Who would have thought? 25 stories. I've written 25 stories on this site. I can't believe this...
So, anyway; I was thinking if I could do something a bit more... unique for this milestone. After thinking about it for sometime, I came up with something that was probably never done before with the RotBTFD fandom. A Modern AU taking place in non-other than my home country, Israel! I've read some Modern AU's where the characters live in different countries, so why not give this a shot and pay homage to my beautiful country for my 25th story? This story is mostly a straight forward Jelsa Modern AU with RotBTFD characters in it, but might as well bring up the one difference.
Before we start, I do want to state something. If there are any Israel haters out there who are reading this, I ask you to please pay no mind to this story and treat it like it doesn't even exist. I'm sure the haters will hate no matter what I'll say in this AN, but might as well try and talk some logic. If one chooses to follow it or not, it's not my deal.
Without further ado, let's begin! Hope you will enjoy and please review if you got something to say!
Tuesday afternoon, the second busiest day of the week for every train station in the state of Israel; because that is the day most soldiers of the Israeli Army are headed home in order to rest themselves from the long and tiring week of serving their small country.
The cashiers working at the train station are all used to it. Every Tuesday, the station is being filled with boys and girls dressed up in those all so familiar dark green uniform with multi-colored berets on their left shoulders, pushing each other out of the way in order to get out of the station faster, reaching home is their top priority.
Among the soldiers making their way home, two of them stood out. Or at least, one of them stood out because of his white hair, the other was mostly noticeable because he seemed to be with the guy with the white hair. Both of them wore the traditional dark green uniform and high black shoes. The brown berets on their shoulders and the long-ranged weapons both carried with them suggested that they served in the Berkian Brigade, which meant they served as fighters.
"Finally home!" The guy with the white hair said with much enthusiasm and relief. The joy of going home, which filled his blue eyes, was easily visible to anyone who looked at him.
"And who's to blame for us being grounded for twenty one days?" The other guy, a brunet named Hiccup, asked Jack in response to the previously made comment.
"Oh, come on dude!" Jack protested. "You were totally laughing when the IPhone started beeping near North's office!" The mentioned North was Jack and Hiccup's commander, who most soldiers suspected was gay and rumor was being tossed around that he had an App on his IPhone that members in a local gay/lesbian club have on their Smartphones which if turned on, makes the Smartphone beep whenever it detects another phone with the App installed on it nearby.
On the Sunday in which Jack and Hiccup returned to their unit, Jack somehow managed to convince Hiccup to stay up late enough in order to sneak around their commander's office, and see if the rumors were true.
Much to their amusement, they were. But after the commander heard them laugh from outside, he filled a complaint against the two friends and they were sentenced to twenty one days of not going home and being grounded to their unit. Jack tried his hardest to convince every person he could to soften the punishment, as both Hiccup and he were near the end of their service, having only a month left to serve out of the required three years. But the begging didn't help and they had to just go through with it.
"Yeah, I laughed at that. I don't know if you noticed but I kind of stopped laughing after he filled the complaint on the spot." Hiccup replied to Jack's comment on the matter before letting out a sigh. "If my dad would have heard…"
"The son of "Stoick the Vast", the late Commander-in-Chief, has been grounded for twenty one days after revealing his commander's sexual desires!" Jack said in a stereotypic announcer voice while putting his arm out. "I can already see the newspapers headlines." He joked.
"I doubt something like this will make the headlines." Hiccup stated. "I'm not the Prime-Minister's son… nor do I wish to be." He quickly added, causing Jack to giggle.
"I still can't believe him getting hurt got that much media attention." The white haired friend stated as they both reached the card gate, passing their cards through it and existing to the main station lobby.
"Hey, do you need a ride home?" Hiccup asked as they got closer and closer to the exit. "I'm sure Astrid won't mind, even if you unnecessarily kept the two of us apart for three whole weeks."
Jack smiled at his best friend's offer. "Yeah, sure! Thanks!" He accepted the offer, happy that he won't need to wait for buses to arrive.
The chilly wind of freedom greeted both soldiers as they walked out of the train station. They sure missed seeing the familiar environment that was close to their home, so much so that they basically considered themselves home just from arriving at the station's parking lot.
Both looked through the large crowed of green uniform, with the occasional people who wore regular clothing, looking for that Astrid Hiccup was talking about. After a few seconds of scouting the parking lot, Hiccup's eyes caught sight of a blonde girl wearing a red shirt and grey pants with a black Great Dane tied up in a leash that the girl held.
The brunet's face lit up at the sight of his girlfriend arriving with his dog. He missed them both so much during that long stay in the unit and it was so good to see them again. "Astrid!" He yelled to her.
Astrid's head turned faster than a speeding bullet at the sound of Hiccup's voice calling her, a smile was plastered on her face at the sight of her boyfriend being home again. The woman was so lost in her happiness that she didn't even noticed the dog she came with started running away from her towards Hiccup in such a massive speed that the leash escaped her grasp.
"Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed happily as he saw his beloved dog running in his direction. "Hey, bud!" He managed to say before the black dog jumped at him with all of his momentum and strength that it knocked Hiccup to the ground. "I'm happy to see you too, bud." Hiccup managed to say as Toothless covered his face with an endless amount of licks from his tongue.
Jack laughed when Hiccup hit the ground. "Why do I get the feeling you waited for this more rather than kissing Astrid?"
"Are you implying I have a competition?" Astrid asked as she arrived to where they stood. As soon as she made it there, Toothless got up from Hiccup and allowed the soldier to stand up. When Hiccup was about to grab Astrid and kiss her for the first time in almost a month, she stopped him. "No way am I kissing you after the amount of dog droll you have on your face."
Hiccup groaned in frustration at Astrid's words. "Oh, come on! It never bothered you before!"
"I'm just kidding you know!" She said with a smile as she hugged him tight before pulling away, but still having her arms around Hiccup's shoulders.
Hiccup just smiled at her before he grabbed her waist with one of his hands. "Come here, you!" He said before kissing her lips with much passion.
Jack watched the couple kiss with a smile on his face. He was happy for Hiccup and Astrid as they seemed perfect for one another, but at the same time, he was also kind of jealous of his friend. Not for having Astrid, but for having a girlfriend that he loved and she loved him back.
Jack was considered pretty good looking among the girls who knew him and he had no problem with getting girls' phone numbers and going on dates. But this wasn't the same as having an actual steady girlfriend. Jack did date a girl who served in his unit for a few months but they broke up once she met some Australian guy who moved to the same unit and started dating him. It was only because of the accent, he was sure that was the reason.
Jack was brought back to reality when he felt Astrid suddenly giving him a friendly hug. "I didn't forget about you, Jack. Don't get emotional." She teased. "Even though you caused it so I won't be seeing Hiccup for nearly a month."
"If you could have seen his face once the phone beeped…" Jack started to protest as he pulled away from the hug.
"Let's just forget about it and had home?" Hiccup suggested. "I want to see mom already and check on the place." He added, meaning to the family business his mom started.
Hiccup's mom was a vet, and she opened an animal hospital right near where she and Hiccup live. Seeing how both Hiccup and Astrid were fond of animals, they help her with running the place and helping the countless dogs and cats that arrive there for treatment. Hiccup's father's old friend, Gobber, is also working there as a dentist for the pets. Not only he was good at it, he was also able to stay close to his late friend's family by helping them with their business, and that was always good.
"Sure, let's go." Astrid said as she started heading towards her car with Hiccup and Jack following while Toothless continued to repeatedly jump with joy at Hiccup's return.
Astrid took over the driving duties, Hiccup sat in the passenger seat near her and Jack sat in the backseat with Toothless. "So, anything interesting planned for the weekend?" Jack asked after Astrid guided the car out of the parking lot.
"Oh yeah!" Astrid replied happily. "Remember the "Gala" club?" She asked the two guys.
"Yeah. Wasn't it shut down like… three years ago?" Hiccup asked.
"It sure was." Astrid confirmed. "But apparently, some dude bought it and the grand re-opening party is tomorrow night!" The blonde announced.
Jack's eyes went wide in surprise. "Are you serious, sister?!" He asked her with excitement in his voice. Jack loved parties and going out to clubs and pubs with his friends during Friday nights, and that "Gala" club was probably his favorite place. When it was shut down, he was pretty bombed out about it, but now it seems like it's coming back.
"I couldn't imagine something so great even if I tried, Jack." She replied with a smile on her face.
"Okay, no need to plan this then." Hiccup said. "We know how we celebrate tomorrow."
"Like there was any speculation." Astrid added as they all laughed.
"Now you see, Hiccup?" Jack said. "I totally planned for us to get grounded for that long, so that we won't stay in the unit this weekend when the Gala re-opens. It was all planned!" He told Hiccup in a joking manner.
"If that was true, I would have adored and loathed you at the same time…" Hiccup said, causing Jack to smile. "But it's not true, so I just loath you with not even one bit of admiration."
Astrid laughed at Hiccup's sudden joke while Jack was both shocked and amused by it.
One thing was certain; they couldn't wait for tomorrow night.
And that was chapter 1! We set up Jack's side of the story and in the next chapter we will get to Elsa.
Hope you enjoyed! Leave a review if you got something to say and I'll see you next time! Take care!