What's this? Another? Sometimes inspiration just hits right and stuff keeps flowing. Who knows, maybe it'll keep doing that.

Love you all, Aurora

The Adventurous Adventures Of Hiccup And Wrenlou

We All Make Mistakes, One-shot

"I thought I might find you here." Dale said softly, sitting down next to Hiccup. The silence lingered for a moment, the soft rush of the ocean the only thing breaking it.

"Mendo told me what happened." Dale said eventually. "He asked me to talk to you."

Hiccup shrugged, wiping some of the tears from his face, but he didn't respond.

"Hiccup..." Dale started, searching for words, "you don't have to be perfect. You truly don't."

"Yes I do!" Hiccup snapped, turning away. "I have to be."

"Are you... afraid that if you're not, we might kick you out?" Dale asked cautiously. "Is that... why?"

Hiccup looked down, eventually nodding. Dale sighed, putting his hand on the young man's shoulder to pull him closer.

"I am going to say a few things." Dale said. "You might not want to hear them, but I need you to listen, okay?"

Hiccup nodded again, leaning against Dale's shoulder now. Dale stayed silent for a moment, watching the ocean.

"You can't expect people to always tiptoe around your past." He said eventually. "You can't expect perfection, not from yourself, not from those around you. There will always be times when you're not perfect, when you make mistakes. People will always be imperfect. No one can be perfect. And you can't expect people to always be... gentle, or cautious about things that might be... triggering. Especially when you don't tell anybody what you've been through before you got here. Do you understand?"

Hiccup nodded, not saying anything. Dale squeezed his shoulder, smiling a bit.

"You'll always have a home here, Hiccup. Even if you're not perfect, even if you make mistakes. We won't kick you out or abandon you just because something went wrong. Sure, people might get angry, people might... shout or yell or even be disappointed, but you can always, always try again, do better. We make mistakes to learn from them, to grow and become better people. Somehow who never makes mistakes can never learn.

"But I messed up..." Hiccup mumbled.

Dale shrugged. "So? You made a mistake, something didn't turn out the way you wanted. What's so bad about that? What is stopping you from taking a step back, taking a moment and trying again? Do you really think that Mendo will suddenly abandon you, just because you didn't get it right the first time?"

"I... I think so..." Hiccup said. "That's... what people do..."

"No, that's not what people do." Dale said firmly. "That's not what people who care about others do. Mendo can be... rough around the edges, I know that. He can seem cold and distant, but he means well and he's so happy you chose him to be your Master. You just have to remember that this is new for him too. He's never had an apprentice, he's never had to teach. You can't expect him to be perfect anymore you can expect perfection from yourself. We all make mistakes, Hiccup. Mistakes have consequences. Some more dire than others. And from what I've heard, you didn't kill anyone and no one got hurt."

"I shouldn't have messed up." Hiccup said. "It was easy, I should have gotten it right."

"But you didn't, and that's okay." Dale said. "Really, that's okay. Look around you Hiccup, you think we always get it right the first time? Wrenlou told you how things went before we had the Choosing, do you think that was right? We can all strife for perfection, of course. And that is not a bad thing. It becomes a bad thing when that means you won't let yourself make mistakes at all."

Hiccup said nothing, staring down on the sand.

"There is no denying that your childhood must have been... awful." Dale said. "But you cannot let that define you. You're better than that, Hiccup, you are. But if you stay stuck in the past, you can never move forward. You can never grow beyond them and you will always be Hiccup the Useless, simply because that is what you believe about yourself. Do you understand that?"

"I'm not useless..." Hiccup muttered, and Dale smiled.

"You're dam right you're not!" He said. "You are capable of so much more, so much better than they have ever given you credit for. You just have to believe that about yourself, you just have to see yourself the way we do. Step out of that mold you put yourself in, grow beyond what they said you can."

"You're perfect..." Hiccup muttered. "You always know what to do."

"Oh Hiccup, I am so far from perfect." Dale said softly. "I have a temper that I sometimes cannot control, especially when I'm worried. You know this, you have been on the receiving end of it, unfortunately. And when I was younger, well... I was arrogant. Thought I knew better than my seniors. Thought I had all the answers. I thought I was perfect, for a time. I paid the price. Well... Starstruck did..."

Dale sighed, staring off into the ocean.

"It was my fault she lost her wing. Mine, and mine alone. The council was furious, of course they were. I thoughtI would lose her, thought I would be expelled. For a long time I thought she hated me, for taking something to fundamentally hers. Maybe she should have hated me. Maybe I wanted her to hate me, to justify the hate I felt for myself. But in the end it was just a mistake, an error in judgement. I messed up, and the consequences were dire. But we grew beyond, we found a new way to live."

Dale fell silent again, shaking his head.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I can ruin a dragon's capability to fly and still have a home here, you cab make mistakes in the forge and not be abandoned. And... take Rico. He made such a fundamental mistake he lost a part of himself, literally. And yet he is still here, still around, because this is his home. He's one of us, as you are now. We will never throw you away simply because you don't 'measure up" to expectations. We'll just have to adjust our expectations."

"I.. I think I understand." Hiccup said softly. "But I can't just... change how I feel when... things happen."

"Of course you can't." Dale said. "And no one is expecting you beating yourself up over every little thing isn't going to help anyone."

Silence fell between them. The sun had started its descent into the ocean, painting the sky in reds and oranges.

"Hiccup." Dale said eventually. "I will always be here for you. Our time in the Bay might be over, but that doesn't mean I have nothing left to teach. There's still two years before I take the new riders back there again. Until that day, I'll be in Dragoncity and if you ever feel like you need someone to talk to, I'll be there. I'll always be there."

"Really?" Hiccup asked as he pulled away from Dale's shoulder. "I can do that?"

"Of course." Dale said, now laughing. "You can find me in the library most of the time."

"You're a librarian?" Hiccup asked. "I never really imagined you as one."

"There's not much else I can do." Dale said with a sigh. "I would love but it's just... not in the cards for us."

Hiccup nodded, glancing the the silhouettes of Toothless and Starstruck a bit further down the beach.

"Thank you." He said after a while. "For... what you said."

Dale nodded, standing up and brushing the sand from his clothes. "Talk to Mendo. He's still in the forge. At least he was when I came over."

Hiccup sighed deeply, getting up as well. "I will. Thank you. Turns out I... needed this."

Dale gave him a smile before turning around and walking away. Starstruck followed him, crooning softly as she passed Hiccup. Hiccup sighed, standing on the beach a bit longer, until the sun had sunk behind the horizon, the dark blues and blacks of the night taking over the sky. Eventually he turned around, heading down the path that led back to Dragoncity again. Toothless followed, staying close by his side while he made his way back to the forge. As he approached he could he the clanging of metal, Mendo's gruff voice singing something out of tune. Hiccup watched for a while before stepping into the light, Mendo setting the hammer down as soon as he saw him.

"Can we talk?" Hiccup asked, ignoring the knot in his stomach. "There's some things I... well, some things I would like to explain."