Zephyr's POV

The morning after my little bump-in with my father the night before was an unusually ... quiet one. By the time I had woken up — which turned out to be around noon — both my father and his dragon were long gone, leaving me to enjoy my breakfast in solitude as I attempted to analyze every single breath of my conversation with my father the night before.

My mother, she just seemed too ... too real. Everything about her felt so clear, so full of life. How could I have dreamt something that realistic? How could I still feel her warmth around me every time I thought about her embrace? I rubbed my temples as my head ached from the speed the wheels in my mind were turning at, gods, why did it feel so real?

I was halfway through my bowl of oatmeal when I gave up on breakfast and realized that I needed someone to talk to about all of this and who better to talk about difficult things with than your best friend?

I quickly dropped my bowl into the washing bucket before I stormed out the door and in the direction of Cortie's house. I breezed past many of the villagers, who all seemed a little surprised to see me out and about, but I didn't have the time to stop and tell everyone that I was feeling a little better.

I marched up the steps to Cortie's house and rapped my knuckles against the dark, pine door. Moments later the door swung open, revealing Cortie's mother, Ruffnut, who looked just as surprised to see me as I was to see her. "Uh ... hey, Mrs. Ingerman I was wondering if Cortie was in? I really need to talk to her."

Ruffnut began playing with her braids as she seemed to be avoiding my gaze. "Oh, Cortie's not here, she's out with her father for the day."

I blinked, a little surprised to hear that Cortie had a life that was separate from me. It's not like I didn't know how much time she usually spends with her parents — which is a surprising amount for a girl her age — it was just the fact that she wasn't there when I needed her the most. But there was no way I could blame her for that, I figured I would just have to find someone else to talk to. "Oh, ok. Well, if you can tell her that I stopped by, that would be very nice of you Mrs. Ingerman. Have a nice day!"

Before Ruffnut even had the chance to say farewell, I was already headed in the direction of her brother's home, the Thorston house, which was definitely at the bottom of my list for potential people to talk to, but Ragnhild could be a very good friend and listener if she really wanted to. I was hoping this was one of those days.

I was in for one hell of a surprise when I turned up at the Thorston house and found it to be completely deserted, only a piece of parchment pinned to the door with a ... wishbone? How did that even work?

I squinted at the messy handwriting as I attempted to decipher whatever it was that the Thorstons had written on their note.

Taking a family vacation to the edge, we'll be back in a few days! (Leave the yakchops on the table this time, Ruffnut.) - Tuffnut and the gang

I let out a sigh as I dragged a hand across my face. Great, even Ragnhild was gone! Now there were no humans left I felt comfortable talking to about any of this. Amazing.

I made my way to the stables and up to Firestorm's stall, where she was peacefully napping. I couldn't help but smile at the snoring Nadder as I picked up some fish from the feeding station and brought it over to her in a bucket.

"Hey girl, it's time to wake up." I spoke softly as I gently stroked her head and watched her slowly open her eyes. "I brought something for you, seeing as I thought you might be hungry."

The Nadder immediately threw herself over the fish, devouring it almost as fast as Toothless usually did after a long flight. I watched her for a moment before I began pampering the dragon a little by brushing her scales, cleaning and filing her talons.

By the time we were out of the stables and up in the air, Firestorm seemed to be very pleased with her fresh appearance. I suppose that's what you get when you choose a vain dragon.

We eventually landed on a secluded little cliff overlooking the ocean on the other side of the island, which coincidentally happened to be a far trek from the village. I sighed as I sat down and wrapped my arms around my legs before pulling them up to my chest. "I can't believe that none of my friends are here to talk to."

Firestorm didn't seem to have noticed that I had said anything, seeing as she was busy picking something off her wing. I rolled my eyes at the dragon as a chuckle escaped me. So vain.

"What are you laughing about?" A familiar voice spoke as I jumped a little at the sudden sound. I turned around and found Syver in the middle of landing behind us on his monstrous nightmare, Fangfire. Syver slid gracefully off the large beast as he let it waddle over to go bother Firestorm. I felt my heart skip a beat as Syver took a seat beside me.

I shrugged before nervously tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "N-nothing, really, I just thought that it was funny how vain Firestorm is."

Syver chuckled, a deep melodious sound that made my heart race as blood rushed to my cheeks. "Deadly Nadders are known for being vain, I suppose. But I guess that's not really what I'm here to talk to you about."

My eyes widened as a million different thoughts and scenarios raced through my mind at record-speed."Uh, what ... what are you here to talk with me about, then?"

Syver shrugged as his gaze drifted to the horizon, where the sun had already begun setting, casting a beautiful mix of different shades of red and yellow across the skies. "I saw you around the village today and I suppose I wanted to hear how you were doing, seeing as most of us didn't expect you to wake up for another couple of days."

I snorted as I crossed my arms over my knees. "I'm fine, really. I'm especially glad to hear that I've been greatly missed by the village."

Syver slowly shook his head as another chuckle escaped him. "I missed you, I hope that counts for something."

My cheeks grew hot as a colony of butterflies fluttered around my stomach and all the way up to my chest, which was feeling much lighter than it had earlier that day. I glanced over at Syver and found that he too was a fine shade of tomato red as he avoided eye contact with me. For some strange reason I couldn't stop my heart from performing a leap of joy in my chest. Did he ... like me back?

After a moment I decided that this was perhaps a conversation for another time as my mind drifted back to the memory of my mother. I once again found myself glancing over at Syver. He had been there when she came back, he had seen her. Could he confirm whether or not there was any truth to my suspicions?

"Syver, can I ask you a question?" I spoke warily as I dared a glance over at him and noticed how much his face had lit up, compared to the awkward grimace that had been there moments before.

Syver quickly cleared his throat before attempting to act casual and shrug. "Yeah, yeah sure, anything."

I too cleared my throat as I mentally prepared myself for the big question of the evening. "Do you promise to be honest with me?"

Syver furrowed his brows, those wonderful, thick brows as he turned to me. "Of course! Why would I ever lie to you, Zeph?"

The butterflies went ballistic in my stomach, but I forced them to calm down. "Syver, did my mother really come back to Berk or am I going crazy?"

Syver stayed quiet and for a moment, I feared he wouldn't answer, but after a short while he just let out a deep sigh and turned to me with a face set in determination. "Yes, Zeph, your mother did come back to Berk and you were the happiest I have ever seen you in all of our years of friendship. I'm guessing that everything you remember about her is true and I'm sorry for not saying it to you the second I landed."

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I placed a gentle hand on Syver's shoulder. "What matters is that you managed to say it to me now, thank you, Syver. I really don't know how I could ever repay you."

For a second, it looked like Syver was about to say something, but he instead decided to keep his mouth shut. "You know, I was really worried about you, Zeph."

I blinked as my heart skipped a beat. "You ... you were worried about me?"

Syver nodded as those mesmerizing grass-green eyes of his locked with mine. "I'm always worried about you."

I couldn't help the smile on my face that was growing wider by the minute. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm always worried about you too."

"You are?"

"Yeah."

Then Syver did something that took me entirely by surprise. He grabbed me by the chin and pressed a surprisingly tender and gentle kiss to my lips, which I reciprocated the moment I was able to piece together what was actually going on. In that moment, it felt like we were the only to people in the world and all the troubles we had were just small dots on the horizon, far far away. It was just the two of us, something I wished was going to remain that exact same way for as long as I lived.