How to Love a Night Fury how to train your dragon

When the riders got back to the Edge Hiccup shut himself away. He was having a difficult time getting over what happened after the celebration. He would barely eat or even talk to the others and it was a struggle to get him to sleep.

It was two weeks after they got back home that Stoick came to see them.

~~~HTLANF~~~

I opened the door to Hiccup and I's hut when I heard someone knock urgently.

"Oh! Hello chief. I didn't know you were coming to visit. Is something wrong?" I asked when I took notice of the look upon the man's face, which was filled with worry.

"I heard what has been going on from the others. May I speak with him?" Stoick asked, genuinely worried about Hiccup.

I smiled sadly and nodded. "Of course. He's up in the loft area." I said as I moved out of the way for him.

"Thank you lass." He thanked and made his way up to the loft.

I smiled softly and left the hut.

'Good luck Stoick.'

~~~HTLANF~~~

Stoick knocked on the wall gently once he reached the loft to let Hiccup know he was there. The boy was curled in on himself in the corner of his and Kala's shared bed, holding his legs close to his body and hiding his face between them and his chest. Stoick's heart shattered at the sight.

"Oh Hiccup…" He said as he made his way to the bed and sat down in front of his son.

Hiccup peaked at him then hid his face once more. "Go away…"

"I think I'll stay. It's never good to go through pain and sorrow alone Hiccup." Stoick said.

Hiccup looked up at him with a sad glare. "Why are you even here Stoick..? I'm a monster…I'm better off locked up so that I don't kill someone…" He said then looked away with his head resting on his knees, tears threatening to fall from his already red eyes.

"Now you listen here and listen good Hiccup Haddock. You are not in any way a monster. You were provoked by that Hofferson girl. You are one to protect and heal others, not harm and wound them. The only monster that was there was the lass." Stoick stated, very determined to get his son out of the depressive state he was in.

"Even so…who's to say my instincts take over and I lose control for no reason..? Face it Stoick…I'm not safe to be around…" Hiccup shot back.

"Oh really? Seems safe to me." Stoick chuckled. "I don't see any feral dragons here at all. Just one boy that is being hard on himself." He said with a smile.

Hiccup looked at him then looked away again, struggling with himself to not fall apart and cling onto his father like he always would when he was little. "I…" Hiccup tried, but he was at a loss for words, trying his best to not let any tears slip.

How could this man be here trying to comfort him after everything Hiccup has done? After how Hiccup just accepted being disowned even though Stoick has proven that he is trying to be the father he has needed? How is he still trying to be there for him even though he has pushed him away over and over and over again?

"Ya know. The first time I saw you interacting with Hookfang I could see in your eyes that you were becoming who you were meant to be. I was terrified to admit it to myself honestly. You are just like your mother and I didn't know how to handle that." Stoick laughed a bit. "I didn't know how to get over my own pride and my vision of the son I wanted. But seeing how you've thrived these last few years, I couldn't be prouder."

That was all that was needed to break the dam. Hiccup broke down and clung onto Stoick as if his life depended on it, just like when he was little. His body was shaking from how hard he was crying. It was as though the boy had reverted back into a five year old who had just rushed home after being bullied by his older cousin. Stoick jumped a bit out of surprise, not expecting Hiccup to cling onto him so suddenly, but he smiled and held him close, rubbing his back to help calm him down.

Stoick didn't say a word as he comforted his son. He thought it best to let Hiccup just cry for a while and he was glad he decided to do so. It seemed as though the boy needed to get all of this out of his system from holding it all in so long. For how long he was unsure though. Could've been the past two weeks, or maybe even longer than that.

It took close to an hour for Hiccup to finally calm down from his crying. It became no more than sniffles and hiccups as he pushed himself away from Stoick and wiped away the remaining tears.

"S-sorry…I-I didn't m-mean to do that…" He was able to get out between his hiccup fit.

Stoick smiled and rested his hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "It's alright Hiccup. You don't have to apologize. I am always here for you if you need me. You know that don't you?"

And he did. Hiccup knew that Stoick would always be there for him. He had proved that multiple times in the past three years and Hiccup was too stubborn to notice. But now that he's thinking back to everything that has happened, he sees every single time Stoick has proven he has been trying his hardest at being who Hiccup needs him to be. His father.

Tears started to flow down the boy's face once more when he realized he's the one that hasn't been trying hard enough to fix things between them. He felt absolutely horrible. This entire time he was the one not working towards mending things while his own father was. The one man who was barely there for him growing up and was hard on him for not being like normal Vikings was trying harder to be a good father and here Hiccup was not trying to be a better son.

"Hiccup, what's wrong? You look devastated lad." Stoick asked, worried he may have done something to upset the boy.

"I-I'm so s-sorry…a-all this time y-you've been trying to f-fix things between us a-and I've…" Hiccup started, but his crying was preventing him from getting out what he was wanting, no, needing to say to his father. "A-and I've j-just been pushing you away..!"

He covered his face as he wept, not wanting to look into his father's eyes out of fear of seeing anger within them. To his surprise he heard tearful laughter, which made him look back up at Stoick. The man was crying just like he was.

"Oh Hiccup. There's no need to apologize for that. I understand why you did. You were hurt by the way I treated you in the past and were wounded from me disowning you the way I did. As you said when you awoke from that coma, I have to earn your trust again because everything I put you through in those fifteen years cannot be forgotten easily. And by Odin's beard were you right." Stoick explained with a chuckle as he wiped at his own tears.

Hiccup laughed the tiniest bit and looked down. "I did say that, didn't I..? I-I'm sorry that I was too stubborn to take notice of your efforts…" He looked back at his father. "I truly am sorry Dad…"

Stoick's eyes widened. "Did you just call me Dad?"

Hiccup smiled a bit. "Yeah I guess I did…"

Stoick smiled a tearful smile and hugged Hiccup gently. Hiccup stiffened up a bit, but he relaxed after a couple of seconds and hugged him back.

"You have no idea how much that means to me, son." He said with pure joy.

Hiccup smiled a bit and hid his face. "To be honest…it means a lot to me too… Yes, you hurt me pretty bad that day…but I just missed this…these moments with you… They were so rare to get…that each time it happened I was terrified that they would end too soon or never happen again…"

"Would it cheer ya up if I said that's how I felt as well?" Stoick asked and that made Hiccup look up at him.

"Really..?"

"Of course. I didn't realize how much ya truly meant ta me until you accepted you were disowned that fateful day. It made me see just how special these moments with you are. And you're right about them being rare and I am sorry for that."

Hiccup smiled as tears welled up in his eyes. "Not your fault Dad… You were raising me while simultaneously running an entire village…"

Stoick chuckled and nodded. "Aye, that I was. I'm glad you don't hold that against me."

Hiccup got out of the hug and frowned. "Why would I hold that against you..? I understood why you weren't around that much…the thing that hurt me was how you treated me when you were…" Hiccup stated sadly.

"I understand, and I promise you I will never treat you that way again. I've learned my lesson and plan on supporting you to the best of my abilities and being here for you when you need me. And this time around I will listen to ya when you know something I do not." Stoick promised, a bit of a joking tone at the end, which got Hiccup to laugh.

"Maybe next time it'll keep you from leading the entire village to their deaths…" Hiccup joked and Stoick chuckled.

"Aye, let us hope."

Hiccup smiled and wiped away the last bit of tears from his eyes. Stoick smiled right back then laughed as he remembered something. Hiccup raised a brow with his head tilted to the side a bit.

"What?"

"Ah it's nothin'. Was just reminiscing. Remembering a moment from when you were a wee lad." Stoick reassured.

"What moment was it?" Hiccup asked curiously, gripping onto his crossed legs looking just like he used to when he was little when he would prepare himself for a story.

Stoick chuckled and stroked his beard as he pretended to remember the exact details. "Well if I remember correctly, we were going on a walk through the forest. You had your wooden sword with you and were waving it about pretendin' ta slay trolls and dragons. Then you came to a stop when you noticed an injured bird on the forest floor. You dropped the sword and rushed to its side then asked me what was wrong with it. I explained that it had fallen from its nest and broke its wing from the fall. I was going to end its suffering so it wouldn't have ta go through any more pain, but you put a stop to that real quick when I tried to send ya on down the path so you didn't have to watch. You were determined to help the wee thing."

Hiccup laughed a bit. "Yeah that sounds like something I would do."

"Aye. Ya got so emotional and were close to tears. I just didn't have it in me ta turn your pleas down. So I had ya go get a twig and I made a splint for the bird's injured wing and made you promise to take care of it until it was able to fly free once again. And you did just that. Ya cared for that wee bird for almost a month before it was ready to go off on its own again." Stoick finished with a smile.

"What made you think of that specific moment?" Hiccup asked, not really seeing how this had to do with anything they had talked about earlier.

"Well for one it was to prove to ya that those nasty thoughts you've been havin' about yerself are just that. Nasty thoughts. You're too caring to be a monster, son. And not to mention it reminded me of how you helped Kala be able to fly again, just like ya did that wee bird." Stoick explained with a soft smile.

Hiccup's eyes widened a bit. "Wait seriously? How have I not made that connection before?"

"Well that happened around fifteen years ago. I'm surprised I was even able to remember all the little details myself, but you see my point now don't ya?"

Hiccup nodded with a small smile. "Yeah. I was letting those negative thoughts get to me and forgot that my instincts aren't what define me as a person. They're just a small part of who I am now and I have to get control over that."

Stoick pat Hiccup on the shoulder. "That's exactly right son! They are only part of who ya are. They don't define who ya are though. There is way more to ya than being a Night Fury. You're Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, son of Stoick the Vast and beloved mate of Kala. You're the bringer of peace between Vikings and dragons and leader of the Dragon Riders. The list goes on. I am more than proud to call you my son Hiccup."

Hiccup teared up yet again and hugged his father tightly. "Thank you..just thank you Dad.."

Stoick hugged him back with his eyes closed. "You're welcome son."

~~~HTLANF~~~