A/N: An old oneshot I wrote shortly after HTTYD2 came out.

Toothless never forgot how Stoick used to treat Hiccup. He knew the vast man made great strides to be a better father. A lot of it made up for how he looked down at his son for fourteen long years.

Over the years, Toothless befriended the older Haddock out of his love for Hiccup, but he never forgot. He didn't want to make his rider choose between them. Hiccup needed his father more than he needed a tailfin. That all changed in a matter of a few minutes.

Toothless fought Drago's Bewilderbeast for as long as he could. He could feel the Alpha searching his memories and feelings for hate. Eventually, the massive monster found the memories of the old Stoick. He whispered into the Night Fury's ear that Hiccup wouldn't have to live with the man anymore or deal with the responsibility of being Chief.

Toothless' willpower crumbled. He knew what he was about to do was wrong, but he had been convinced that it was the right thing to do for Hiccup. He was certain that death was the only escape.

Just as Toothless was getting ready to fire, the Bewilderbeast told him that Stoick was approaching and to kill him instead. Toothless agreed and fired just as Stoick made contact with his son.

The Night Fury knew that Hiccup had survived the fatal blast and was free from the man who had never been what a father should have been.

When Toothless regained control, he felt an abundance of guilt and wanted to fix his wrong, even though he knew he couldn't. So when Hiccup yelled at him in a way he had never done so before, he knew that he had deserved it. He had committed a terrible crime and deserved punishment.

The Night Fury allowed the Bewilderbeast to take control of him again. There was no reason to put up a fight.

Toothless could feel the Bewilderbeast losing control and could hear Hiccup's soothing yet emotional voice. But, little did the young dragon know at the time that the massive monster was leaving him with one final thought that would haunt him forever.

"It's your fault that Stoick the Vast is dead. I had nothing to do with it. It's your fault that your rider is fatherless, not mine. You will feel guilt for the rest of your life," the Bewilderbeast promised as he let go of Toothless.

Even though Toothless had been forgiven and Berk was somewhat back to normal, every night, he laid awake thinking about what he did and allowed the guilt to eat at him little by little. Toothless will never forgive himself.

Eventually, the guilt became so bad that Toothless couldn't stand to look at Hiccup or anyone else on Berk.

One night after Hiccup had been married and had fathered his eldest son, Toothless fled with the help of his new tailfin that could be automatic with the pull of a lever, which could be reached with his hind leg.

For the next four decades, Toothless lived in isolation on an island far from civilization. He set his tail to where he couldn't use it. He didn't ever want to fly.

One day, Toothless felt that something was seriously wrong with Hiccup, despite the hundreds of miles between them. So the Night Fury flew back to Berk as fast as he could but arrived just in time to see Hiccup making his voyage to Valhalla.

Toothless walked up to the house on the hill and pushed at the front door until it opened. After a couple of tries, it opened, and he walked in. He looked around. Nothing had changed much. There were a couple of other beds and more drawings, but that was about it. Another difference was a young woman with long blonde hair sitting in a chair, looking right at him.

The woman looked so much like Astrid, but Toothless knew that was not true. Humans aged much faster than dragons. It would be impossible for Astrid to look so young after so long. This young woman was Hiccup and Astrid's daughter.

Toothless stepped closer to the woman and studied her better. She might have looked like her mother on the outside, but she was her father on the inside. Another thing that made her like her father was a prosthetic left leg.

The aging Night Fury wondered what had happened to her leg as she stood and walked over to him. She was studying him and looking at him like a long-lost friend. In a way, he was.

She called him by the name Hiccup gave him so many years ago. "Toothless?"

Toothless nodded in approval at his name.

Dad always said you would return, but he would never live to see it," the woman stated with a sad expression. "His last words were, 'Toothless is coming.'"

Toothless hung his head. He was ashamed for leaving and returning too late.

"That is why, when he made my leg, he made sure that it would fit your saddle," the woman explained as she caressed his worn saddle and its mechanisms.

"I'm sure we could refurbish all this in no time and have us flying through the air," the woman suggested.

Toothless almost backed away at the thought of this stranger flying him. He only wanted Hiccup to fly him. But this woman was no stranger. She was his best friend's daughter. Perhaps his only daughter. Sure, he also had a son, but the son was nothing like him. If anything, Hiccup's eldest child was more like Stoick than his own father. He had to protect her and be there for her.

After a few hours at the forge, Toothless's saddle was in perfect condition once again and ready for a perfect flight. After a few tumbles and crashes, the woman figured out how properly fly him. She repeatedly claimed that Hiccup tried to teach her how to fly without any real dragons. Instead, he had used ones he built in the forge.

Despite traveling to islands full of dragons that had once lived on Berk, none would come near any human. No dragon wanted to go back to Berk unless Toothless was there. As a result, many Vikings died thinking their dragon hated them.

Over the course of a short period of time, the dragons begin to repopulate Berk, and traditions were restarted by the last generation that lived with dragons. Life began again for Toothless. Everything was returning to normal. He had a Haddock with one good leg, flying him all the time. The dragons renamed him their Alpha. Adventures and new lands were discovered. And everyone on Berk had a dragon.

The only difference is that Hiccup was not there. Hiccup was never coming back. Hiccup died knowing that Toothless would only return after he was gone. Hiccup lived the rest of his life thinking the Night Fury hated him.

Toothless had to live with those thoughts for the rest of his life. But he was not going to leave Berk again. He had reasons to stay. Every time he was the least bit tempted to leave Berk, he reminded himself of these reasons.