You were with Hiccup working on the Dragon Eye Two. Both of you were seeing what you could do with the lenses that you had. But, of course, the progress was slow for a few different reasons. One of them was because you both were regularly distracted. It seemed that work was really the last thing on both of your minds.

Just as you both had called it a day with the Dragon Eye so you could have the rest of the time for each other, Arrow suddenly burst into Hiccup's hut. You yelped in surprise and Hiccup saw how urgent Arrow was.

"Arrow? What is it? What's going on?" 

"Hiccup, we just got a Terror Mail from Berk! Something happened and your dad...h-he's hurt!" Both of you were shocked. Hiccup instantly ordered everyone to get ready to leave immediately. You quickly got Nightshade ready to go as all of you rushed home as fast as you could.

Once you all arrived, Hiccup ran into the house to see his father. All of you waited outside. You were all nervous and upset. Nobody really knew what to do. It was scary for everyone, but you knew exactly what Hiccup was going through. After all, you'd felt it too.

"Do you think it's bad?" Ruff asked.

"It's definitely not good!" Snotlout said.

"Oh, what if it's worse than we thought!?" Fishlegs said, panicking a bit.

"I-I'm sure it'll be okay. Stoick is the toughest man alive!" Arrow insisted. You saw the door start to open.

"Shh! He's come out!" You hushed all of them so Hiccup would hear their worry and feel even worse. They all tried to be gentle and friendly with him, but you saw how worried he looked. It was clear there was just too much on his mind to talk.

"Leave him be, lad. I'll fill you all in." Gobber said to Arrow after Arrow had tried to talk to Hiccup. Gobber told you all what happened and you knew that Hiccup wasn't handling it well. You wanted to go and help him, but a meeting was called at the Great Hall.

"Then we must attack Johann, Krogan and these Dragon Flyers full force. Take the offensive. With the A-Team, the (L/n)'s, Jahlin's team, and you Riders, we can-!" Arrow cut off Spitelout.

"We can barely make a dent."

"Arrow is right. These Flyers still outnumber us and, in many cases, can outmaneuver us." Fishlegs agreed.

"But we can take them, with the right strategy." Snotlout added.

"And with the right leader. Listen, we can't just attack with Stoick in his condition." Gobber argued.

"Well, we can't very well wait either, can we? If Stoick can't perform his duties as chief, someone needs to step in and do it for him." A lot of people agreed with Spitelout, but you frowned.

"And you really think it's going to be that easy to just assign it to Hiccup?" You asked.

"He's the rightful heir!" Spitelout argued.

"Who is going through a lot right now! You can't just force him into this!" 

"It's not forcing, lass, but it needs to be discussed. You know that." Gobber told you. You looked away, knowing Hiccup would never go for it. Still, that didn't stop Arrow and Gobber from going to talk to him about it. You didn't go with. Instead, you went home. 

Your brothers had arrived about an hour later and found you and Nightshade in your old room. Ash had come in to talk to you. You only glanced at him as he came over.

"Hey, (Y/n)." 

"Hey." You muttered.

"You doing okay?" You sighed.

"They don't get what he's going through." Ash sighed.

"Everyone understands that this is hard. We all feel it, but...you're right. It's not the same as actually being in his place. But there's nothing anybody can do about that. Everyone is just trying to do what they think is right."

"It's not fair to him to give him that responsibility so soon!" You argued. Ash hugged you.

"Calm down. I know. I know it's not fair. I agree with you, but...is any of this fair?" You paused. "We need to think about what is best." You sighed, not saying anything. "He listens to you, (Y/n). Choose wisely what you advise to him." He left and you laid down on your bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. 

"...I don't even know what to tell him..."

All that night, you couldn't sleep. You had been thinking so much that your head hurt. You groaned and headed to the Great Hall with Nightshade. When you arrived there, you ran into the rest of the gang as well. Turns out, nobody was able to sleep. You all went in together and overheard Hiccup say something.

"Time is running out with these Flyers. But how can I leave my dad? He wouldn't leave my side. And- And- And what if he were to...you know, and I wasn't here? I-I-I'd never forgive myself."

"You know he'll pull through, Hiccup. He's Stoick." Arrow told him. Hiccup turned, surprised to see all of you.

"None of us could sleep, either." Fishlegs admitted.

"You know you can't blame yourself for this, right?" Arrow told him.

"Sure, he can. If he never left for Dragon's Edge, he'd have been able to protect his dad." Ruff began.

"His selfish decisions are the central cause of all of this pain." Tuff added.

"However, if we'd never gone to the Edge, things would have been worse." Ruff said.

"And we would've ended up in the same place anyway." Tuff agreed.

"How's that?" Hiccup asked.

"We were hoping you'd ask." Ruff said.

"Two words, one exclamation mark. Full Loki!" Tuff said. The two explained their version of a different future where everyone would've gone nuts pranking each other. In the end, Berk would've been attacked while everybody was distracted by the pranking madness. You really couldn't see that happening.

"And that, ladies and gents, is why you never wanna go Full Loki. Point is, leaving Berk for the Edge was a great idea. We would've torn this place apart from the inside out and gotten slaughtered in the process." Tuff explained.

"That is a ridiculous scenario. We are too refined a people to stoop to such foolishness and trickery. Had we stayed on Berk, things would've been the polar opposite from what the twins described. Peaceful. Civilized." Fishlegs explained his much more relaxing version until Snotlout cut in with the end being Johann attacking.

"Hey, hey! That's not how it ends!" Fishlegs snapped.

"Oh, sure, it is. We're Vikings. We fight. We pillage. We take advantage of the weak. It's in our nature." Snotlout argued.

"Oh, yeah? All right. Okay. If you're such a soothsayer, what would've happened in your-" Fishlegs was cut off.

"Oh, I couldn't wait for you to ask, Fishface. If memory serves me and it does before we left the Edge, I was Berk's official weapon tester, which means I probably would've been promoted to Berk's official weapons inventor. I can see it so clearly." Snotlout began his version, which was also just as rediculous as the others. "I would have created the greatest weapon known to man. A superweapon." 

Snotlout explained his amazing weapon and how proud everyone would've been of him. You weren't surprised the story was all about him. What ticked you off was when he mentioned you probably would've ended up liking him instead of Hiccup. You smacked him over the head for it with a glare.

"Blegh. That is the most preposterous story I've ever heard." Arrow commented.

"Says you, naysayer. Arrow the dream crusher. You clowns just don't understand how the course of history is changed with one simple stroke of the old paintbrush." Snotlout argued.

"Nope. You don't understand that a dragon can't change his scales." Fishlegs told him.

"What are you talking about? Hookfang's scales change every time he molts."

"It's a metaphor. A figure of speech. Not literal."

"Okay, keep your witch trickery to yourself."

"It's not trickery! It's English!"

"Enough! All of you, enough! This is all pointless. It doesn't matter if we stayed or left." Hiccup said, interjecting the two's quarel. 

"Thought that was the game we were playing. You know, 'What happened if we had never left?'" Tuff asked.

"It's not a game, Tuffnut. It's not a dream. It's not a way of life. It's reality. It actually happened. We trained the dragons, we left Berk, and my father is on his deathbed because of it, because of me. None of this would have happened and I mean none of it if I had never shot down Toothless in the first place. You know it. I know it. Berk knows it. Everyone knows it!" He snapped. You were stunned at how upset he was. He looked at Toothless. "Even he knows it!" Hiccup left with Toothless following behind worriedly. You frowned.

"Great, that didn't help at all." Snotlout commented.

"You think?" You said to him.

"What now?" Fishlegs asked.  You began to follow after him.

"I say we leave it to her. Come on, guys." Arrow replied. You soon found Hiccup with Toothless out by the overlook. You listened for a moment.

"I'm sorry, bud. I didn't mean it to come out that way. You know I'll never regret shooting you down, bud. Actually, that didn't come out right, either..." Hiccup said.

"You have a tendency to do that sometimes, you know." Hiccup turned as you walked over to him. He looked away.

"(Y/n), I-I need some time to think. I just want to be left alone."

"That's what I said too." You began as his eyes widened. "But...who came after me when I felt like everything was my fault? Who stayed with me the entire night?" You reminded him.

"...I did." 

"Exactly." He looked away, saying nothing. You sighed heavily. "Can I tell you a story?" You asked.

"(Y/n), I...I'm not in the mood for a story." You scooted closer to him. 

"Okay." You told him. You turned to Toothless. "Toothless, you wanna hear a story?" Toothless nodded, purring. Hiccup sighed heavily. You began your story.

"Years ago, there was a boy. Now, this boy wanted more than anything to belond with his village. He was willing to do anything to get there." Hiccup frowned.

"(Y/n)-" 

"Don't interrupt." You told him. Hiccup sighed heavily, having a feeling he knew where the story was going. "As I was saying, this boy tried everything to fit in. One night, during a dragon raid, he ent off with his machine and-"

"Shot down a Night Fury." Hiccup said, unenthused. You looked at him.

"He missed his chance to catch the Night Fury." Hiccup's eyes widened as he looked at you.

"Huh?"

"You heard me." You told him. He looked confused, but at least now he was actually listening. "As the days went on, the village found out about a girl who had helped heal an Armor Blade. They were outraged. The girl was forced to retreat with her dragon and the two were never seen on Berk again." Hiccup frowned.

"What!? No!" He interjected. You nodded.

"Yes." You replied. "As they years went by, the boy never did get his chance to kill a dragon. As the years went by, he felt that there was no point to it. One day, his father confronted him about it. The boy tried to avoid it, but his father yelled and declared that he was not allowed to come back unless he had killed a dragon." Hiccup looked away as you told the story, almost as if he didn't want to listen to it anymore. You continued. "That night, the boy was sitting at the lagoon, talking to himself..."

*In the story*

"You will not return without a dragon's head under your arm. Are we clear? Don't know why killing a beast that's minding its own business suddenly makes you a man, but that's how it's done, I guess." Hiccup said, imitating his father angrily. He sat there, feeling alone and cast out. He remembered the girl from so long ago.

*In story flashback*

"H-hey, Hiccup!" 

"Oh, uh, hey, (Y/n)." The two had bumped into each other. (Y/n) had been doing well in dragon training. Better than anyone had hoped for. Hiccup was starting to get jealous of her. It's not fair. I'm the son of the chief and I can't do anything. She's practicing for medicine and is also doing well!? It's...it's my turn to stand out for once!

Over the next few days, Hiccup had been followed her, tracking her, seeing where she was going and what she was doing. Soon, he followed her to the cave. He saw her with the Armor Blade. He watched as the two played and had fun. He had his chance. Yes! I tell the village about this and they'll praise me for it!

He went back and told everybody about the dragon. Things hadn't gone the way he had hoped. The girl's family had tried to protect her, but they had been charged for treason and sent to Outcast Island. Meanwhile, (Y/n) had run away with her dragon. She had left, telling Hiccup that one day his choice would come back to haunt him.

*End in story flashback*

Hiccup frowned as he remembered her and her words. She had been right. He regretted everything he'd done. He regretted forcing her to leave. 

"(Y/n)...I'm sorry..."

Then, he heard something above him. He quickly ran and hid as a dragon came to the lagoon. He watched, bewildered as he saw it was a Night Fury. Nobody had ever seen one this close before.

"A Night Fury? Snotlout would go crazy. So would my dad. So would everyone." He got a net ready. He charged the dragon, but he'd throw the net too short. The dragon growled and stalked closer to him. However, he got entangled in the net. The dragon struggled, but it was no use. 

Hiccup got closer, ready to finish the dragon off. He raised his knife, but then...he hesitated. His guilt nawed at him as he remembered his old friend. I...I can't... Giving in, he set the dragon free. The dragon growled at him, but it only roared before starting to leave. Then, all of a sudden, another dragon appeared. It was a Whispering Death!

Hiccup screamed and ran. The Night Fury growled, blasting the Death to stop it from hurting Hiccup. The dragon grabbed him and the two took off together. After a long hard fought battle, the two were rescued and taken home.

Once hiccup had woken up, with a bit of a difference in his leg, Gobber had told him that he made all sorts of gear for the two to fly together. Hiccup and his new dragon had no complaints. Stoick declared the war was over and everyone was happy to hear it. 

A few days later, a traveler arrived on the island. Hiccup had gone to see who it was. When the two met face to face, neither of them could believe what they were seeing.

"(Y/n)? Is it really you!?" She laughed.

"I can't believe it! Hiccup Haddock changed Berk to like dragons?" Hiccup blushed as he looked at her for the first time in years.

"I learned that from you."

*End story*

Hiccup looked at you, looking stunned. You smiled at him and cuddled closer to him. He took a minute to think about everything you'd told him.

"I...I don't understand." You kissed his cheek.

"What I'm saying, Hiccup, is that when given the choice...we'd always make the same one. No matter what dragon crossed or path, both of us would always choose to do what was right. And, no matter what, I would always be with you." Hiccup smiled at you.

"Really?" He asked. You chuckled.

"Really." You assured him. He smiled and kissed you. You kissed back, holding him close. Once you both pulled away, he said,

"You know, I have to admit, if I could go back and be given every choice again...I would probably do everything the same way. Well, scratch that, I would do one thing different." You giggled.

"Oh? And what would that be?" He smiled.

"I would tell you how much I love you the day I knew I was in love with you." You blushed.

"And I would accept right away." You both hugged each other tightly. "Hiccup...we can't re-write history. But we can effect the future. No matter what, every step we take matters. It's okay to not be sure about what to do, but that's why we do it together. So, stop looking back and don't ever wish for something else. Let's move forward...together." He nodded.

"Together."

You both suddenly hear Snotlout shout from behind the two of you.

"Boring!" You saw the whole gang there.

"You guys listened to all of that, didn't you?" You asked.

"Yep." Arrow chuckled.

"Why does he have to have one leg?" Tuff asked.

"Yeah, you couldn't have given old H a break?" Ruff agreed.

"Can a brother get a leg up in this place? Hmm?" Tuff asked. Hiccup chuckled.

"No, Tuff, I can't."

"What kind of messed-up yak dung is that? It's a made-up story. And you can change things." Tuff argued.

"She's telling him that he's exactly where he's supposed to be, and so is Toothless." Arrow explained.

"We all are. Even if things had started out differently, I'd still be out there fighting for dragons, and we all would have ended up right here." Hiccup agreed.

"Oh, great! Okay, so you're the hero no matter what, and I'm the muttonhead." Snotlout complained.

"Exactly." You all said together.

"Shut up, everybody!"

"Thank you. Thank all of you for tonight. For everything."

"Like our third cousin twice removed, Sad Larry, always used to say:" Tuff began.

"If you see a sheep on a hill, it's not worth the struggle." Ruff added you were confused by that, but you didn't question it.

"Kay...? So, uh what do you say we get out of here, huh? I'll meet you at the training grounds. I've got one last thing I need to do." Hiccup told you all. You all said it was fine and waited for him at the training grounds. As you were waiting, Heather arrived on Windshear, looking worried. It was clear it was urgent. Hiccup arrived soon enough.

"Hiccup! You have to see this!" You told him.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Vanaheim has been attacked by the Dragon Flyers." Heather explained. All of you grew worried fast. Hiccup stepped up, looking determined.

"Then we don't have a moment to lose!"