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You are 13. Hiccup is 16.

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A year since peace with the dragons was fulfilled. A victory won by you and your brother, Hiccup. Was it worth being left behind over, though? Sometimes, you found yourself wishing Toothless and (D/N) were still hidden; were still a secret.

You looked in the mirror and lifted up your shirt. An ugly burn covered most of your torso but at least you still had all your limbs, as others put it. Though, the way you saw it, you'd rather have lost a foot than be stuck with a giant ugly scar for the rest of your life.

At the sound of the front door opening and closing, you quickly pulled your shirt back down. You heard familiar voices but didn't go downstairs. Instead, you sat at the halfway mark on the stairs. Despite not being welcomed into Hiccup's group of friends, you somewhat enjoyed watching or listening from afar. Although, it also made you long for the days when those types of banter and conversations were between you and your brother.

But times change. People grow up. Others get left behind.

"Hold on, I think I have it. Just give me a minute. I'm pretty sure it's up in my room." You heard Hiccup pound towards the stairs. You slid to the shadows and watched Hiccup run right past you.

Once he entered his room, another figure appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hi, (Y/ N)."

Your eyes widened, then you checked to make sure Hiccup wasn't listening.

"H- H- Hello, F- Fishlegs."

"How are you?"

"G- good."

He nodded. "Good. Why don't you ever hang out with us?"

You shrugged, though you knew the answer.

"Come on, there has to be a reason."

You shrugged.

"Please tell me. I won't tell Hiccup."

You shrugged.

"Found it!" exclaimed Hiccup. "Oh, hey, (N/ N). Care to join us?"

You slowly shook your head, but your answer was seen as invalid.

"Of course you do. Come on." Hiccup grabbed your hand, gently tugging you up then down the stairs. "Okay, so this piece attaches to the-" Fishlegs listened intently as Hiccup described his latest invention. You, on the other hand, had secretly helped him build it and watched him test it, so you knew how it worked.

Since the boys were too engrossed into their conversation, you snuck back up the stairs, not in any particular mood to be ignored. You wandered into Hiccup's room, where you once again corrected a few of his blueprints (secretly helping him). You weren't sure if he noticed or not, but you quite frankly didn't care (okay, maybe you cared but just a little bit).

Once you finished, you laid down on his bed, enjoying the scent Hiccup left behind. It made you long for the days when it was you and Hiccup against the world. Everything made you long for those days. You let yourself relax and took deep, soothing breaths. You didn't mean to fall asleep.

**********

You woke up to someone shaking you awake.

You blink and rubbed your eyes, slowly waking up.

"What are you doing in my room?" asked Hiccup, frowning.

You jumped up, realizing you fell asleep in his room. "I- I- I'm s- s- sorry. I- I g- guess I- I j- just l- lost track of- of time, and-" you stopped upon hearing Hiccup's laughter.

"You're fine, (N/ N)!" he revealed. "I'm not mad. You can stay here tonight if you want, I was just trying to scoot you over enough so I can sleep on my bed as well." He laid down on his bed, offering the space next to him. "Come on," he insisted when you hesitated.

You shook your head. "N- No t- thanks. I- I'm fine."

His smiled shrunk. "(Y/ N)," he warned. "Come here. Lay down. Sleep. I honestly don't mind."

"No, r- really. I'm f- fine," you assured, slowly edging towards the door.

Hiccup swung his legs off the bed, so he was sitting up. "Look, I know I haven't been the best big brother I can be, but let me make it up to-"

"Really, Hiccup, it's fine. I- I'm f- fine."

He sighed, "Alright. Sweet dreams."

"Y- You, t- too."

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That was the time last you two spoke to each other for nearly a month. Another month went by, you did your chores, helping Hiccup with his since he was often too busy with the gang to do them himself. You lived, sinking further into the bottomless pit of a shell.

It wasn't until you decided to take a little vacation that you felt alive. You warned your dad of your departure, but you didn't think another soul cared, so you told no one else.

So, on one pre- determined night, you hopped on (D/N) and flew off.

You were gone for six months. The entire time you were out exploring, living, and basking in freedom and happiness, Hiccup was a living mess. He was so worried, he barely slept, hardly ate, and always forgot to take care of himself. Of course, he didn't notice you were gone for the first two weeks, but once he finally notice he did nothing but worry.

Finally, you showed up for dinner like you were never gone. You were simply eating dinner as your father told you what Hiccup had been up to. You were shocked, to say the least.

"Go get him. Don't take no for an answer. I want to see his face when he sees me."

Stoick smiled, also eager to see the light in his son's eyes. He made his way upstairs and knocked on his son's door. "Son? Dinner time."

"I'm not hungry," a depressed voice returned.

"Son, I'm serious. Tomorrow you can stay in and sulk all you want, but tonight you need to come down here. You don't even have to eat, just come down."

The door flew open. "Fine." The moody nearly seventeen year old boy stomped down the stairs ahead of his dad, expecting to see some other Viking chief or a villager at the table. He didn't look up as he made his way to his chair. He always hated looking at (Y/ N)'s empty chair.

"Wasn't quite the welcome home hug I was expecting," a familiar voice taunted.

He snapped his head up, a smile immediately appearing on his pale face. Stoick hadn't described Hiccup to have changed this much.

"(N/ N)!" he cheered. "You're back!" Without waiting, he jumped out of his chair and wrapped his arms tightly around you. "I'm so sorry. I won't ever ignore you again! You'll always be top priority for me, I prom-"

"Don't promise that, Hiccup," you interrupted, laughing softly. "One day, you'll be chief, and you'll find love. I won't always be your top priority, and I understand that. But that doesn't mean you can ignore me. I do expect to be near the top of your priority list," you joked.

He smiled back at you.

"Hey, I'm happy to see you, too." You hugged in silence for a moment before you pulled away. "Happy early birthday, big brother."

His eyes lit up. "You remembered!"

You giggled, "How could I ever forget?"

"You didn't come home for your birthday, so I didn't think you'd come home for mine."

You hummed, uncomfortable at the mention of your fourteenth birthday. "Yeah, sorry about that. I truly did mean to come home. I sorta got held up."

"By what?" your dad asked, making his presence known.

You avoided their gazes. "That's a story for another day. Hiccup, dear brother, I've heard about what you've been up to these past few months. Sit. Eat. Now."

Hiccup smiled and devoured his plate, suddenly very hungry. He asked for seconds, making sure he waited quite a few minutes before slowly finishing his second plate.

Hiccup slept in your bed with you that night. He held you close, as if he was afraid that you'd vanish when he opened his eyes. He tried to stay awake, but was so tired he almost instantly passed out.

The next day was Hiccup's seventeenth birthday. The entire gang came early, greeting you kindly, and woke Hiccup up by screaming, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" He was so surprised that he fell out of bed.

He opened present after present, which was about a present per family in the village. A few families didn't get him anything, which he never minded, but now that he was well liked most families did get him something.

Your present was last, but he loved it the most. It was a map of all your travels and a diary/ book filled with your adventures and discoveries. You caught him reading it not long after he opened it.

That night, he stayed with you again. You were fixing something you'd slowly been working on while he read your book of discoveries on your bed.

"Are you leaving soon?" he asked, fear not well hidden in his voice.

"Not if you don't want me to."

"I don't want you to leave again, but I also don't want to hold you back."

You laughed, setting down your invention. "Relax. I'm staying. I miss home. I miss you and dad and everyone else. Relax, Hiccup."

"You lost your stutter," he noted, closing the book and sitting to face you.

You avoided his gaze. "Yeah, lost it not too long ago. I wrote about it in the book. Read that, and you'll know everything."

He stared at the book cover. You doodled a night fury on it, but it was worn down from the months of travel. "Yeah, I didn't know you felt so alone. I'm sorry."

You shook your head. "Nah. It's fine. Besides, if I hadn't felt that way I'd have never left. I made quite a few friends on my travels. I wouldn't trade the past six months for the world. I'm sorry for what my disappearance did to you. I didn't think it would affect you in such a negative manner."

"So, just to be clear, you're not leaving?"

You laughed and sat beside him. He instantly wrapped his arm around you. "Not for a while, at least. And I'll give you plenty of warning. Who knows, you might even come with me. You'd love the Island of the Fire Lords."

He repeated the name, testing it out.

"Yeah, they're a weird bunch, but you quickly learn to love them. Especially the Queen's daughter/ son, (Best Friend's Name)."

You spent the rest of the night talking, laughing, and closing the distance that had been wedged between the two of you.

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