Mid-July, 1003 CE – Haddock Household, Berk
The summer breeze drifted through the open windows of the Haddock home, carrying with it the scent of saltwater and wildflowers. Seagulls cried overhead, and the sound of distant hammering echoed from the forge. Berk was alive with warmth, sun, and the busy rhythm of a village in its full summer stride.
Inside, life was a little messier.
Tiny wooden dragons were scattered across the floor. A well-loved Stormfly plush had lost one wing (temporarily). A carved spoon was somehow stuck in the rafters. And in the middle of it all stood little Zephyr Louise Haddock—barefoot, wobbling, curly auburn hair wild and sticking to her forehead from a morning of mischief.
Astrid sat cross-legged on the floor, watching her with amused exhaustion. "She's figured out how to climb. She's figured out how to throw. All that's left is setting fires and writing laws."
"She's got time," Hiccup chuckled from the other side of the room, carefully reattaching Stormfly's plush wing.
Zephyr turned, blinking at her parents. Then, with a determined stomp of her foot and a dramatic flail of her arms, she pointed toward a wooden carving on the shelf—a small Toothless statuette.
"Duh-Duh!" she declared.
Astrid froze. Hiccup looked up in disbelief.
"What did you say, Zeph?" Hiccup asked, standing up slowly.
Zephyr turned again and pointed, with more insistence this time. "Duh-Duh!"
Astrid clapped her hands to her mouth, grinning. "I think she's saying Toothless! Or… trying to!"
Zephyr giggled at the attention. "Duh-Duh!"
Hiccup knelt in front of her, wide-eyed and grinning. "That's your first word. Toothless. Not 'Mama' or 'Dada.' Of course."
Astrid leaned over with a playful scoff. "Clearly she has her priorities."
Later that afternoon, they visited Valka, where Zephyr continued babbling "Duh-Duh" while crawling after the family cat. Valka just smiled knowingly. "The bond between your father and Toothless was… something deep. Maybe she feels that."
A few days later, Zephyr added "Mama" to her vocabulary while Astrid was serving her mashed carrots—and "Dada" came a day after that, much to Hiccup's relief.
By the end of the month, she was stringing words together with confidence.
"Mama, up."
"Dada, go!"
"No bath!"
Zephyr's voice became a regular part of their home—bubbling with giggles, sometimes cranky with tired demands, but always welcome.
One Warm Night…
Astrid and Hiccup sat under the stars just outside their home, watching the moonlight dance across the ocean. Zephyr lay between them on a soft fur, reaching up to bat at the stars with tiny fingers.
"She talks so much now," Astrid murmured, resting her head against Hiccup's shoulder.
"Yeah," he said softly, wrapping an arm around her. "And soon she'll be asking for a dragon."
Astrid groaned. "Don't even start."
Hiccup chuckled. "Just saying… It's going fast."
Astrid kissed his cheek. "Let it. We'll keep up."
And as Zephyr yawned, curled up with her Stormfly plush and muttering "Duh-Duh" in her sleep, Hiccup looked out over Berk and whispered, "You're doing great, kid."