Chapter 15: Welcome Home

For a while, the world was all black, a great swirling bog of darkness. But gradually, the darkness grew dim and faded with the growing glow of a gentle, pale light. Gently, Hiccup's eyelids fluttered open to the sight of a room, illuminated by pale gold sunbeams spilling in through the window. Only, it was not his room. Hundreds of strange, spicy scents filled his nostrils, and he was fairly certain they were from the hanging herbs and dozens of copper-colored bottles neatly arranged on the far countertop. He was lying in bed, his back was propped up by several soft pillows, and a musty but warm blanket was swathed around him.

He frowned in confusion. Where was Toothless? What had happened? He had barely shifted in his position when a shooting pain tore his ribs and he fell back into the cushions. He winced and squeezed his eyes in pain. A caressing hand carded through his hair, rough but gentle.

"Easy now," soothed a voice, deep and powerful, but gentle and loving.

Hiccup opened his eyes and looked to his right. "D-Dad," he breathed. He grimaced as a sudden pounding pulsated through his skull. "Where are we?"

"Gothi's hut. She's been takin' care of you." Stoick exhaled, shaking his head slightly. "I told you to be careful, and you come home half-dead."

Hiccup leaned into his father's touch with a smile. "At least, I came back, right?"

His gaze traveled downward. His bandaged hands peaked out from the sleeves of a fresh, clean tunic. Hiccup twisted slightly only to feel tight bandages snaking up his torso and around his shoulders. He was pretty sure this was what a mummy felt like. He wondered if Toothless was as banged up as this-

A door slammed open and all the Riders flooded in and flocked around Hiccup's bedside.
But Astrid was the first to make it in, beaming at him. "Hiccup, you're awake!"

She gave a quick hug, uncharacteristically gentler than usual, but Hiccup suspected that Astrid was wary of his injuries. The twins and Fishlegs, however, were so ecstatic to see him that they practically squeezed him from three sides at once.

"Guys," wheezed Hiccup in pain. "Ease up… Ribs…"

Fishlegs recoiled with a blushing apology. The twins would have stayed chattering in his face about how happy they were to see him if they had not been pushed out of the way by a black blur. The next thing Hiccup knew, he was being smothered by dragon slobber.

"Toothless!" Hiccup gagged after his dragon finally pulled away, beaming at his rider with glee. Hiccup reached his hand out to stroke his friend's scaly forehead. His lips spread into a grin. "It's good to see you, bud."

Toothless leaned into his touch with a coo. Hiccup's gaze drifted to the Night Fury's tail. His eyes went wide as he stared at the prosthetic fin, or rather, the lack thereof. It seemed to have been removed entirely.

Hiccup vaguely adjusted the bandage tickling his forehead. "What happened?"

"What happened is that you scared us, Hiccup!" Ruffnut responded. "I thought you were dead for sure!"

"It was insane!" Tuffnut chimed in. "You and Toothless were trapped! Man, how do you do it?"

"Do what?" asked Hiccup.

"Stay alive, after everything," Snotlout emphasized, his hands crossed over his chest. Hiccup could see a vague smile on his lips; he was impressed. "Like, you're seriously lucky, considering how much Gothi had to patch you up. Either you're invincible, or just unbelievably lucky."

"Lucky, I guess," Hiccup muttered, shakingly his head slightly as if to clear it. He turned to his father. "But I don't understand. Last I remember you were falling. What happened to the Scauldrons?"

Stoick settled back in his chair and folded his hands together. "Well, before you could make it, a Scauldron trapped you and Toothless. Luckily, Thornado was not far. And then… you broke free. But not before getting struck by lightning." He laughed quietly and shook his head. "Bravery or foolishness, I'm not sure which it is. But… you saved Toothless. Scared the Scauldron's friend away."

"And I…" Hiccup took a deep breath. "I'm alive?"

Stoick nodded. "Somehow."

"But," Hiccup began, "the supplies. I had the supplies for Gothi. I had them-"

"Hiccup, relax," Astrid interrupted with an incredulous chuckle. "She got them. Honestly, three days of being out, and that's what you're thinking about?"

"Three days?"

Hiccup lurched forward in surprise only to have his ribs scream at him. With a pained groan, he fell back against the pillows. Toothless nudged his arm with his nose, trying to check Hiccup for injuries.

"I'm-I'm okay, bud," winced Hiccup, weakly scratching the Night Fury behind the ear. "S'just my side."

"Yes, Gothi says you have two broken ribs," Stoick said, his voice low.

"Figures," muttered Hiccup, deflated. "What else?"

"Other than three puncture wounds in each shoulder," his father responded, "and several cuts and bruises, not much else."

"Well, on the bright side," Tuffnut piped up, "at least he didn't lose another leg."

After Stoick cast a withering look at Tuffnut, Astrid cleared. "We should probably let Hiccup rest."

"Rest?" said Hiccup incredulously.

"Rest?" repeated Snotlout and Tuffnut disappointedly.

"He's banged up pretty badly," Fishlegs mentioned.

"But I wanna know what happened on Healer's Island!" Ruffnut whined.

"Me too!" added Tuffnut. He clasped his hands together pleadingly. "I wanna know where he got those puncture wound things! C'mon, chief, you rarely get to hear about battle wounds until after they become scars."

Hiccup was going to interject that he never made it there when Stoick responded, "I'm sure we'll all hear about it later. But for now."

"Fine," grumbled Tuffnut and Ruffnut together.

The twins reluctantly walked out. He received a "see you later" from Fishlegs and a "good to have you back" from Snotlout.

"Wait, but-" Hiccup started as the riders reluctantly began to file out. "I've been resting for three days."

"Gothi said you'll need a lot longer than that. And relax-" Astrid gave him a light tap on the shoulder(at least it was not the usual punch). "We'll stop by again soon."

"It's not like I'm gonna be here for much longer," Hiccup called after Astrid as she exited, shutting the door behind her. He then looked at his father. "I'm not bedridden, am I?"

Stoick paused for a moment. "Yes."

"Dad," Hiccup whined.

"You have broken ribs. Gothi says they take at least a month to heal. So, until then-" His father shook a finger at him. "I'd prefer you stay inside. Take it easy. No flying."

"No flying? Dad-"

"At least for two weeks. "

"But I'm fine, Dad. Relatively," Hiccup added when Toothless snorted. "It's not like I'm dead or dying or. . ."

His words died away as Stoick's gaze drifted downward. Hiccup recognized this behavior. He hesitated, not sure if he wanted to know. But, in the end, Hiccup did.

"Something happened, didn't it? While I was out?"

Silence hung in the air.

Stoick exhaled sharply. "You stopped breathing. Just for a moment."

Hiccup was speechless. After all, what could he say? He had been mere seconds from death. He had almost died. Sure, he had been in several near death experiences-especially of late- but this was perhaps the closest he had been yet.

"You were out- sleeping. The room was dead silent, until you started…jerking. As if lightning had struck you again. Then, you went rigid. Gothi was able to help, but if it were a moment longer, if she had not been there, then…" Stoick exhaled, a hand going to his eyes. Was it Hiccup's imagination or was his father's voice ever so slightly quavering? "I let you go on that flight, and I knew it was treacherous. If you had been killed. . ."

"I made it, though, didn't I?"

"Hiccup-"

"I came back. Like I promised, right?" Hiccup gave Stoick a reassuring smile. "It's gonna take more than a lightning storm for me to break that."

For a moment, silence hung over the room as father and son locked eyes. Stoick brushed Hiccup's bangs lightly away. At first Hiccup stiffened; he was still unused to this gentleness from his father. But he soon relaxed as he felt his father's thumb trace a faint line just above where the bandage covered his forehead. He had forgotten how gentle his calloused touch was.

Stoick gave a small smile. "There's no need for drastic measures."

Hiccup chuckled lightly. "Thought you'd be proud."

"I am only asking that my son avoid danger," returned Stoick, withdrawing his hand. "Can you keep that promise?"

Hiccup hummed contemplatively. "I think I can do that."

Stoick nodded and patted his son lightly on his knee. "That's my boy."

Hiccup pursed his lips. "So… could I go out for a bit?"

His father raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'll only go to the doorstep. It's just to see the sunset," Hiccup reassured. Then, with a sideways grin, he added, "I've not seen sunlight in almost four days."

After a moment, Stoick conceded with a sigh. "Alright, if you can walk-"

"Yeah, I can."

Hiccup drew back the covers and slid his feet off the side of the bed to the floorboards. Carefully, he pushed himself up to stand. The world spun almost instantly, his knees buckled, and he swayed to the side. He would have hit the floor had Toothless not caught him.

Hiccup felt pathetic that both his father and Toothless supported him while they exited to the doorstep of Gothi's place. But as they settled down, Toothless on his right and Stoick on his left, the golden beams flooding the space around them, he was grateful he was not alone. Fixing his gaze on the horizon, Hiccup watched as the sky swelled in silent color. Streaks of blush pink and orange mingle and wove together across the purpled sky like ribbons in a dance. The distant waves glittered with golden sundrops, and even the village houses were tinted yellow in the light.

Hiccup breathed in deeply, his right hand vaguely stroking the Night Fury's smooth, scaly head. With a soft croon, Toothless laid his head in Hiccup's lap and shut his eyes. The boy gave a small smile; he and his friend were finally safe.

Hiccup glanced up at his father. "Glad to be home."

"Good. You won't be leaving it for some time," Stoick reminded him with a light tone.

"Ah, I'm okay with that," replied Hiccup with a shrug.

A pause.

"Son?"

Hiccup glanced at Stoick.

"I am proud of you."

Hiccup beamed, his chest swelling unbearably. He leaned against his father as Stoick folded his arms around his son's shoulder. Sunbeams turned from gold to warm amber. Another storm over Berk had passed, its only remnant the fresh, cool scent of the air.

THE END

This is perhaps the longest I'm ever taken on a fanfiction. It's been two whole years(would you believe it?), and I am so thankful for all those who stayed with the story, or just picked it up.

Thank you to those who followed, favorited, and reviewed(there are too many to mention by name, but I appreciate you). Special thanks to PrinRue, DANIELA123, and BeyondtheMoon1203.

I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did writing it. Wish me luck on my next writing projects(I am currently working on other fanfictions as well as a novel of my own). And best of luck on your own writing endeavours!

Rock on!

-FictionL0ver11