Toothless could not concentrate on the world around him. That dream, it was so vivid. It had been two whole days since it but he could not get it out of his mind. It was as if Hiccup was actually there with him. But he could not have been. It was impossible, yet he could not help but believe otherwise.

Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of a bottle floating upside down in the water. What was this doing here? His gaze locked on it as it drifted towards the shore. Curiously, Toothless sniffed at it. The scent on it, he recognized that scent anywhere. It was Hiccup's scent. Crammed inside the bottle was a piece of parchment. Toothless touched the glass bottle with his paw, and it broke apart. It looked like it had been tossed around in a storm and dashed against so many sharp rocks.

Unfolding the parchment, Toothless saw that there was writing on it. Over time, Toothless had learned to read. When Hiccup would write in his diary every other night, Toothless would gaze over his shoulder and eventually was able to decipher what all those strangle, squiggly symbols meant. It was a little smeared from the contact with water but still mostly legible. Some words were completely washed out, so from what Toothless saw, it said:

Toothless,

I'm not even sure if this will reach you. I've missed you like crazy. Can't stop thinking about you. I know you're happy with your new life, but I was wondering if we could see each other again. I'll be at the west cliff. If you don't come, I'll be completely fine. I love you, bud.

Your friend,

Hiccup

Toothless' heart skipped a beat. Hiccup missed him and wanted to see him. More than anything, Toothless wanted to meet him again, but he could not just up and go. He had responsibilities to all the other dragons. He was the alpha, after all. Although Toothless tried to convince himself to not go, his thoughts kept drifting to Hiccup, seeing his brown hair, his green eyes, his smile.

Hiccup had always been there for him. Maybe it was time Toothless returned the favor. Besides, the dragons could handle themselves for a bit. They were not like sheep. Unfolding his wings, Toothless took off and started toward the exit of the Hidden World. I'm coming to you, Hiccup.

. . .

"Hello, are you there?"

Hiccup was jerked out of his thoughts. "Hm?"

"You drifted off again," Astrid said.

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me today."

But he knew what was wrong. He had been staring at a cloud that was shaped like a Night Fury, or at least, it looked like that because he was thinking about Toothless again, for the third time this week.

"Should I be worried about you?" questioned Astrid.

"No, it's okay. I'm completely fine," Hiccup returned.

Astrid squinted at him. "You're a terrible liar. Something's bothering you. What is it?"

Looking down, Hiccup bit his lip. "It's nothing. I don't want to talk about it. It's stupid, anyway."

"Knowing you, it's not stupid. Can't you just tell me?"

"You won't want to hear it."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I do. Look, I've just got a lot on my mind. You know how it is. I'm completely fine."

Astrid gripped his wrist. "I don't think you are. Why can't you tell me? Don't you trust me?"

Hiccup looked at her. "Of course I trust you. It's just-"

"Ugh, great!" came Snotlout's angry voice. "The twins drank all the water again!"

"We Thorstons need extra water to be effective for work," Tuffnut explained. "I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"No, I do understand," Snotlout retorted, crossing his arms. "You and your sister are camels!"

"Okay!" Hiccup cried, seizing the empty water pitcher. "Why don't I refill this, and then we all be happy, huh?"

"Do you want me to come with you?" Astrid asked hopefully.

"Oh, no, it's fine," Hiccup said, eager to be alone to sort out his thoughts. "I got this. The stream's not far from here anyways."

Astrid looked at him suspiciously. To make her feel better, Hiccup gave her a quick kiss on the lips and then left. Walking through the forest, Hiccup began to feel guilty. Astrid just wanted to help, and he pushed her away. Why did he do that? Maybe it was because he felt like this was something he needed to work out alone. Besides, Astrid was probably tired of hearing everyone complaining about how they missed their dragon when she was already dealing with her own pain.

Frustratedly, Hiccup pulled on his hair. He had to get Toothless out of his head. It was too painful, thinking about him day after day. Why should he think about him when he was not here, when he was never coming back? Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the swish of a dark tail. Hiccup's head jerked to the right and saw something black rushing deeper into the forest. Could it be? Was it him?

"Toothless?" Hiccup called.

Impulsively, he broke into a sprint. His heart raced with joy. Toothless had come back. He was here. Hiccup had to catch him. He had to see him. He needed to get close to him, to feel his warm scales against his hand once again. Turning, he saw the black thing hiding behind the tree. Hiccup rushed around the tree to meet the Night Fury.

"Toothless! I can't believe you're-"

He stopped. What he saw was not a Night Fury, but a wild, black horse pawing at the ground. For a moment, Hiccup could do nothing but stare at it, feeling utterly crushed. Toothless was not there, and he was not coming back. Never again. A lump arose in his throat, and his eyes held back warm tears. Hanging his head, he trudged back to where his friends were. Dropping the pitcher on the table, Hiccup stood with his back to his friends.

"Hey, the thing's still empty," Fishlegs said behind him.

"Sorry," Hiccup responded despondently.

"Geez, if you wanted to go take a walk break, you could've just said so," Ruffnut huffed.

"I wasn't taking a walking break," Hiccup replied, his shoulders slumped forward. "I just. . ."

Astrid must have noticed the despair in his voice, because she asked, "Hiccup, are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Hiccup responded, the bitterest sarcasm filling his voice. "Everything's perfect. Everything's so great, I feel like jigging and belting out 'Zippity-doo-dah.' "

"What's wrong, Hiccup?" Astrid inquired, worry in her voice.

Turning around, Hiccup laughed bitterly. "Wh-who said anything was wrong? I'm totally fine."

"No, you aren't. Something's bothering you," Astrid replied, staring at him with her blue eyes.

Hiccup felt the tears in his eyes. They were filling his vision, making it watery and blurry. But he forced them to stay in their place.

"N-nothing's bothering me," Hiccup said, trying to smile, but he ended up frowning. "I'm fine. Everything's. . .fine."

He saw Fishlegs mouth to Snotlout, "Oh, dear, he's gonna cry."

Astrid came forward to hold his hand. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Tuffnut walked forward. "Hey, you need a beard to cry on?"

Hiccup recoiled, tension building up inside him. "I'm fine. I don't want to talk about it, nothing's wrong, and for the love of Thor, Tuffnut, IT'S NOT A BEARD!"

"Hey, not cool, Hiccup!" Tuffnut shot back.

Uncontrollable anger took hold of Hiccup, making him say things that he thought he would never say. "LIFE'S NOT COOL, TUFFNUT! LIFE IS NOTHING BUT PAIN AND SUFFERING, AND THAT'S ALL IT'LL EVER BE!"

Panting and trembling, Hiccup realized that he had gone too far. Sinking into a chair, Hiccup looked at the ground and brushed the bangs out of his face.

"I'm sorry, Tuffnut, I shouldn't shout at you like that," Hiccup whispered. "I'm sorry."

Astrid crouched down to meet his eyes. "Please tell us what's going on. We want to -I want to- help you. But that can't happen if you don't say what's wrong."

Swallowing hard, Hiccup shook his head. "It won't help. It won't make it go away. It'll never go away. It's gonna stay and gnaw at me until I die."

"The pain?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup nodded.

Astrid put a hand to his cheek. "Are you missing him?"

"Yes, and I can't stop it. It just. . ." With a sniff, Hiccup closed his eyes. "Everywhere I go, I see his face. Everything I look at, it just reminds me of him and that he's gone. I should be happy, I know I should be, but I just can't help but miss him. I can't help but wish he was here."

He felt Astrid pull him into an embrace. "I know how you feel."

"It doesn't matter; he won't ever come back," Hiccup whispered bitterly. "He's happy. He won't want to see me again."

"I'm sure Toothless misses you as much as you miss him," Astrid soothed.

Hiccup pulled away. "Nevermind, it's ridiculous. He's happy. I should be glad he's found happiness. I'm being selfish. Love's putting the other person first. I should do that and stop being so sad. But I just. . .I think I need some time alone."

Standing up, Hiccup turned to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going?" Astrid inquired worriedly.

"Home. I'll see you tomorrow, hopefully."

Head hung and shoulders sinking forward, he walked morosely back to his house. If anyone said anything to him or asked for his help with a favor, he did not hear it; he was too absorbed in this unbearable sorrow. Reaching for the handle, Hiccup opened the front door to his house, keeping his gaze down at his feet.

"Sweetheart, you're home early. What's going on?" he heard Valka ask curiously.

"Nothing," Hiccup responded dejectedly.

"What's wrong, Hiccup?" she asked, this time with worry and compassion.

"Nothing," he repeated, shutting the door to his room behind him.

Hiccup sat at his desk, staring at his sketchbook. It was opened at a drawing of Toothless and the Light Fury together. Hiccup's stare turned to a glare at the Light Fury.

"You did this," he whispered, seething.

Angrily, he tore the page out of the book, and shredded it. He did not want to ever see it again. Glancing around his room, he saw all his stupid inventions, a great deal of them unfinished, useless. Why did he have all this stupid junk? In the heat of his anger, he threw them on the floor. As they came crashing down, he then turned to his sketches of houses. He hurtled them across the room. Then, with a yell of fury, he overturned his desk. Breathing rapidly, he scowled at the floor.

Why was he ever friends with Toothless if he was just going to become wild again and leave him? It would have been better if he never met him at all. As a matter of fact, he wished that dragons never existed. Then his whole life would have been much better. Then, on the floor, he noticed the red fin that he made for Toothless all those years ago so they could fly together. Sinking to the ground, Hiccup ran his hand over the tail fin. His anger seemed to melt instantly upon staring at it. Then, picking it up, Hiccup clutched the tail fin to his chest as tears sprang from his eyes.

He did not really wish that he never met Toothless. They had been friends for six years. Six wonderful years. All of those beautiful memories, all those moments together, Hiccup would not wish to forget or trade them for anything. They were more precious than his life and worth more than all the gold in the world could buy. Hiccup enjoyed every ounce of time he spent with Toothless, and he would treasure them always.

"Oh, Toothless," he whispered, tears falling down from his eyes.

. . .

The Night Fury rushed across the water at lightning speed, excitement coursing through his veins. He was going to see Hiccup again! After four weeks, he was actually going to see his friend again. He could hardly believe it. In the distance, Toothless' vision caught sight of an island. This was New Berk.