I sipped some mead from the mug in my hand as I watched her from across the hall.

Her lips were parted, with her lips curled up in a warm smile, as her eyes crinkled in delight, no doubt laughing at a joke that blonde, meathead of a blacksmith had told her moments earlier.

A year ago, I would have been sputtering in a fit, just as I had when he had pulled something similar ("What are you doing with her, you one-legged lout! She's the girl I'm courting!"). At the time, I thought he was trying to steal her from me, but now? I was aware that he was a dear friend of hers—and through her introduction, mine as well.

I waited a moment longer before I set down the mug and stood, making my way to her.

When I was behind her, I stopped, took a deep breath, and began to sing.

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas
with ne'er a fear of drowning…"

My voice was low, but as soon as the first word left my mouth, she slowly turned to face me, with her crystalline green eyes meeting mine. I could feel nervousness setting on, but I resolutely pushed it to the back of my mind—I had faced countless dragons, there was no reason as to why I had to be nervous around a young woman. A young woman who meant more to me than any other, my mind supplied

"…And gladly ride the waves of life
if you will marry me."

Her eyes widened at that point, and her lips curved to form a small "O." The hall had fallen silent, no doubt to my singing—or rather the song I was singing. It was the song that Berkian couples sang when they proposed. If I focused on that though, I would loose my nerve. Instead, I focused on why I was singing it.

No scorching sun, nor freezing cold
will stop me on my journey…"

We had always been friends, albeit quite unlikely. She was a slim, thin girl who wanted to make peace with dragons through reason, while I was the large, muscular guy who believed that the only way to make peace with the dragons was to kill them. We didn't really get close, however, until we were both enlisted to go to dragon training.

She would ditch lessons, and I was sent by the instructor to go get her—it was as simple as that… or so I thought. After one particular lesson, I found her in the woods, and it wasn't until I was near that I realized that she was crying. I panicked, not sure what to do when a girl was crying, but it was my father that convinced me to stay… sort of. If he was there, I imagined that he would have said that comforting her would be good practice for being a great chief, so I took a deep breath, rolled my shoulders back, and approached her.

Her words were shaky at first, as apparently the reason that she believed that dragons could be reasoned with was because it had happened to her. She had noticed that dragons always seemed to have slitted pupils, and a cloudy film in their eyes, but when one had saved her from a burning building that was about to collapse on her, she noticed that it lacked both of those things—the dragon's pupils were dilated, and the film was gone. It had even looked at her almost warmly. She said that the dragon was from a breed that wasn't normally in a raid. If she were anyone else, I would have thought that it was a joke, a ruse, but when I looked in her eyes, shining with tears, and full of sincerity, I took her hand. I had told her that everything would be alright.

I never asked her to come to dragon training again.

For in that moment, I was no longer just a friend-borderline-acquaintance—I had become a close friend, a confidant.

As I continued to sing, I remembered the trust she had in me to tell me her reasoning for her beliefs in the first place.

"If you will promise me your heart.
And love…"

I held my breath, as this was the defining moment of the song. If she continued on, that would mean that she accepted my affections, and my proposal. If she didn't… well, I didn't really want to think about that.

A brief pause, and then:

"...And love me for eternity."

Her soft voice rung through the hall like the tinkling of small bells.

I presented her my hand, and with a smile, she took it, leaving her seat to follow me to the center of the hall.

"My dearest one, my darling dear,
your mighty words astound me.
But I've no need of mighty deeds
when I feel your arms around me."

As we started the dance that went with the song, her voice grew stronger, and I couldn't help but laugh in delight. Even though I could feel everyone's eyes on us, I no longer felt nervous—she had accepted, and that was what mattered.

"But I would bring you rings of gold,
I'd even sing you poetry!"

I smiled as I recalled the various means I had tried to court her.

We were close friends, which gave me an advantage, but my issue laid in the fact that I was worried that she would just think of me as that.

In the beginning, I had, indeed, tried singing her poetry, and giving her flowers… it never really worked, but we had a good number of laughs afterwards. I had found that the small moments were what counted—those in which we could just be alone, and have a good time.

"And I would keep you from all harm
if you would stay beside me!"

As we spun, I took in my surroundings with a brief glance. In the entire crowd of, now clapping, vikings, only two faces stuck out to me—Gobber's and my father's.

My father was wearing a proud smile on his face, his ocean blue eyes glimmering with unshed tears of joy.

Gobber... Well, he was always the life of the party. His facial expression was nothing but pure, open happiness, with sparkling, sky blue eyes and a grin so large that it almost threatened to split his face in two. His mead splashed wildly in his prosthetic mug attachment as he clapped to the beat along with everyone else in the hall.

I could tell that she saw him too when the smile on her face grew larger.

"I have no use for rings of gold,
I care not for your poetry
I only want your hand to hold…"

It had been an especially bad raid, and when the dragons had left, I quickly made my way through the village to find her. Rather than finding her by the healer's hut as I had expected, she was kneeling beside a boy who couldn't have been more than five winters old.

When I got closer, I realized she was comforting him.

Shortly thereafter, he had been reunited with his parents, and surely had forgotten about the incident, as it had happened a few years ago, but I couldn't get the image of her out of my head.

Her long, auburn hair, which was normally tied back by braids, flowed freely down to the small of her back, no doubt to have been undone sometime earlier. Her usual wool and leather attire had been replaced by fur and linen.

In that moment, she no longer looked like the young girl that I had grown up with, but rather a young woman. In that moment, she almost looked like a mother.

"...I only want you near me!"

The pace of the dancing and clapping increased as the song sped up.

"To love and kiss, to sweetly hold!
For the dancing and the dreaming!
Through all life's sorrows and delights,
I'll keep your love inside me!"

Our voices combined in a duet of sweet soprano and rich baritone. When our eyes met, I could practically feel the warmth emanating between them.

I prepared to sing the quickest verse yet.

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas
with ne'er a fear of drowning!
And gladly ride the waves of life
If you will marry me!"

A/N: So... long time no see? This was actually written about two years ago, but I only found it again recently, and thought that I might as well share it with you guys. It was more of an experiment, but I'm pleased with the results. Thank you for reading, and please leave a review :)

For those of you who are awaiting one of my other stories, please read the update on my profile.