I am so sorry for the long delay! As I already said, I don't have full access to internet so that's why
BUT!
I got four chapters for you all. FOUR CHAPTERS!
Enjoy reading and review if you feel like it
Chapter 7
'Motherly' Conversation
There are some things I've been kept to myself the whole time about the young lad. After twelve years of searching, I finally found him. I never thought he would be in this kind of situation. How did he survive all that cruelness? If only I could see what lies in his heart but it won't let me. Heh, some extraordinary young lad he is. And that girl, she isn't who she is. Feel me?
After the magnificent flight, Astrid was on her way home after she sent Hiccup to his house, and after she figured out how to get off the saddle. She completely forgot that she was secured to the saddle until Hiccup pointed out. She was flushed in embarrassment. Luckily, Hiccup was blind – literally – to see that but that doesn't mean Toothless doesn't see it. He wore the knowing grin again and trying his best to stiffen his laughter. When it burst out, Hiccup was confused.
The journey to his house was silent and awkward, as usual. Not until she started to ramble about how magnificent and beautiful the flight was. Suddenly, Hiccup got replaced by her. Her hands flew around, trying to image back the view, stuttering when she tried to form the proper words. Hiccup was silence the whole time and wore a smile on his face. She suddenly punched his right shoulder – the usual spot – when he raised his eyebrow and his smile widened when Astrid blurted out 'Romantic Flight'. She was flushed in embarrassment as she looked away and Hiccup still wore the grin on his face, despite his throbbing arm.
Luckily enough, no wild chief with the species of 'Vast' was there in the Haddock Household to question them. And then she again started rambling about the flight. This time Hiccup just responded, "Yeah", "Right", "I know", "Really!?", "Wow", "Seriously!?", "Oh my gods" as if he saw them too. Then again, he saw them all the time before he gone blind so he knew, actually.
After another rambling section, she bided him goodbye and before she shut the door behind her, he said to her to meet him at his house before they left to the arena tomorrow because he was afraid he might ended up in a yak's butt. She laughed when she closed the door. Her laughter died instantly when she was lost in her thought.
During her journey home, her mind went back to Hiccup. He had the balls to do those kinds of stuffs. Everyone in the village knew if they lay their finger on her, they probably lose all of their fingers including their toes. Hel, even Hiccup knew about it but earlier, he touched her. Not, lustfully but delicately. Astrid won't admit it but she liked it, a lot.
Yet, his touch felt like she felt them before. When he held her hands, they were so warm and very comfortable yet somehow she felt them before. When her back was pressed against his chest she couldn't help it but scooted closer yet she felt she had done it before. When he wrapped his arms around her the other day, she felt comfortable and protected from anything around her, yet she felt those feeling before.
And those words…
"Don't worry, Astrid. You don't need to be scared. I'll protect you"
She heard them before, clearly remembered every tone used for every word. She remembered the person said that to her long time ago, meaning every word he said and it motivated her to not be scared of anything. And that person was no other one else but…
…Hiccup.
She doesn't remember when he said that to her, she doesn't remember when he ever talked to her before, she doesn't remember when he ever met her before, she doesn't remember where he said that to her, she doesn't remember why he said that to her. Astrid was getting frustrated. She doesn't remember anything other than those meaningful words and Hiccup was the one who said it, nothing else.
When he said to her those meaningful words to her on their flight it felt like a déjà vu to her, felt like it was long time ago. She was scared at that time, unconsciously showing it, and Hiccup was there, holding her together and said those words. It was slightly different from today and that day. She was younger, and…
Why was she scared at that time? Why was he there with her too? Her mind went back to Hiccup's cheerful face.
'That scar…' She thought to herself. She remembered when she stared at the scar on his chin. Why was it so familiar? She thought he earned it from blacksmithing but why did she told herself that it wasn't? 'Why?'
Warmness… Comfort… Protection… Hands… Soft… Touch… Words… Scar…
Hiccup.
All of those came from Hiccup himself. And she also felt them before. Just spending for like nearly three days with him, he made her confused and frustrated over her feelings.
'Feelings? Could I really fall for Hiccup?' that was fast. The frustration was now gone and replaced by blush that crept up to her cheeks. She was so lost in thought – of Hiccup – that she was oblivious of another same thing like before crumbled inside her.
She was still lost in thought – of you-know-who and you-know-why – when she entered her home until her mother broke her away from her thought when she suddenly spoke in her armchair.
"Evening Astrid," Astrid jumped when she heard her mother greeted her. She greeted back.
"Good m-morning mom. I-I mean, evening! Evening," she stuttered, making her mother smirked.
Linda Hofferson, or what the village dubbed her Booming Linda Hofferson, was Astrid beloved mother. She was nearly as beautiful as her daughter, blonde hair with blue eyes. Unlike most the other Vikings on the village, she is very kind-hearted and had a great sense a humor. The reason why the village dubbed her Booming Linda Hofferson was because of her extremely loud voice when she yelled. They swore that their ears would explode even if they live on the other side of the island.
"You came late today," Linda told her daughter.
"I am?"
"Well, let me check. Hmm… it's nearly midnight, so yeah, you're late"
"Since when you're this sarcastic, mom?"
"I guess Hiccup's sarcasms rubbing on me now, by the looks of it"
"It starts rubbing on you too huh?"
"At least I'm not the only one," silence enveloped between them as Astrid sat down in her chair. Linda's grin started to widen. "So, is it an overtime job…?"
"Y-yeah, it i-"
"Or dating out with your boyfriend?" and Astrid instantly went red in embarrassment.
"I am not! It's just an overtime job, that's all!" Linda laughed loud enough to shake the house, unlike last time. Last time villagers thought it was an earthquake until they saw Linda rolled around on the floor, laughing.
"With your boyfriend," she managed to calm down her laughter.
"Y-NO!"
"So you do have one"
"I don't have a boyfriend!"
"Who is it?"
"Mom!"
"It's Hiccup, hands down, everyone in the archipelago," Astrid took after her mother after all.
"He is not my boyfriend!"
"Yet"
"MOM!"
"Come on now, Astrid, you honestly have feeling for the boy. You know you can't lie to your mother," Astrid went redder than before as she pursed her lips. Linda was right, Astrid cannot lie to her mother, she knew too much of her daughter. After an intense gaze between Astrid and Linda – who had an annoying smirk on her face – Astrid sighed in defeat.
"Okay, Okay! I do have a feeling for Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third! I like him! I wanted to hang around him, I want to be with him and I want to feed him!" Astrid confessed straightforwardly. Her face was so red like the whole blood in her body went to her face.
"Oh, yo – wait, you fed him?" Linda asked and Astrid looked away in embarrassment.
"Y-yeah, I did. He's blind so he needs my help"
"Aww, how sweet of you. I bet he appreciated it"
"Papa went to search for the nest too, right?" Astrid immediately changed the topic to avoid the previous topic.
"He got force to but yeah, he is"
Vincent Hofferson, a very kind-heart person similar to his wife and Astrid beloved father. Clean beard tied together in a single braid and blue eyes. He loved his daughter as much as he loved his wife. He was forced to join the search for the nest and not because of taking care of Hiccup. He didn't mind to take care of him because…
"By the way, Astrid, your father would be very happy and pleased about his daughter has a crush on Hiccup"
…that. So much for changing the subject.
"Aren't you guys suppose to be angry because I have a crush on the village outcast!?"
"First of all, Astrid," Linda suddenly snapped, making Astrid silenced. "Hiccup is not an outcast, it just that nobody ever understands him. Secondly, don't ever think he's useless because he isn't"
"Why do you guys care so much?" Astrid tried to make it doesn't sound rude.
"Because he is special. How special? It's way beyond your imaginations. You want to know a fact?" Linda asked little bit roughly and Astrid slowly nodded. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third is the only hiccup that ever live this far"
"Wait, what about the hiccups before?"
"Hiccup the Second and the Third were not a hiccup, despite they had it in their name. On records, village hiccups only lived around seven to ten years"
"What happened?"
"They suicide"
"What!? Why?"
"They can't stand the depression and the pressure they received from their village. They suffered by their own village, and according to one of the hiccups, it felt like endless dying while still living. So to end their suffers, they ended their life"
"That's what Hiccup felt this whole time?"
"Everyday, actually. I am very surprise he's still standing today. I remembered how it felt like to be in his shoes," and Astrid was shocked.
"You were in his shoes before?"
"Only for a day. I did the things he accidentally did most of the time: burn down houses, let go of the farm and kicks everyone's butts," the 'kicks everyone's butts' came from Linda herself and not from Hiccup. She literally did it. Mind you.
"How does it feel like, to be in his shoes?"
"Let's just say, I exploded on the same day. You can't keep the steam build up inside you for so long. Eventually you will erupt"
"Why aren't anyone told me about this?"
"I threatened them with axes on all of my limbs"
"Figures"
"Imagine; how can Hiccup contain all those emotions he received from his own village for fifteen years while I can't even contain them for a single day?"
"I don't know, actually. Does he ever receive any love or anything nice before?"
"Never"
"Not even from his father?" Linda just snorted.
"I don't know if you can call him that to Hiccup. From all I see, he's never there"
"What about his mother?"
"Val…" Linda gulped before she continued. "She got taken away during a raid by the dragons. And it happened when Hiccup barely reached one year old. The chief took care of him but only for a while. Hiccup took care of himself after that"
"So the only love he received was only from his mother?"
"She was the one who threatened Stoick to take care of Hiccup if she left early, so yes. But Stoick didn't properly take care of him. If she would just ask me to take care of him, I wholeheartedly accept it," Astrid was quiet for a while before she changed the topic, again.
"What keep him from backing down and keep going on?"
"You," and Astrid was baffled of her answer.
"W-what?"
"You keep him from backing down and keep him going on"
"Wh-why me?" and Linda face-palmed.
"Why are you so oblivious!? He loves you, silly," and Astrid was now in shocking state.
"Why would he love me? Why wouldn't he get my attention the first place?" Linda rolled her eyes.
"Please. He's been trying to get your attention for ten years, Astrid," and she was shocked, again. "Ten years, Astrid. Ten years and he is still waiting for you. But the whole time when he tried to get you notice you just brushed him off like a dust and of 'Oh, I need to be the best Viking in the world, boo hoo'," Linda mocked her daughter in seriousness. Astrid had never seen her mother this serious before, even during dragon raid. And she was serious about Hiccup. "You probably mean something to him and I guessed it all started ten years ago when you met him the first time"
"Wait, I met him ten years ago?" Linda was visibly shocked when she said that. Now, she realized, this was not the Astrid she knew. The Astrid she knew was the girl who would treasured that moment and always remembers it, because that Astrid said it to her herself, ten years ago. She decided to end her conversation there.
"It's late. You should go to bed. You got Dragon Training tomorrow"
"Y-yeah right. Well, good night, mom"
"Good night, Astrid," and so Astrid went to her room and dropped onto her bed and fast asleep. Linda on the other hand was still up. She looked through the window and gazed the Haddock household. She muttered to herself, hoping that the boy lived in that house heard it. "Now I know what you meant, Hiccup…
… Because I know you've been trying to bring her back"
