Don't sue me for what's here. It just happened, alright?! I don't think this pairing has been written yet, and if it has can someone point me to it? I want to see another person's perspective of it. Actually at this point I don't care what the medium. If there is something pairing these two I want to see it!

It started out slow and was so unexpected that when it did arrive no one, including those involved, knew what to do.

Sure, he wasn't refined and was very definitely rough along the edges, and probably had a cavern that was his stomach that was refined from all the rocks (otherwise known as his cooking) he ate, but his heart was in the right place.

Stoick had been a chief, the epitome of a Viking. He had had a very clear line between right and wrong and had allowed it to permeate his decisions for the protection of his people of Berk. They had listened to him, respected him, looked up to him as a role model. He had led the village through thick and thin and had changed with the world as it moved around him. Of course there had been twenty years where she hadn't seen him but with simple words it had almost felt as though their time apart hadn't happened. Hiccup was there, Stoick had been there and for that moment…

Obviously Odin or Thor or some other self-important God had it out for her, for as soon as that moment was over, he was gone.

Forever.

Going back to Berk had to have been the toughest decision she had ever made but she had done it was back with her son, finally.

He was growing into a fine chief as well. Incorporating the dragons more than she had thought possible and listening to everyone equally were the things she had to be most proud of. Hiccup often came home exhausted complaining that he felt as though he hadn't spent enough time with one person or another and how he would have to fix it the next day. She would remind him that there were only so many hours in a day and he was already surpassing what everyone believed a person to be capable of. He made her impressed actually. When Stoick had first become chief, taking over from his father, a Hiccup as well, he had resulted to yelling at a few people to make them stop and listen to him. Hiccup never did, even when pushed to the limits by Spitelout. She had even wanted to yell at the twins one day whilst she had looked over Barf and Belch for them.

He was a piece of Stoick that she still had and so that was why she felt as though she was betraying the two of them even thinking what she was thinking.

But Gobber…

There wasn't a proper way to describe the one armed, one legged, blacksmith, Viking. He had been there always, as a close friend to both her and Stoick, never marrying, but now…

She couldn't, people would talk more than they already did.

But she had been so miserable and he would just come in and brighten her day. He taught her things about blacksmithing that he knew she would never use, realising that she just wanted to company. In return she taught him all she knew about dragons, helping him in his dentistry and laughing alongside him as he sung.

Very slowly, she was falling in love again.

He began to be more open with her, complimenting her each time he saw her. In return she would comment about his developing dragon skills. They began to seek out time to spend with each other, taking to the skies, her on graceful Cloudjumper and him on gentle Grump.

With him she was able to forget. Not once did she think of the devastating way the Alpha Bewilderbeast had been murdered. She didn't look at Hiccup when he walked into the forge whilst she was there and think of the life she could have held had everything gone differently. She didn't see arguments between the people of Berk and think of Stoick, she was at peace.

Then, one day when no one was looking, he brought her hand up and gently kissed the top of it, looker her dead in the eyes seriously. He gave her a soft loving smile after a second, an expression unfamiliar on his face, before walking off into the night.

When they told Hiccup, and of course Astrid (it was becoming increasingly rare to see the two apart), neither of them were prepared for the reactions. Hiccup blinked owlishly for a moment before laughing and crying out that he knew it all along. He had to move quick however to catch Astrid who just fainted.

Something had to get the girl after all.

Basically this was a warm up for me attempting an OTP challenge I found written by someone else here. I copied their list and modified it to suit me (because I like doing those things in chronological order) and because face it, it was probably made up for a modern fanfiction and I only write medieval… or this. As much as I love Hiccstrid, honestly the more I think about this pairing the bigger my grin gets.

*note: I just read somewhere that Gobber's gay. The line where he mentions that he never married for *this* and one other reason means he is gay apparently, I just took it as he was always secretly in love with Valka or he never found the right woman.

My HTTYD OTP ship has crashed before it even left port… But for all intents and purposes I'm really going to ignore this. And that comment was a side one that is constantly being debated (when I first saw the movie I thought it was said because he still had a thing for Valka and knew it could never happen… or could it?)

Aly