Lost

Epilogue

~10 years time lapse
"You're getting the hang of this, Anabine! You must get it from me," I exclaim with a smile on my face.
"Well my dad is the ultimate dragon rider anyone has ever known. Other than grandma," she laughs back.
"Haha ouch!"
"It's the truth!" She yells over her shoulder as she races forward even faster on her dragon, flipping upside down in the process.
We're soaring through the sky practicing on her riding skills, me on Toothless and Anabine
("-bine" sounds like "bean") on her silver and navy blue Nadder, Saphire. Anabine is eight-years-old and a super quick learner, and she devours every new skill I throw her way. A lot has happened since I've returned from the barbaric island nine years ago. For instance, Astrid and I got married soon after I returned from my "adventure," and soon after we had Anabine. She's a beautiful young Viking with Astrid's hair that comes down below her shoulders, and she has my green eyes that are full of wonder. She takes after me when it comes to dragons and takes after Astrid in fast learning. All is absolutely perfect with our daughter. Well, everything except for a health issue that was sparked by an incident when she was four.

    It was just like any other day. Astrid and I were sitting in the cove watching Anabine play with Toothless by the water. She was so happy and energetic, we never could have seen it coming.  I'm looking down drawing in the dirt, and Astrid is laying down next to me resting. Suddenly an explosion of blue light and dirt smash into the ground by my feet and I jump up in alert. Toothless is with Anabine but he is making strange noises.
"Toothless..?" His eyes switch between me and Anabine frantically. I watch Anabine more closely and realize she's holding herself up against Toothless, struggling to stand.
"Anabine! What's wrong?" I yell in concern. I kick Astrid in the leg to wake her and sprint in Anabine's direction. I'm almost there when I see her eyes roll back and her knees buckle, sending her to the ground.
"Anabine!" Astrid screams behind me. I reach her just as her head slams against the ground.
"Anabine, Anabine! Hey bean you're alright. Stay with me," I hold her against me trying to wake her when she starts shaking uncontrollably.
"Hiccup what's happening to her?" Astrid is by my side holding onto my shoulder.
"This happened to one of the villagers before when they hit their head too hard. Here help me hold her still."
I grip her arms against her body and clutch her close to me while Astrid restrains her legs. Ten seconds feel like ten minutes before she finally calms down. Although the shaking stopped, Anabine still is unconscious.
"Let's get her to Gothi," I say as calmly as possible and start gently picking Anabine up. I cradle her in my arms and swiftly jump on Toothless. Astrid climbs on behind me since Stormfly was resting back at the village and didn't come with us.
"You're gonna be alright bean. We'll get you all better," I say. A nudge to the side is all it takes for Toothless to sore into the sky and hastily race towards the village.
It took a day for Anabine to wake up with a nasty bump on the back of her head. A few weeks later on bed rest and a constant watch, Anabine was back to her old self. Well that is until a month after she recovered she fainted again and didn't wake for a couple hours. The same event happened again a few months later. The same issue occurs at the most random times. There was no pattern to her episodes and it changed from occurring frequently to occurring once in a great while. We assumed it was an effect of her head trauma when she was younger because we didn't have any other explanation for it. Other than her now rare episodes, Anabine is the healthiest little dragon rider.

We're soaring over an island not too far from Berk. I keep a close eye on Anabine as she speeds ahead of me on the back of Saphire.
"Dad, watch!"
I watch as she steadies Saphire and shakily stands up on the Nadder's back. She flips into a hand stand for a few seconds before falling back down in the saddle.
"Nice job bean!" I yell in her direction.
"That was longer than last time!" She giddily responds. I laugh to myself and race up next to the pair.
"Hey bean lets work on the trust fall," I suggest knowing that it needs work. Her eyes widen in a wave of fear that she quickly conceals.
"....the trust fall?" She squeals out a little unsure.
"The trust fall. You two need to work on it in case you ever get separated from Saphire in mid air. Don't worry I'll be close by." I gently smile in reassurance knowing that she's not too fond of separating from her dragon high up in the sky.
"You'll be fine. Ok?"
"Ok," she responds, talking more to herself than me. I glide Toothless closer to Saphire and reach my hand out, indicating our little hand shake Anabine came up with. She smiles back and fist pumps my hand which leads to us high five-ing, clasping eachother's hands, pulling away, rotating the wrist twice, fist pump, high five-ing again, fist pump, and then finishing with a snap. She giggles and I give her a silly salute to send her off. She guides Saphire away and the pair shoot straight up in the sky as high as possible.
Less than a minute passes when I see Saphire level off and glide through the sky. The pair is barely visible enough for me to make out Anabine's figure. It takes a few minutes but I finally spot Anabine gradually stand.
"Get ready bud in case they don't get it this time." I pat Toothless's head lightly. They've done this a few times before but Anabine has a lot of trouble getting control of Saphire during the dive.
Anabine leaps from her dragon and starts to fall. A second after falling, her call to Saphire is barely audible. The Nadder full on head dives and quickly catches up to Anabine, trying to line up next to her.
"Come on, come on!" I urge under my breathe. With only a few seconds left before they hit the water, I start nudging Toothless forward, but stop in utter shock as Saphire levels off and races by us above the water with a cheerful Anabine on her back, screaming in delight.
I shout back and pump my fist in the air.
"That's my girl," I beam proudly.
Anabine rides up next to me with a huge smile showing her obvious excitement.
"Dad dad did you see? Did you see that? I did it I finally did it you didn't have to save me!!" she blurts out in a high pitched squeal.
"That was awesome bean! That's my little dragon rider! Awesome job," I shout back and smile happily.
"Can I do it again? Practice makes perfect!"
I laugh, "Go on ahead. Try to gain control faster this time."
"Ok!" She shouts back already racing back up.
She once again levels off Saphire high up in the sky. I watch her barely visible form slightly waver as she stands up on Saphire. Then she leaps off of Saphire with more confidence. The Nadder dives after her and speeds next to her.
One second goes by.
Then two.
Something's wrong.
Three seconds.
I'm racing Toothless forward. Saphire is flipping out, and Anabine isn't trying to get to Saphire; she's just falling.
Four seconds.
She's getting closer to the water.
Five seconds.
"Go Toothless!"
Six seconds.
In the blink of an eye, Toothless glides right beneath Anabine before she slams into the sea and I catch her in my arms. The winds gets knocked out of me causing me to gasp for air while Toothless tries to gain control of his speed. Toothless levels out and I finally catch my breath. Looking down I find Anabine unconscious, but unharmed.
"She probably fainted, bud. Let's head home," I tell my dragon, my heart racing with adrenaline. That was way too close. She hasn't had an episode for over a year.
"Thor you gave me a heart attack, Bean."
Saphire catches up behind us and follows eagerly.

Forty minutes later we arrive at Berk. Toothless lands right in front of the house and I gather Anabine in my arms. Sliding off of Toothless, I gesture to him with a nod of my head to go rest. I get up to the door and kick it open with my foot to find Astrid sitting by the fire.
"Everything is fine, Anabine just had another episode," I instantly spurt out so she doesn't freak. Her head jerks up and she's by my side before the door slams shut behind me.
"It's been such a long time since the last one," she states as she brushes Anabine's hair from her face. "Let's get her to bed."
I nod and carry her upstairs to her bedroom. Astrid takes off her boots and I lay her down in her bed. After a blanket is comfortably covering her, we leave her room. Right away I crash by the fire, exhausted. Astrid sits right beside me and I hold her in my arms.
"She was working on the trust fall again. Oh you should've seen her, Astrid. She was getting so good at it! She was so excited to try again! So I watched her fall and I waited. She just kept falling. I barely got her. What if next time I'm too late.." I blurt out. She sits up next to me and makes me face her. Looking into my eyes, she smiles.
"You got her, and that's what matters. It's not like you of all people are going to take flying away from her. Saphire will learn to catch Bean. It just takes time, alright?"
I know what she's saying is true but I can't help worrying. That's what dads do unfortunately, worry constantly. It's no fun, but it's part of the job, and I wouldn't trade this job for the world. I smile back at my amazing wife and realize that everything will be fine. Everything will work out. Saphire will get trained. Anabine will grow up.
The future is bright.
"Alright."
I gently kiss Astrid's forehead and pull her back into my arms. With every adventure I've been on, every discovery I've made, and all the new lands I've visited, none of those things compare   to the way I feel right now; completely happy. My family is my world, and nothing will ever change that.