Author´s Note: I´d like to note that some names and perhaps also ideas in this work have been inspired/taken from the Perry Rhodan franchise. However, no characters have been directly adapted from it, which is why I will not mark this work as a 'crossover'. To all readers who don´t know the aforementioned franchise: Don´t bother to google it, it´ll just spoil where the story is going.

Hiccup sat on a plot of grass by himself. He gazed into the blue, cloud-specked sky and let his thoughts run free. The wind brought the bickering of some baby dragons to his ears, and he couldn´t help but smile and chuckle silently. He needed to do this more often. He closed his eyes, lay down and looked back on the last three years. Ever since Valka had come to Berk, the village had prospered in a way it never had before. They were now keeping much closer contact to other tribes - after all, Valka had already mapped their surroundings - and exchanged experiences to make mutual progress. He had taken over his duties as the new chief with pride and devoted himself to them. Thanks to Gobber´s advice and help, he had learnt fast and done an acceptable job - or at least he hoped so. He wasn´t sure whether he could ever live up to Stoick...

Hiccup quickly chased these thoughts away. He didn´t want to think about his father.

So he thought about Astrid. Thought about their childhood together, remembered how she used to playfully box his shoulder whenever she was mad. Thought about how they grew up, how the cute, cheeky girl had slowly turned into an even cheekier, but beautiful and more mature woman. Thought about his burning red cheeks when he had asked her whether she wanted to move into a home with him after he had decided he wanted to become a bit more independent and no longer live in one house with his mother. She had just laughed at him and agreed.

Since then, he had started admiring her even more. She always stayed cheerful despite having to take care of two dragons - like she had suspected, Hiccup didn´t really have time for Toothless because of his many duties as chief - and basically having to run the household by herself. It was amazing.

With this admiration came longing. Though they lived in the same house, their relationship was still more of a friendship than anything else - they slept in separate beds and Astrid´s occasional playful pecks on his cheek had ceased a while ago. She probably thought they were too old for these kinds of things.

But Hiccup had often turned in his bed and looked at Astrid during nighttime, watched the moon cast its silvery light on her blond hair, her peaceful, perfect eyes, her adorable, round nose and her beautiful, beautiful little smile. He couldn´t count how often he had imagined caressing her cheek with his hand, looking into her blue eyes deeply and pulling her into an embrace, their bodies merging perfectly and their eyes closing because nothing else mattered. He wished he could tell her how he felt - but how? It was tantalizing.

Maybe he should just wake her one night and ask her? But - wouldn´t she be angry because he disturbed her well-earned sleep? Or maybe... at the dinner table? But what if she rejected him? Wouldn´t it be better to keep his dreams alive than to kill them off by admitting he had failed to make them reality?

Hiccup sat up and shook his head in frustration. These thoughts were to no avail. Why couldn´t it just be like when they were younger again? Flying around on their dragons, exploring the lands and living their lives without worry? Yes, he was glad and proud to be the chief of Berk now. But sometimes he just couldn´t help wishing that he and Astrid could just go on one last exploration flight together. And maybe that´d be the ideal time to tell her how he really felt... On the other hand - why would they do that? There was nothing left to explore in the area and there was no real reason to explore any further... he really needed to stop daydreaming and man up.

I wish for lingering glances
Fairytale romances
Every single day
And you look at me and say
I'm your best friend every day
But I wish for something, wish for something more

Hiccup lifted himself into a seating position and stood up. Enough faineance, his duties were calling.

As he strode back towards the town of Berk, a worried-looking Gobber came scampering towards him. 'What´s the matter?'

'The boat´s 'ave just come in 'n they say there´s less fish 'an usual.'

Hiccup frowned. 'Why is that?'

''ey dun' 'no. 'ere´s just less 'an usual.'

'So little we need to worry about not being able to feed all of Berk and our Dragons?', Hiccup asked.

'Nah. Nat yet. But it´s strange, dun't ya think?'

'Then let´s just assume they hit some unlucky fishing spots today. I´m sure the yield will be as large as it usually is tomorrow.'

Deep inside, Hiccup was far more worried than he acted. If they didn´t catch enough fish, their dragons would grow tired and weak soon, causing them to catch even less fish in the aftermath. He didn´t dare imagine what would happen if they´d have to start relying entirely on fishing nets again with so many mouths to feed. But Gobber didn´t have to know that. A town full of panicking Vikings was the last Hiccup needed right now.

He made his way back to the town´s center. Some people were visibly worried; it seemed the fishermen had spread their news faster than he had hoped. He considered holding calling a town meeting and trying to calm them down, but decided he´d rather not because he himself didn´t really know anything about the issue. If he called a meeting and the town folk got the impression he had no idea how to tackle this problem, the worry would only spread faster.

After checking the people´s mood, Hiccup followed Gobber into the Smithy. After his father´s death, he had overcome his initial reluctance and let Gobber teach him how to be a good blacksmith. Therefore, he had now become quite a lot like his father: Spending his 'free time' working in the smithy, trying to provide the Vikings of Berk with whatever metal work they wished for.

However, the smithery had evolved over the last years - mainly because of the exchange with other Viking tribes. Metal had become a far more usual sight in the Viking´s lives. They no longer only used it for dragon seats and in catapults; instead it could now also be found in nearly every house in the form of cutlery and pots as well as in form of fireproof boxes in which they kept their valuables to make sure those were safe in the case of an accident with one of the younger dragons.

Hiccup didn´t think much while he forged metal. He just concentrated on what he was doing and banished all other thoughts from his mind. It was better that way - after all, a lack of concentration could cause serious injuries when handling burning hot metal. It also helped him forget his worries for a few hours, though he would never admit how much of a relief that was to him.

And so Hiccup spent the rest of the day in the smithy, hammering metal, never looking up. Not to admire the crimson sunset and not when Gobber left. He was completely caught up in his work. Finally, as the last bits of crimson vanished from the evening sky, he let the piece he was working on cool down and made his way home.

The house he and Astrid inhabited was a comparably simple, but comfy hut, and built in a very nice surrounding, too. It was perched atop a cliff and looked quite picturesque in the moonlight. Not too large, but not too small either. One floor, three rooms. A larger one pointing towards the middle of the island where they cooked and ate, a room in which they slept - with a window over each of their beds through which they could marvel at the view - and an outhouse in which they answered nature´s callings.

He entered the house and noticed that Astrid had already gone to sleep. The moon shone through the windows, so Hiccup didn´t bother to light a torch since the flickering light might wake her up. However, there was lukewarm dinner on the table for him.

He sat down and ate in silence.

Hiccup didn´t want to, but he couldn´t help feeling lonely in this dimly lit, cold room. He wasn´t mad at Astrid for going to sleep without him - after all, it was pretty late and he was sure she had worked hard all day - but he also couldn´t help wishing she would be there with him, lighting and warming the room with her presence. Without her, it was so quiet that he could hear himself chew and breathe far too loudly, making him feel like an intruder, a burglar, a thief in the night.

After he had finished, Hiccup stood up and laid the cutlery in the sink. He felt bad for not having thanked Astrid for her work for several days in a row. And she would probably be up and out of the house before he even woke up tomorrow... With a look of resignation on his face, he undressed and readied himself for bed. He laid down on his bed, tucked his cover over himself, cast a last, longing gaze at Astrid´s beautiful face in the moonlight, and closed his eyes.

The next morning, Hiccup woke up in a matter of seconds. He had no time to roll around in bed for hours - after all, he was now chief of Berk. He stood up, stretched his body and got dressed in a matter of minutes. The sun had already moved above the horizon by quite a bit and was shining through the window of the kitchen as he gulped down his breakfast with great haste. After leaving his home, he went straight for Valka´s house. Like almost every day since he became chief, he met with her and Gobber to discuss what had to be done over the course of the day, how the trade with other tribes was going, how much food they had, whether any of the townspeople or dragons had become sick and many other issues. Of course, Valka didn´t exactly have any more chiefing experience than Hiccup, but Gobber was usually able to help them, and he valued her advice anyways.

Valka seemed rather unconcerned by how little fish they had caught yesterday. She told Hiccup that the boats had already left for today and that the fishermen had been in good spirits, eager to make up for the loss. She also reported that all major things were well in Berk, so there was not much to do for Hiccup except work in the smithy like he often did.

When the meeting was over, Hiccup considered going to look for Astrid but dropped the idea because he concluded she wouldn´t be happy about being disturbed in her work. It just wasn´t the right opportunity. Maybe tomorrow. Or someday else.

He spent most of the day in the smithy, concentrating on being a good chief and fulfilling the village´s people´s wishes and not worrying about anything else too much. However, his routine was abruptly interrupted when a group of people came storming in to the smithy in the late afternoon. Hiccup winced in surprise and nearly burnt his hand. He looked up at the intruders and had the intention to scold them at first, but decided not to when he noticed the worried, panic-stricken looks on their faces. Instead, he asked what their concern was.

Still panting, they reported that the fishing boats had just come back and their nets had almost been entirely empty. Highly concerned, Hiccup laid the saddle he was working on down and ran outside to see for himself. The late afternoon sun shone its crimson light on the scene: What seemed like the whole population of Berk was assembled on the central plain, circled around the fishermen and what little fish they had been able to catch.

Hiccup knew he had to calm the people down if he wanted to avert a panic. He thought for a minute or two, climbed on a rock and called the people´s attention towards him with a loud shout. He cleared his throat and let his gaze wander over his people´s faces, trying to interpret their expressions. Then he began to speak:

'People of Berk, I know you may be worried about and distressed by the decrease in the number and weight of fish we caught, but there is no reason for panic. Valka, Astrid and me will hold an emergency meeting right after this announcement in order to figure out how to deal with this phenomenon. Results will be announced in the early morning tomorrow.'

There was a slight murmuring as not everyone seemed to be fully satisfied with this statement, but at least the crowd dissolved. Knowing there was no time to waste, Hiccup immediately headed towards Valka´s home again.

Valka had already informed Astrid and Gobber and they were all standing at a table, their heads bent over a map, when Hiccup arrived. Valka got to the point immediately: 'We´ll need to have someone find the source of the problem. I´ve talked to some of the traders and it seems like none of the other tribes have got any clue about what´s going on. They´re expecting us to do something about it.'

'Why us?', Astrid interrupted.

'We´re much closer to our dragons than they are. And it´s obvious that the ones that can fly should be the ones to start an investigation.'

'Okay. Go on.'

'I suggest whoever we send out should fly in expanding spirals so he or she can cover as much area as possible in as little time as possible. We´ve got some fish in stock, but it´ll only last one week, two if we limit ourselves. We need to have a solution by then or there´ll be a famine.'

Hiccup nodded gravely, displaying he understood how dire the situation was.

'I´ll go and explore', Astrid said.

Valka nodded approvingly. 'Yes, you do have all the necessary skills. Cleverness, Strength, Alertness...'

'Can I join her?', Hiccup interrupted, trying to hide just how eager he was to go on an adventure with Astrid.

Valka didn´t seem to notice. 'Why?'

'Well, um... I guess... I´m the representative of our tribe, so... shouldn´t I be there in case we need to negotiate with anybody?'

'Why would you have to negotiate with somebody? We´ve already asked the other tribes and they don´t know anything. There´s no indication that this problem is caused by something we´d need to negotiate with.'

'Erm...' Hiccup was visibly lost for words. 'Well... you never know!'

It was only then that it dawned on Valka that Hiccup mainly wanted to spend some extra time with Astrid - and she decided to give in. 'Okay, if you want. You´re chief, after all, so you´re the one to decide. I´ll take care of the town with Gobber in the meantime.'

Hiccup couldn´t help but let a wide smile creep onto his face at the thought. Finally - the chance he´d been waiting for! 'It´s settled then. We´ll pack some things and food for a week, then leave tomorrow in the early morning. There´s no time to waste!'

Valka and Astrid nodded in agreement, then they all left and headed for their homes. Hiccup wished he could grab Astrid´s hand and intertwine his fingers with hers as they walked side by side, but he couldn´t build up the courage to do it. As the sun set, they reached their little house, entered it and began to pack some clothes wordlessly. For some reason, Astrid seemed tense. Hiccup drew in air with the intention of speaking several times, but he never did. He just didn´t know what to say.

After they had packed, she began to make dinner. Hiccup sat down at the kitchen table and turned towards her. After a while, he asked: 'Is there anything I can do to help you?'

'Not really. You´ve never made food before, have you?'

'No.'

There was silence once again.

'How have you been doing lately?', Hiccup started again, hoping to get a conversation going.

'Fine.'

Hiccup started to get the feeling Astrid didn´t really want to talk. But why?

'You´re not exactly talkative today, huh?'

'No.'

What was up with her? Was she mad because he had hardly talked to her during the past weeks?

Hiccup remembered he hadn´t thanked her for running the household yet.

'Um... I´m really sorry I haven´t really talked to lately. You´re doing all the chores while I´m always in the smithy or laying around lazily and... I really wanted to thank you. It´s really nice.'

Astrid just nodded to show she had heard what he said.

God, that was the lamest 'thank you' ever, Hiccup thought to himself. How was he ever going to win her affection this way?

There was another moment of silence only broken by the sizzling of fat in the frying pan. Then Astrid lifted said frying pan, brought it over to the table and put some fish on each of their plates. Afterwards, she took the cutlery from the cupboard and spread it.

Dang, I could have at least done that much, Hiccup realized, feeling awful for his tardiness.

Astrid sat down and they began to eat.

It was delicious, as it usually was. Hiccup paused and rubbed his belly exaggeratedly. 'Yum! This is really good.' When Astrid didn´t answer at first, he added : 'You´re really awesome.'

Oh come on, Hiccup! Now you´re just being childish.

But the gesture put a little smile on Astrid´s face as she looked down on her plate. 'It´s really nothing. You do your job, I do mine', she mumbled.

Hiccup was electrified. He had made her smile! That may have just been the first tiny, tiny step, but at least it was a step towards the right direction.

When they were finished, Hiccup helped Astrid clean the dishes. Afterwards they went to bed and for the first time in what felt like a way too long time, Hiccup didn´t feel the urge to look at Astrid´s peaceful, sleeping face - because he was sure he´d create many more opportunities for himself to see her smile in the future.

The next day began early and busy. Hiccup and Astrid ate breakfast before the sun rose and afterwards had a quick talk with Valka, who offered to explain their plan to the people of Berk once they awoke. Then they were ready to go. Hiccup fastened his bags around Toothless´ back, Astrid fastened hers around Stormfly´s. Then they mounted their dragons and lifted off into the orange light of the rising sun. They circled higher and higher, finally took one last glance at the little island that was their home, and flew off.

This was exactly what Hiccup had needed: The rush of air around his head, the feeling of freedom in his heart. He smiled widely and looked over to Astrid. From what he could see, she was enjoying herself just as much.

'This is awesome!', he shouted.

Astrid smiled at him and laughed.

After a few hours, they spotted a small island that wasn´t on the map they had taken with them. By itself, this wasn´t very peculiar, there might have still been some islands they had simply overseen up until now. But given the circumstances, Astrid and Hiccup decided to land and investigate anyways. Every irregularity they came across might turn out to be a clue.

They landed on a meadow on the south side of the island. From the air, they had seen that the isle had the shape of an oval, maybe three hundred meters from West to East and seven hundred from North to South. The south half was mostly made up of bare rock and some grasslands, the North half was covered by untouched jungle, only interrupted by what had seemed like a small lake. Since there didn´t seem to be anything of interest on the plains in the South, Hiccup and Astrid soon decided to leave their dragons to relax on the plains and enter the jungle.

Astrid led the way, cutting lianas off with a blunt knife she had brought with her. Hiccup followed behind her and couldn´t help but marvel at her skill. Even though it was still rather early in the morning, it was pretty hot in the jungle and Astrid was only wearing her usual shoulder armor and belt, but no fur collar, so she looked even more like the fierce viking fighter she was. It was incredible. After being in his daily routine for so long, Hiccup had nearly forgotten how... badass she actually was. There simply was no other word to describe her. He wondered what it would feel like to be entangled in those strong, muscular arms, to be clutched by them, pressed against this perfect, buff body...

Hiccup´s face turned as red as glowing metal at these thoughts. Thankfully, Astrid wasn´t looking at him, or he wouldn´t have been able to blame his sweating on the heat. She was keeping her gaze fixed forward, completely focused on the task at hand. Amazing. And maybe - maybe this was the time for him to make a move. Wasn´t this what he had been waiting for? Some time with her alone? Come on, he urged himself. Go for it. Now or never. Don´t mess it up. Think the words through, speak with confidence. He sped up his pace in order to catch up to Astrid, who had gained a lead of a few meters. He reached speaking distance, raised his voice -

- and stumbled. His leg prosthesis had gotten caught in a tree root while he wasn´t paying attention to where he was going. His face hit Astrid´s lower back, then, as she jumped away in surprise, the ground. Fortunately - or perhaps: unfortunately? - he didn´t collapse onto stony ground or other tree roots, but onto a muddy spot which softened the impact. However, it also caused his face and his hair to become completely covered in mud. He could have face palmed so hard. This was exactly the opposite of good. Astrid would think he was stupid now...

It could have been worse: Hiccup´s dragon-riding suit had been spared. Dragon saliva was already to wash off it, but mud was a completely different league. But that wasn´t really what he was worrying about while he carefully pushed himself back to his feet. He was a mess. Why had he ran up to Astrid? If he had stumbled a few meters behind her, she might not even have noticed. Now she would tease him forever. Why couldn´t he just sink into the muddy ground and vanish? It would have been way better than having to stand the humiliation of having to look Astrid in the eye after this...

But to Hiccup´s surprise, Astrid didn´t laugh. She didn´t even tease him. Instead... she looked worried.

'A-Are you okay?', she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder, glancing at him caringly with those wonderful blue eyes of hers.

'Y-y-yes', Hiccup said, stuttering. He tried to smile, but suddenly, there were tears in his eyes and they just started running and ran and ran and ran and there was nothing he could do about it. He felt so pathetic. This wasn´t like him at all! He wasn´t a crybaby!

Now Astrid looked even more concerned. She moved a bit closer to him and put both her arms around his neck, patting his back comfortingly. 'It´s okay. Let it all out.'

Hiccup didn´t know how long they stood this way, embracing each other as the mud hardened in his hair and the rivers of tears that were emerging from his eyes slowly ran dry. Then they separated, but Astrid still kept her hand on his shoulders.

'Now let´s find a place to wash off that mud and calm down, okay? Then you can tell me what´s wrong.'

Hiccup tried to say something, but all he got out were faint sobs. After a few miserable attempts, he decided to just nod.

Astrid took his arm with both hands and led him in the general direction of the lake they had seen from their dragons. His body was still shook by heavy sobs every now and then.

After a few minutes, the forest lightened and the lake came into view. Astrid led Hiccup, who still had to keep his eyes squeezed to avoid too much mud touching them, to the shore and helped him kneel down. Then she bent down, scooped up some water with her right hand and drank it.

'Sweet water. You´re safe to go.'

Hiccup took a deep breath and plunged his head into the cold water. He could feel the mud come off as he rubbed his hair and his face with his hands. When he could no longer hold his breath, he surfaced and gasped for air. Astrid was looking at him sympathetically. 'So, do you want to tell me what´s bothering you?'

Hiccup, his face still distorted by the shock of cold water, his hair hanging from his head like a mop and his teeth chattering, nodded. He took a few deep breaths and began:

'I-I-I-want-t-tedtotelly-y-youth-th-thaty-y-you´reamaz-z-zingandth-th-that I totallyad-d-doreyoubut I st-st-stumbledandnow I´mh-h-holdingyoubackand I-I-I´msuchani-i-idiot...', he began to babble out unintelligibly.

Astrid put a finger on his mouth, silencing him. She smiled. 'How about you calm down a bit first? Let´s walk back to the plains. I have a towel and covers in my bag so you can dry your hair and warm up.'

Once again, Hiccup couldn´t manage to do anything but nod shakily.

Sometime later, they sat in the sun on a slope on the south side of the island, Hiccup snuggled in a bunch of covers and Astrid half-sitting, half-laying beside him. A soft breeze was blowing, playing with her hair and drying Hiccup´s. They had let Stormfly and Toothless loose - partly because they could scan the area by themselves, but mostly because the two dragons were eager to fly freely after hardly leaving Berk, only for fishing trips, for months. Toothless had to stay near the ground because of his still-injured tailfin, but he enjoyed himself anyways.

'So. What was the matter?', Astrid asked.

Hiccup had to visibly force himself to stay calm, but he managed. 'I´m not sure where to begin... You know, this reaches a while back and it´s a pretty long story.'

'Just start from the very beginning', Astrid suggested with a smirk.

'Okay. So - you remember when I asked you to move in with me? I was so nervous that day because I thought we would really start... getting closer, you know? Because you might have not noticed, but... I´ve really liked you ever since... well, always, really... and I´ve always enjoyed it when you kissed me playfully, but... it feels like you didn´t really return my affection towards you. And I totally understand that, after all, I´m just a loser with a prosthetic leg... I´ve been wanting to tell you how I feel for so long but I never found a way to bring it up. So, yeah... I love you, Astrid. I really do.'

There was a long silence. Astrid stared out onto the sea, where a few birds were circling through the air. The only sounds were the wind and the water lapping against the shore.

'Astrid?', Hiccup asked after a while.

'Hiccup, you know, you really are a special case', Astrid began. 'For all these months I´ve been waiting. Waiting for you to make a move. I always thought you didn´t want to rush it, that you wanted to take things slow. That´s why I put two separate beds in the living room. But I should have known. I should have known you wouldn´t make a clear move. I noticed you´ve been dropping little hints every now and then, but.. No man has ever waited for a woman to make a move on him in the history of our tribe, you know?'

'Well, no man has ever tried to befriend a dragon in the history of our tribe before, either', Hiccup replied with a sad smile on his face.

Astrid let out a rough chuckle. 'Yeah. I guess one can´t apply any of our standards to you.'

Hiccup was unsure what to say now. 'So... you actually like me back?', he asked nervously.

'Yes, of course, you silly boy!', Astrid shouted and jostled his shoulder. 'Don´t always worry so much!'

Despite Astrid´s encouragement, Hiccup still seemed nervous thinking about all the possibilities that Astrid´s statement brought with it. Was this a permission to... touch her? Caress her cheek with his fingers? Or maybe hug her? Perhaps even - Hiccup blushed at the mere thought of it - kiss her?

After a few seconds, he asked: 'So... c-c-can we... hug on it?'

'Of course!', Astrid shouted as she pulled him in. They ended up in a somewhat clumsy position since they were both sitting on the ground and half a meter or so apart from each other, so they untangled and laid down not long later. Then Astrid rolled over and hugged Hiccup from the side, resting her head upon his chest, listening to his heartbeat and feel it rise and fall slowly.

Hiccup closed his eyes and took slow, steady breaths. Astrid loved him. She was embracing him this very moment. What he had been wishing for for so long had suddenly come true. He almost suspected he was dreaming, but it just felt far too good to be created by his imagination.

However, his bliss didn´t last long.

Stormfly and Toothless were coming back from their search, and judging from the way they behaved, they had found something. Something that even they seemed to be scared of. They were screeching in utter panic and urged Astrid and Hiccup to get on their backs as quickly as possible.

But what could be so terrifying it would scare a dragon?