A big thanks to FuryDrake, for beta-reading and for useful discussions on this fic and beyond!

The nest was a paradise beyond anything Hiccup had known: dragons of so many species existing in harmony, living and flying amongst abundant sunlight and greenery. He saw Gronkles and Zipplebacks and Nadders; he thought he even saw a Razorwhip; he saw dragons of so many species he had never before seen.

Hiccup just wished he could enjoy any of it.

Because Hiccup had discovered something far more unexpected than this wondrous nest. He'd found his own mother, Valka, alive after twenty years! She'd been on the back of a massive four-winged dragon — yet another species he hadn't seen before, but one which his father had told him about many times.

This dragon had carried his mother off when he was just a tiny baby. Supposedly, this dragon had killed her; clearly, that hadn't been so.

Hiccup blinked and swallowed, the beginnings of something stirring in his chest. Toothless snorted next to him, and Hiccup followed his dragon's gaze. He looked up, and he immediately found her : Valka, his mother, atop that four-winged dragon who had caused so much heartache to Hiccup and Stoick both. The huge dragon hung downwards from some high rocks, regarding Hiccup with a curious gaze.

"This is where you've been?" Hiccup asked, his voice wavering. "For twenty years?"

His mother smiled and inclined her head, saying nothing.

"You've…been living with them," he said.

Valka nodded again, smiling almost expectantly, still keeping utterly silent. Hiccup almost wanted to scream for her to say something – anything! Was she even used to speaking anymore?

"Unbelievable," Hiccup said, looking all around.

It was beautiful in this nest: a far cry from how his own 'nest' had once been, and a far cry from Toothless' old nest as well. He could see easily why she'd wanted to stay here, away from the fighting and the bloodshed…

… and away from her own family , he thought darkly.

"You're…not upset?" Valka asked. She stared at him with a fixed smile, almost dragon-like in her expression.

Yes , Hiccup thought, before quickly swallowing it down. "What, no, I don't know…" He looked off at nothing in particular. "It's…I don't have the words, to be frank."

Toothless chuffed, shooting him a worried glance. As always, the dragon appeared to have sensed his darkening mood.

"I'm okay, bud, don't worry," he said quietly, patting the dragon's side.

Toothless hadn't seemed injured, much to Hiccup's relief. The dragon had been walking normally, and his prosthetic fin still looked to be in working condition. No thanks to her , Hiccup thought, as he remembered their initial encounter in the air. He could still practically feel the moment when he'd been yanked from the saddle by one of her dragons, just as he still practically saw Toothless slamming into ice and then disappearing into the freezing ocean.

Once again, his heart thumped fast and hard. Oh gods, what if Toothless had drowned? What if Toothless had broken something when hitting the ice? What if—

"Wrrrr?" Toothless nudged at Hiccup's side, bringing him back to the present, and Hiccup immediately began rubbing the dragon's head. Toothless rumbled contently in response, gazing straight into Hiccup's face.

"Yeah, I'm good," Hiccup said, grounded by those wide loving eyes. "Thanks bud."

"Wrrrrr…"

Then his mother spoke again, and he quickly felt his tension return.

"Well, at least I'm not boring. Right?" she asked lightly, as her dragon began helping her to the ground.

Hiccup couldn't help but stare as she descended. She hooked a talon with her staff and let herself be smoothly lowered down, before sliding down another wing to the rocky floor. She and the dragon moved like a single entity, each easily predicting the other's movements.

"Well, I suppose there is that," Hiccup said, finally looking away. "One specific thing…"

Gods, she and that dragon seemed so close! They might have been even closer than he and Toothless, the way they worked together like that! How long must that have taken, to build a bond so strong? Clearly, she and this dragon understood each other well…

…so why did she never come back?

He closed his eyes for a moment, steadying his breathing. Then one of the wild dragons started sniffing at him, and his posture stiffened. Usually, Hiccup would have been fine with this — the dragon in question was just curious, not acting threatening at all — but now he really wished this creature would give him space.

"Do…you like it?" his mother asked.

"I…" Hiccup began, forcing his posture to loosen. "Uhh, like what, the nest?"

Valka just nodded, once again smiling that expectant smile.

He truly didn't have the words. It was wonderful here, and he wanted to say so, but… why had she stayed away? Why had she never returned, when it would have been so fast and easy to do so?

Abruptly, he realized that Toothless was no longer beside him. He looked around, quickly finding Toothless a little way back and surrounded by curious wild dragons. The night fury was hunched low and looking around with wide eyes, obviously uncomfortable with the attention, and Hiccup couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in turn.

He started towards them. "Toothless— "

A dragon suddenly shoved its snout into Toothless' rear, with enough force to take his hind legs right off the ground. That was too much for Toothless; he snarled, shooing the other dragons away, while Valka just chuckled at the sight.

Hiccup found himself glaring at her for a moment, though she didn't seem to notice. Then his attention snapped back to his dragon, who was bounding over to him with an anxious croon.

"You okay, bud?" he asked, as the dragon nuzzled into his chest.

Toothless warbled an affirmative.

All of a sudden, Valka rushed over to them with an excited gleam in her eyes. She got down in front of Toothless, crouching low and smiling wide. "Can I?" she asked.

Hiccup blinked again, then he nodded quickly. "Uh, yeah, sure. Go ahead."

Truth be told, he didn't feel especially happy with her being around Toothless. But she clearly liked dragons a lot, so he guessed it would be harmless enough.

"Oh, he's beautiful!" she said brightly. She stroked the dragon's head, and then chuckled as he enthusiastically nuzzled her cheek.

Hiccup found himself smiling, his shoulders relaxing at the sight.

"He may very well be the last of his kind," she said brightly, her eyes wandering over his scales. "And look: he's your age!" she added, pointing to the spikes along his head. "No wonder you get along so well."

Hiccup was only semi-listening. A startled sound had left his throat, but clearly his mother hadn't heard it. The last…of his kind? That couldn't be right! That wasn't possible, surely!

Toothless seemed to be thinking much the same. He continued to let Valka examine him, but his eyes had briefly narrowed into slits and he'd gone completely silent and still. He backed up when she tried to look in his mouth, signaling that he'd had enough.

Valka turned back to Hiccup, far too excited to spot his growing unease. "How did you manage it?" she asked

"I…ah…found him in the woods," Hiccup replied. "He was…shot down, and…wounded…"

Valka's face turned immediately hardened. One by one, she pointed out a number of injured dragons in their midst: one who'd been blinded by a trap, another who'd had a wing torn by a snare, and many more besides. Hiccup could see immediately that they trusted her, that they felt safe around her. She had clearly done good here, tending to dragons who could never have survived without help. And yet…and yet..

"And what of this?" Valka said, coming to Toothless' fake fin. "Did Drago or his trappers do this too?"

Toothless' eyes went as wide as dinner plates. He looked rapidly between Valka and Hiccup, crooning nervously.

"Well, actually…hehe… I'm the one who shot him down…" Hiccup began.

Valka stared at him in horror, gripping her staff tightly. Her dragon immediately jumped down to join her, standing tall at her side; Toothless growled softly in response, a protective wing shielding Hiccup from their sight.

"Easy, Toothless." He patted the dragon's side, before ducking under the wing. "Yeah, we…didn't exactly have the best start," Hiccup said. "But it's okay, though! We worked things out, didn't we bud?"

Toothless shot him a gummy smile, warbling in agreement

"Then I got him flying again," Hiccup said, gesturing to Toothless' assorted rigging. "I mean, it took a few tries. But we got there."

But Valka still didn't look happy. "But, no, that's…he's trapped with you. He's crippled. He can't fly without you."

"Well, no," Hiccup said, keeping a soothing hand on Toothless' head. "I mean, I did design a fin to let him fly without me. But that fin...didn't go down so well."

Toothless warbled again, nuzzling Hiccup's cheek. Then he ducked behind Hiccup and brought his head underneath him, tossing him straight onto the saddle.

"Yeah, you prefer flying together, don'cha?" Hiccup said. He scratched the dragon's scales, while Toothless shot him another gummy smile.

That seemed to satisfy his mother. She looked positively amazed, her arms hanging limp at her sides. "Incredible," she said softly, her grip loosening around her staff.

Her dragon rumbled next to her, relaxing his posture.

Hiccup patted Toothless' head, pleased to have the matter settled. His mother was smiling again now, and her dragon likewise seemed content. But Hiccup wouldn't forget her accusing looks — and now that he thought about it, he didn't much care for them.

He did feel bad for shooting Toothless down. He always would feel bad for shooting Toothless down. But at the same time, his guilt had lessened over the years. He and Toothless had been in a war back then, and they had just so happened to be on opposite sides. It had been beyond their control, just as it had been beyond Berk's control, just as it had been beyond the dragons' control…

…well, except for one particular dragon, anyway. But thanks to him and Toothless, that dragon was long gone.

"Erm," Valka went, approaching them once more. "What did your father think of your night fury friend?"

Again, Hiccup felt something building in his chest. Her tone was that of someone who thought they knew the answer and who didn't really approve. Hiccup decided that he didn't much care for that, either.

"Uh, he…didn't take it all that well," Hiccup said. "But then…hehe…he didn't exactly have a reason to, you know?" He rubbed the back of his head, forcing a smile. "I mean, the dragons were raiding us, and he did have a village to feed, and…and he did think a dragon had murdered his wife…"

Only then did he realize he was glaring at her, his words having come out far harsher than intended. Valka seemed to go rigid before him, her dragon again closing the distance.

"But, h-hey, it worked out in the end," he went on. "I mean, sure, Toothless got muzzled and chained up. And he did nearly drown, and then I also nearly drowned…and there was that whole mess with my leg…"

His stump suddenly twinged with pain, making him wince. It was always worse when he was stressed, and he was certainly feeling stressed just then. He rubbed at his leg, as Toothless gave him an anxious glance.

"Nah, bud, I'm fine," he said, petting the dragon's back.

Then he noticed his mother's horrified expression.

"What did he do?" Valka said. "What did your father do!?"

Hiccup gripped the saddle hard, a host of unwanted memories spilling fourth. "He used Toothless to find the nest. But then he—"

"He attacked a nest!?" Her hand went to her mouth, and her dragon got into a defensive crouch.

"Yes, Mom, he did! You know, the nest that was attacking us!? That had been attacking us on the day you were carried off!?"

Hiccup had had enough. Sure, his father wasn't perfect, and sure, they hadn't got on when he was younger. But his father had been there when she hadn't, and she had no right—

"And you know what? So did I!" Hiccup said. "And so did Toothless! Because we had no Thor-damned choice but to fight! While you were living out here in paradise, letting us all think you were dead , not even caring enough to come check on us, leaving Dad alone to…agghh!"

He slumped forwards, burying his face in his hands, some unwanted tears already leaking out. He peeked between his fingers; he found his mother simply staring at him, looking like she was likewise about to cry.

"Bud, let's go," he said quietly. "Get us out of here."

Toothless, it seemed, couldn't agree more. The dragon turned and bounded across the ground, a few wild dragons scattering to get out of his way.

"Wait!" Valka called out. "Drago's forces could be out there! Let me—"

Toothless took flight. Hiccup worked the tail fin automatically, reacting easily to Toothless' actions. Then they turned sharply into a cave, and Valka was gone.