A/n: Trystrike's suggestion, one which I believe to be rather cute.

Hiccup smiled as he opened his eyes. Toothless was on his roof, as usual, banging down on it to catch his rider's attention. The jumping of the impatient dragon was causing another noise, one that Hiccup had been expecting for a while now.

The familiar sound of snow falling from the roof accompanied Toothless's footfalls, signifying the beginning of the year's cold spell.

Even after five years, nearly six now, of dealing with a fake leg, it was still difficult to move around with ice on the ground. Shifting his blankets off his bed and sending a silent prayer to the gods that he wouldn't slip up immediately - and another to suggest that maybe he could avoid breaking something, this time? - Hiccup ambled down to greet Toothless.

'What took you so long?' Toothless demanded as Hiccup walked out, 'You know it's the last day before everyone goes to the island!'

The island. Hiccup internally berated himself for forgetting it; he had promised Toothless that they could spend the whole day with his dragon friends, before they left for their annual egg-laying. Though Berk was fully capable of caring for and hatching dragons en masse, it was something of a tradition for babies to hatch on the island, and Hiccup wasn't about to force them to change just because he wanted them to. Unfortunately, that left Toothless alone for a rather lonely few days each year. Sure, he always had Hiccup, but he had other friends that he missed.

'Well, let's get going.' Hiccup said at last. 'Meatlug first?'

Three hours and as many dragons later, the pair arrived outside Astrid's house. The last dragon to talk to was Stormfly, and then the two would have to part ways and resume their duties.

Hiccup opened his mouth to announce himself. He was interrupted - rather predictably - by an explosion, cackling, and an angered cry of "Tuffnut!"

'Sorry bud,' Hiccup apologised, 'gotta go deal with whatever that was.'

And so Hiccup sprinted off, leaving Toothless to talk to Stormfly by himself.

'You in there?' he checked.

'Oh, hi Toothless.' Stormfly greeted, coming out from behind the building. 'Coming to see me off?'

'Yeah...' Toothless said. 'Since you'll be busy with your eggs and all...'

Stormfly looked at Toothless. 'How about...' she said slowly. 'Why don't you come with us?'

'What?' Toothless asked, taken completely by surprise by the suggestion. 'But I don't have a mate - there aren't any other night furies!'

'Doesn't mean you can't tag along.' Now that Stormfly had proposed the idea, she was beginning to realise how good it could be. 'Hiccup did it before, you know.'

Toothless did know. He'd always thought it nothing short of miraculous that the Viking had survived the experience, really. He'd never been to the island himself, or been told the ins and outs of hatching eggs there, but he'd always assumed it to be some highly private affair, the type which intruders would not be very well receipted at.

'Okay,' he said, sounding a lot more reluctant than he felt. 'I'll ask Hiccup.'

Predictably, Hiccup said yes. He hadn't been since the first time, when he was kidnapped by Meatlug, and back then he'd been to busy trying to find Toothless to really appreciate the tradition.

So, when the dragons lifted off after a hearty farewell, Toothless and Hiccup were part of the group. Hiccup had joked that he should make the journey over on Meatlug - "make a tradition out of it!" - but he'd stopped quite quickly after almost being taken seriously.

Toothless edged closer, wide eyed, to the eggs. It was nearly time to shuffle them into the water, and Stormfly had asked him to help.

'Are you sure?' he'd asked.

Stormfly had scoffed, assured him it was fine and demonstrated what to do.

'Hello eggs,' Toothless said, smiling slightly down at them.

The eggs, naturally, did not respond. They did, however, start to shake - the sign that they were about to hatch. But Stormfly wasn't there - Toothless realised this far too late.

'Help!' he called out, looking at the eggs in panic. He knew what to do, but...

He was going to have to do it himself.

With that thought in mind, Toothless rolled the eggs into the water, taking care not to miss any or break any. He slumped in relief when they all disappeared with a small splash, and waited.

It wasn't long before the first nadders swam to the surface. He scooped them out, not sure if they'd be able to do it themselves yet, and set them down gently.

There were only two nadders - as many as there had been eggs, Toothless realised with relief - that sat in front of him. And he'd helped to hatch them. They didn't seem to have noticed him yet; they were far more interested in the pool they'd just emerged from.

'Oh, they hatched.'

Toothless swivelled round to see Hiccup, but still no Stormfly.

'How are they?' the Viking continued, seemingly unsurprised that Stormfly wasn't present, despite not having seen her leave. He moved over to one and picked it up. It smiled at him.

'I think they're okay...' Toothless said uncertainly, regarding the other one with interest. It copied his look, leaning forwards so much that it flopped over.

Hiccup laughed. 'If you go on like that, you'll end up being called Trip,' he warned.

'They like you.'

'Stormfly?' Toothless whirled round again. When did she get here? 'Oh, we'll leave you now, sorry -'

'It's fine.' Stormfly laughed. 'I was about to say, actually, that you should look after them.'

'Really?' Toothless asked, forgetting to respectfully let her take her children back.

'Yes,' Stormfly confirmed, laughing at the night fury's eagerness. 'I think you two would make wonderful parents.'

Hiccup smiled knowingly, and Toothless began to think that there was perhaps something more to the two baby dragons in his possession than a happy coincidence.