Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon or any of it's characters.

She sat on the cliff and watch the waves.

The sun was starting to set on what had been a long day. There was always so much to do that it was rare for her to be able to relax. Someone was always needing her attention for training or inspecting their defenses or whatever other nonsense people came up with.

Just sitting alone and having time to herself was a luxury that she didn't get often.

She had a feeling that in the past year or so, her quiet times would eventually be a rarity. People had started look to her as an authority figure - as someone they could rely and depend on for the answers. Over the course of her life she had been fine with this and enjoyed having the ability to call the shots and tell people what to do, but there were definitely times when she wanted to take a step back and relax.

Stormfly was curled behind her back, fast asleep. They had both worked hard today.

The wind teased her hair and she leaned back against the dragon and let her eyes close.

Astrid Hofferson.

The infamous general of Berk.

The Viking shield maiden with a prominent lineage.

One of the master dragon riders.

There was one remaining title that she had a feeling would be joining her list of accomplishments in the near future - chieftess.

Astrid glared at the ocean and the whole sweep of anxiety and annoyance that she had managed to wash away earlier with the nap on the cliffs came back.

It had been a year since they defeated Drago Bludvist. They had rebuilt the village, and Hiccup was sliding into his role as chief better than anyone thought. He was no Stoick, and no one would ever replace their former chief and friend that they lost - but Hiccup was earning a name for himself as a peacekeeper, innovator, and initiator for all of Berk's recent accomplishments.

Other clans in the area were starting to look up to him for his guidance and intelligence in resolving issues.

Traders came to the island daily, and imports from all over the world were coming to Berk. People wanted to meet the young man who was earning a name for himself and his village.

Stormfly stirred slightly, sensing her irritation and unease.

"It's okay, girl. Go back to sleep."

The dragon's eyes were fixed on her, as if waiting for some confirmation that she was really okay, and then closed it eyes.

Astrid could always tell when Stormfly humored her.

There was still so much to explore and so much to do, but the village took priority over everything else.

There were rumors.

Dragons were beginning to disappear.

Astrid sighed and looked up at the sky, wondering if the recent rumors were true. Rumors about a powerful raiding clan that while Berk was seeking to foster relationships and build alliance - this clan was looking to rule through fear and discontent. There was a man leading the clan that was said to be ruthless and terrible. He would accept no truces. No alliances. Nothing outside what would profit his country and himself.

She had a bad feeling about this one. There was something in her gut that told her this was more than just dragon poachers or some madman trying to build a dragon army. It was a familiar story with an extra feeling of danger thrown in that her mind still couldn't process.

She snuggled closer to Stormfly.

Eret and Gustav had been assigned to reconnaissance and exploration for the last six months. Hiccup had kept the rumors to a minimum, but he had tasked the two men with investigating and seeing if there was anything significant behind it.

After the year of calm, Astrid couldn't deny the fact that there was some uneasy feeling in the wind that didn't make her feel good.

"You look exhausted."

She startled and gaped into Hiccup's lop-sided grin. Toothless walked around in the background, rubbing his face in the grass.

"Oh Thor, you startled me!" Astrid held a hand over her chest, "I've told you to stop doing that! I'll do something like punch you or whatever one of these days."

He laughed and sat back beside her, "You've punched me so many times I'm building an immunity."

"You liar. I'm way stronger than you."

"Probably."

"Especially since you spend all day in the Great Hall," Astrid joked, "You're going to get fat and lazy."

Hiccup shuffled over beside her, leaned against Stormfly, and his head tipped to the side to rest on hers. Toothless rest his head in Hiccup's lap.

"You're probably right," Hiccup said. "I'm sorry I've been so busy. If it makes you feel better, I'm so exhausted that I can barely think."

"Phfft, maybe it's a good thing. You think too much."

He chuckled, "It's been a while since we got to sit here together."

"Yeah."

He turned his face to the side and buried his nose in her hair, "You smell good. Like wind."

"I've been out here for the last hour."

"After we get married, let's just live outside in the woods with the dragons and enjoy the wind all day."

Astrid laughed, "You're the chief, you can't live in the woods like a mountain troll. Plus, you'd freeze-"

She froze for a second and thought about the sentence for a moment. After we get married...

"Hiccup, I've been meaning to ask you - "

"I've missed you, Astrid."

She frowned, "Hiccup-"

He stirred nervously, and she immediately sensed it, "I need to manage my time better. I get too lost in things."

"Hey-"

"I think too much, I do too many things, and I get overly dramatic." He leaned back slighty, "I tend to ramble for long periods of time when my mind gets stuck on something. But, you know what?"

Astrid look up at him and she bit her lip.

His cheeks were slightly red, and she had a feeling it wasn't because he had been flying Toothless without a mask on.

"What?" she whispered.

Hiccup took her hand and pressed it to his lips and Astrid felt her heart turn over in her chest.

"None of things, all the tasks I have to do, all the responsibilities that take up my time, all the people that need me-" he spoke into her fingers against his mouth, "None of those things override the fact that I think about you every second of every day and that my thoughts about you are more important to me than anything else."

Astrid felt her eyes burn slightly.

"Makes me a bad chief, huh?" Hiccup chuckled.

She sniffed, not sure if it was the wind or something else. She didn't even respond to his question and only shook her head. No, it didn't make him a bad chief at all.

"I know it's been a long time. Too long," he said, "I don't deserve the fact that you are so patient. Most people would of dropped me a long time ago."

She was shaking her head while he was talking, "How could you say such a thing? I love you, Hiccup."

He grinned. It was the kind of grin that she liked - the same one that he wore when flying Toothless. The kind that said he was enjoying himself.

"I love you too, Astrid," he said, "If you would have me-"

"Yes."

"But-"

"Yes. Whatever you're going to ask, it's going to be a yes, Hiccup."

He chuckled, "Would you marry me, Astrid?"

"Yes."

Hiccup laughed out loud, wrapping his arms around her and dragging her against his chest. They rolled back onto the grass, his metal leg wrapped around her legs and she found him completely wrapped around her. Rolling around on the ground reminded her on how many of his habits were so dragon-like. Even as the chief, he had spent the majority of his life around dragons of all kinds.

His buried his nose in her hair and breathed in deeply.

Yeah, he was a little like some sort of crazy dragon man - but he was her dragon man.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I made you something."

Hiccup was always making things. Even after spending hours in the Great Hall, he would end up at Gobber's tinkering on some new invention.

"What is it?"

He reached into the pocket of his flight suit and pulled out a long silver chain.

"I wanted to make you something that wouldn't get in the way while you were working," she watched as he wrapped the long silver chain around her wrist and clipped the ends. It picked up the light from the sunset and seemed to glitter. He smiled at his work, "That looks great. I was trying out a new way to heat the metal. It worked out really well.

It was such a Hiccup thing to say that Astrid found herself laughing. She laughed until there were tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Hiccup," she smiled, "It's beautiful. I love it and I love you, you idiot."

They watched the sunset with Stormfly and Toothless, chatting like they had all the time in the world. Once dusk was over, Hiccup walked her back to her house, her hand tucked in his.

He stopped in front of her house, "One of these days, I won't always have to drop you off here. You'll come home with me."

"It'll be our home," she grinned at him. "We might be getting married, but don't think that I'll go easy on you," she punched him in the arm, "That's for making me wait for so long."

Hiccup laughed and rubbed his arm, and with a soft smile said, "What, is it always going to be this way?"

She reached up and grabbed the collar of his flight suit, and pulled him down. Her fingers dug into his hair as he kissed her back, nipping her lips and resting his forehead against hers. His hands rest on her waist, her body pressed completely against his own.

Her thumbs brushed over his cheeks, "You bet."

He sighed, "I could get used to it."