Hiccup wrung his hands, staring anxiously out the window. His good foot tapped incessantly on the wooden floor; his face was contorted into a slight frown.
In short, Hiccup was nervous.
It wasn't often that he was nervous. Even in his younger years, what most would characterize as nervousness would rather be better described as the tics of a precocious mind sprinting away at what can only be termed as the speed of light, or perhaps in other cases as the quite awkward combination of learned apathy to ridicule with a natural clumsiness that affected him even in his moments of utmost confidence.
Of course, those days were long past, and Hiccup was a very different man - yes, man, not boy - from then.
Toothless trotted up, eyes wide with concern. It was not often the jet-black dragon saw his lifelong companion this worried. He exhaled gently on Hiccup's hair, ruffling it slightly just as they had when they first met, nudging his side with his nose.
"It's okay, Toothless. I'm fine, I'm fine. Really." Hiccup reached out absentmindedly to scratch Toothless's neck, eyes still fixated on a distant spot in the horizon. The Night Fury, not satisfied with this response, nudged him harder, licking his lower arm gently and purring.
"Okay, okay! Toothless!" Hiccup finally turned to face his best friend; though he was now smiling, it was plainly obvious, even to the most oblivious observer, that he was still fretting internally. Toothless, sensing this, nudged his arm up gently, his eyes wide, before pressing his snout to it gently, just as they had in that first moment of trust. Attempting to convey that which could not be said; that Hiccup could do it and that he would be by his side through it all.
Hiccup, upon sensing this, began to tear up. He looked up gratefully, leaning in and nuzzling his best friend. Suddenly, he grabbed hold of Toothless's thick neck, hugging it tightly and breathing heavily, trying to hold back his tears. "Thanks, bud," he whispered, choking up.
It was time.
He opened the door, greeted by a massive throng of people, cheering and waving. He grinned nervously, biting his lip, summoning his familiar ever-confident persona and waving. He walked slowly, his stride steady but uncertain; Toothless trailed behind.
He made his way up the hill to the Great Hall. Every blade of grass, every bit of dirt and soil; it all felt familiar, yet today, it all felt so different. It was like he was in a daze, and yet he had never seen more clearly in his life. He would forever remember these moments. As he reached the top-
There she was.
Astrid.
Her flaxen hair glowed in the sunlight; her pale, smooth skin shone like a star. She almost appeared to glow, surrounded by a soft white halo as if she were sent by Freya herself. The fierce warrior outfit and armor had been traded in for a simple, elegant white dress; and yet, she never looked so fiercely beautiful.
Hiccup's mouth dried, his heart leaping out of his chest. Gods, it was like he was a blind man who had just seen an angel. No - he was a blind man and had always been one, not before his eyes had been opened by the angel who now stood before him.
He stood next to her; their hands clasped. And Hiccup remembered.
Gods, how long it had been. The trials, the times of strife, everything. His life as the village outcast, the Chief's bastard who would never live up to anything significant; always looking up at her from the pits of ignominy. She was everything; he was nothing.
His befriending of Toothless, the only known Night Fury to exist. The breaking of the ancient customs of both human and dragon-kind hundreds of years in the making, each followed strictly by generations past without exception, with one touch. Helping him fly again, giving back what he took and more. Then showing her.
Granted, it hadn't gone well at first - but then it had. She had become his most ardent supporter, standing by him even when the tribe abandoned him. She understood first when others didn't, or couldn't; she had been by his side as he defeated the Red Death, and so many times since. And so it would be.
It wasn't perfect, of course; nothing ever is. There were quarrels, fights, tears spilling into pillows. And, of course, heartfelt apologies, tearful embraces. For they were two halves of a whole - inseparable; they were part of each other. No distance, physical or emotional, no barriers, nothing could come between them.
They had traveled the world together. Charted the Earth, discovered new civilizations, cultures completely and utterly different to their own. Some friendly, some hostile, some ambivalent. Some where they had been treated as heavenly messengers descending from the skies, others where they had been chased out by nets, spears, and catapults. They discovered new species; dragons the size of small mountains, plants with seemingly-magical effects.
"But I would walk five hundred miles..."
And as he remembered, a realization tugged at him. Well, not exactly - he had known it from the start, intuitively, for it was simply truth. But he was starting to truly, properly understand just what it was.
Without realizing it, tears had begun streaming from his face. He looked down briefly, closing his eyes and composing himself before looking up once more, finally tuning in to his surroundings.
Astrid was shaking. Squeezing his hand, she whispered, "I do."
"…Hiccup Haddock, do you commit yourself to providing Astrid Hofferson happiness and self-fulfillment as a person? Do you promise to love, honor, and trust her in sickness and in health, in adversity and prosperity, and to be true and loyal to her so long as you both shall live?
Do you take Astrid Hofferson to be your wife?"
Hiccup was no longer nervous. Finally, he was sure of himself. He knew; he understood.
"I do."
"I now pronounce you husband and wife."
"And I would walk five hundred more..."
He turned to face Astrid, his one and only love, his angel. She met his gaze, her face breaking out into a wide grin, her cerulean eyes glinting in the sunlight. She loved him and only him, and he loved her and only her; she loved all of him, every trait, characteristic and quirk of his, both his confident persona and his awkward, clumsy, and insecure side; and he loved all of her, her incomparable beauty, her unmatched strength and skill as a warrior, her intense loyalty and concern for all, and her own self-doubts and anxiety and kind-hearted obsessiveness bordering on vanity. For she was Astrid, and he was Hiccup, and they were one.
Lost in her eyes, he leaned in, and so did she. Their lips met, just as softly as their first but imbued with so much more.
And in this moment, Hiccup finally understood.
He knew that for as long as they lived, and forever more after, he would do anything for her. He would travel as far as he had to, do anything he had to, if only for her.
"Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door."
Author's Note: So, my first ever fanfic for HTTYD, and my first fanfic after a MASSIVE spell of writer's block. I literally wrote this in about an hour and a half before leaving it to sit for a day or two. Whaddya think?
As you can probably guess, this was inspired by 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)' by The Proclaimers which I HIGHLY recommend (listen to it while reading this, if you can). I got the opportunity to attend a wedding where the bride and groom entered to this and thought it was incredibly fitting; I just had to write something based off of it.
Read and review, please - constructive feedback always appreciated. Thanks!