Later that evening, the whole village was gathered at Meade Hall for a Thing. Confused Vikings milled around, talking, while they waited for Spitelout to get the meeting started.

"Where'd they go?" one Viking was still asking.

"Snoggletog is ruined!" moaned another.

"It's not ruined!" Spitelout boomed, standing up on the stone basin that surrounded the bonfire at the center of Mead Hall. "We're Vikings! We've been perfectly happy celebrating without dragons for generations! And there's no reason we can't do it again."

There were a few reluctant agreements from the crowd. At the back of the hall where Hiccup and the rest of the teens were, though, nobody looked very pleased.

"Now, we don't know where they've gone off to," Spitelout continued, "but we have to have faith that they'll be back again soon." He looked around and said, almost pleadingly, "Am I right?"

More agreements came from the crowd, but the loudest one came from Gobber. "That's right!" yelled Gobber loudly, waving a couple of lanterns in the air. "We are Vikings! We are tough!"

The other Vikings nearby him took in the jingle bells wrapped around his prosthetic arm and the holly twined around the horns on his helmet and started sniggering.

"Well," said Gobber, lowering his arm sheepishly, "most of the time."

With Gobber's festive appearance, the mood in the hall began to improve for the adults, but the teens were still slouching gloomily against the wall when Gobber suggested something.

"Let's sing some Snoggletog songs!"

Snotlout pushed himself off the wall, nudged Tuffnut to tell him he was leaving, and stalked out, followed by the rest of the gang.

"That was depressing," Ruffnut grumbled as she and the rest of the group trudged through the silent village.

"I know!" Astrid replied as she was also unhappy. "I was looking forward to spending the holiday with Stormfly."

"Yeah, it's been a few weeks, and I still can't get over this." Elsa had to admit. "Once upon a time, we were almost executed for friending dragons."

"It's amazing what a little time and patience can do." Hiccup agreed.

"Not to mention a traitor, invasion, and a lot of people being slaughtered." Olaf reminded them of a few steps they left out.

"Okay, Olaf, that isn't helping," Heather informed him of his comment. "But this thing happens a lot every few seasons." She shrugged as she has seen this happen before. "The Razorwhips usually return to Wingmaiden Island, but we don't know where the other dragons go. I just didn't think that Windshear would leave me behind."

The depressing silence was broken suddenly as Fishlegs began whistling in a very carefree manner. That confused most of them as they wondered why he was in such a cheerful mood.

Tuffnut looked at him and frowned as he was the first to speak up. "What are you so happy about? Don't you miss Meatlug?"

Fishlegs stopped whistling and looked at him. "Me?" he said, his eyes growing wide. "Uh…yeah!" He cleared his throat and awkwardly covered his face with his hands, letting out a sob. "I miss him so much!"

He choked out in a slightly high-pitched voice. He peeked out from his arms to see that Tuffnut and the others were looking at him suspiciously.

"Well, g'night!" Fishlegs chirped, hurriedly shuffling off.

For a few seconds, the teens just stood there, looking after Fishlegs's retreating form. Then Olaf broke the silence with Bruni laying across his snowy head.

"Well, that wasn't ominous or require any further looking into," Olaf commented on Fishlegs' odd behavior.

Astrid suddenly gasped and jumped in front of the group. "I've got an idea! Let's come up with a bunch of new holiday traditions!" She grinned eagerly, waiting for their reactions. "You know, to bury the sadness!"

Snotlout and the twins sighed and slouched a few inches lower. Hiccup, however, thought a moment and smiled. "Actually, Astrid might be on to something."

"Easy for you to say," Tuffnut scoffed, gesturing to something behind him. "Your dragon can't go anywhere without you."

Hiccup and the others turned and saw Toothless perched on a cliff in the distance, looking longingly up at the sky. The dragon awkwardly shuffled around at the edge of the cliff like he wanted to fly off to join the others, but didn't try to take flight. It made Hiccup's heartache just watching him.

"Must be nice," Ruffnut grumbled, turning around and stalking off, followed closely behind by the others.

Hiccup was left alone, staring at the distant figure of his dragon. He wished there was something he could do about his problem. He wished he could help Toothless fly on his own…

…and suddenly, Hiccup got an idea.

"You're not to blame for that... you know that, right?" Elsa asks, recognizing his face of guilt.

"Except I kinda am." Hiccup remembered that day that changed everything. "I shot him down. I made him lose that tail."

"Well, what can you do about it?" Heather wonders.

Hiccup then thought of his idea and knew there was indeed something. "Something clever."


The next morning, the village had settled into a deep blue funk. A few Vikings were doing some more decorating, but they were nowhere near close to the mood they had been in the previous day. A group of children had built a snow sculpture of the family Gronckle and were leaning against it sadly. The sad silence, however, was broken by Astrid's shrill voice ringing through the village.

"Yaknog!" Astrid yelled, walking through the village holding a shield with a pitcher and two mugs. "Get your yaknog! Come on, get a frothy, delicious cup of cheer!" Spotting her friends, she happily dashed over and presented the drink happily. "Hey, you guys, try this tasty new beverage I made for the holiday."

Tuffnut took a sniff and wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, what's that smell?" he wondered as he looked to Ruffnut, pushing her over to get her away from him. "Is that you?"

"It's yaknog!" Astrid supplied cheerily, picking up the pitcher and making a big show of pouring a generous amount into one of the mugs. The 'drink' glopped out into the mug with a sickening noise.

Tuffnut watched the lumpy mixture pool in the mug and gagged. "Ugh, if I drink that I'm gonna yaknog all over the place."

"Maybe you'd rather taste a punch in the face?" Astrid suggested pleasantly.

Ruffnut recovered from her brother's shove and cautiously approached the offending drink, sticking her tongue out at the smell.

Astrid's eyes narrowed dangerously, but before anything bad could happen, Snotlout swaggered over confidently and said smoothly, "Astrid, it sounds delightful. I'd love a mug." He picked up one of the mugs and brought it to his lips, taking a sip. Astrid shot a smug look at the twins, conveniently missing the look of panic on Snotlout's face as the taste made itself known in his mouth. Astrid looked back to see his reaction just as he swallowed. "Uh…you can really taste the yak," Snotlout supplied weakly, gingerly setting the cup back down on the shield and backing away.

Just then, Fishlegs arrived. His face lit up at the sight of the drink, and he nearly knocked Tuffnut over in his haste to reach it. "Oh, yum! What is that?"

Astrid's face lit up at his enthusiasm. "Ooh! You wanna try some? It's my new traditional drink!" She didn't notice Snotlout behind her, frantically throwing signals at Fishlegs.

Fishlegs took the hint. "Oh," he stammered, backing away and looking a little disappointed, "you know, um, I have suddenly, and, uh, inexplicably changed my mind."

"Well!" Astrid said huffily, tossing her head to swing her bangs out of her eyes, "you don't know what you're missing." She turned and began to walk away in the direction of the forge. "I bet the others will love this."

Tuffnut shook his head in half amusement, half disgust as she walked away. Beside him, Snotlout was clutching his stomach and bending over slightly, his face showing apparent signs of nausea.

Ruffnut leaned into Snotlout and squinted. "Are you crying?"


But it seems that Astrid wasn't the only one that decided to get into the spirit and make something new. Heather was also working on her own festive drink using the ingredients from the fruit and ingredients from their farms back home. Without Windshear, it was a good thing she planned ahead and packed a lot of food for them. Since it had been a while since they ate the food from Berk, they weren't going back into the habit. Not to mention they love the fruit Heather learned to grow with her time in the Wingmaiden's.

Heather took her experimental drink to the forge to look around and see where the Haddock siblings are. She had also been informed of Elsa's weird dreams and the connection they could have to her real family. She assured Elsa whatever she discovers wouldn't make them think anything less, but they both know she is making excuses to not talk to Gobber about where she came from.

"Hiccup?"

"Yeah, we're over here, Heather, comin'," came the call from the back of the forge.

Heather came closer and saw Hiccup standing over something on the workbench, holding a pair of pliers in one hand. She also saw that Elsa was there, looking out the window and into the skies, seemingly thinking of Luna with Bruni trying to cheer her up.

"Here!" Heather chirped, holding out the platter of her drinks. "Happy holidays from me to you."

Hiccup smiled. "Thank you, m'lady." He accepted a mug and without even looking at its contents raised it to his mouth to take a sip.

Elsa looked over and saw the cups before walking over and taking one herself. "What is it?"

"Well, nothing truly specific. Mostly just squeezed up juice from the fruit I brought with us." Heather shrugged as Hiccup took a sip and couldn't believe the taste of watermelon. "I tried different combinations with different fruit, I don't know, I just went a little crazy."

Elsa saw the amazed look on Hiccup and wondered what hers tasted like. Taking a sip, she got a whole lot of mango, and she had to admit it was delicious. "Mmm! That's great."

"You should definitely write down how you made that so we can make some more back home." Hiccup tells her.

"Thanks, dear," Heather said as she pecked his cheek. Then she looked over what Hiccup was doing and became curious. "Wait, are you working on a new prosthetic tail for Toothless?"

"A little." Hiccup shrugged as that was mostly the case. "Okay, uh, you're gonna think I'm crazy, but…I just couldn't stop thinking about what Tuffnut said last night. Toothless can't come and go like the other dragons, and that's…just…not…fair."

Heather set her platter of drinks on the table to get a better look. Hiccup had made another tail fin, but this time it had a series of cogs and metal parts affixed to the end. He held it steady with one hand and cranked down a lever on it with the other.

"I was up all night and I think I've found a way to fix that." With that happy proclamation, he picked up the mug and took a mouthful.

"That way, he will be able to fly without you." Heather was surprised at the craftsmanship he got in a single night. "Talk about a gift."

"Yeah, just need to work on a few other things and he should be ready by tomorrow," Hiccup confirmed.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," Heather said as she picked up her tray again. "I'd love to stay and help, but I need to lift some spirits around here."

"This will definitely do that!" Elsa proclaimed as she chugged some more of her drink.

"So speaking of which, when are you gonna talk to Gobber?" Heather asks her.

Elsa froze as she didn't want to talk about that. "I don't know..."

"Elsa, we're only gonna be here until the holiday ends." Hiccup stated. "This is the perfect time to talk to him. He might have some answers."

"And what if he doesn't?" Elsa asked, the ceiling started to leak with snow and Elsa started to panic again. "Or worse...what if he does? What if I find something out that I would never want to learn? That Ryker said I left my family to die. What if I'm nothing but a monster? Or..."

"Hey!" Heather stopped her from going any further and grabbed her by the shoulder. "You're Elsa. The woman who can control ice. The girl who tammed a Light Fury. The woman who named the Light Fury. Who brought a snowman to life. You never were, nor will you ever be a monster. Ryker was trying to get in your head. Don't let him win."

Elsa didn't seem too confident in her words and kept panicking. "But..."

"And we will still be here." Hiccup interrupted her as he walked over and hugged his sister. "No matter what, you're my sister. Whatever you were means nothing to me. Who you are now is all that matters."

Elsa sighed as she was starting to calm down and the snow began to stop falling. She embraced her brother for a hug and let a few tears of happiness fall.

"Well, my job here is done," Heather said as she picked up her team again. "See you guys later."


The next day, Toothless was on top of the roof again, stomping and roaring, sending shingles dropping onto the snow below. Elsa was off to find Gobber and finally get some information on where she came from. Heather was still in bed, trying to get to sleep with Toothless scratching at the ceiling.

"Toothless!" Hiccup grinned as he wondered how he will react. "Come on down, bud. I got something for ya."

Toothless zoomed down and eagerly looked at the new tail, sniffing it experimentally.

Hiccup smiled. "What do you think of that? Yeah!"

Hiccup headed toward Toothless's tail, but the dragon started walking behind him, nosing him and rumbling curiously.

"Will you just settle down!" laughed Hiccup, speeding up. "Toothless! Come on, bud, lemme get this on ya!"

The Night Fury finally stopped walking and held still as Hiccup knelt down by the tail and strapped it in. Toothless looked back and growled curiously.

Hiccup looked up from his work and smiled wistfully. "Yeah, you are…going to love this." He clicked the last cog into place and patted the tail. "Okay."

He stood up and Toothless swished it around experimentally. It took two seconds for the dragon to figure out he didn't like it, and he began romping in circles, shaking it, trying to get it off. Hiccup put up his hands to try and stop him.

"No, no, no, Toothless, stop, please wait! Toothless, please!" Toothless landed on all fours and whipped his tail toward the ground, and at that moment, the new fin snapped out to its full size.

Toothless froze, his ears perking up and his eyes widening in surprise. Hiccup held still as Toothless waved it around to test it out. "Ah, there you go," he said happily, glad that Toothless seemed to like it. The dragon angled his tail fin and automatically the fake fin angled to fold the same way. Toothless looked both surprised and pleased.

"See? Got it?" Hiccup said, amused.

Toothless turned and looked at Hiccup, his pupils suddenly turning to slits. Hiccup gave him a big smile, waiting for a reaction. Toothless kept staring at him, breathing in and out a few times through his nose, pawing the ground with one leg. Hiccup sighed and extended a hand.

"Toothless-"

But instead of pouncing on him with joy or leaping into the air to do some experimental flight tricks or simply nuzzling his hand, Toothless backed away, as he had never seen Hiccup before in his life, and then turned and with a spray of snow just flew away.

Hiccup held up his arms to shield himself from the spray of snow the dragon's wings had flung at him and looked despairingly after his friend as he rose into the sky. Already the dragon was a mere shape in the distance, flying away as fast as his wings could carry him, a loud roar echoing over the island.

Hiccup could barely believe what had just happened. Without even thanking him, without even nuzzling him…

What if he never comes back?

Of course, he will.

But that look he had given him... like he was a total stranger…

Hiccup stared at the empty sky and then stared at the ground, feeling hot tears pricking at his eyes.

What if he never comes back?

What if he never does?