I am back! Again, I know that this was a REALLY long wait and I apologize for that. I honestly think I'm reminded to get in gear whenever xx-Valkyrie (a loyal reader, thank you) asks me about the progress, so thanks (and sorry if I got your name wrong)! I am a little more hyped about another story I'm writing, and that kind of put this one on the back burner, so to speak, but now that I've got a story with cliffhangers and an epic scene I dreamed about (first time I ever dreamed about a scene) I'm a little more excited, though the epic scene won't be here for a few chapters. It needs build up. Okay, sorry for the really long author's note. So please read/review/enjoy/criticize! Please review!

He liked doing the routine, chiefly chores with his dad, he really did. The joy of helping people was a trait he inherited from his father, and helping solve their daily needs was the ideal way to show it. After all, a chief looks after his own.

But on days like this, when the warm, noon sky was a spotless blue and the snow white clouds were mountains in the unreachable beyond…that was when Hiccup slacked off and left the negotiations to his father. Training dragons was much more tempting than training to be a chief. He supposed it was his mother's genes which dictated that reaction.

But Hiccup still had enough willingness to at least be sociable.

"Have a good day," he chirped to a newlywed couple as he showed them out. "Remember what my dad said. Respect each other, daily say you love one another, and we all hope that you won't come here again soon."

The last remark was a desperate plea even though Hiccup masked it like an ordinary farewell. And it seemed that the newlyweds believed the guise. They nodded, agreeing, and left the house in such a mushy, gushy way that Hiccup had to stop his gag reflex.

Hiccup closed the door once they left, laying his head against it. He whimpered, "Uhhhh…Dad, how many more of these do we have to do?"

His father rustled a few papers behind him. "It looks like just one more."

Hiccup took a moment to gasp and was silent for a moment. Then, breaching the silence of the moment, he shouted like an ecstatic dragon, "Woo-hoo! We're almost done!" He did a little dance, earning a curious glance from Toothless and Thornado. But as they often did, they just indifferently snuggled back next to the cozy hearth and slumbered.

Stoick, who had jumped in shock at the cry, wasn't so indifferent. "Look, Hiccup, I know it's been a long day…"

"Twenty-seven cases of nothing but people complaining," Hiccup continued, waving his arms around, like he was spreading the joy. "And it's almost gone!"

"Hiccup!"

The boy instantly stopped his dance and looked up to his father with wide eyes. "Yeah Dad?"

Stoick breathed deeply, gathering patience, before he said, "You need to keep your…joyous display more discrete, a bit more hidden. We don't want to offend anyone, do we?"

Hiccup smiled childishly. He glanced at his father identically to when he was really little…well, littler. "Well, I guess…okay Dad. But it's just…" His voice was exaggeratingly happy, "…how exactly can you keep something with that big of a relief just to yourself?"

Stoick rested his fists on the table and glared at Hiccup. "When you get your own house, I'll show you."

Hiccup returned to his normal, matured self. "Uh-right, okay, sure. Be quiet unless I want my own house…yeah, I'll be quiet now."

Stoick bit back his chuckle. It felt good when he knew he had made his point.

The expected knock of the final customer pattered on the door. "Stoick?"

"Come in Mulch, Bucket," Stoick's voice and transformed from disciplining father to stoic chief, like it always did at a time like this. "What seems to be the problem?"

Mulch entered the Haddock house followed by Bucket, who was holding a large piece of impaled wood with a knob on it, but that wasn't what Hiccup noticed.

Half of Mulch's right leg was gone. He had lost it in the battle with Drago, under Hiccup's command. Hiccup bit back the usual apology speech he usually gave. If the past was any indication, Mulch would only protest, reassuring his future leader that he was one of the lucky ones. So instead, Hiccup bit the inside of his cheek. He'd have to deal with the guilt later.

"Well, chiefs," said Mulch. He was the only Berkian to regard Hiccup as a full-fledged chief before the induction, and aside from the terror Hiccup still had about the job, he liked that about Mulch. He broadened his shoulders, feeling respected.

Mulch continued, "We heard a disturbance last night. We naturally thought it was the arguing newlyweds but it sounded more like a dragon. We went outside this morning and found this, our door shattered. It could be a dragon, but we wanted a second opinon." He turned to Bucket. "My friend, show the chiefs the door."

Bucket did as he was told. "It's scratched," he admitted, as if his leaders were blind.

Once Bucket put the door on the table, Hiccup threw himself into the inspection. The other three men silently watched him, marveling at how he could be so absorbed in the most miniscule of details. Hiccup barely noticed the spider crawling across the floor as he grabbed various tools from his ever-present, multipurpose suit. He measured the length and width of the impalements and smelled the wood. All the while, his eyes never left his work.

Bucket understood the obsession the most, noticing that it was only matched by his own love of painting. He leaned next to Mulch and whispered, "What would happen if we yelled 'fire'?" That earned him a disciplining smack on the arm from Mulch, and Bucket decided to be quiet.

Hiccup obviously didn't hear. He just kept looking and inspecting. Finally, with a regrettable sigh (so much like his mother's, the men noticed) Hiccup admitted, "I have no idea. The claws are too deep to be a Monstrous Nightmare or anything else like that. You could ask my mom…"

"Ask me what?" The said person had entered the house, a large basket of groceries in her grasp.

Everyone greeted her promptly. Stoick went to kiss her on the cheek and Bucket tipped his bucket to her.

"Evening ma'am," he chirped, and then noticed something odd. "Have you been eating lots?"

Mulch groaned. A twinge of embarrassed red glowed on his cheeks. "Bucket, we talked about this. Remember what state the chief's wife's in?"

Bucket rolled his eyes into his head, humming, thinking very hard. "She's…she's…I know this, she's…"

Valka smiled, clearly not offended, and whispered, "Bucket, I'm going to have a baby."

"A baby!" Bucket cried in delight, as if he had figured it out alone. "She's having a baby!"

Mulch nodded, sheepishly avoiding eye contact with any member of the Haddock family. "Yes, Bucket. That's it."

Valka only giggled. "Yes, I am. I'm four months along." She instinctively rubbed her belly, which looked more like a thin pillow stuffed underneath her shirt, until she noticed the wood.

Something in her took over, a long buried curiosity that had spawned when she was young. Both Haddock men had seen that look before, and they both knew right then and there that no explanation was necessary.

Valka dropped the basket of groceries on the floor and bee-lined to the wood, ripping it from her son's hands. Her focused eyes were identical to the ferocity of her son's, just moments before. "It looks nothing like any of the dragons on Berk, even with the new addition from my sanctuary."

Stoick came up to her while Bucket kindly picked up the groceries, though no one noticed. "Should we be worried? Any rogue dragons?"

Hiccup spoke, "Y-yeah, and remember the time Mildew tried to frame dragons by scratching fake claws into the wood four years ago? Could that be it?"

Valka shrugged. "Well, these scratches were definitely made by a real dragon, though I wouldn't worry so much about a terrorizing, rogue dragon. It was probably a hungry dragon and it'll move on. I'm sure it's nothing." She returned the wood to Mulch. "It was a valid concern but based on the quickness, of the attack…see Hiccup, you can see that from the cleanness of the cut. Anyway, it doesn't look like it'll stay."

Mulch bowed his head with a gentle smile. "Thank you, ma'am, chiefs. Bucket, come on. We need to make our lunch."

Bucket smiled and returned the basket of groceries to Hiccup, not noticing that he almost collapsed under the weight of it. "Good bye Stoick, Valka, Hiccup…" he then bent down and waved at Valka's belly. "Bye, little one." With that, he skipped out the door.

Hiccup smiled at Bucket's antics and wobbled to the counter. "Mom, what did you do? Buy the whole market out?"

Valka huffed. "I just want to feed my family. Shall we complain of our providence?"

"No, but this is enough to feed us and ten other children!" Hiccup grunted as he put the food on the table. "Are we planning for twins?"

"No!" Stoick cried in a pleading sort of way.

Valka chuckled. "Don't worry, darling, I feel the same way." And she pecked him on the cheek. "How were your days today?"

Hiccup was the first to report. "Twenty-something cases of people complaining, but now, I'm going to sit back, relax, and think of nothing." He sat in his chair and tipped his head back.

Valka smirked and playfully glanced to her husband. "You know Hiccup, I ran into Astrid today."

Oh no! Hiccup leapt up. "What happened? Did I forget a date?"

Valka shook her head. "You did not, but she wants to see you anyway."

"Why?" Hiccup whined, his three year-old self returning.

Valka's eyes widened and she gave her son a deadpanning expression. "You're going to question keeping your love waiting? Go find her! Now! She will become deadly if you wait."

Hiccup pouted and slowly got up. "C'mon Toothless. We better go see what Astrid's planned for us."

Hearing his master's call, Toothless promptly huffed and tucked his head into his wing.

"Oh," Hiccup snorted. He knelt down next to Toothless and shouted into his ears…well, dragon ears. "Nice to know that my friends are supportive of me at all times!" When that didn't move the dragon, Hiccup rolled his eyes and whined, "Come on, bud. I'll treat you with a sunset flight!"

At this, Toothless leapt up and raced out of the house. Hiccup rolled his eyes and dryly followed. "I'll be back before dark," he half-mindedly told his parents as he shut the door behind him.

Stoick chuckled, rummaging through what Valka had bought. "Bribing dragons."

Valka smiled as she kissed him again. "It is how to steal a dragon's treasure. Or even to get them to do what we want, most of the time."

Stoick dug to the bottom of the basket. "Well, I just…Valka, what exactly is this?" Stoick held up a large, spiky fruit. The body was a healthy magenta color and the spikes were multicolored with a bright yellow and a lime green. If Stoick were to be frank, it looked more like a horrible contraption than a fruit, maybe more like something alien and foreign, a threat.

Valka shrugged. "Helga had traded her rusty shovel with Trader Johann for a basket of fruit last month. Neither she nor he had any idea of what the fruit was." She continued sorting the eggs and milk she'd purchased into the appropriate cupboards.

"And we have them because why?" Stoick asked, startled by the abrupt ending. "Are your cravings getting stronger, dear?"

Valka turned to him and nodded, like this was an ordinary conversation. "Yes, so if you don't mind…" she stole the fruit from Stoick's grasp and took a large bite out of it. She hummed and smiled, clearly enjoying herself. "It's sweet but threatening looking. I might call it Dragon Fruit."

Stoick rolled his eyes. "Of course you will." He continued putting away the groceries, listening to his wife noisily eat her fruit with smacking lips and all. "How is Astrid, by the way?"

"Hmm? Oh, I wouldn't know. I didn't see her today."

Stoick's head perked up. Then, a small smile slowly crept onto his face. "What have you done?"

Valka's laugh almost caused the fruit to shoot from her mouth. It was either the thrill of her creative genius or the consequences of her plan, but either way, the merry laugh rang. "Haven't you…haven't you noticed the look in both their eyes when we're around them? The shadowy glances suggest that they're keeping something from us."

Stoick huffed. "And, I suppose that you know exactly what is going on?"

Valka nodded.

"Well?"

His wife coyly smiled and bashed her eyelashes. "Well, I don't pretend to be an expert on the subject of teenage, flirtatious glances, but…I do believe that sometime, oh, maybe in the next year or so, possibly a few months even, the joke about Astrid being our daughter-in-law will become reality."

Stoick snorted and rolled his eyes. "You can't predict that."

"And why not? Astrid's mother agrees with me."

Stoick chuckled. "Alright, I'll keep out of these silly, girlish schemes that you two are planning, but don't overexert yourself."

"I'm sorry?" Valka snapped, her mouth full of fruit.

Stoick patiently gathered courage, looking into the eyes of his wife. "You're pregnant Val, in case you've forgotten."

"Sweetheart, I love you, but I think I would be the last person to forget I was pregnant." She rubbed her tummy and playfully smiled. "Don't worry about me. Cloudjumper is always very careful with me…"

"You've been riding Cloudjumper?" Stoick boomed.

Valka didn't get a chance to respond. A providential knock rapped on the door.

"Come in!" Valka urged.

In came Fishlegs and Ruffnut, two of Hiccup's friends. If Valka remembered correctly, they were becoming much friendlier towards one another, in a good way. By the way Ruffnut was clutching Fishlegs' hand without relent, it showed.

"Yes Fishlegs? Ruffnut?" Stoick returned to his chief voice, diplomatic and commanding. He hesitated when he noticed what Fishlegs was carrying. A scratched, splintered board.

"There's a rogue dragon somewhere," Ruffnut announced, her voice dry and unprofessional. "Brainy's got a theory…"

"Yes," Fishlegs forcefully interrupted, clearly already annoyed with her robbing his spotlight. He cleared his throat, held up the beat up board, and continued, "This is the third wall that's been demolished that I've seen. One's mine, another's the shoemaker's, and there's one at the Academy…"

"Make that four," Stoick interjected. "Bucket and Mulch just brought one in too."

Fishlegs' face pinched at this information, but he continued, "Well, I'm sure it was made by a dragon, but I don't pretend to be an expert..."

Ruffnut snorted.

Fishlegs ignored it. "…so we brought it here for you to look at, Mrs. Haddock."

Valka rushed over and took the board. Her eyes became like daggers as she searched for an explanation. Her face lost confidence somewhere along the way, her eyes giving way to fear.

"Val?" Stoick asked. "What is it?"

She took a deep breath and said, "It's the same type of marks that Bucket and Mulch brought in earlier. If there's more, it looks like the rogue dragon isn't done introducing himself."

"Oh, there's more!" Ruffnut announced.

Everyone looked to her, and for the first time, noticed she was peering out the front door.

"What do you mean by that, babe?" Fishlegs asked as he walked towards her.

"Cause there's a long line of angry villagers with messed up doors coming right this way."

Stoick massaged his forehead, bracing himself for what was to come. He could hear the disgruntled cries of complaints and protests from the villagers even now. He glanced to his wife, to tell her that for the baby's sake, she should go and lie down, but to his surprise, she was smirking.

"What?" he asked, chuckling a bit.

Her smirk was sneaky and conniving. "Oh, I'll just go find Hiccup and tell him that his twenty-seven cases of complainers just reached forty-seven." With that, she whistled for Cloudjumper and took off.

Call me weird, but Dragon Fruit is a real thing. It's in Wal*Mart. :) Look it up! Don't know if it's sweet, but it looks sweet! :) Thanks for reading guys, and dealing with my weridness...yeah, that alone requires patience! :)