She knew she shouldn't fidget, but it was impossible not to. On the other side of the doors were her suitors, whoever and however many they were; how could she be calm knowing that, and not knowing who was out there? She was fairly certain the three clan heirs would be there. Even if they'd said they didn't want to marry her anymore, their fathers would have made them come anyway, on the off chance that Hiccup didn't make it.

He had to be there. He had to be there, across the hall and in the courtyard, waiting. She'd be able to tell if he wasn't there—she'd be able to feel it somehow. "Open the door," she muttered under her breath. "Just open the door."

Fergus waved and the guards pulled the doors open. Merida took a deep breath. There were the MacGuffins, the young one looking stronger than ever; the Dingwalls—Wee Dingwall had gone through a growth spurt in the past year; the Macintoshes proud and even more painted. It took everything in her not to stand on her toes and look over their heads for a fourth suitor.

Instead she forced herself to focus on the men who'd already entered. The lords' expressions ranged from exasperated to resigned; their sons were smirking with various degrees of intensity. That was odd. Macintosh she would expect to be cocky, but not the others. They looked like they were sharing some secret amongst themselves.

Where was he? Maybe there'd been a storm, or he'd run into the kidnappers. Or pirates! She could save him from pirates, easily, as long as she knew he'd been taken in the first place. Pirates was definitely better than the idea that he didn't want to come.

Then the crowd parted between the MacGuffin and Macintosh clans to allow a black beast to push through. "Toothless," she whispered, suddenly breathless, and he bowed sinuously. If Toothless was there, he had to be there! Unless Toothless was there with some kind of apology. But Toothless couldn't have made it all the way by himself; he would have needed—

Hiccup. He followed in Toothless' wake and stood beside him, one hand on his head. Hiccup bowed and she felt at once both rooted to the spot and ready to fly toward him. When he straightened there was a small grin on his face, though not as confident as the others were. He looked well, healthy. Her heart flipped madly in her chest. If there had ever been any doubt before, there was none now: she would always choose him, him before any other.

Happiness swelled inside her until there was no room for anything else, not even for breath.

All of the words he'd practiced disappeared when he saw her again. She looked just the same, like it had only been weeks that had passed instead of a year. When their eyes met she bit her lip, obviously trying to remain formal for the sake of propriety and all, but if she felt the way he did then her feet were itching to run forward. The last time he'd seen her she'd been watching a ship take him away; her hair had been blowing in the breeze and there had been tears in her eyes and he'd wanted to swim back to shore to have her in his arms one more time. Now he was afraid that if she didn't laugh she'd explode. He could grin, though; he could look as ridiculously overjoyed as he felt at being in the same room with her again, seeing her eyes crinkle, hearing her voice.

"We bid you welcome," she said, clear and strong. "We are honored by your presence here." She nodded to each of the chieftains in turn: "Lord Dingwall; Lord Macintosh; Lord MacGuffin—" she inclined her head, lips twitching, so close to laughter it must have hurt "—Hiccup. Your continued interest humbles me, and I thank you for coming. I would like to remind you all of the terms of the agreement made a year ago."

"We remember the terms, lass," Lord Macintosh interrupted, kindly enough.

"Aye," said Lord MacGuffin, "so if Your Highness would hurry along and announce your intended, we could all have a drink."

"That way this trip won't be a complete waste," muttered Lord Dingwall. His son rolled his eyes.

"As you wish, my lords." She stepped down and walked with agonizing slowness. His expression went still; he wouldn't be able to believe it until she was in front of him, speaking to him. She stopped and curtseyed before him.

"My lord," she began, looking down demurely, voice carefully controlled, but then she raised her head. Her eyes were wide and bluer than he remembered, a blue that made him feel like he was soaring and drowning at the same time. A faint flush spread across her cheeks as he stared. It was agonizing being so close and not at least taking her hand.

Surely there was supposed to be some formula, some set phrases to ask, but whatever proper thing she was supposed to say became "Hiccup. I chose you a long time ago. Do you still want me?" Her hands twisted together in front of her, like she was worried about his answer.

He grinned, slow and mischievous. "Do you think I came all this way to say no?"

Ceremony or not, she rolled her eyes. "Well, of course not, you numpty, but I had to ask. So that's a yes then?"

Ceremony or not, he pulled her close and kissed her, smiling against her lips as she threw her arms around his neck.