The thrash of wings caught Astrid's attention, and she spun around to see a dark shadow landing close by. She couldn't contain the smile on her face as she dashed up to him. Sharpshot had finally found him; Hiccup had come.

Hiccup barely dismounted Toothless when she threw her arms around his neck. Astrid caught herself and drew back, remembering the worry she'd gone through not receiving word from him for an entire month. A long, agonizing month of worry. She balled her fist, slamming it into Hiccup's shoulder.

"Where have you been?" When Hiccup didn't answer right away, she punched his other shoulder.

"If you'd stop hitting me, I can explain!" Hiccup managed to get out before she reared back to smack him again. He nursed his aching shoulders over a brief moment before straightening back up to full height. How he'd grown since he'd left Berk. Over two inches taller than her. Astrid never would have believed she'd have to look up to meet his eyes.

Astrid waited anxiously for this stellar excuse he was about to lay on her. It better be a good one, or she'd feel incline to aim for the gut this time.

The firelight from the torch in the ground danced on Hiccup's face as a brilliant smile broke out. "I found my mother. Well, she actually found me," he clasped her forearms, "Astrid, my mother is alive!"

His words sounded outrageous, but his joy was real. "But your mother was taken by a dragon. How is this possible?"

"Taken, yes, but not killed. Far from it."

"That's where you've been? With her all these weeks?"

Hiccup nodded, his smile still splitting his face. This new development was hard to wrap her mind around. What if this person who claimed to be his mother was a fake? If it really was her, what kind of person is she after being gone for 15 years?

"She lives in a dragon sanctuary with all these species of dragons we've never even seen before. It's the most amazing place I've ever seen!"

Astrid was pulled from her ponderings as Hiccup grasped her hands. She looked at his beaming face, the claim of his long-lost mother becoming very real the longer she mulled over it.

They fell silent for a moment before- "Come with me."

"What?"

"Come with me, Astrid." Hiccup let go of her hands and stepped back to rest a hand on Toothless' head. "Let's hop on Toothless and leave Berk behind and start a life together."

This wasn't the first time this offer was brought to the table. Right before the Chief had exiled his only son, Astrid offered to leave with him. Hiccup insisted she stay on Berk; she had a good life there. It was bad enough he'd been exiled for befriending a dragon; he couldn't bear to uproot her from everything she knew.

Hiccup could leave Berk, but he couldn't leave her. With every secret meeting and Terror Mail letter, it became harder to be apart from each other. One day they would be caught. One day the secret meetings would end. One day they would be separated forever.

Astrid was pulled from her thoughts once more, but this time by lips capturing hers. The small, awkward boy who exited Berk on a dragon had become a confident young man in such a short span of time. Hiccup poured out all his emotions in this kiss, making up for all the time they'd been apart. He let go, just barely, and whispered on her lips, "Come with me."

All Astrid could hear was the pounding of her heart. This was happening. All the daydreams she had about this moment, when she'd be whisked away on dragonback to places unknown with the boy she chose to share her life with. The three of them against the world. This was that moment.

The consequences of this decision would impact the rest of her life. Running away with an exile meant she could never return to Berk again, never return to see her family, her homeland. Once her feet left the island, she would be an exile as well. There was no turning back.

Astrid met his lips this time, the forbidden kiss sealing her fate.