His Smile
Hiccup had laid awake for many hours now and still he just couldn't find his sleep, sighing a little, as he once more shifted his head on Toothless back and tried to make himself comfortable on his bedroll once more. But it didn't seem to work and sleep didn't want to catch up with him, especially when his eyes fell once more on the sleeping silhouette at the other side of the cave.
For the first time he could watch Astrid sleep – not that fever induced, painful sleep – but an actual, peaceful slumber, cuddled tightly against Stormfly's side and onto her bed roll.
If somebody would have told him, that this young woman, who had appeared on Berk with a high-held battle axe and scorn and wrath in her heart, would be able to change and would come to love dragons, then he surely would have laughed. But things have changed.
And something in himself has changed as well and he can't deny it...
Hiccup was not dumb. He unterstood what this bubbly feeling inside of his stomach and that steady smile on his lips meant, whenever she was looking at him. He knew exactly, how wonderful it was, to look right into her deep, blue eyes and to earn a smile, whenever he had done something, that had surprised her, or just because...he was there for her and showing her how to fly or this world full of dragons. Just because he had been nice to her...
He knew exactly, that his friends and mother's teasing had a reason behind it. And he knew, that all his thoughts surrounding her, had a damn reason. And he knew, that his mother was trying to accept Astrid's presents for a reason.
The only reason, why he wasn't acting on these feelings, were his rational thoughts. Thoughts like, that she would never see more than a friend in him. Or her teacher. Or just the nice guy with only one leg, who lets her sleep in his bed, while he awoke each and every morning with aching back pains and sometimes with a horrible headache.
And...he thought again with yet another sigh..., that she would love to do nothing more, but to finally return to her parents, since she could take the things she has learned with her and show them to her people. And then...he would be alone with Toothless again, in the far too big Haddock House. Or she would return to him, only to continue with their little faked marriage...
Therefore he settled with just being there for her, whenever she needed him. As a friend – on which they both had agreed on.
Hiccup could hear hurried footsteps suddenly approaching and he sat up – knowing, that those were coming from his mother.
And when she emerged at the entrance of this smaller cave, smiling widely and with the two hatchlings on her back, he knew, that he was right. And something in a thick cloth in front of her chest.
"It's hatching!" She cried in joy, making Astrid stir and the two dragons stir as well. But it wasn't enough to wake them up, yet. He on the other hand stood up immediately and hurried over to his mother, while she pulled the cloth a little away, so he could see the enormous cracks on the egg and a few smaller holes, that revealed the dragons scales.
"Get her, she probably wants to see that as well!" Valka said, smiling lightly at her son, and pointing with a movement of her head over to Astrid, who was still not sitting up.
He nodded, hurried over to the young woman to wake her up. But then, he stood there for a moment, quite unsure of how to do that. Should he shake her by the shoulder? Stroke her hair? Or her cheek?
"Hurry!"
"Ah – yeah!"
Since time was running out, Hiccup decided on carefully taking her wrists, pull her up until she sat. She blinked at him and yawed.
"What is the matter?" She asked sleepily and tried to focus on the young chief, who was still crouching in front of her, a little confused about his strangest behavior.
"The last egg!" He exclaimed softly "It is hatching! We thought, that you wanted to see that as well..."
Astrid understood immediately, hurriedly rubbing the sleep from her eyes and stood up – forcing with that move Hiccup to let go of her wrists.
"Come here, Astrid! Witness yourself!"
And they did, both walking over towards the older woman, who had knelt down and lay the egg on the cloth on the ground. Astrid and Hiccup followed her, kneeling down as well.
One could really notice, that this little hatchling had its fair share of problems with breaking through the shell – which was different from its brother and sister. It was taking its time, moving slowly. The shell was cracking slowly and inch by inch. Smaller pieces falling from it every now and then, revealing more and more from the small, red dragon.
And then, all the sudden...it stopped moving all along and so did the apparent breathing of the little one.
Hiccup's heart beat fastened with every passing second and when he looked over to his mother, he noticed the worry in her eyes as well.
"Can't we help it?" Astrid asked and he thought, that the end of her sentence was shaking a little. "You know...opening the egg for the small one?"
Valka shook her head, wrinkles of sorrow emerging on her forehead.
"Sadly we should not. You know – there are eggs that explode, when they hatch and there are eggs that disintegrate into ashes. Then there are those hatchlings, that will be only accepted among their kind, when they hatch all on their own and hatchlings, that get help from their parents. And since we don't know, what kind of dragons these belong to, we should not interfere, for it might get for the little one more difficult to find its place among the swarm... The other two – they made it on their own as well...And a human should never help! That is one of the few things I have learned early on..."
"So...we only can wait...?"
"Yeah..." Hiccup whispered, daring to lay a caring hand on Astrid's shoulder, on which – to his surprise – she laid one of her own, grasping his fingers lightly, keeping him there.
"Don't worry...the small one has come this far..." He whispered, while he felt Toothless, Stormfly and Cloudjumper appear as well, peering between the three humans, who still kneeled on the floor, grief filling them with every passing second. "And he will break through the shell as well!"
"Come on little one..." Valka said softly, pointing with her finger at Toothless and the on the ground below the egg, the dragon understanding immediately, before heating the rock with a blast. "Maybe that will to it..."
Engulfed in heat, the egg started to move again. First swaying from one side to the other, until the cracks on the egg began to grew again and-
The shell flew away in pieces like small projectiles, though being hit by them didn't hurt at all.
"Thanks Thor!" Astrid exclaimed, letting go of Hiccup's hand, once she was seeing the small dragon, that looked exactly like a replica of his siblings. Only that his eyes seemed to appear blue upon blinking.
"He made it..." Valke sighed in relief, while the older dragons cooed comfortingly and the two smaller ones climbing off of Valka's shoulders to greet their brother.
He was still blinking, curled up into a ball with his tongue every now and then showing itself, while breathing heavily.
"One of his wings is smaller than the other..." Valka said, once Hiccup has noticed it as well. "He might have a few difficulties with flying. But we will see about that, once the time comes..."
"The damage of the egg seemed to have some influence on the development of the dragon." Hiccup added, nodding slightly.
"He really is a lucky one there..." Astrid added and Hiccup saw her hands twitching, as if she wanted to reach out and take the small one on her arms herself.
"He really is..." Valka added, taking the small hatchling with a tiny smile – that even seemed to be smaller than his sibling – with a mischievous gleam in her eyes and placed it on Astrid's lap. She immediately embraced it, seemingly fearing, that she would drop him to the ground and gave Hiccup an evil eye, when chuckled at that.
"And since you named him, you can hold him first."
"Wait?! Named him?!" Astrid croaked, while Hiccup still grinned, seeing, that Astrid once again was blessed with the honor to hold a new-born in her arms. „I did not name him!"
"I think, that 'Lucky One' seems to be very fitting. Don't you think that as well, Hiccup?"
"You are right..." Hiccup said, smiling widely – and even wider once the dragon cuddled more into Astrid. "Very right..."
The two small siblings of Lucky One – which were named Enchantress and Magican by Hiccup and his mother due to the fact, that they have instantly charmed any dragon they came across - came closer towards Astrid, climbing on her arms and shoulders, to get a better look on the small dragon, little coos of comfort escaping them, while they cuddled its small muzzle and sides.
"At least the two of them seem to accept their brother." Valka said, now slowly getting up, before she looked over to Hiccup and Astrid once more. "And how about I make some breakfast?"
"Breakfast?!" Hiccup squeaked, while Astrid answered, sounding delighted: "That would be wonderful!"
Hiccup gulped and looked over to Astrid, knowing, that he somehow should tell her of the...not-existing cooking skills of his mother. After all – he didn't want to scare her of – which seemed to be quite ironical, since Astrid had stated multiple times, that she wasn't the best cook, either.
"Then let's go!" Valka exclaimed and with that vanished with the three older dragons, leaving Astrid, Hiccup and the three hatchlings alone.
"Need a hand, Dragon-Mommy?" He joked, finding this picture of Astrid with the three small dragons on her equally amusing, fascinating and beautiful at the same time.
Again she gave him an evil look, but he immediately noticed the small smile, that tucked on the corners of her lips.
"I am not gonna hit you for that, because I have the babies on my arms! But be sure to get beaten up, once we are alone!"
"I just wanted to lend you a hand..." he said, trying to sound a little hurt in a joking way, though he had to admit to himself, that he would love to spend some time with Astrid alone. Not the 'Astrid, Hiccup and Toothless' – kind of alone, but only the actual two of them.
He heard her sigh and she smiled at him.
"Fine. I may allow you to help me..." she said softly, while he laughed about that a little and he encircled his arms around her, pulling her back up to her feet. And then – they stood for some time like that, merely looking at each other, while different kinds of thoughts echoed through their heads. And above all – it felt just nice to be that close to that young woman, that had somehow captured his heart.
"Thank you..." She finally mumbled, stepping back, just before the two small dragons jumped over to Hiccup's shoulder, leaving only Lucky One in her arms. „We should follow now your mother, don't you think so? I don't like the thought, that your mother might try to tease us, again..."
He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his head, while Enchantress and Magican clawed on his shoulders for support.
"You are welcome and very right, I guess...", he mumbled, before she turned around and followed his mother. "And by the way, shouldn't I prepare something eatable?!" Hiccup wondered out loud, but sadly enough nobody answered to that, making him sigh in defeat and looking at the two dragons. "You guys would agree, if you could speak, right? You look like somebody with a functioning taste..."
But since the two dragons couldn't agree to that, he could only follow in silence.
And after all – his mother has already started to stir in a pot, that seemed to contain some sorts of fish, by the time Hiccup had reached them. Sure – Toothless and Cloudjumper sat next to his mother, eyeing her with dilated pupils, and some saliva even dropped from Toothless' tongue, while the black dragon peered inside the pot. Of course – as long there would no eel be inside of whatever Valka was cooking there, then surely he would love to eat it. But Hiccup wasn't quite sure himself, if he wanted to try it – or let Astrid try it.
But on the other hand, he didn't want to tear the spoon out of his mother's hands, since she seemed to be so happy about the three hatchlings, whose species still was very unknown to them. And he did not know, how Valka would react to this revolting act any way, or didn't want to bother Astrid by it.
Therefor he merely sat down by the fireplace and looked over to Astrid, who was standing in front of Stormfly, still with the little dragon on her arm, who still seemed to be very exhausted from the hard hatching – process. She seemed to be talking with both of them in soft voices, letting them sniff the other dragon, while alternating between them with her stroking and petting.
And Hiccup couldn't do anything but smile softly, being far to captured by the view that unfolded itself in front of him, remembering his previous thoughts of his own stupidity. After all – why in Thor's name, would Astrid ever dare to see something else in him, but his friend? He was nothing like the men she had imagined herself to be with and far from anything, that he mother wanted for her. Not...that he actually wanted Ljóda to like him, but on the other hand, would it be far easier, if she did.
He sighed a little, noticing, that his thoughts were recently far too occupied by the gorgeous young Valkyrie in front of him, which wasn't probably healthy, either. Sure – he was very glad, that she stumbled into his life by force, and he knew, that they were coming along pretty well by now and he wouldn't want to change anything.
Still...things might be just easier, if she just would...return his feelings...
But yeah – for now he was very happy with the bright smile, that she cast him in that very moment – probably having noticed the way, that he had looked at her for some time now and he couldn't hold himself back and smiled even wider at her.
"So..." Valka suddenly asked in a hushed tone, sitting down next to him with a bowl in her hands that very much smelled like that stuff she had prepared only minutes before. "...when do I get my grandchildren?"
Hiccup turned back towards his mother with wide eyes and an expression of shock on his features, while at the same time being very glad, that Astrid had turned back towards Stormfly and started to speak with her again.
"What?!" He hissed, just as Toothless pushed his head between him and Valka, devouring the contents of the bowl instantly, making Hiccup wonder, if the food she had prepared had been for the humans in this cave at all.
"Hiccup..." Valka said calmly, smiling slightly "I am your mother. And as that I can see, if my son has developed feelings for somebody. And in your case, this somebody is Astrid. And with every passing minute, I begin to understand on why that has happened."
"Oh you do?"
"You two have more in common, than I have first thought...And clearly there is something between the two of you, that one can't describe! And by the way you look at her...You know...Stoick used to look the same way at me."
That was the moment where Hiccup noticed, that his eyes had turned once again towards Astrid, hurriedly averting them once more to not provoke any suspicion.
"What way?!"
"Well...your pupils heavily dilate, which not only happens to dragons, when they look at something that they like, but also to humans. And that smile...if you really don't want her to notice anything about your feelings, then you shouldn't smile like that - like she means the world to you..."
"Then what do you suggest me to do?"
"Act on your feelings!"
"What- But...but I thought, that you don't like her and want me to have an eye on her, in case she would try to make a move on me!"
"I have never said, that I don't like her!" Valka said, sounding a little irritated, but honest at the same time "...But I still want you to look out for her – or for her mother, as a matter of fact. That is the one woman I will never trust! And for Astrid - also I can't deny the fact, that she is looking the same at you. And that is something, that makes me very happy for both of you..."
"I am just her friend..." He mumbled in defeat, though being very grateful for that.
"If you say so, but you know what people say – love is blind and-" Valka mumbled, wanting to add more, but suddenly stopped, when she could hear a few dragon screams from outside the cave, standing up immediately.
"What is that?!" Astrid asked, while Hiccup stood up, too, facing the Sanctuary with the dragons, his heart beating heavily.
"An Attack?" He mumbled towards his mother, who nodded.
"Probably Hunters outside... Some of the dragons seem to sense their presence...We need to go, before they find out, that we are inside of this mountain!"
"An Attack?!" Astrid asked, coming closer to them, followed by Stormfly. "Then we need to vanquish them!"
While Valka was already mounting Cloudjumper, Hiccup walked over to Astrid, laying one hand on her shoulder, looking her into the eyes, while he let the two small hatchlings crawl over to her and onto her back.
"Wait here..."
"What?! You can't be serious! You know, that I can fight and that I will be of big-" She stopped, seemingly suddenly noticing herself, that she was without an weapon. "If you give me just something I can help you! I promise, that I won't harm a dragon with that!"
"It is not that..." He whispered softly, trying to smile courageously at her.
"Hiccup!" Valka shouted, making it clear, that they might be running out of time.
"What then? Let me help you..."
"We will use our dragons. And I want you to be confident with the attack and defense maneuvers, before I want you to go in battle on Stormfly. It is better that way, for both of you. So just...stay here and if by any chance somebody gets inside the mountain, then defend the dragons with everything you have..."
He knew, that Astrid wanted nothing more but fight and help them. But he still felt, that this wasn't the right time. She needed more training, though she already was quite an excellent dragon rider. But he had never before trained with her an emergency like that! And he didn't want to endanger her because of that...
Hearing his mother call out for him again, he knew, that the time was running out and that he needed to hurry. And despite knowing, that it won't be a hard fight, he wanted her to be safe inside this cave. And without knowing, what he did, he leaned forward, pressing his lips on her cheek, before he mounted Toothless and followed Valka close behind.
...Leaving a very flustered and bewildered young woman behind.
A/N: Some action for the next chapters ;D And yep...we are definitely nearing the end of the story...well the last act of it, anyway. But don't worry – few more chapters to come :D And for the comments:
hiccstrid105: Well, I have seen the teaser, once you have told me ;D And I am so excited for the new trailer! *.* And yep – 'His Smile' ;D
hateme101: Thank you :D And yeah – she hadn't any chance to trust her, yet ;D
Crimson Dragon VIRUS: Oh no! And now you had to write another one – though I am certainly thankful for that! 3 And don't worry about the missing comment ;D (I am just really sad, that you had to write a new one, due to the failed internet service... :O) And yeah...they need the growing bond for the final act there ;D And I hope the wait will be worth it, for once they decide to act on their feelings :D
And yeah – I also think, that those dragons really make her believe in freedom – like real freedom. And for Valka – she trusts Hiccup. She had seen, what he was able to do for Berk and now she believes him, that Astrid has also changed :D Well...and she clearly sees that there are a few emotions between them and can't help but tease herself (I really believe in a kind of playful side from Valka there, as seen during the feeding scene with the fish in HTTYD 2). And yeah...by now Astrid has fallen for Hiccup ;D (And I am glad, that you saw the exact moment, when she realized that! ;D) Also – I am very happy about both reviews and glad, that you enjoyed this chapter :D
cosmicblader12: Yeah...thankfully Valka wasn't launching at her and trying to get rid of Astrid ;D
Mariah: Thank you :D And she will eventually prove it :D
Silvolde: Yeah, they definitely look nice like that ;D
CajunBear73: Yeah, this feldtrip definitely helps them even more ;D And it is also a nice way to get to know each other, without their daily duties ;D And it definitely helps Astrid into becoming her own person :D And nope – Ljóda definitely won't like it, that, what is forming between them ;D
S. H: Oh, I hope it will work out between you and your mom 3 But yeah – Astrid would probably faint, once she sees a dragon that huge (I wouldn't blame her ;D) And you won't need to wait for too long, until Ljóda returns ;D
Guest: Nah...Ljóda won't be too happy about that... And I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :D
Kirika: I am glad you feel that way (and I added Magican as her brother, due to the given explanation ;D) And yeah – Astrid clearly would look stunning with a baby dragon in her arms :D (Or a little Haddock of her own ;D)
aaquater: That is reasonable...Though in this story I can't quite make up my mind, If I want Eret to like Ruffnut in that way or not... Maybe I am just too focused on Astrid and Hiccup's relationship here to decide...But yeah...he clearly should make up his mind and tell Ruffnut the truth ;D And for Astrid – I think she understands now, that her past doesn't justify her previous behavior ;D And I am glad, that you can't hate Ljóda, though – sure – she is the villain of this story, but I wanted her to have some depht and I think I achieved that, since somebody likes her as well (I like her, too and it is always fun to write her ;D) And for the saddles – that sounds interesting. I was only once riding a horse in summer camp, but due to the fact, that I have many colleges, that ride horses regularly (and own them), I get the clue that there is so much more to that then just sitting on the saddle and taking care of it. And I guess, that a saddle needs special winter treatment, but I also believe – as you have said – that there might be a difference between leather trousers and a pair of leggings (which suddenly makes me wonder, how Astrid didn't get a bladder infection over all these years with her leggings so high in the air... Ehr...sorry for that ;O) And for Hiccup's blushing – I don't think, that he would be ashamed of them being a couple – it is more like that his mother figured out in a matter of seconds, what they (both) were feeling for the other. So...obviously stating the visible or like it is said ;D And yeah, I also thought, that it was quite warm inside the sanctuary and hoped, that it would work with these kind of dragons (though Asia seems to have a few cooler areas on their own ;D) Aaaand I need a picture of the Slitherwing with a Chinese mustache! XD And I am glad, that you enjoyed those two scenes there and hope, that you enjoyed this past chapter as well ;D
Vivi-ntvg: And who could resist Hiccup anyway? ;D
Dragon4ever: Thank you very much :D And yeah...they definitely take more and more steps into a relationship ;D And if the time comes, I might be interested in those baby names ;D And I so want to see Astrid as a mother (sad though, that we couldn't see her actual mother in the series or the movies D:)