____________________Enjoy!

Astrid, for the first time in her life, had absolutely no idea what to do. Originally, her plans for the day had consisted of a blend between strengthening her Viking skills (not that she could possibly need more practice-she has had that down since the age of five) and expanding the bond between her and her Deadly Nadder- Princess.

Looking back on it, she was still slightly bewildered as to why she had named her Deadly Nadder Princess. It was probably the most girly name in the history of girly-names, and if Astrid was one thing, she DEFINITLY wouldn't be girly. Besides, her dragon was a D-e-a-d-l-y Nadder. Deadly. As far as she knew, Deadly and Princess had just never gone together. But…her dragon was a special dragon. It was her Deadly Nadder, her precious fire-breathing princess…The thought tickled her. She had never really realized how ironic it was before. But Princess was a princess…that's why she had named her that. If you were to spend one minute within the company of her, you would soon know why too.

…She was just sooooo Vain!

And at times when Astrid took her out for flying, it was incredibly annoying. If there was a body of water-ANY water, even a measly little puddle (and there were lots of those in Berk)-Princess would sniff it in and track it down, staring at herself for hours, while preening her scales until they glistened like freshly polished armor. As this tended to happen quite often, Astrid had finally (with a little borrowed brainstorming from Hiccup…her crush) worked out a system in which both Astrid and Princess benefited. To put it simply, it was something like this…

"PRINCESS GET YOUR SCALY BUTT OFF THE MUD RIGHT NOW OR I'LL GIVE YOU EEL FOR DINNER!"

And if that didn't work…

"I'M GONNA RUB POOP IN MY HAIR!"

And that did the trick. The interesting thing about Princess that hadn't showed up in any of the other dragons yet was that she cared about her trainer's appearance. That was completely unlike Toothless, who insisted on playing with Hiccup rain or shine, night or day, with bad morning breath or Stinky feet (well, stinky foot and rusty peg-leg). But Princess refused to be seen with a cranky Astrid on a bad hair day. It was completely annoying and infuriating to Astrid and her pride. But still she adored her dragon. And through some warped dragon-way, she could tell that Princess loved her too. Only never had she started thinking this before now…

…With Princess waiting patiently by her stable, with an exited glint in the eye that faced her. This had never happened to her before. Never. Naturally, when something unexpected to her, she always became tense, suspicious, and a little curious. Approaching Princess with a wary look in her light blue eyes, she noticed something tucked away behind Princess's saddle. Astrid's expression changed to one of confusion, and Princess, seeming to read to read her mind, let loose a cooing rumble that vibrated in her throat as she dipped her large head to the saddle strap, plucking out the piece of material and letting it fall gently to the floor. Seemingly satisfied with the minimal service, she arched her head back and appeared to give an almost bashful expression as she shifted out of her master's way.

Well. That was new.

With a relaxed air (though still tinged with slight suspicion) she stooped down to pick up the piece of parchment, thin spider-like syllables webbed across the interior, clearly visible as the wispy morning light poured through. Gingerly she unfolded it, and looking at the words with widening eyes, her heart skipped a beat or two. Clearly etched into the paper were Hiccup's almost illegible scribbles, which swooped and dived and twisted at all the wrong places. As it was, it took her a minute to translate the writing, mentally correcting the multiple grammar mistakes and incorrectly placed punctuation…or was that just the "i" dot from the line below?

It read…

Hey Astrid. Sorry I can't help you out more with your Deadly Nadder, but Toothless woke me up at like two in the morning to go fishing, and, well, I'm probably still out there right now. But I know how you hate prying your dragon away from her reflection, so I had Toothless help me pound all the puddles to bits and cover them with dirt. I hope you appreciate the effort!

Sincerely, Hiccup

P.S. I gave your Deadly Nadder some Dragon-nip and some random flowers when she woke up in the middle of the operation. I hope she's less vain for you!

Astrid smiled as she finished the letter, and tucked it into one of the saddle's pockets as she climbed up onto Princess's neck, patting it fondly. Princess leaned into it contentedly, snorting softly. Astrid had almost forgotten that she hadn't told Hiccup her dragon's name yet. It just felt so natural having Hiccup know everything…except for the most important thing of all. Frowning, she repressed her strong romantic feelings as best as she could. She had kissed him twice, right? One on the cheek and one on the lips? Shouldn't he know by now that She liked him? Shouldn't they be…together? Her heart beat out a warm, pleasant feeling at the word "together". Princess craned her neck back, eyes glimmering with a comforting deepness. She must have felt the heat from her blush…wait, she was blushing?

Shrugging her feelings back for the rest of the day (or so she hoped) she straightened her back and fixed Princess with a determined gaze, exited specks starting to congeal inside them, further hiding her previous emotions. After all they're just hormones…she thought. But as the pair launched into the sky, blending with the air and wind, the blush still lingered on her cheeks, as if to say

How wrong you are, Astrid…how wrong you are….