AN: Odd, last chapter got less reviews than the previous 5. I wonder what happened to those that usually review every chapter.

Review response:

thearizona: errr, let's not jump to that ship too soon. It might not even sail :P

Noctus Fury: Yup, it never happens often. And I must agree, it's very adorable. Sometimes my mind decides to stop with the angst and actually make something adorable or cute.

Without further ado:

Previously: Elsa learns that Nightflight understands her, and finally comes to terms that she does care about the dragon, and opens up to her about her fears of hurting Hiccup, of her insecurities. During that, she also learns that Nightflight can sense her powers, and that so does Toothless.

"You're God sent… just like Hiccup."

Meanwhile, Hiccup, who had been flying with Toothless and Windwalker for the past hour, was returning to the tower when he noticed a dim light coming from it. "Bud, slow down a bit. I'm fairly sure it is Elsa, even though she should be sleeping this time, so let's go quietly," he said while they closed in.

True to his expectations, it was Elsa, as he noticed when he looked through his spyglass. And, he noticed too, Nightflight was resting her head on her lap. He let out a breath in disbelief. Elsa never got close to either him or Toothless. "I guess they really have bonded," he muttered, feeling happy.

He then stored his spyglass. "What do you say we have a few more laps? And stay a while with Windwalker?" Toothless crooned happily, and immediately they turned around. "Let's give the girls some privacy."

He had a feeling their meetings would be different after that night. Not much, but enough.

He returned two hours later. Elsa was no longer there. In a way, he was glad. He would have little time to sleep, and he didn't want the same for the Princess. Especially considering how falling asleep after waking up from a nightmare was always difficult for him, and so he presumed it was for her as well.

Nightflight did not seem distressed or even concerned when she looked at him. He regarded her with curiosity. "You ended up comforting Elsa?"

She nodded, vividly remembering how said girl seemed so much more at ease when she left than when she had arrived.

He nodded back. "That's good. She isn't easy to comfort, you know? I mean, words can only do so much and she has never even given me a handshake, as far as I remember. But…" He let out a sigh, and regarded both dragons with fondness. "I do guess you guys just have a way of comforting us." He glanced at Toothless. "He surely knows how to comfort me."

Nightflight moved, and though she felt pain, it didn't stop her from nudging Hiccup's hand. He smiled as soon as he felt her white scales brushing against his fingers. "I guess we have finally an answer for that question eh? To be honest I thought that was fairly quickly."

He shrugged. "Maybe bonding helped. Heck, as far as I know, bonding might just be the reason you understand her, since I doubt you ever heard Norwegian before. It might be similar to the Norse I speak, but still…" He pondered, and opened his notebook to write down his observation.

A frown soon appeared on his face, eliciting a croon from the female dragon. He sighed. "I just wish I could study you guys more. How much family matters in your society? How is it based? How bonding affects how you see humans, understand them? How many different trails each species has?"

He sat down and rested against Toothless. The dragon did not protest. "Sometimes I think I should have stayed in the Archipelago, on some deserted island, working how to bring down the Queen and learning about you guys. I wonder sometimes if I could have done that. If I could have brought peace to Berk." He chuckled. "Fishlegs surely would have liked studying you guys if he lost his fear of dragons."

He ran a hand through his hair and got up. "Well, no good in dwelling into 'what if's. Let's get going." They didn't always sleep in the tower. It meant he had to bring fish with him to last for almost a whole day. Not to mention the issue of relieving himself. With only Toothless that was feasible. But with two dragons to care about, Windwalker not counted, this simply wasn't possible.

One thing was sure. "I do miss sleeping in a bed," he muttered as they flew toward the familiar cavern that housed them.

He was right. Not much changed. But even small changes were noticeable because of how their meetings seemed to happen the same way. "Hello Hiccup," she said as she came in.

He turned around to look at her. She seemed well rested, considering she had visited Nightflight the night before. He wondered if she knew he knew about it. "Hey Elsa," he replied warmly.

Elsa blushed when Nightflight chirped and settled her head on the Princess' lap. "Uh… I think I may have the answer to your question."

She was thankful she didn't fully avert her eyes from him, otherwise she would have noticed his dismissal hand. "It's alright. I… I saw you here last night." Elsa tensed, which promoted him to hastily add, "I was returning and saw you with her. Figured you two could use some time together." She noticed his eyes were regarding her and Nightflight with fondness. "I guess I did well."

She allowed a small smile to cross her lips. Lightly she begun stroking Nightflight's neck. "I guess you did…" She looked at the dragon, seemingly so peace. And to think that a week ago I thought she was a threat to him, to me, to Anna, to Arendelle, she mused. She was glad everything turned out well. "It feels so…"

"Amazing? Different? Life changing?" he supplied. She regarded him before mutely nodding. "I agree. When I bonded with Toothless I felt different. Like I trusted him with my life. To be honest that is pretty accurate, considering I tested the first version of his tail on the next day after we bonded." He chuckled, amused at the memory. "I had never worried about someone so much before him," he said while scratching Toothless' chin, who happily crooned in return.

"Didn't you say you didn't fully trust him even after you bonded?" she inquired, a vague memory nagging her mind.

"I did?" Hiccup seemed surprised. "Well, if I did then I said it the wrong way. What I meant it that I fully didn't trust him the first few times we met." She seemed satisfied with his answer, and so they returned to the previous matter.

It was true what he said about caring for Toothless. He had worried about his father, especially during their voyages in search of the Dragon Island. But never like he worried about Toothless. The onyx dragon was, after all, one of the main reasons he left Berk.

"It's… scary in a way. I'm not used to worrying so much… caring so much…" How she felt about Nightflight reminded her of how she once felt about Anna. It was difficult to worry about her safety so much when the gates were closed and walls stood between her younger sister and her dangerous self. "It reminds me how I cared about my sister," she added through a whisper.

"Cared?"

Elsa's breath hitched as she realized she said that aloud. She looked at him, then at the dragon her lap and then back at him. Could she trust him? That question seemed to bother her more often lately. Maybe not completely, now. But… maybe through baby steps… Maybe this way one day I may' she thought, daring to hope.

"Yes…" she started, hesitantly, "We were close, and then there was an accident, that I blame myself for it. We grew distant, and now I don't worry so much about her safety because I believe she is safer away from me." It sounded convincing, even to her. This will have to do now. I hope he won't ask what sort of accident happened.

He frowned, sad to see a bond between siblings broken. "I'd question you why you blame yourself if what happened was an accident." She tensed up. "But," he immediately added, "I know you take time to share stuff, and asking would do neither of us good."

She gave him a thankful smile. Again her lantern illuminated the room more than the moon. He found the sight before him mesmerizing. "Thank you. It means a lot to me that you don't pry on." Her smile became a sad one. "I hope one day I can tell you everything."

He returned her smile, though his was a warm one. "I hope so too."

"You seem at ease, darling."

Elsa stopped reading her book about economy to regard her mother. Idun was looking at her, a mix of fondness and curiosity in her gaze. And, as always, the hidden, lingering sadness in them.

Elsa tried her best to focus on only the first two.

She let out a sigh. It has been a week since the incident was over. She could see her mother seemed at ease too. Likely because father did not get any new sightings reports, and I'm sure he is telling her everything about the matter. She wished she could tell them that Hiccup fixed this matter; tell them that they no longer needed to be afraid. But, alas, she could not.

For the time being anyway. I'll have to introduce them to him one day. Winter is ending and spring is coming. But with summer I'm not sure how I'll manage to visit him. Elsa took in a deep breath.

"I… applied what you told me. And it gave me good results. I learned about many things, and one of them was about myself." She gave her mother a smile. "You always know how to guide me."

Idun returned her smile with a sad one. "If that was so the gates wouldn't be closed." Elsa looked down, her slightly bright mood dampened. "But I'm happy, and honoured that you see me this way." This brought a smile to Elsa's face. The sun was setting, and Idun felt her heart melt at the sight of Elsa's pale face smiling while illuminated by the orange rays of a setting sun. She wished she could cup her daughter's cheek. "You are the most wonderful thing I have done in my life, you know? I want you to always know that, here." Idun tapped her chest, right where her heart was.

Her mother's thick voice, words and gesture nearly brought Elsa to tears. She swallowed down a sob, and mustered the best smile she could give her mother. "Thank you Mama." And she was thankful indeed. She might not see herself that way, but she was glad that her mother did.

"Hey there," Hiccup said jovially. This time I'm not forgetting it, he reminded himself. It was currently drizzling, and so sadly he could not fly Toothless. And there was the fact that his first spare clothes were drying. He didn't want to use his second spare so soon. "I have good news," he said brightly.

Elsa sat down on the usual position since she bonded: her legs sprayed to the right, and Nightflight's head on her lap. Hiccup knew their bond was different to his with Toothless. And so he was happy that they seemed comfortable with how they currently were. "What news?" Her tone was reserved. But after learning a little more about her Hiccup couldn't really blame her.

"I gave a look at her wound today and it has closed completely, which means she no longer needs bandaging. It'll sadly scar, but now infection is out of question."

Elsa looked down, and met her eyes. Nightflight didn't mess how the Princess' eyes were shiny. "You heard it girl? You'll be all better very soon." Nightflight, despite already knowing so, crooned happily.

"Oh… I…err… I also have another thing." His sudden sheepishness and stuttering caught Elsa's attention. He had acted like this a few times, and in each one of them she had been amused. It was often when it was about something regarding her, or that triggered his self-consciousness.

She gave him a curious look as he fumbled with his leather bag. She got even more curious as he produced a paper folded from it. "I…err… I was doing some researching, and, you know, stuff, and I ended up doing this, and uh…"

She giggled, hiding her mouth behind her hand. The sound, barely audible, was enough to make Hiccup stop. "I think that if you continue waving frantically your hands you'll wrinkle whatever is that you did for me on this paper."

Nightflight was amused, again, to see Hiccup turn as red as a Child of Fire. He cleared his throat, a pitiful attempt at looking less embarrassed. No one in the room bought it. "So, um… here it is. I… I hope you like it."

He held his breath as Elsa neatly picked the paper from his hand and slowly opened it up. He felt his heart thumper faster as she widened her eyes. His gaze never seemed to be on her for longer than a heartbeat, as he kept flickering it between her and the room they were.

"Oh Hiccup… this… this is amazing," she said, sounding very impressed. There were a few errors, as she had a copy of her father's town map. But she was impressed nevertheless. "Have you done this before?"

"Err… no. This was my first attempt." Apparently speaking of it was enough to keep him from fidgeting nervously. "I started doing it before the whole thing. I had even started to think of an excuse to finish it when she appeared. It was handy, I admit, and maybe a little worn. Sorry about that." He took in a deep breath, lest he pass out from air depravation. "But I wanted to give you a gift. And I thought, 'Well, a map would be nice.' I… did you like it?"

"Very much," she replied warmly. She would have said a more passionate reply, but she knew that was excessively out of her comfort zone. This entire situation was. "Thank you."

Her smile seemed to be enough to melt any nervousness he felt. He smiled widely as he took in how happy she seemed. "You're welcome."

Idun's suspiciousness increased as she later noticed the map on her daughter's vanity. It looked worn, not to mention different from the copy she and Elsa had. She looked back to her daughter, who was focused on writing an essay about mercantilism. Idun had tried to look at it as discreetly as possible, and so she quickly returned her gaze to the window.

Is she meeting someone? Why would she do so? She doesn't even let Gerda in, except for the weekly cleaning of her room. If she is, would that person even be aware of her powers? And, above all, if she is meeting someone, why would she not meet Anna? She glanced back at her daughter, who was still writing.

Would that person matter so little to her that she would not be afraid of hurting this person? Idun shook her head. That didn't sound like her firstborn. So many questions. And none that I can voice. Well, for the time being… She wondered if she would be able to ask them someday. I could try to mend the gap between us. Or just demand an answer.

She stole one last glance to her daughter. If she is meeting someone, it's not someone either Agdar or I knows. That is concerning. She sighed quietly, realizing the gull consequences of her thoughts. I'll give her time. But if she really is, I have to know. Agdar has to know. For Arendelle's safety at the very least'

She decided to stop thinking about it. She would give Elsa time. And if she noticed no progress happening, then, and only then, she would think about this again.

Because there was no way her reclusive daughter was meeting someone behind their backs, right? No way she was trusting more a stranger than her family, right? Idun had the dreadful feeling that she may not like the answer to those questions.