A/N: Guys. I am being completely serious with you right now, okay? Serious face and everything. If I EVER manage to get 1,000 reviews for this story…I will just freak out. I'm being legit right now, seriously. If I EVER reach a number like that…there are just no words. I joined this site two summers ago because I was bored and I wanted something to do. I NEVER imagined that I would become NEARLY this popular. So thank you for all the reviews and loving support that you guys give me all the time. I've probably said it before, but I don't think I've said it nearly enough just yet. : )

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The meeting broke up a little while after Toothless had left. It wasn't an official ending, but as more and more surefire answers came from the group that had come from Berk, the more and more quiet the other dragons seemed to get. Faces were still conflicted as they stared up at the group, and anxious whispers still rippled over the crowd even as Mistyeyes and Hiccup answered every single question that was handed their way. But the aggression that had once fueled the group seemed to be smothered the longer that the pair talked over things. Or, at least the flame of their anger was starting to flicker with uncertainty. But as Mistyeyes stood against the light of the moon high in the sky, she realized that it was better than nothing. They had all come here to try and enforce some kind of shift in life, and they were gradually creating that change that they had been going for.

A silence was slowly bridging itself across the crowd, and Mistyeyes realized that now might be a good time to stop. She hadn't intended for this meeting to stretch this long in the first place; overloading the dragons with too much information might be putting too much pressure on them, and at the same time, it might make them even less quick to make a decision about joining Berk. Clearing her throat a little louder than she intended, Mistyeyes gave an inward wince before speaking again. "I realize that this may be a lot for you to take in right now, and I understand." She said with a dip of her head. "And it's getting late." She hesitated a moment before adding. "We all can stay here overnight, and if you have any more questions that come to mind later, you can feel free to voice them."

"Stay overnight?" Fleetfoot repeated, getting to his feet as he eyed the group a little distastefully. Mistyeyes felt a flash of disappointment at the movement; she was just beginning to feel as though Fleetfoot was starting to change his mindset about the humans. But the Night Fury seemed a little jarred by the last statement. Mistyeyes opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off before she could. "Where are you going to stay?" He hesitated a moment before adding on: "Where are the humans going to stay?" Other dragons seemed to find the conflict interesting themselves, a few inquisitive glances sent their way.

Mistyeyes swallowed back her frustration before replying. "They're going to stay with us, of course." She said politely, managing to give the harebrained Night Fury a small grin. "If you'd like us to stay somewhere else though, we could go back to where we landed and rest there for the night. I just thought that you would rather have us here if you had any more questions." Fleetfoot blinked at this, withdrawing a little sourly as his tail flicked a little uncertainly.

One dragon glared over in Fleetfoot's direction. "Let them stay! I have a few more questions!"

"Then go after them." Frost growled in a grouchy tone. "I certainly don't want them here."

"That's just because you can't admit a human did better than you. They can stay." Leafdapple snapped.

Frost flared at once, eyes blazing as he rounded on the younger one. "Say that again." He snarled.

Shadowclaw stiffened where he sat, shooting to his feet at once as he made a move to dash forward. Hiccup jerked at the sudden movement, leaning over and barring the Night Fury's way with his arm. Furious, Shadowclaw rounded on the human, looking as though he had a few sharp words that he wanted to lash out with. But Hiccup raised his eyebrows sternly, fixing the dragon with a look that plainly said: 'Don't ruin this.' Scowling with irritation, Shadowclaw's eyes flashed down to Leafdapple once more before slamming back down to a sitting position. He fumed bad-temperedly, and Ludi let out a cross mew at his temper, clapping her paws against Hiccup's chest like it was a drum.

Talon stepped forward quickly, thrusting himself between Frost and Leafdapple as he shot both of the dragons angered looks. "Listen up!" He yowled, Leafdapple looking relieved as she stepped backwards behind her rescuer. "The newcomers can stay by the entrance of the cave." Talon ordered firmly, leaving no room for argument as he swept his tail over in the direction of the yawning exit. "They'll be in plain sight, so they won't be able to try anything, and for those of you who still want to talk to them, you'll be free to do so." He turned, turning a cold look over at Frost, who twitched angrily. "And if you don't want to associate with them, then you have the full right to leave them alone."

Frost gave an angered growl, whipping around and stomping into one of the tunnels that branched off to the side, disappearing with a lash of his tail. After a moment of hesitation, Fleetfoot got to his feet and headed after the disgruntled dragon, not even glancing over at Mistyeyes as he brushed by. The female let out a small sigh, deflating visibly as the pair vanished into the darkness. Her ears flicked back and forth as she watched them go, shoulders hunching at the thought of failure flashed through her head. But a quiet cough from below started her back into reality.

Leafdapple had recovered from her sudden advancement from Frost, getting up to her feet and narrowing her eyes as she looked up at the group curiously. "Will you show us more tomorrow?" She asked softly, tilting her head to the side as she asked the odd question. Mistyeyes blinked rapidly at this, caught off-guard as she blanched, but a slow smile crept over Shadowclaw's face as he looked excitedly down at the slender female. Guessing that her request was far from specific, she backtracked quickly. "I mean- more about what humans and dragons can help one another with. I don't know what you would do…but…it just seemed really interesting to me." The brown dragon shuffled her paws anxiously as she talked in front of the entire Pack, but Mistyeyes caught the looks of interest and excitement reflecting across the crowd as the question was brought up.

"Oh…" Mistyeyes trailed off, blinking rapidly. What else could they do?

But to her surprise, Hiccup weaved forward to stand in front of her, green eyes shining, as if he had just reached some sort of clever idea. "Of course we can!" He said assuredly, suddenly very confident in standing in front of the large group of Night Furies as he spoke up for the first time. Astrid looked at him oddly, blue eyes narrowed as she gave him a look that said: 'Are you always this stupid, or do you just want to be sometimes?' But he seemed unbothered by the fact, going on and not letting either of the females stop him. "We can show you more things tomorrow at noon." He paused a moment, wincing as he tried to remember the layout of the island. Taking where they had landed in the first place, Hiccup gave a small nod. "Over by the northern edge of the island."

Leafdapple seemed surprised to get a reply out of the human, but didn't say anything. She merely gave a hesitant nod at this, mumbling out a shy thank-you, as if she didn't know what else she was supposed to say. The promise of tomorrow hung in the air now, the questions going silent as dragons slowly came to the resolve that they would find out more tomorrow. Trading awkward glances back and forth, the pressing weight of silence slowly became thick with awkward tension.

Deciding that she'd done enough damage for the moment (aided of course by the always-helpful intrusions of Hiccup) Mistyeyes stepped forward with yet another respectful dip of the head. "Alright." She said, shooting Hiccup a look as she shoved him back rather rudely to where he had been standing prior to his interruption. Hiccup let out a sharp yelp as he was knocked into Astrid, but Mistyeyes just turned back to the crowd swiftly. "It's getting late, and I understand that we might be piling a lot on at the moment. So… I suppose that if you have any questions, you all know where to find us."

Before the words were out of her mouth, conversations exploded down below, Night Furies whirling around to their companions and immediately launching into conversation. Mistyeyes caught a few snatches of words from where she was perched, all talking about the fight that happened earlier, the way that Fleetfoot and Frost had left so suddenly, or what tomorrow would bring. The female sat back after a moment or two, thanking heaven that at least nobody was talking bad about them.

But after a few heartbeats, the relief quickly mutated into anger. She turned around to face Hiccup, the boy busy talking to Astrid and going over what had just happened. The girl was wide-eyed with surprise as Hiccup relayed the events, and she looked like she was a little overwhelmed with having to absorb it all at once. Pushing away her concern for the blonde for once, Mistyeyes pushed her way forward so that she loomed over the boy angrily. She reached out, holding back no force as she rammed her foot into the small of the child's back. Immediately, she shoved Hiccup forward, the boy tripping over himself as he rammed into the cave wall with a dull thud.

Astrid turned and watched, but did not interfere. She merely crossed her arms over her chest, watching the scene with unbridled amusement as Hiccup pried himself off the rock. Mistyeyes fixed him with blazing glare, waiting expectantly just so she could interrupt him. Sure enough, right when Hiccup opened his mouth to ask what the shove was for, Mistyeyes broke into it at once, exploding like a fireball. "What were you thinking?" She demanded furiously. "You can't just cut in like that! The dragons down there have never associated themselves with humans before! We can't overload them!"

"I'm not overloading them!" Hiccup hissed in response, gaining some of his own resentment as he glared at her sourly. He rubbed at his arm which he had scraped against the stone, giving a small wince at the touch. "Believe it or not, Mistyeyes, they're going to have to come into contact with humans more now that we're trying to get them to do things like this!" Mistyeyes soured at this, unable to find a reasonable argument to this as she went quiet. "The more we make them work with it, the more we get them accustomed to it." Hiccup said, voice quieting somewhat. "It'll be fine, Mistyeyes. Tomorrow, I can show them how me and Toothless fly together despite the way his tailfin isn't able to move by itself."

"You haven't flown with Toothless for a while." Astrid commented softly.

Hiccup straightened at this, turning around and looking over at her suddenly. "What?"

"I mean- you haven't really flown with him to work on tricks for…a long time." Astrid said slowly, walking the boy through it as she raised her eyebrows. Hiccup went quiet at this, looking down thoughtfully as she went on. "I'm not saying you won't be able to do it, I'm sure you will. But I think you should at least try to run through it a few times or something before tomorrow. If you mess up even a little bit, this whole thing could blow up in your face, you know that right?" When Hiccup shot her an angered look, she raised her hands up in surrender. "Just saying. No pressure or anything."

Mistyeyes took in a slow breath, forcing herself to ignore Astrid's words and calm down. "It'll be fine." She said after she made herself calm down. "You'll be fine. Everything is going to be fine." While the words were meant to be encouraging, her tone obviously sent out: 'It'd better be fine, otherwise I'll have to kill one of you.' Hiccup and Astrid looked at her wearily, looking as if they would have rather started to back away from her. But her frustration was shattered into pieces as a sudden voice called up to them from down on the cave floor.

"Mistyeyes!" The female stiffened immediately as she recognized the voice, wincing visibly. Shadowclaw did the exact opposite from her though, lighting up at once as he looked down. Not waiting for the others, the younger dragon swooped down to Talon, who had been the one to call out in the first place. Streaming down with an elegant swoop, he landed in front of the elder with a wide beam. Immediately, Talon seemed to recognize him as his eyes lit up. "That can't be Shadowclaw, can it?" He asked rhetorically, tail curling as he leaned down to nudge the smaller one with his snout. Shadowclaw giggled at this, taking a step backwards as he gave a purr. "You've grown a lot since I last saw you." Talon said. "When you were here last, you were no bigger than my paw! Now you're almost up to my shoulder!"

"It's good to see you again, Talon." Shadowclaw replied politely.

Mistyeyes craned her neck, making a face as she peered down at the pair. Hiccup went up to her, green eyes a little troubled as he looked over at her. "What's the matter?" He whispered, careful not to raise his voice. Talon was still talking to Shadowclaw, and by the looks of it, Mistyeyes didn't want to be noticed at the moment. Even if the yearning was for nothing; she'd just finished preaching to the whole of the island's population. That wasn't really keeping a 'down-low' in Hiccup's opinion. Looking down at the dragon that Mistyeyes seemed to oppose, Hiccup had to wonder what he could have done to cause such a hatred in the female. He seemed really nice. "Who is he?"

"My father." Mistyeyes sighed softly, emotion suddenly thawing away to fill with remorse.

"…Oh." Hiccup said, shoulders drooping as he looked back down at Talon. "I get it." He whispered, clenching his hands together tightly. "Did he say something to you last time you were together?" He asked numbly, tearing his gaze away from the dragon as he looked back over to Mistyeyes. "Something that made you leave on a bad note?"

"No." Mistyeyes said ruefully. "I did."

Hiccup blinked with surprise.

"And I guess I have to go back and fix things now." Mistyeyes said suddenly, turning around and giving Hiccup a long look for a few heartbeats. The boy was looking at her emptily, and the dragon suddenly felt a strong wave of pity for the boy. Giving a small sigh, the female smiled as she paced forward. Reaching over, she drew Hiccup closer with her paw, pressing him close to her as she nuzzled him with her head. "Hey- I'm sorry." She said as she drew backwards from the surprised boy. "I really shouldn't let myself get so worked up over things. I should know by now that you know what you're doing."

The boy grinned weakly. "Some of the times." He teased.

Mistyeyes hummed out a small giggle. "Well- I believe in you." She said warmly. Glancing over at Astrid, she gave a small nod of affirmation. "We all do. So… don't worry about it too much. We'll be able to fix things, one way or another." Suddenly, she frowned, looking back down at Talon with a hint of frustration. "I guess I should listen to my own advice and fix this aspect." She said, flashing a small smile over to Hiccup.

"Mistyeyes!" Talon called yet again.

She did her best to flash Hiccup a small smile. "I'll be back." She said curtly, turning around and spreading her wings out at her sides. She pushed off the rock and glided down to the stone floor gently. Hiccup and Astrid looked after her, taking to sitting down on the ledge and staying up there for a while by themselves. As Mistyeyes landed on the smooth floor and glanced back up at them, her eyes softened. Astrid had leaned against Hiccup with an exhausted huff of air, resting her head on his shoulder as the boy started over in his explanation of the meeting. Ludi slipped off from Hiccup's shoulder to plop down in his lap, a heap of silvery fluff.

"They're actually really amazing." The statement came from Mistyeyes's father, the dragoness looking back over at him to see him staring up at the pair. Looking back down and meeting his daughter's eyes, the dragon shuffled a little awkwardly. "I never would have thought that a human could amount much to anything." He went on. "But that boy actually proved himself a worthy asset in that fight."

"Humans aren't just assets." Mistyeyes said, voice sharper than she meant it to be. "They're our friends. That's all we've come here to try and convey."

Talon opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it as he shook his head. Instead, he looked at her a little longer, stare burning through the female's scales as he studied her carefully. When he spoke next, his voice sounded much more strained and tired, as if everything that had happened between them just came into focus. As if he hadn't been kept awake from it like Mistyeyes had. "I was starting to wonder when you would stop avoiding me." He said lowly, voice riddled with regret and sadness as he looked at the female in front of him. The bright eyes that used to shine up at him gleefully were now toned down with responsibility and stress. The happy flitter in the girl's wings had now been replaced with a stiff posture of run-down authority. There was no warmth in the female's presence. Only that of a person who was trying much too hard to put something back together.

"I wasn't avoiding you." Mistyeyes said slowly, forcing the words out as best she could. "I never did. I just had to find a way to go with the other Night Furies." She shuffled her paws on the stone, the sound amplified as she gave a small flinch at the volume. "It was the best way of going out and stopping things before it could get even worse than it was already. I had to get out there, and you know I did. …The only way to make sure that you'd let me go was to say all those things."

Talon continued to stare at her long and hard. "You didn't have to go out there and fix it all." He said, stating the obvious. "Why would you? These are the same Night Furies that abandoned you all those months ago. They'd already let you down, why did you feel the need to get involved?" He paused a moment, controlling himself before searching his daughter's gaze anxiously. "You ran off to save a group of dragons that despised any notion of help; even more so when it came from you."

Mistyeyes drew herself up at once, eyes flashing. "If I didn't, who would have?" She demanded firmly.

Talon still refused to let her off easily. "You could have just told me." He said quietly.

"Nightflight wouldn't let me go along until she thought I truly hated it here." Mistyeyes mumbled uncomfortably.

But instead of getting more angry like the dragon expected him to, Talon looked like a plug had just been pulled from him, his worries flooding away at once as he sagged with relief. Looking at the female closely, his voice was subdued as he asked: "So you didn't mean what you said?" Speechless, Mistyeyes looked away, ears flattening to her head as she shook her head guiltily.

"I know that it was uncalled for, and I probably should have figured out something else to-"

Talon rushed forward immediately, cutting her off as he swept down to press his head tenderly against her own. Mistyeyes froze at the touch, eyes wide as she stared down at the ground between her claws. "I'm just happy you're okay." He breathed out finally, saying the statement that had been hanging in between them like a string. Hesitantly, Mistyeyes un-tucked herself from the elder, looking up and blinking slowly as she met his gaze. Talon started at the look on her face, tilting his head and letting concern wash over his features. "You are okay, right?" He asked at once.

Mistyeyes hesitated a moment before dipping her head, smiling as she let a smile grace her features. "Yes." She said gratefully, tail curling neatly around her paws. She turned, looking up and Astrid and Hiccup. The blonde looked as though she was telling a joke, or at least attempting to tell one. Hiccup made a face at her, turning around and nudging her affectionately as he gave a short laugh. Astrid stuck her tongue out at him, but merely settled herself right back into her comfortable perch as she rested herself against the Viking once more.

Off to the side, Shadowclaw had broken away from his usual group, tail sticking up into the air with surprise and delight suddenly as he quickened his pace. Leafdapple perked at the sight of him, eyes lighting up at once as the male skidded to a halt by her side. Ever the one to strike up a conversation first, Shadowclaw started babbling the minute he came to a stop. But Leafdapple didn't seem to mind, the female matching his excitement stride for stride as she listened to him eagerly.

"I think…for the first time in a long time…we're all going to be just fine."

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"Leafdapple!" The female straightened at the call of her name, turning around swiftly and looking back towards the voice. Shadowclaw rushed up to her, grinning widely as he came to an unsteady halt in front of her. He skidded in the process, nearly tripping over himself. Quickly, Leafdapple leaned forward, catching him expertly and helping him to right himself before giggling out a return of 'hello.'

"Hi, Shadowclaw." She purred, green eyes soft with amusement. "I was starting to wonder when you would come back and say hello." She paused a moment before looking at him curiously. "Did you know that Hiccup and Nightflight could fight together like that? I didn't see them during the Raid when we last met, we really could have used them."

Shadowclaw flicked his ears with a small hint of disappointment. "Yeah, I guess." He mumbled shortly, not wanting to dwell too much on the whole 'Joining-Berk' thing. He'd come over here to see Leafdapple again; he wanted a break from all the hostility and change. "Hey, I have an idea!" He said eagerly, surprising Leafdapple as she quieted at once. He reached over, prodding the girl with one claw as he hopped up to his feet. "Let's go out flying!" He suggested happily. "I haven't been out to fly, just to…fly, you know? Not for a while."

Leafdapple glanced over her shoulder, blinking as she peered down the tunnel she had been heading down before Shadowclaw had stopped her. "Oh…" She mumbled, turning back to him and looking somewhat torn. "I was just going to go back to my nest." She explained a little awkwardly. "It's been a long day, and I kinda wanna just go back down to the others and rest for a little bit."

Shadowclaw blinked at this, eyes widening a fraction as his shoulder drooped low. Disappointment yawned in the pit of his stomach like a gash, and he ducked his head to try and hide his put-out expression. Lashing his tail back and forth, Shadowclaw wondered dimly whether or not Leafdapple still liked him as much as she had back before the Raid. She seemed to genuinely want to trust him before, so why was she avoiding him now? "Oh." He said, rather stupidly. "That's okay." He mumbled, starting to turn back the way he'd come. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." He said, trying to sound upbeat.

"See ya." Leafdapple said quietly, watching him go blankly.

Hesitating for a moment, Shadowclaw flicked his tail in farewell, turning around and retracing his steps. The cave was slowly clearing itself out now that dragons were going back to their own nests for the night. A few of the Night Furies were still out, glancing over at Mistyeyes with silent looks. It was obvious that some dragons still had a few questions as to the humans and dragons joining together. Shadowclaw had his own as well, such as the way that Leafdapple suddenly decided to be cold towards him. He gave a frustrated scowl, downcast as he plodded his way back over to Hiccup and Astrid.

But suddenly, something clamped down hard on his tail, jerking him backwards and causing him to slip. He face-planted into the stone floor, letting out a grunt as he picked himself up. Twisting his head around with a sour look, he blinked with surprise as Leafdapple looked back at him, expression riddled with amusement. She lifted her paw up from his tail, giving another high giggle as she bounced around him. "Sorry." She laughed lightly, helping the male to pick himself up for the second time that night. Taking a small step backwards, she poked him in the side good-naturedly. "You didn't think I was being serious, did you?" She asked skeptically. "I'm quite offended right now."

"Well…" Shadowclaw blanched, not having too good of an excuse. "Fine, maybe I did." He said quickly, dusting himself off as he shot her a teasing look. Leafdapple hummed out a reply, shuffling her paws as she became somewhat quiet. Flicking her tail back and forth, the girl looked at Shadowclaw expectantly, waiting for him to be the first to say something. Straightening at once, the male cleared his throat rapidly, shooting his wings out at his sides as he narrowed his eyes challengingly. "I bet I can get up in the air faster than you!" He crowed, taking off as soon as the words left his mouth.

Leafdapple started, whirling around and watching him go blankly as her brain buffered. But then she smirked, twisting around and sprinting after him to catch up. "Hey!" She gasped sharply, trying to match his stride as the male skirted around Mistyeyes rapidly. The gray dragon looked at them oddly as they rushed past her, but she made no move to stop them. "That's cheating!" Leafdapple yowled, letting her wings catch air as she streaked through the rest of the cave. She passed Shadowclaw up easily, the male letting out a squeak as she flashed by him.

"That's cheating too!" Shadowclaw protested, taking off on his own and making it so that he and Leafdapple were side-by-side.

"Yeah, well, I win." She said smugly, turning back and watching as the cave got farther and farther away from them. Screeching to a halt, the female took to a light hover in midair, Shadowclaw doing the same as the two gasped for air. "You're a good flier, though." Leafdapple said after she managed to catch a little bit of her breath back. "Do they fly a lot at Berk?"

"We used to do it more often." Shadowclaw said, remembering back to the time when the highlight of the day would be to go out and fly with Hiccup and Toothless. "For a few months it was really fun to live there, and I forgot about this place really fast, actually." He glanced back at the cave, gaze thoughtful. "I didn't really remember a lot from here since I was so little. And since I was small, when I got caught up in Berk's lifestyle, I just completely let it slip my mind."

"Then what happened?" The female asked.

"The Raids started coming." He sighed ruefully, watching a small hint of guilt entered his friend's mood. "Flying quickly became a lesser priority, and it came behind helping to rebuild the houses and pick up after everything. But the longer the Raids went on, the more our remodeling time started to diminish in between attacks. So flying pretty much went down to a pretty rare thing." Shaking himself, he added quickly: "I didn't mind it all that much. I liked helping out the humans and seeing my hard work pay off in the end, even if it was only for a short time."

"I guess humans and dragons really do work together." Leafdapple murmured softly.

"Well, yeah." Shadowclaw said plainly. "You saw us fighting together during the last Raid. I mean- even some of the Night Furies here worked with humans for at least a little bit of the time. I guess it was just because it was in the thick of the moment and everything. But really, Berk is a cool place. I think if all these dragons get the embers out of their ears, they might be able to see that. Too bad they don't seem like the listening type sometimes."

Leafdapple gave a shrug, which was hard to do when you were hovering above the ground. "They learn more by action than anything, which you're doing fine at in my opinion. Night Furies have always been accustomed to stubbornness issues." She glanced over at him from the corner of her eye. "When I left Berk, I kind of went without knowing what I was going to do afterwards. I told you that I thought Berk was interesting…but I just couldn't bring myself to stay for some reason. Maybe it was because it was such a sudden situation. I never really got to analyze things, you know? But… I feel like now…seeing what you can all really do…I think I would change my mind."

"Really?" Shadowclaw asked, wings skipping a beat at the statement.

Leafdapple gave a little nod. "After all, life here isn't much to look at. We don't live here, we just survive, and there're two very different things. I feel like if we went with you, a lot of the problems would be solved that exist between dragons right now." She paused for a moment, flashing him a soft look. "And of course, I let you get away once. I'm not about to let you go again."

"Let me go?" Shadowclaw repeated. "I let you go." He said firmly.

Leafdapple chuckled, doing a little twist in midair as she started to break away from the cave vicinity. "Whatever!" She crowed happily, swerving away gracefully as she purred. She turned around, looking at him with a skeptical look before giving yet another laugh. "C'mon!" She called. "Let's see who can reach the other side of the island the quickest!"

Shadowclaw let the subject drop, grateful for the break as he took his place beside her for the starting line. "Ready?" Leafdapple asked softly, meeting his gaze as their eyes clashed.

"…Yeah." Shadowclaw said, looking at her closely. "I am, actually."

"Good." Leafdapple purred. "Set…" Shadowclaw managed to look away from the female, crouching low and bracing his wings surely. "Go!" Leafdapple yowled, pushing ahead with a mighty zip as she flashed by the male. Shadowclaw gasped sharply, bursting after the female and charging after her as fast as he could.

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"Um…Mistyeyes…" The gray dragon started, turning around and looking over her shoulder. A Night Fury stood behind her anxiously, shuffling from foot to foot nervously as he eyed her. "Er…I had a question…and I was wondering if you could answer it."

"Of course I can." Mistyeyes said, making a special point to sound upbeat as she turned around to face him. "What's on your mind?" She sat down neatly so that she could face him, wrapping her tail around her paws and looking at the male curiously. The Night Fury twitched his ears back and forth nervously, taking a shallow breath, as if he were nervous about asking it. Opening his mouth, the dragon seemed to screw up the courage that he needed, when suddenly another voice vied for the female's attention.

"Mistyeyes!" Toothless was racing out of one of the tunnels, looking as if he'd just gotten lost in those caverns as he burst through. He looked tired and worn, but he raced up towards the female nonetheless. "Mistyeyes!" He repeated, coming to clumsy halt in front of her. "I have…to talk to you." He gasped unevenly, Mistyeyes shooting the Night Fury in front of her an awkward smile as she shoved Toothless to the side. Talon looked dubiously at the movement, but said nothing as he got to his feet.

Glancing at Toothless, Talon swerved forward and intercepted himself between Mistyeyes and the Night Fury. "Here." He said, nudging the dragon away from the pair as he shot them both a look. Mistyeyes's eyes widened helplessly at the action, but Talon didn't seem too bothered with the new burden. However, the Night Fury looked slightly disappointed as he followed her father away a little reluctantly. "I can try and answer your question." Talon offered, the two marching away before the female could even try and call them back.

Watching them go for a moment, Mistyeyes flared at once as she rounded onto Toothless. "Toothless!" She screeched angrily, fuming as she dug her claws into the stone. "That dragon had a question! You can't go interrupting me whenever you feel like it! May I remind you that we're actually trying to do something here? You just-"

Toothless didn't listen to her, eyes a little wild as he leaned forward, clamping his teeth gently by firmly on Mistyeyes's left wing. The dragoness stiffened at the movement, but Toothless started dragging her at once, not giving her a moment to try and react to it. "Hey!" She squealed, wincing as Toothless hauled her over to the exit of the cave. Hiccup and Astrid perked at the odd scene below, watching with silent looks of interest as Mistyeyes was dragged out of the cavern. "Stop!" She spluttered angrily. "I-I can't- Toothless!" The two burst into the night air, breaking out of the cave as Toothless continued to juggle his load. "You are so insufferable! Can you not just wait a minute!"

Toothless continued to step backwards, but lost his footing suddenly. The dragon slipped, tightening his clamp on the female's wing with panic as Mistyeyes let out a sharp gasp. The two slipped right off the path that led up to the main cave, tumbling off the ledge and crashing down to the grass below. They landed with a heavy shock of impact, the breath whooshing out of Mistyeyes as she gaped like a fish out of water. Toothless regained his footing first, scrambling up to his feet and looking down at her wide eyes. "Mistyeyes!" He pressed. "I said I need to talk to you!"

Mistyeyes continued to gasp for air that wouldn't come to her, eyes wide as he looked at him silently, as if he were stupid. But he shook his head rapidly, not bothering to help her as he immediately launched into his spiel. "I know that you might not like me too much right now." He said, the girl still floundering comically for air. "And I know that you might not think that I do much for our cause, and I guess that's because I haven't really done much in the first place. I've just been here whining and criticizing…pretty much everybody."

Mistyeyes shot him a confused look.

"But I wanted…I wanted to tell you that I'm willing to work with you on this more, and I hope you'll take it as a form of apology for you. Considering that I've kind of been pushing you away a lot these past few days. And I take full responsibility for it, I'll admit. But that's just because I was confused." He paused a moment, gasping sharply. "And the thing is…I'm not confused anymore, you know?"

Finally, Mistyeyes took in a breath of oxygen. "What are you talking about?" She rasped, coughing.

Toothless snorted with embarrassed frustration. "I know we have a lot of our differences, and sometimes they're big differences. And we've had a lot of arguments about the stupidest things. And this whole thing had gotten in the way of everything because we're both fighting for our homes and we're really stressed out because we might not have homes by the end of this. But I wanted to let you know that I'm not worried about where things go from now because my home is wherever you are." Mistyeyes blinked rapidly, the dragon's words going to fast that they ended up slurred together and hard to make out. "Because whenever I'm with you…you always know what to say, you always know what everyone needs, you always know how to go about it, you always know the most perfect way to word things, you know how to be a good friend-"

Mistyeyes's eyes softened as he started to ramble.

"You're the best dragon I've ever known, and you're always going to be the best dragon I'll ever know, not matter what happens. I want to…be with you, Mistyeyes. I want to finish this thing right by your side, and I want to make sure that we succeed, no matter how things turn out." He closed his eyes tightly, ducking his head. "I've been just a jerk to you, and I understand if you don't like me, since I've been such a fire-brain. But I just want to make it clear that I really like you, even if you don't like me. And I'm sorry for everything I've done to make you angry or sad, because whenever you're sad, I'm sad. And whenever you're happy, I'm happy. And whenever you're-"

Mistyeyes dashed forward, cutting him off as she pressed her forehead tightly against his own. The male froze underneath the gesture, and after a few moments, Mistyeyes pulled back, blue eyes shining as the stars caught their glow. "You talk way too much." She whispered softy.

Toothless stared back at her, blanching a moment before he stuttered out: "So you aren't angry?"

"Angry?" Mistyeyes gasped, looking ready to burst. "I'm not even angry you nearly tore my wing off! Toothless…to be with you…" She closed her eyes, purring loudly as she stepped forward and pressed herself warmly against him. "It's what I've wanted ever since I first laid eyes on you."

Toothless touched her head with his nose. "I'm sorry it took me so long to realize."

"It doesn't matter." Mistyeyes murmured softly, refusing to look at the bad side of things. "It was worth the wait."

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

A/N: The best thing 'bout tonight's that we're not fighting…

Could it be that we have been this way before?

I know you don't think that I am trying. I know you're wearing thin down to the core.

But hold your breath because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you.

Over again…don't make me change my mind. Or I won't live to see another day.

I swear it's true. 'Cause a girl like you's impossible to find. You're impossible to find.

Fall for You - Secondhand Serenade

Definitely one of my weaker chapters. At least in my opinion. Hopefully you don't think the same way, but I don't blame you if you do. It's why it took so long to get this out: I restarted it LITERALLY five times. NOTHING worked. I stressed out over it, raged over it, sobbed over it, and eventually just decided that this was the best it could be XDDD

Next chapter will be in the air! I'd best get pumped for flying scenes ;)

PLEASE REVIEW! I GO OFF REVIEWS IN THE SUMMER