Hiccup walked up the hill to the castle, a bundle of leather thrown over his shoulder. The dealer in town gave him a great deal on it, and its soft texture worked perfectly for the anniversary gift he had in mind for Toothless. Smiling at the prospect of adding the final touch to the perch for the forge, he walked through the gates and right into Sophia as she shouted at one of her handmaids. "I don't care, you just find it!"

Hiccup wanted to run from the fire-spitting female, but it wouldn't do to act so rude. So he set his bundle on the ground and asked, "Is something wrong?"

She rounded on him. "Yes. One of my ball gowns is missing!"

His interest intensified. Theft was a serious crime, for anyone. "Do you have an idea of who took it?"

"It was that dragon of yours!" she looked at him accusingly, but found the image difficult to maintain as he glowered at her.

"On what basis? And careful what you say. Royalty or not, that is still a high accusation. Without evidence, you'll be open to scrutiny yourself."

She flinched inwardly at the thought of the vase she smashed against the wall yesterday in an effort to find the missing dress. But she would not be cowed so easily. "I saw your dragon in my rooms yesterday, and when I woke up this morning the dress was gone."

Okay, thought the prince, she didn't have anything solid against Toothless. And she really was quite distressed about this. Perhaps he could help after all, and clear Toothless of suspicion at the same time. "I doubt Toothless could even lift the dress, but I'll help you look for it. What did it look like?"

She relaxed when the fire in his eyes smoldered instead of flamed. "It had short sleeves, crystal inlay winding around the bodice, and a floor length skirt that bunched to give a sort of layered effect." Toothless glided down and landed on Hiccup's shoulder as the other princess continued. "One of the tailors here made it for me, but it's too small and shows my feet."

When she finished, the duo began turning their heads, looking around the courtyard for a hint of black or glimmer of crystal. Toothless chirped and took to the air, flying over to two servants carrying a basket of mending. Hiccup ran after her and, after she lifted up her skirts, Sophia followed. "Wait!" he called out to the servants. "I need to take a look in there." They stopped, rather anxious. What was going on? Hiccup caught up with them and rifled through the basket. When Sophia joined him, he held up the beautiful black bodice. "Is this the dress?"

She let out a highly undignified squeal and pulled the dress out of him hands and the basket, holding it up to her chest. He laughed at the site. "I guess It got a rip or something and they took it in to get mended. Not stolen, just getting fixed."

"Thank you," And, funny thing, she meant it. "I'm sorry I suspected your wife. But where was the tear?" She looked over the dress for a moment and moaned when she found the spot. It was right on the waistline, and the mending took away another few inches . There was no way she could fit in it now. But then she got an idea, to make up for her ridiculous accusations and get rid of one more dress than she needed. "I think you should keep this, Toothless." She handed the dress to Hiccup. "I probably won't ever wear it, and you can make a cape or something out of the fabric."

Deed done, she walked back into the castle and left the two of them just standing there, rather surprised by her generosity. "Well, Toothless, what do you think?" He held the dress up to his own torso. "Should I try it on?" She let out the dragon equivalent of a laugh and grabbed it in her talons, trying to pull it away from him.

He tugged against her for a moment before letting go, sending her tumbling through the air and landing in a heap of black fabric. She growled at her laughing husband, but felt her ire melt away against his smile. "Sorry. But you should probably get it back to our rooms before the mending division decides to steal it away again." She huffed and flew off in the direction of the door leading to their rooms, dress clutched firmly in her talons. Hiccup let out the breath he'd been holding. Hopefully, he could work on his project for Toothless in piece.

As he returned to the forge to begin sewing together the pad for the perch, Toothless flew into their room dragging the dress. She dropped the piece of clothing on the bed and shut the door by flying and pushing it with her snout. As soon as it closed, she removed the green dragon skin and bolted the door before turning to the dress.

She'd spent the last week looking for a dress that would fit her without too much tampering and was grand enough to make a superb impression. This dress had been a godsend when she first found it. Of course, Sophia had been a bit of a problem, but she needed the waist tucked in a few inches and the woman never wore it anyway. She thought the crystal beading too cheap for a princess, but it suited Toothless perfectly. And thanks to the tear Toothless had ripped in the fabric, the dress was too small for Sophia and the perfect size for her.

She slipped into it and did the buttons up in the back before she walked over to the changing screen and the mirror behind it. She examined herself in the large mirror as she pulled her hair out of the dress and let the black tresses flow down her back. A night fury for his birthday and a beautiful woman for his anniversary. Hiccup was going to be a very happy man.

I have a model I used to the dress, and I'll put the link up on my profile if you'd like so you can get a better idea. This wasn't intended to be its own chapter, but just sort of happened that way.

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