First Flight

A/N: Some more Daddy Hiccup fluff for you all. Enjoy!

"Come on, sweetie, say it. Say it now. 'Daddy.' Come on, Melody, say it for me. 'Daddy.' Please?"

The baby sitting in his lap merely grinned and giggled.

"Come on, sweetheart," Hiccup begged. "Just one word. Can you say it? Say it for Daddy? Just say 'daddy' for me. Or 'dada,' I'm not picky."

"No," Melody cooed, and then giggled again as Hiccup sighed.

"Of course," he remarked, looking up at his wife Astrid, who stood laughing by the door. "She's ten months old and has already said 'yes,' 'no,' 'dragon,' 'mess,' and 'pickle.' And don't ask me how she figured 'pickle' out, because I haven't a clue. But 'daddy,' or even 'dada,' she just won't do."

Astrid shrugged, still chuckling. "Well, if it makes you feel better, she hasn't said 'mama' yet either."

Hiccup hummed quietly, looking back at his daughter. He smiled fondly: he couldn't help it. Every time he saw her he couldn't stop himself from grinning like a dork. "Ah well," he said. "We'll try again later, I guess."

"Dwagon," Melody burbled, pointing at Toothless, who lay reclined in the corner of the room. The Night Fury lifted his head and crooned happily, eliciting another giggle from the baby. "Dwagon!"

"Yes, that's right," Hiccup said, still grinning. "Dragon. His name is Toothless. Can you say that? I bet you can. It's a bit harder than 'daddy,' but you're a smart little girl. Can you say it? Huh? 'Toothless.'"

"Too-wess," Melody cried.

Hiccup blinked. Then he laughed and said, "Yes! Yes, that's it! Very good, sweetheart! Toothless!"

"Too-wess!" Melody repeated, waving her little arms excitedly, enthused by her success.

"Figures," Hiccup said to Astrid, still chuckling. "She says Toothless' name before either one of ours. Typical, huh?"

Astrid merely shook her head in amusement.

"Too-wess!" Melody crowed. "Dwagon!"

"Yes, Toothless is a dragon," Hiccup agreed. "You're such a smart girl, Melody."

"Dwagon! Too-wess!"

"And now she'll never stop saying it," Astrid said with a small sigh. "We're in for it now."

Toothless stood up and waddled over to where Hiccup sat with Melody in his lap. Seeing this, the baby let out a delighted cry and practically shrieked, "Too-wess!"

"I don't think Toothless minds one bit," Hiccup observed as his dragon purred. Apparently he loved hearing the sound of his own name, even if it wasn't quite articulated correctly. Then the young chief's face lit up as an idea hit him. "Hey Melody," he said, regaining his daughter's attention. "Would you like to go for a ride on Toothless?"

"Too-wess!" was Melody's only response.

Astrid obviously had some reservations. "Uh…are you sure about this, Hiccup?" she asked nervously. "I mean, she's not even a year old yet. Do you think she's ready for that?"

"I think so," Hiccup replied confidently. "I mean, this is Toothless we're talking about. He would never let anything happen to her."

"Oh, I don't doubt that," Astrid said hurriedly, giving the Night Fury a fond pat on the head. The look he gave her could be roughly translated to: Do I look like a dog to you? "I'm just worried that the ride will scare her, that's all. And if it does, then it will be a tough job to get her back in the saddle when she's older."

Hiccup nodded slowly. "I suppose that's true," he conceded. "But still, she might enjoy it. And if Toothless takes it easy…" He gave the dragon a sharp look that seemed to say, And you will take it easy with her.

Toothless snorted as if to retort, Of course I would! Why would I want to scare this sweet little human who said my name first?

"…then I see no reason why she would be scared," Hiccup finished, returning his gaze to Astrid.

His wife sighed. "I guess we won't know until we try."

"So…" Hiccup said slowly, "is that a yes?"

Astrid smiled and nodded, looking resigned. "Yes, it is. I don't think I could stop you anyway. But I'm coming with you. And if Melody shows the slightest sign of being afraid, I'll have Toothless land. Clear?"

"Perfectly," Hiccup replied, grinning in triumph. He stood up and hoisted Melody up into his arms. "Come on, Mel. We're gonna go ride a dragon."

"Dwagon!" Melody repeated.

"That's right, dragon," Hiccup said, chuckling as he stepped out the front door, Astrid and Toothless right behind him. "And what's his name?"

"Too-wess!" Melody replied.

"That's it," Hiccup laughed. "Smart girl."

He motioned for Toothless to come toward him, and the Night Fury obeyed. He then set his daughter onto the dragon's back before climbing on right behind her, wrapping his arms protectively around her, enfolding her into his grip. Astrid joined them, seating herself behind her husband. "All right, bud," Hiccup said to Toothless. "We've got another passenger this time, so take it gentle, okay? Nice and easy. My definition of easy, not yours," he added quickly, remembering that Toothless' idea of "going easy" was a bit on the extreme side.

Toothless snorted in agreement and spread his wings. Astrid tightened her grip on Hiccup's shoulders, and in turn Hiccup held Melody a little more firmly.

And then Toothless took to the sky.

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief. His dragon's flight was smooth, gentle, and slow. He didn't go very high, only high enough to clear the tops of the buildings in the village below. Vikings going about their day looked up and waved cheerfully at them as they passed overhead, and a few called out friendly greetings. Hiccup raised one hand to them in return but quickly replaced it around Melody. He listened intently for the slightest sign that she was frightened, a shriek, a cry, a whimper, anything. But Melody wasn't making a sound. This worried Hiccup: was she perhaps too scared to articulate a single little noise, not even a squeak?

And then she let out a burst of laughter and squealed, "Too-wess! Too-wess! Dwagon! Too-wess!" Then she let out a wordless cry of delight and clapped her little hands together in joy.

Hiccup chuckled in relief. Glancing over his shoulder, he said to Astrid, "I think she's enjoying it."

"Yes, it seems so," Astrid agreed, sounding quite relieved.

Hiccup nodded and directed Toothless to fly out over the sea. Without quite realizing he was doing so, he peered down at the peaceful waters below. The mid-afternoon sun shone down upon its glassy surface, reflecting and shimmering like a million priceless jewels. He breathed a huge sigh of contentment. "Look, sweetie," he said, gesturing toward the ocean. "Did you know Daddy used to live down there? Down in the sea? Yeah, I know, hard to believe, huh? But I used to have fins and a tail, and I would swim all over the kingdom where I grew up…" He sighed again, pulling Melody just a little closer to him. "It's beautiful, isn't it, sweetheart?"

"Yes," Melody replied.

Hiccup, feeling his heart swell with joy, leaned down to kiss his daughter's head. "I love you, Melody," he murmured. "Daddy loves you so much."

"Dada!" Melody cooed.

Hiccup inhaled sharply and almost toppled from the saddle. "Did…did you just say…'dada'?" he asked.

"Dada!" Melody repeated.

Hiccup laughed and hugged his daughter, who squealed and giggled. "You said it!" he cried. "You finally said it!"

Astrid chuckled and ran her hands down her husband's arms. "Clearly she's going to be a Daddy's Girl," she remarked.

Hiccup chortled a little breathlessly. "Yeah, I guess so." Then he leaned forward and rested one hand on Toothless' scaly head. "Thanks, bud. I don't know how you did it, but somehow I'm sure you had something to do with this."

Toothless merely crooned in reply and banked widely, winging back toward the island. It had been a pretty short ride, but Hiccup had no doubt he would remember it for the rest of his life.

"Too-wess!" Melody said. "Dwagon! Too-wess!"

Hiccup shook his head but grinned as he observed, "So…I'm still second to the dragon. I see how it is."

Toothless let out his strange little dragon laugh, which of course made Melody giggle. Hiccup couldn't help but smile. Hey, if his dragon could make his daughter this happy, then he'd take being second best any day.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that. :) The next chapter of Return to the Sea is in the works and should hopefully be done soon.