Ingrid Hofferson was quite surprised to be awoken by a knock at her door. It was early in the morning, and the sun hadn't even come out yet. Her heart raced as she quickly threw on her house coat. The older lady had been a bit on edge the past four months. Once her daughter got married she was left alone in the house, except for her younger son, Ekon, who had just turned thirteen.
Her husband had died many years ago in battle, leaving Ingrid to raise the children by herself. Astrid had been seven years old when her father died, and Ingrid remembered it being especially hard on her. Her son was not much more than a baby at the time and did not know the strong man who was his father, but it took Astrid a very long time to realize she would no longer wrestle or play battle or watch the stars with her father.
In a few years, Ingrid would have an empty nest, and she wasn't quite sure what her next move would be. That scared her. She had a fair idea who was knocking on her door, but she still had her guard up. She unlocked the door and opened it to find her daughter shivering in the rain, soaking wet. The older woman gasped at the sight of Astrid's swelling cheek. Ingrid rushed her daughter inside and got a towel. Astrid took the towel and stormed into the kitchen.
"I'm sick of it."
"What happened?" Ingrid put a cloth to Astrid's cheek, "Did he...?"
"No. Of course not."
"Oh," she took two mugs from the cupboard, "but you and Hiccup had a fight."
Ingrid watched her daughter fall back into her chair and bury her face in her arms. This display of emotion was quite new for her daughter. Astrid had been a bright eyed, confident girl. Her daughter and Hiccup had only been married for three months, but the whole marriage seemed to have tumbled out of control in that short time. The older woman stroked Astrid's hair.
"Alright, out with it. What happened this time?"
Astrid clenched her teeth and told her mother the whole story. The older lady fell into her own chair and shook her head, "and what did Hiccup say about all this?"
Astrid shook her head, "I don't want to talk about it."
"That fish bone. I will wring him out if you want me too. I don't care if he's the Chief."
"No. No mom," Astrid mumbled, "Hiccup's not the problem. I'm the problem."
Ingrid bit her lip, "It seems like every day you two butt heads...I just want you to know, whatever happens…"
"Mom," Astrid huffed, she knew exactly where her mother was going, "I love him. I know he is going through the tough time right now with losing his dad and everything, and I know we had to get married. But...I just don't want my greatest legacy to be the Chief's wife."
"Oh honey," Ingrid opened her arms and Astrid's held fell onto her shoulder, "I think I know how you are feeling…"
Astrid sniffled, "You do?"
"Oh yes. See, when I married your father, I felt the same way. I didn't feel like a warrior anymore, I felt like your father's shadow."
"What did you do?"
"Well, after a while," Ingrid pushed her daughter's hair out of her face, "I learned how to ignore it. I kept on being a warrior, an even better one; I strived for excellence. I learned how to become a better person, a wife, and a mother."
The pride in her mother's voice made Astrid shake her head; "I don't think I can do that. I'm a Viking. I can't cook, I burn water, I'm probably a terrible wife and I will most likely be an even worse mother. I'm not like that, I am a viking."
"Astrid," Astrid lifted her head and looked into her blue eyes; "I believe that you can be both."
Hiccup was furious. How could Astrid leave him on Warhead all alone? People had noticed the absence of new Hooligans Chiefs' wife. Hiccup could either say that they got into a fight, which would spread rumours, or that Astrid was feeling poorly, which would also spread obvious rumours. But time, like always, passed. Hiccup soon found himself holding a pen to the peace treaty and shaking hands with Rorek.
It took him half a day to travel home. Toothless was a fast dragon, they could have made it home faster had it not been for Astrid's left behind luggage he was carrying. When Hiccup returned to Berk, he lugged his things into the house and immediately searched for his wife. She wasn't in the house, and Stormfly's pen was empty.
He checked Astrid's mother's house first. The only person home was Astrid's fifteen year old brother, Ekon. He was not as built as Astrid was, and was sort of lanky for his age. He had dark brown hair, like Astrid's father. He was on his knees in the front yard petting a group of baby terrible terrors.
"Hey, Ekon," Hiccup bent down to pick one of the babies up, "What'cha doing?"
"I'm going to train them," he told his brother in law, "they will be my terrible terror army."
Hiccup examined the red terrible terror in his hands, it was a bit smaller than the others, and her wings looked a little shorter.
"That one's Tera, she's my favourite."
"Tera the Terrible Terror, that's a tongue twister."
Ekon got up and took the Tera from Hiccup's arms, "she might be small right now, but I'm making sure she gets fed more than the others. she's going to be strong, just you wait and see."
Hiccup didn't look as hopeful, the dragon looked weak, she shivered in warm day light and Hiccup could tell from her scales she wasn't healthy.
Ekon saw Hiccup's look, his eyebrows knit together, "I think that's why I like her the most."
"Why's that?" Hiccup asked.
He shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno...Because even though she's small and weak, she's trying. She's not giving up, and I'm not going to give up on her. Maybe that's what makes her special, she's a fighter, I just know she will get stronger."
"I'm looking forward to it," Hiccup looked towards the house.
"My sister isn't here," Ekon said, trying to pull his fingers out of Tera's mouth, "but I should warn you, I heard her come over last night, and she didn't sound happy."
"Ah- well...Wish me luck, Ekon."
Ekon smiled.
. The only other place Astrid could be was The Academy. Hiccup kept his head down and rushed through the village thinking of some sort of apology.. When he entered the arena, he saw Astrid tossing fish into Stormfly's mouth. Hiccup felt Toothless push his behind, he gave the dragon a glance before walking into the arena.
"Hey."
Astrid raised an eyebrow to the familiar voice, which she turned around, sure enough there he was. She reached into the bucket and grabbed another fish. She threw it into Stormfly's mouth and wiped her hand on her skirt.
"Astrid," Hiccup stepped in front of her, "I'm so sorry-"
"You don't have to apologise, Hiccup," she wiped her brow from sweat, "it's okay."
"No, Astrid, it's not. I should have stood up for you back there. I should have ripped that Thor- forsaken Chief's head off. Instead I was a coward. I'm sorry."
Astrid looked down to her feet, "Well...Like I said, it doesn't matter anymore. I'll see you later," she grabbed the bucket.
Hiccup's brows knit together, "That's it? Don't you want to talk?"
Just as she was about to leave, she turned her head to look at him. Her blonde braid fell over her back and she looked at him with her sparkling blue eyes, eyes which were full of something Hiccup couldn't read, "Is there something you want to say, Hiccup?"
Hiccup stuck his hands in his pocket, "No. I just…Never mind."
"Then I should be going, I promised Stormfly a flight."
And with that, she called her dragon and flew away.
Hiccup didn't understand women. How could Astrid be so angry at him, and when he tries to talk to her, she goes and does this. It was nightfall, and Astrid still had not returned. He patiently waited at his kitchen table. No, it was their kitchen table. His fingers tapped over and over, Toothless went to the window and let out a whine.
"I know, bud. I miss them too..."
The dragon sniffed.
Hiccup stretched out his back, "I wonder what's gotten into her. Gods, I wish she would just talk to me, you know? I can't stand the silence."
The dragon rested his head on Hiccup's lap; Hiccup petted his head, "Thanks, bud. You always know what to say."
Just then, the door burst open, making the two best friends jump. Astrid was in the door way, she looked tired. She nodded to him before setting Stormfly's saddle on the table. Hiccup stood up, half expecting her to say something. Instead she took a stick and poked at the fire place.
Hiccup bit his lip, "How was your flight?"
"Great, actually..." she yawned, "I'm really tired."
"You were gone a long time..."
Hiccup saw Astrid's shoulders slump and she tossed the stick aside aggressively, "Yeah, well."
Hiccup didn't think "Yeah, well" was much of an answer. He decided enough was enough for tonight; he climbed the stairs to the bedroom.
"Wait," Astrid called out to him.
He turned around; she stood at the bottom of the banister. She looked nervous. Hiccup raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah?"
"I...I need the key to the barn," she said, "to put Stormfly's saddle away."
Hiccup's mouth shut, he reached into his pocket while walking down the steps. When he was one up from Astrid, he gently put it into her hands.
"Thanks," she reached up and kissed his cheek.
Hiccup watched her leave. A hand went up to where she kissed him. Something was up. And he was going to found out what it was.
Astrid tapped her fingers nervously, over and over again. The dress was too tight, she had told her mother but she only said her daughter looked beautiful. As Astrid sat down, the dress tugged at her ribs and stomach making it hard to breathe. It was red, and stupid, Astrid thought. She hated long sleeves and she especially hated the material of her dress swinging between her ankles. She was sitting at the head of the table in an uncomfortable dress, in uncomfortable shoes and an overall terribly uncomfortable setting. Her boyfriend was late, really super late. The only reason she agreed to dressing up for this Snoggletog party was because he promised her a new, faster saddle if she did. When Hiccup didn't show, they decided to serve the food anyway.
Astrid watched Snoutlout and the rest of the gang walk up to her, he started laughing. Astrid looked down to her dress, "Say it, and I will kill you."
Snoutlout beamed with amusement, "I wasn't going to say anything!"
"Yeah, whatever..." Astrid took a sip of her mead.
Fishlegs saw that Astrid was upset; he placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, Astrid. I'm sure he will be here soon."
Astrid couldn't take it anymore, she left The Great Hall for some air. Just as the freezing night air hit her, she saw a figure stumble up the steps. It was him. He was still pulling on his formal apparel as he rushed up the steps. Astrid noticed his hair was almost frozen to his forehead and a small cut was on his bottom lip. She was shocked as he ran past her. He stopped. Astrid watched him slowly turn around and his mouth dropped in shock.
"Astrid?"
She felt her blood begin to boil, "Where have you been?"
Hiccup's eyes widened, "You look...beautiful."
"Where have you been?" she repeated, "Thank you," she added.
"I-" Hiccup was lost for words.
"You are in big trouble, mister!" Astrid poked his chest with her finger, "I was in there having the worst time of my life, while you were out flying!"
"Actually, I wasn't flying."
Astrid's eyebrows knit together, "I had to wear this!" she raised her arms so Hiccup could see the full dress, "All night! For you! And you were not even here to look at me! Totally not worth it."
Hiccup laughed, "Astrid, I-"
"Go on, tell me the excuse."
Hiccup reached into his pocket. Astrid froze as he pulled out a ring. Not just any ring, a wedding ring. She felt her arms return to her sides as Hiccup smiled down to her, "I was out flying, and I dropped this in the woods. Do you know how hard it is to find a wedding ring in the snow?! Like, super hard. Luckily I- being an excellent explorer- managed to find it after almost three hours of skipping through the woods.
Astrid stayed in shock. She watched him painfully try to get down on one knee. Somehow, he managed to get stuck in the middle, so he was bent down as far as he could without bending his knee, "Astrid," he began, "I have loved you my whole life. I remember when I thought you wouldn't come near me even if you were on fire and I had the only bucket of water in town, but that doesn't matter because I am so in love with you. This past year, I have gone through so many crazy things, like meeting my mother and the battle with Drago...and losing my father. So, if it's not too much to ask...will you do one more crazy thing for me...will you be my wife?"
He struggled to get down, and Astrid let out a laugh. He gave up and stood up, "Yup, my leg is definitely frozen."
Astrid took his cheeks into her hands and kissed him, "That's okay. You went far enough."
"So...What do you say? Choose carefully, once you decide, you will be stuck with all this," Hiccup gestured to himself, "Forever."
"Of course," she whispered and kissed him softly, "of course."
When her eyes opened, she felt her heart suddenly sink at the memory. She had been having strange dreams all week, but this one was different. A memory. A very good memory. She looked over to Hiccup who was still fast asleep. She felt her eyes tear up at the memory. Why couldn't they be like that again, what had changed in the past few months that made them so...distant.
Astrid turned away from Hiccup and wiped her eyes.
Maybe she wasn't ready for this life just yet.
