The sun was setting on the horizon as dusk began to take over the island. A wave of increasingly cold wind swept through the air as the sun descended and the clouds overhead were thick and many, telling us we were in for a dark and cold night with little to no starlight. Still, riding in our dragon flight suits made the cutting wind more bearable and my body was still flowing with warmth form our time at the house. I can't help but think back to the time Hiccup and I were sleighing down a side of Berk after a particularly bad storm and right before another one when we were getting the animals accustomed to the dragons.

The avalanche, Stormfly and Toothless shielding us from the snow as it caved in on us. Hiccup and I finding our way to each other's arms in the darkness and cold; even then, I remember feeling a certain warmth. Something I couldn't or wouldn't admit to him then, something that has only grown and matured as we have. We weren't kids anymore, we were adults who had seen war and sacrifice, who have seen love and friendship. We had changed so much since then, but at the same time, hardly at all.

The very core of his being, the gentle soul who always argued for peace, the stalwart defender who never discredited his friends or allies and always stuck up for them. I can remember at least three different instances where Hiccup gave credit to the twins or Snotlout for giving him an idea that he said they came up with, without a passing thought. He never needed nor wanted the praise.

I had changed too, though stayed the same. I was still the warrior, the fighter; the one who'd leap to protect their friends and family and fight with an unwavering fury. Hiccup had changed me though, for the better, without ever trying or asking. He never asked me to change, I don't think he's even noticed how I have changed. Even when we were kids, he was who I sought after to protect; the one I never wanted to see hurt. Unless I caused it, that is. He showed me a new world, a new perspective, what love was really like. All of Snotlout's disgusting advances aside, Hiccup never once forced anything on me, never once implied nor made me feel uncomfortable. He let us develop naturally, up until the lightning strike.

I think, in that moment, he was more than worried, he was scared. Scared that he may be waiting too long, scared he'd never have the chance to tell me, on his own, how he felt. Scared that, by some act of Thor, I'd be taken away from him. I am pretty stubborn, and I've taken my share of risks, after all. I remember feeling the air around us change, even when I was blinded. I felt the warmth of his breath against the cold rainstorm that had scattered our dragons. In that moment, had Sleuther not been as ornery has it was being, he would have closed the gap completely. I'm glad we didn't have the time, because our first real kiss, one I didn't need to initiate as a simple peck on the lips, was before a gorgeous sunset after we had come through yet another challenge, together.

These memories I have are fond ones, they warm me even against the blistering cold of the elevated air. Hiccup and I had been flying together, circling the island and each other. Toothless and Stormfly flying nearly belly to belly as we spiral up before spiraling away. The rush of the wind, the feeling of the dragon's powerful wings beneath me as Stormfly carried both of us in the air effortlessly, as she flew seamlessly with Toothless. No cold would ever ice over how I felt when with Hiccup, especially like this, on the backs of our dragons, flying against the cold air together. I was wearing my helmet too, fitted with the Deathsong amber to protect the eyes; I could live up here like this.

Eventually, we leveled out and flew side by side, our dragons circling high as the sun begins to fully disappear beyond the horizon. The darkness begins to descend with the sun and soon, I can't even see outside the waters of Berk, nor into the forests. What I could see was the light filtering from the Great Hall as shadows moved back and forth past the threshold of the doors. I glance to Hiccup and point it out as he nods.

"Guess it's that time, huh?" He asks against the wind, his voice slightly muffled from his helmet.

"I could stay up here forever with you, but you wanted to make an appearance, right?" I answer teasingly as he nods.

"That I did! Besides, after a while there, I've got some better ideas for us to do alone than be chilled to the bone up here. It's going to be a cold night, even Toothless is unhappy about it." Hiccup responds as I bite my lip, smiling beneath my helmet. Of course, he couldn't see it, but that didn't matter.

"I'd love to hear those ideas later. Come on." I respond and dive towards the Great Hall with Toothless close behind me. We land on the steps to the great hall and are immediately greeted by several passerby on their way up, and one on their way down, Sven.

"Oh, hi! Chief! There be singing, dancin' nd music in the Hall tonight, you should go in; ye may like what they be singing about." Sven says as he rushes down.

"Hey, Sven, where are you going?" Hiccup calls back as Sven shrugs with an awkward smile.

"I need to put the lil' ones in the barn n grab me mug! I'll be back." Sven answers and leaves, talking about his sheep, of course.

"I hope he doesn't bring a sheep to dance with." Hiccup mutters as I laugh and shake my head.

"He probably will." I answer with another light chuckle as I take Hiccup's hand and we walk up together, following Magnus and Agnar who were already on their way up. The sound of music is echoing this close and it was the unmistakable sound of Gobber and his panpipes. As we get closer, we can see that easily half the town is inside the Great Hall, with most of the riders on one side and surrounded by a great many other Vikings. As we get closer, we can see that they were playing Maces and Talons, and it was currently Snotlout versus Fishlegs.

"OI! The Chief O'Berk!" Gobber calls out from his place near the center of the hall before resuming his panpiping. There was a roaring cheer from many who were seated in their varying groups before they went back to their conversations and food or drink. We heard Fishleg's call to us.

"Hiccup! Astrid! Over Here!" Fishlegs' voice barely carried over the sounds of the other conversations or panpiping, but we made our way over and the riders made room for us to get to the front.

"How goes the game, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asks as he seems giddy.

"Oh, so well. Well, not for Snotlout. He has to beat me or his dad threatened to disown him and replace him in our team so he'd have to answer to Gustov." Fishlegs jests as Snotlout groans.

"Shut it, Fishface. Besides, my dad wouldn't do that. He was trying to motivate me and scare you. Plus, my dad can't kick me off the team…" Snotlout adds, glancing to Hiccup and me with a briefly worried look. "Can he?" He asks cautiously as we both laugh.

"Nope, that pleasure is mine." Hiccup retorts as Snotlout laughs in agreement then has a confused look on his face as he realizes what Hiccup actually said. "Or Astrid's, she technically could if she wanted." Hiccup adds, smiling and glancing towards me as I grin, narrowing my eyes at Snotlout.

"Astrid. You know I'm sorry for being a muttonhead right, and that you need me on the team, right?" Snotlout asks as I shrug with a smile.

"Oh, I don't know. Do we, I mean, if you can't win at Maces and Talons…" I tease, lingering the words as he groans.

"Alright! That's It! It's on, Fishface. I'm taking you down." Snotlout exclaims as we all laugh, Spitelout standing up besides him and moving to us with a cheeky grin.

"Oh, and uh, I wasn't joking." Spitelout says with a shrug, passing us all as Snotlout glances at him. "Alright, time for more mead. I expect to come back to a victory, son!" Spitelout says as he heads to the mead crate, prompting more laughter as Snotlout makes his next move. Much to Fishlegs chagrin, he actually turns the tables on him, and it is now a real battle of wits. Hiccup and I stand and watch, and I slowly find myself leaning against his side and taking his arm as we do, not caring one way or another.


The night continued on with a lot of fun, the match between Snotlout and Fishlegs had grown ever bolder as now there were wagers being passed around the Riders considering that Fishlegs victory was no longer a certainty. The twins, in specific, were manipulative masters at this and circling the players like hawks waiting to pick them apart.

"You know, I say we make this game even better. Whoever loses gets bumped from the Riders and Gustov joins us." Tuffnut adds as Ruffnut shakes her head.

"Gotta disagree with you, brocano. Part of the punishment is Gustov being in charge of them. He's gotta stay on the other team. How about, instead, the loser has to clean Gustov's dragon pen for a month." Ruffnut adds.

"A year, sisternut. Gotta make it truly a torment. Yo, G. Any thoughts?" Tuffnut says, turning to Gustov who shrugs with a grin.

"Nah, all good here, Tuffy. Either way it's a win-win for the ol' Gusterama." Gustov says as I hear Astrid groan while she leans against my shoulder.

"I swear, these nicknames were never cool." She sighs as I chuckle, my arm tightening around her shoulder.

"They're just having fun." I add softly as I hear Tuffnut interject.

"Not true, O' Chiefing One. This is a matter of war now, Who will win and retain the right to ride with the Chief of Berk. Surely, you only want the best riding by your side." Tuffnut adds.

"Uh, then wouldn't we boot you two?" Astrid retorts as I stifle a laugh and Tuffnut offers an exasperated groan as Ruffnut steps forward.

"Uh, one might think to do that, A. But fortunately, neither of the Nuts are on the chopping block tonight. It is between the Fish and the Snot." Ruffnut adds

"The Legs and the Lout." Tuffnut continues.

"The Brains and the Brawn." Ruffnut continues.

"The Serene and the Disturbed." Tuffnut continues.

"The—" Ruffnut tries to continue before Astrid cuts her off.

"Okay! We got it!" Astrid exclaims, her free hand palming her forehead as I can't help but laugh.

"Okay, okay. Then, Oh Chief of the Hooligan Tribe, what punishment must befall the loser of this most epic battle of Maces and Talons!?" Tuffnut asks in an expanding voice as I shrug.

"The loser takes night patrol." I add and hear almost all of them utter a shocked gasp.

"Woah, Chief Hiccup, coming in for the big smack down. Alright, you heard him. Get to losing, one of you. I need to know who we are tormenting during their night shift." Tuffnut exclaims, turning around as we continue watching the game. I can hear him and Ruffnut sinisterly laugh as they continue playing. I shake my head with a light smile and Astrid just sighs, leaning into me and watching.

After several more rounds and cries of defeat, Astrid and I had moved away from the game to find a seat and just people watch our own. We found Eret and Valka sitting near Gobber, my mother had a splint on her the whole time from Gothi, though Eret seemed fine. I'm glad to see my mother moving, and glad to have them both back safe and sound. I would probably handle the invitations myself, going forward. Not because I didn't trust either of them, but because I didn't want to see anyone else hurt. We ended up sitting with them and talking about their voyage, them getting blown off course, surviving in the cave without their dragons while injured. It made me trust Eret more, to know he defended both the dragons and my mother against his former fellows.

"So, with that said, I think I'll handle the invitations. Not that I doubt you two, but with you on the mend, it still needs to be done. I'll leave Astrid in charge of the Riders—" I begin before I feel her hand squeeze mine as she simply shakes her head.

"No way, Hiccup. Where you go, I go. Fishlegs can lead the riders efficiently, and Gobber has proven himself to be able to handle the daily routine of the town." Astrid challenges and I sigh, shaking my head and glancing to my mom.

"I'm not going to win this one, am I?" I ask sheepishly and my mom just shakes her head with a soft smile.

"Stoick never did with me. And Astrid here is stronger than I am, you'd be wise to heed her words." My mother teases knowingly and I just sigh and smile, glancing to Astird.

"Yeah, Chief. Heed your general's words." Astrid teases, softly knocking shoulders with me as I nod and shrug.

"More than my general, but yes. We'll set out the day after tomorrow, hopefully the ice plates melt by then." I state, smiling towards Astrid as her face softens and she nods, smiling in return.

We then sit back and enjoy Gobber's growing proficiency with music as well as a couple other people with a stringed Lyre and a string Rebec took to the stage with him. Not really a stage perse, just a cleared off table. They took turns and eventually combined their music with the beats of the Viking or Hooligan beats. I hadn't noticed until just then, but there were several vikings dancing on the floor to the music.

"So, about those ideas?" Astrid whispers in my ear as I smile knowingly and turn to look at her, pressing my forehead to hers.

"To start, how about a dance?" I ask as she blushes and shakes her head.

"I-I can't dance, you know that." She mutters and I shake my head.

"Nonsense. You move so fluidly in battle, and dancing is no different. We can just pretend we're sparring without weapons or throwing each other. I know you can dance with me." I answer confidently as she closes her eyes. I see her cheeks flush before she opens her eyes again and smiles, leaning in and pecking me on the lips briefly before nodding.

"Fine, lead the way, my love." She answers in a near teasing tone that had a hint of seriousness to it as I smile. Taking her hand, I nod to my mother and Eret as I glance to Gobber who makes eye contact with me as we walk past him. I nod to the dance floor and then to Astrid and I see his smile widen as he nods and clears his throat.

As we find our way to the area where others were dancing, I take Astrid's hands in mine as the new beat starts kicking into play. Gobber knew we were going to dance, and specifically changed the beat to match that of the song my father and mother shared together. I think Astrid caught on immediately as our eyes locked and a very loving smile creased her lips as she nodded slightly, and our feet began moving.

We had started out together at first, hands in hands until we parted briefly. She had struck with her hand, allowing me to take it in mine as I spun her around and released her. Taking my own hand and striking towards her, she seemed to move like a battle-hardened goddess beneath my strike, flowing behind me and wrapping her arms around my waist as I spun around and mine found their way around her shoulders. Staying there for a moment, I slinked my hand down as she brought hers up and they met, allowing me to wrap around her and spin her out of my hold to the full extension of our arms until I tugged her back and brought her back to me. My arms now wrapping around her chest as she was pressing her back to my chest. I felt her heartbeat increasing as she sighed lightly as the beat continued.

We were lost in each other's movements at that moment, moving and swaying together, occupying our own little corner of the area that was an impromptu dance floor. The beat finally ended as I brought her back to my arms and felt hers wrap around me as she rested her head to my chest and we both closed our eyes, breathing heavily from our movements. There was a sudden silence I noticed as the music faded followed by an unexpected cheer that literally did make me jump.

"Encore! Encore!" The voices of both Ruffnut and Tuffnut echoed over the hall as we actually opened our eyes and looked around, now noticing that almost everyone had formed a circle around our dancing area. I felt my face flush as I glanced around, my arms still around Astrid as they continue to clap. We certainly were a known couple, but we hardly did much in the way of public displays of affection and this was certainly a public display.

"Uh, Astrid?" I mutter softly as she shakes her head against my chest and tightens her grip around me.

"Ignore them; this is just us. Shall we?" She asks softly, looking up to me with a smile and I nod. I glance to Gobber and give him a nod to begin again and he does a haphazard salute as he clears his throat again. I lean down and kiss Astrid on the lips before the music starts. We'd kissed in public before, though it was rare, I felt no shame in doing it now; and neither did anyone else as they continued their cheer. Many in the village wanted us to wed already and were more annoyed that we weren't wed yet than anything else.

Still, when the music began again, we forgot they were there and lost ourselves in each other again as we danced. This time to a different beat but not one I recognized immediately, not that it mattered. The beat was little more than something to move too as all that really mattered in this moment was the look in Astrid's eyes as we moved together. We stayed in the Great Hall in such a way for a couple more hours until our bodies were sweaty and breathless, and we finally made our way home. I could see the shadow of a Monstrous Nightmare circling overhead as we made our way back to the house, but it was fleeting as we soon found ourselves at home and locked together again for another impassioned night