A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates! The Holidays got to me XP

Wanna know how much of a nerd I am? I'm in high school. I got HTTYD bed sheets, comforter, curtains, and a pillowcase for Christmas. Did not even hesitate before throwing it in the wash. I watched the washing machine and dryer, changing them the moment it ran out of its time, and put them on my bed at once. That, and my boyfriend got me a 50 dollar gift card to Build a Bear Workshop. I got a teddy bear on my HTTYD bed that smells like cotton candy. My room could not have any more swag than it does right now XDD -shot-

Every night you cry yourself to sleep

Thinking: "Why does this happen to me?"

Why does every moment have to be so hard…?

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

The island was dark, barren. It was silent and cold. It was nothing like the island that Hiccup had grown used to, had grown up in and lived throughout his whole life. The familiarity and the warmth of Berk had vanished. It had vanished, and Hiccup had no idea where it had gone. He got down from Nightflight, slipping off the dragon's back and landing with a muffled stomp on the ground. His eyes were wide and stricken as he looked around him. Smoke was billowing up into the sky, a reminder of the fire that had ravaged the village before. The outer shell of houses were beginning to crumble off, snapping off and smashing into the ground with a loud thud that sliced through the silence. Hiccup winced away from the noise, Ludi flattened herself down to the ground, cowering behind Nightflight's leg, who she had feared most before now. She must have forgotten her fear for the dragon in this recent moment.

It was like a ghost town.

Hiccup felt his heart rip in half, the pain so intense that he was sure he was going to fall down to the ground and die. He felt like he would have rather have that. Shaking and trembling where he stood, Hiccup cupped his hands over his mouth, screaming out loudly, voice desperate. "ASTRID!" He screamed, breaths getting closer and closer together as he started to hyperventilate. His voice echoed back to him, and he let out a slow breath before shouting again, trying to calm himself down to no avail. "DAD!" He yelled, voice cracking as he shouted once more. Still nothing. "TOOTHLESS! MISTYEYES!" Same results. Only the crackling of the cooling buildings replied back to him, giving him no help whatsoever. "No…please…" Hiccup drew a hand through his hair, musing it up. "Please…oh Gods…not this…"

He turned back to Nightflight, slowly, as if he was frozen from the inside. The dragon's ears were flat against her head, she looked up at him cautiously, sadly. Regret shone in her eyes, and Hiccup knew that he should have been mad. He should have been furious. If it had been any other Viking in this situation, they would have killed the dragon on the spot, if only to avenge their fellow villagers' deaths. But Hiccup only looked at her desperately, as if waiting for help, or words of comfort. He opened his mouth to say something, when suddenly, Ludi squealed loudly, her cry making Hiccup's hair stand on end. The cat looked alarmed, backtracking faster than Hiccup could comprehend, her tail bushed out so she looked twice her size. Nightflight hissed with surprise as well, eyes dilating as she too backed up. Hiccup whirled around, prepared for a dragon to come crashing forward, teeth and claws flashing for his throat.

But he guessed that would have been the preferred sight.

It wasn't a Ghost Town anymore. At least…not technically.

Vikings littered the ground, limp and unmoving. Bodies littering the ground like rocks in a forest. They weren't there three seconds ago…or were they? Hiccup was so surprised that he stumbled backwards, fake leg stumbling and causing him to slip out from underneath himself. He slammed into the ground, just beginning to cool off from the wildfire that swept through the town. He remained on the grass for a heartbeat, staring wide-eyed at the ground, shoulders moving up and down as if he were crying. But he was too much in shock to do anything close to that right now. It took a moment for his brain to catch up with what just happened, and even longer for it to catch up to his body. But when it finally did, Hiccup shot to his feet, rushing forward with a new-found sense of urgency.

Ludi hesitated a moment before following, eyes still wide with shock at what just happened. Though it didn't really make sense to charge into the problem at hand, Ludi would follow Hiccup wherever he went. Nightflight watched them, curling her tail tighter against herself as she ducked her head close to her chest, looking frightened. Ludi streaked beside Hiccup, stride for stride despite her smaller size. The boy staggered through the muddy ground before skidding to a stop, a small gasp raking through his throat as he came to the sudden halt. He looked down at the people on the ground, heart shooting up to clog his throat thickly. Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs were all together, it looked like. He waited a moment, pausing as if expecting Snotlout to jump up and do…well, anything. Anything would be better than this. A punch in the face, a slap, a shove so hard that he flew back a million feet. "Do anything." He tried weakly, eyes starting to blur. "Anything but this." He said, softer this time, staring down at his cousin expectantly. But he refused to do anything. He wasn't there.

Astrid wasn't with them. That was the only thing he could bear to think as he turned around, balling his hands into fists and refusing to look back as he plodded on. That was all he could force himself to think. She wasn't there, so she had to be somewhere. Whether it was hidden from him amid everything else, or she was alive still and hiding from the dragons. Hopefully the latter of the two would be the true answer. Nevertheless, Hiccup forced himself to keep going, a chore for him. Left foot, right foot, left, right. He had to think it through, otherwise his shaky legs would prove themselves unable to keep himself upright. His eyes burned, threatening him as the images around him blurred. He concentrated on not blinking as he kept walking, eyes roving the landscape desperately.

Suddenly Ludi cried out sharply, making Hiccup stop short and turn back to look at her. The cat's ears were slicked back to her head, she bunched herself up a moment before bounding over to a woman, thrusting her head forward and pressing her forehead into her skin with a low rumble of grief. It took a moment for Hiccup to realize that it was Bertha, the woman that had given him Ludi in the first place. Ludi reached up, kneading her paws on the woman's chest as if prodding her awake. She let out a sharp yell, almost like she was chastising the woman for not looking over at her. Hiccup hugged himself, suddenly much colder than he was a moment ago.

A movement in the corner of his eye made Hiccup leap out of his skin, abruptly turning to see what had caused the flicker of life. But his heart sunk as he realized it wasn't a Viking. And his heart sunk lower as he saw what it really was. A Night Fury was crouched at the near end of the clearing, green eyes shining like beams of light in the dark village. For a moment, Hiccup didn't even have a clue who it was, it looked so harsh, so angry. The dragon glared over at him steadily, the message clear even without him speaking. "This is all your fault." Hiccup's forehead wrinkled, and he took a small step forward, towards the newcomer. "…Toothless…?" He asked, voice as small as the step he had taken. But the Night Fury turned quickly, not hesitating as it shot away, quick as a flash. "Wait!" Hiccup shouted, running over to where the dragon had been moments before. "Don't go! Stay!" But by the time he finally stopped running, there was no more evidence of the dragon. It had gone before Hiccup could even tell for sure whether it was Toothless or not. Shoulders hunching, Hiccup looked around a moment before turning over to Ludi. The small cat had taken to curling up next to Bertha, she wasn't paying attention to him at all. She didn't even see the dragon in the first place.

Hiccup sighed heavily, going down so that he was crouched on the grass, reaching up to hold his head in his hands. He let out a shaky breath, watching it curl into a smoke in front of him, rising up and disappearing in less than five seconds. He had no idea what to do now. Where to go. He sat here surrounded by his friends, and they were all dead. Nothing was left. Not for him, and not for Berk. Not for anybody. The thought tipped the scale, and the tears rushed down his cheeks, hot against his freezing cold skin. They tracked watery trails down his face and he didn't bother to try and wipe them away. More would just replace them.

"…Hiccup…" A whisper reached his ears, the teen immediately snapping to his feet, turning around sharply to look behind him. "Hiccup, over here…" The voice mumbled, barely being able to be heard, even in the silence of the island. Pausing a moment, throwing a look back at both Nightflight and Ludi to make sure they were not following, he started off after the voice, regretfully leaving behind the people that he had yet to find in the remains of the village. If he could title it that, of course. Maybe the voice was somebody who had made it, who had managed to survive the fire and the Night Furies. The thought was painstakingly hopeful, and yet, who else could have called out to him? Unless it was a dragon. The thought made his steps become almost microscopic, cautious eyes darting back and forth.

"…Hello?" He asked, looking around with a hint of anxiousness.

"…over here…" The voice drifted.

Hiccup turned to the left, trying to follow that voice and seeing who the owner of it was. But it turned out he didn't need to follow it anymore. The sight in front of him made him stop altogether. His eyes grew hollow, haunted and scared. He moved forward, slowly at first, but picking up speed until he was running. The small group of people was like a mist, if he rushed through them, they were vanish. It wasn't real, it couldn't have been real. And yet as he came to a stop and stood over them, there was no denying. Each one of them were real, and they were all together. Either from some sort of sick joke, or just a coincidence, every single person that Hiccup was closest to on the island was lined up side by side, as if to be displayed. As if waiting for him to come by and see them.

Whoever had spoken was gone now. Or there wasn't anybody at all in the first place. Because the people that were all gathered in front of him couldn't have possibly called out to him. They couldn't do anything. Hiccup's hands went to bury themselves in his hair yet again, green eyes wide and desperate. "…Come on…" He said, voice breaking. This wasn't how things were supposed to be! He had gotten Nightflight on his side, he was supposed to have gone back to the island and made sure it was the same! He was supposed to save everyone and come back in an entirely different way than he had! "I did it all, this shouldn't have happened." He said weakly, going back down so that he was crouching on his knees. "…I did everything." He mumbled, voice broken in every aspect by now. He raised his voice to a yell, squeezing his eyes shut tightly, moving so that his knees were close to his chest. "I DID EVERYTHING I COULD! WHY DIDN'T IT WORK!?"

His father, Gobber, Astrid, Mistyeyes, Shadowclaw…they were all here. Excluding Toothless, (who he had no idea whether he was the Night Fury from before or not) it was everybody that Hiccup most cherished in his life, old and new. The ones that put up with him for the most part and cared for him the most out of everybody on the island. And they would never do that again. Hiccup sniffed, looking over at his father, heart sinking in his stomach. He remembered the last time the two had spoken, the memory making him close his eyes, as if hiding from it. "Thanks for listening to me." He had mumbled, his father glaring sharply over at him. The last time he had encountered Gobber was when he was fighting with Astrid. Fighting…it seemed like he had left on a bad note with everyone he loved.

"I'm sorry." He said, meaning it a million and one percent. "I never meant for this to happen…it's just so messed up…" He had no idea what had happened. Had all this happened because he had tried to extend friendliness to a dragon? He looked over at Nightflight, wondering how everything got so tangled, how everything went so wrong. He turned back, looking down sadly at Astrid. The girl looked like she was asleep, curled up next to Mistyeyes. The gray Night Fury had a small grimace on her face, like she was snarling. Her face was frozen that way, and it took a moment for Hiccup to be able to tear his gaze away from her. He leaned forward, reaching over and shaking Astrid gently. "…Wake up…" He tried pathetically.

Nothing.

Hiccup ducked his head, gritting his teeth together as he felt hot tears stream down his face. He opened his mouth to say something, when suddenly, Nightflight called out from where she stood. "Hiccup!" She yelled, sounding somewhat irritated. Hiccup immediately flared, whipping around to glare at her with an alarming amount of anger. She had NO right to be impatient! This was all her fault, after all! If he wanted to-

A Night Fury was barreling for him. Nightflight rushed forward, trying to beat him there. She hadn't been getting onto him about what he was doing, she was trying to warn him. Hiccup gasped sharply, dropping to the ground as quick as he could. He took cover beside Astrid, the girl's body much more colder than he had first anticipated it to be. Shutting his eyes tightly, he heard the Night Fury get closer, pushing off the ground as it rocketed for Hiccup. "TOOTHLESS!" The boy screamed, not knowing whether he was calling for help or addressing the one attacking him.

Nightflight let out another yell, sounding more temperamental. "Hiccup!"

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Hiccup finally exploded.

Nightflight acted like she hadn't heard him. "HICCUP!"

Hiccup jerked, eyes snapping open as he bolted up to a sitting position. He slapped his head against a low-hanging branch in the process. He grumbled underneath his breath, reaching up and rubbing the crown of his head with a pained grimace. Confused, he turned, seeing Nightflight eyeing him coldly where she sat. Ludi looked frightened, fur bushed out as her amber eyes flashed with surprise. They were back on the island. They had…they had never left? Hiccup turned, looking at the sea that stretched out in front of them. It was calmer now, not as rough and choppy as it had been when Hiccup had seen it last. The rain stopped, it had a long time ago, he thought. Had he been asleep? Had it all been a dream?

He took a few gulping breaths, looking down at the ground for a moment as he tried to shake the dream. It wasn't real, it was stupid to think it had been real in the first place. Everything was fine, it was going to be fine. They would go back to the island and everybody would be waiting for him there. It would be like nothing ever happened. Slowly, his breathing became a little closer to what it should be in the first place. Though the images clung in his mind like stubborn cobwebs, he was determined to push them back as far as he could manage. He looked back over to Nightflight and Ludi, who were still looking at him like he had morphed into a fruit and rolled away.

Staring back awkwardly for a moment, he shook himself. "How long was I asleep?" He asked, hoping he had been sleeping.

To his relief, Nightflight moved on, flicking her tail a little dismissively. "A long time." She mumbled, looking away from him. Ludi looked over at the dragon sharply, going over and sitting down beside her human. Still glaring at Nightflight, she pointedly rubbed her head comfortingly on Hiccup's hand, purring as she curled her tail around herself. The dragon eyed her, silently fuming, but just looked away once more. Hiccup looked from Ludi to Nightflight and felt like he was missing something. The dragon huffed out, answering his question before he could even ask it. "She's annoying. I don't see why she has to be around all the time. It's insufferable."

Hiccup glanced at Ludi sharply a moment, warning her. The cat ducked her head, but her eyes glimmered with amusement. She wasn't sorry at all. Shushing her, Hiccup made a move to push himself to his feet, when he stopped, eyes widening as he bit his lower lip to keep from crying out. He turned, looking over at his bad shoulder, wincing at the worsened state of it. He tried to move it, only being able to move it a few inches before the pain became too intense for him to do it anymore. They had to get back to the island, soon. Sucking in a breath, he got up without moving either of his arms, going forward and stopping beside Nightflight. "She's apart of Berk, you'll have to do a lot more than put up with Ludi when we get there." He warned her mildly.

Nightflight did not look comforted. She threw him a small look before staring down sightlessly at her paws. "It's too much of a hassle." She mumbled softly. "Nobody will ever really let me stay on the island. After everything I've done to you and your village…" She trailed off before adding as an afterthought. "I can't go anywhere. I can't go back with you…I can't face the Pack anymore…you should have just let me get eaten by those stupid wolves."

"But you wouldn't let me get eaten." Hiccup relied fairly. "I'm not letting anything else happen to you, I promised you that. And I intend to keep that promise." He paused a moment. "And I don't care what anybody else on Berk thinks. I'm going to make sure that they know how much you've changed, because everybody deserves a second chance, in my opinion. You're no exception to that." He gave a small nod, but realized that she probably wouldn't have been able to see him do so. He reached out with his good arm instead, hesitantly resting it on her shoulder.

She flared for a moment, whipping around to look back at him angrily. Hiccup snatched his arm away, eyes widening as he took a small step backwards. But Nightflight jumped, steeling herself once more as she looked more apologetic than angry. "Sorry." She mumbled, throwing the apology over at him. Hiccup let out a small mumble to show that she was forgiven, blinking rapidly as he got over the small jolt of shock. It looked like Nightflight wasn't at all used to have somebody concern over her, or be worried about her. Or show real, true affection to her. Hiccup found himself unable to look away from her. Nightflight's gaze did not waver either. And it was only after a few minutes did Hiccup start to realize that it wasn't a good idea to look at her so long. But it was too late by then.

Images danced in front of him, almost transparent. The longer he stared at her, the more real the images seemed to get. A small female dragon next to another male Night Fury. Toothless. He would recognize the warm green eyes anywhere. The female -Nightflight?- giggled, happiness radiating off from her as she looked at the littler Toothless. She reached over, prodding him with her claws before hopping away, laughter echoing off of cave walls as she darted away. "Tag! You're it!" Toothless sprang to his feet, chuffing with laughter as he chased after her.

Another scene, and they were older. Nightflight was curled up tightly beside Toothless, the two looking up at the sky, at all the stars and constellations twinkling above them. They talked idly, and Nightflight almost looked like she was uncaring, like she could have done something better than this. But her tail betrayed her, curled up with a sense of happiness that could only come from being with one's most favorite person in the world. She let out a small laugh at what Toothless said, looking like she was about to say something in response. But her ears pricked suddenly, the female turning around to look back to the mouth of the cave. Mistyeyes stood a ways away, ears flicking back to her head as she met eyes with Nightflight. She was younger, face rounded with youth as she shuffled her paws nervously. She looked like she wanted to walk forward, but Nightflight scowled her way, shuffling a millimeter closer to Toothless as she looked back to him. Mistyeyes blinked, looking awkward for a moment before turning, heading back into the cave without saying anything at the rude notion. Toothless turned at her departure, blinking with confusion as he watched her leave. He opened his mouth to call out to her, when Nightflight suddenly let out a loud shout, pointing out a large collection of stars to the right. Toothless's attention was diverted a moment as he turned to look, and by the time he looked back to the cave, Mistyeyes was gone. Reluctantly, he turned back to Nightflight and the star-gazing, tail twitching with something close to impatience.

Another. They looked like they did now, fully mature and grown. Nightflight stood at the entrance of the cave, looking saddened. Mistyeyes sat beside her, a new sort of aura around her. She held her head high, much different than she had been in the last scene. She looked important now, authoritative. Nightflight wasn't going to scare her off anymore, it looked like. Toothless stood on the edge of the cliff, eyes narrowed slightly as he looked up into the sky, wings twitching, as if anxious to be off. "This is stupid." Nightflight growled, shooting an angered look over at Mistyeyes, who ignored her rudely. "You don't have to PROVE yourself by going to a few islands and irritating them." She rolled her eyes as she spoke, pausing a moment before mumbling under her breath that wasn't able to be heard by either of the two beside her.

"The Pack just thinks I'm a nuisance." Toothless said icily. "Nobody takes me seriously." His eyes flashed over to Mistyeyes, who looked away from him the same moment, taking to staring at Nightflight instead. His ears flattened, but he kept talking. "The dragons that come back from raids on the humans are respected. Mistyeyes did it once!" The gray Night Fury twitched her ear, not saying anything. "And look where she is now." Toothless went on. "Who's to say I can't have some respect too?"

"You ARE respected!" Nightflight said, voice slightly pleading by now. "The dragons that go on raids have nothing to live for, they're idiots. And Mistyeyes went on ONE. She didn't even do anything, she just stayed on the sidelines and watched. You're going out alone, at least let me come with you." Her eyes were desperate as she looked at him, she took a step forward, trying to get closer to him. But Toothless turned, shoulders hunching over. Nightflight stopped short, one foot still raised to keep walking. She looked hurt at this, shrinking backwards. Hiccup could have sworn he saw a flash of satisfaction in Mistyeyes's eyes.

"No." Toothless said flatly. "I'm going to go alone." His tone was grim and serious for a moment, and Nightflight looked at the ground silently, downcast. But then he turned, giving a nod in her direction. "I'm a Night Fury, Nightflight. I'll be fine. No Viking has EVER managed to kill one of us, how in the world could that change with just one night?" But Nightflight did not answer, merely curling her tail closer to herself. He looked over at Mistyeyes, as if waiting for her to say something to him, a goodbye, maybe? But her eyes merely looked from Nightflight to Toothless before she nodded her head once in farewell. She turned away to retreat into the cave once more, back facing Toothless. She let out a small sigh, eyes glimmering with heartache before she drew herself up, walking away form the pair and leaving them alone.

"…I'll be back by this time tomorrow." Toothless said, turning as well.

"And if you aren't?" Nightflight demanded, green eyes showing a breaking heart.

Toothless flicked an ear. "Well, then…don't come after me, I guess." He said flatly. Nightflight stiffened, like she had been slapped across the face. But Toothless spread out his wings quickly, shooting away before she had a chance to object to his request. She flattened her ears, watching him fly away with a saddened look. Slowly, she ducked her head close to her chest and sighed.

"But…I love you…"

Nightflight broke eye contact, her eyes showing a mix of guilt and sorrow. Hiccup blinked rapidly, coming out of his entranced state and shaking himself mentally. He tried to take all of what he just saw in, knowing that it had to be important. "I should have known better." Nightflight said, slicing into his train of thought. "I should have known he never thought of me the way I did him. It was always HER. It was never me…I should have seen…" Her voice choked at the end, the dragon closing her sightless eyes as she sighed heavily. "All this mess…and nothing has changed."

"I think you went about it the wrong way…" Hiccup mumbled under his breath. Nightflight flinched away, obviously more than aware of that fact. "You should have just been happy with the friendship you had. If you had just done that, none of this would have happened." Realizing the harshness of his words, Hiccup closed his eyes. "And if I hadn't gotten in the middle of it, I guess. But, Nightflight, if you come back with me and see Berk the way it truly is…I'm sure that you'll understand why Toothless stayed. You'll understand the way that dragons and humans were MEANT to be together."

Nightflight looked at him from the corner of her eye. A flash of longing went through her eyes as Hiccup spoke, but the boy went on, more firmer this time. "And I have to know that I'm going to trust you. And that you're going to trust me. I want to know that you mean what you say, and that you wont change your mind as soon as you see Toothless. Whatever happens next, we're in this together. No backing out. Not on either of our parts." Ludi let out a meow where she sat, as if chiming in on their conversation. Hiccup jumped, surprised. He'd forgotten she was there in the first place. He turned back to her, giving her a sharp look. The cat flicked her ears, shuffling her paws in an oddly sassy way. He pointed at her accusingly. "I'm talking to you too, don't forget." He snapped.

Ludi yawned pointedly.

He let his hand drop with a huff of frustration, cracking a smile against himself. He turned back to Nightflight, looking at her expectantly. The dragon scraped the ground with her claws for a moment, slowly making a small hole in the ground. Hiccup watched her, not interrupting. Finally, the dragon spoke, voice more subdued than usual. "This is stupid. I've been one way my whole entire life. I've hated humans ever since I've first been able to catch glimpse of the sun. I hated you for taking Toothless away from me, and I'm not even sure whether or not I still hate you. It's going too fast, I don't want to live with a bunch of humans my entire life. It's disgusting." Her voice got a little sharper at the end of the sentence, shooting an irritated look over at Hiccup.

"Well, you can't knock things until you try it." Hiccup said simply, running out of things to say.

"It's not as simple as that. You're too optimistic." Nightflight snapped, getting angry by now. She was slowly getting closer and closer to Hiccup, and it was all the boy could do to not backtrack. He stayed where he was, keeping the crawling fear out of his expression as he stared calmly over at the advancing Night Fury. "Humans are ridiculous, they act before they think! Who's to say that one day you wont turn on the dragons? After all, you jumped in front of an enemy to save them from wolves? How stupid and rash is that? You're unpredictable and-"

"And smart." Hiccup finished for her, knowing full well that it wasn't the word she was looking for. "I know that there's more to you than you think there is, and I plan to show you what it is. I can, Nightflight. If you just put a little trust in me, I can show you everything that you can't see. I can show you the way Berk is, I can show you that your days of flying don't have to be over! I can show you that you don't have to be alone. You can be with me, and maybe you can even be with Toothless."

"It's all for nothing, though." Nightflight sighed, looking drained suddenly. "Nobody could ever accept me. I'm too much of a mess." She looked away, ears flattening as she ducked her head. "I'm a mess. Nobody could ever love somebody as imperfect as me." The words were slightly surprising, Hiccup had to blink rapidly for a moment to get over it. It seemed an odd choice of words. But looking closer at Nightflight, he realized that she looked a little better after this, shoulders not as weighted down with grief. She'd been waiting to get them off their chest. Hiccup wrung his hands together nervously.

"Well…you don't have to be perfect." Hiccup said awkwardly, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck. "The thing about love isn't perfection. That's the opposite of it actually…" Nightflight looked over at him, looking openly curious by now. She seemed to have forgotten her anger as Hiccup went on. He cleared his throat before going on. "It's about finding all the imperfections in a person and learning to love them. Nobody is perfect, so if love was for perfection, there would be none in the first place." Ludi sniffed at this, tail curling as Hiccup said the words. She bounced to her feet, going over and sitting down neatly beside him, leaning over and rubbing her cheek affectionately against his leg. "Nobody is perfect, and everybody deserves a second chance. I'm just trying to give you your's. If you'll let me, that is." He said.

"…You really think it'll work?" The dragon asked, slightly fearful.

"…No." Hiccup said, smiling. The dragon deadpanned at this, looking like she was going to smack him upside the head. "But we can make it work." He said quickly, before Nightflight could do anything she (and Hiccup, of course) would regret. "Come on, all you gotta have is a little faith. We can bury the hatchet, right? It's not that hard, actually." He remembered the way he had forgiven everybody on the island for undermining him all those years. Why couldn't Nightflight be as forgiving? If she was, everything would be so much easier. Was he going to have to comfort her every other hour like this? Hopefully not… "If you don't like Berk, you can be free to leave it." Hiccup said, as an afterthought. "I'll make sure no Vikings will come after you. But I think that you'll find it a lot better than you think it is."

Nightflight hesitated a moment before giving a tense nod. Silence followed before Nightflight finally spoke up. "So…what's next?" She asked, glancing over to where the waves lapped against the shore. Hiccup followed her gaze, eyeing the dark depths of the ocean a little nervously. Sucking in a deep breath, he leaned down, picking up Ludi with one arm and holding her awkwardly against his chest. The cat squirmed a little, but gave up after a moment, taking to going limp in the weird position. She was used to being held with both arms, this was making her a little put-out. But Hiccup couldn't even move his other arm by now, which would make flying all the more wonderful.

That was sarcastic.

"Now it's the hard part." Hiccup mumbled, turning over to Nightflight with a small wince. "Now…we're both going to have to have to have patience with the other." He warned, Nightflight narrowing her eyes slightly. "This is going to be hard, and you're going to have to LISTEN to me. And I'll listen to you, okay?"

Nightflight nodded, looking exasperated.

"And you're going to have to let me ride you." He said, stating the obvious.

"Got it." Nightflight threw over, glaring at him.

Ludi flattened her ears, lashing her tail as a growl rumbled in her throat. But Hiccup wasn't about to waste any more time. The memory of his dream still stuck in his mind, a nagging thought that wouldn't leave. Without giving himself time to over think it, Hiccup turned, placing Ludi gently onto Nightflight's back, making sure that there would be room for him as well. The cat immediately tried to regain her balance, digging her claws into Nightflight's skin as she righted herself. The dragon snarled angrily, but clamped her mouth shut tightly, making sure she wouldn't say anything she would regret. Getting onto her back one-handedly, it took Hiccup a little longer to get on than it did Ludi. But when he did, he grabbed tightly to Nightflight, managing to hold on with his bad arm as well, which caused a grimace of pain to cross his face.

Taking in a shaky breath, he did his best to push the pain away for now, giving a small nod of assent to himself. "Alright." He said, scanning the area around them up and down. "Okay, there are trees above us, so you're going to have to walk forward a little bit." The dragon complied, to his surprise, steps starting off small, but becoming more sure as she padded over to the edge of the beach. "Okay…stop." Hiccup said thoughtfully, the Night Fury stopping at once, ears flicking with alarm. "We're at the edge now, we're good." The waves rolled closer, swamping over Nightflight's legs. The dragon started, backtracking rapidly with surprise from the sudden cold touch. "It's fine! It's fine!" Hiccup said, being jostled from the sudden movement. "It's just the waves, they might sound a little farther off than they really are!"

Nightflight paused a moment, ears flicking. She muttered stubbornly, "I knew that."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Okay, go forward a little more. Stop when you feel the water again."

"I know." Nightflight snapped, slowly becoming agitated. She marched forward, with much more purpose than she had before. This time, when the waves rolled in, she wasn't as surprised. A small ripple of shock with through her as her paws touched the icy sea, but she did not flinch away from it. Hiccup narrowed his eyes, looking up into the sky and trying to figure out which way they had come from. Biting his lower lip, he twisted back around, looking to where they had been moments before. Had he and Ludi come in this way? Or was it from a different side of the island? He narrowed his eyes, trying to see it better.

"Are we just going to stand here all day?" Nightflight demanded bad-temperedly.

"I'm trying to figure out which way to go." Hiccup snapped, forcing himself to try and calm down. "I'm not sure which way we came from."

"We came from this way." Nightflight stated, looking straight forward.

"You don't even know which way you're facing!" Hiccup retorted.

But he guessed that that wasn't the best thing to say to her. Nightflight's wings shot out angrily, the dragon not pausing for a moment before she shot up into the sky. Ludi squealed loudly, sinking her claws deep into Nightflight's side as she clung to stay on. Hiccup let out a yell, tightening his hold painfully on the dragon. "Stop!" He screamed, looking down and watching as the island shrunk underneath their height. "Stop! This isn't the way to Berk! You're just going straight up!"

Nightflight let out a frustrated growl, angling herself so that she was rocketing forward. Hiccup grumbled curse words under his breath, fighting to stay on and also watch what was going on at the same time. "You have to slow down!" He yelled. "I can't see what's going on when you go this fast! We can go this fast later, when we've had practice! For now we just need to go slower!"

Nightflight growled out an insulting reply, but reluctantly slowed her pace to a leisurely stride. She looked irritated by this, but Hiccup guessed that most of the hatred was for herself and her new handicap. Ludi blinked rapidly, looking more than shocked as she straightened, sitting upright. She threw Hiccup a look, obviously still not a fan of flying. And this certainly wasn't helping her case. "That's better." Hiccup said, voice having a small edge to it by now. He scanned the sky around them, looking down as well. The island was a ways behind them already, the shape of it looking familiar to him at least. He supposed that he just had to hope they were right. It looked the same, so far. This might have been the right way in the first place.

"And another thing." He said, suddenly, thinking back to what Nightflight had shown him. "You can't do that thing anymore." Nightflight glanced over at him curiously, looking confused. "One: You can't act like you know everything, cause you don't." The dragon snarled for a moment at this, but seemed to reconsider as she quieted. "And two: you can't do that thing with your eyes anymore. Ever. It's not a good thing to do, it's what started all of this."

He had expected her to flare up at this comment, but instead, she looked sad. Guilty even. Hiccup went on before she could. "I mean, I guess you can if it's the absolute last resort. But until then, you're going to have to listen to me and not do it. It's gotten us all into this huge mess that we have to fix now…and it'd just be better if you just don't use it again."

"What about what I did to you?" She asked. Her voice had done a 180, she was completely sincere this time, all anger gone. She was serious, thoughtful. "Wouldn't the other villagers like to talk to dragons like you can, now?" She paused, then added awkwardly, "I'm not really sure how you can hear others, I was just trying to make you able to hear me. But I'm sure that I could figure out how to do it again…if you think it's a good idea, that is."

Hiccup was stunned a moment. She was actually taking in consideration Berk. And she was openly saying that Hiccup had a say in what she did. Actually, it might not be a bad idea. If humans could understand dragons, things would probably be a lot easier. But he frowned, remembering the fright and terror he had felt when he first heard the voice of a dragon. He'd never want to wish the feeling on anybody else. But of course, they would know what was going to happen, Hiccup would tell them before he did anything. Hiccup had to figure it out all on his own. But his dad would never want anything to do with Nightflight. It would be nothing short of a miracle if they even succeeded in getting Nightflight's place in Berk at all.

"I'd have to think about that." Hiccup said. "But…thanks."

"For what?" Nightflight asked, bemused.

"For actually listening for once." Hiccup said, grinning crookedly.

"I have my moments." Nightflight said.

Hiccup glanced at her wings, narrowing his eyes slightly. They weren't going at a steady rhythm, they were flicking and staggering in their strokes. She was nervous. It wasn't as bad as the flight coming to here, but it was making her slow down, and it made the ride bumpy and jolting at the same time. "You have to find a rhythm." He instructed, voice changing to a serious tone this time. "It'll make you go a lot faster, and the ride smoother too. I'll be your eyes since you can't see where you're going. We're fine going the way we are" -if this was the right way to Berk- "so you just need to concentrate on moving your wings to a specific beat. Okay?"

Nightflight nodded hesitantly, increasing her strokes slightly. After a while, her movements evened out, though there was still a nervous hitch in her movements. Hiccup gave a tense nod, eyes still narrowed with thought. "Okay, that's better." He said, pushing himself up ever so slightly as he craned his neck to see better. Bulks of islands were coming up from the horizon, he'd have to look at them when they got closer to see if he could recognize any of them. Which would then hopefully tell him where they were right now. They weren't going as fast as they had been before, that much was certain. It would take longer to get to Berk, and the longer it took, the more Hiccup's chest ached with sadness. He tightened his hold on Nightflight unconsciously, eyes widening slightly as he imagined what would be waiting for them when they got there. If anything would be waiting for them.

"It'll be okay." Nightflight said suddenly, rousing him from his thoughts.

Hiccup blinked rapidly, surprised. But then he smiled warmly. "Thanks." He mumbled fervently.

"We'll fix it." Nightflight said simply, as if accepting his words.

"Hopefully." Hiccup mumbled, frowning once more. He looked down glumly at the ocean, reaching over and stroking Ludi nervously as he did so. The waves were starting to get choppy again, did that mean rain on the way again? It would make the whole flying portion of this a lot harder. Then again, it seemed easier than Hiccup had first anticipated. Hopefully it would stay like that until they got to the island. The waves seemed darker than normal, too. Or maybe that was just Hiccup's imagination. His stomach twisted into knots as he looked down, and he tried to swallow the lump in his throat.

The village had to be okay.

It had to.

He repeated the words over and over in his head as they kept flying, making a point to tear his gaze away from the water and look attentively at their path. Nightflight was right, they would right their wrongs that they had done.

After all. Each of them were the cause of this problem.

And now, by some kind of cruel joke by the Fates, they were going to fix it all.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

A/N: I'm like a kid who just wont let it go…

Twisting and turning the colors in rows

I'm so intent to find out what it is.

This is my Rubik's Cube…

I know I can figure it out.

Rubik's Cube - Athlete Freaking love that song.

The beginning of the chapter was an ending I was debating on. My first idea for an ending for this story. But I dropped it…for obvious reasons. But I still felt a need to write it in here, I still liked it, even if it wasn't a good idea for an ending ^^

Next chapter will be VERY amazing! I shall make it so! And if you review more, the faster the update will come! ;D

We've hit 500 reviews! So happy right now, thank you all! ^^ Think we can make 600? Cuz, you know, if we do, that would make this my most-reviewed story XP

Please review! More reviews = Faster update! Hinthinthinthint.