Toothless landed smoothly, Hiccup barely even feeling the impact. A gaggle of dragons mobbed them at once, warbling and cooing in excitement, the grounded dragons amongst them. Hiccup moved to dismount, prompting the dragons to give him space. He went back over to Valka, who had been watching him closely with Cloudjumper all the while.

"How did you make it?" she asked quietly. "That fin." Her dragon companion trilled and tilted his head, seeming to ask much the same.

"I…made some sketches, back when I first met him," Hiccup said, shrugging his shoulders. "I'd been apprenticed to Gobber for years, so it wasn't that hard. Not when I really thought about it, at least."

"Oh. Gobber?" she said. "He was…a friend, once. Tell me, son: how is he?"

"Well, he lost a hand since you were last there," Hiccup said, causing Valka to wince. "But hey, we're vikings; we're used to…uh, helping, with lost limbs."

He looked back over to the crowd of dragons; Toothless was right in the center, standing patiently as a series of dragons inspected and sniffed him. He saw the King looking on calmly, dozing in his spot within the lake.

"We could help them." Hiccup said. "At least, some of them. I could make a pegleg for the Snafflefang. I could make an extension for the Nadder's wing. And I know I can do something for the Stormcutter." He rubbed his chin. "Only problem would be getting them to Berk. Though, maybe I could work from here if I want back and—"

"No, son," Valka said, sounding distinctly alarmed. "That'd be…no," she then said, more quietly. "It wouldn't be right."

Hiccup frowned at her. "Why not?"

"These are wild dragons, Hiccup. We mustn't make them dependent on…well, us."

"What, you mean like Toothless?" he said, annoyance leaking into his voice. He rubbed the back of his head. "And hey, you're not exactly a dragon yourself, but you do seem to do a lot for this nest."

Toothless picked that moment to bound over to him, pushing his head under Hiccup's hand; Hiccup obligingly scratched his head, eliciting blissful purrs, as the grounded dragons began to play amongst themselves.

"Dragons belong with dragons, Hiccup," Valka said. "Besides, we can hardly trust Berk to treat dragons well — especially not disabled ones."

Hiccup blinked repeatedly. Toothless rumbled at her, half-lidding one of his eyes.

"Um, Mom?" Hiccup went. "Have you been listening to anything I've been—"

"Oh, I have no doubt that you and Toothless are close," she said, having the decency to look abashed. "But Berk…Berk is a violent and stubborn place, Hiccup. They could never see dragons as we do. You know that only too well."

Hiccup groaned, running a hand over his face. "No, Mom, listen," he said. "Almost everyone back home has a dragon now. We have other dragons in the village too, and even more on the rest of the island. Berk is…" He placed a hand on Toothless' warm scales. "Berk has lived in peace, with dragons, for years. We have a riders' academy now, where the ring used to be.""

Valka, however, still looked deeply skeptical. "And do the dragons like that? Being used, and ridden?

"Yes, they…yes!" Hiccup said, throwing his arms in the air. "We don't make them stay! We don't use chains, or nets, or cells, or anything of the sort! They stay because they want to stay; is that really so hard to believe?"

Toothless then warbled and crooned at her, before nuzzling into Hiccup for good measure.

"Berk…is a safe place for dragons." Hiccup said. "It's been safe for years."

For a moment, Valka seemed to pause. But then she just shook her head. "If only it were possible," she replied, not even bothering to look at the pair.

"No, really, I—"

"Believe me: I tried as well," said, looking off at nothing in particular. "But people are not capable of change, Hiccup. Some of us…were just born different." She smiled sadly.

Hiccup found himself staring with his mouth wide open. He could hardly believe it. Was she even listening to herself?

"Berk was a land of kill or be killed," she went on. "But I believed that peace was possible." She met his eyes at last. "It was a very unpopular opinion."

"Well…hehe…I can kind of see why," Hiccup said, wearing a fixed smile. "We were at war at the time, you know?"

Valka opened her mouth as though to respond, but then she apparently thought better of it. "Then…one day, a dragon broke into our house, finding you in the cradle!"

Hiccup swallowed, suddenly realizing where this was headed. Stoick had told him about this incident long ago, though Hiccup had been too young to remember it himself.

"I rushed to protect you!" Valka said. "But what I saw…was proof of everything I believed! This wasn't a vicious beast, but an intelligent gentle creature, whose soul reflected my own." She sighed. "You and your father nearly died that night. All because I couldn't kill a dragon."

Hiccup found himself looking at her quizzically, struggling to follow her story. Did she think he could read her mind and just see what she was thinking, or something?

"That was when you were taken, wasn't it?" Hiccup said. "By Cloudjumper."

Valka nodded, and Cloudjumper apologetically crooned.

"It was, yes," Valka said. "It broke my heart to stay away. But I believed you'd be safer, if I did."

Unbelievable, Hiccup thought, running a hand down his face. "And…uhh…how did you survive?" he asked weakly.

Valka looked to Cloudjumper and smiled fondly; Hiccup found himself wanting to scream.

"Oh, Cloudjumper never meant to harm me," she said wistfully. "He must have felt I belonged here, in the home of the great Bewilderbeast." She looked over towards the resting King with a reverent look in her eyes.

Hiccup gawped at her, in utter disbelief. Toothless then snorted, looking distinctly unimpressed with his eyes half-lidded.

"Okay, yeah," Hiccup said, forcing a wide smile. "I have…questions. Lots of questions."

"Oh?" Valka went. "What do you mean, son?"

Hiccup sighed. "What I mean is…oh, where to even begin?" He shrugged his shoulders and started to pace, his smile collapsing into a frown. "Okay, first of all: what made you think peace was possible?"

Valka stared silently, looking truly dumbstruck.

"The dragons were raiding us, remember?" Hiccup said. "Killing people, burning houses, stealing food and livestock? Does any of this sound familiar?"

"But…but you made peace!" Valka replied. "You made peace with Toothless."

"Well, yeah," Hiccup said. "Because Toothless showed me that peace was possible." He patted Toothless' back, and his friend warbled at the attention. "But you only met Cloudjumper that night. So what made you think that peace could work?"

She looked away, covering her mouth. "That's…I mean…"

Hiccup just looked at her, raising an eyebrow. Her eyes were wide and ashamed-looking, and Hiccup found himself wondering if she was hiding something. He waited for her to speak for a moment, but then he decided to simply move on.

"Next question," Hiccup said, keeping his voice calm with some effort. "When you saw Cloudjumper, you just knew he was gentle. Why?"

She hadn't really explained that part, after all.

"Well, he was playing with you, son," Valka said, suddenly smiling. "He was letting you play with his claws. He was so much bigger than you, but he was being so careful not to hurt you."

Hiccup crossed his arms. "So…a huge dragon…had time to find me…and play with me…in the middle of a raid."

Valka stared dumbly once again. Then she gasped and looked down, as though having only just realized the implications.

"Which means…I was on my own? In the house? With a raid going on?"

Valka nodded, seemingly unable to meet his eyes.

"And where were you?" Hiccup asked, just barely keeping his voice level. "Were you even in the house at that point?"

"Well…I…I mean, I was…"

"Not in the house," Hiccup muttered under his breath. "Moving on…how could I have possibly been better off without you?"

His sudden loudness caught even himself by surprise. Valka flinched, and several dragons stopped to stare. Many of the dragons went quiet, and the waterfalls' sounds became far more prominent.

"I was born early!" Hiccup shouted, his arms raised high. "I would have still been nursing! And you must have known Dad would be way too busy to properly…"

He could feel his eyes getting wet, and he could feel a lump building in his throat, but he was long past caring about any of that. A number of dragons had begun to creep closer, crooning with worry, but Hiccup found himself not caring about that either.

He pointed at her accusingly. "Do you have any idea how long he searched? How long he spent at sea, all by himself, hunting for the dragon who 'killed' his wife?"

Valka just stood there, frozen in utter shock. Her staff slipped from her grasp and clattered to the ground, utterly forgotten.

"And you!" Hiccup said, turning his accusing finger to Cloudjumper. "Why were you even there? Because you clearly weren't part of the Queen's nest, or you wouldn't have flown straight here!"

Cloudjumper flattened himself down low, a range of noises rapidly leaving his mouth.

"Scouting," Valka said, her voice barely audible. "Sent by the King." Tears streamed from her eyes.

"Scouting?" Hiccup said incredulously. "For what?"

"For a human. A friendly human."

Hiccup suddenly went very still, feeling the wheels in his head freeze in place.

"I…" he went. "I…what?"

Only then did he realize that he was completely surrounded.

A crowd of dragons, of many sizes and shapes and colors, had formed around the group. They were clearly uneasy, rumbling and milling around, seemingly unable to keep still. And beyond them was the ever-present King, listening intently, his gaze suddenly fixed on Hiccup's form.

Valka made a soothing gesture with her hands, and the dragons around them immediately stilled. Then Cloudjumper made even more noises, cycling rapidly between warbles and clicks and growls.

"He wanted to learn about us," Valka said, shaking where she stood. "The King, I mean. He wanted to know about us. And…to be able to talk to us."

"But…that's…" Hiccup went. "That can't be right. That makes no sense. That…"

Toothless nudged him with his snout. Hiccup looked over, and found himself staring into his friend's large and soulful eyes.

Toothless nodded, the gesture impossible to misread.

"It is right?" Hiccup said.

Toothless nodded again.

"But how can you…"

Then he found himself turning back to Cloudjumper: Valka's companion of so many years, who had been making such a wide range of sounds just then…

"He…was talking," Hiccup said. "He can talk."

Valka blinked repeatedly, rubbing at her eyes. "Well yes, of course. You were talking to him. He…oh," she went. "You don't know, do you?"

"Don't know…what?" Hiccup hazarded.

Valka sniffed, and picked up her discarded staff. The assembled dragons began to disperse, though the King continued to watch closely.

"Dragons talk, son," Valka said. "All dragons talk. They just don't sound like we do; that's all."

Hiccup's mouth dropped open. "But, then…that means…" He spun towards Toothless. "Do you talk?"

Toothless warbled and crooned, meeting Hiccup's gaze with his ears slightly back. He nodded slowly and deliberately, and then he purred.