A/N: This is the first half of my 'the dancing and the dreaming' fic. I posted it on tumblr a few months back, I thought I'd cross post it here. It can stand on its own until I get my butt in gear and write the second half. This months been a little weird for me. My head is in a strange placeā¦
The last time Astrid had been on Berk they had celebrated.
Hiccup's son had turned ten and the entire island had been beside itself. Now, nearly six years later, she was back and the tiny island was once again in a buzz of excitement and mead.
Little Bjorn was no longer very little and the Vikings and the Scots were once again singing and dancing together on the tiny island. Her crew had left quickly enough, eager for a drink and a warm meal after months on the open ocean, but Astrid had lingered on the ship.
Hiccup, apparently, had other plans, because he was walking up to meet her as she checked and double-checked the ropes just to kill time, arms crossed, cloaked in furs and thick leather to ward off the cold chill of the night air. He hadn't changed much while she had been away playing ambassador to the Hooligan tribe. He was still as tall and lean as ever. His hair was a little longer, his jaw a little sharper, with the beginnings of gray hair peppered in his beard. His face was stern, and a frown marred his lips, thin lines made sharper by the silver light of the moon over head.
"Chief," She greeted him coolly as his mismatched footsteps reached her. She looked up from her anchor hitch. His frown deepened, making the gray all the more prominent.
"Captain."
She raised an eyebrow and stood, placing her hands on her hips, looking him up and down. He was skinnier up close, without the shadows and the thick furs to give him the illusion of mass. "You've gotten fat, Hic."
The grin he had managed to hold back exploded across his face. His laugh was like riding with Stormfly through the stone pillars, or cold nights at sea spent huddled around their dragons. The hug he pulled her into was even better.
She hadn't realized just how much she had missed him until that moment. It was like taking a breath she hadn't realize she had been holding. She wrapped her arms around him tightly.
"I've missed you, Astrid." He murmured before holding her at arms length to look her over, a lopsided grin still lodged on his face, "You look good. Merida's been asking for you." His grin slipped a fraction of an inch, "We thought you weren't going to come."
Astrid hesitated. She hadn't planned on it, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him no. So she just rolled her eyes and punched him in the shoulder, "Of course I was. I wouldn't miss the little terror's 16th birthday."
Hiccup grinned at her, rubbing his shoulder, and together they walked up the familiar path through the wooden houses.
She asked about the village and he told her a story about Bjorn and his friends, a nest of Terrible Terrors and shipment of wheat from the mainland, laughing despite his exasperated tone.
He asked about the colonies in the North and she regaled him with tales of her adventures island hopping in the Nordic Sea and pretended not to notice the wistful look in his eyes and blamed it on the light from the Mead Hall.
Music filled the air as they made their way up the dirt path. The doors and windows were thrown open, the warm light of the fire spilling out over the windowsills and down the front steps onto the dirt road at their feet.
Inside, the Scots led the Vikings in a vigorous song about a Bear Queen and her daughter. Their voices echoed through the night, stumbling out the door like drunken sailors as they walked into the hall.
The tables had been shoved back towards the walls. Vikings and Scots sat in chairs and on tables, eating and drinking and dancing and singing along to Scottish men wailing on the bagpipes.
Merida and her son were in the center of the hall, spinning and twirling together in time to the thunderous clapping reverberating through the hall. Her cheeks were flushed and she was laughing a full body laugh, with her head thrown back and her shoulders shaking, at something Bjorn had said.
When she saw them standing in the door her grin widened and Astrid was struck by how young she looked despite her years. She was contagious, filling the hall a wild delight as she turned back and led them all in the singing of another song about three little boys and an elf king, and Astrid found herself smiling back in spite of herself. Laugh lines decorated her face and her hair was peppered with gray, but crows feet and silver hairs made more prominent by the glow of the torches did nothing to dull her spark.
Beside her, Hiccup grinned like he hadn't seen her in years. Like the twenty minutes spent walking back up the docks with Astrid was far too much time spent away from her. Astrid's smile softened.
"You look good too, Hic." She said.
Hiccup tore his gaze away from his wife, blinking at her, "What?"
Astrid snorted and shook her head, "I said you look good. You look happy."
He smiled at her, looking back at Merida. There was a fondness in his green eyes that filled Astrid with a warmth that surprised her even after all these years.
"She makes me happy."
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