The Good Old Days

It's not anywhere or every day you go to bed on Friday night in a large mansion with all the comforts of the 21st century. Internet, cable, electricity and indoor plumbing all that and when you wake up all of it's gone and you're in a wooden house sleeping on a rickety wooden bed with a very thin worn wool blanket and not even dressed in pajamas!

No, your wearing tunics, leather, fur, armor and dragon scales and there is no internet or cell services at all! And when you look out your window the whole world went back in time about 11 centuries or so!

It could only mean one thing if you go to sleep in the 21st century and when you wake up as a Viking and your dogs are talking fire-breathing winged beasts! It's a Spirit Day Weekend!

Spirit Days were special days when all of Dragon City was trapped in a Time Bubble and during those days everyone and everything was restored to exactly how it was in their first life.

It was mostly only holidays or days truly significant to their past lives. But there were random weekends when Odin and Frigga surprised everyone with a special weekend treat.

This was such a weekend and well that meant only one thing. Dragon Racing here we come!

The air was thick with all the dragons stretching their wings and just chatting up a storm since it been so long since they had used their voices. So they were going to let them have the morning to themselves to have their airborne games and time to chat while everyone else enjoyed their time as their true selves.

"Can't wait to get my old battle ax and challenge Heather to a duel with her double bladed one!" Astrid was giggling with glee at the long table as her mother-in-law in her old outfit was still busy making old fashion Viking food for breakfast. She laughed and shook her head.

"You never change, Astrid. As soon as a Spirit Day comes along you just want to knock someone head off someone shoulder. Why can't you be more like Asta and just want to go climb some trees?"

"Where the fun in that? You can do that any old time!"

"Yeah, but you can't learn surprise attacks on your enemy or climb the trees of our first homes in Dragon City!" chided Asta as she tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and touched the flower in her hair.

"I love it when we go old school! And I'm looking forward to finally conquering that tree that I can't ever seem to get to the top of! I'm doing it this Spirit Day weekend!"

"Well, I don't know about you, ladies but rather do some old fashion survival camping this weekend in the woods with my children. Like how I did it before Una and I fell in love and got married?" Orus came in with his survival kit.

"What about the Dragon Races?! No-one gonna want to miss that! As that's the highlight of every Spirit Day we get to have!" shot back Asta to her brother-in-law.

"And we never have them till sundown on the second day. Which means I can still do overnight camping and be back in time for Dragon Racing as it's the kids who get to race."

"Can we all hope Gobber isn't running another betting pool? We know what happened in our first life when his drinking and gambling got to the point of unacceptable!" Astrid reminded them all as they looked at Valka who didn't approve of poisons.

"Stoick will make sure of that one, don't worry about it. Besides all the laws that exist in our first life are in place during Spirit Days. And on Berk at the time of its death, we made it illegal to gamble or drink."

"We had to Val. After what happened in the Dragon Nursery? Between the angry dragon mothers and the already enraged villagers what else could we do but put in places a zero tolerance law?" called out Stoick as he came into the room.

It was different seeing him at 73 as a Viking seeing as he died at age 50 in his first life. But he looked pretty much the same other then his beard was solid white and styled again differently.

"My beloved you are so wise and I love you. But please don't do something stupid today. You are still greatly needed for your children and grandchildren. Not to mention how much I still need you!"

"I'm not gonna keel over and die, Val. No-one can die on a Spirit Day as time is suspended and other than get few scraps and cuts you can't get grievously injured either."

"True, all true, but still don't scare me to death either way! Now, where are our children and the grandchildren?"

"Hiccup's fussing about with his old style leg, Boden taking his time to get his long hair look right and Una's cleaning out her Death song Ocarina.

The grandchildren are busy getting dressed and all excited about riding their dragons and the races tomorrow.

"Well, how about you help me finish with breakfast so they are all ready when they come down then?"

It was about 45 minutes later when the rest of the family came downstairs. Everyone looked exactly like they did just before their lives had ended in the first time around. But they had the biggest smiles on their faces.

The kids couldn't shut up as they were all going on and on about how long it had been since they'd ridden their Night Furies and how they wanted to see how their Night Furies special powers had progressed and how to tag-team it with their special gifts.

"It's been over four months since we last had a Spirit Day! I bet they are dying to try out their powers and we've been super stunted in our own growth in our powers, Dad!

You and Uncle Boden and Aunt Una didn't become the perfect team without a lot of training and practice! We totally have to meet the other Riders in the old area and get some training in while we have the chance!" squealed Breena with delight at that thought.

"Training is important, Breena. And normally I'm all for it, but don't you think you could just relax and simply enjoy the sunshine and just fly for pleasure this time?" her father Hiccup asked.

"Dad, who are you? Seriously? Who took my father Hiccup Haddock and replaced him with you?!

Because Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III never took a break from dragon training. It was his whole life! It was what he was about! It was his whole reason for being!" his daughter demanded as he lost his mind which she seriously thought he had.

Laughing he shook his head. "I've not lost my mind, Breena. Merely we've been given a second chance to live. Why not just live? The world will always need protectors of love and peace.

That's true and it may be the destiny of all those who live in Dragon City to continue to protect this world from evil and do more unexpected miracles. But part of the reason we have Spirit Days is to go back to the time when life was simple and carefree.

Just to live and forget stress and strife. Just to live and breath and be thankful."

"My brother is correct. We may have had many life-changing high stakes adventures but what matter most to us always was our family. Just being with those we loved. Having a home to go to.

So can we all just enjoy some time off and take a break?" Boden suggested to the children.

"Again don't try and grow up or relive the past. Let's live in the moment and figure out our destinies another time. For now, let's just have some fun. My BBBFF and I plan to get on our dragons and do a little gliding," she started to smile then caught her parents look.

"Mommy! I know you and Daddy still have concerns as you don't approve of people doing it the 21st century even with VAST improvements!

But we did at least come up with centuries before the history books said it was created.

Don't we deserve some credit as the inventors of so many things history got wrong? Considering how very modernized Berk was before Loki blew it up?!" Una demanded in a whiny voice.

This was a bit of a personal grip with the Haddock children when they got their memories of their first life back. Seeing how so many of their inventions had then been replicated centuries later and then said to be invented by someone else. Never good when someone else takes credit for your idea!

But what were they gonna do? Tell the historians they were wrong? That three intelligent but mental ill children were able to come up with several inventions with the help of special powers and dragons? And said people could prove it because they'd been reincarnated and all that? Yeah, no one was gonna believe that!

Agreeing they take it easy they did ask if they could still visit their friends on their dragons which were no problem. Soon they're all zipping around the sky and meeting the other NGR on their dragons who were all happy to be talking.

"So what are we going to do if our parents don't want us to train?" the Soul Riders kids asked the Haddocks.

"How about Dragon Air Tag?" Una's daughter Freja suggested hopefully.

"Only if there like at least three people who are It. Since there so many people in our group," was the reply.

"Okay. How about Esme, Odyis, and Embla for this round? And the last ones they tag are then next ones who are it?" Breena suggested to which they agreed.

So a game of Dragon Air Tag is a great way to practice your dragon riding skills and test your dragon powers out. Speed, strength, firepower and all that while you're trying to avoid being tag and being knocked out of the game.

So it wasn't true 'training' but it still helped them train nevertheless and it was a fun came to play all the same. Not to mention it gave the human riders and chance however little to practice their own unique talents to add extra obstacles in the games.

The grandparents had flown their dragons to what was the Berk Great Hall for a day of a small feast and some merriment. Valka it was enjoying her Brunch Club as she had in her first life with them doing it as they had done before.

Stoick was knocking heads together with the old chiefs over drinks though he was still forbidden to drink mead as Valka strictly forbid it. He had to settle for apple juice as he dare not upset his wife.

The children's parents were enjoying themselves by revisiting the locations of their youth in their first lives and reliving the events of great significance to them. It was fun for them and their dragons.

The rest of the Asgardians along with the whole Sisterhood of the Valkyries and their children were playing around having their own special time with their dragons and allowed to be in their true forms on Earth and making the most of the weekend.

So that's how Saturday went.

Sunday everyone was preparing to watch everyone favorite Spirit Day event. Dragon Racing. The stands were packed, snacks were made and the game had its new rules and contestant and everyone was more than ready to play.

The shouts of joy and thrill of the game were enough to forget all the pain of the past. That it was this very sport that Loki had used to end their happiness and their lives 1045 years ago.

All they cared about was just sometimes you can relive the good old days and for now, they would take full advantage of it each and every opportunity they got of that!