This story is an extended scene from Entry 91 of the Writings of HHH III. It's loosely inspired by To Be Strong by user TurnUps, but I tried to inject a lot more humor amidst the angst. Hope you all enjoy the early Hiccstrid awkwardness :3

It was late in the morning, but you wouldn't guess that from the scene inside my house. The building was dark, with just a quiet fire in the hearth. Dad was out for the day, leaving me alone until he came back; he doesn't like leaving me, since I've only been awake for five days, but he knows he can't watch over me all the time. Besides, I've made it clear I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.

I was sitting at the dining table, drawing a sleeping Toothless, when a knock came on the door. I didn't want to get up to answer it, because I'd been relying pretty heavily on Toothless to walk anywhere, so I yelled "Come in!". I assumed it to be Gobber at the door; he'd visited every day since I woke up. But instead, Astrid's voice yelled back "I think it's locked!"

My eyes widened upon realizing who was here, and I looked over at the door, seeing that the board was in fact locked in place. But, still not wanting to wake Toothless up, I replied "Just kick it in!"

"You know your dad would just LOVE that, Hiccup," Astrid said sarcastically.

"Fine," I conceded. "One second." I tapped Toothless on the head, getting him up. "Go push the lock up, will you, Bud?" The dragon crooned contentedly, which made me feel better about waking him up, and pushed the board locking the door with his nose.

"Took you long enough," she said, punching me in the arm. "I thought you'd be eager to see me."

"Yes, always brightening my day with violence," I replied, rubbing my arm.

"What are you working on?"

"Just a sketch of Toothless," I said, shutting my sketchbook before turning my attention to her. "Did you need something?"

"Just wondering when you're going to come hang out with me and Stormfly, that's all. You said you would."

That's right; she had asked me to come spend time with her and her new Nadder, after we had that race the day I woke up. But by the time the flight was over, I really didn't want to do anything else, and the promise slipped my mind. "Sorry, I forgot about that."

"Then come on. I've been wanting to go flying with you!" She grabbed my hand, pulling me off the chair. The moment she did, I lost my balance and if it weren't for Toothless, I'd have been on the ground. "Hiccup? Are you alright?" She reached out a hand, and I got back to a standing position, leaning against Toothless' wing.

"Perfect," I replied, slightly annoyed. "Aside from the fact that I don't know how to walk anymore."

"I thought you were doing better." She gave me an expression I couldn't quite read. "Sorry?"

"It's not your fault," I said, realizing my annoyance wasn't quite warranted. I wasn't annoyed at her, mostly just myself. "I'm just frustrated, is all. It's been more difficult than I want to admit to figure out how to deal with this." What was I doing? Talking so openly about feelings I didn't even know I was having? What about Astrid made me spout words without even thinking?

"Aren't you working on it?"

"I was… but I guess… I kinda gave up. Toothless is pretty much just a crutch now…"

"Well, then… that's what we'll do!" Astrid put on a look of determination. "I'll help you figure out how to walk again."

"What? Astrid, you really don't have to-"

She silenced me with another punch. "Stop it, Hiccup! You're trying to avoid it, and I'm not going to let you any longer!"

"Wh-what, who said I was- I never said I-"

She hit me yet again. "No excuses! Just try it!" Knowing there was no winning this argument, I just nodded. "Now, let go of Toothless."

"Astrid-"

"Let go!" I did, taking a moment to figure out how to distribute my weight. "You're leaning too much on your right leg. Try standing evenly."

"Why is this so important to you all of the sudden?" I asked, trying to even out my balance.

"It's not. I just want you to be good enough to fly with me and Stormfly," she said, maybe a bit too quickly. "Now step toward me." I glared at her, making my displeasure known before trying to step forward. The moment my weight hit the prosthetic, I felt my knees buckle, and Toothless threw his head forward to catch me yet again. "You're relying too much on Toothless," Astrid said.

"It's not like I told him to catch me!"

"You're right, he cares too much… Toothless!" The dragon turned his attention to Astrid. "Go outside for a while." Toothless growled in response, but Astrid didn't give in, holding open the door. "I promise Hiccup will be fine. He just needs to do this without you. Now go. Please." Toothless gave Astrid one more look before begrudgingly making his way out the door.

"You know you didn't have to make him leave," I said.

"Yes I did. Now try again."

"Astrid, I don't understand why you-"

"Do it, Hiccup!" I did, only for the same thing to happen as before. "You're not even trying!"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure I am," I replied. "This isn't easy, Astrid."

"I never said I thought it was. But I really don't think you're giving it your all, Hiccup. I went through Dragon Training with you, you know. I think I can tell when you're actually trying."

I scowled at her. "Fine. Let's say I'm not really trying. How do you propose I get over it?"

"Firstly, you're letting everything get to your head." Astrid grabbed my hand, pulling me back up. "Vikings don't think, they do. But you overthink everything, and it's just hurting you."

"How would you know I overthink things? We've been friends for like a week. Well… from what I remember at least."

"Hiccup, is that really even a question? I don't need to know you to know you're a thinker. You don't just make something like Toothless' saddle; you had to spend some time on that."

"Fair enough. So, what's your idea, then?"

"I need you to stop thinking about every step you take. Did you think about it before?"

"No… but it's different now."

"Maybe, but once you get past that, it doesn't have to be. A lot of people on Berk have lost legs, but they don't think about walking, do they?"

"I guess not…" I relented.

"You just need to get to that point, too. Now, come on, try again. And don't think about it." Astrid let go of my hand.

I took a deep breath, trying to clear my mind. Walking is just something people do, right? No thought goes into it. I took another step forward, and this time, stayed upright.

"Yes! Now do it again!" Astrid said. I did, losing my balance for a moment before regaining it. "Okay, that's fine. Just keep working on it. And stop looking down!"

"I don't know how to move my leg, Astrid! I'm just trying to watch it."

"Let me do that. You look straight ahead."

I crossed my arms, refusing to move any further until she stopped being so confusing. "Tell me the truth. Why are you doing this?"

"Because, Hiccup!"

"Now you're the one avoiding things. Tell me!"

"Because you're moping around, and I'm sick of it."

"Oh, really? You're sick of it? That's not an answer."

"Because I care about you, Hiccup!" Astrid yelled, turning away from me.

My expression softened. That definitely wasn't what I expected to hear. "You… do?"

"Yes. Believe me, I didn't want to. But for some reason, ever since you took me on that stupid flight with Toothless, I've felt… different. I thought you died in that explosion, and that was the first time in my life I've ever been so scared, Hiccup. And… and I don't know why, but I care about you." She finally turned back, her face so torn between hurt and anger it confused me even more. "So please, just… shut up and let me help you."

Unsure how to respond to what she'd just spilled, I simply nodded.

"Okay… try again." I did. "I think I see what you're doing. You're trying too hard to match the movement of your right leg. You have to change how you're using the left, if you want to even the gait."

"I thought you just said not to think about it."

"Stop being smart with me. But just try this: don't step so far out next time. The new leg doesn't have a foot like your real leg, so you don't have to move like it does."

"It doesn't have an ankle either, and that's what's really confusing," I added.

"Right. So your movement needs to come from the knee. Try it again."

"Am I allowed to watch?"

"Fine. Just do it."

I took another step forward, only to stumble once again. "Augh! What am I doing wrong?" I yelled, kicking a bucket laying by the door in frustration.

"What was that?" Astrid interrupted.

"What was what?"

"What you just did."

"What did I do?"

"You kicked the bucket."

"Despite how it appears, I'm actually not dead yet, Astrid."

"Very funny, Hiccup," Astrid deadpanned. "I mean you literally kicked that bucket. With your real foot. And you didn't fall."

I followed Astrid's finger, seeing the bucket in question. "Huh. I guess I did."

"See? You can do this, Hiccup. Have a little faith in yourself."

"I just don't understand it, Astrid. I don't get what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong." I settled on the floor, laying my head in one hand and glaring at my leg. "Every time I think I've cracked the code to walk again, I lose it the next time I try." I sat back, stretching my legs out in front of me. I frowned, bending my left knee a couple times. I hated the static way the prosthetic followed my movement; it felt so limited. Probably because it was. "I don't know. I just… thought this would be easier. Toothless adapted with his tail so quickly, I feel like I shouldn't be having so much trouble."

"Toothless is a dragon."

"I know Toothless is a dragon. But he had to learn how to fly differently, didn't he?"

"From what I've seen, he doesn't really fly differently. He just relies on you to do the part he can't." Astrid's eyes widened. "Wait. Hiccup, that's it!"

"What?"

"It is like Toothless!" Astrid grabbed my hand again, pulling me up. "You don't need to think differently. You just need to learn to rely on your prosthetic to do what you can't. You don't trust it, do you?"

"Well, it would be a little nerve wracking to walk and have the last thing you can feel be a little below the knee, would it not?"

"Fair enough," Astrid said. "But think about Toothless. Do you think he trusted you right away to keep him flying?"

"I know he didn't. I don't think he truly did until I stopped us from dying in a three thousand foot fall."

"You what?"

"Uhhh pretend I didn't say that. Because we definitely didn't almost splatter on some sea stacks."

Astrid just glared at me. "Uh huh. But my point still stands. Toothless needed to learn to trust you to move his tailfin. So you need to learn to trust your leg to help you walk."

I thought about it for a moment; I supposed that did make sense. "Okay. I think I can do it."

"Good. Now put everything I told you together. Let it come naturally, but still remember what you need to do differently. And trust your leg, both the part you can control and the part you can't." Astrid stepped back, waiting expectantly.

I gave her one last skeptical glance before stepping forward. And finally, finally made it. No stumbling, no loss of balance, nothing. It just felt like… walking.

"Yes! Keep going!" I did, finding each subsequent step easier than the last. "Now come back to me." I did, and the moment I was within arm's reach, Astrid yanked me into an unsettlingly enthusiastic hug. "Yes! I'm so proud of you!" She cheered.

Meanwhile, I just stiffened in her embrace, unsure of what to do with the un-Astrid-like gesture. After a moment, Astrid seemingly realized what she was doing, and pushed me back, not even being able to make eye contact.

"I mean… uh, it's about time you made it…." she amended. She tapped her hands against her sides a couple times before suddenly throwing one out, hitting me in the arm yet again. "Dumb stubborn Viking."

"You know, I think that's the first time anyone has ever called me 'Viking' unironically," I replied with a smug smile, amused by Astrid's eyes widening in realization.

"Well, it doesn't mean anything," she amended. "Dumb stubborn human."

"Wow, 'human'?" I continued, wanting to take this as far as I could. "That's high praise."

"Oh, shut up, idiot." Another fist found its way to my arm.

"There we go, that's more like it." I grinned. "With luck, my arm will have this bruise forever."

Finally Astrid let her eyes meet mine again. "You're just asking for it now."

"What can I say? Who doesn't enjoy being beaten up by the girl they love?"

Both our faces paled at the words I had let slip.

"Uh- I- I mean-" I stammered, only for Astrid to grab me by the hem of my shirt. I shut my eyes, fearful of what she would do, only to feel her lips press against mine for a moment before being shoved away.

"That's for listening to me," she said, before sweeping a leg under my feet, sending me to the floor. "And that's for everything else." But before I could get back up, she pulled open the door and was gone.

Toothless padded back inside, watching the retreating girl confusedly. He turned his attention to me, and I can only imagine I had a similar look of bewilderment on my face.

I sat back on my hands, sighing. "Is that girl ever going to make sense?" I wondered aloud. And as I got back up, finding a newfound ease in doing so, my mind answered.

No. No she's not.