Busted

"Zeph, there you are!" She heard her father call a few seconds after she and her brother returned to their own time, with a much safer landing than before.

"Where did you two sneak off to this morning?" Astrid wondered.

"This morning?" Nuffink thought.

"Time must've moved slower here." His sister explained in a whisper.

"Come on, Zee. We have work to do." Hiccup informed. Zephyr turned to her brother with a glare as their parents left the arena

"There, I brought you back. I hope you're happy."

***

A week had passed and despite having to hide his new scar, Nuffink was enjoying being back in the safety of New Berk, even if he had gone back to causing chaos with his aunt and uncle.

Zephyr, however, was losing her mind and definitely struggling to hide that fact.

"Zeph?"

The female Haddock child heard her father's voice from behind her. She and Dart were taking a break in the cove of New Berk, escaping the burden of chiefly duties.

"I'll be right there, Dad." She assured.

"Dad?"

The brunette swung around at the sound of her mother's voice, to see the riders all standing before her with their dragons, fresh from Dragon's Edge. She noticed a familiar artifact in Hiccup's hand. The very device Nuffink was sure they wouldn't find in his master hiding spot.

"What are you doing here?" She gasped.

"How should we know?" Snotlout hissed. "Hiccup was tinkering with his new toy and we all got sucked into a black hole of nothingness and spat out here."

"No, you can't be here!" She worried.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about this would you?" Hiccup held up the strange device.

"Ugh. Who cares?!" Snotlout groaned, snatching it from Hiccup's hand. "Let's just press a bunch of buttons until it takes us home."

"Snotlout, don't!" Zeph shrieked as he began to shake the invention, ultimately causing several springs to pop out, dismantling the item.

"Oops."

"Hold on, can we go back." Astrid finally spoke up. "You called Hiccup, Dad? His voice is fairly distinctive."

"Zeph?!" That very same voice echoed across the walls of the cove.

"Oh, gods." She panicked. She shooed all of the riders and their dragons into the cave behind the waterfall. "Stay here and don't make a sound." She glared at young Hiccup who sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Zeph, are you here?" Older Hiccup called as he dismounted his Night Fury.

"I'm right here."

"Ready to get back to work?" He checked.

"Actually..." She sighed.

"Are you feeling okay? You're looking a little-"

"Ugh! I can't do this!"

"Do what?" He wondered

"Dad, I lied to you. Okay!" She burst. "I was curious about your secret project, so I convinced Nuff to sneak into the den with me. I started messing with your invention and I shouldn't have. We ended up getting lost in the past and I spent weeks trying to get us back but the device got left behind and now..."

"Woah. Honey, slow down." Hiccup suggested. "Breathe." Zeph took a deep breath to calm down, lowering her arms that had been waving around dramatically as she spoke.

"Dad, I'm really sorry." She pouted adorably.

"Well, I can't say that I'm not disappointed. And you will be grounded." Hiccup sighed. "As long as you and your brother are okay."

"Nuff got hurt," Zeph admitted. "There was an out-of-control Changewing and he was trying to protect me."

"Is there anything else I should know?" Hiccup frowned. "Like how long we've been hiding behind the waterfall?"

"Wait? You know?!" Zeph shrieked.

"Zephyr, it's my past, of course I know." Hiccup explained. "I've known for weeks. I just wanted to give you time to do the right thing."

"I'm really sorry, Dad." Zeph pouted.

"Take the riders to the arena and keep them out of sight. I'll find your mother and meet you there."

***

"So, care to explain what's going on?" Young Hiccup asked as they all landed in the arena.

"The device that Snotlout broke was... Well it doesn't really have a name, but it either takes you back or forward in time," Zeph explained.

"So you're telling me that tall guy with the beard was really Hiccup, in the future?" Tuffnut wondered.

"Yes."

"And he's your dad?" Ruffnut added.

"Yes."

"Okay, that actually explains a few things." Fishlegs thought to himself.

"I knew it!" Heather cheered. "I told you there was no way they weren't related. Look at her." Heather gestured to Zephyr who was now standing beside the teenage version of her parents. "She's Astrid, with Hiccup's hair. She has Astrid's stubbornness and fighting skills, with Hiccup's inventive mind and knack for journalling everything she does. She also has a horn with Stoick's seal on it."

"It's yours," Zephyr announced. "It was a gift."

"And Nuff is Hiccup with Astrid's hair, her warrior spirit, and Hiccup's instinct to protect. He even has Hiccup's braids, how did you guys not see that?" Heather added. Hiccup thought for a second.

"Wait, does this mean that Dart and Pouncer and Ruffrunner are-"

"Toothless' hatchlings. Yes." Zeph confirmed.

"You're telling me that Hiccup grows a beard?" Snotlout snickered.

"And Uncle Fishlegs gets a mustache." She verified.

"Uncle Fishlegs?" The stocky blonde wondered.

"You didn't seriously think we'd have kids without making you all aunts and uncles did you?" Hiccup chuckled.

"So, you've talked about it?" Heather smirked.

"Not the time." Astrid glared.

***

As the Chief of New Berk returned to the arena with his wife and son, he noticed Zephyr currently in a sparring session with the riders. Blocking her mother's attack, she managed to fend off both the Twins and Snotlout before returning her attention to the blonde.

"Stormfly, spine shot!" The Nadder quickly shot a row of spines on the ground, dangerously close to the young Haddock. Zephyr leaped into a somersault dodging each and every one.

"Oh, so we're playing that game, huh? Dart, cloak!" The young Night Fury offspring dove over her rider turning them both relatively invisible.

"No fair, Haddock." Astrid searched around the arena as everyone else continued sparring each other. The brunette suddenly appeared behind her, tackling her to the ground.

"Bad guys don't play fair, Haddock." She reminded teasingly as she held Astrid's arm behind her back to keep her on the ground.

"Aww, Astrid Haddock." Heather cried, earning a chuckle from the other riders. Zephyr scowled at Snotlout and the twins before helping Astrid off the ground. The female Haddock's shared a nod before lunging in their direction. It only took a matter of a seconds before all three of them were on the floor.

"Huh, I didn't know she could fight like that." Older Astrid noted. "Did you know she could fight like that?"

"She's part Hofferson. Did you doubt her?" Hiccup shrugged.

"Was that really necessary?" Snotlout wondered. Older Astrid jumped down into the arena, beside her daughter.

"Nobody messes with the Haddock girls." All three women smirked as Zephyr high-fived both Astrid's. Only then did the younger blonde finally acknowledge her older self.

"How come I get a beard and grow two feet and Astrid hasn't aged a day?" Hiccup whined.

"Hey!" Younger Astrid scowled.

"I have a point." Older Hiccup agreed as he and Nuff joined them in the arena. "You have not changed in 22 years."

"That's not the point." The older blonde explained. "He's not allowed to flirt with me."

"But, you're her." He thought.

"Still not the point, Honey." She specified, planting a gentle kiss on Hiccup's cheek, linking their arms. Heather desperately held back a squeal.

"Pfft, Honey? Don't tell me Astrid goes soft in the future?" Snotlout scoffed from where he was still sat on the arena floor. Zephyr wasted no time kicking him back down.

"That's my girl." The chieftess enveloped her daughter in a hug. Zeph was shocked for a moment but enjoyed her mother's embrace nonetheless.

***