Sorry for this extremely late update! I had a lot of school stuff to do and almost forgot this short ending. Anyway, go ahead and see the ending of this short fic.

Chapter 6

I stood there, frozen, a strange mixture of emotions swirling inside me. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, but my facial muscles wouldn't cooperate. The Light Fury's words were a blur, lost in the overwhelming joy of hearing Hiccup's voice, his final declaration.

What was he so worried about? If he missed Toothless, all he had to do was go find him. It was clear he longed to see him, and yet… he was allowing fear to hold him back.

I stepped out from behind the tree. The Light Fury didn't seem surprised. She had probably sensed my presence all along. She nodded at me, her expression strangely peaceful, and then she was gone.

I silently thanked her.

Hiccup turned and saw me, his eyes widening in surprise. I must have looked… pathetic, because he seemed flustered, at a loss for words. The confidence he had exuded while confronting the Light Fury vanished. He looked like a lost child again.

"Uh… Toothless…" he stammered.

I didn't interrupt. I simply stood there, watching him.

He was silent for a moment, then he lunged, throwing his arms around me.

We tumbled to the ground, a tangle of limbs and scales. His embrace was tight, desperate, and I clung to him, burying my face against his shoulder. Our scales were cold, but the warmth of his heart pressed against mine, a familiar, comforting heat that chased away the chill of centuries. He trembled against me, and I heard a muffled sob escape his lips. Or perhaps it was a laugh.

"I missed you, Hiccup," I whispered, my voice thick with emotion.

"I missed you too," he replied, his voice choked with tears. "I'm back, Toothless. I'm home."

We lay there for a long time, facing each other, the moonlight bathing us in its silver light.

He told me about the underworld, the land of eternal night, the crystal bridge suspended over the river of souls, the cold, indifferent Goddess of Death, and the bridgekeeper who had waited with him for centuries.

"I… I saw Astrid," he said, his voice breaking. "She's… She's happy. Truly happy…"

His emerald green eyes shimmered with tears.

I felt a lump form in my throat, a heavy weight that I couldn't swallow. I wanted to apologize, to beg for his forgiveness, but the words wouldn't come. All I could manage was a choked, "I'm sorry." I lowered my gaze, unable to meet his eyes.

I had been the one who left. I had abandoned him, leaving him to wait for centuries in that desolate realm. What right did I have to apologize?

Hiccup seemed to sense my distress. "Toothless," he said, changing the subject, his voice gentle, "How… How have you been? These past… few hundred years?"

"Terrible," I blurted out.

"Oh…" He seemed taken aback by my bluntness, then chuckled softly. "You and me both."

We shared a sad smile, two souls bound by shared grief and regret.

The silence stretched, and I finally met his gaze, my heart pounding. He didn't speak, but his eyes held a silent understanding, a quiet forgiveness that made my cheeks burn. It was the same look he used to give me when I misbehaved. He would pretend to be angry, but I could always tell, by the look in his eyes, whether he truly meant it. Most of the time, it was just a show, a gentle reprimand. I would feign remorse, and he would, inevitably, relent.

I had messed up, royally. But he wasn't angry. It was time to confess. The words I had been rehearsing for centuries tumbled out in a jumbled mess.

"I… I went back to Berk," I confessed, my voice trembling. "The new Berk. I saw… your son? Or maybe it was your grandson… It's all a blur now. He gave me… the tail fin. And your… your journal…"

His eyes widened, a flicker of something unreadable in their depths. Then, just as quickly, his expression calmed.

"I always intended to give those to you," he said softly. "I just… I didn't know if you would… if you would ever see them again. But you did. You found them." He smiled, a sad, wistful smile that I couldn't return.

We both avoided mentioning the contents of that journal.

"I… I put them away," I continued, my voice barely a whisper. "I went to see Om. He… he told me about the curse… I'm not… I'm not trying to make excuses. It was my fault. If I hadn't…"

"Don't," Hiccup interrupted, his voice firm. "It's over. I'm here now. That's all that matters."

His words sent a wave of warmth through me, a feeling so intense that I choked back a sob.

"Hiccup," I whispered, my voice thick with emotion, "I'll never leave you again. Never. Unless… Unless you don't want me. I swear… on my soul… I'll never leave you again. I want… I want to watch the sunrise with you every day. I want to fish with you, and fly with you. And the aurora… I want to see the aurora with you again. And when… when you can shift, we'll leave the Sanctuary. We'll see the world. We'll explore new oceans, new continents…"

"Okay," he said, smiling. "We have time. Plenty of time. I promised the bridgekeeper… I would find someone for him. His soul… it's still with me. Slumbering. Maybe one day… we'll find the one he's waiting for. And he'll wake up."

"We can go anywhere you want," I said, my voice filled with a newfound certainty.

We talked for hours, our conversation meandering, jumping from one topic to the next. We shared stories, laughed, and reminisced, the silence between us comfortable and familiar. We talked until the stars faded and the sky turned a pale gray, then flew to the surface to watch the sunrise.

"Toothless," Hiccup asked, as we soared over the shimmering water, "how long… how long until I can shift?"

"A hundred years, maybe," I replied.

"That long?" He sounded disappointed.

"Why? Can't wait to get out of here?" I teased.

"Of course I can't! I can't wait to see the world with you."

"We can leave anytime. I'll teach you how to cloak."

"Do you… Do you want to go back to Berk?" I asked, suddenly remembering something.

He shook his head, smiling. "No," he said. "Berk… that's in the past. This is my home now: The Sanctuary."