Toothless and Windshear were sleeping soundly on the plateau, curled into themselves right behind where Hiccup and Heather were standing.

Baby Scuttleclaws suddenly bounded on top of the snoozing dragons, waking them instantly.

Heather tightened the straps to her armor, and next to her, Hiccup did the same thing, checking each one of the attachments and making sure he still had Inferno. She looked at her husband, feeling slightly reluctant about their decision of leaving so quickly.

"Hey, Hiccup," she said, "are you sure we have to leave so soon? I...I mean...we could always stick around for a few more minutes...or at least say goodbye to your mother and sister..."

Even as she spoke, she knew saying goodbye to them wasn't a good idea. They had to leave in secret, and they had to do it before Valka or Hala caught them in the act. If Valka was as protective as Stoick, she would most likely set packs of dragons to watch Hiccup and Heather just to make sure they didn't leave.

But at the same time, it felt wrong, just to leave without telling them where they were going.

Hiccup shook his head, like she knew he would. "No, we can't," he said. "We're not waiting around for Drago to attack this place. Eret already said that Drago knows where the cave is...there isn't time to waste, Heather. We've gotta find him first."

Heather sighed, mostly to herself, because she knew he was right. She nodded. "And then after we find Drago and talk him, or fight him, out of the whole dragon army business, we'll come back, right?" she said.

Hiccup nodded. "Yes," he promised. Knowing he wasn't going to vanish on his sister and mother after only just finding them. "We'll come back."

A baby Scuttleclaw bit Toothless' tail in its gummy jaws and Toothless lifted his tail and the dragon clear off the ground, snarling at the baby one. Windshear scared it off, and the Scuttleclaw complained in little grunts and chirps as it flew away.

"Come on," Hiccup said. "Let's go."

Heather nodded. She was about to turn around and jump on Windshear's back, but suddenly, she saw, in the corner of her eye, Hiccup jerked backwards. There were muffled cries; something must have been covering his mouth.

All this happened in a split second, because the very next thing she knew it, Heather had her axe drawn and aimed at...Stoick?

Toothless snarled at Stoick, and then relaxed when he realized who it was.

Hiccup clawed at his father's grip on his face, and eventually broke away, stumbling forward to stand beside Heather again.

"Are you kidding me!?" he blurted.

""What-what are you doing here!?" Heather asks him, putting her weapon away.

"How did you get in here!?" Hiccup demanded.

Heather was thinking the same way. They knew the Berk had tracking dragons, but at the same time, it seemed weird that they just suddenly barged in here without anyone even noticing.

Well, at the same time, they guessed that he could have snuck in here easily on his dragon.

"The same way we're getting you two out," Stoick replied.

"WE!?" Hiccup and Heather exclaimed in unison.

"All clear!" An accented voice called from behind them, and Hiccup and Heather looked as Gobber motioned for Stoick and the two dragon riders to follow him, waving his hook at them for extra emphasis.

Stoick grabbed Hiccup's wrist and held it tightly, and then, he grabbed Heather's wrist as well. His grip was hard and tight, and she knew that no amount of jerking or wriggling would free herself from the tight clasp.

"Toothless," Stoick began in a commanding tone, "Windshear, come." He then turned and followed Gobber, practically dragging Hiccup and Heather along with him. Heather tried to keep up with with Stoick's long strides, but it wasn't working very well. Hiccup was stumbling across from her, speaking constantly, trying to get his father's attention.

"Ah, Dad!" he said. "There's something you need to know!"

That's when they realized exactly where they were heading: straight for a cave which Valka had said she would be going earlier. Stoick didn't know his wife and daughter were alive. Stoick didn't know that they have survived.

"Stoick!" Heather shouted when Hiccup's yelling got them nowhere. "Listen to him! Or if you won't listen to him listen to me! Your-"

"Yeah, yeah," Stoick said as he continued dragging his rebellious, stubborn children through the tunnels with the dragons following them closely. "Tell me on the way."

"This isn't an on-the-way kind of update, actually, Dad!" Hiccup tried.

"I've heard enough, Hiccup," Stoick said.

"It's more of the earth shattering development variety!" Heather insisted.

"I've heard enough from you too, Heather," Stoick said in a flat tone as if he had said it a hundred times.

"DAD!" Hiccup complained.

"Yeah, just add it to the pile," Stoick muttered.

"Dad, unlike most surprises I spring on you," Hiccup said slowly, "this is one you'll like, I promise! You just have to handle it delicately, so..."

His voice trailed off when they realized that Gobber had stopped in front of the opening to what looked like a cave, staring inside it with a look of shock.

This was it.

Stoick was going to see his wife and daughter for the first time in twenty years.

"Uh..." Gobber said quietly, "you miiiiggghhht want to take this one. Oh, boy." He continued walking, straight past Stoick, Heather and Hiccup. Stoick released the youths' wrists at length, just to draw his sword instead.

Hiccup and Heather panicked both at once. "Oh, Dad, can you put the sword away?" Hiccup practically begged. "Please?"

Then, Stoick stepped through the opening, and his eyes widened. He stood as still as a tree, his eyes remaining wide, his expression entirely unreadable. Hesitantly, Heather put her hand on his and pried his fingers away from the hilt of his sword. This was surprisingly easy, and his sword clattered against the ground almost instantly.

Stoick took his helmet off his head and set that to the side as well, keeping his eyes fixated at the sight before him.

Valka and Hala looked back at him with different shocked expression, but she didn't look as shocked to see him as expected.

Gala had no idea who this man was, and wa shocked he got past them. Valka was shocked he was here at all.

"I know what you're going to say, Stoick," Valka said quietly; the first of the two to speak as Hala has no idea who this is, never meeting her father. "How could I have done this? Stayed away all these years...and why didn't I come back to you?" Her voice cracked, just slightly. Valka looked at Hiccup, and then at Heather. "To our son with our daughter?" she continued and Hala put the pieces together that this man, this large, buff, bearded man was her father.

Stoick took a step forward.

"Well," Valka went on slowly, "what sign did I have that you could change, Stoick?" Stoick continued walking, his feet never stilling. "That anyone on Berk could? I pleaded...I pleaded, so many times to stop the fighting, to find another answer, but did any of you listen?"

"This is why I never married. This, and one other reason." Gobber commented.

Heather elbowed him harshly. Shut up.

"I know that I left you to raise Hiccup alone, and I to raise Hala alone." Valka said, sounding on the verge of tears. "I know everything he went through. I know I never even came back, to see if you had changed...but I thought my family would be better off without us."

Stoick was close enough to reach out and touch her at this point, and Valka's voice grew panicked and desperate. "And I was wrong," she said. "I see that now, but..." She looked terrified. Absolutely terrified. "Oh, stop being so Stoick, Stoick!" she pleaded. "Go on. Shout! Scream! Say something!"

Stoick reached out his hand and put it gently against her cheek, as if she would vanish like a cloud of steam or shatter like glass. Valka stiffened, her eyes filling with tears.

There was a beat. And then, Stoick whispered in the most quiet, gentle tone Heather had ever heard him use. His voice cracked multiple times as he spoke. "You're as beautiful as the day I lost you."

The tears finally broke free. Valka lowered her head and shut her eyes, tears slipping past her lids. Stoick closed the gap between them, and their lips met.

The Haddock family, father, son, daughter, mother, and daughter/sister in law was finally being pieced back together.

Hala was finally seeing her mother, father, and brother in the same place, finally seeing them happier than she had ever seen anyone before in her life.

Since the situation seemed appropriate enough, Hala wrapped her arm around Hiccup's and Heather's shoulders, and in turn, they did the same, smiling at their mother and father with glistening eyes.

They were together again.

Just like they were always meant to be.

Astrid was certain that if she made a list of all the bad days she struggled through life, this day would be at the top of that list.

She, the others, and Eret, stood at the stern of the ship. A long, wooden plank was positioned with one end on the ship and the other end hanging over the deep, restless ocean. Soldiers stood behind them with spears, ready to use them should the riders try anything tricky.

"Could this day get any worse?" Snotlout groaned from behind her.

"Uh, let me see," Tuffnut said slowly. "You'll jump into freezing cold water and then die from drowning."

Eret stepped towards the edge of the plank and looked over the side of it, staring down at the water. "Looks refreshing," he muttered under his breath as he turned back to face Astrid again. "Please," he said, stepping out of the way. "Ladies first."

Astrid bared her teeth. She hated him. She absolutely hated him for everything he had done to her and her friends. It was his fault they were here. It was all his stupid fault. Him and his trappers ruined her day.

"You," she began threateningly, "are a steaming heap of dragon-"

"Duck," Eret whispered.

He swung his foot before she could ask what he meant, and she ducked on instinct. Eret's leg connected with the soldier's head, knocking him unconscious. He grabbed the spear the soldier had been carrying, holding it in his bound hands. He swung it at another soldier, and another, and another, and before Astrid even knew what the heck was happening, the soldiers were unconscious.

Eret unchained himself easily. It was then that Astrid noticed a soldier speak to another soldier; "Warn the others." And then, said soldier ran off.

Eret noticed it at the same moment she did, and he picked up one of the tranquilizer dart shooters and ran towards the soldier.

"Get 'em, you son of an Eret!" Ruffnut encouraged.

Astrid didn't know what was happening, and she still had about a million questions for Eret. Both soldiers were unconscious as soon as Eret finished with them, and the dragon trapper turned back towards Astrid and the other dragon riders.

"Okay, I love you again." Ruffnut said happily.

Snotlout looked hurt.

"Ugh," Tuffnut said as he stepped beside the depressed Jorgenson. "Pathetic. You can still jump."

Astrid disregarded her friends, her attention now on Eret.

Eret smiled. "So," he said, "are we going to save you dragons and get out of here or not?"

Astrid couldn't help the small smile that played across her face.

Hiccup really could change anyone's mind about dragons. All it took was a little tiny bit of doubt about how bad dragons really were, and then, that tiny bit of question turned into rebellion against the ones who tried to control the dragons for their own evil doing.

Eret was on their side, and Astrid was going to accept his help if he was truly willing to give it. She nodded.

"Check every trap," Eret ordered. "They're here somewhere."

They didn't need to be told twice. They spread out as if they had did it every day and began prying traps open, pulling levers, and checking inside for any sign of their dragons.

Astrid turned one of the cranks to the dome-shaped, bear-trap-like cage and waited for it to open just a crack before stepping on the handle and hauling herself upwards so she could peer inside.

What she saw was a familiar Gronckle, smiling happily and wriggling against its chains in an attempt at getting free.

"Meatlug?" Astrid asked, just for clarification, and when the Gronckle squealed happily, Astrid dropped to the ground, and began working to undo the dragon's bonds.

Eret cranked one of the handles, turning it with all his might to open another dragon cage they had located.

"Anyone coming?" Asked of Ruffnut, who was watching just a foot away from him, not offering any help whatsoever.

"I don't know, you just keeping doing what you're doing," she said, almost creepily. "Keep cranking."

Eret ignored her, and then the cage was opened, he jumped inside. And there was Stormfly, Astrid's Nadder, who had saved his life.

At first, the dragon struggled, but then, she calmed down. Eret looked at the Deadly nadder, crouched down, and extended his hand towards her. "Thank you," he said, "for saving my life."

Stormfly looked at him curiously for just a moment before she pressed her head against Eret's hand. Eret felt his breath quicken, and he smiled.

"Now let me return the favor."