Age 18

There was a knock on Astrid's door. She glanced up un time to see her mother's face peep in.

"Do you mind if I come in?" Her father, Niklas Hofferson, stood just outside her open door.

Astrid shook her head, closing her small notebook. She'd been trying to write down as many details from her and Hiccup's flight this morning. Today, they'd added a new island to their map. And then they'd gotten distracted, but it was easy to get distracted when you were eighteen-year-old dragon riders. Especially when your boyfriend tried boasting that he could out fly you.

Niklas entered the room, a cloth wrapped bundle in his arms. He held it out to Astrid, "Happy Snoggletog."

Astrid narrowed her eyes. "Gifts aren't until tomorrow."

"I thought you might want this for tonight."

Taking the bundle from her father, she unwrapped it. Inside was a folded heap of green fabric.

"Dad, is this—" Astrid shook it out, revealing a long green dress trimmed in brown.

"I think you're finally tall enough to wear it."

Astrid hugged her dad with teary eyes. She had coveted this dress since she was a small child, when her mother had worn it on special occasions. Sometimes, her mom had let her place dress-up with it. She hadn't seen it since her mother had died. Until now, Astrid assumed that it had burned with her mother—her father had never let her see the body. Just the shroud covered pyre at the funeral.

"Thank you, Dad."

"You're just a brave and beautiful as she was." Niklas smiled at Astrid and gave her a kiss on the forehead before leaving the room.

Astrid checked to see that the door was securely closed before picking the dress up again. She held it up to her chest in front of her small mirror. Did she look like her mother? It had been so long, Astrid was unsure if she remembered her mother's exact features.

Catching the skirt out with her other hand, she twirled, feeling silly and a little bit sneaky. It wasn't that she didn't like dresses, they just weren't practical went you spent all day on a dragon or running around Berk.

But, oh, this dress.

It was quite possibly the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. She glanced at the door again; it would be time to leave soon. Quickly, she stripped out of her clothes and slipped the dress on. When she'd played dress-up as a little girl, the sleeves had always been too long and the shoulders of the dress were constantly sliding down one side or the other. Now she had to admit, she filled out the dress quite nicely. No more tripping over the hem or belting the waist. She smoothed her hands down the front.

On impulse, she reached up and undid her braid, shaking it out so that it fell around her shoulders. She brushed her bangs to the side. Yes, she liked the way that looked. But something was missing.

It only took a second to braid two sections of hair and tie them behind her head.

Perfect.

Astrid felt girly and giggly and she couldn't help liking that feeling. Not that she would ever let it show. If anyone made fun of her tonight for looking a little fancy, well, she could take care of them—even in a dress.

Hiking the skirt a few inches, Astrid flew down the stairs.

"See you at the great hall," she called as she banged through the door. Her father's voice followed after her, cutting off as the door slammed shut.

A few people stared as she ran past. Astrid slowed down. Usually, when she was running through Berk it meant trouble of some sort or another. No need to give people undue alarm. Especially not right before the Snoggletog party. Straightening her dress, she approached the great hall.

A smile lit up her face when she saw Hiccup leaning against the corner of the building. He was talking to Toothless. When wasn't he talking to Toothless? The dragon caught sight of her and bounded over, stopping a few feet away and tilting his head when he saw her unusual attire.

"What do you think, bud?" she asked, patting Toothless' nose. The dragon sniffed her from hem to head, sitting back and nodding when he'd decided that it really was her. He wiggled his butt, giving Astrid a look she recognized. "Oh no you don't. That stuff does not wash out." She held her hands up. "Hiccup, control your dragon. He is not ruining my new dress."

Help was not forthcoming from that quarter, but Astrid was more than capable of taking things into her own hands. She scratched the spot that Hiccup had shown her all that time ago. Toothless fell out on the ground, rolling over so his legs were in the air, his tongue lolling. "Hmm, works every time."

"Uh-huh."

Hiccup was watching them with wide eyes, jaw slack. He snapped his mouth closed when he saw Astrid looking. His eyes started to travel down, then he jerked his gaze back up, flinching.

"H-hi, Astrid," he said with a nervous smile. "H-how's it going?"

This wasn't something Astrid had thought about. When she'd put the dress on and pulled her hair down, she had done because she liked the way it looked. How it made her feel. It never occurred to her to think about how her boyfriend would react. He thought she was pretty, she knew that. But the way he was looking at her now—it was the way he looked when they found a new species of dragon. Like she was some magical creature. Magical and powerful.

Hiccup reached out, running his fingers through the hair loose about her shoulders. "Wow."

"Do you like it?"

His hand slipped behind her neck and he pulled her forward for a kiss.

"It's a good look for you," he said. He kissed her again.

"Good, because I like this dress," she said. "So I'm wearing it whether you like it or not."

"Wouldn't dream of stopping you. Now c'mere, before you have to fight off half of Berk."

He pulled them around the corner so they could kiss in the shadows, out of sight of prying eyes.

"Only half of Berk?" she said.

"Viking wives," Hiccup said between kisses, "do not take kindly to men with wandering eyes. Now do they?"

Astrid laughed. "No. They don't. Do I need to worry about you doing something stupid while defending my honor?" She leaned into him, catching him off balance. His arms cinched around her waist as they fell against the wall.

"Nope. You've always been better at beating people up. I'd only get in your way."

Somewhere nearby, they could hear Stoick calling Hiccup's name. Hiccup sighed. Then he kissed Astrid again, his fingers sliding through her hair. She made a mental note to wear it down more often as she slid her hands beneath his yak pelt vest, pulling him close.

Stoick called again. They both groaned.

"I'd better go," he said.

Running her hands through her hair and straightening her dress yet again, Astrid took his hand as they went in search of his father.

Okay. Lemme explain you a thing or two.

I looked and looked, but from what I've found, there is very little information on Astrid's parents (so if the names end up being totally jacked up, oh well). Originally, I wrote this with her mother giving her the dress, but then I remember the deleted scene in which she mentions that she is carrying her mother's battle axe. That's a pretty freaking serious weapon and it didn't make sense to me that her mother would just give it up in favor of a new one, so I made the jump that Mrs. Hofferson had been killed (how, we'll get to in another drabble, just not yet). Voila, fic that is both cute and sad.

As for the whole Astrid in a dress thing. I've always been irked by this idea that tough girls or tomboys have absolutely no desire to feel girly. I was bit of a tomboy growing up and that never stopped me from liking pretty, girly things (in fact, my current wardrobe is a bit of a dichotmy, but I digress). However, on Berk, dresses are obviously not practical on a daily basis and this these two ideas combined to make this fic. If you disagree, well, bite me.

I hope you enjoy and thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story so far. I've got more, lots more, coming if I can just get around to editing it.