Ch. 17- Knowing

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I woke up to the feeling of somebody watching me. If I didn't know who it was, it would have been creepy. I couldn't stop the smile as I thought of what happened last night.

"Good morning, baby sister."

I opened my eyes to find his face on the other side of the pillow. "Good morning, big brother!" I was so happy to be able to say that again, despite me having been home for a month now.

I realized how much of a difference it made to know this place was home. I no longer debated on leaving to continue my search. I let the place feel like home, and I knew I belonged.

I was officially home with my family.

He started to get up, but I pulled him back down. "Please, big brother, just a minute more. I've longed for this for nearly ten years."

"Actually, it has been ten years. Our birthday makes it eleven."

"Really? Hmm, I must have lost track of a year when I was younger or something. I got better at keeping track of time once I caught up with Bard."

"How old is Bard?"

"About five years younger than me, why?"

"Just curious."

"I'll have to visit him for Snoggletog. I missed last year. He hardly forgave me for that."

"What were you doing last year?"

"I went outside the archipelago searching for you," I answered. "I spent nearly a year and a half and made an ally as well as a few enemies. I got a hold of a special blade for him with a special leather with sapphire gems in it, and gave that to Bard as a late Snoggletog gift. He was really upset at my lack of- LETTERS! Oh, Thor, Bard's probably worried sick!"

I jumped out of bed and raced to the desk Hiccup had brought in specially for me. I quickly pulled out ink, a pencil, and paper, then stopped. I had no idea where to start.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Hiccup said, following me at a slower pace. "Relax. You've only been here a month. I'm sure Bard is fine. You can write and send the letter later. Right now, I'm hungry. Let's make breakfast."

Hiccup tugged me away from my desk with an aura I wasn't used to. It always circled him whenever Bard was brought up, and I didn't know why. I used the newly found fact of him being my brother to come up with another reason to Hiccup acting this way.

"Are you jealous of Bard because he's like a brother to me?" I asked as I was dragged down the stairs.

"What? Who? Me? Jealous of Bard? No," he denied, obviously fibbing. "Nope. Not at all. Not one bit."

I stopped him at the bottom steps. He was on the floor, and I was on the last step. "He'll never replace you, big brother. No one can. You're my one and only big brother."

He smiled, "Thanks. I needed that." He guided rather than dragged me the rest of the way, and we made ourselves a late breakfast before racing to the Academy.

"Hi, everybody!" I cheered, not able to contain my excitement.

"Well, someone's happy today," Snoutlout noted.

"Wait," Tuff called from his pinned down state under Ruffnut. "Ow! Ow!" he yelled as his sister twisted his arm back. Ruffnut lowered his arm again. "Isn't she always happy?"

"Yeah, but I'm with Snoutlout on this one. Something's different," Fishlegs said.

"So, what's got you two so happy?" Astrid asked, walking up to us. She saw our hands together. "Did you?" she trailed, hinting the rest of the question for Hiccup.

"Yes, she knows," Hiccup beamed. "I told her earlier this morning before dawn, then we took a short nap."

Tuffnut snickered, "Short nap," as he stood back up. "It's almost noon."

"Yeah," Ruffnut agreed. "We've been waiting for hours!"

"Sorry," I apologized, not able to make it sound sincere because of my giant smile. "It was my fault."

"No, it wasn't, Star," Hiccup comforted. "They're just joking. No hard feelings."

"So, uh, what are we doing today?" Tuffnut asked.

We looked at each other, shrugging.

"We could- I don't know- go to Sapphire Island or something like that," I suggested.

"Why would go to Sapphire Island?" Snoutlout asked, like I was stupid.

I shrugged. "I don't know, but if we don't go there today, I'll visit tomorrow or something."

"Why? That place is filled with dragon fighting, blood thirsty vikings. Their chief is just as cold hearted as the weather on Glacier Island."

"True. True, but I know a certain someone on Sapphire Island who doesn't hurt dragons. In fact, he rides a Changewing."

Everyone gasped. "Changewing?"

Fishlegs walked up to me, griping tightly onto my shoulders. "A Changewing?" He shook me slightly. "You know someone who trained a Changewing?" He went on squealing and sprouting out information about what he knew and wanted to know about the Changewing, but I couldn't keep up with the violent shaking.

"Whoa, Fishlegs, calm down," Hiccup cut in, getting Fishlegs to let go of me. My vision was still out of it, and my balance was with Thor as I fell. Luckily, Hiccup caught me and held me up. "You alright there, Star?"

"Oops, sorry, Star. I just got so excited-"

"I'm o- okay," I answered, unevenly. My vision was improving with each passing second, but I now had a slight headache. "But maybe we should hold off on that trip." I groaned, slowly putting more weight on my own two feet rather than leaning on Hiccup. "And, Fishlegs, a little warning next time, please, so I have time to hide."

He chuckled, sheepishly. "Sorry."

"It's alright, just a warning next time, please."

Fishlegs agreed, then we went back to the topic of Sapphire Island.

"Who do you know on Sapphire Island that doesn't kill dragons?" Astrid asked.

"Bard. After a year or so of traveling together, we found his aunt and uncle. I decided he needed to stay with his family and let him settle down. I was planning on, hopefully, changing the minds of the people when I found my family, so I could have Violet by my side at all times, but," I looked around, then at Hiccup, "that's already taken care of! Anyways, after that, I planned on getting Bard so he could live openly with Amber, but he's making roots in Sapphire Island, so he might not come."

"Amber is Bard's Changewing?" asked Fishlegs.

"Yup. He found Amber when she was just a hatchling, though. She was barely big enough to ride when I found Bard. Now she's full grown."

"Wow. I have so many questions," squealed Fishlegs.

"Oh, maybe I should go alone. Bard doesn't really like new people."

"Nope. Too dangerous," Hiccup immediately shot down. "Something could happen to you. Or Violet."

"We'll be fine, big brother. I've been there plenty of times before."

"But it's still dangerous."

"So?"

"So you're not going," he answered, firmly. "Send letters, talk about him, even have him come here, whatever, but I'm not losing you again."

"You won't lose me, I promise, but you can't stop me."

"Yes, I can!" he challenged.

I decided to let the subject drop. "Fine, whatever. I'm done talking. My idea was just a suggestion, what else to do y'all have in mind?" I looked towards the gang to find them staring at us, watching our mini disagreement in surprise. They quickly recovered, though.

"I don't know," shrugged Tuff.

"Sacrifice Tuffnut?" Ruffnut suggested, eagerly.

Tuffnut took a second to think it over. "Okay, sounds fun. What should I wear?"

"We're not sacrificing anyone," dead planned Hiccup.

"Awe," Ruff sighed, disappointed. She quickly recovered, and we waited for the next idea.

"I would say Dragon Race, but I'm not in the mood," Snoutlout said, just to say something. Everyone agreed with him, even me.

"I vote for anything that doesn't require a lot of physical work. I'm feeling lazy," Ruff informed.

"Okay, so something entertaining that doesn't require moving," concluded Hiccup. "How about a Dragon Knowledge Competition?"

"What happened to 'No Competition' Hiccup?" Astrid teased.

He rolled his eyes. "That was before Dragon Racing. Besides, y'all took everything as a competition anyways."

"So, any ideas on what were going to do?" Snoutlout cut in, cutting Hiccup off as he started to continue. "And no Dragon Knowledge junk!"

Nothing.

Silence.

And- oh wait.

Idea!

"We could go to the beach and relax, laze about, and just do normal teenager stuff," I imputed, not knowing what else to say.

""Normal teenager stuff"?" I was asked.

"Yes," I said confidently, the total opposite of what I felt. "Like, talking."

"Hate to brake it to you, but even five year olds talk. That's not just for teenagers."

I rolled my eyes at the annoying Snoutlout. "No! I meant just having random conversations with each other."

"Then why didn't you just say that?"

I didn't answer and rolled my eyes again. "So, does anyone like my idea?"

"Yeah, sounds nice, but how about we go to the cove, instead?" Hiccup thought.

"And, we could have a picnic. With the soft blanket and basket full of food," Tuffnut started. "Oh, the food. We can have sandwiches with specially cut bread and-"

"Yeah, sounds nice," Astrid said over his imaginary food. He snapped his teeth together, seeming genuinely woken up when he realized there was no food in front of him.

Tuffnut exclaimed, "I make a mean sandwich," in an over exaggerated manner.

"He does," Ruffnut agreed. "He's the best on Berk."

"Great, so we all head home, pack something to eat and meet at the cove in half an hour, got it?" instructed Hiccup, climbing onto Toothless. Everyone followed his example and agreed.

Well, looks like we were going to the cove were Hiccup trained Toothless. I had heard many stories about that place. I wonder if it was the same one we went to as kids. I hopped on Violet and let Hiccup lead the way.

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