I ship Rufflegs. At first, I wasn't sure and I was kind of jumping on the bandwagon but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it made sense. So here's a cute Rufflegs one-shot for you! I decided to set this around the time all the kids are 6 so they're quite a bit younger and obviously don't have dragons yet.

And just so you know, you have Miss Pookamonga to thank for this story. She begged me to write this when I expressed the little plot-dragon to her a few weeks ago.

~KateMarie999

Puppy Love

Ruffnut Thorston was a little bit small for her age. She figured that one day her twin brother would be taller than her. What she hadn't considered was that everyone would be bigger than her (everyone except Hiccup but he didn't count). Even Astrid, who was a few months younger than her, had grown a few inches while she had stayed the same height.

The one thing about Ruffnut that didn't apply to Tuffnut was that she was a lot cleverer than she looked. She didn't have much by the way of book smarts (that was Fishlegs' territory) but she was a much better schemer than her dimwitted brother. So when she found herself uncomfortably aware of her height difference, she immediately began to think long and hard about how she would fix this situation.

The answer came to her after a few minutes of intense thought. So, not one to put anything off, she began to saunter casually over to Fishlegs' house.

The young boy was digging around in the garden in front of the house. Few plants ever grew there but he seemed to enjoy the digging in particular (which may have explained why few plants grew in the first place). Ruffnut shifted from foot to foot for a few seconds, figuring out how she would bring up this incredibly important matter to her pudgy friend.

"You're my boyfriend now." she blurted out at last.

He dropped the shovel and turned around to face her. "What?"

"You're my boyfriend now." she repeated slowly, as though talking to a toddler.

"No I'm not!" Fishlegs protested, straightening up and brushing the dirt off of his knees.

"Yes you are. Now you have to save me from dragon attacks and beat up my brother when he's mean to me and… and… other things." said Ruffnut, counting his boyfriend duties on her fingers.

"But… but Snotlout is bigger than me!" Fishlegs exclaimed, his face slowly going pale. "Why isn't he your boyfriend?"

Ruffnut considered this for a second. "Because he smells like rotten fish and I wouldn't want to kiss him." she said as though this settled the matter.

Fishlegs took a few steps back and very nearly tripped over the watering can right behind his feet. "You want to kiss me?"

"Not now, silly! When you save me from a dragon attack!" she giggled. "ROAR!" she suddenly shrieked, startling the poor boy further.

They stared at each other for a few seconds. Ruffnut kind of had of maniacal glint in her eye while Fishlegs looked terrified. Satisfied that she had now gotten herself a protector, Ruffnut spun around on her heel and walked off without another word.

A few hours later, Fishlegs was walking to the Great Hall for dinner, having almost forgotten the bizarre events that transpired earlier that day. The moment he walked through the large double doors, he was immediately reminded when he was nearly bowled over by his new girlfriend.

"Sit next to me!" she squealed, grabbing his hand with a surprisingly firm grip and dragging him to the nearest table.

The table just happened to be occupied by Hiccup, who was minding his own business when he was unceremoniously shoved to the side by Ruffnut and Fishlegs. He spilled his soup all over the table.

"Hey!" he cried, nearly falling off the bench.

"Get your own table!" Ruffnut snapped at the smaller boy, shoving him off the bench entirely.

"Ruffnut, don't do that…" Fishlegs whined.

"I did get my own table and then you took it!" Hiccup said as he stood up.

"Well get another table!" Ruffnut shoved him again and he nearly fell over.

Giving her an indignant look, Hiccup walked away, muttering furiously to himself.

"Why were you so mean to him?" Fishlegs asked once Hiccup was out of earshot.

"Because he was in my way." Ruffnut replied with a shrug. "It doesn't matter, it's just Hiccup."

Fishlegs watched at the boy attempted to sit down at a few other tables but was rejected time and time again. At last, he sat down in the corner of the room and ate by himself. Fishlegs felt a pang of sympathy for his peer but Ruffnut soon drove all thoughts of the chief's son out of his mind.

"My brother said my face looks like a Gronckle. You have to beat him up." Ruffnut said in a rather businesslike tone.

Fishleg's mouth dropped open. He tried to make noise but only squeaking came from his mouth. Ruffnut smacked him on the shoulder.

"Go now!" she squealed. "He's sitting over there!"

The last thing Fishlegs felt like doing was obliging but Ruffnut had balled her fist once more so he figured he was in a very dangerous situation either way. He considered his options. He could try to beat up Tuffnut. But Tuffnut would probably knock his teeth out. He could refuse but then Ruffnut would knock his teeth out. He could run away but then Ruffnut would find him and probably cause this exact dilemma at a later time. And, he supposed, he could call for his mother and see if she could protect him from his girlfriend.

Rather than make a decision right away, Fishlegs bit his lip and stared at Tuffnut, who was in some kind of fist fight with Snotlout. Why hadn't Ruffnut picked Snotlout as her boyfriend?

"What are you waiting for?" Ruffnut shouted and pushed her boyfriend toward her brother.

Fishlegs, trembling all over, walked up to Tuffnut and Snotlout. They stared at him for a few seconds.

"What?" said Snotlout, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Umm…" Fishlegs faltered. "Well Ruffnut says… I mean you shouldn't have… I mean… umm…"

"Terror got your tongue?" asked Tuffnut.

Fishlegs shook his head. "RuffnutsaysyousaidherfacelookslikeaGronckleandtha twasmean!" he said in one breath.

Tuffnut cocked his head to the side. "What?"

"Ruffnut says you said her face looks like a Gronckle and that was mean. So can you… umm… say you're sorry?" Fishlegs recoiled slightly, not wanting to be in the range of Tuffnut's fist.

Tuffnut laughed. "But her face does look like a Gronckle."

"No it doesn't. It's pretty." Fishlegs retorted, surprised at his sudden courage.

"Pretty ugly." Tuffnut rolled his eyes. "Why do you care?"

"You hurt her feelings and I don't like it when my friends are sad." Fishlegs crossed his arms. "Say you're sorry."

"Ooh is she your girlfriend?" Snotlout asked, pushing him backward.

"No!" Fishlegs shouted.

"Fishlegs and Ruffnut sitting in a tree! K-I-S… umm… however the rest of it goes!" Tuffnut mocked.

"No!" Fishlegs repeated. "She's not my girlfriend!"

"But you said she was pretty!" Snotlout teased.

"Because she is pretty! But she's not my girlfriend!" Fishlegs whined. "Just go say you're sorry because that was really mean and…"

"If you want me to apologize, you're gonna have to win a fight!" Tuffnut balled his fists.

"But I don't wanna fight!" Fishlegs took a few steps back. "Please don't make me fight!"

Tuffnut shoved him again. "Hit me back!"

"No!"

"I said hit me back! Chicken!" Tuffnut smacked him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, Fishlegs, hit him back." said Astrid, walking up to the altercation.

Fishlegs shook his head. His lip quivered but he stood his ground. Ruffnut came up to them a moment later.

"What are you waiting for?" Ruffnut shrieked. "Punch his lights out!"

"I don't wanna hit anyone. I wanna go home!" Fishlegs wailed.

"Hit me back, Fishlegs! Come on! You know you want to!" Tuffnut grinned as he smacked the boy again.

Fishlegs squeezed his eyes shut and threw a punch.

SMACK!

"Ow! I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!" Tuffnut shouted, his hands flying to his nose.

Fishlegs opened his eyes and was shocked to see blood oozing from between Tuffnut's fingers.

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize!" Ruffnut and Astrid chorused.

Tuffnut ran away toward the twins' mother. Ruffnut cheered.

"That's my boyfriend!" she squealed, hugging him tightly. "He defended my honor!"

But Fishlegs knew that this wasn't over. His mother would be so angry…

All in all, Fishlegs knew he had gotten off easy. When his mother heard the whole story, she decided not to punish him but gave him a stern warning. He knew that if he ever got into another fight that didn't involve a dragon, he would be grounded for the rest of his life. His mother wasn't like the other Viking mothers. She didn't encourage violence and pressured her son to study so that he would be smarter than the other kids.

The next day, Fishlegs decided to take a walk to the other side of the island to pick berries. He liked to bring them home for his mother because whenever he did, she would make him a delicious pie. As he went deeper into the forest, he suddenly encountered Hiccup, who hastily hid what he was carrying behind his back.

"Hi. What are you hiding?" Fishlegs asked amiably.

"Nothing." said Hiccup but his face went bright red.

"It doesn't look like nothing." Fishlegs replied. "Let me see."

"No!" Hiccup jumped backward and Fishlegs saw a single yellow flower fall to the ground behind him.

"You're picking flowers!" Fishlegs laughed. "Are you going to give them to someone?"

"No! Well… maybe." Hiccup stared at his shoes.

"Don't give them to Ruffnut. She'll get really upset." Fishlegs warned.

"I wasn't going to." said Hiccup. "I was going to give them to Astrid."

"Astrid doesn't like flowers." Fishlegs thought for a second. "You should get her a new dagger."

"You think so?"

Fishlegs nodded. "Yeah. She likes sharp things."

"Oh okay! I'll go see Gobber. Thanks, Fishlegs!" Hiccup exclaimed, suddenly thrusting his flowers into Fishlegs' hands and running toward the village.

Fishlegs smiled at his friend. The other kids didn't like Hiccup but he thought the smaller boy was nice. Clumsy and a bit airheaded at times, yes, but nice. He continued into the woods until he saw the berry bush.

"There you are!" came a very familiar voice.

Oh no!

"Ruffnut, why were you looking for me?" Fishlegs asked, watching the little girl pelt toward him as fast as she could.

"Because you're my boyfriend!" she said as though this explained everything. "What are you doing?" she gasped. "Oh Fishlegs, are those for me?"

For a second, Fishlegs was confused. And then he remembered that he was still carrying the flowers that Hiccup had picked for Astrid. He felt his face go very warm.

"You're the best boyfriend in the whole world!" Ruffnut squealed, taking the flowers out of his hands.

"Ruffnut, I…"

"I want to kiss you!"

Fishlegs felt his insides freeze. "You don't have to do that, honest!"

Ruffnut didn't listen to him. She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer. He shut his eyes tight and felt her lips meet his.

And then something funny happened. The moment their lips met, Fishlegs suddenly felt something strange. It was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was like he suddenly wanted to kiss Ruffnut forever. He knew it was silly but he felt a little bit disappointed when Ruffnut pulled away.

"You're a bad kisser." she said suddenly.

"Oh…" said Fishlegs, at a loss for words.

"It's okay. I'll teach you." Ruffnut patted him on the cheek.

They heard a distant call coming from the village.

"That's my mom. I have to go home now." Ruffnut said and without even saying goodbye, she ran off toward the village.

Fishlegs stood there by himself for a little while, his face growing hotter. And for the first time in his life, he thought he was falling in love.