath, but Jack just quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Did you really expect me to hate you?" Jack asked. Hiccup paused and wouldn't meet his eye. "Look, Hiccup... I didn't know what you were going through. Still don't, honestly. I wish you didn't feel the need to hide."

"I didn't want to let you all down." Hiccup whispered, and Jack could admit that his heart twisted a little at that. "But I guess the truth is out... I can't go back, Jack. I'm not the same as I was before..."

"I'm not trying to stop you." Jack promised. "But nothing has to change. I'm never out of reach, and you don't need to be alone."

"It has to! Even now, you're risking treason just talking to me like this." Hiccup reminded him, but Jack shook his head.

"So we'll be careful." Jack shrugged. "Look... I know you've gotta find your place, but it's always gonna be you and me. I promise."

"I can't ask you to -" Hiccup started, but Jack cut him off.

"You're not. This is my choice." Jack smirked. "And one day, when we finally have the chance, you can tell me the story about how you met Toothless... And how you lost your leg."

Hiccup gave a wet laugh and swiped at his nose with his wrist.

"You really aren't mad?" Hiccup questioned.

"I won't lie, there are a lot of things we need to talk about and clear up." Jack admitted honestly. "But right now, I'm just happy you're alive... And that there isn't a mysterious, incredibly dangerous Dragon Rider working for Pitch."

Hiccup chuckled, but at the same moment Toothless perked up. His ear flaps went straight up as he looked at the tunnel Jack had come from and a small rumble came from his chest. The dragon looked back to Hiccup and gave a small grumble. Hiccup reached up and smoothed a hand over his scaly head again.

"The others are coming. I have to go, Jack." Hiccup looked over at him, uncertain, but Jack nodded.

"I know." Jack said. "Just try not to fake your death and disappear for another three years." He kept his tone flat and serious, and Hiccup looked back at him for a moment before his expression went flat.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess I deserved that one." He grumbled as Jack chuckled.

"Hiccup," Jack called out. Hiccup turned back, and Jack held out his arm. Hiccup looked at him for a moment and then smiled, gripping his arm in comradeship.

When Hiccup walked away with Toothless, and Jack turned his back to walk in the opposite direction, it was with a smile for both of them.