Hiccup's POV

A ray of sunshine shone in through the window, which was slightly ajar as it lit up our faces and brought that familiar sparkle into Astrid's ocean blue eyes. I wove my fingers into her hair as we silently watched one another from where we laid in our bed, gazes locked as we reveled in each other's presence. We had spent too much time apart, this was our time. Nothing was ever going to destroy our happiness again.

"I love you." I breathed as I found myself unable to tear my gaze away from her.

A playful smile danced across her lips as she rested her hand on my jaw, gently stroking my cheek with her thumb. "I know."

It had been a week since we had gotten back and although it had been a little weird between us those first few days after what had happened the last time we were there, things had much improved in the following days. We were back to where we were before I went to the Haven Isles, only this time there was nothing and there would never be anything that could stand between the two of us ever again.

"Hiccup, I've been meaning to tell you something." An absent-minded smile pulled at the corners of Astrid's lips as she traced my jaw with the tips of her fingers.

"What is it?" I smiled as I continued to run my fingers through her silky hair.

But instead of saying anything, she merely wrapped her slender and calloused fingers around my wrist, guiding my hand down to her lower abdomen where she let it rest. I raised a brow as a smile stretched across her face. "I'm pregnant."

My eyes shot wide open as the surprise hit me like a tidal wave. "Y-you are?"

Astrid nodded enthusiastically, smile still firm on her face. "Yeah, I had my suspicions about it for a while, but then I went to Gothi's yesterday and she confirmed it."

"Wow, this is ... amazing!" I chuckled as I pressed a tender kiss to her lips. "You are amazing."

A soft laugh escaped Astrid. "Do you think Zephyr will mind? It is rather unusual to get your first sibling at 15."

I shrugged as my mind wandered to my daughter, who I imagined was snoring gently where she laid stretched out like a cat in her bed. She had dreamed of a mother almost her entire life and considering how much she enjoyed spending time with some of Berk's younger citizens, I couldn't imagine a world in which Zephyr was opposed to a new family member. "She has felt so lonely for 15 years, I'm certain she will be thrilled to hear the news."

A relieved sigh escaped Astrid as she let her head sink further down into the pillow. "You have no idea how great that is to hear. What do you say we tell her at dinner?"

"I say that's a great idea!" A grin pulled at my features as I wrapped my arms around Astrid's waist and rolled us over so that she laid atop of me.

A shrill laugh escaped her as she struggled against my grip. "Hiccup!"

"I meant it when I said I'm never letting you go again." Astrid laughed at my comment as she playfully slammed her fists against my chest.

"You big knucklehead!" Astrid's laughing fit continued, but was cut short by a piercing scream coming from the village. We both jumped out of bed, exchanging looks of confusion as we looked to the other for any clue to what was going on.

Though it took some time to get dressed, (thanks to all those damn straps on my armor) we eventually made it outside, weapons in hand as we bumped into Toothless and Zephyr right outside our front door.

"Took you long enough," Zephyr pointed out. "Toothless and I have been out here for five minutes already."

"What's going on?" Astrid asked our daughter, her brow creased in worry.

Before Zephyr even had the chance to answer, a large, flaming boulder came hurtling towards us. "Toothless, plasma blast!"

The dragon immediately complied, shattering the boulder into tiny, harmless pieces that drizzled down over the town square without causing any damage. "Who the hell would attack us? We're at peace with every tribe within a hundred mile radius!"

A sharp whistle sounded through my ears as I turned to Astrid, who's previously joyful and carefree expression had been replaced by a grim one. I furrowed my brows. "You're not really about to go flying on Stormfly now, are you?"

"Hiccup we don't have time to argue right now, nor do we have the possibility of being one less rider than we already are, seeing as we have no clue who has come after us." Astrid stated as her gaze turned cold, determined and her alter-ego of General Hofferson sprung out full-force.

"Fine." I sighed before climbing onto Toothless. I turned to my daughter, who shared the same expression that her mother was making, which made me believe that there was a little more of General Hofferson in her than I thought. "Zephyr, this time you're in the air."

Zephyr turned to me, blinking in surprise as her stern expression melted away. "Wait, really?"

I replied with a sharp nod as Zephyr let out a small squeal of excitement before calling on her dragon with a melodious and less firm whistle than that of her mother. Mere moments later, Stormfly landed at Astrid's feet, nuzzling her head up against her rider as she greeted her. "Hey, girl, ready to defend Berk?"

A delighted squawk escaped Stormfly as she bent down and allowed the invisibly-pregnant chieftess to climb atop her before taking off at record speed, performing a graceful barrel roll in the skies before dropping down towards the sea to help rid the island of whoever was attacking us.

"Let's go, bud." I patted my dragon on the neck as I activated his tail-fin, waving my daughter goodbye as we shot up into the skies where we turned our focus on the invading forces.

We flew over the ships gathered in our sound. There were about fifty of them, which was a considerable downgrade from the Berserker armada that had been blasted to pieces in the same waters mere months before. Toothless and I flew as close as we could without risking to get shot at, which also allowed us a glimpse of the other riders, who all seemed to be having a blast with getting to blow up things again.

"This.is.AWESOME!" Tuffnut cheered as he and his sister worked in tandem on their dragon, blowing up several ships at a time with Barf's flammable gas.

A chuckle escaped me at the sight of them, but my humor soon faded as I heard what the noisy invaders were all shouting about: "For the Chief!"

My eyes widened as I finally recognized their armor, a chill creeping up my spine as I instructed Toothless to get us up in the air, far out of range of their flaming arrows and boulders. It didn't take long before Astrid and Stormfly joined us.

"Did you hear what they were shouting?" Astrid asked, jaw clenched as her gaze burned with hatred.

A curt nod was all I could muster before I spoke: "Believe me, I heard. Seems that they have gotten a little armor upgrade or at least, a change."

"You had a hard time recognizing them too?" Astrid's voice was flat as she spoke, yet judging from the way she was nervously kneading the front of Stormfly's saddle, she was everything but bored.

"I just don't get it. I suppose they must've raided the fortress after Dagur's death, but why use all their money on new armor and ships just to avenge a Chief they really never cared much for?"

Astrid shrugged. "You don't have to love your commander to fight for them. It's all about respect and I can imagine that due to their violence-filled upbringing, they would have immense respect for Dagur with all his love of war and torture."

"Hey! What are you two goons just standing around for? We've got an island to protect!" Snotlout barked at us before he and Hookfang turned back in the direction they had come from, spewing fire on every ship in their path.

"You heard the man," I settled into the saddle as I prepared myself for a dive. "After you, M'lady."

Astrid and Stormfly wordlessly dove back down to the battlefield, shooting white-hot magnesium blasts at the bottom of the ships to fill them with water and sink them. We followed right after, dropping all the way down to the surface of the water before Toothless straightened up at the very last second, allowing us to glide silently across the surface, leaving nothing but a trail of sea foam behind us.

We fired blast after blast at the ships, lowering their numbers considerably as we fought to keep them far away from the Berkian shores. There wasn't much time for focusing on the riders around you when you were busy blasting ships, avoiding falling debris and weaving through the a bunch of masts, which is why I only caught a glimpse of my daughter and her dragon every so often as she aided with sinking the ships.

Toothless and I had just managed to sink another ship when I dared to look for my daughter. It didn't take me long to find her as she had been tasked with taking out the ships in the back of the fleet, the only thing that truly concerned me was the seemingly constant boulders that she and Firestorm had to dodge.

Judging by what I was seeing, either Firestorm had ran out of fire or there were just too many boulders for her to take out at once, to me, the former was more probable. It was quite strange, the way they seemed to be aiming at Zephyr, but in a way, they weren't aiming at her at all ... oh. Oh, no.

The tall, skinny seastack Zephyr was flying in front of was swaying dangerously with every boulder that hit it. Seeing as the sea-stack conveniently leaned in towards Berk, rather than out towards the ocean, I knew that it would crash over Zephyr at any moment if I didn't act soon.

My heart thundered in my chest as I urged Toothless to go in the direction of my daughter. He must've noticed that she was in danger too, seeing as he picked up speed as soon as he laid eyes on her. "Come on, bud!"

My gaze travelled around me as we shot towards the back. Everyone else were too busy sinking their own ships to even notice Zephyr, or the boulders that were hitting the base of the seastack behind her and Firestorm. My breathing grew quicker as adrenaline flowed through my veins. I had to save her.

Then, the seastack creaked, before a large cloud of dust blew from its base as the sea stack was considerably shortened. "Zephyr!" I cried out as Toothless flew at top speed, but even I could tell that it wouldn't be enough.

The teenager's eyes grew wide as she finally noticed the now falling sea stack, her panicked stare turned to me as she violently shook her head. "Dad, no!"

Firestorm was still focused on the boulders. It seemed like even though the berserkers knew that they would be crushed by the seastack, they still fired at Firestorm and Zephyr. Pure panic and fear flowed through my veins as I worried for my daughter's life. At record speed, I strapped on my flight suit and leapt off Toothless, praying to every god I knew of that I would be able to push her out of harms way.

A few seconds seemed to stretch into a million years. I slowly made my way over to Zephyr and Firestorm, desperation filling me as I furiously attempted to amp up my own speed. Zephyr raised her arms protectively over her head, in a feeble attempt to shield herself from the falling rock.

As the large rock was mere feet away from hitting us, I crashed into my daughter, knocking her clean off Firestorm before I managed to catch her and safely glide away. We landed on a slightly shorter seastack than the previous one, heaving as we attempted to regain ourselves.

Zephyr had merely been resting for a second when realization dawned on her and she whipped around to face the seastack, which had now crashed through four Berserker ships and sent a massive wave towards the shores of Berk before sinking to the bottom of the sound. "Firestorm!"

As Zephyr sank to her knees and we both watched the thick cloud of dust that rose from where the seastack had previously been, I was reminded of my own dragon, who I had foolishly abandoned to save my daughter. "Toothless!"