Astrid lied in her bed, staring at the ceiling above, unable to sleep. All of what had happened had shaken her. Had she really been about to die? That scourge of Odin, how had it come again? Many questions rang in her head as she tried to sleep – she tried to block all those thoughts, but it was useless. Many scenarios of what could've happened played in her mind, and she wasn't able to push them away.

Stormfly lied in front of her bed, curved in a ball, sleeping soundly. Her dragon had refused to stay in the stables that night. She wanted to look out after her like she was her offspring. Don't get her wrong, Astrid didn't mind her. At least it was her dragon.

It had to be around midnight or later – or early, in some cases – and Astrid hadn't gotten a wink. Once she'd been alone after firing the flaming arrows at the fishing boats covering bodies, her mind had started messing around, and it hadn't given up yet.

Unable to stand it any longer, Astrid threw her feet to the floor, throwing the blanket away carelessly. She rubbed her arm and passed Stormfly at the bed's feet to her door and walked out her hut.

The bright moon was high in the night-sky, shimmering stars dancing around it. The noise of the sea hitting the shores of the island was calm and comforting – but still, it didn't mean some enemy couldn't sneak up on them.

She walked down to the docks, just checking for enemy ships nearby. No one had taken patrol tonight. It had been a long day for all the riders and everybody was just tired. It was a risk to take, but at least they'd all be in shape the next day – except her.

After that, Astrid walked back up and passed all the huts, listening to her fellow teammates sleeping soundly. At one point, Astrid was starting to feel actually tired. She was about to reach her hut, but she passed Hiccup's first, and started struggling between knocking or not. If she did, would he think of her as weakening? No, Hiccup wasn't like that. After all, everybody needed comfort once in a while, right? Even if it wasn't much Astrid to need this, she lifted up her friend's door quietly anyway and the moonlight entered the building. She saw Toothless' head perk up at her, green eyes wide a startled. But he relaxed once again after he realized she wasn't coming in storming like she once did back on Berk with the whole Heather situation.

Astrid closed it back slowly, hoping she didn't wake Hiccup up – but as she took a step in the darkness, a candle lighted the room and she found Hiccup standing by Toothless' side.

''You okay, Astrid?'' he asked curiously, rubbing his eyes with one hand as the other held the candle.

''Yeah, I'm fine...'' said Astrid rubbing her arm, only to receive a pointed look from him. She sighed in defeat, dropping her shoulder. ''I can't sleep at all,'' she finally admitted, looking up at him shamefully. ''Do you mind if I..?''

''It's okay, feel free to stay,'' said Hiccup, putting down the candle on his desk. ''I don't mind.'' Of course he didn't mind. Astrid felt ashamed of herself – asking to stay with him in the middle of night. What was she doing? But part of her said: go ahead, get some rest. As much as she hated to admit it, she found comfort in Hiccup much more than anybody else.

''Hiccup,'' she said at last. ''Thanks.''

Hiccup gave her a pointed look, but finally smiled in return. ''It's no big deal,'' he said shaking his head and looking away. ''You'd of done the same for me.''

Astrid smiled back and Hiccup gestured to climb up the stairs since she'd been staying unmoving down there. She nodded and stayed low as she came upstairs – still somehow shy and ashamed.

Hiccup blew on the candle and the room went dark.

Astrid didn't see very clearly, but managed to find her way to the bed where she heard Hiccup already lying down. She climbed by his side and buried her head under his chin.

She had no idea why, but she didn't feel like herself. She felt sick and weak. After all, she was still recovering from her illness.

It didn't take so long, and she found herself resting at last.

...

The next morning, Tuffnut stormed inside Hiccup's hut, panicked.

''Hiccup!'' yelled Tuffnut as he ran to his bed, leaning above a sleepy Hiccup. ''Hiccup! Astrid's missing!''

Hiccup turned his head to face him, not at all alerted. ''Well, hi, Tuffnut,'' said Hiccup calmly.

''It's Astrid! She'd not in her hut!'' he yelled and stormed back out, calling after the others in panic.

As soon as the male twin was gone, Astrid popped her head out of the covers. ''You think he knew I was here?''

If you're wondering, I was inspired by a quote on the net, if it seems familiar at the end to any of you. Oh, and by the way, don't think there was any sexual relationship - it's just Astrid searching comfort. I know I may have wrote her out of character, and I'm sorry for that.