Dagur stares at me, astonished. "Oh... you called me brother."

I bow my head down slightly, giving him a sincere smile. Then he pulls my arm, still holding his, forward and wraps me in a hug. He proceeds to squeeze me to Helheim and back. "Thank you, brother." he gushes.

"Haha, you're welcome." I wheeze. He lets me go finally and steps back, a grin on his face as I double over to catch my breath.

"I won't forget this, brother." He tells me, before he turns and walks through the portal. I watch him go with a smile, bent with my hands on my knees as I try to catch my breath.

"That guy is a whole bag of weird." Sam says.

Dagur, on the grass on the other side of the portal in New Berk, turns. "Hey, 'that guy' can hear you."

Sam gives a fake smile and lifts his middle finger at Dagur. Whatever that means.

"Dude." Rhodey says as Dagur gives a confused squint. "it's no fun if he doesn't understand it."

"It's pretty fun to me," Sam shrugs. The portal closes and Dagur vanishes from sight.

I turn and face everyone, clearing my throat.

"I'd, uh, actually like to go back to my world, after all." I announce.

Toothless and I walk back up to the group after I perform a check on our gear and put on my armour. Strange is already beginning to form a portal for us. I take a slow breath in, willing courage to fill me. No matter what happens, I have to be there for my people. For funerals. For protection. For anything.

I sigh as we approach. "I hope I'm making the right call here."

"You are," Natasha says calmly from my left. "You can't run from this type of thing."

"And you can't leave them wondering about you." Steve adds from somewhere behind me and to the left. "Not everyone gets the kind of chance you're getting; to go home. A lot of people would... would kill for it."

I get the feeling he's talking about himself.

"I've spent my whole life with my people." I explain slowly, turning to face everyone. The portal slowly grows behind me. "I've never been able to imagine my life without them. Losing my father was hard enough. But my friends? Astrid? And my mum? My mum... gods, twenty years without her and then I got her back, just to lose her again? I can't... I've only known her for two years."

"Listen, think of it like this." Dr Strange says and I turn to look at him as he continues making the spell out of thin air. "I talk a lot of shit. There's a high chance that that alternate reality 'me' was lying through his teeth. Trying to get to you psychologically."

"A lot of the people we fight do the same," Peter adds.

"Yeah, it's usually because they're insecure!" Kate adds.

I let my shoulders drop. "Yeah... well, It's not like I will have anything left to lose. if I stay here I'm giving away my life with Astrid. if I go and she's... well, then it was already gone."

"That's... not the most optimistic take, but at least it's something." Steve admits. I shrug.

"Here, when those pills run out you'll probably need a few more before you're better." Pepper advises me, tossing me another container. I smile in thanks and tuck it away safely in one of Toothless' saddle compartments, where it joins the other one.

"So, can we get on with this?" Tony claps his hands together. "I'm all out of coffee."
I glance at Toothless. I'll never feel ready. "Yeah." I shrug.

We turn our attention back to Strange as he gets close to finishing off the spell. "You ready to go home?" He glances at me with a twitch of a smile. I take a breath, cementing the choice in my mind. My duty is to my people.

"Absolutely." I answer firmly, but with a heavy heart that knows I'll never see these people again. I try not to let the intrusive thoughts show. Partly because I don't want to believe them, and partly because I don't want to doubt Stephen's ability. Nonetheless, they still float around in the back of my mind. What if it doesn't work? What if we can't go home after all? I just... don't know if I want to think of that.

"It was cool knowing you, dude." Peter, previously known to me only as Spider-man, bounces up. "Are you sure you want to do this? You could stay here. We have this great thing called therapy that I never go to, but you might like it. You look like you need it."
I smile softly, shaking my head. "My people need me." Astrid floats in my mind. Gods, I can't wait to hold her. Maybe.

Peter smiles at me. "I thought you'd say that. This was fun. Kind of. I'll miss you, dude." He says. He bends and gives Toothless a scratch.
"So will we." I answer for us. I look over at Strange. The portal must be nearly done, the orange lights and whatnot taking shape.

Toothless launches forward onto Peter, attacking him with licks. Peter is absolutely over the moon for the love. But I just laugh. "Good luck getting that out. It doesn't wash out."
"Something to remember you by, then." Peter chuckles, but grimaces at the slimey saliva covering him.
"That's gross." Yelena calls from a distance.
"Yeah. Don't come near me." Kate adds.

"It's ready." Strange calls. I turn, seeing the sphere expand into a portal much like the ones he made for everyone else, and on the battlefield. It's fairly misty, as if in the middle of a rainstorm, but a few seconds pass and the blur disappears. I can see familiar waters and skies. I even see the water dropping off, I guess we were closer to the Hidden World than we thought. All the chatter dies away as Toothless and I stare at our way home. My heart pounds in my chest as I take it all in.

"Hey, what's that giant water pit?" Peter asks, pointing. I wave him off.
"Don't worry about it."
"I don't know, it looks like something we should worry about." He objects. I just chuckle under my breath. I'm going to leave him to wonder about that.

I clear my throat. "Thank you." I say. To Strange. To everyone. "For everything. Except for, you know, the bad stuff." I'll never forget this experience—both the good and the bad.

"Anyone else feel like we should be sending a licensed therapist with them?" Kate asks outloud.
"I really feel like we've done nothing but traumatise him." Rhodey adds.

Toothless and I walk up to the portal, turning one last time to see everyone smiling at us and a few waves, especially the enthusiastic one from Peter. I smile, slip on my helmet, and climb into the saddle. I spread the tail. We rise into the air, fly a quick lap overhead, and surge forward into the glowing light.

The ocean meets us as we cross through the portal, the sounds from the city growing muted immediately. Toothless and I do a flip in the air, marvelling in the quietness and familiarity. I throw a wave at the portal, and I catch sight of a few of them waving back at us before the portal closes.

We hover in place for a moment, looking to where the portal had been. It's gone without a trace now, like nothing ever happened.

I take a breath in, the crisp air swelling within me. A few seconds pass. "Ready to go home, bud?" I ask, the foreign sounds completely gone. Leaving us with the ocean and the sky. Toothless looks up at me, excited. I pat his head. We turn and take off for New Berk. No rain this time, no storms to get in our way. Just white fluffy clouds scattered throughout the sky.

*** a short time later ***

The clouds part as we dive down, revealing the bustling, alive, familiar New Berk. I almost collapse out of relief. The soft grassy ground rushes up to meet us as we touch down with a thud. I take a second to lift my helmet visor and take in a breath of fresh New Berk air, seeing familiar dragons and Vikings flying in the skies and walking the land. My fingers numbly fumble with the buckles and straps on the saddle, trying to free myself and touch the ground again. Finally, I unclasp myself from the saddle.

Slowly, I slide off the saddle and continue to look around in overwhelming appreciation. My chest heaves, tears stinging my eyes as I look around at all I thought I'd lost. In that moment a loud squark sounds overhead, and I turn in time to see a familiar dragon landing.

"Astrid!" Her name falls out of my mouth in a desperate and relieved cry to see her. Gods.

Astrid throws herself off the saddle and hits the ground running before Stormfly has even touched down, tackling me in a hug. "Hiccup!" She yells as we collide, barely staying upright. I hold her just as tightly, breathing in her scent and feeling my body shake as the tears flood down my face. I don't care about my side. I don't care about anything. I only care about her. She's okay. She's real. She's here. She's alive.

"Astrid, gods, I missed you so much." I whisper, holding her tight and reminding myself to breathe. After a few seconds of embracing we finally pull back, but don't let go. Never again.

We stare into each other's eyes, and that's when it dawns on me. "How long has it been? Please, Astrid. You've gotta tell me."

How much have I missed out on? How much time has passed?

"It's been three months, Hiccup. Where have you been?!"
I sag in relief. "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter anymore because we made it back. We made it and I'll never leave you again." I choke out. 3 months... only 3 months. "One day I'll tell you everything, but I can't— not now. I'm just glad you're okay."
"Muttonhead." She whispers, but there's no anger. She socks me in the shoulder, but all I do is laugh. Gods, I've missed her punches too. No amount of pain could overwhelm the joy swirling around inside me right now. The relief. She laughs with me, a grateful laugh. My hands come to rest on her waist, and I pull her into a sweet kiss. My eyes close, drinking in the moment and the happiness. We're together again.

*******

Toothless and I are perched on one of the high cliff tops, overlooking the ocean looming down below. The air carries with it the salty scent of the water down below. I'd forgotten just how much I love this. Only gone for a few days, and yet it feels like a life time.

"Ready, bud?" I ask, turning to look down at him as wind whips my hair around and makes my eyes water, just to see him looking back at me in pure joy. I grin, pull my visor down, and flip my prosthetic into the stirrup.

We leap off the cliff, wind rushing at us as we dive down towards the sea below. Toothless spreads his wings, the salty sea spraying up at us as we level off and surge up. I drink in the euphoria of the open skies, our open skies. I wouldn't change a thing of this moment.

Toothless looks up at me. I look down at him. Our joy connects and only fuels us to go faster, our passion driving us around the sky in something that can be described as nothing but pure, unmatched, unfiltered joy.

If there's anything this experience has taught me, it's that there's nothing more important to us than the people and places we hold close to our hearts. That we know we can rely on them to get us through anything, even if it's just a thought of them or a memory.

Because the only reason I came back here was the small chance that Astrid would be okay. She was constantly on my mind back in that world, the lingering thought as stubborn as she is.

One day all we know will be gone and we may find ourselves in an unfamiliar world. Which is why we should appreciate what we have, and who we meet... yes, even if they're masked superheroes.

We fly up to the white, fluffy clouds, spinning... and climbing... and falling ... and diving exactly as we desire.

Because no matter what life throws at us. We have people to rely on, to support and to love.

We level out. Sun shines down at us from above through patches in the clouds. I close my eyes and breathe in slowly to savour the moment. When I open my eyes, I look over to my left and see Astrid sitting on Stormfly as they glide next to us. I smile, drinking in the sight. The breath of air that leaves my lungs when she looks at me makes me feel like a love struck kid, but that's just how I feel whenever she looks at me.

A future to look forward to.

The Light Fury appears from above, cooing happily down at us. Toothless purrs in response.

A present to appreciate.

We spin around Astrid and Stormfly in the air, twisting around and around until we duck out of the clouds to see old Berk. Grass and moss have started growing over the burn marks, the environment beginning to recover. Making a comeback from desolation.

A past to cherish.

We glide over the island, sweeping over its hills and waters like old times, before we fly off into the clouds again. When we dive through the clouds next, the sky is slowly getting dark with the setting sun on the horizon as New Berk towers above the swelling ocean.

Oh, yeah.

I click the tail, and rock back in the saddle as we fly faster.

And everything is better with dragons!

It's my fic and I'll make it as sappy as I WANT thank you very much!

Lmao. Real talk though. Thank you all so much for following me along on this journey, I appreciate all your comments and your votes. I had a lot of fun writing this fic and I'm so happy to see people liking it.

This chapter marks the final epilogue, and ends this book as a stand-alone. I'm going to mark this book as complete, but keep an eye out for when I announce the sequel to the other epilogues, as those story lines are not completed!

If you have any questions please comment, and obviously they've removed private messaging so if you need to reach me, shout at me from my message board, in the comments, or join the discord in my profile. It's dead though but I'm active every day.

Thank you for reading ❤️