Like a dancing ballet, the dragons flew to the hidden world. The spectacle of their flapping wings showed the greatness of these majestic beings. Hiccup had spent five years of his life with them and witnessing their departure was by far the most difficult thing he had ever faced. Toothless' glanced down even more. He looked at his human friend from the edge of the cliff with his big sad eyes, still hesitating to take off. The auburn-haired man smiled through his tears to reassure him, as if to say, 'It's going to be alright', and Toothless gave him one last look before flying off to his freedom.
The Berkians stayed long in front of this cliff, gazing at the sky, even after all the dragons had left. Thereafter, everyone had finally returned to the camp. The dragon riders had wanted to stay a little longer, but eventually did the same. Only the chief remained.
In the absence of his artificial leg to support him, he had taken a seat at the edge of the cliff and remained there until nightfall, lost in thought. The tears he had let flow earlier, had dried on his cheeks.
He heard footsteps behind him. Someone crouched down by putting their hand on his shoulder. Without having to turn around, he knew it was Astrid. His gaze crossed hers and the young man's face relaxed. His features softened as he smiled at her.
"Come on, it's time to join the others."
Hiccup sighed before agreeing. She helped him to get up and he leaned on her shoulder to walk. Astrid supported him in his steps to where the villagers had gathered. Small groups had formed around improvised campfires.
The couple passed through them, stepping over a few people. They watched the men rub their hands to warm themselves by the fire. They told each other stories from the good old days, smiling at the memory of the dragons.
Berk obviously needed to gather after the sad event that had just taken place. Sharing the happy memories that their friendship with the dragons had given them seemed like good therapy.
The further he went, the more amazement could be seen on the young leader's face. Seeing his people gather in this way made them happy despite everything that had happened.
Astrid turned to him.
"What should we do when our loved ones are not with us?"
A smile appeared on his face.
"We celebrate them," he replied without hesitation.
That's what his father always said. He always had the right words in difficult times. Hiccup was happy to have Astrid at his side for this, among other reasons. She reminded him a lot of his father and it helped him to move forward.
They finally found their old friends sitting in a circle around a fire. The gang was complete. Fishlegs was crying in Ruffnut's arms as she gave her brother a sadden glance. Snotlout, who was next to Tuffnut, watched the scene unfold without saying anything. They looked really bad. They looked up when their group leader and friend arrived. He smiled at them before sitting beside them.
"So what are you doing out here?" he said to them.
"Well, like everyone else... " Tuffnut replied.
"We're telling each other stories," her sister added.
"We were recalling the time when the twins almost burned down the shoreline with the fireworms fiasco," explained Snotlout, somewhat amused.
"And I was explaining to them that it wasn't completely my fault... maybe Ruffnut's," retorted the male twin.
Snotlout was about to say something, but Hiccup cut him off.
"The Edge... it was the good old days, wasn't it?"
"We were young and free," Astrid agreed.
The others then let themselves go to their good memories.
"The Dragon Eye... when we discovered it, it changed everything. It allowed us to explore the world... a world so vast... " his voice broke when he realized that he could never explore this world in this way anymore.
Astrid grabbed his hand and squeezed it into hers, as if to testify to his presence, she was there for him.
"It also allowed us to expand our knowledge of dragons! " exclaimed Fishlegs, who had just dried his tears. "We've discovered so much! Between the Night Terrors, the Death Songs, the Sentinels, the Eruptodons, the Razorwhips..."
This last evocation inevitably reminded him of Heather, for whom he had been of particular interest for some time. As he looked at others, he realized that they had thought of her too. Astrid put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"I miss her too," she sighed, trying to smile.
"Ah... she still had the coolest dragon of all," exclaimed Tuffnut, looking nostalgic.
Everyone laughed at his dreamy gaze.
"We experienced a lot of things there, though... " said Ruffnut. "We learned to work as a team, didn't we, Astrid?" she said while giving a light punch to Astrid's shoulder.
"Aha, that's right."
"And we have met so many different people, different cultures, different places..." added the chief.
"The last few years have been really rich," concluded his girlfriend.
"Rich in twists and turns, yeah," Snotlout suddenly exclaimed. "Don't forget that we almost got killed, I don't know how many times, by dragon hunters! Not to mention the volcano on the shore, which almost destroyed the entire island! And do you remember the time you and Fishlegs almost-"
Astrid had presented him with her axe in front of his eyes and Hiccup had hastened to lower it down gently.
"And you forget how many dragons we were able to save because of our recklessness," Hiccup reminded him.
The brown-haired man looked down, grumbling, and Hiccup continued his speech.
"We left Berk to live new adventures, to learn how to manage on our own. And that's what we did. We've been through... so much there. These last six years have undoubtedly been the best years of my life. I've been through... incredible things with Toothless, with all of you. We learned to help each other, to support each other in the most difficult times."
He turned to Astrid and looked into her eyes.
"To love each other."
The blonde's blue eyes grew larger; a smile appeared on the corners of her lips. Harold took her hand, squeezed it, and kissed her, before facing the gang once again.
"And as for today, we left Berk to offer a better life to our dragons and new adventures that await us."
He squeezed the hand of the young Hofferson, once more. The rest of the dragon riders looked disconcerted. They were stunned by the words of their leader. They all nodded with big eyes. All except Tuffnut.
"That's all well and good, but can you tell me who's going to take me to see Chicken now?!" he exclaimed.
The others looked at him strangely before laughing with a good heart.
Hiccup felt as if a breath of fresh air was invading him. Like he could breathe again. As if any tension had dissipated. His friends had managed to cheer him up. He felt good in their presence. And he knew he owed it to one person.
"Thank you," he said, turning to the one he loved.
This one smiles at him. With a glance, he invited her to get up to escape from the group. She took him under her arm and they left the others with a last nod.
As they moved away from the crowd to their respective tents, they observed the landscape around them. They had a whole village to rebuild, a whole life.
In front of the distracted look of her boyfriend, the blonde called him by name.
"Hiccup, are you all right?"
"I feel better. Thank you again for taking me to see them. I needed this."
The girl looked down and smiled.
"You had to make a serious decision today. It was essential to the survival of the dragons and to ours as well."
She raised her head and looked into his eyes.
"I just want you to know that even though it was hard for all of us, you made the right decision, Hiccup."
Hearing Astrid say it aloud reassured him somewhat because it was true that he had asked himself the question and had turned it over several times in his head after the fact. But Astrid knew him too well and she already knew all that.
"I'm going to miss him," the young leader whispered.
They had just arrived in front of his tent. Astrid helped him to sit on the floor while keeping a comforting hand on his shoulder. In his saddened look, she held his head in her hands.
"I'm going to miss him too, just as much as Stormfly, but you did it for their own good."
The young woman lowered her hands down along his chest.
"And, they'll always be there," she had finished saying by placing a hand on his heart.
She managed to get a smile from Berk's chief, who covered her hand with his. His other hand caressed her face by releasing it from the golden strands that concealed it.
"You've always been there for me, Astrid."
He kissed her on her forehead.
"Toothless is my best friend. He helped me to become the man I am today. But none of this would have been possible without your support."
The girl's eyes opened wide.
"Living without him will be a difficult ordeal, but you know what, Astrid?"
He paused.
"When I picture myself happy, it's with you."
Hiccup's face relaxed. He smiled, with misty eyes:
"Do you remember the promise I made to you when we were children?"
"As if it was yesterday," the young woman agreed.
"So I'm asking you Astrid Hofferson, do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?"
Winter was already well settled in when young Hiccup Haddock decided to leave home. As usual, he had left without permission. Anyway, his father Stoick the Vast wasn't there to stop him. And with Gobber as his only babysitter, he could get away.
At just ten years old, the future village chief was an intrepid boy, in love with nature and its beauty. He liked to get lost in the woods. He didn't really have any friends among the children in the village, but he claimed to love his solitude. The truth is that he was only looking for recognition from his village, and for them to stop treating him a ball and chain.
He soon arrived at the entrance to the forest. He rubbed his arms to warm himself up a little before venturing inward. His feet treaded on the snow-covered ground, leaving footprints behind him, sinking deeper into the forest. The young boy had planned to land in a quiet place to observe the few birds that would hide in the hollows of the trees. In this period of extreme cold, the dragons had left as they did every time the Snoggletog period arrived. The small animals could therefore find a quiet life where they did not have to constantly escape from their dangerous flames.
Hiccup then took a position on a tree trunk from which he could observe some birds coming out to wash themselves. He grabbed his notebook and, with his left hand, began to scribble some sketches. Despite the cold and his red cheeks, he continued to draw for nearly half an hour. After a while of staying in the same position, he decided to move to another place. He went a bit further into a more densely wooded area, and settled again. He began to draw the trees around him and the white carpet at their feet. A noise, however, made him lift his head from his notebook. He closed it with one hand and approached the sound he had just heard. It sounded like cracking wood. He then, continued to walk a little further.
"Ah!"
Someone seemed to be making a physical effort. He approached again.
Tchuc!
It was a girl cutting wood. She seemed to be his age. Two blond strands of hair protruded from her white fur hat. A wolf's skin as a coat, the little girl didn't seem to feel the cold.
Tchuc!
She chopped one more log. Harold was watching her closely. This figure looked familiar to him, but he was not sure of himself until she turned around. Without realizing it, he had laid a hand on a branch that had broken under the pressure of the latter. The noise had alerted the blonde. He instantly stooped down to hide.
"Is anyone there?"
That voice. That authoritarian voice that could only belong to one person. Astrid Hofferson. The girl had always occupied a very large place in his heart. So much so that he fell in love with it. He had fallen in love with her fiery temperament, her ability to handle the axe like no one else and her beautiful blue eyes. Hiccup was desperately in love with this girl but he was too shy to confess it to her. Yet he wanted to, but he was too afraid of being ridiculed.
"Have you been here long?!"
The young boy jumped. He hadn't seen it coming. He immediately got up to face her. She crossed her arms on her stomach and raised an eyebrow. And Hiccup knew what it meant; she wanted answers.
"Well... that is to say..."
"What exactly were you doing?"
He gulped with difficulty.
"Well, it's just... I was in the forest and... you were there and..."
"And what Haddock?"
He was stuck. She would never want to believe it. He had to invent something. Or not. Why not go for it?
"There, I followed you because... I love you Astrid Hofferson. Since forever and... one day I will marry you."
He had done it. He had said what he had on his mind.
"It's never gonna happen."
And she had dashed all his hopes in less than five seconds. Hiccup stood still in front of her, wondering why he had said all these things. The poor boy didn't know where to put himself. He finally regained his senses and turned back.
"Goodbye, Hiccup."
She had said his name. Astrid had said his name. And she said goodbye to him. The young boy's legs became all shaky. He smiled a little stupidly at her before leaving, red cheeked, for his hut. Gobber could lecture him tonight, it wouldn't change anything about what happened earlier in the forest.
Astrid had tears in her eyes.
"Of course, Hiccup."
He took her in his arms and held her very tightly against him. They were both so happy. They had come a long way. Astrid was so proud of what he had become. By doing that, Hiccup was finally taking full responsibility for himself.
Astrid slipped her hand over his cheek. She looked at his face.
"I love you Hiccup Haddock," she said before kissing him tenderly.
...
Huddled together in the chief's bed, Hiccup and Astrid were not asleep. They didn't need to talk either. One look was enough. And Hiccup looked her in the eye. He had a question.
"When?" he asked, clasping her hand.
"When what?"
"When are you going to be my wife?"
She smiled.
"In winter, just like when we got engaged."