9 years later...
Hiccup and Toothless soared through the sky, flying alongside Oogi on their way to the South Pole to visit Avatar Korra. Their original plan was to stay for a few months so that Tenzin could teach Korra the ways of airbending, but recently life in Republic City has become very hard. The growing number of people against benders was increasing faster and faster every week, which meant they wouldn't be able to stay in the South Pole for more than a day.
Sighing in exasperation at the situation, he leaned forward and pat Toothless on the head, and he warbled excitedly in response. Back in Republic City, he spent a lot of time with his friend Asami, chatting with each other and having the general good times as friends. The two had met when she was 14, and he was 13, from a small convention they were both attending at the same time. The two quickly bonded over their mechanical and inventive skills, and Asami absolutely adored Toothless, even though she was shocked when first meeting him. Her father Hiroshi, and his father Tenzin had also become good friends and allies with each other, being the the leading industrialist company, and one of the city Council members respectively.
He listened to the constant chaos and chatter that came from Oogi and smiled in amusement, shaking his head. Out of his younger siblings, Jinora was the least craziest one, being polite and intelligent at the age of 10. Ikki and Meelo on the other hand... they were a pain to deal with. Makes him wonder how his strict father hasn't gone insane at this point, or Pema either. She loved them all dearly but has always had a moment of great annoyance in dealing with the two youngest whenever they took their airbending talent to the next level. Even Toothless tried his best to shy away from them, Meelo in particular. That kid was going to grow up to be a United Forces commander like their uncle, he was sure of it.
"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? It looks like we are there. I know this is very familiar. Are we here yet? Are we here yet? Oh, please say we are here!" Ikki asks repeatedly in excitement, the White Lotus compound coming into view.
Oogi landed just in front of the large structure that was the compound's main building, and two figures were waiting for them. Toothless landed beside Oogi, and Hiccup dismounted as the airbender kids rushed off on their scooters.
"Yes Ikki, as I have been telling you for the past 15 minutes, we are, finally here." Tenzin says with a sigh of exhaustion. Meelo continued to gnaw on his father's head and pull his ears, which he had become sadly used to by now. Hiccup laughed in amusement and moves forwards to his family. Toothless looks around curiously, and starts sniffing through the snow, occasionally plowing through it, his tongue lolling out of his smiling gums. Smiling at the sight of his dragon friend, Hiccup pulls his coat a little tighter around himself, which was a blackish brown color that matched his pants. Underneath the coat he worse a crimson colored shirt of Air Nomad red, and tied around his waist with the long end flapping in the breeze, was a deep orange bandana.
Tenzin walks forwards the Katara with his hand in a formal greeting, Jinora and Ikki by his sides tightly while Meelo continues to pull on his ears. Hiccup is standing beside them, smirking in amusement at Tenzin's plight.
"Hello mother. I can't tell you how happy I am to see you. Please, help me," he almost begs at the end, his voice devoid of emotion from his exhaustion caused by the kids.
Katara chuckles and takes hold of Meelo, pulling him off Tenzin's head, where he starts to flail his arms around wildly, an expression of undignified alarm on his face.
"Unhand me strange woman!" he cries out, Katara smiling the whole while.
"That's your grandmother Meelo." Tenzin says in exasperation.
Using his airbending, Meelo flips over Katara's head and runs off, earning a slightly surprised expression from her before she smiles again. "It's so good to see all of you," she says warmly.
Hiccup steps forward to give her a hug as Tenzin heads back to Oogi to help Pema down from the bison. "It's good to see you Gran Gran," he says.
"It's good to see you as well Hiccup," she replies warmly as they part. "How has Toothless been?" she asks.
The news of Hiccup having a dragon as a pet, and such a unique one at that came as a surprise to everyone in the family, but they all accepted it warmly with a hint of wonder. They both look over to see Toothless running around a polar bear dog, who sniffs him back in return. Toothless and the polar bear dog then start to lightly play with each other, causing Hiccup to smile, and he thinks the other girl nearby does as well. He assumes that to be Korra.
"He's, doing alright. Still just as playful as a hatchling," he remarks. Katara chuckles in agreement.
"Gran Gran, I have been reading all about your old adventures. I've been dying to ask you, what happened to Zuko's mom?" Jinora asks eagerly, and she smiles down at her.
"Well Jinora, it's an incredible tale-" she starts to say before being interrupted by Ikki.
"Gran Gran, you look old. How old are you? And why is it so cold in the South Pole? Can we make a campfire and all hudle around it and tell scary stories, and make snowmen? And then can you make the snowmen move with waterbending and chase us? Wouldn't that be fun? Huh, wouldn't it?" she asks quickly, too fast for anyone to handle. Katara looks at her with a surprised an unsure expression, while Jinora glares at Ikki in annoyance. Hiccup rolls his eyes at the typical interruption.
"Let Gran Gran talk first Ikki, no one can really follow al your questions." Hiccup scolds gently in amusement.
"Ok! Hey, wanna go play?! Weeeeee!" she exclaims, rushing off on an air scooter before anyone can answer. Jinora decides to follow after her and Meelo, leaving Hiccup with Katara. He takes notice of Tenzin and Pema and offers Katara a small shrug with a smile, and she shakes her head fondly at her grandchildren.
Hiccup walks over to his parents, and helps Pema slide down Oogi's tail alongside Tenzin.
"Pema let me help you. Careful now. Careful." Tenzin says gently, concern in his voice before she finally stands on her two feet again.
"Tenzin, Hiccup, stop doting on me! I'm not helpless, I'm just pregnant," she says, smacking the two of them lightly.
"If you say so mom." Hiccup says as they head over to Katara. The two ladies hug each other before Katara lays a hand on Pema's belly.
"The baby's strong. I see another airbender in your future," she says warmly.
Pema looks surprised, before her face falls slightly and Hiccup rolls his eyes. "All I want is another child like me! A nice, non bender who doesn't blast wind in my face every 5 seconds." Pema says, voicing her desires. Katara merely smiles while Tenzin stares down at her with an blank and crestfallen look, stroking his beard innocently.
"Mommy look! I'm a snow bender!" Meelo exclaims to get her attention. He's covered in snow before he whirls around, blowing the snow completely off of him in all directions. Toothless is nearby, and he shakes his head as some of the snow lands on him, looking at Meelo with an annoyed expression. Pema and Hiccup are less fortunate, as it blasts into their faces. they shake their heads to get it off, glaring at Meelo in annoyance as he advances eagerly on Toothless, who backs up in an attempt to ignore him, holding his head high.
Hiccup sighs, giving Pema a look. "How do you think I felt when Jinora and Ikki started blowing me? I'm the older sibling!" he says, ending with a light laugh.
"You were always the happy, polite little kid," she says fondly, turning back to Katara.
"Were Tenzin and his siblings as crazy as these three when they were kids?" she asks curiously.
"Kya and Bumi certainly were, but Tenzin has always been, rather serious," she recalls with a smile.
"Well, certainly fits." Hiccup says in agreement.
"Mother, please." Tenzin complains in embarrassment before noticing Korra. She stands a couple of feet behind Katara, leaning forwards with an excited grin on her face.
"Korra?" Tenzin asks in pleasant surprise.
Taking that as her cue, she rushes forward eagerly, glad to be recognized as Tenzin puts his hands on her shoulders. "Look at you, so big and strong. I see you've grown into quite the young Avatar," he praises. Hiccup eyes her curiously, comparing her to photos she saw of Avatar Aang. In the middle of doing so, he can't help but secretly think about how pretty she looks. Him and Asami are just that; friends, and they're both perfectly fine with it. And considering his fairly decent looks and forest green eyes, a lot of the girls in Republic City have been vying for some way to get his attention, but he's never really been that type of guy.
"Master Tenzin, I'm so glad you're here. I can't wait to get started!" she says in anticipation. Hiccup winces a little, and Tenzin develops a nervous expression as he glances away uncomfortably.
"Yes... well," he says hesitantly.
"You're going to have to tell her eventually," Pema reminds him, earning a look of confusion from Korra.
"What? Tell me what?" she asks.
Katara looks at them sadly in realization. "You're not staying are you," she says. It was more of a statement than a question, causing Tenzin to sigh.
"I'm afraid not. We're only visiting for the night, then I have to return to Republic City," he informs them.
"But, no... you're supposed to move here. You're supposed to teach me." Korra protests, a little upset and hurt at this news.
"I'm sorry Korra, your airbending training is going to have to wait." Tenzin replies regretfully.
Later that night, Hiccup walks in the direction of where Korra's room supposedly was. He wanted to get to know her a little better, and he wasn't sure when they'd visit next, so why not now?
Toothless was sleeping in the pen with the polar bear dog tonight, whose name he learned was Naga, and she was Korra's animal guide. Walking up to the door to her room, he knocks, and Korra's voice answers.
"Come in!"
He opens the door to see Korra lying on her bed, one hand behind her back and the other resting on her stomach as she seemed to glare at the ceiling. When she takes notice of who was at the door, her face morphs into one of surprise before she scrambles to stand up, getting of the bed.
"Hey," Hiccup greets.
"Oh, hey! Hi! Sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone to visit me," she replies quickly, a little flustered. Hiccup shrugs.
"Nah, it's alright. Just thought I'd come over and get to know you a little better y'know?" he asks, and she nods her head in understanding.
"That's pretty thoughtful of you," she replies with a small smile. "Hiccup, was it?"
He nods. "That's me. And you're Korra," he responds politely, and she nods as well.
"Yep, that's me. The Avatar, whoo. And you're Tenzin's son I guess, right?" she asks curiously.
"Well, technically I'm adopted, but yeah, I'm his son."
"Oh, you're adopted?" she asks in mild surprise. "Sorry, I didn't mean to assume..." she trails off, unsure of how to answer without hurting his feelings. Clearly she hasn't talked with anyone her age before.
Hiccup shakes his head. "It's alright. I washed up on Air Temple Island when I was a few months old, so I consider them to be my family," he tells her.
She nods with a small smile. "That's cool, I guess. I saw your, dragon out there. I've never seen anything like it," she says curiously, gesturing for Hiccup to sit down in a chair, and he does so as Korra sits on the bed across from him.
"Yeah, nobody else has either. I just found him injured on the island one day and decided to keep him," he says. "Toothless is absolutely amazing."
Korra raised an eyebrow at him. "You named your firebreathing dragon Toothless?!" she asks incredulously, and Hiccup rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Yeah, a little strange, but I was eight at the time to be honest. And he can retract his teeth, which was a deciding factor for it," he admits.
"That's pretty cool." Korra replies in fascination. "I've had Naga since I was 5, and we've been best friends ever since. Probably the greatest animal companion you could ask for."
"Toothless sured seemed to get along with Naga." Hiccup adds.
Korra nods her head quickly in agreement. "They did! i've never seen Naga warm up to anything that fast!"
"Probably because Toothless was too cute for her to handle," he teases her with a smirk. Korra slugs him on the shoulder lightly.
"Or because Naga was too pretty and fierce for your dragon to dare challenge," she retorts. Hiccup rubs his shoulder and shakes his head in amusement.
"Whatever you say," he responds.
The two continue to chat it up with each other for another few minutes, learning about each other's hobbies and strengths. Korra learned that Hiccup was an inventive genius, very intelligent and wasn't a bender, his fighting style a mix of martial arts and Air Nomad battle forms, making him a guy of average strength, not too much muscle, but was quick and light on his feet, able to outmaneuver or outsmart most opponents. Hiccup learned that Korra enjoyed a good fight, was a little hot-headed at times, but had pure intentions at the heart. She hadn't ever really interacted socially with other people her age before, which he frowned at, uncomfortable with the idea. Korra had a slight blush on her face as the spoke, not noticeable unless you were looking for it, since she felt slightly attracted to Hiccup, but didn't dare or wish to voice her feelings, given how stubborn she was.
"Alright well, I probably have to get to bed before dad goes crazy." Hiccup says, standing up. Korra stands up as well to walk him to the door.
"Ok, then. I'll see you soon, I hope!" she replies.
"Nice meeting you Korra!" he says with a small wave, exiting her room and heading towards where his family should be sleeping. He had a night with Meelo and Ikki keeping him and Jinora up for a few hours to look forward too. Yay.
The next day, Hiccup got Toothless's saddle ready and hopped onto his dragon's back, as the rest of the family boarded Oogi (No, Toothless hasn't lost a tailfin yet, so be patient). Katara stood in the courtyard, waving to them as they took for Republic City.
"Goodbye Gran Gran!" Ikki calls out.
"Oogi, yip yip," Tenzin says, snapping the reins. Oogi takes off, Toothless following not to long after as they wave goodbye to Katara. When in the air, Hiccup notices Korra and Naga sitting on an ice ledge, and he waves to her. After a few moments she returns the wave, and Hiccup smiles to himself as they head back home to Air Temple Island.
A few days later in the evening, Hiccup was in the Temple's courtyard, Toothless sitting behind him as he was playing a card game with Jinora. Meelo was occupying his time by sitting on Toothless, commanding him to "fly into battle" while occasionally pulling his earflaps. Ikki was also playing with Toothless, although not as violently, instead sitting against his side and rubbing his paws. Needless to say Toothless was tolerant of ikki, but couldn't stand Meelo, a look of sheer contempt and annoyance easily noticeable on his face. Whenever Meelo would pull his earflaps, his eyes would widen slightly before narrowing in annoyance, and he turned his head to glare at Meelo, who would get the message to stop before resuming a few minutes later.
"And that is... game." Hiccup says triumphantly, placing down his final card. Jinora looked at the cards and her own stack before sighing in disappointment.
"Aww! I was so close this time!" she exclaims.
Hiccup chuckles at her reaction. "Hey, you did pretty well this time. I naturally have an inventive and creative mind, so I'm intelligent in solving problems," he reminds her. "You're a smarter than I was at your age."
Jinore smiles, brushing her hair away from her face. "Thanks."
Just then the phone set up nearby on the wall starts to ring, so Hiccup gets up and walks over to answer it, picking up a glass of water from the matt they were sitting on. Toothless whines pitifully and Hiccup sends him a sympathetic smile.
"Air Temple residence speaking," he answers. Tenzin's voice responds, and he listens to his father speak, taking a sip of water before spitting it out in shock.
"WHAT?" he exclaims in shock, drawing the attention of his siblings. Meelo jumped off of Toothless and race over to him, causing the dragon to lower his head and practically sigh in relief.
"What's going on?! Who's speaking!" Meelo demands as the girls walk over. Hiccup shushes him, continuing to listen to Tenzin before letting out a sigh.
"Alright. See you soon dad, bye." Hiccup says, hanging up the phone.
"What did dad call you about?" Jinora asks curiously.
"Apparently Korra snuck away from the White Lotus and is now here in Republic City," he deadpans, and the three all squeal in joy, making Hiccup flinch.
"Korra's here!? Where is she now? Is she coming to live with us? Can we see her!? How'd she get away?!" Ikki asks quickly.
"Yes, they're coming here, and should be landing at the docks any moment now," he tells them.
Without a moment to waste, the airbender kids all grab their gliders and take off for the docks, leaving Hiccup and Toothless to themselves in the courtyard.
"Well bud, want to go greet an Avatar?" he asks, and Toothless stand sup, stretching his wings as Hiccup climbs onto his back. They take to the skies, circling around before heading in the direction of the docks, where a White Lotus ship is waiting and the others are already on the ground. The two land, and Hiccup walks over to them, catching the last part of whatever Tenzin was saying.
"...put off your training in order to uphold his legacy, but you are his legacy. You may stay and train airbending here with me. Republic City needs its Avatar once again." Tenzin says, and Hiccup blinks in surprise. What he heard Tenzin say on the phone was that Korra would be heading back to the South Pole... but apparently changed his mind at the last moment.
"Yes! Thank you! You're the best!" Korra exclaims joyfully, throwing her arms in the air.
"Yaayyy!" the kids cry out happily, and Korra scoops them up for a hug, then picking up Tenzin as well. Hiccup gapes in surprise, and before he could react Korra picks him up off the ground effortlessly, holding all five of them in a bone-crushing hug. Naga comes over and rubs her head against Korra's back, and after a moment, Toothless does the same as well.
Tenzin sighs as if annoyed, but the look on his proves otherwise.
"What the crap just happened?" Hiccup asks, breaking the comfortable silence after ten seconds.