Author's Note: Hello, everyone and welcome to yet another one-shot for "Sticks and Stones!" =D This particular one-shot is one of my favorites; I had a lot of fun writing it and going deeper into how Astrid views Hiccup through his emotions. =) I don't really have anything else to say, so I hope you enjoy "The Many Shades of Green!" =D

Summary: Hiccup has green eyes. To Astrid, they're the most beautiful eyes that she's ever seen. They even seemed to change color depending on his mood, which she notices more often as she spends more time with him. (Post DOB, RTTE, HTTYD 2.)

The Many Shades of Green

Bright

To Astrid, Hiccup's eyes were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.

She did not know when the thought had crossed her mind, but she didn't shun it away. It had appeared in her mind so suddenly, and she wasn't even expecting it. Maybe it was because she observed people more than she did interacting with them.

Hiccup had green eyes, but unlike most vikings with green eyes, they changed color. At least to Astrid they did. She didn't think anyone else noticed how Hiccup's eyes would flicker to a different color depending on his mood. How they would become dull when he was bored, how they would flash with life as he invented something new or talked about dragons, how they would darken when he was dead serious…For every feeling, every emotion, Hiccup's green eyes had a color for it. And Astrid loved that about him.

It was a beautiful, sunny day and Astrid needed her axe sharpened. After the war with the Berserkers, Astrid decided that she would begin to improve her battle skills just in case something like that intense battle happened again. Next time a fight rolled around, she would be ready and even better than before, and this thought placed a smile on her face as she walked to the forge.

Sunlight made her axe shimmer as she held it up in front of her. The weapon was rather old; she had had it since she was six. Astrid took impeccable care of her axe, and she never let anyone else touch it except for Hiccup or Gobber, since they were the ones who sharpened it. Her axe had belonged to her mother, and Astrid still had the vivid, wonderful memory of her mom presenting her with her axe.

Astrid didn't want to replace it, but she knew that she soon would have to. She just wasn't ready to let go of her favorite weapon yet. Astrid shoved those thoughts out of her head as she entered the forge. Gobber wasn't anywhere in sight, but she could hear the sounds of tinkering in the back.

"Hiccup?" called Astrid. "Are you in here?"

Something crashed in the back, and Astrid's curiosity took hold of her. She swiftly made her way to the back room to find Hiccup sitting in a box filled with paper. Astrid guessed that he must have tripped into it. He removed one of the papers off of his head and when he saw Astrid, his cheeks turned redder than a rose.

"A-Astrid! H-Hey! I wasn't…uh…I wasn't expecting you," stuttered Hiccup. Astrid gave him a hand that he graciously took and pulled himself out of the box. He gazed at the hand that he had used to grab Astrid's for a short period of time, but he then turned his green gaze to her. "I was working on something, and you scared me."

Astrid smirked laughingly. "I can see that."

Toothless chortled with laughter from the corner and Hiccup sent him a look. He turned back to Astrid and asked, "So, what can I do for you today? Gobber's out sick, so I'm the boss of the forge for the day."

"The boss, huh?" said Astrid.

Hiccup bowed playfully. "That's me."

Astrid couldn't hold back a laugh. Hiccup looked up at her and smiled. "Okay, boss man. My axe is in need of sharpening. Do you mind?" Astrid gingerly handed him her axe and Hiccup took it out of her hands just as gently. He knew how much care and effort Astrid had put into keeping her axe in good condition, and the Hofferson was glad that there was someone other than herself who knew how to take good care of their weapons.

Hiccup ran his hand across the metal and nodded professionally. "It is in need of sharpening, and it feels a little unbalanced too. I can get that fixed in a jiff."

Astrid grinned. "Thanks, Hiccup."

Hiccup gave her a small smile, and he got to work. Astrid watched as Hiccup worked on sharpening her axe against the grinder and evening out the weight. His hands knew exactly what to do, and Astrid couldn't help but admire the level of blacksmithing Hiccup was at for such a young age.

It didn't take long for Hiccup to finish up with Astrid's axe. Once he was done, he handed the newly upgraded axe back to her, and Astrid gave it a few swings just to test it out. Hiccup ducked as Astrid swung it over his head.

"Hey, I fixed that for you. Don't decapitate me with it," said Hiccup.

Astrid slung her axe on her shoulder. "I won't, I won't," she said. The Hofferson swung her axe by her side. Hiccup had really improved it. The axe felt perfect in her hand, and she couldn't have felt more grateful.

Without thinking, Astrid placed a quick kiss on Hiccup's cheek. The Haddock froze in surprise, but his expression soon morphed into a smile. His sparkled a bright green.

Astrid tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Thanks for fixing my axe."

Hiccup grinned. "You're welcome, Astrid."

…

Emerald

She had never seen Hiccup so determined. She had never seen him so upset.

Astrid flew by the Haddock's side as he gripped his saddlehorn. Toothless looked up at him worriedly. "Let's sweep the tunnels, come on!"

He knew it was already too late. He knew that Viggo had escaped already. He was still in denial, as the thought of defeat was too painful to face. It was too painful to accept.

"Hiccup…" said Astrid. She sighed. She really didn't want to be the one to break the news to him, but she knew she had to. He had to face the truth and reality. "There's…there's no way he's still down there. You know Viggo had this whole thing figured out from start to finish…He's long gone by now."

There was a beat of silence. And that beat had never felt so loud. Thousands of emotions crossed Hiccup's face, but the one that overrode them all was anger. Pure anger and fury

His eyes flashed an emerald green. As beautiful as a jewel emerald was, it was a bold, strong green. And that green reflected the bold, strong emotion of rage that Hiccup was currently feeling.

With his fists balled tightly, and his eyes squeezed shut, Hiccup let out a scream of immense fury that Astrid knew could be heard all the way to where Viggo was hiding.

...

Sage

Sage was her least favorite shade of green.

It was dull. Sad. Dejecting…almost a lifeless shade of the bright color that it was. Sage green didn't even look like the green Astrid had come to know. Sage green was a color that she never wanted to see reflected in Hiccup's eyes. Sage was a sad color. Dreary. And she hoped that Hiccup would never feel so depressed.

But unfortunately…he did. Beyond depressed even. Hiccup had felt broken.

She was in the air during the entire scene. She hadn't noticed that Hiccup was being backed into a corner by his own dragon. She hadn't seen Stoick leap in the way just in time before Hiccup got hit. What she had heard was the familiar sound of a plasma blast being fired, and the anguished cry of her boyfriend.

Astrid was on the ground faster than the wind. She ran up to the giant block of ice that Hiccup, Valka, and Stoick were sitting under. But Stoick wasn't sitting…he was lying down. He wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing. He wasn't doing…anything.

A curl of black smoke rose from Stoick's chest, and Astrid nearly choked when she realized what had happened. Did Toothless really…?

No. No, he couldn't have. Toothless was the kindest, sweetest dragon Astrid had ever known. It was Drago. She had seen what he had done to Hookfang and several other dragons. Chaining them up and forcing them to weary heavy, metal armor against their will. Screaming and stabbing them with his bullhook, forcing them to do whatever evil, malicious deed that he wanted them to do. He controlled dragons, and the dragons had no other choice but to follow. They were powerless against Drago Bludvist; he invoked fear into them, and the dragons' hopes of being free had died along with their freedom.

Drago had killed Stoick.

Hiccup still couldn't believe it though. Astrid felt tears well in her eyes as she watched her love cling to his father, calling his name with a sob squeezing the back of his throat. Valka placed her ear against Stoick's chest—the place where his heart was located—and she listened. The look in her eyes told Astrid everything, and Hiccup's mother pulled her head away and faced her son. They needn't to say a word, for they both knew what had happened.

They both knew the horrible truth.

Stoick was gone.

Hiccup shook his head, his eyes flickering to sage green. Fresh tears sparkled in his green eyes. "No…No, no, no…"

Hiccup looked completely broken, and that look tore Astrid's heart in two. Her boyfriend, her love, her everything was crippled and crushed. Smashed and shattered, just like glass.

A sob crawled up Hiccup's throat; Astrid was at his side in an instant. She placed her hand on his back and rubbed it soothingly as Hiccup placed his head in his arms, which were placed on his father's chest. His body shook and wracked with sobs and cries, begging for his father to come back to him. Astrid felt tears of her own slip down her round cheeks.

Astrid Hofferson did not like sage green. She didn't like it at all.

...

Fern

It had been a few hours since Stoick was lost.

It had been a few hours since their dragons had been ripped away from them.

Stoick's ship was still in flames in the distance. Hiccup faced his father's ship as a few tears trailed down his cheeks. Astrid didn't know what to do. She and the other Dragon Riders stood behind Hiccup, drowning in their own sorrow. Even Eret, Son of Eret was there, and he too was dejected. He hardly even knew Astrid and the others, but he could feel how important Stoick was to them.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Dad…" Hiccup's voice cracked as he spoke to the ship that was slowly drifting toward the horizon. Slowly drifting toward Vahalla. "I'm not the chief that you wanted me to be. And I'm not the peacekeeper I thought I was. I don't know…"

Hiccup sounded so lost, and he needed comfort. But before Astrid could walk up to him, Valka was at his side. Astrid stayed back, knowing that a mother's words was what Hiccup truly needed right now.

"You came early into this world. You were such a wee thing. So frail, so fragile. I feared you wouldn't make it. But your father…he never doubted. He always said that you'd become the strongest of them all. And he was right."

Valka gently placed her hand on Hiccup's heart. "You have the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon. Only you can bring our worlds together. That is who you are, son."

Astrid watched as Hiccup turned away from his mother and looked back toward his father's ship. His eyes began to flicker from sage to fern. Sage, to fern.

"I was so afraid of becoming my dad…Mostly because I thought I never could. How do you become someone that great? That brave? That selfless? I guess…I guess you can only try."

Hiccup turned around, and his face morphed into one of pure determination. His eyes stopped flickering between two different shades of green, but became a set, firm fern green. It was a mix between his usual bright green but still contained his sadness. But this green showed Hiccup's determination. It showed his boldness and bravery. It showed that he was going to stop Drago Bludvist no matter what.

"A chief protects his own," Hiccup said loudly. Everyone began to climb out of their pools of sorrow and looked up at Hiccup. Their leader. Their chief.

Astrid smiled. Hiccup's eyes were green, but they never stayed the same green. Whether it was bright, emerald, sage, or fern, they all had something in common. Not that they each reflected his emotions, but they showed how he changed. He never wallowed in sadness, nor did he ever stay angry. He navigated through his emotions, and he used them to power his passion and his strength.

Hiccup looked around at the group standing in front of him and he lifted his chin. His fern green eyes brightened.

"We're going back."