I don't own How To Train Your Dragon, I'm just a fan :)

If you don't like the story, don't read it.

Hand on my Heart

Chapter 10

Hiccup woke up with a terrible head ache and squinted at the morning light that entered the room. He was suddenly confused. Why was he naked? Then he turned to his left and saw the naked form of Camicazi and his jaw dropped as the memories of the previous night flooded back to him. He dressed himself quickly and quietly and left the room. He needed some air and time to think. He walked down to the dock to find out the progress of the boat they'd bought and to sign the papers.

As he walked he went through a flurry of emotions. On the one hand, it had been the best experience of his life. It was perfect, apart from the fact that they were drunk. To the casual observer, it may have seemed like a reaction, but he wasn't worried that he had acted out because of the news of Astrid's impending marriage to Snotlout. He knew that was not what had happened as he'd thought about Camicazi that way plenty of times before and he was in love with her. His feelings went far deeper than anything he had ever experienced with Astrid. Cami was everything to him now but he was torn. He wanted to be with her. He wanted to have a future with her. He wanted to be old with her. But he was back to the original problem of what did she want? He worried that he'd just made a huge mistake… One that might even end their friendship.

When he neared the stall, he noticed the man he'd dealt with the night before was looking a little worse for wear as he was sure he did.

"Rough night?" Hiccup asked with a smile.

"Too much mead, Mr. Haddock." The man chuckled. "What about you?"

"Same. I don't think I'll ever get used to the mead headache."

"A lot of Vikings just don't stop drinking – that way the headache doesn't have time to get going." He laughed.

"I'll consider that for next time." He grinned.

"The ship is almost ready. As you can see, the paint is done." He pointed to the ship and Hiccup was impressed at how beautiful the lettering was.

"Looks good." Hiccup nodded in approval.

"The sails have been fitted as you can see and the two extra sets are packed in one of the cabins. I'm just waiting for all the cabins onboard to be furnished with beds then it will be ready."

"All the cabins?" Hiccup asked wide eyed.

"Yes, there are two large ones above deck, two medium ones and one small below deck." He explained.

"That's amazing. Thank you." Hiccup smiled at the man.

"Here are the papers that register you as the ship's owner. I just put your name on it, would you like to add your wife's?" He asked.

"Yes, please." He owed that to her since it was half hers too.

"Where is the missus this morning?" He asked cheerfully as he wrote in Cami's name.

"I didn't want to wake her. She looked so peaceful." He told the man.

"You're a good man, Mr. Haddock." He told Hiccup.

"Please, call me Hiccup. Mr. Haddock is my father." He laughed as did the man.

"As you wish. I'm Stoneclaw." He put out his hand and Hiccup shook it immediately.

"It's been very nice to meet you Stoneclaw. I'll be telling everyone I know to come get a ship from you." Hiccup told him.

"I appreciate that, Hiccup. Now, you will be registered in this port as that ship's owner. If it ever comes in here without you or your wife, the person on the boat will have to show these papers to be able to dock." Stoneclaw explained.

"I'll make sure to remember that." Hiccup replied.

"Now if anything ever happens to the papers, you just come back and see me and I'll make you a copy." He said.

"Thank you." Hiccup said sincerely.

"Now, if everything goes the way I expect, you should be able to pick up the ship in a few hours. If you need any goods loaded on, just come and see me and I'll arrange that too."

"I will need that later. Should I just ask that everything I buy be sent over here to you?"

"That's perfect." Stoneclaw said.

"Thanks, Stoneclaw." Hiccup said as he signed. "I'll see you later." Hiccup said as he spotted Snotlout at the entrance of the market, not far behind him. "Lout!" He called when he'd left the stall.

"Hiccup! Where did you go last night?" Hiccup blushed.

"Um… We went to sleep. It was late and we were tired." Hiccup replied hurriedly.

"Tired… Sure." Snotlout smirked.

"Oh, shut up." Hiccup mumbled.

"Want to explain to me why that guy you were just talking to said Cami is your wife?" Snotlout asked suspiciously. Hiccup explained everything that had transpired except the part about the sword.

"Please, Lout. Don't tell Stoick that you saw me. If he somehow figures it out, just tell him that I'll be back someday but I don't want to be Chief." Hiccup told his cousin.

"You got it." Snotlout nodded. "But he'll be as mad as bear if he finds out we saw you and didn't tell him."

"You're right. Tell him that you saw me and I'm fine. Tell him you told me to wait to see him but I took off. Place the blame on me, Lout. I'll deal with him later." Hiccup said as he rethought the situation.

"It's probably best that I tell him because Tuff can't keep a secret." Snotlout agreed. "Look… I'm sorry about Astrid." He continued after a pause and Hiccup put his hand up to stop him.

"Lout. Stop. Are you happy?" Hiccup asked genuinely.

"What?" Snotlout asked.

"Are you happy to be marrying her? Do you care about her?" Hiccup asked.

"You know I care about her and I'm happy, yes." Snotlout admitted.

"Then that's all that matters to me. We weren't always friends Lout, but you're my cousin and I want you to be happy. I'm happy with Cami. She's…" Hiccup smiled.

"I know." Snotlout grinned back.

"Just make sure you're a good husband to her and treat her the way she deserves to be treated." Hiccup warned him.

"She's everything to me, Hiccup. I…" Snotlout trailed off.

"I know." Hiccup replied and the two of them laughed. "Now, we should probably fight or something to get rid of all this mushiness." Hiccup teased.

"Oh! I forgot we were going to spar. Let me just go get my weapons." Snotlout said.

"Do you know where the caves are?" Hiccup asked.

"They're like half an hour that way, right?" Snotlout pointed towards the wooded area.

"Yeah. Meet me there in a couple of hours. I have to pick some stuff up for the ship at the market and if I forget anything, Cami will kill me." He laughed.

"Are you going to marry her?" Snotlout asked after a moment's contemplation.

"I don't know. We haven't talked about it." Hiccup said sadly.

"But you want to, right?" Hiccup thought about it for a minute.

"Yeah, I want to." He grinned.

"Look at us! Already under the thumbs of our women." Snotlout laughed.

"Agreed." Hiccup smirked. "I'll see you in a few hours."

"See ya, cuz." Snotlout laughed and waved as he ran off. Hiccup was surprised that he'd had a real conversation with his cousin. He hadn't thought Snotlout was capable of it. He decided he better go see Cami then at the last minute he made a quick stop.

Camicazi was just beginning to wake up when she heard the door open and close and she sat bolt upright and drew her sword from under her pillow, just to see Hiccup smiling at her amused. She noticed then that she was still naked and pulled up the blanket to cover herself.

"I'm not trying to rob you." He smirked.

"Were you leaving?" She asked; a little hurt at the thought.

"Just coming back. You looked so comfortable when I got up that I didn't want to wake you." He smiled at her and kicked off his boot.

"What have you got there?" She asked, pointing to his hands.

"Well, you said you wanted warm bread and butter for breakfast so…" He shifted nervously and she beamed at him.

"Thanks, Hiccup." He handed her a plate, the small jar of butter and the loaf of bread. She cut off a thin slice of bread then spread some butter on top of it and took a large bite. "That's so good. We need to get some more of this for the ship." She said. Hiccup prepared his piece and started to eat as well.

"They have lots of stuff in the bakery. You'll have to come with me later and pick everything you want." He said to her.

"Sounds good. When did you leave?" She asked as she ate.

"About an hour ago, I think. I went down to the docks and signed the papers. I got him to put your name on it as well." He informed her.

"You didn't have to do that." She said sweetly.

"Of course I did. The ship is half yours. The only thing is that your name on it is Camicazi Haddock, so if you ever sail in here without me, you'll need to give them that name when you dock." He explained.

"That's ok." She waved it off.

"Is it?" He asked curiously.

"We have to talk about last night." She said nervously as she glanced over to him. He watched her intently trying to gage her reaction.

"I don't know if I want to." He said to her honestly.

"Why?" She asked, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice and failing miserably.

"We shouldn't have done that. You know what I want from you. I've told you before." He admitted sadly.

"How do you know that I don't want that?" She asked him.

"You're a Bogburglar." He said, as if it explained everything.

"Are you really so convinced that I'll hurt you?" She asked, frustrated.

"I know you wouldn't want to hurt me intentionally, Cami. I know you care about me. I just…" He trailed off, unsure of how to word what he felt without exposing himself to rejection.

"I love you, Hiccup." She told him.

"I know that Cami and I love you too. But I want more than just friendship love." He said to her.

"You don't seem to hear what I'm saying, Hiccup. I love you. I'm in love with you." She said, putting herself out there.

"Are you serious?" He asked after his jaw dropped.

"Yes." She nodded.

"I love you too." He said through the widest grin he's ever had on his face and before he could stop to think about it he launched himself at her and kissed her hungrily.

"Hiccup…" Camicazi giggled. "You're going to end up covered in butter." She told him.

"It's worth it." He smiled.

"Well… How about we go and get all our supplies and leave early, then dock the boat once we're far enough away and make use of the fancy cabins?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"You're a little minx." He kissed her nose and pulled away from her, settling back into his previous seat at the side of the bed. "So… are we… together now?" He asked a little sheepishly.

"Yes." She nodded with a smile.

"What about the future?" He asked.

"In other words, you want to know if I'll marry you some day?" She laughed.

"It would be nice to know." He nodded.

"Well, you know how I feel about marriage and I know how you feel about it… So how about a compromise?" She asked.

"I can't wait to hear this." He laughed.

"Shut up." She smiled. "How about we get married if I end up pregnant?" She asked. "Contraceptive herbs work most of the time, but not all the time, so if we… continue… it's bound to happen sometime." She admitted. He thought about it for a minute and he liked that plan. It would be like fate was telling them to get married and in a way, she had just agreed to marry him since she said pregnancy was inevitable… So that really is the Camicazi way of agreeing to marriage and he smiled.

"I can do that." He agreed. "We'll need to buy some contraceptive herbs then. I want children one day, but not right away. I want some time with you before I have to share you." He admitted.

"You always know just what to say, don't you, Haddock?" She shook her head amused.

"It's a gift." He laughed and she rolled her eyes.

They trawled the market hand in hand, looking at every stall and buying far more than they had expected to. They bought mountains of blankets, bedding, clothes, food, water, mead, tables and chairs, plates, cups, knives, materials and tools, some wood, all sorts of medicines just in case as well as bandages and Cami's herbs and a small and dark dragon hide for Toothless' tail. They bought other bits and pieces here and there and they hadn't even made a small dent in their money. Hiccup had traded the axe for silver and had bartered long enough until he got 800 silver pieces for it. Cami's eyes had bugged when she heard the agreed amount and complimented him on his bartering skills, considering they started at 300. Once they were finished at the market and Stoneclaw confirmed that all their things had been put on board and the ship was ready to go, they started heading towards the caves to see the dragons and the Berk boys.

"Are you really going to spar with Snotlout?" Camicazi asked skeptically.

"It feels nice to not have to decline because I have no idea what I'm doing." He shrugged

"Well, you can best me and I could best him in my sleep so I doubt you will have a problem." She laughed.

"I don't think I could best you if you were actually determined to hurt me." He laughed.

"I don't know… You've gotten good, Haddock." She smiled up at him. He let go of her hand and slung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her into his side.

"That's only because I had the best possible teacher." He pointed out.

"Smooth. Very smooth." She said as they approached the caves. They entered the cave to find Snotlout and Tuffnut corned against a wall in the cave and Fishlegs looking on half worried and half amused. Toothless was snarling at the two boys, keeping them there.

"Toothless." Hiccup chastised and the dragon flipped round and flattened him to the ground, licking his face. "You'd think I'd get used to this." He said sarcastically. "I missed you too." He told the dragon and hugged his neck. "Now, let me up. I have a fight to get to." Toothless cocked his head to the side, clearly wanting more information. "Snotlout and I are going to spar. You know the way Cami and I do?" He told the dragon. Toothless then snapped his head over to where Cami was standing grinning at the sight of them, then proceeded to do the same to her.

"Oh, Gods! Toothless! What have I told you about that?" She yelled as he licked her head.

"Come on, bud. Get off her." Hiccup crossed his arms over his chest once he stood up and frowned at the dragon. Toothless got off her eventually and Hiccup lifted her up. "Sorry." He laughed then leaned forward and kissed her nose. He turned his head and saw Stormfly sitting waiting patiently. "Oh, I'm sorry girl." He walked towards her. "Toothless is just a big selfish oaf, isn't he?" He asked her as he hugged her neck and scratched her head. She crooned softly and nuzzled her head against his chest. Cami walked up and hugged her as well and Toothless growled quietly in displeasure. "Was he nice to you?" Hiccup looked at Toothless who then sat down and looked innocent. "I know that face." He laughed.

"Thank the Gods you got here when you did. Your dragon was going to eat us." Tuffnut said to Hiccup, who just smirked in return.

"Stormfly really is quite remarkable." Fishlegs told them and Camicazi smiled at him.

"She's just a lovely girl." Cami agreed.

"You ready to spar?" Snotlout asked with a devilish grin.

"Oh yeah." Hiccup grinned. "Let's go up into the woods there." Hiccup pointed and Lout nodded and walked out.

"Can we watch?" Tuffnut asked.

"If you want." Hiccup shrugged and turned to walk out of the cave, Tuffnut and Fishlegs then noticed all the weapons strapped to Hiccup and gulped. They followed him out and heard Cami instruct the dragons to stay there.

"Rules?" Snotlout asked.

"Whatever you want." Hiccup said casually.

"Ok, no serious damage and if either wants to stop, the other will agree." Snotlout said.

"Deal. Weapons?" Hiccup asked.

"Anything goes." Snotlout answered.

"Excellent." Hiccup grinned and crossed his hands over his head, withdrawing his axe and mace at the same time then flipped them in his hands.

"Ok? Go!" Cami yelled from the side where she stood between Fishlegs and Tuffnut. Snotlout withdrew his two swords and stood in a battle stance as Hiccup crossed his arms holding his weapons outwards. He ran at Hiccup with both swords pointed towards him and Hiccup stood still. At the last second he swiftly uncrossed his weapons and moved them sharply outwards, causing Snotlout's arms to spread, then Hiccup headered him on the forehead, causing Snotlout to fall on his backside, gob smacked. Fishlegs and Tuffnut gasped at the quick simple movement that rendered Snotlout of all Vikings, useless. Especially since it was by Hiccup. Camicazi just grinned at him approvingly.

"Nicely done." Snotlout said as he got up. "I won't go easy on you now."

"Please don't. It's more fun when it's hard." Hiccup smirked then dropped his axe and mace, pulling out two daggers instead. Snotlout looked at him confused then raised his swords. Before Snotlout could make a move, Hiccup threw the daggers with precision, knocking both swords out of his cousin's hands simultaneously. All the Berk boy's jaws dropped.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Snotlout asked in awe and Hiccup shrugged.

"Cami." Hiccup answered.

"Not true. I showed you how to throw a dagger, you taught yourself all the fancy stuff to do with them." Cami corrected him.

"Ok, how are you with no weapons?" Snotlout asked. Hiccup then pulled out his sword and remaining dagger and tossed them to the ground.

"I'm not armed." He spread his hands in challenge. Snotlout came at him with a punch and Hiccup grabbed his fist and twisted his arm behind his back.

"Again." Snotlout yelled. Hiccup let his cousin go and Snotlout spun round catching him off guard and he took a hit in the jaw. He felt his lip split at the force of it. He didn't even flinch at it and before he could get a hit in Snotlout threw another punch. This time Hiccup pulled the boy's punching arm towards him, making Snotlout stumble. Hiccup bent over as Snotlout came into contact with him then straightened quickly, resulting in Snotlout tumbling over his shoulder; landing on his back on the ground.

"Man, you're good!" Tuffnut yelled and clapped.

"Truly brilliant, Hiccup." Fishlegs commented with a smile.

"That's it, Haddock." Cami nodded in approval.

"You don't seem surprised, Camicazi." Fishlegs said to her quietly.

"The only thing I'm surprised at is how easy he's going on him." She laughed. "The three of you could take him on and he'd still beat you."

"No way! I'm the world's deadliest weapon." Tuffnut sneered.

"Really?" Camicazi cocked an eyebrow. "Then by all means, attack him." She gestured to Hiccup who was pulling Snotlout up off the ground.

"I'm not really in the mood." Tuffnut said.

"Sure." She smirked at him and he frowned. Hiccup walked over and collected his daggers and sheathed his sword, mace and axe before handing over Snotlout's swords to him. That's when they noticed eight beefy Vikings walking towards them, weapons out and fierce expressions on their faces.

"What are you doing here Bloodguts?" Snotlout asked wide eyed.

"Get out of here Snotlout and take your two Berk brothers with you. Our business is with Blondie and the cripple." Bloodguts replied.

"Don't you dare call my cousin a cripple!" Snotlout shouted at him. Camicazi's expression was murderous.

"You know this goon?" Hiccup smirked at Snotlout, gesturing to Bloodguts.

"Hiccup, don't get him mad. He's Madguts' cousin." Fishlegs said.

"Fine, don't leave. I don't care." Bloodguts seethed. "Word around the port is that the cripple and Blondie are carrying a lot of gold. Hand it over and we'll let you live."

"That's not going to happen, Mama's boy." Camicazi snapped.

"For that I'll plunder and torture you till you beg me to snap your pretty little neck." Bloodguts laughed.

"No you won't." Hiccup growled.

"And you're going to stop me?" Bloodguts chuckled as did his men.

"No. I'm going to kill you." Hiccup explained matter-of-factly. Before Bloodguts could reply, Hiccup had launched his dagger straight into Bloodguts' heart. The shock was evident on Bloodguts' face when he looked down to see the dagger in his chest, before he fell backwards, dead. His men charged at them and Hiccup had already pulled out his other two daggers and tossed them, taking out two more men. He took out his mace and his axe and all of them took on one each. The fight didn't last long and they were left with only superficial cuts by the end of it. Camicazi rushed over to where Hiccup stood and surveyed the gash on his arm. "It's no big deal." He told her but she grabbed him and held him closely.

"I love you." She whispered in his ear.

"I love you too." He told her back as he held her. This time, he didn't feel the need to be sick. The thought of any of those men touching Camicazi erased any guilt he had about the altercation. He knew the type of man that Madguts was and he knew that what Bloodguts said wouldn't have been an idle threat. They came from a tribe of complete heathens with no respect for anyone. They were just evil to the core and there would have been no peaceful resolve. Hiccup had heard stories about them when he was growing up and he knew that even if they'd handed over everything they had; those men would still have killed them. Hiccup let Camicazi go and looked over her body. "Are you hurt?" He asked her.

"Not really. I got a pretty hard kick to the shin but I'm fine." She said.

"Are you all ok?" Hiccup asked the three boys who stared at him in awe.

"Just a few cuts and bruises, nothing to worry about." Tuffnut replied quietly.

"Same." Snotlout said.

"Hiccup… You didn't do anything wrong." Fishlegs said to his friend.

"I know." Hiccup glanced at the ground. "I'd never let anyone hurt Cami though. They're not even allowed to threaten it." He told them. "They were horrible men. They deserved it. We should really get out of here, before someone finds them." Hiccup said. "Are there more of them on the island?"

"Yeah." Snotlout nodded. "About twenty more, I think."

"Well, Cami and I can't go back to town then. We couldn't take twenty of them. You guys couldn't go pick up our ship for us, could you?" Hiccup asked.

"Of course." Fishlegs nodded. "Should we sail it around to the caves?"

"That would be great." Camicazi nodded. "We'll give you some gold for your trouble." Cami winked at them and the boys grinned.

"Thanks. I'll go get the dragons ready. Cami, you have the papers." Hiccup nodded then walked back down to the caves.

"Look, I'm only sharing this with you because you're looking at him like he has two heads." Cami chastised. "Hiccup is sensitive. As much as he can fight like nobody else I've seen, it doesn't mean he enjoys it. He hates it actually. He'd rather everything was always peaceful. So please, just treat him normally."

"You got it, Camicazi." Fishlegs agreed.

"But, how are we supposed to treat him like little Hiccup when he's like… that?" Snotlout asked. "He beat me completely and he wasn't even trying."

"Why don't you treat him the same way you do your other friends?" She suggested. "Be nice, tease him a little and just act normal. Although, if you tease him too much, you'll deal with me." She warned.

"I can't believe that asshole had the gall to call him 'the cripple'. I wanted to slit his throat for that." Tuffnut said which surprised Cami.

"He's much better about his leg now, but I can guarantee that this is a step backwards. He'll be distant and quiet now." She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.

"He doesn't seem to let it slow him down though." Fishlegs said positively.

"He's trained a lot and it's taken a lot to get him to this place, Fishlegs. But it can't be easy to lose a limb." She smiled sadly at the boy.

"He's really badass now." Tuffnut smiled approvingly.

"Yeah, he is. But he always was, he just didn't let anyone see it." She agreed then handed over the papers to the boat and explained what to say to the ship maker.