Hiccup's POV

Y/n didn't follow us, but, wrapped up in the moment, I hardly noticed as I followed Mom out of the nest through a large opening over a rocky platform. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I heard y/n's shrill whistle. She was calling and calming them in a way that I could only do with Inferno and the touch of my palm.

Mom stopped just outside the icy mountain. Toothless and I shot past her. I guess Toothless was hungrier than I had realized. We circled back in a large arc. I wanted to get a better view of the island that they called home, but since it was perpetually  somewhere in the stages of winter this far north, there wasn't much to see besides snow and ice.

"Are you coming?" Mom hollered with a hand cupped to the side of her mouth.

"Yeah, be right there." I answered. I must have missed something because Mom gave me a strange look, though her broad smile never left her face. Then I caught the end of y/n's answer.

"...Finish my chores..." She had shouted back. Oops, guess she'll join us later.

I saw Mom shake her head and mutter something to Cloudjumper, but I wasn't close enough to hear what she said. I pushed it out of my mind as Mom motioned for us to follow her to a small lagoon. It looked oddly similar to the cove except it was surrounded by white, calfing glaciers instead of rocky outcroppings and the water was a darker shade of blue because it was deeper. Ok, so it didn't look that similar, but I had the same sense of exhilarated apprehension as we glided over the open water.

I looked back over my shoulder to see a wall of Dragons coming up behind us. There were all sorts: Nightmares, Nadders, Raincutters, Light Terrors, Shovelhelms, and a lone Dramillion leading the way.

Nervously, I turned to face Mom, inquiry edging my voice. "Hey! I-I-I thought we were going to eat?"

"Oh we are!" She replied as Cloudjumper swung around in a small arc. Mom held out a hand, signaling Toothless to hover just over a foot away.

Her blue eyes met mine for a moment before she glanced down into the dark water. Below us, three Seashockers circled the widing mouth of the Bewilderbeast. They glided off as its tusks broke the surface. The great creature erupted out of the still water, spewing millions of fish into the air in a swaying motion before sinking back into the depths.

My mouth fell open as the fish started to rain down. Mom threw her head back, laughing heartily. The feeding frenzy began as dragons of all shapes and sizes darted past us. With his tongue hanging out of the corner of his mouth, Toothless looked up at me expectantly, so I gestured for him to go ahead. We took off like a rocket, dodging and weaving through the tight pack until straightening out just above the water. His mouth full of fish, Toothless gave me a silly grin that made me laugh so hard, I almost fell out of the saddle.

Valka's POV

My gaze shifted from Hiccup and Toothless, who were having the time of their lives, to y/n and Zyphur, both of whom had a mixture of emotions plastered across their faces. I made a mental note to pull them aside for a chat around supper. It was the only time of day where the two were calm enough to give me straight answers.

I have to admit, I'm a terrible cook. There were several times when y/n had been sick with food poisoning before she took over the task. I appreciated it since it gave us a designated time to talk and with so many dragons to care for, rescue missions to go on, and other chores to do, we had precious little time to spare.

Hiccup's laughter yanked me out of my reverie. Toothless had about a dozen fish sticking out of his mouth. One by one, he slurped them down, revealing more and more of a gummy grin. I beamed at my son - Wow! I'd be soaking that in for a while. I still can't believe we found each other. - as I motioned towards one of the snowy glaciers. Hiccup smiled back, following once Toothless had finished eating his fill.

Y/n and Zyphur had already landed by the time the rest of us made it to the glacier. With a strap still over her weakened shoulder - I guess she didn't want to fight with the basket- she was securing the lid before any of our dragons got any ideas of having an extra snack, though I saw her sneak a fish for each of them as I slid off Cloudjumper, my boots leaving silent tracks in the deeply packed snow. She tossed a fish to Cloudjumper who gobbled it down owlishly as Hiccup and Toothless skidded to a stop.

A look of concern clouded her face as y/n stammered, "Uh... Hiccup... Your leg..."

She must have seen something I didn't because the next thing I knew she was launching herself forward, wrenching her bad shoulder, as Hiccup's foot slipped on the snow, the lower half of his prothestic still stuck in the stirrup. In shock, I stood there, trying to hold back my laughter, as they both blushed bright red. I pulled Hiccup to his foot, letting him lean on me as he dug through a pocket in the saddle.

For a moment, I saw y/n grimace as she pushed herself to a sitting position. Quickly covering her grimace with a knowing smile, she asked, "So Hiccup, is that your last leg?"

"Oh ha ha." Hiccup answered sarcastically. "You know I carry a spare and you know why too."

She suppressed a giggle. "The twins got you good." Then she groaned as she tried to push herself the rest of the way up. My eyes met hers, sending a silent concerned question, but she shook her head and changed the subject. She always did that, pushed my concern side like it was nothing, refusing to talk about that particular sore spot.

"You might as well pull out your map while you're in there." She suggested. Zyphur was by her side and gingerly helping the young woman to her feet.

She's not usually that slow. Something's wrong. I thought as Hiccup attached his spare metal leg.

"Because you just love cartography?" Hiccup quipped dryly, rolling his eyes.

I need to stop this before it gets out of hand. They were acting like wolves fighting over a scrap of meat. "No, but I'd love to compare notes." I butted in.

Suddenly ecstatic, Hiccup whipped out a thick booklet, swiftly unfolding the flaps and smoothing it out in the snow. He began pointing out different islands he and his friends had found while living at a place called Dragon's Edge, I had only ever heard of it from y/n's tales. While he related his adventures, I drew my own map, brushing deep strokes in the snow with the rounded end of my staff. In the end, there were only slight differences between the two.

"Wow..." Hiccup breathed.

Toothless decided he wanted to join in. Taking a large icicle in his mouth, he drew a swooping, curling design over my map. I recognized it as a sign of his intelligence. He was telling the same tales that Hiccup was with a few extra details that only a dragon would notice. I silently noted the islands that enclosed in double and triple swirls. Toothless was informing me where the teens had met before, verifying excursions that y/n had told me about months earlier.

I caught y/n double checking the drawing when she realized what I already knew, though it threw me that Hiccup didn't react to Toothless's art. Anxiously, she looked up at me. Chuckling lightly, I shook my head. Your secret is safe with us, kiddo.

We all burst into laughter as Toothless tried to get the icicle off his tongue. It was glued against the warm muscle, but I knew y/n could dettach it easily enough. So I helped Hiccup fold up his map while y/n rubbed Toothless's tongue until the extra friction caused the icicle to melt.

As the light faded, we saddled up again. Back into the nest for evening chores, supper, and a nice little chat with y/n. I looked up at them again. The kids, my kids, my little family whole again. Well almost. If Stoick were here... But he would never accept that dragons were anything more than killing machines, would he? And if he did, would I return to Berk? Would y/n be welcomed in? Would we-Could we be a family again?

It was too much to ask for, but I prayed anyway.