Chapter 20
~ Astrid's POV ~

When Eret and Luca explained to us in the morning what they had heard, the island fell into mayhem.
The plan had been for us to return to Berk and the Berdansese survivors to return home to rebuild Berdwick, but that was impossible with all those Night Furies there guarding it against any intruders until their leader returned.

Everyone was stood around in a circle yelling about what we should do, all but Hiccup who was forced to stay in bed.

With a head-ache, I left the group for a minute and strolled into the tent.
Hiccup was bracing his back against the corner post, sitting on the leather stretcher.
Toothless was in as much of the tent as he could get into also.
I shoved past the dragon and sat down beside him, that was when I saw the tears on Hiccup's face.

"Hiccup, what's wrong?" I asked quietly, as I reached for his hand.

He rested his head on Toothless' and the dragon purred softly.
"It's time to say goodbye..." He breathed wheezily and hoarsely.

I felt a pit form in the bottom of my stomach.

Goodbye?

"Hiccup...what are you talking about?"

"We both have some things to take care of, don't we, bud? We both have a family we have to go home to...I, my Berkians, and you, your herd."

Suddenly it dawned on me what Hiccup was saying to his beloved dragon.

"Hiccup what are you doing?"

"I'm coming home, and so is Toothless. They're just not the same one anymore. They're a little different, and a little broken, but it's still home." He assured the purring dragon.

Toothless nuzzled Hiccup gently and he laughed softly.

"What about his tail?" I asked, at long last.

Hiccup's expression hardened and he simply stood and hobbled out into the morning air.

Everything fell quiet when he did so. All the yelling and shouting fell deathly silent.

"Where is Luca?..." Called Hiccup as loudly as he could.

Luca ran forward from the crowd, a worried look clouding his young face.

"What is it, chief?" He asked shakily.

Hiccup lowered his voice, this was a conversation that people could listen to, but they didn't need to hear.
"I think we all know that Berdwick is no longer the Berdanese people's home, but the NightFuries home."

Luca smiled slightly. "Yes, sir."

"And Toothless is a Night Fury...he needs to go home like we all do."

Nearby people gasped at the prospect and Luca stared in unbelief.

"T-Toothless...but he's yours."

"He was never mine," Hiccup smiled, stroking his Toothless' head until his eyes closed. "He's a free spirit. He always will be. But now, he has a family to take care of, a big family. But he can't do it...without a new tail."

Luca reached down and scratched Toothless under his chin.
"But...why does that bring me into this?" Luca asked, gesturing to himself.

"Because I have seen you, on weekends, slaving away in the armoury workshop back on the Skull. Your work is incredible. It takes a skilled hand to make a hand...we smithies know that." Hiccup decided with a confident grin.

"But I'm just...me..."

Hiccup took a deep breath and jerked his head backwards slightly. "That is exactly who I'm looking for. C'mere, I wanna show you something."

Hiccup led Luca around the back of Toothless where his tail was.

"I made this. It takes a skilled man to form such intricate handiwork and it has taken years to perfect that skill. But you're halfway there. I need you to help me make Toothless a tail where he can fly on his own."

"But...Toothless, he needs you, Hiccup. You are his dragon rider."

"No, I am his friend, and that is much more important. And friend's always make the best choice for each other."

Luca smiled slightly and stood as straight and tall as he could.
"Okay...Let's do it."

I took Hiccup's hand in mine and smiled at him.
"So what do we do now?"

"We're fixing what's broken, and going home."

~*~*~*~

Solomon and Olaf provided Luca and Hiccup with a small shed full of tools on the far side of the island.
Together they spent the entire day creating something that had been made once and destroyed by Toothless himself, they had to get it right.
I watched from a distance, their backs bent over a workbench and their distant laughter ringing out on the breeze.
While I was watching, Solomon came to me and leant on the other side of the tree with a long and burdening huff.
"Something wrong?" I asked.

"I just can't believe what is happening...it's like a dream...yet as real as ever." He said quietly.

"I know what you mean."

We stood again in silence for another couple of moments.

"Astrid..."

"Yes Sol..."

"You were right about Hiccup being strong...the strongest of them all."

I chuckled lightly and leant my left temple against the bark of the tree.
"I'm always right."

"Oh, because that's true!" He laughed working his way around the front of the tree to me.

"Of course it's true!" I sniggered, taking a step back.

He took one closer to me laughing and staring through me with his engaging blue eyes.
Then it just happened, in that instant like an expected accident, we kissed.

I anxiously pulled away and looked down. "I'm sorry..."

"No, that was entirely my fault."

I bit my lip nervously before slowly looking up to him.
He was looking down.
"I'm so sorry..."

"It was nothing..." He dismissed, never upward glancing.

"It wasn't nothing. It isn't nothing. Anything we might have...for each other...it's real, but it's destructive, and it has to end." I sighed.

I felt like a betrayer.
My Hiccup was standing just twenty feet away and here I was, hiding behind a tree with another man.
I hadn't realised that while my heart was crying for Hiccup, it was using Solomon as a substitute to numb the pain.
But I knew all along that Solomon could never mend my broken heart, he could simply play with the pieces.

"I know...But I do need you to know, that I love you, Astrid. I think, I always will..."

I slowly roped him into a hug and together we stood there in the silence for several agonising and painful seconds.
"Here," I whispered, pulling back and handing him the Night Fury tooth Eva had lent to me.
"Give this back to Eva...but both of you, keep it...as a token of my gratitude...and our friendship." I whispered, curling his fingers around the necklace.

"I will..."

I nodded at him with a small smile and walked away.

No turning back.

~*~*~*~

Solomon's confession broke my heart all over again and I was torn from him like I had been torn from Hiccup.
Except this one was something I alone felt, nobody else even knew this pain existed.
But I knew it wouldn't last.
Nothing lasts forever.

Hiccup and Luca finished the tail near sundown when the sky had turned a bright, crisp orange like magnesium fire.
We all gathered around to watch them secure it.
It was a beautiful piece of work, probably Hiccup's best.

The tail was black for camouflage with gold cogs and coils for fluent movement. It even had the initials of the makers on the underside.
It was amazing.
Hiccup edged toward his quiet dragon and detached the old tail, giving it to me.
I held onto it like I did Lucy, it was precious, a memory.

He quickly secured the new one and Toothless soon got the hang of it spreading it out and rolling it in.

"See bud, you got it!" Smiled Hiccup, his voice cracking and his eyes burning with sadness.

Hiccup removed all of Toothless' other flight armour and his saddle until Toothless was bare.
He looked like a wild Night Fury now.
When Hiccup was finished, he stood face to face with his Night Fury.
Toothless stared back at him for a few moments before nuzzling into his rider's chest.
Hiccup forced a small smile and hugged his dragon.
"You're my best friend, bud. Still my best friend...and I love you..."
Toothless purred quietly in reply.
"Now go home...where you belong."

Toothless licked Hiccup gently and nuzzled him one last time before taking to the skies.
He roared loudly in the air drawing a breath from us all.
Everybody watched in silence then, all at once, he was gone as the clouds covered him, like he had never been here in the first place.
People started to disperse but I worked my hand into Hiccup's and turned him away from the direction the dragon had gone.

"You're not alone...you never will be."
I hugged him and held there for as long as possible.
I was home when I was with Hiccup.

"I never thought I would have to say goodbye..."

"There is hope, Hiccup. There is a life out there for you to live, with or without Toothless. Besides, something tells me this won't be the last time we see the useless reptile." I smiled encouragingly.

Hiccup didn't smile, he turned back in the direction of Toothless' flight path and sighed. "Let's go home."

~*~*~*~

It was a four day sail from the Robin's Crest back home so, now we were stacked up with supplies from the Magnuses, it was time to say goodbye.

I turned to the Magnus family stood quietly on the shore.
Olaf and his four grandchildren, Solomon, Luca, Eva and Arianna.

I embraced Olaf first, thanking him for all of his help and again for the supplies.
Then the twins, telling them I would severely miss them and hoped they would visit soon.
I hugged Luca and thanked him for all of the work and effort he put in for Hiccup and Toothless.
Without him, there would be no Hiccup.

At last, I stood in front of Solomon.
He was staring at the ground, unable to look at me.

"So this is goodbye..." He murmured under his breath.
I forced a smile and also looked at the ground like he. "I told you, I don't like goodbyes."

He chuckled painfully and another moment of silence tore between us like a knife.
I reached out and lifted his chin up like I was always doing to Hiccup, and smiled.
His bright blue eyes were glazed with tears and his lop-sided grin was turned upside down.

"This isn't goodbye forever, we'll see each other again."

He smiled slightly and twiddled his thumbs with anxiety. "I know. But it's going to be a long while before I see you again, my friend."

I swallowed hard and wrapped him in a hug, tears stinging my own eyes.
"Then let this be 'take care', until we meet again."

He rested his chin on top of my head and sighed long and hard. "I guess I'll see you round."

"I hope so."

~*~*~*~
~ Hiccup's POV ~

We walked back down to the port where everyone was leaving.
Dragons were taking off and the ships were sailing away.

Leaving was the easy part, arriving home without Toothless would be the hard part.
I was so used to him bouncing at my heels and nuzzling my hands that for a long while my life would feel as empty as a broken bottle.

I wasn't worried about Toothless, he would be fine without me.
I was worried about myself. I could survive without Toothless, I wasn't sure if I would be able to live.

We boarded the ship slowly and as my feet touched the wood I knew the road ahead was really long, but there was a
finish line; and I had to reach it.
For Toothless.
The ramp was pulled in, the anchor raised and the last ship set sail.

Everyone was waving and cheering as we sailed away, all except I and Astrid.

She rested her hand on mine, as I was using the wall to balance myself, and sighed.

"When can I ride again?" I asked.

She smirked and squeezed my fingers assuredly. "Can we try a bath first? You stink like steaming heap of dragon-"

I turned to her with a laugh and rested a finger on her lips. "-When we get home can Lucy take her first flight?"

Astrid kissed me, her hands on my shoulders, her eyes inches from my face, calming my nerves.
"Sure. I've got no plans, have you?"

"Not one."

~*~*~*~
This is the second to last chapter of my fanfic so my next update will be my last one! :( I hope you enjoyed this chapter! (And that it wasn't too sad?). I think the idea of Toothless and Hiccup separating is horrific, but it's also satisfying so I kept it in. There is a happy ending, I promise.
What did you think about Astrid and Solomon? Did you see that coming? (*Feels* Marvel fans understand) I know some of you did.
Anyway, watch this space for the last chapter! I'm excited to post it!

~ Httyd_2014 <3