As the water closed over her head, Astrid silently said a prayer. She wasn't usually the praying type, but she also wasn't usually the drowning type, and here she was doing both. Hours she had held on to that scrap of wood, in the frigid Norse waters. Hours she had hoped against hope that someone would find her. Stormfly was captured, and the rain was coming down hard. She'd tried to follow the ship, but it easily out-paced her. And now, exhausted and hypothermic, the end had finally come.

Then, out of the darkness, a hand grabbed hers. She was pulled back towards the surface. Strong arms lifted her out of the water. She was on a dragon - Toothless! She'd recognize that dark scaly body anywhere. And that warm chest under elaborate buckles, that cheek pressed against hers, that scent of leather...

Hiccup didn't try to get her into the saddle, but rather curled her into his lap. He called her name once, twice. Finally, Astrid opened her eyes and met his. She'd never seen him so worried.

"What took you so long?"

Hiccup pulled Astrid to his chest. He used one arm to hold her against him, and another to remove his rain covering and wrap it around her. She was soaked and shivering.

"Astrid, stay with me."

"Mmm?"

"Astrid, you have to stay awake. Just until we can get you warm and dry."

If she let sleep take her now, it might never give her up. He couldn't let that happen. Gods, it was miracle enough that they had found her. He couldn't lose her now.

"Astrid, I mean it. Look at me. You can't fall asleep." She obliged, and gave him a groggy stare.

"Tell me about...tell me about what training we'll do next...Keep me awake."

"Well, I was thinking, about doing some formation work," he started. Despite the urgency of the situation, there was a part of his brain that couldn't stop thinking about holding her in his arms. He'd never done this before. Sure, he'd given her a hand when she was sick or injured, but now she was completely buried into his chest. Her head was against his shoulder, and his cheek was on the crown her head. Under different circumstances…

Stupid brain. Focus on flying your damned dragon handsfree, and on keeping Astrid awake.

He rambled on about training exercises, checking in every few minutes to make sure she wasn't dozing. When they finally landed outside the Great Hall, Astrid didn't even attempt to dismount on her own. She tightened her grip on Hiccup's shoulders, and allowed him to carry her inside.

"Snotlout - get blankets and furs! Tuff - make tea! Ruff, I need you to get all her wet clothing off." Hiccup barked orders, Astrid still in his arms, "Fishlegs - there's a set of clothes in my work table, 2nd drawer on the left. Go get those!"

"Why is she going to wear your clothes?" Fishlegs asked.
"Because getting her clothes requires one of us to go snooping around her hut. So be my guest if you think Astrid will take kindly to that once she's up."

Fishlegs hurried off, point clearly taken.

Snotlout miraculously managed not to make any comments about Ruffnut stripping Astrid in the corner of the hall behind a well-placed divider, which was a sign of just how bad the situation was. Though she'd managed to stay awake, she was clearly verging into delirium, and mostly unaware of what was happening around her. When the girls emerged with Astrid dried and wearing Hiccup's old tunic, she nearly stumbled headfirst into the hearth. Hiccup caught her and placed her in the makeshift bed of furs.

"I'm so cold...Where's my coat? We have to stop the….ships..." she rambled.
"Shh...It's me. We're going to get you warmed up," Hiccup reassured her.

The gang fed her broth and tea, and kept her by the hearth, but nothing seemed to stop her shivering. She continually asked for Stormfly, and her axe, and something that sounded like yaknog.

After a while, Hiccup sent them to bed. They were cold and wet and tired too, after all. He told them he'd take first watch. While Fishlegs and the twins hadn't needed to be told twice, Snotlout stopped on the way out the door. It was like watching an old, broken machine, Hiccup thought. You could see the gears turning, but you weren't sure if anything would come of it.

"If you're taking first watch, who's taking second?" he managed finally.
"We'll see how she's doing then," was all Hiccup gave him.
"So, like, also you?"
"If you want to stay up all night waiting for her to puke seawater, you know where to find me."

Snotlout shrugged, and left the hall.

When the door slammed, Astrid let out a frightened cry. "Hello? Hiccup? Is anyone here?"
"I'm right here, Astrid."
"I'm so...cold...and furry."

The blankets were already piled high, so Hiccup took her hand instead.

"You're warm," Astrid squeezed her icy fingers around his. She brought his hand up to her face and pressed his warmth onto her cheek, then neck. Hiccup turned red, and was grateful that her eyes were closed. He wondered how much of this she'd remember when she was feeling better.

With a warrior's reflexes, her other hand grabbed his arm, and dragged it down against her as well. Now Hiccup was really red. He had both hands on the sides of her neck, and his arms fell down along her chest. His work table spare clothing hadn't included breast bindings, which he was becoming acutely aware of. Astrid, however, seemed more relaxed than she had all evening. Her skin was still freezing, but the shivers wracking her body seemed to be growing less painful.

Without opening her eyes, she made grabbing motions with her fingers. "Warm," she demanded. When nothing happened, she became more insistent. "WARM!" She flailed he hands, and caught Hiccup's shirt. Astrid blindly yanked, pulling him down nearly on top of her. It was only a desperate and very clumsy roll and kept his forehead from colliding with hers, and probably avoided giving her a concussion on top of the hypothermia.

Hiccup lay on top of the furs next to Astrid, unsure what to do. In the corner, Toothless cackled softly. Cold-blooded lizard - you're not much help. He listened to her harsh breathing, and decided to let his worries for Astrid's illness outweigh his worries for everything else. He slowly, uneasily adjusted the blankets so he was under them instead of atop them. Gingerly, he scooted an inch at a time until his chest was against her back. He'd removed his soaked leather armor since they landed, so the only barriers between them were two layers of his tunic - one on her, and one on him.

Astrid sighed, and rolled over. Without warning, she shot two ice-cold hands under Hiccup's tunic and up his chest. He nearly shrieked as the frosty fingers spread and relaxed. Astrid's eyes never opened, but she let out a gentle hum, and her breathing relaxed further. Hiccup lay very still for as long as he could, resigning himself to the fact that the height of his sex life so far was being used as a personal furnace by a girl who wouldn't remember it and still had at least a 50% chance of vomiting on him. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to be upset about it.

Sometime later, he realized that against all of his intentions, he'd fallen asleep. Sunlight was creeping into the Hall, and Toothless was eyeing him with curiosity. It wasn't the first time he'd fallen asleep in this shared space, but it was the first time he hadn't done so alone.

"Hey, big guy. Shhh, don't want to wake…" He turned, and noticed two blue orbs across from him. "Astrid, how're you -"

Before he could finish his question, before he could even turn properly red, Astrid wretched, and he was covered in seawater.

Astrid spent the next hour or so unloading the contents of her stomach. Hiccup hadn't had time to clean himself up properly, so he'd simply removed his tunic, pulled out the furs that had been hit, and had set to work on making her comfortable.

"It's ok, it's better to let it out," he offered yet again, and held out a cup of tea.

Astrid nodded in response, and grasped the tea in both hands. She hated feeling weak even more than she hated feeling nauseous. As she gradually was able to hold down the liquid, memories were coming back. Hiccup had found her, she was sure of that. After that, things got blurry. She was so cold. The fire hadn't helped, but something else did. And when she'd awoken this morning feeling so ill, she'd smelled that smell again. Leather, and...had those been Hiccup's eyes? Wait, why was he shirtless?

When the vomiting had stopped at last, Hiccup sat down next to her on the stool he'd started on the night before. "So, uh, I'm gonna grab a shirt and clean up a little. Sorry. Are you ok for a few minutes?"
"Yeah. Um, sorry about all this."

Hiccup chuckled. "Looks like you drank half the ocean. I'm glad you're feeling better. Why don't you lie down again, and I'll be back before you know it. I'll make some food, and the gang'll be in soon."
"Hiccup?"
"M'lady?"
"Thanks."

By the time Astrid opened her eyes again, the whole gang was anxiously gathered around her. As she gazed from one to the other, she became acutely aware of what was missing -

"STORMFLY!"