A/N: Here we go, a short last chapter... could have made three out of it... have fun! :)

And to Guest: Thanks for that advice! I actually altered a few phrased within this chapter after your review. I hardly notice things like that myself, as English it not my native language... ^^"

Two years later

Hiccup

Hiccup bent over and leaned down a bit to scratch his leg. It still itched occasionally, although the synchronization process was practically finished. It had taken a bit longer this time but he knew all too well why that was and couldn't hide his grin. Having his girlfriend fuss about him had been just too much fun to hurry through the rehab so he'd deliberately taken it slowly. He knew that she knew about this, though, and yet she'd never complained. But then, he tried very hard to make it up to her every day anew.

With a sigh, he got upright again and leaned against the front of his Porsche. It wasn't time yet he knew that but his eyes searched the light blue sky above him nonetheless. He'd parked the car at the side of a big field with no crops but only grass on it. There were markers all over the field and to the side stood a small bungalow. He knew there were people in there, probably watching him curiously, but he didn't care, really. Not anymore.

Ever since he'd been announced official heir to Dragonite Engineering a year ago he'd gotten a whole lot more of attention. It almost felt like he'd become some kind of celebrity or even a prince or something like that. Sure, Dragonite Engineering was by far the biggest company in a wide reach, but still… It was weird nonetheless to be recognized by strangers on the street, though by now it didn't make him as uncomfortable anymore. And he had to admit, knowing these people in that bungalow were there with their monitoring equipment and the first aid station was reassuring.

He glanced again at his watch, impatiently. Their timetable for this day was tight and he hoped, this point on their list wouldn't delay them too much. Heather and Fishlegs would never forgive them... But it was still early and he sighed again, crossed his arms in front of his chest and kept waiting.

It had taken a long time to reach this point. He was glad they'd done so eventually despite all the misunderstandings in the beginning. He chuckled to himself as the memories boiled up once again in the back of his mind. They were fond memories and he treasured them, just like any other memory that was linked to her. And he liked reliving them.

It had been a few weeks after he'd been attacked when he first noticed her reluctance on this topic. He was through adjusting the plans for his new leg and in the absence of anything else to do he'd started to work on his other projects again, although everyone assured him that was not necessary. This new working tablet really was incredible, Fishlegs had outdone himself with that one. Altering plans and blueprints worked intuitively, almost like that thing new what he wanted it to do and working in general had become a hel lot of fun. But he knew that was only true for himself.

For Astrid, this probably was a harder time. After one week he'd convinced her to return to her apartment for the nights, although he'd loved to have her there by his side. But she, too, needed rest. And she spent almost all her time during the days with him anyway. She'd insisted that, as his assistant, she had to help him in any possible way. And since she had no appointments to organize or other secretary-related work to do as long as he wasn't in their office she'd settled to run errands between him and the lair and in general watch over him as she deemed appropriate. He had been worried about how this might affect her job situation and had been quite surprised when he'd learned that his mother had agreed to this arrangement. Although, by know, he knew why, of course… Astrid spend hours then, sitting by his side and watching him work, trying to understand what he did to get a feeling for the individual projects. It was, after all, part of her job to know them well enough to make suggestions for improvement. She was eager to engage in this work, enthusiastic even, and he had to admit he liked it quite a lot to work with her like this, even though some of her suggestions were so out of the ordinary that he couldn't help himself but laugh cordially. But then, that was the point of those, or so he guessed.

The only project she didn't want to work on was the Dragonfly project. That had surprised him, considering she'd always dreamed of wingsuit flying but he couldn't very well force it upon her if she refused it so vigorously. This had been a blow however as this still was his favorite project. Many people had called him crazy because of this, but… well, he had experienced how it was to soar through the sky, free and without restraints like the dragons he so admired. His accident had been just that, an accident. It had nothing to do with the glorious memory of being free. But Astrid was so reluctant to work on this. And after he'd told her what had happened to him he couldn't blame her, really. Of course, she'd known before how dangerous wingsuit flying was, she had after all her own experiences with all kinds of dangerous sports. But knowing about the danger and knowing someone who actually had experienced it first hand seemed to make a great difference to her. So he didn't push that topic, didn't force it upon her as long as she was this reluctant about it. She even suggested to give this project over to someone else but he couldn't bring himself to do that. This was his project! The one he'd inherited after his accident and had brought to Dragonite Engineering in the first place, the one he renamed himself, making it all the more personal. And the one his mother rather indulged than supported, really… So he'd laid it aside, hoping she would come around enough that someday they could work on this together.

It was months later though before he began to understand. It was the day of his releases from the hospital. Astrid picked him up of course and they drove home to her apartment as his own was still not furnished and arranged after all this time. He noticed the change in her living room instantly as he'd come to love the oversized painting of the woman in her wingsuit. Instead, there was now a poster from Lord of the Rings, depicting the Eagles of Manwë flying over the sheer cliffsides of mountains and over white clouds that almost looked like the sea. How odd for her to replace the dreaded painting with this picture! She'd never been that huge a fan of Lord of the Rings, not like he was. And if she suddenly was afraid of soaring through the sky like that, then why would she choose this of all images instead…

He hadn't gotten the chance to inquire after that though as there were other more pressing activities to engage in than mere talking. In fact, he'd effectively forgotten that topic until he watched her during one of her training sessions a few days later. Watching her move, turn, and stretch, covered in sweat, had become one of his favorite free time activities and since the sight was rather distracting he hadn't noticed the painting leaning against the wall the first few times he'd done so. But after he did, he took his crutch and hobbled over to take a look.

"Args, no!" she tried to keep him away from it but it was too late. It really was, as expected, the wingsuit painting and he turned toward her, puzzled as to why she'd kept it if this bothered her so much. She looked down guiltily and bit her lip. "I'm sorry!" she said, baffling him even more. "I should have gotten rid of it long ago, but…" she trailed off, obviously uncomfortable, and he saw how her gaze lingered longingly on the painting behind him. He leaned it back against the wall carefully and hobbled toward her, searching her eyes for a confirmation of his presumptions.

"You still want to do this, right?" he asked, almost whispering, waving a hand toward the picture. She pressed her lips together and shook her head, but he saw the longing in her eyes as her gaze wandered toward the painting again. He began to laugh, as realization dawned on him and drew her into his arms, covered in sweat as she was, and kissed her passionately.

It had taken him some time to convince her then, that he did not mind working on the Dragonfly project, that the panic attack he'd gotten that day in their office hadn't been related to it at all, but rather to the mere thought of her being in danger, of losing her again. It had been his old fear of being all alone that had caused that panic attack and not the wingsuit. Not at all… Admittedly, he hadn't liked the idea of her testing the wingsuit for him, hadn't liked the idea of anyone else doing it, in fact. After all, he knew of the danger. But he hadn't liked the idea of her doing anything dangerous and that was one argument lost to be sure. And this attack had proven, one could be in danger even while doing the simplest things as well. No, he wouldn't be able to keep her away from all danger, he'd accepted that by now. All he could do was minimize the danger for her as much as possible by building the safest equipment achievable for her.

After that had been settled though there was no holding back. They'd spend almost all their time working on this particular project, whether it had been in their office or at home as well, for after a few months later, he'd officially moved in with her. And now it was time for the final test. Not the first one as they'd tested it multiple times already on a smaller scale but the first real one.

Hiccup felt his heartbeat quicken. She would be sitting in the helicopter by now, high up in the air already. The technicians over in the bungalow were probably sending the coordinates for the optimal starting position to the pilot right now, depending on the wind's direction and speed. It felt wrong somehow to not do this himself, to trust anyone else with anything related to this… But he knew the people working over there knew their job. So he simply had to trust them…

He had to trust them and the pilot and Astrid herself that this would not turn into a disaster after all. He'd accepted the fact that she would perform this test the moment he'd kissed her in her training room and yet, with everything that had happened in his past, he couldn't help but be anxious. He took a deep breath to further calm himself. Everything would work out as planned, he had to believe in that! He glanced at his watch again and searched the sky once more. It was almost time…

Of course, if this test should delay them after all, they could always cancel their lunch appointment. If it was up to him he would do so gladly anyway. But Valka wouldn't be all to happy about that... Ugh, even after all these months, that name sounded strange in his own ears. Or rather… thoughts…

This had been Astrid's suggestion and her logic had gotten to them both in the end. Hiccup had never felt much love for his mother which had made dealing with the real person so much harder. They had no real mother-son-relationship and never would have. Using these forms of address regardlessly had only served to remind them every day anew of what they would never have. So they were just Valka and Hiccup now to each other, not quite family but surely more than just employer and employee. That didn't mean it was exactly easy now to deal with her. But it was easier nonetheless. They didn't meet for lunch every day anymore as well and the fact that Astrid was with him most of the times they met helped a lot, too. She served as a kind of buffer, able to chat amiably about non-offensive topics like their work or other easy topics as well. At first, he'd had a guilty conscience because of this as it seemed unfair for him to bring his girlfriend as support while Valka came alone but he soon learned not to bother himself over this too much. In fact, there had been times he'd actually wished to have come alone when the two women had joined their forces to convince him of one decision or other. As much as it baffled him, the two of them had a lot in common. Especially when it came to making his life harder.

He smiled to himself at this thought. If he was honest with himself it did him good to know that Valka cared for him after all. He'd never forgotten what he'd overheard her saying in the hospital that day and although she still hadn't told him any of this in person, Astrid had confirmed that it really had not been a dream. That didn't wipe away all these years during which he'd been convinced to be unwanted and the pain that thought had brought with it but it made dealing with her now easier.

His phone beeped in his pocket, signaling that Astrid would jump out of that helicopter in five minutes. He exhaled deeply and bit his lip. He prayed to all the Gods in Asgard that nothing would go wrong. He had plans for this day, after all… His left hand fumbled for the small box in his pocket again, making sure it was still there. He drew it out once more to distract himself and took a look at its content. There it was, the golden band with this strange stone set on its surface. It was light blue with a touch of turquoise, marbles with yellow streaks in a strange, spherical pattern and carved into the shape of an oval with slightly pointy ends. A scale for his beloved dragon. The colors were the same as her hair and her eyes and he really hoped she would like it as it surely was not exactly what one would expect. Not the platinum band with a pretty diamond… With shaking hands he closed the box again and tucked in away carefully back into his pocket.

His phone beeped again, two minutes left. Of course, this day probably was not the best day for his plan to be executed. It was, after all, not their day of honor. But today was the right day nonetheless. Exactly two years ago he'd seen her on the bus again and this day had changed everything. And then, he didn't plan to make a big announcement today. The yellow press would have to wait a few more days for this headline, although by now they'd probably became bored by them anyway. His relationship with Astrid was no secret, after all.

The third beep, thirty seconds left. He locked his eyes to the sky and now could see the helicopter as well as it maneuvered into position in the distance. A part of him wanted to be up there as well, wanted to jump and fly again, feel this intoxicating freedom once more. But he knew that was not possible. He had accepted this long ago, after all, knowing not matter how good an artificial leg he'd have it would never be as good as a real one, would never be able to do these delicate navigational movements necessary to fly with a wingsuit. He had to be content with having made it possible for her to experience this freedom as well.

And then he saw her.

She was nothing but a small dark figure against the blue sky and yet he felt his connection to her, even over this distance. His heart raced as he watched her gliding through the winds and from down here it looked almost slow the way she made her way to the landing field in front of him. But he knew better… His breathing quickened as well as he watched her, eyes wide. He was glad other people were making notes of this flight as he would not have been able to do so himself. She was close enough now that he could make out her yellow helmet and imagined her eyes blazing beneath it as the memories of his own flight resurfaced once again. At least in his mind, he was flying alongside with her right now.

And then she opened her parachute, just like she was supposed to, not too late as she'd promised him. He watched her floating downward gracefully and already heard her cries of joy, understanding them all too well. She landed in an almost leisurely walk over the grass, quickly stripping out of the gear that held the strings of the parachute, knowing others would collect it for her. He walked toward her at a slow pace, giving her time but apparently he'd underestimated her stripping skills. A mischievous grin crept over his face at this thought but disappeared momentarily when he noticed her running toward him.

She'd thrown off her helmet and her eyes were blazing just like he'd imagined only moments before. She jumped at him, tackling him over into the soft grass and crushed her lips against his. Chuckling, he placed his hands on her hips to steady her, the wingsuit she still wore preventing him from taking her in his arms completely. All too soon, she retreated from their kiss, though, still panting from her adrenaline rush, and buried her face in his neck.

"Thank you!" she wheezed in between two gasps and he leaned over to press his lips into her hair. He took a deep breath, inhaling her scent mixed with the scent of the wind, savoring this moment.

"For you, Milady" he whispered. "Anything!"

They were running out of time, after all! They had made in in time to meet Valka for lunch but the more than thorough description of this test flight had taken its time. Valka had asked uncountable questions and Astrid had been eager to answer them as detailed as possible. Hiccup himself had been out of this conversation. He had yet to look up all the notes others had made for him and wasn't able to answer any of the technical questions she was interested in.

It had been, however, a wonderful feeling to see Astrid excited like this. The adrenaline rush still seemed to take effect, painting her cheeks with a beautiful rosy tint and her eyes were still sparkling, or well, even more than usual. Hiccup was content to just look at her while the two women talked animatedly.

It had been the beeping of his phone then, that reminded them of their other appointment today. With a start, Astrid first stared at him, her watch and at him again and she jumped out from her seat, almost knocking the table over with the movement. "Ohmygodsohmygodsohmygods!" she squealed and hastily scrambled for her port money within the black hole she called a purse. It was her turn to take the bill, after all.

Valka chuckled at the sight and waved her off. "Just go, I'll take care of this." She said with an amused smile. Astrid gave her a thankful look, took Hiccup's arm and practically dragged him out of the restaurant and toward his car.

"Oh, we'll be too late, Gods dammit! Heather will kill me!" she whined. "Back to the apartment, changing, freshen up… we can't make it in time, can we?" she stared at him pleadingly, obviously expecting him to work some kind of magic. But she was right, there was no way they would make it in time this way. Hiccup chuckled.

"Your dress is in the trunk, along with your make-up and my tux" He had, after all, expected their timetable for this day to be tight… "We'll stop somewhere remote and can change on the backseats. We'll make it in time." She stared at him, dumbfounded, as he started the engine, a sly smile on his lips. Sometimes baffling her was a hel lot of fun.

They stopped amidst a small forest on a side road, hidden effectively from view by a few trees. Hiccup felt safe to change into his tux just there and left the back seats for Astrid and her fancy dress. Heather really would kill them both in case they got any dirt on that one… When he was ready to go he sat down on the driver's seat again and pulled out his tablet. He could hear Astrid curse behind him as she tried to change within the narrow space and had to distract himself or he'd join her back there. Then, they really would be too late…

He opened the Dragonfly file and started to flip through the notes. There wasn't much of interest, though, everything had worked out as planned. "There," Astrid reached over his shoulder to indicate a point at the side of the drawing on the display. "The fabric is slightly too lose between the right arm and leg." She indicated a second point, leaning over him a little more and he noticed she still wasn't wearing her dress. "And a little too tight between the legs." Yeah, well, I know that feeling… he thought to himself as he added her notes to the sketch. Aloud he said. "Astrid, get dressed! We have things to do today, remember? Walking down the aisle, standing in front of the altar, you know, stuff like that…"

At that, she giggled but did as he told her. A few minutes later she climbed onto the passenger seat, decently dressed, or rather as decently as was possible in this sorry excuse of a bridesmaid dress. She folded down the sun visor to apply new makeup and groaned. "You haven't thought of bringing a hairbrush, too, don't you?" she asked hopelessly. He blinked. And grimaced.

"No…" he admitted sheepishly and turned toward her. "But, you know, nobody will look too closely at you. I mean, everyone will look at Heather, right? No need to panic."

Slowly, Astrid turned toward him, eyebrows raised as high as possible. "Is that so?" she asked, her voice dangerously calm.

Hiccup blushed. "I-I mean… well... I will look at you, of course… but… you know… I've seen your hair in a much worse state before, so…" he trailed off as she began to laugh and smiled at her fondly.

"Let's get going then." She said when she was satisfied with her makeup. "You have the rings?"

"Yep!" Hiccup confirmed and while he started the engine to drive them to their best friends' wedding he added mentally. All three of them.

THE END

So, that was that... I hope you liked this last chapter.

I want to thank you all who accompanied and supported me on this absolutely crazy journey. I've never before written this much in such a short amount of time and to be honest it is also kind of the first story I finished so far. It took me exactly three weeks and those were some of the craziest weeks of my life. Thanks for all your wonderful comments, they mean a lot to me!

I want to especially thank harrypanther, for your story 'The Guy in the Diner' brought me to Modern-Hiccstrid-content in the first place. So, without your story, I never would have thought of writing this one. And to have you reading and supporting this story right from the beginning had been a great motivation. So thanks a lot therefore again!

Another special thanks goes to oabarria. Believe it or not but your comments saved this story more than once ;) So thank you, too, again for your support!

And to answer this question that came up twice by now: I'm not aversed to write a sequel to this and might do so, as soon as I have a good idea. But for now, they have their happy ending and endured quite enough drama for my taste. And the same goes for another storyline similar to this. As soon as I have a good idea, I'll be working on it to be sure. The thing is however that I solely run on motivation. Request normally don't work for me, I have to catch fire myself so to speak.

Edit: And here I am, not 24 hours after uploading the epilogue, and already have a faint idea for a sequel... Chances are good ;)

Edit 2: So, the sequel has started... it's called 'The Aftermath of being stupid', hope you'll like it as well ;)

For now, I'd like to return to my Diary-story, make a few edits, finish the two Hiccstrid-videos I have in mind and get a good night's sleep. Not exactly in that order... ;)

And even though the story isn't new, I still read and appreciate every comment! ;)