During lunch was normal for once, everyone was sitting down and eating, talking amongst themselves. Hiccup sat with his kids, Valka, and Alvin at the main table watching everything around him. His mind was in other places however, thinking about everything that happened in the last 6 years. He avoided Berk for so long, their island was a secret because everyone believed it was Outcast island. It was incredible how just one thing could change it all, one moment brought him back to the place he didn't want to be, and now the people who cast him out, with the exception of Fishlegs who stood up for him, were among him again.

It was odd, yes. Them wanting to learn more was even weirder. But what could Hiccup do, they were willing to learn and this is what Hiccup had wanted. To show people the truth, to be given just a chance to show others that there was another way. And with the red death long gone, that chance was rising higher and higher. Hiccup's eyes glanced over to the table where the Hooligans sat, they seemed livelier than when they first arrived about a month ago. More so since the death of the dragon queen and Hiccup's guess was because they knew he was alive now.

His green orbs looked over each member of his former tribe. Astrid, who seemed to change the most. He remembered she had a fighting spirit, and Gods help the soul if they made her mad. Hiccup had seen sad expressions on her face as of late, mainly when his past from the last 6 years was brought up. The twins were the same, Snotlout was a little more mature but not by much. Gobber hadn't changed at all, Hiccup was grateful for that. Fishlegs hadn't changed either, another thing Hiccup was happy about. But there was still one member who changed drastically at least since being on Dragons Edge.

Stoick who seemed almost depressed and still in shock that Hiccup and Valka were alive and had been here the whole time. Hiccup didn't return to Berk because he was cast out, and was told if he ever did then he would be killed on sight. Hiccup knew Stoick wanted to talk to him, and Valka about everything but Hiccup wasn't ready to talk to him. Hiccup was smarter than anyone gave him credit for, stronger too. He wasn't the 15 year old boy they had cast out anymore, he was 22, a father, and chief of a tribe he built. Hiccup felt it in his stomach that Stoick wanted to know if he'd be forgiven for what happened 6 years ago, if Hiccup would accept him as his father.

In truth, Hiccup didn't know if he could. To much had happened since that day and above all, Hiccup regardless of giving forgiveness or not still couldn't return to Berk. His place was here on Dragons Edge, he was their chief. A position he took because it felt right too, Alvin and Camicazi were right. Hiccup made this place, this was his creation and he should be the one to run it. This was his life now, and he had not one but three heirs. Not only that but Hiccup was adopted by Alvin, making him his father now. This was actually a definite thing, it was done how the laws stated it should be. Hiccup was a cast out kid and under 18 when Alvin took him in. Alvin took care of him, helped him, acted like a father to him.

Hiccup wouldn't leave him just to go back to a place that hated him, regardless of the fact the people of Berk evidently didn't hate him and they all realized that moments to late. Hiccup wouldn't leave Dragons Edge, this was his home. Nothing would take him from it. Hiccup had finished eating, he was sitting back with his arms crossed over his chest. He saw the Hooligans were done as well and others were finished, getting up and leaving to continue their work. Hiccup sighed heavily closing his eyes before getting up and giving each of his kids a kiss on the head. He needed to get out and think for a while, he noticed his mother and father looking at him.

"Son? Everything alright?" Valka asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just need to think for a bit. You got the kids after lunch?" Hiccup asked lightly.

"Of course I do. I never miss a chance to watch my grand kids son." Valka laughed a little. Hiccup nodded as he gave a whistle and Toothless came beside him and he got on his back opening his tail. Two men opened the double doors for him knowing he was about to fly out.

"Lets go bud." Hiccup said calmly, Toothless crooned in response and launched out of the hall, spreading his wings as soon as he was outside. The room hadn't minded, they knew the chief was known for his dramatic like exits. The Hooligans were curious however, he had been fine before what changed?

"I wonder if he's okay..." Astrid stated now looking back to the others.

"He did seem a little off...Maybe someone should go talk to him?" Fishlegs suggested. Valka now approached their table and shook her head.

"I wouldn't advise such an idea. Anytime he takes off like that, he wants to be left alone to think. Interrupting him is only going to make him angry." Valka said lightly.

"Is he alright? He was fine during training..." Astrid asked looking up to Hiccup's mother.

"The chief is very good at hiding his emotions and doesn't let them interfere with his work. Much has happened in the last few weeks, he needs time to clear his head." Valka replied as Hiccup's 3 kids walked up to her and smiled at the Hooligans. "Have you finished eating children?" Valka asked giving a soft smile now.

"Yes Gramma." Runa nodded to her.

"Very good then." Valka looked to the Hooligans as she bowed her head, a way of excusing herself from their presence. Stoick stood up and took Valka's hand in his own.

"Val, wait..." Stoick said quickly. Valka turned her head to look at him with softer eyes.

"I know what you're going to say, Stoick. How could I of done this, stayed away all these years and why didn't I come back to you, to our son. Well...what sign did I have you could change, that anyone on Berk could. I pleaded so many times to stop the fighting, to find another answer but did any of you listen?" Valka said, her voice was cracking a little. Was she about to cry? Stoick stepped closer to her making Valka back up. "I know that I left you to raise Hiccup alone, but I believed he would be better off without me. And I was wrong...I see that now. Stop being so Stoick, Stoick...Shout, scream, say something!" Valka demanded him, she gasped with wide eyes when she felt his hand on her cheek.

"You're as beautiful as the day I lost you..." Stoick whispered out, tears in his own eyes. Valka couldn't believe what she just heard him say. No questions about why she didn't come back, no yelling about how she made them believe she was dead? Stoick leaned in and kissed her gently. Valka's hands dropped to her side as she melted in to it. Stoick pulled back now and stared at her. "I'm not the man I used to be, Val–..." Stoick stopped hearing the roar of Toothless in the room, they both looked to see Hiccup standing there. "Hiccup..." Stoick said a little shocked, wondering if he'd be mad.

Hiccup put his hand up to get him to stop talking, he closed his mouth. "I don't need an explanation, Stoick. I'm 22, I can see what's going on with my own two eyes." Hiccup began calmly. He figured this might happen, his former father taking a chance to get close to his mother again. He had prepared himself for such, "I don't care. Truthfully, I do not. You know the rules on my island mom. I won't stop any union as long as its what you really want. I know you love him, its not hard to see. And you knew deep down you would see him again, its another reason I let them come. I knew you never took your mask off for my sake, because they'd connect the dots. Its appreciated, really it is but I knew the day I made the choice to go to Berk to tell them to stay away from the queen's island that this would happen. So I don't care, if you're happy then I am happy for you. You're free to make your own choices regarding your life. As for you, Stoick..." Hiccup trailed off facing him with serious eyes. "If you hurt my mother...Real father or not...I will hurt you. That is all I have to say on this matter." Hiccup then turned from them and walked away, Toothless following him.

The room seemed to go quiet, staring at the spot where Hiccup stood making the statement he did. There was no hesitation in his voice, there was also no emotion. He wasn't mad or upset. He was void it seemed, how had he known something like this could happen? "Astrid. Fishlegs. Snotlout. Ruffnut. Tuffnut. Training academy in 20 minutes." Hiccup added before disappearing past the double doors of the great hall again.

"Was that...His way of giving a blessing?" Gobber asked.

"Yes, yes it was. However, you and I still have a lot to talk about Stoick...For now, I have to get the children home." Valka said slowly.

"I understand. Can we...talk tonight?" Stoick asked lightly.

"I will speak to you after dinner. Until then...Come along children." Valka insisted giving a smile to them.

"Okay Gramma!" Thora, Viggo, and Runa said together. Stoick sat back down sighing, he had to do it. He had to make things right with his wife, and with Hiccup but he knew Hiccup wasn't going to be so easy. He would take it slow, he got through to Valka and that was enough for now.

"So if she's Hiccup's mom, and you're his dad, well real dad...That means that those kids...are your grandchildren too." Gobber pointed out. "Can't believe we never noticed the eyes or hair...They look a lot like Hiccup."

"That they are...I doubt Hiccup is going to let me near them any time soon." Stoick sighed out. Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins got up to leave the hall.

"Give him time chief...He'll come around. Maybe...show an interest in being in his life again?" Fishlegs offered.

"Right, we all had to earn his trust...you're the only one who hasn't because you've been sulking around since you found out that he considers Alvin his father, calls him such too. Nothing else he told us about the last 7 years hit you that hard, than finding out that Hiccup calls Alvin dad and father, and that they have a good father and son relationship. If you want to earn Hiccup's trust back, maybe try to be the one thing to him you never were? Be his dad and accept him. That's all he ever wanted..." Astrid added as they left the hall together heading down the path towards the academy.

(The Academy)

Hiccup was leaning against the academy wall with his metal leg bent backwards and resting on the wall for support, Toothless was laying down beside him contently. He raised his head when he saw the group enter the ring as Hiccup raised his head and looked at them now. They couldn't explain it, Hiccup's eyes were void of any emotions at the moment. "Hiccup...Are you–..." Hiccup put his hand up to stop Astrid from finishing her question. He pushed himself off the wall now with a heavy sigh.

"You aren't here to worry about me. You're here to learn how to train your dragons. Focus on you, not me." Hiccup said coldly. They looked at one another and nodded to him. "Good. Bjorn!" Hiccup called out.

"Yes chief?" Bjorn replied from behind him.

"Bring out the dragons from Berk, please." Hiccup stated.

"Aye sir." Bjorn then rushed in to the stables to get Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch. Hiccup didn't move much, just stood there with his hands over his chest. After 10 minutes Bjorn had brought them out one at a time. Hiccup sighed as he lowered his arms now and looked at them.

"Same rules apply, you do exactly as you are told. Flying a dragon is nothing like earning their trust or bonding with them." Hiccup said firmly.

"Yes sir." The group said together.

"I took it upon myself to use older saddles, flying bareback for more than an hour tends to get uncomfortable for both rider and dragon. I've laid them out over there, first job is to figure out which saddle goes to your dragon. This is where I test to see how well you can put things together." Hiccup said calmly. He wasn't mad, this was just his normal persona. Calm but firm still. "Once you pick the saddle you think is the right one for your dragon, you do not get a second choice. You have 10 minutes. Go." Hiccup ordered.

The groups eyes widened as they quickly rushed over to the wall where the saddles were, they looked at each of them. "Okay, okay. We can do this...Think guys...match the saddle to the shape of our dragons." Fishlegs said, they spent the first 5 minutes looking back and forth between their dragons and the saddle choices.

"I think I got it...Ruffnut, Tuffnut. Your dragon has two heads and slimmer necks. Those two right there are for Barf and Belch." Astrid said pointing to two saddles that looked identical. Ruffnut and Tuffnut grabbed them and stepped back. "Snotlout, that saddle is a little longer than the ones the twins have, Hookfang also has a small neck." Astrid said, Snotlout grabbed it.

"2 minutes!" Hiccup reminded. Astrid began to panic now, only two saddles left. One for Stormfly and one for Meatlug, she looked over them carefully.

"That one is skinnier with long straps. Its gotta be for Meatlug because she has a big body but she is small in size to Stormfly. Get it, Fishlegs...and I'll take this one." Astrid said as she grabbed the one she felt was for Stormfly, Fishlegs got the other one as the 5 of them rushed back over to their original spots.

"Times up." Hiccup stated. As he stepped forward to check if they'd gotten it right, he nodded his head with approval. "Well done you 5. You didn't guess, you took the time to look at them all and your dragons bodies. Second test, get their saddles on them. You have again, 10 minutes. Start." Hiccup said stepping back with his arms over his chest.

"Alright guys, lets do this!" Snotlout called to them. With that they all smiled and headed to their dragons, and began to work on getting their saddles on. Fishlegs got his on first, then Astrid. The twins and Snotlout were still having trouble after 7 minutes.

"Lets help them. I have a feeling if we don't pass his tests, we don't get to fly..." Astrid said.

"Right, I'll help the twins, you help Snotlout." Fishlegs said, they nodded and went to help their friends. Astrid reached Hookfang and looked over what Snotlout had done, Hookfang looked uncomfortable so Astrid took the saddle and moved it farther up his neck and strapped it on. Hookfang purred contently licking her cheek.

"30 seconds!" Hiccup called. Fishlegs just finished the twins as they all returned to their spots beside their dragons panting. "Done!" They called together. Hiccup moved beside each dragon and inspected their work. Few mistakes but nothing major. He nodded to them, "Not bad. Not bad at all. There are a few mistakes here and there..." Hiccup began, they froze with worry, "But I will over look them because you decided to work together. You recognized your friends were having trouble and although this was an independent test, you chose to help them. Astrid, well done on understanding that Hookfang's saddle needed to be up higher so he would be comfortable." Hiccup said to her.

"Oh, thank you..." Astrid replied with a light smile.

"Tell me how you figured out it needed to be moved." Hiccup said now.

"U–uh well...Hookfang has a long neck and where Snotlout had the saddle made him uncomfortable, so I moved it higher up where there was more space between his spikes, a–also that Snotlout would of had nothing to hold on to...I put the saddle where I did so he could hold on to Hookfang's horns...I–I remember you doing it on Sunflower the day of the race..." Astrid responded looking at him.

"Impressive. Not many can do that. Good for you. Fishlegs, how did you know to move the saddles higher up?" Hiccup asked now.

"The twins like with Snotlout wouldn't have anything to hang on to while flying, made sense to put them in a spot so they could hold the two longest horns on Barf and Belch..." Fishlegs answered calmly.

"Excellent work, all of you. Shows me you've been paying attention and listening to me, it's a first but hey...I'll take what I can get." Hiccup remarked, they knew he was mentioning to the fact they never listened to him on Berk, they cast him out instead. "Alright. Time to mount up...first things first, you need to get on you dragon. So, you need to figure out the best way to do that without hurting yourselves or them. For me...Toothless is low enough to the ground I can jump or climb on." Hiccup said as he had Toothless stand up as he pulled out the saddle rig for Toothless and began to get it on him.

"That looks incredibly complicated..." Astrid pointed out.

"Its not hard...Come here, I'll show you." Hiccup said as he started with the tail which had been redone and was red now with an interesting design on it. Hiccup attached it to the left side of Toothless's tail, after that was on he put the ropes, levers, and stirrups in place, finally the saddle and stepped back.

"Wow...and you...made all this on Berk? Well before everything happened?" Fishlegs asked now.

"That I did. His original tail that was burned off in the fight with the red death was the one I made on Berk, this rig was remade to work with this..." He said motioning to his metal leg now. Hiccup jumped on Toothless's back and locked his leg in to place, pressing on the mechanism a few times and looking back to check the tail was moving properly. Seeing it was he looked forward to the group. "Alright, mount up." Hiccup told them. They nodded and headed to their dragons. Astrid and Fishlegs both used hand signal to get their dragons to crouch a bit so they could climb on. The twins and Snotlout didn't have much trouble for once. "Astrid bend your knees back so your legs don't interfere with Stormfly's wings. Fishlegs you are fine. Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout lightly cross your legs around their necks and hold their horns but don't pull on them." Hiccup stated checking their stances.

Everyone did what he said to do as he had Toothless walk over so could inspect everything one more time, correcting whatever was wrong. "So what's next?" Astrid asked.

"Getting in the air. This comes with trust too, you're the rider. They know what to do, how to fly on their own but when they accept a rider, they put their trust in you to guide them. As you have to trust they won't let you get hurt or fall. Goes both ways. For today, we're just going to practice lifting slightly in to the air and setting back down and maybe a few laps around the outside of the ring. One at a time, I want you to do this..." Hiccup said as patted Toothless's neck a bit and Toothless crooned stepping back and flapping his wings until he hovered slightly 3 feet off the ground, stayed stationary a minute then set back down. "Fishlegs, you first. Hold Meatlug's ears for balance and give her a light tap with your heel..." Hiccup instructed.

Fishlegs nodded as he took a breath and held Meatlug's ears carefully and gave a light kick with his heel. Meatlug's wings began to flap quickly and lifted in to the air slowly, Fishlegs smiled wide with an excited laugh. "I–I'm doing it! I'm riding a dragon!" He exclaimed.

"Alright...easy...still got a lot to learn...Now hover a minute and set down..." Hiccup told him. Fishlegs nodded and did what he was told before setting down. "Good work. Snotlout, you're turn. Same thing only give a light squeeze to get him in the air. Main rule, don't panic." Hiccup stated.

"We got this, right Fangster?!" Snotlout smiled as Hookfang replied with a content growl. Snotlout gave a light squeeze with his legs and Hookfang took to the air without a problem, hovered and came back down. "Man that was awesome!" Snotlout threw his fist in the air.

"Astrid, just give her a pat like I did with Toothless. Hold the saddle, I made sure there would be ones with handles for you since Stormfly's shape doesn't allow for much room for holding on." Hiccup told her. Astrid nodded as she reached forward and gave Stormfly a light pat.

"Okay girl, lets do this!" Astrid smiled wide, Stormfly squawked happily and flew in to the air. A minute later she landed with a smile.

"Great. Now for you two...two heads but one dragon. You have to gave the same commands at the same time. My suggestion, both of you give a squeeze like Snotlout did to Hookfang and...tell them 'Sky' at the same. Okay? I know its confusing but being that the two heads are separate and you each ride one...they will follow your command. So whenever you command them, you have to work together at all times. Alright?" Hiccup told them sternly.

"We got it...Ready brother!?" Ruffnut asked with a smile.

"Ready dear sister of mine." Tuffnut replied as they both gave their dragons' neck a squeeze.

"Barf. Belch. Sky..." The twins said together. The two dragon heads nodded as they flapped their wings and lifted up, hovering and then landed again.

"Great work your guys. Seriously, I'm impressed. You by far exceeded my expectations about this, and are already ahead of many." Hiccup said clapping a few times.

"Well we do have a great teacher..." Astrid said softly now.

"So can we try flying around the ring?" Snotlout asked.

Alvin walked in to the academy and stood beside Hiccup now, "Hey dad. What's up, is there a problem?" Hiccup asked him curiously.

"No, everything is fine son. I just heard from your mother, she said Thora is feeling a little warm. Thinks she might be getting sick. Asked me to let ya know." Alvin informed him.

"Alright, she alright otherwise? No throwing up or pain?" Hiccup replied.

"Hasn't complained of anything but was asking for you lad." Alvin smiled.

"I'll go check on her. Thanks dad." Hiccup smiled, Alvin nodded and walked out again, "Good job today, we'll pick this up after I've checked on my daughter. Go put your dragons in their pens, give them a few fish and get back to the inn. Make sure you take their saddles off and put them in the tack boxes. After that, you can wander the village. I think you can be trusted to walk around and not cause trouble." Hiccup told them. They nodded to him as he flew off out of the academy and headed back to his house to check on his kids, mainly Thora.