Chapter 31: Reunion

Eira actually enjoyed the rest of her time at Defenders of the Wing Island. Mala was a gracious host and had no hard feelings about what happened. Snotlout enthusiastically explained the trails to Hiccup and Heather, who were genuinely impressed. And then, at the end of the day, they all returned to Dragon's Edge.

"Listen, guys," Hiccup said as they landed, "there's something Heather and I need to tell you about our adventure yesterday."

But Eira stopped listening when she saw the Terrible Terror sitting in the grass, staring at her. "Squirt? You're finally back?" How long ago had she sent him out to find Dagur? Weeks? Months? She had lost count... and all hope of seeing him again.

"Eira, there's something you need to know," Heather began.

Eira spotted a note attached to the Terrible Terror's leg and snatched it. Unfurling it, her eyes widened when she saw who it was from. "Dagur's alive?"

"That's what we need to talk about," Hiccup said.

Eira wanted to read the letter right then and there, but she did not want to keep the other dragon riders, now scrambling around Hiccup and Heather, waiting. She lowered the letter and met Hiccup's eyes. "Alright, talk."

Hiccup launched into the tale, occasionally interrupted by Heather. Apparently, Dagur had been pretending to work with the dragon hunters because they had Shattermaster, but he also tried to secretly work against them when he could. Hiccup and Heather helped him rescue his dragon along with a bunch of other Gronckles. However, Dagur chose to lure the dragon riders away so that the Gronckles could escape.

"If that letter is from him, it means he made it," Heather said. "What does it say?"

Eira quickly scanned the letter to digest it first. Then she read it out loud: "Eira, I'm sorry I kept Squirt with me for so long. I wanted the company, and I was not ready for you to know about me. I'm sorry if I caused you to worry. I had to focus on saving my dragon, but now we're safe. Tell Heather I will see both of you soon. I will make everything up to you. Love, Dagur."

Eira wiped the tears in her eyes with her sleeve. "He was alive all this time? How could he not say anything?" If he knew she would worry, why did he put her through this? She was glad he was alive, but the feeling was also overwhelming.

"At least you know now," Hiccup said. "I'm sure he meant no harm by it."

"You know Dagur," Heather said. "He has a one track mind."

Eira bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah." She took a deep breath, but she still had no control over her swirling emotions. "I need a minute to process this."

"Of course," Hiccup said. "Take your time."

Eira folded the letter and placed it in her bag. Then she walked off with Swiftwings by her side. The two of the approached the woods and stopped. Eira found a tree to lean against and closed her eyes. Dagur was alive. Did this change anything? Did she want it to?

"Eira?"

She did not know how long she had been there, but it must have been long enough for someone to worry. She opened her eyes to see Snotlout standing before her, darting his eyes around uncomfortably. "Yes?"

"Are you... alright?" He looked at her earnestly, easing her worries.

"I'll be fine," she said softly. "It's just a lot to take in, you know?"

"It is pretty crazy, but this is a good thing, right?"

"Yeah..." Eira wished she had an explanation for why she was acting this way, but she had not found one yet.

"It will feel strange to see him again, like he is back from the dead."

"Exactly." Maybe that was it. Maybe she had already let him go, and now she had to go back and undo it.

Snotlout gave her a small smile. "if you want, I can beat him up for you for not writing to you sooner."

Eira laughed. "I don't think that will be necessary. But thanks."

Snotlout grinned. "That's better. Anyway, I am here if you need me."

Eira smiled warmly at him. "I know. Thank you, Snotlout." Perhaps she was overthinking things. Everything would turn out to be just fine.

"Where are we going?" Eira said as she and Swiftwings followed Heather and Windshear through the night sky.

Heather gave her a mischievous smirk. "You'll see."

Eira did not bother to ask again. She was glad for the distraction at least. The past couple of weeks had been difficult on her. She decided Heather should be the one to write Dagur back, and as far as she knew, he had not responded.

"We're almost there," Heather said.

Eira recognized the island they closed in on as the one where she used to meet Dagur. Why would Heather bring her here? They landed on the beach, and she had her answer. Dagur and Shattermaster stood several yards away, watching her.

Eira looked to Heather, who smiled at her. "I thought you two might want some time alone," Heather said.

Eira felt overwhelmed once again. She turned back to Dagur, and he smiled nervously. "Hey Eira," he said. "Long time no see?"

Eira snapped out of her indecisiveness and ran to Dagur. He caught her as she flung herself at him, and they held each other tightly. She was normally not so forward, but her emotions were too out of control for her to care. She buried her face in his chest in an attempt to hide her tears. "You... you shouldn't have done that," she choked out. "You should have told me you were alive."

"I'm sorry," Dagur said softly as he stroked her back.

"I'll be back in an hour," Heather said.

"Thank you!" Dagur called after her.

Once she heard the sound of Windshear's wings, Eira dared to speak again, "Why didn't you write to me sooner?"

"I didn't think it would matter."

"Of course it mattered! I thought you were dead."

"But I was busy-"

"That's not the point." Eira pulled her head back and looked at him through her blurry vision. "You can't just disappear and not communicate with anyone. People who care about you worry. You shouldn't have done that to us... to me."

Surprise flashed in Dagur's eyes. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm not used to people caring about me. I still don't know how it works."

His honest confession softened Eira's heart. Of course he had meant no harm. "I really missed you." She let her head fall against his chest again. It felt good to be here with him.

"I missed you too. If you want, I'll promise to never leave you again."

Eira smiled. "You can't mean that literally." But the idea brought a warm, peaceful feeling.

"Why not?" Dagur brought his hand to her cheek and wiped away hear tears with his thumb. "You should come back with me to Berserker Island. You and Heather both. I don't want to be apart from either of you again."

Eira's heart skipped a beat. Something deep inside of her wanted to accept, but she stopped herself from answering impulsively. She pulled back and looked at him with a sad smile. "Dagur, I'm sorry. I... can't."

Dagur frowned. "Why not?" He dropped his arms but remained close to her. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no! It's not you. I don't want to be apart from you either, but..." How was she supposed to explain this to him? There was so much he still did not know. There was a lot she couldn't tell him before, and it would take time to catch him up. "The dragon riders need me. I recently got on Snotlout's case for thinking about leaving. I can't turn around and do the same thing."

"Oh, him." Dagur backed away from her, and she rubbed her arms from the sudden cold.

"Yeah... He's my partner. We're a team." She felt something shift between them, but she didn't understand it.

"But we could be a better team!"

"I'm sorry. I-"

Dagur shook his head, and she stopped. He started pacing in the sand, appearing to be thinking hard about something. Then he suddenly stopped and grinned at her. "Alright, challenge accepted!"

Eira's eyes widened in surprise. "Wh-what?" She did not recall issuing him a challenge.

"Your friends need you, I know. But I will win you over!"

Eira did not know how to respond to that. She stared at him, confused at his enthusiasm.

"But right now, let's have some fun like old times." He held his hand out to her and smiled.

Eira still did not get it, but she forgot about that as she took his hand and let him lead her away. The future could wait. She wanted to enjoy the time they had together now.

Eira stood in front of the dragon riders she had gathered in the clubhouse. By now, they all knew Heather had brought her to meet Dagur the previous night, and they rightly suspected this was what she wanted to talk about. She had remained awake much of the night going through everything in her mind.

She remembered when she had to leave Dagur after they enjoyed their time together on the island. They had reached the beach and saw Heather standing there with her back to them. Before Eira could go greet her, Dagur pulled her back to him by her arm and embraced her.

As Eira hugged him back, she realized she had come to like his expressiveness and open affection. It was a nice change of pace and inspired her to reciprocate. Still, she had enough restraint to know when it was time to let go. "I have to leave," she whispered as she reluctantly pulled away from him.

Dagur gave her a sad smile. "Do you really?"

"Don't worry. You'll soon get sucked into a new adventure and not even think about me."

Dagur shook my head. "That's not true. I think about you and Heather every day. All the activity is only a temporary distraction from the loneliness."

Eira felt surprised at his confession, and it stirred something odd inside her. "Well, if you need me, you know where to find me." She had to leave now before she did something reckless. "Good night, Dagur."

"Good night, Eira."

And then she had returned to the Edge with Heather. She spent the night thinking about Dagur's offer. She still knew she could not accept, but that did not mean there was not another solution. So, she gathered the other riders to discuss her idea.

"Tell us what's on your mind, Eira," Hiccup encouraged her.

Eira glanced at Astrid, who nodded at her. Right, she had to say what she wanted. She took a deep breath and swept her gaze across the room. "Everyone, I've been thinking... Since Dagur is on our side now, maybe we should invite him to stay here on Dragon's Edge."

"Wow," said Tuffnut. "That was fast."

"Should have seen that coming," said Ruffnut.

"What brought this on?" Fishlegs asked.

"Obviously she had a good time with him last night," Heather said with a teasing smirked.

Eira blushed. "That's not-"

"Unacceptable," Snotlout said. "He'll mess up our rhythm."

"You mean he'll challenge you for the title of most egotistical dragon rider," Astrid said.

Snotlout glared at her. "Shut up, Astrid."

"Guys, calm down," Hiccup said. "We should hear Eira out."

Eira gave him a grateful smile. "I really think Dagur could help us out. He knows the dragon hunters and how they think. He can help us get inside their minds. He did detect Viggo's trap once before, right?" She might have had personal reasons for wanting him there, but that did not mean it was not a rational decision.

Hiccup nodded. "That is true."

"And despite what he's done in the past, he has risked his life to save us. Can you say he doesn't deserve to join us if that's what he wants?"

"Is it what he wants?" Fishlegs said. "Did he say something to you?"

Eira hesitated. "Well, not exactly... And I didn't bring it up before talking to the rest of you because you know how he gets."

"That was probably a good idea," Heather said.

Eira glanced at her. "But he did say he doesn't want to be apart from either of us. His idea is for both of us to join him on Berserker Island."

"No," Fishlegs and Snotlout said at the same time.

"I told him I couldn't leave the Edge, but as for Heather..."

"I can't exactly leave either," Heather said, although she appeared conflicted.

"That's right," Fishlegs said. "She belongs with us."

"That's why I'm suggesting an alternative," Eira said. "Dagur's all alone right now. He needs us."

"We still don't know how well he'd work with us," Astrid pointed out.

"There's no harm in giving him a trial run," Hiccup said. "Invite him on a mission and see how it goes." He looked around at the group. "If everyone is okay with it, that is."

"We can devise a series of elaborate tests like we did for Eira," Tuff said.

"I don't think that will be necessary..."

"I'm alright with Dagur joining us," Fishlegs said. "It's better than losing Heather and Eira."

Snotlout nodded. "I suppose I could put up with him."

Eira smiled in relief. "Great. Thanks, guys." She knew this could not be a permanent arrangement because Dagur did have his own duties at home, but she would take what she could get.

Snotlout exited his hut to find Astrid standing there for a second time. Today, however, he was not as pleased to see her. "I don't need another lecture, Astrid," he said in annoyance. "Eira and I are fine."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "I'm not here to lecture you. I'm generously offering you my help - and trust me, you need it."

Snotlout scoffed. "What would I need your help with?"

"With Eira, obviously."

"I told you we're fine."

"You won't be if Dagur moves in and steals her from you!"

Snotlout frowned. "He wouldn't do that, would he? Eira is my partner."

Astrid groaned. "You can't be so possessive or you'll turn her off. And I'm not talking about partnerships; I'm talking about love."

Snotlout flushed. "L-Love?" He wrung his hands and looked around nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about. Eira and I are friends."

Astrid raised her eyebrows. "So, you wouldn't have a problem if she fell in love with Dagur and ran off with him?"

The very idea sent panic through Snotlout's heart. "She wouldn't do that... would she?" His eyes widened in fear. "We're partners."

"Love is stronger than that, Snotlout. And she actually might reject him if she thought it would make you unhappy, but you don't want to hold her back, do you?"

Snotlout shifted uncomfortably. "Well, no, but-"

"Then stop pretending you're in love with every other girl - especially me - and go after her!"

Snotlout shook his head and backed away. This was all too much all too soon. "I - I can't. I don't even know if that's what I want." What really did he know about love? He liked being with Eira and didn't want her to leave, but he was unsure what that meant.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Then you better figure it out before you lose your chance."

Then she left him alone in a mess of confusion.

A/N: Well, it looks like Heather and Astrid have very different plans for Eira! Who will win out?