Oh... y'know they have no romantic interest in each other... right? It's purely friendship. I established that. Nothing more and that's what it will always be.

Drago slammed his fist into the wall again. "How!? HOW DID THAT LITTLE BOY ESCAPE!?"

Viggo watched the man throw his rage with a deadpanned expression. "I think he had help, sir. But not that it matters, you were going to kill him anyway."

Drago rounded on him faster than an angry dog. "Yes, Viggo, it does matter. It puts HOPE in their pathetic little hearts! It gives them STRENGTH when they survive. I only take a little happiness in knowing that the Berk heir brat is dead. If it weren't for that..."

Viggo rolled his eyes. "Oh come now, Drago. They are hopeless without the sanctuary. And we have most of the AI under your machine's control. And Frank's heir is dead. Why does one little escaped man matter?" He knew that it did matter, he was trying to calm Drago down. It didn't work very well.

Drago threw his sword at Viggo, narrowly missing the man and hitting the wall behind. Viggo tried to appear unfazed and almost failed. He winced inwardly.

"Do not mention that name again, Viggo."

"Who? Frank?"

Drago snarled. "That man. He survived my attack. I've been planning his death for years. And his brat. That boy is a genius. Almost too bad to waste it. But I want the entire Haddock family DEAD, do you hear me! Valka Haddock, Frank "Stoick" Haddock, and Hiccup Haddock! And I'm only one third there! So GET OUT THERE AND KILL THEM, VIGGO! START UP MY MACHINE AND HEAD TO WHERE WE SAW THEM LAST!"

Viggo nodded, suppressing a shiver, and turned and left.

He ran into his brother on the way out. "Why in the world do you let that guy boss us around, brother?" Ryker shook his head in disbelief.

"It's all part of the bigger plan, brother. Have faith. Little does Drago know Hiccup is alive, just as I planned. pieces are falling together, and soon, we will have our prize. The smartest boy in the world."

I helped Hiccup stand up for the first time since he'd woken up. He was stiffened with pain, but was trying not to show it. I supported him as we moved across the room. I figured strengthening him a little would help. He'd been lying for a while and needed to stretch his legs, get some exercise. Toothless watched us from the side of the small cave area, eyes fixed on Hiccup. Finally, he spoke.

"I don't know how you do it."

We both turned to him. "What?" Hiccup asked.

"Survive. We've been to heck and back, you have been in constant danger, sometimes self-made, and you have nearly died 147 times to date. How in the world are you alive, and mostly intact?" Toothless said.

Hiccup and me exchanged bewildered looks. Hiccup was the first to speak. "You've been keeping track?"

"No, but you've been giving me plenty of time to do the math." Toothless replied, sort of deadpanned.

I snorted with amusement and Hiccup looked at me, sort of confused. "What? He's right! You are your own hazard, Hicc, you know that?"

He crossed his arms, letting go of me. "I can't help it if I'm like that! I have inventions to test! And people are always trying to kill me or use me!"

I held up my hands. "Hey, hey. I didn't mean it like that. But half those inventions you make have some sort of danger to them."

He snorted. "Like what?"

"Uh let's see. Your jetpack? Nearly got you killed on the side of a house." Toothless said. "If I had been a second later, we would have been scraping you off with a spatula."

"Okay, give me another example." Hiccup said. "Not all of my inventions are dangerous."

I answered. "Uh... your house builder? It nearly built one on top of you."

Before Hiccup could answer, Toothless jumped in. "The automatic cooking kitchen? The one that malfunctioned and nearly gave you a 'dad sandwich'?

I nodded. "I remember that. Chief was none too pleased."

Hiccup snorted.

"The tree mover?" Toothless suggested.

"Oh, now that was just a bad idea." Hiccup said.

"We had a hard time cleaning up all those branches and thrown trees for a week." Toothless said. "One nearly crushed Richard."

"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me about that. I had tree nightmares for months." I said shakily, shuddering.

"But the look on your face. I never thought you'd be so scared of plants that you were on a meat diet for that long." Hiccup laughed.

I rolled my eyes heavily. "I could have died."

Hiccup nodded. "Okay, yeah, I admit alot of them are dangerous. But name one that wasn't."

A long silence.

"My sweater maker?" He offered.

"Nope, no good. It nearly choked your father." Toothless said.

Hiccup's face fell. "Oh yeah."

"Eh, it's not all bad. Some of those things actually work. And make our lives better. For example..." I gestured to Toothless. Hiccup cheered up almost immediately.

"...And," Toothless added. "I make everything better!"

"Well, who taught you humility?" Hiccup said. "They didn't do it very well."

"Weren't you supposed to?" Toothless asked, making a cheeky face.

I laughed loudly. "I guess that CAE chip gave him an ego, too!"

Toothless puffed himself up. "Why not?" We all broke out laughing.

Stoick approached Valka slowly, not knowing exactly what to say. He had been rehearsing things in his head for the past few hours, but nothing seemed to work. She turned to look at him, eyes wary. They had gotten over the initial shock of seeing each other again for the first time in 17 years, but catching up and rebonding would be hard. They were both nervous. Neither spoke for a long time.

"So. Er..." Stoick started. "How did you..." He never finished the question, he had no idea what to say. Valka turned away awkwardly.

"How are you?" Stoick asked finally.

"My home is gone. And many of my friends are captured by Drago. My son nearly died. How do you think I feel?" Valka said, voice forced.

Stoick felt a streak of resentment. "Don't you mean my son? You weren't even there to raise him."

Valka snorted. "He's mine as much as he is yours. Don't forget all that trouble I went through just to bring him into this world."

"And what about all that stress I had worrying for you and him? If you'd survive?" Stoick asked.

"Oh you worried for me, did you?" Valka asked.

"Of course I did! I loved you, Valka, and I still do! And I wanted a future with you and our child!" Stoick said.

Valka sighed. "Stoick..."

"Please, Val. Call me by my other name." The man answered.

"Why? The other one suits you better, 'Stoick the Vast'." There was a hint of mocking in her voice.

"You know I only got that nickname because I got taller." He joked, arms on his hips. "I prefer Frank. Even though no one dares to call me that, and my own son doesn't know my real name."

She smiled, unable to resist. The ice melted. "So you want me to speak frankly with you?"

He gave her a look almost worthy of his son. She laughed at his reaction, a smile lighting her face. He laughed as well, happy to see her happy, but also because she had made such a bad joke. He moved forward.

"Oh, how I missed you." He said wistfully.

She nodded. "I... I did miss you as well."

"Will you come home? After all this Drago business is over? If we survive? Will you come back to me?" Frank asked earnestly.

She looked hesitant. "I..."

"We can be a family!" He urged.

"Well... yes. Yes! Why not?" Valka smiled and threw her arms around him. They danced.

"Although, we might have to do something about your cooking. Your meatballs kill more AI than a battleaxe."

She looked appalled, but he realized she was faking. "They're not that bad, are they?"

"Some people have joked that Haddock cooking could be a viable weapon in battle." Frank said with a straight face.

She snorted. "Is Hiccup any better at cooking?"

"Yes. He learned how at some point. But as long as he doesn't experiment, usually he's able to create delicious food."

"What do you mean 'at some point'? You knew what he was up to most of the time, right?"

Frank gulped. Now came the difficult explanations for how their son grew up.

"I wasn't exactly the best father..."

Astrid sat outside the cave, looking around. I watched her, unsure how to approach. Richard had told me I should talk to her, but I wasn't sure what to say. Finally, I swallowed my fear and began moving toward her. This was way scarier than I had thought. 'C'mon Hiccup, pull yourself together. You've been friends for a few good years, she respects you! She doesn't think you're an idiot. Just go up there and-'

"Hiccup. You're up." I stared into her blue eyes.

'nopenopenope'

"Er... Hi Hiccup- Astrid. How are you?" My brain was trying to sabotage me. I could feel it giving up. Why was this so difficult when I had approached her so many times before for building plans and other things?

She was just giving me an odd look. Had she caught my stutter? What was she thinking? What would she SAY? 'nonono oh man' Leave. Maybe just leave.

"Pretty good. How are you feeling, Hiccup? It can't be fun being stabbed."

'Oh of course she brings up that oh how do I respond-' "Tine. I'm F-fine!" 'Oh I feel so stupid.'

She's smiling at me. I smile awkwardly back, trying to relax my sweaty palms. 'WHY'

"Good to hear. Did you want something?" She runs a hand through her hair. 'Oh boy here we go how is she so CALM'

"Uh... not much. Just wondering how you are that's all." 'go for it idiot'

She nods, seeming... disappointed? 'what did I do now' I stand there for a good minute. Toothless, who has been watching this pathetic exchange the whole time, decides to make his move.

"Oh, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, you both love each other, SO SAY IT!" 'Verrrry subtle.'

I facepalm. Astrid blushes.

'Thank you for nothing, Toothless.'

The second "chunk" of this story is almost done. What will be the climax... hmm? *evil laugh*

Please review!