AN: Thanks to: Effective Immediately, MusicPeaceAndCheese, Splash Mountain, Loti-miko, Candy-chama, Willow Tracy, Nanashi-Angel, Veritas4Eternity, Caris L. Clearwater, Deathangel499297, Twig'um, Dragon Fairies, al28894, mpkio2, Kisachan18, HidanKakuzuFanGirl, ELMO-kibafangirl11, RaeVenn-Chan, darkdaylight, , Feonixis, luan eksteen, moshi95 AKA sherley C., and those who may be following in anon! Thanks again everybody!

Told you it'd be a quicker update! ^^ Yes! And less than a few days, I'll be FREE! Thank goodness! I can start working on other fics now again! All I've been doing are HTTYD. Nothing wrong with HTTYD—I love it—but, you know, I hate that others are getting dusty. LOL I'm kind of upset about the college I'm going to attend. German class was full. (Who wants to learn German nowadays? I mean, really? Aside from me and a friend of mine, of course, no one where we live is even interested in it! XP) Although, I got a course where I can learn to animate in traditional 2D! Heck yes! X3

This chapter… What can I say about it…? Definitely the longest chapter so far, but I dunno, really, just let me know what you all think about it. It kind of bothers me. Please forgive any errors.

DISCLAIMER: I DID IT! But I just got arrested for it. –snaps fingers-

In The Heart of Hearts

Hiccup wandered into the village, face red from running and chagrin. Attempting to take deep, calming breaths, he tried counting, looking for any way to change his train of thought. It was ridiculous, if he asked anyone else. Men are men—they all share the same physical assets.

So why was he flushing so hard? Hiccup groaned in frustration and walked over to a bucket of water, splashing some onto his face.

"Hiccup, what are you doing?"

Whirling around, Hiccup stumbled and fell on his bottom. Stoick peered down at his son with confused amusement. "Nothing Dad, it's just really hot out here."

"Warm?" the Chief of Berk barked loudly, laughing. "It is the middle of winter, son! It is far from warm, let alone hot."

Laughing nervously, Hiccup scratched the back of his head. "I guess so. But I was running too so—"

"Running?" Stoick interrupted.

Hiccup sighed, knowing where this was going. "Yes, Dad, I was running…"

"Your leg is not properly healed—the medicine man had told you and me so. It will take a few years for it to even stop aching."

"I know, I know," assured Hiccup quickly, "I'm sorry. I won't do it again—I promise."

"See that you do, son." Stoick said firmly, though the smile softened it. Ruffling his child's hair, Stoick informed him that he had been on the way to see Gobber about new weapons. Hiccup nodded, telling him he would see him later, and Stoick strode off. The younger Viking watched the proud gait of his father and felt a surge of affection for his parent. Matters between them were so much better now—more than he ever could have hoped for. Smiling to himself, Hiccup walked to his house and shut the door.

Leaning back against it, the bashfulness of his predicament in the woods with Toothless hit him. Suddenly fatigued, he trudged lamely to his bed and flopped onto it. It was difficult for his mind to wrap itself around the spat. Why had it been so awkward? As he had thought before, anyone would have said, "You and I are the same—why does it matter?" Why did it?

Was it simply because Toothless was not a dragon?

That made no sense… Did it?

There had been a tumult in his gut; his heart had begun to pound while looking down into the bright emerald optics. However, it had not been only then when his throat closed and his palms got all sweaty, more nervous than a sheep near a predator.

He had awoken late in the evening once, restless and tossing in his sleep. It had not been a pleasant dream—the lucidity had frightened him awake: Toothless had been standing in the forest, statuesque and tall, facing a bright light. There had been a menacing voice in the dream, resonating loudly; for a split second, the light had flashed brighter, blinding him and he heard a bloodcurdling scream. When it had dimmed, Toothless disappeared, a dark stain on the earth where he had stood. Hiccup trembled within the warm bearskins, scared of going back to sleep.

He found Toothless staring out the window, intently staring at the crescent moon. As he propped himself on his elbows, the creak of the bed had gotten Toothless' attention. When the dragon turned around, the dragon had simply stood and sauntered over, pushing him gently back onto the bed. Hiccup had been about to protest when Toothless softly brushed back his hair.

"Go to sleep, Hiccup."

Hiccup had shaken his head vehemently, shivering violently at the thought of the dream coming back. Toothless gingerly patted his shoulders, "I'll be here. You're all right."

An unfamiliar childlike fear flitted through him, and Hiccup gripped Toothless' sleeve, starling the other male.

"What if you're not here?"

"I will be. I promise."

And like that, Toothless smiled, and the world fell back into place. Hiccup had felt foolish and a little embarrassed that a dream had unnerved him so; but he could not help the terror for Toothless' safety.

There had been little things, too. Whenever Toothless was curious and peered over his shoulder, Hiccup could hear his own breath become shallower, quiet yet rapid. He would give surreptitious glances at the other man, the dragon's unique spicy musk hitting his nostrils, and he would inhale. Toothless had noticed and beamed at him, teeth whiter as it contrasted against the bronze skin. Hiccup had looked down quickly, flushing, but he had returned the smile with an awkward one of his own.

In playful banter, Toothless had gently butted his forehead against Hiccup's. This trait had been so proverbial to when he had been a giant reptilian creature, Hiccup found the shyness slip. The action of camaraderie so strong Hiccup continued with what usually occurred back then. He had slipped an arm around the other's shoulders, jovially disheveling the dark hair.

Toothless had knocked him back, laughing spiritedly as he ran away; the Viking had pursued him briskly, finding that he was chuckling with the other man for the first time in a long while. Toothless had ducked under a table and lithely emerged on the other side, grinning madly. Hiccup surprised the dragon by hurling himself across the table and tackling him, lost in roughhousing. As they wrestled on the floor, Toothless emerged the victor by pinning Hiccup's wrists, straddling his waist.

"I win!" he had cried out, chuckling. Hiccup did the same, shoving him with zeal. Even in human form, Toothless triumphed over him.

Human form…

This rang clearly in Hiccup's mind, and, silently, he had stood, all joy gone. Toothless followed him back to the table, confused by his rider's sudden change in demeanor. Tentatively, he had inquired on whether he had done something wrong. Hiccup shook his head, saying it was just all in his head.

Maybe I was right then, he thinks now. It probably was all in his head. Once it had forgotten that his friend had changed, it had been so easy to fall back into the monotony of their friendship. He had found himself back in those old days, just two friends enjoying the pleasure of each other's company.

What was most striking of the memory was how closely it matched the encounter in the woods. True, the one only a while before had been a fray, but both involved proximity; withal, they were contrary. Hiccup could not contemplate how he had found it so easy before to joke that day, yet fight and become vexed now.

In the shop, it had been two best friends.

In the woods, it had been two people who didn't know each other or themselves, and both were acutely aware of it and it pained them each.

Hiccup realized it was not only this; as he had tried to scramble off the other male, he recognized this: Toothless was a man, a man that could be turned into a lover if the right human female attempted it. What had caused the blush to deepen was when he felt a tinge of anger at the thought of Toothless falling in love with a human girl, devout to her and only her.

"That's ridiculous…" Toothless had no interest in human women.

"What's ridiculous?"

Hiccup yelped in surprise, in the process, landing in a graceless heap on the wooden boards. Could this day get any more humiliating?

"Are you all right?" Toothless rushes over, protective as ever, "You need to be more careful."

Another trait…

Hiccup raises his head, and, seeing the concern and the quizzical mar on Toothless' features, the Viking's own light up. "I'm okay."

"You sure? That sounded like a bad fall."

"Yeah, I'm fine."

The dragon didn't appear to believe it.

Hiccup couldn't help but laugh. "Toothless, I'm fine—really. Falling out of bed isn't going to fatally injure me. A tiny bruise, maybe; but death is far from it." Hiccup was not sure why he was speaking to him so directly, so openly. He had been about to die from sheer mortification just a short time ago, but something inside him did not want to dwell on that anymore right now.

Seemingly satisfied Toothless lent him a hand and hauled him up. Watching his rider closely, he couldn't help but ask himself whether Hiccup was over the incident or completely ignoring it. However, this felt like progress—Hiccup was not acting strangely near him nor was he sulking as he so often was doing nowadays.

Wanting the atmosphere to stay lighthearted, Toothless smiled at him too. "Who knows with you, after all? You're prone to be a magnet to accidents."

"You must get into a lot of trouble being around me then." Hiccup returned, crossing his arms, yet the grin on his face dashed any worry Toothless might have felt when his rider had said that.

"I suppose so, Hiccup. It's such a bother."

"Oh, you like it; dragons are masochists."

"And humans are martyrs."

Their gazes met and there was silence.

Then they burst into guffaws, not knowing what they found funny exactly, but they were enjoying each other's company. And that was all that mattered.

XXX

"They don't seem to be fighting anymore."

Stoick quit scrutinizing a large hammer. "What do you mean, Gobber?"

"Well, your boy and his dragon had not been getting along for quite some time. I'm jus' stating facts is all."

Nodding, Stoick sat down on a nearby chair. "I suppose you are right."

"About them fighting or about them getting along now?"

"Both, actually," Stoick answered, "I admit not having paid so much attention to either of them—well, at least, when it came to them dealing with each other. Although… They had seemed to be growing apart."

"They were. Neither of them had been accompanying each other for a while. There had been some moments, but both appeared… awkward, Stoick. Has Hiccup mentioned anything else about the curse Loki set on Toothless?"

"None at all; but it's as you said, neither have been talking much, so Toothless likely had not told much else."

"Hmm… Well, not that it looks as though they're patching things up, maybe we'll find out soon about Toothless' curse."

"Let's hope for the best."

XXX

"Toothless!"

Halting in his tracks, he held in the urge to growl at the voice. He turned around slowly, reluctantly placing a smile on his lips. "Yes, Astrid?"

"Hey, is Hiccup anywhere here?"

"No, Tuffnut and Fishlegs needed some help near the boats."

"Ah, all right."

When she didn't shuffle off to go, Toothless raised one eyebrow. "Is there something else?"

"Actually, I came looking for you."

Tilting his head a bit to the left, he slowly asked why.

"I want to talk to you about Hiccup."

"What about him?"

"Well, I was wondering how you and he are getting along."

"Not bad, if that's what you're thinking."

Astrid shrugged her shoulders. "Not at all; you two have just been… together a lot lately."

What was she talking about? It's only been, barely, a month since they had roughly, though finally, began going back to their old days. "I don't understand what you mean."

"I was just noticing that you two were starting to go back to your usual selves—I wanted to say that I'm happy for the two of you. It's nothing really."

Toothless eyed her warily. "I see…"

Astrid kept her stare on him, tilting her head back to peer at him better, he being a head taller than Hiccup. There was just something in his eyes that bothered her; she couldn't quite place what it was, but she saw flickers of distaste swirl in those green pools, and Astrid pondered it. His mien held iciness when she was close to him, now. His air was standoffish; a polite simper would be plastered on his façade, withal, it did not fool her for an instant. He was not just cold to her; his gaze was heated, spiteful.

Now that she was wondering about it, it was not just as a human. When he had been a dragon, short seconds in his mood would make her falter, approaching the creature no longer. Hiccup had told Toothless he would be back in a little while, having forgotten something back at the house. He had passed by her and asked her to keep Toothless company for a minute or so—that he'd be right back.

Standing, alone and unarmed, by the dragon heightened her heart rate. Despite all the dragons residing with them, even though she owned a Nadder herself, a tinge of apprehension slicked down into her stomach. She felt his eyes on her back, searing into her flesh and bone; glancing over her shoulder, her blue gaze met his, and the leer made her stomach tighten. There was an indescribable disdain blazing within that green fire, and her distrust of the Night Fury increased.

He might be loyal to Hiccup, but it didn't change anything she felt for the reptile. He, obviously, loathed her—for reasons unknown to the girl. And for this, Astrid's distrust for this one maximized exponentially.

Astrid slightly narrowed cerulean orbs; the aversion towards him was more so than ever. Roving her eyes up and down his frame, she suddenly felt an uncommon nervousness about that body. It was beautiful, irresistible. Envy washed through her. Toothless smirked of a sudden.

Did he know…?

"Astrid?"

Blinking out of her reverie, the girl watched Hiccup striding over to join them.

"Hello, Hiccup," greeted Toothless warmly.

"Hey, Toothless," he said to the other boy, the smile directed at Toothless causing a jolt of fresh jealousy to sting, "Hey, Astrid, what are you doing here?"

"I was just talking with Toothless."

"Oh, yeah? What was it about?"

"Not much." She replied, shrugging her shoulders and smiling sweetly.

"I can't know, huh?" he chuckled cheerily. "That's all right. Anyhow, how have you been?"

"I've been better."

"Something the matter?"

Shaking her head, the blonde blew her bangs out of her eyes. "No, it's just pretty boring."

"Well, Toothless and I are planning on going fishing today. You want to come?"

Astrid glanced at Toothless; did he just twitch? "No, that's all right. Besides, aren't all the lakes frozen?"

"Not really. It won't take much to break through the ice," he explained, "Although, we were going to head to the ocean anyway so we won't have to deal with that. It's kind of tedious."

Toothless nudged Hiccup's shoulder. "We should begin to head out, then while the sun's out."

"Oh right!" Hiccup exclaimed, laughing at himself. "Well, I guess I'll see you later Astrid!"

"Bye, then." The blonde answered with a grin. Toothless passed her; neither spoke, one gaze of fire and the other of ice.

XXX

"You're making me nervous."

Toothless whirled around atop the rock; a broad grin on his handsome features at Hiccup's panicked expression. "Oh, calm down, I'm not going to break my neck."

"I'm an accident magnet remember?" replied the Viking, "You're not exactly out of danger when you're close to me."

Toothless hopped down from the stone, landing a foot before Hiccup, pushing his face close to the boy's. "I'll take my chances."

Hiccup sighed, feeling hot blood in his cheeks, but let it go. "It's your fault if you get hurt then."

Laughing, the dragon sprung into a skipping action, too caught up in the mirth of being out in the open, the smell of saltwater spray delighting him. It was such a relief to be out of the village, out of the forest even! Of a sudden, he joyfully performed a cart wheel that he'd seen other humans do and attempted a handstand. Not used to human appendages, he fell onto his back when the handstand became too much. His smile grew larger, his sides hurting from laughing so much but he kicked up the sand, rolled in it and splashed in the water that rushed on the shore.

Watching the silly performance, Hiccup smirked at his companion. It never occurred to him how much Toothless must miss being able to enjoy what he used to do as a dragon. Though worried by the fact Toothless could catch a cold if he kept up the antics, he decided to just let his friend roam.

He deserved that much.

Toothless gave an energetic yell, continuing along the beach, running with all his might while staring up at the sky, imagining he was about to take flight and never come back down. It was so close, so close he could almost feel the feathery kiss of the clouds, breathe in the cool, fresh air. Yet it was so far…

He slowed abruptly, coming to a halt. He heard the cry of seagulls, and he watched them soar, higher and higher.

Hiccup walked up beside him, watching Toothless' once happy expression become crestfallen. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" the dragon inquired beryl orbs kept on the expanse of blue. It was such a lovely color, even with the grey…

"That you gave up everything that meant to you just for me… You risked your life for me many times… I'm sorry I was awful to you despite what you had done for me. I don't deserve you, you know."

All of it was true, and it stung. A week before, Toothless had saved him in a raid; the battle had appeared over, and Toothless had taken the slash meant for him. The wound in the arm had not been deep, much to Hiccup's relief. After completing the cleansing and bandaging, the Viking had observed Toothless watching the sun again. He, too, missed flying—he had not done it since Toothless became human. A surge of affection for Toothless filled him and he had tightly embraced his companion, thanking him for being there—something he knew he should say everyday, something he shouldn't take for granted.

As Hiccup's voice quieted, Toothless turned his head to look at him, heart pounding at the softness of the young human's tone, the warmth and regret that poured with each word. Three words on the tip of his tongue made it heavy, and he held them back. The words pushed.

No. To say them now…

He couldn't say them.

Hiccup was looking up at him; he must have mistaken Toothless' silence. Smiling gently, he pressed his forehead against the boy's. He couldn't say he loved the boy but… There were other ways. "You're wrong. It's not everything to me. Flight is natural to my kind, part of us, but losing you would have done much more harm to me than being grounded forever. I wanted you safe—you are everything to me."

Another memory flashed in Hiccup's mind—the same day, during the embrace, Toothless' voice had become husky, a yearning in it reverberating through his very core. Hiccup remembered how, barely three weeks ago, he had been uncomfortable in any proximity involving Toothless. However, in that instant, he felt something... Drowning in pools of emerald, teal and gold, dazzled and awed by him, an overwhelming sensation stirred inside, but he had quickly pulled back, frightened by the direction of his thoughts. He had denied those strange reactions, but, simultaneously, wanted them.

It was the same now… This time, denial was in the past.

Arms wound about Toothless' torso, startling the dragon. Staring at the top of Hiccup's crown, he swallowed nervously, though draped his arms over the younger male's shoulders. It was a good step in the right direction.

"I'm sorry for being an idiot." Hiccup told him after moments of silence.

"You're forgiven." Hiccup heard the smile in the comforting bass, feeling the tone rumble in his chest; ear upon the heart, listening to its soothing rhythm, Hiccup placed a hand upon the broad chest. Mortal… He can't take Toothless for granted anymore.

"I love you. You know that, don't you?" Was it in more ways than one…? He was still unsure.

Astounded by the confession, the dragon's human heart thrilled—words he had only been able to hear in his wildest dreams and imaginings, words he was unable to say in return.

So he leaned down, mouth a hairsbreadth away from the boy he loved so much. "I do now…"

And they lost themselves in each other, all doubt erased.

AN: -cough- -blush- -silly grin- Damn my fanatic side... XD