"Gobber, the pageant's tonight, so are you sure you're gonna be able to do this?" He got up and advanced toward the sobbing Viking.

"I hoped it wasn't noticeable!"

"You know, it is, but Gobber, think of the kids." Hiccup looked back at our three children, his eyes beaming with pride. "We're doing this for them." My attention was suddenly snapped to Kjartan, who was slamming his head against a bench, just for the fun of it. I jumped up and pulled him away, bringing him to sit in my lap so he couldn't keep hitting his head.

"Aye, Hiccup. Brilliant, as always. All right, I'm okay."

"It's gonna be fine," Hiccup assured him. "Fine."

"Okay, people! Two minutes to curtain!"

As people scrambled to get to their places, Hiccup came back down the stairs and approached me. I smiled as he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer against his chest.

"I'm sorry our entire day as been wrapped up in getting ready for the pageant. We haven't gotten to do anything we do on Snoggletog." I reached up and touched his cheek.

"It's fine, Hiccup. We'll still make dinner and give the kids their presents, we'll just do it tonight instead. All our traditions will still be there." He suddenly fell silent, tracing a hand up my arm as he refused to meet my eyes. "Hiccup? What's on your mind?" He was silent for another moment, before mumbling, so others around us couldn't hear him.

"Those aren't... the tradition I was thinking of." I smirked at him, raising an eyebrow and remaining silent for a while, just to mess with him. "But I mean, if you're not--"

"We'll figure something out." An almost goofy smile crossed his face. "Now, come on. We have to get you into your Toothless costume.

As we moved backstage, families and villagers began to file in, taking their seats and packing in tight and making sure there was enough room for everyone. The low beating against a drum signaled the start of the production, while Gobber and Tuffnut delivered their lines. Hiccup kept his eyes focused on the "actors" as I fastened everything on the suit, trying to make sure he wouldn't fall out and get hurt.

"What is that? What is that?" He pointed aggressively in Tuff's direction, clearly responding to some line. "That never happened!"

"So Gobber took a few liberties."

"I don't know, there--- were dragons everywhere, and people doubting me, especially my own father." I tried to reach out and touch him, but he accidentally batted my arm away. "And then I stood my ground and touched one. I touched a dragon. That's hardcore." I took his hand, trying to reassure him.

"He's got the spirit of the story, and that's what this pageant is really about, right?"

"Yeah, I-I guess so."

"Hiccup, you are weak and fear dragons. I am strong and understand them."

"Honey, I don't know if I wanna go through with this."

"You're on!" Before he could protest any further, I slammed down the head of the Toothless suit and started to pull the ropes, lifting him off the ground and slowly moving him to look as though he were flying. I heard children in the crowd gasping in awe, and the smile on my son's face made my heart melt. Kerrigan, unfortunately, still seemed unimpressed, and Alith couldn't even see him. But she had already come around on dragons.

Hiccup pulled on the levers inside the suit to make the ear plates wave at the children, then spread the suit's wings. Gobber went on reciting his lines, suddenly bursting into sobs again and using a curtain to blow his nose, losing his beard in the process. And that's when the chaos happened.

I was told the curtain and beard caught fire, which spread to a rope and a shield that rolled and started causing things to fall. Snotlout jumped up from his place scrolling through the script and came back to help me try and put the flames out. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to any water or snow in time, so all we could do was stomp it out with our feet. The harness on Hiccup's suit suddenly snapped, sending him crashing onto the stage, and right as he sat up, an eye popped out. He tried his best to get things under control, but he clearly ended up pulling the wrong lever, because blue fire shot out instead.

Why he even gave it that functionality, I wouldn't understand.

I'm not really sure how things happened next, but somehow, Gobber and Hiccup managed to salvage the pageant, bringing it to an end and causing the audience to erupt into cheers. I sighed and leaned against a tree I'd rushed to for safety before heading back toward the stage.

"A little help here? Gobber? Anyone? Literally anyone?" My eyes widened and I rushed to my husband's side, helping to open up his suit and get him out of there. He still looked around, kind of lost, as I took his hand and led him off the stage. They had finished the pageant, that's what mattered.

The moment our feet touched the ground, Kjartan ran up and wrapped his arms around Hiccup's legs, a big smile adorning his face. Kerrigan held tightly onto Alith's hand, dragging her along as they approached us. They both had wide grins as well.

"Mom, Dad, that was the best pageant ever!" Kjartan cried.

"Toothless was so cool!" I laughed and leaned down to hug my children.

"I'm glad you liked it, kids."

I was about to suggest that we head home for the night, when a familiar group of faces made their way over to us, causing Kerrigan and Kjartan to jump even higher.

"Uncle Fishlegs!" Kjartan cried, running up to him and practically smashing into Fishlegs' side. "Did you see Toothless? Did you see him?"

"I did," Fishlegs answered enthusiastically, reaching down to pat Kjartan's head. "He's a pretty cool dragon, huh?"

"The coolest!" Kerrigan cried. "Did your dragon look like that, Auntie Ruffnut?"

"What? Like Toothless?" Ruff reached down and scooped up Kerrigan, bouncing her a bit. "No way. Uncle Tuffnut's and my dragon was way cooler than Toothless."

"Yeah!" Tuff shouted. "Ours had two heads. That's way better than just one." I rolled my eyes at him, but couldn't help but smile. Though it worried me sometimes, seeing Alith and Kerrigan bond with the only other twins on the island was a bit comforting.

"What did you think, Alith?" Astrid asked, crouching down in front of the girl. "Like what you hear?"

"I could feel Toothless!" she cried happily. "His scales were bumpy... but I liked it." The little smile on Alith's face grew. "And it was funny listening to Uncle Tuffnut try to sound like Dad."

"Hey, that was some of my best work, missy," Tuffnut teased. "Besides, who could do better? Snotlout? No way."

"That was unnecessary, Tuff," Snotlout scoffed. "Don't listen to him," he pretended to whisper, leaning over toward Alith. She giggled and nodded, then reached out for my hand.

"All right, kids. I'm glad you got to see all your uncles and aunts. Now, come on. Let's head home for Snoggletog dinner." Before we turned away, I raised my free hand to the rest of the group. "Happy Snoggletog, gang. We'll see you in a couple days."

Gobber walked along with us as we headed back to our home, up at the top of a hill. Kjartan and Kerrigan ran in front of us, while Hiccup held tightly onto Alith's hand, helping to lead her home.

"I love dragons!" Kerrigan exclaimed. "And I love Toothless! He's beautiful! Why didn't you tell me you were really going to bring him here?" Hiccup and I glanced and each other, completely confused.

"I have literally no idea what she's talking about," he muttered.

"I thought she was old enough to understand that's just a suit..."

"That whole thing was not what I expected."

We stopped by the statue of Stoick, spotting kids attempting to put a wreath around its neck. I felt a warm feeling spread in my chest, and Hiccup squeezed my hand a little tighter.

"I'm Stoick the Vast." Kjartan puffed up his chest and stomped his feet, somehow having donned a helmet.

"And I'm Toothless. Let's be friends." Kerrigan rested her forehead against her brother's hand, reenacting the scene they had watched earlier.

"You were right. It was exactly what everyone needed. For the kids, and for the memory of my father."

"Oh." I leaned forward and kissed his cheek, sighing as he moved his free arm around my waist.

"Gobber, you have well honored my father and your friend."

"It was my deepest privilege to do so. Thank you, Hiccup." They smiled to each other, acknowledging the peace they had now made. "Well, guess I'll be heading home. Alone. Oh, the best Snoggletogs are spent in solitary, cavernous silence." We both smiled, having the same idea at the same time.

"Gobber, if you're free tonight--"

"I'd love to!"

The six of us were almost back in the house, when Kerrigan stopped everyone in their tracks.

"Gobber, wait!" She grabbed the helmet off Kjartan's head and chucked it toward the front door. It took a second, but eventually, a mace came down and created a big dent in the helmet.

"Why, that's clever..."

"And..." Two arrows shot down from opposite directions, right into the wood. "You're good."

"Ha. So proud..."

"We'll take them all down in the morning," I assured Hiccup.

Kerrigan opened the door, bathing everyone in an unearthly, green glow. Hiccup, Gobber, and I stared in awe as the three children rushed up to it. Although Alith couldn't see the object itself, she could tell there was an overwhelming amount of light coming from that direction. A strange, spire-like object sat on the mantle, radiating on the world around it.

"Whoa! Look at that!"

"It's so cool!"

"It's beautiful!"

"Hiccup, did you do this?" I whispered, still staring at the strange object.

"No." He reached up and took the bowl down, finding all the fish had been cleared out. "The bowl! It's empty!"

The realization of what happened here started to dawn on me, and the moment Hiccup and I met eyes, we both knew what the other was thinking.

"Toothless?"

"Can it be?"

Hiccup suddenly took off, rushing out onto the porch and looking up into the night sky. My jaw dropped as five dragons flew past the moon, the two larger ones black and white. It really was them... and from the looks of it, they had some kids of their own. Three, just like us.

"Toothless!"

We stared for a moment longer, until our kids came crashing into us. Hiccup and I chuckled and wrapped our arms around Alith, Kerrigan, and Kjartan, directing their attentions up toward the sky where Toothless, the Light Fury, and their young dragons were flying.

"Maybe it's our turn to visit them," I suggested. Hiccup smiled and nodded, clearly eager to get going. I'm sure he'd try to go now if it weren't Snoggletog.

Once the dragons were completely out of sight, we all went back inside and ate Snoggletog dinner, then the kids opened their presents. I leaned my head against Hiccup's chest as we watched them playing with their toys and running around with each other. I wasn't sure what time it was when Gobber suddenly got up and headed toward the kids.

"Well, I think I'm going to take the kids for a walk out to the statue of their grandfather, tell them more tales of his magnificent adventures." Hiccup and I looked at him curiously. "We'll be back later."

Without explaining, he ushered them out the door. Somehow, however, Hiccup and I knew exactly what he was doing.

"Well, that's..."

"Mortifying?" I finished. He nodded, when I suddenly remembered the present I'd made for him. "Oh! Hold on! I have something for you."

I rushed up the stairs and dug around in my drawers, until I found the piece of parchment I was looking for. I hid it behind my back as I made my way down the stairs. I could see something on the table beside him as well, but I wanted to give him mine first. I quickly removed my hand from behind my back and presented him with Toothless' original tail fin—the one covered in brown leather.

"I know you had this stashed away in the attic, but I figured it deserved to be out here. Admire where it all started, you know?" The longer his eyes scanned over it, the wider his smile got, until he looked up at me with shimmering eyes. "I repaired some of the tears and straightened out the spines, of course, but it's basically the same tail from when you first built it."

"Reign, this is perfect. Thank you so much." He stared for another moment, then reached behind him and handed the book to me. My eyes scanned over it, trying to figure out what it was, until I spotted the Skrill etched on the front.

"Is this... is this my father's book of maps?" He nodded. "Where... how did you find this?"

"Dagur dug it up and gave it to me the last time we were there. He knew it'd go to better use with you than with him and Heather." I lunged out and hugged him, sighing happily. He leaned down and kissed me, and I felt completely content. I smirked and rolled my eyes at him. "Come on."

He chuckled and pecked my forehead.

"Happy Snoggletog, Reign."

"Happy Snoggletog, Hiccup."