Things were well in Berk. Toothless was happy, Astrid was happy, Valka was happy, all the people of Berk were happy, and, Hiccup himself was happy too. Busy, but happy. Most anything beats the near utter-devastation that they encountered only a few short months ago. The aftermath of the war with Drago Bludvist left Berk in pretty bad shape. It required hard and laborious reconstruction, but it was nothing that Vikings couldn't handle.
Toothless followed Hiccup wherever he went and never left his side. There were endless days that consisted of boring ground-work, but more did he enjoy himself being by his best friend then being in the skies with anyone else.
Hiccup's days with Toothless were plentiful, but his days with Astrid were waning. She was heavily involved in the maters of the Hairy Hooligan tribe, and was a huge help to Hiccup. Unfortunately that meant they rarely worked on anything together. Astrid was a leader, and led the people well. Hiccup was chief, so he got to be a leader weather he wanted to be or not. They were usually overseeing massive projects on differing sides of the island. It was now that they were able to cherish those moments in which they were able to cherish the moments they spent to their full capacity more than they ever had before.
On an island just south of Berk, Hiccup and Astrid got to spend a rare moment together and fight out their frustrations. Well, Astrid fought. Hiccup was more or less a punching bag. As you know, Hiccup was not one for violence, or anything really confrontational, but he did it for the sake of his girlfriend. Whom he loved. A lot. (As he had to remind himself in moments such as these.)
Astrid was relentless with her punches, but Hiccup eventually found an opening, and he let her have it. Up and over his shoulder she flew and came falling hard unto the ground.
That was a biiiiiiig mistake.
Astrid's head snapped up, and their eyes met, and daggers shot from them. She was no longer recognizable. Hiccup had turned his girlfriend into a murderous monster.
"Oh boy," he gulped. He didn't have time to brace himself for the wrath that was to be unleased.
Before long, she had him on his stomach, the full of her weight crushing him to the ground and had his arms woven in a painful twist behind his back.
"Alright, alright, alright! You win!"
Astrid released him and stood hovering over him. Hiccup rolled over, and breathing heavily looked up to the evening sky. An apologetic look now replaced the the (for lack of a better word) angry look on Astrid's face.
"You've proved your point; you're still the best fighter," Hiccup confessed.
Astrid smiled smugly. "Was there any doubt in your mind?"
"Not really."
She laughed that wonderful and gentle laugh that was definitely Astrid's. He smiled up at her, "I'll get you one of these days."
She waved him off, "Sure. I'll be waiting."
Hiccup rubbed his sore body where the spikes from Astrid's skirt had punctured him, "That skirt really hurts," he whined.
Astrid only smiled. She liked it; cute and deadly. Just like her.
They moved to sit down by the rock at the edge of the cliff that overlooked the thrashing waves below. Astrid wedged herself as close as she could to Hiccup and the two sat in a moment of peace as they watched the sun seep into the earth.
Though his father quite often still haunted his memories, Hiccup was grateful for his friends, his girlfriend, his dragon, and his mother that stood beside him in this hard and crazy time. The whole chief thing, as he soon found out, as not as bad as he feared, but this was largely due to after he stopped worrying on how to be a leader, and just stuck with what he knew how to do best, and the leading came in its own time. He was destined to be chief, he understood that now. Though, there were some things that came with being chief that he did not particularly like.
"If you need me to, I can take over the dragon training school," Astrid suddenly professed.
Hiccup looked down at his love, "Take over?
"Yeah. You are too busy with other matters, like rebuilding Berk, to worry about that. You also should lean away from working with dragons and start focusing on the people."
This caught Hiccup's attention, "Me, quit working with dragons?"
This statement, of course, earned an eye roll, "I'm not saying its forever, and I'm not saying to quit all together, but you should put your focus on your people. They need you right now. When things calm down and are reorganized, then you can go back to full days of exploration with Toothless."
Toothless's head popped up at the mention of his name. He and Stormfly were sitting nearby under a shade tree dozing in and out of sleep. He gave Hiccup his award winning smile, and then returned to his rest.
Hiccup looked down at Astrid, "I haven't done that since I've become chief."
"But, you were thinking about it," Astrid met his gaze.
He sighed and leaned closer to her, "Okay, you've got me there."
A moment of silence passed between them. It was nice, but then, all of a sudden, Hiccup got a rude awaking in his ear.
"That's right!" Astrid all but blew out Hiccup's ear drum, "I have something for you."
She never was one to just enjoy the peaceful moments. Hiccup resisted the urge to groan as he turned to his girlfriend, "What is it?"
The girl extended her hand and waited for her boyfriend to do the same. She placed in his palm a small silver chain, and attached to it was a silver dot. Hiccup examined the coin more closely. On one side it read: For the Dancing and the Dreaming. On the other side was, carved into its smooth face, a portrait of his father, and inscribed on it were the words: In loving memory of Stoick the Vast. Warrior, Chieftain, Father, Friend.
"Oh, Astrid. It's great. Thank you," Hiccup praised. Astrid beamed proudly as she watched him place it on his neck and tucking it under his shirt do that the silver piece rested near his heart.
"When did you find the time to work on this?" He asked.
"Usually late at night, but I found a few spare moments here and there," she explained, "I'm glad you like it."
Hiccup examined the dark circles under her eyes. With all the effort that was put into rebuilding Berk, there was very little time to sleep. He was a little upset that she would give up the few precious hours she did have to work on the necklace, but it would be rude to complain. She had poured a lot of hard work and love into it he could tell.
So, he decided not to say anything, most of the reason being that Astrid was beginning to fall asleep. Her head bobbled up and down before it finally made its way onto Hiccup's shoulder. Turning his head to rest it atop hers, he gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.
Hiccup himself was beginning to feel a little sleepy as well. He sat watching the sun fall into the sky before them. Before long, the sun was no longer in front of them, but now making an entrance into the sky behind them.
Hiccup rose first. When he came to and realized that they were still out on the cliff, he quickly roused Astrid.
"Astrid. Astrid!"
Her eyes fluttered open and she looked groggily at Hiccup, "What do you want?"
Hiccup didn't answer, and let her come to the realization herself. It didn't take long. "Son of a half-toll!" She cursed as she sprang up into a sitting position.
"Yeah," said Hiccup. It was sunrise, and the people of Berk were going to be looking for them if they didn't return soon. He extended his arm for her to take, "The day's a wastin' Milady. We best be going." There was so much work to be done.
When they arrived back on Berk, Astrid and Hiccup landed for a brief moment to collect what they needed.
"See you tonight?" Hiccup asked as they landed.
"I don't know," Astrid responded as she mindlessly began collecting materials she would need for the day, "My work will probably run over until late and then... Oh, we have that meeting at Meade Hall to attend tonight."
That's right. Hiccup had forgotten about that.
"I guess I'll see you then," she said and she weeled around to face him. Takin her by surprise, he gave her a quick peck before he mounted oothless and flew off once more. From the air he mouthed, 'see you then' and gave her a two finger salute. She watched him go until he became a tiny figure in the distance.
Hiccup thought of Astrid all through his day's work. He didn't know how it was possible, they had been together for so long, but he grew deeper and deeper in love with her each passing moment. He pulled from his pocket a small object. It was made of thin gold metal. The small strip was woven in a delicate pattern and connected at a tip so that it resembled a circle. The ends of the golden piece were connected to a stone that shared the colors of a Deadly Nadder. Not just any Deadly Nadder, but, of course, Stormfly. Hiccup had crafted it in those rare moments that he had all to himself. His product was finished, but yet still didn't lie upon his girlfriend's hand. He wanted to marry her. He was going to ask, he just didn't know how. You might think that's silly of him, but they never had the time. He didn't want it to be done in some sort of backhand way, he wanted to do it right.
That night, Hiccup wandered back into town after a long and tiring day of work. He was about to retire for the night when Toothless gave him a nudge in the direction of Meade Hall.
"Uuuuuuuuuugh," was the only intelligent response Hiccup could muster before he reluctantly sauntered over to the entrance. At first, he paid no mind, but eventually it began to dawn on him that something was off around the town.
"Does it seem a little quite to you, bud?"
Toothless gargled in agreement. Nearing Meade Hall, Hiccup noticed the warm glowing light that radiated from its windows. He heard a soft cheery banter come trickling through the massive stone structure. The two palls looked at each other questioningly, and Hiccup pushed the door open to reveal a mass of people, all merry and slightly drunk, who were dancing and mingling about themselves.
"There he is, the chief of Berk!" Someone shouted. All raised their glasses and fists to him as they shouted cheers of praise to their chief.
At the sound of his arrival, Astrid came bouncing over to her boyfriend. "What's all this?" Hiccup asked, dumbfounded.
"A celebration of chiefdom. A celebration of both you and your late father," she explained. Her eyes twinkled in the firelight.
"You promoted this, didn't you?"
"What? Psh, no."
He looked at her knowingly, "Right."
Toothless wasn't having any of it. He was just as tired as Hiccup was. Digging his nose into Hiccup's side, Toothless herded him towards the door. Hiccup smiled to himself, he was alright with that. He felt exactly the same way. "Well, you can have the celebration without us, can't you Astrid?"
"You know," Astrid called out, "it's a celebration for dragons and humans alike. Toothless is also being honored here tonight for his new title of alpha."
Toothless liked the sound if that. He bounced back over to Astrid, abandoning Hiccup. Puffing out his chest, he tried his best to look majestic, but in Hiccup's eyes all he looked was smug.
"You useless reptile." Hiccup mumbled. Astrid giggled in spite of herself and stroked the cocky dragon. Toothless then bounced off to meet his dragon friend, Stormfly, among others. Turning to Hiccup, Astrid looked pleased with herself as she said, "Looks like you're stuck here."
"Not exactly."
She gave him the puppy dog eyes, "After all that I and your mother went through to prepare, you're just going to leave?"
Hiccup looked down at his love and laughed, "Of course not. This is really sweet of you. Thank you."
Astrid's face glowed. She gave her boyfriend a quick peck on the cheek and entwined her arms in his, "So, two surprises in two days. I'd say I'm doing pretty good."
Hiccup watched his girlfriend's ice blue eyes as he recognized in them the search for a challenge. Everything was always a challenge with her.
"I thought you had nothing to do with this," he teased.
"Right, as if you believed that."
Even though he wasn't one for parties (She enjoyed being center of attention, Hiccup did not) he still appreciated the nice gift that she had given him and Toothless.
They all lost track of time as they talked, danced, and celebrated the night away. Hiccup watched his girlfriend from across the room as she mingled and talked with a few of her close friends. Hiccup began to feel a heavy burden inside his pocket. For such a small thing, it sure did like to make itself known. Reaching inside his pocket, he retrieved the engagement ring. For a moment, he stood looking at it, and then decided: he was just going to have to challenge her surprise. Now was the right time.
Hiccup began to whistle. Everyone was still laughing and carrying on, but Toothless heard and understood. He gave a low growl to quite everyone. The people stopped and stared as Hiccup made his way to Across the Hall to meet his love.
She watched him approach; a puzzled look crossed her face. Hiccup reached out to his beautiful counterpart, and she took his hand. He lifted it so that their forearms crossed, and he began to chant as he led her 'round and 'round.
Hiccup:
"I'll swim and sail on savage seas
With never a fear of drowning
And gladly ride the waves of life
If you would marry me
No scorching sun nor freezing cold
Will stop me on my journey
If you will promise me your heart"
Hiccup couldn't resist a smile as realization flickered across her face. Hiccups mother stood nearby and watched the happy coupe with a gleeful heart as they spun in a giddy circle as she and Stoick had so many years ago. The crowd began to sing along and clap merrily, growing louder and louder. Astrid's step doubled in its bounce as she squealed out, a goofy look on her face, 'Andlovemeforeternity!'
Composing herself, she continued.
Astrid:
My dearest one, my darling dear
Your mighty words astound me (Not really)
But I have no need for mighty deeds
when I feel your arms around me (That part was true)
Hiccup:
But I would bring you rings of gold (He would search to the end of the world.)
I'd even sing you poetry (Even though he hated it)
and I would keep you from all harm (Always)
if you would stay beside me
Astrid:
I have no use for rings of gold (He was all that she wanted)
I care not for your poetry (no one wane to hear that)
I only want your hand to hold
Hiccup:
I only want you near me
Both:
To love and kiss to sweetly hold
for the dancing and the dreaming
through all life's sorrows
and delights
I'll keep your laugh inside me
I'll swim and sail a savage sea
With never a fear of drowning
I'd gladly ride the waves of life
If you will marry me!
At the last line, Hiccup got down on one knee and looked up at the love of his life.
"Astrid, I- I love you. You are the light if my life, my confidant, my stronghold…" Astrid's eyes began to mist over.
Suddenly, all the confidence he had went out the window. Gone was the 20 year old chief, and in its place was once again was the floundering 15 year old boy. "I know we don't sail as much anymore, we only fly. Well, at least, I don't sail. Neither do you. So, I guess that leaves some of this song invalid. The whole 'I'll never have a fear of downing' is not technically true-"
Astrid rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Yes, Hiccup."
"But, all the heart in it still rings true, so would you do me the honor of -"
She was overwhelmed with joy that she didn't even let him finish. A little bubble of a yes escaped her mouth as she grasped Hiccup and pulled him into a kiss. It seemed as if everyone far and near erupted into a chorus of cheering. Toothless could hardly contain his excitement and tackled the happy couple to the ground. He gave them both a dragon kiss. A very wet and slobbery dragon kiss. "Toothless! You know that doesn't was out!" Hiccup cried, but all Astrid could do was laugh at her wonderful fiancé and his loveable pet dragon.