The following days before the battle were…strange, to put it lightly. There were many things affecting that.

Firstly, after the meeting in the Great Hall, Stoick had returned to his almost-normal self. He continued his life as though he hadn't raised his voice at Hiccup in front of a dozen pairs of eyes or he hadn't purposefully ignored his son. Yet there was still something that didn't sit quite right between them. No matter what Hiccup told the king, it felt like he was taking it with a pinch of salt and all that trust Stoick seemed to have gained for Hiccup over the years was nearly gone. It made Hiccup almost certain that his father knew about his secret and he was just waiting for his son to tell him about it himself, but if he could avoid it, the gods would have to fall to earth from Vanaheim for that to happen. Surprisingly enough, even though Stoick no longer seemed to take him seriously, he did believe Hiccup when he had told him the day after the meeting that the Briralians would be on them soon. The king had mumbled something about his spies telling him similar information, and the prince had finally discovered their real purpose – they were, indeed, spying on Briral to find out what was coming for Berk in this battle. As of now, it seemed like there was going to be nothing out of the ordinary.

Secondly, going against his father's plans definitely played its own part in making the days peculiar. Listening to Stoick's commands and pretending to obey them only to do almost the exact opposite once the king's back was turned on him was something he hadn't really done in such excessive amounts before. Hiccup still had a persistent will to act on his own plan that he hoped would save the Berkians from most of the harm, but everyone preferred to listen to the king's orders because not obeying them would cause a lot of trouble for those who didn't. Nobody was keen to have a similar fate to Sir Fairfax's, so once the king's plan was out and it was found out that the prince's bit wasn't part of it, the tunnel and the Berkians were quickly forgotten. It took a lot of time to convince enough knights and guards to board Hiccup's plan after that, but on the last day before the battle, the prince was sure he had a fair amount of people on his side. Now he could only hope that they would remain loyal to him despite hearing different commands from the king.

Thirdly, he often found himself counting the days, hours or minutes when he'd be flying off with Toothless to see Astrid again. And the dragon, he always told himself afterwards. Life in Berk had gotten so restless and nerve-racking with all the fuss about the upcoming battle that he was more than happy to escape from it for the night. He and Toothless could practise some steep movements in the sky on their way to the meeting place – there had been very little time for Hiccup to be around his dragon, what with the fighting practices and other errands he had to see to. He also really wanted to share his plan with the princess and hear her thoughts on it. He was sure she'd encourage him to act on it; not because it'd weaken Berk's defences against Briral, but because it would provide safety for the innocent.

They met again on the same spot they always did. It was always Astrid that had to wait for Hiccup, but this time Hiccup was there much before her. He refused to admit that he had left early because he had been too excited to just sit still in his chambers. He had tried to be unnecessarily slow putting on his flight suit, and he had taken double the time to put the saddle on Toothless, but there had still been at least an hour to spare until the moment he was supposed to departure.

So, there he was, alone with his dragon on the cliff where Stormfly was delivered back to Astrid, approximately one hour too early with nothing to do but think. Sometimes his brain really was a cursed thing.

Other people with a bit more sense in their heads would've been thinking about Berk and the battle and how their kingdom would survive from it. They would spare a thought for their plan, trying to find the holes in it and then figure out a way to fix them. That was how a normal person's brain would've worked.

But Hiccup's?

His brain was thinking about things that weren't supposed to matter, but they still did greatly.

Why did the princess of Briral have such a strong effect on him? She didn't even have to be present – the ghost of her in Hiccup's mind was enough to make him feel things. He didn't know if he wanted to feel them, and he was too tired of denying something was there. It had been two days now that he was battling with his thoughts, and they still made as little sense to him as they did back when Fishlegs jokingly mentioned 'romantic feelings'. The only remarkable difference that had happened was he had stopped denying the existence of whatever it was.

His mind felt the safest when he assured himself that he was just glad to have a new friend, and Hiccup was quite willing to hold onto that thought.

The prince threw his helmet on the ground out of frustration and he let out a loud grunt. He was annoyed by himself and this entire situation.

His life would be so much easier if he hadn't helped Astrid escape, he wouldn't be standing here breaking his father's trust even more, and he certainly wouldn't be about to see the girl whose head he was supposed to want detached from the rest of her body. Many Berkians would say he had made a great deal of mistakes in the past few weeks.

Hiccup couldn't see them as mistakes, was the thing. True, his life would be easier but not any better, that he realised. He couldn't believe his heart used to be filled with hatred, because now that was the last thing he felt when thinking about Astrid or Briral. Now his heart was feeling sad, but when he thought about the princess, it wasn't. It was the opposite of sadness, and no matter how strange his emotions were, he was quite happy about this change.

He was snapped out of his inner monologue when he heard that familiar voice behind him: "You're early."

Hiccup turned around in a blur and saw Astrid in front of him, sitting on Stormfly, looking down at him with a smile. The prince's lips curled into one as well without him realising it.

"Yep," he answered with a popping P. "I wanted to get out of Berk as soon as I could. Things are getting a bit heated there," he continued and gestured towards the general direction of where the kingdom was.

Astrid slid off the back of Stormfly and patted her on the side before the dragon trotted to Toothless. Both dragons playfully greeted each other and made dragon-like sounds that seemed to mean something to them as they were clearly having a joyful conversation.

"It's the same in Briral then. It looks like everyone's mind is consumed by the battle. Can you imagine how peaceful it will be once we are in charge of our kingdoms?" Astrid wondered as she eyed their dragons that were once again chasing each other for whatever reason.

"At the moment? To be honest, I can't because I've never seen an entirely peaceful day in Berk, so trying to imagine one feels like star-gazing now, but I can't wait to experience that one day," Hiccup replied, his gaze fixed on Astrid's temple that was hidden behind her fringe.

"Me neither," the princess replied with a sigh. She moved her attention from the dragons to Hiccup and for a moment they just stared and smiled at each other.

The slightly cold breeze went past them, causing the hair that wasn't part of Astrid's braid to dance in the wind. Some of it got in front of her eyes, and the prince felt the most sudden urge to raise his hand and move them out of the way, but he caught himself when his arm was mid-air. He awkwardly moved his hand towards his own hair – as though it was his intention all along – and wiped some of the locks away from his forehead.

"Should we get to that dragon?" Astrid asked. She glanced over the edge of the cliff.

It was pitch black down there – they could hear the trees because of the wind, but they could barely make out the outlines of them. The sky was moonless as usual, and there weren't any stars in the sky. There was nothing to shed light on the forest below them, so they would have to resort to their dragons' fire to have a chance at seeing something in the woods.

"Yea, let's go," Hiccup agreed and grabbed his helmet that he had forcefully thrown to the ground.

Astrid turned around and put her thumb and index finger into her mouth to blow a loud whistle. It instantly grabbed Stormfly's attention and she rushed towards her human. Toothless followed the lead and went up to Hiccup. They both got on their dragons with ease and soon after they glided down the cliff towards the forest.

Getting to the cave didn't take much time at all, especially now since they were familiar with the route. Toothless and Stormfly had a much better eyesight in the dark than the two royals did, so they dodged all the trees and large bushes without much difficulty. Hiccup hadn't closed the visor of his helmet, which caused his ears to buzz and eyes water in the headwind.

They landed shortly on the clearing that was by the entrance to the cave, and the first thing the prince noticed was the silence around them. He couldn't see into the cave in the dark, but he should've seen some movement. However, there was nothing.

The Timberjack was gone. There was no sign of the creature anywhere – only the uneven patterns of sand and dirt on the cave floor gave away the fact that something had been there, but it was impossible to tell how long the cave had been uninhabited.

It didn't come as a surprise to Hiccup though; given the state the dragon had been in during their last visit, it would've probably been more peculiar if it still were here. He turned to look at Astrid to see whether surprise was written on her face so that he knew if he should try to act as though he hadn't expected this. Her eyes were narrowed but she didn't look astounded. He didn't know if that was because her princess training had taught her to hide her strongest emotions, and in reality she was shocked to find the cave empty, or if she simply wasn't surprised by the sight.

"Looks like we did help that dragon survive," Astrid said, breaking the silence between them.

"Yeah," Hiccup breathed out. "Too bad it's not here anymore."

"You didn't think this would happen?" the princess asked in a suspecting tone. When the prince glanced at her, he saw her raised eyebrow and an amused smile.

"I…I thought it was very likely, but I wasn't sure," he admitted sheepishly.

Astrid nodded slowly, still smiling but he could see the mirth fade away from her features. "I know that we're here because you want more information about Briral's plan–"

"No, I actually don't," Hiccup cut her off.

She looked taken aback and her mouth fell slightly open. "You don't?"

"No– yes– I don't know."

"You do know," she insisted. She stared into Hiccup's eyes as though the next words he was going to speak contained a hidden clue that she just needed to catch.

Hiccup stared back, trying to collect his thoughts, but all he could focus on was Astrid's big, beautiful eyes and how he felt they bored into his very soul. He had to look away so that his thoughts could return to his brain. "I– I don't want you to betray your kingdom for me, that's why I'm not expecting anything. And you've already told me that they don't share the details with you because they don't think you'd be interested. I didn't come here to get information," he said truthfully.

He had told Fishlegs that getting more details about Briral's plans was his primary motive to see Astrid this close to the battle, but deep down he had known it wasn't true. She had already done so much for him and Berk by informing him about the attack, how could he ask for more?

"Why are you here then?" she asked, trying to make eye contact with the prince.

"What?"

"You knew the dragon wouldn't be here, and the battle is upon you very soon, so it'd be wiser for you to be in Berk. Your kingdom needs you very much now, so why are you here?"

"I…uhm…I wanted to see you?" Hiccup made it sound more like a question rather than an answer.

He could always count on himself to make an absolute fool of himself.

The prince didn't know what he was expecting, but he clearly wasn't expecting Astrid to look so relieved at his words. The stiffness that had hardened her features was slowly disappearing and her face was lit up by a smile that reached her eyes. "I wanted to see you, too."

"You– you did?" he asked in disbelief, but he could feel the corners of his lips lift up too, and he felt his chest tighten. What was this girl doing to him?

"Yes," she said. For a moment it looked as though she wanted to say something else, for she kept closing and opening her mouth, but in the end she remained silent.

They stood there in perfect silence for a while, just looking at each other. Hiccup wanted to say something, but words got stuck in his throat and the moment just seemed too fragile to be broken by words that weren't carefully chosen. It did seem like Astrid was feeling the same, for she wasn't saying anything either.

The prince realised just how close they were to one another. He quickly glanced down and noticed their hands were just inches apart, and he suddenly became way too aware of the small gap between them. His heart skipped a beat, then it began racing and tried to break through his ribcage. He could only hope Astrid didn't hear it.

The moment was broken by their dragons who had started making loud noises again as they communicated. Both Hiccup and Astrid were snapped out of their trance and it was only then that Hiccup realised he had been leaning forward subconsciously, for he had to correct his posture. Astrid did the same, and the distance between them was now slightly bigger.

"Well," Astrid said, sounding flustered. "It's great that we like each other's company, peace-making is going to be a lot easier that way, don't you think?"

"I suppose so…" Hiccup said and he hated how uncertain his voice sounded like, but all his attention was drawn to his heart that was still trying to kill him, and the fact how he felt strangely irritated about the moment being ruined like that. "That sounded a lot like something that Fishlegs would say."

"Who's Fishlegs?" Astrid asked curiously. Her voice was slightly high-pitched, which Hiccup found odd.

"My friend. He helped you escape from Berk."

"The one who came to my cell to mock me?" she asked sharply. She didn't seem to like the idea that Hiccup's friend had the audacity to treat her like that.

"No, that was Sir Fairfax for you," Hiccup said and felt a sting of guilt at the thought of the knight. "I meant the other one."

It took a moment for Astrid to go through the events of that night. Although it was dark, the prince could still see the realisation draw on her face. "You're friends with your servant?!" she asked in shock.

"That's correct. Aren't you?"

"No, why would I be? I mean, she's my servant, I'm not sure I even know her name…how on earth does your father allow it?"

"That's on top of the list of things that happen behind my father's back. He doesn't know about it. If he did, he wouldn't let Fishlegs work as my servant because obviously it would be his fault and not mine," Hiccup explained and made a face to show how much he disliked that mentality.

"And how did you become friends? What made you think, 'hey, I'm going to start talking to my servant like his position isn't 50 levels below mine'?"

"I stopped caring about the statuses. It's hard to not start feeling grateful for somebody's existence when you realise that without them you couldn't even put on a sock because they always do it for you. I treated him badly for years, but then I realised how wrong it was. The titles don't mean anything, most people don't even deserve the titles they've been granted because they are worth much more or less. Isn't that something you also told me when we met in the dungeons?"

Astrid listened to every single word attentively and she looked genuinely impressed and interested. She hadn't clearly expected Hiccup to remember the smallest of details of their first conversation when the princess was held captive in Berk. She considered his words carefully, and the prince just stood there, studying her face for any possible changes, but there was none.

"I didn't have any clue you saw it like that," Astrid finally said. "The way you spoke about your servant – Fishlegs, wasn't it? – I never saw it that way. Now I feel bad for not knowing my servant's name. And now that I think about it, I think you're right; just because we were lucky to be born into a wealthy family doesn't mean we should treat those of lower statuses much differently," she continued.

"Exactly," Hiccup agreed with a nod. "Your subjects are what makes your kingdom great, so treating them as inferiors is just wrong. That's why I'll try to save as many of their lives as possible in this battle."

Astrid gave him a questioning look but waited for him to continue. Hiccup told her about his plan and how he had to act on it in secret because it was against Stoick's plans. He also said that he was sure his father would approve of his idea if the situation between them was different, but since there was still some bad air between them, the prince didn't even want to give voice to his plan around the king.

When Hiccup was finished, he silently waited for the princess' reaction. He didn't know why, but his mind was carving for Astrid's approval, he wanted her to like his plan.

The prince felt immense happiness when her lips curled into a satisfied smile. "That sounds great, Hiccup. I truly hope it will work out. What will you be doing during the battle, by the way? I always hear the knights of Briral curse you after each battle because you're too fast and skilful with Toothless. They never seem to stand a chance."

Hiccup felt awkward at the compliments, and he scratched the back of his neck and looked everywhere but at Astrid because he didn't know what else to do and his body just wanted to react somehow. He was used to hearing praise, but it felt so much different coming from the girl standing next to him, her eyes fixed on him in some sort of admiration.

"Err…I will be defending Berk from the sky with Toothless. That's what we always do. It's where we are at our strongest. I just hope Briralians will be in Berk after the sunset because we are unbeatable in the night sky."

"They will be there before the sunset," she said. Hiccup looked up at her in surprise. "Not much earlier though. Their planned departure was delayed by something."

"Then Berk will have enough time to get fully prepared. I suppose it'll be enough if we start moving the Berkians into the tunnels around midday."

Since they lived so far in the north, the sunset came very early during Autumn and Winter. There would be a maximum of four hours between midday and the moment the Briralians were at their front door. It would take them 12 hours to reach Berk, so they'd need to leave Briral…

"Hang on, you will be here when they're leaving," Hiccup said in sudden realisation. Astrid just nodded. "Don't you need to be present when the army leaves?"

"Yes, but I staged such a scene before I left the Great Hall this evening. I was pretending to be out of my right mind over something very ridiculous, and I told my father I wouldn't leave my chambers until the thing's got fixed."

"And that's it?"

"And that's it."

"May I ask what this 'something' was?"

Astrid seemed to hate the mere thought of the event, for she covered half of her face with her other hand and looked down. "The chair that I always sit on in the Great Hall has a splint of wood sticking out from the side, so I made sure to tangle the hem of my dress around it so that it would get ruined when I stand up. I was totally upset because of that as it's the dress that I wear all the time inside the castle, so I couldn't possibly show myself in another dress. It was something my father has no understanding of but it was enough for my mother to take it seriously and understand the severity of the situation, so it was a good excuse. Now they all think I'm crying in my chambers. Gods, I still can't believe I pulled that off."

"Yeah, me neither," Hiccup admitted with a ghost of smile creeping on his lips.

The princess suddenly let out a loud groan out of frustration and she looked up at the prince with an angry but painful look. "It's just so unfair that I can't do anything! I don't want people to think I am spending my nights crying over some damned dress, I want to fight beside my people! I have every right to defend my own kingdom, but I'm not even given the chance to do that. I am so useless."

"You're not useless," Hiccup was quick to protest. Why would she even think like that?

"Why does it feel like that then?" she said bitterly.

The prince didn't know how to reply, he had never been good at words of comfort, and something was telling him that Astrid didn't even want him to say anything because his words wouldn't make any difference to her situation. Hiccup felt a terrible pain in his chest for the princess, he so wished he could do something. Anything at all.

"Are you going to change those rules once you're in charge?" Hiccup asked instead.

"That'll be up for my future king to decide. You know how it is, princesses or queens don't have much power, our only purpose is to look pretty and produce an heir. That's why they always 'tie the knot' between princes and princesses so early – they're afraid that their daughter won't be treated respectfully without a powerful man by her side. The main reason why you've been practically engaged to Princess Arleigh for many years isn't because of the benefits that Berk will bring to the kingdom of Olissa. They wanted to secure their daughter's future, and your father just happened to find Olissa the ideal kingdom to become close allies with."

Why did she have to mention her? The mention of Arleigh's name always seemed to feel more painful when it came out of Astrid's mouth. The mere thought of that princess he hadn't even met yet made him feel sick to his stomach – not because of her, but because of how much he suddenly didn't want anything to do with her. How was he already disliking a person whose name was the only thing he knew about her? It didn't make any sense.

"But that's where you're different, Hiccup," Astrid continued. When the prince looked up, he saw an admiring gleam in her eyes. "You never treated me like I were worth less than a man. In the woods, you didn't tell me to back off because I was a girl. You've never seen me in a worse light because of that, and that makes you so different from any other royal I've ever met. When I'm with you, I don't feel belittled. We're equals."

Hiccup felt that strange feeling that made his chest tighten in a pleasant way. Astrid surely knew how to take him on a rollercoaster of emotions – he didn't think he had ever felt so many things in such a short time span before.

He didn't have time to react to Astrid's words of praise before the princess made her next move. She took one step towards Hiccup, closing the distance between them and planted a quick kiss on his left cheek. The prince inhaled sharply out of mere surprise, and when Astrid backed away, he was looking her in the eyes that radiated uncertainty and nervousness.

Hiccup's mind was blank. It had just been a small peck on the cheek, but it felt so much more. He could still feel her lips where she had pressed them, and it felt as though all his nerves were now focused on that spot; it felt like small fireworks had set off next to his cheek and the explosions were now tickling his skin.

Did Astrid have feelings for him? Somehow the thought of that gave him a rush of excitement he had never felt before, like that kiss on the cheek wasn't enough and he wanted more.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me," Astrid said in a rush. It was when Hiccup realised he hadn't reacted to the kiss yet. His mind was still busy figuring out his feelings and going over the inner monologue.

But if he wanted more, did that mean he had feelings for her, too? Why else would he want that?

If those strange emotions he had felt because of Astrid meant that he liked her more than as a friend, it all would make much more sense to him. The thought had been there, but he had been afraid to face it properly – although his mind was often consumed by it, he always just 'scratched the surface' of the thought because he hadn't allowed himself to dig any deeper.

But now, the fact that the princess who was looking uncomfortable in front of him, waiting for his reaction, might actually like him more than as a friend gave him a boost of courage and a sudden need to do something.

"I think I should get going, then. I'm so sorry about what I did, it was inappropriate," the princess said sadly, turned around and called for Stormfly with a similar whistle she did on the cliff earlier. "Good luck with–"

Astrid's sentence was cut off because of the sudden appearance of Hiccup's hand around her waist. He spun her around in a blur and pushed her back against the massive rock that was standing next to them. She looked bewildered and she stared Hiccup right into his eyes, her breaths heavier than usual.

The prince's heart was racing again. Their faces were so close that Hiccup could feel her breath brush against his skin. He could feel her breath on his lips, and his head was spinning. Time was standing still, or at least it felt like it. He closed his eyes for a couple of seconds and inhaled deeply before opening them and placing his hand behind Astrid's neck. He closed the distance between them and pressed his lips against hers.

Astrid let out a surprised noise, but within seconds she was kissing Hiccup back. She pressed herself against the prince so that there wasn't even half an inch between them and she put her hands behind Hiccup's neck.

Hiccup couldn't describe the feeling that kissing Astrid brought him. It was beyond any words, but he knew that it just felt so right, as though this was destined to happen. His mind was clear all of a sudden and he felt the foggy cloud fade away, letting him access his thoughts properly – everything made so much more sense to him now.

He felt the passion grow much stronger within him as their lips brushed against each other. He felt the heat rise in his cheeks and he placed his other hand around Astrid's waist, attempting to get her even closer although it was impossible.

Her mouth was warm and her lips felt so soft against his own. The small breaths that escaped from her mouth tickled the skin around his lips and it sent a thrilling sensation down his spine.

When they eventually broke apart to catch breath, Hiccup pressed his forehead against Astrid's and they just looked at each other, breathing heavily.

"That was…" she couldn't finish her sentence.

"I know," Hiccup agreed.

"You scared me for a moment there," Astrid said breathlessly. "When you didn't react at all, I thought you were mad at me."

"I was trying to collect my thoughts, there was a lot to think," he said apologetically. "I wasn't sure about how I felt until now."

"Really?" she asked in surprise, to which Hiccup just nodded.

They stood like that, their foreheads pressed against each other and Astrid leaning onto the rock, without saying anything to one another. They both wanted to devour in the moment, for when were aware of what would happen after they parted.

They both were destined for someone else. Now Hiccup realised why the mere mention of Princess Arleigh had been enough to ruin his mood – because of the agreement between the two kingdoms, there was no way he and Astrid could ever be together. It pained to think that, but it was inevitable.

Astrid seemed to be thinking along the same lines, for the smile that embellished her face was slowly fading and turning to a sad frown. Hiccup backed away one step without losing the eye contact with the princess.

"Is this the last time we see each other?" the princess asked in a whisper.

"Do you want that?" the prince asked as silently.

Astrid shook her head. "I mean, how will I ever find out if something happened to you in the battle if I don't see you again? It would kill me to not know."

Hiccup understood her. He didn't want to let go of their meetings either, although every single cell in his brain was telling him that continuing them wasn't wise. He had never been very good at listening to the voice of reason when it came down to things he wanted to do, was the thing.

"So, should we meet in three nights' time?" Hiccup suggested.

"Sounds good to me," she replied with a sigh of relief.

They were beginning to run out of time as they both still had a long journey ahead of them before they'd reach their own kingdoms. Neither of them had to call for their dragons, for Astrid had already done that earlier and they both were awaiting their humans close by.

When they were on their dragons, they allowed one more look at each other.

"Hiccup," Astrid began.

"Yea?"

"Please, stay alive," she said.

Hearing that made his insides turn cold. This could be the last time they see each other. Hiccup didn't want to think about that.

"I will try my best," he answered.

He truly meant his words. For the first time he felt like dying in a battle would be the most terrible fate ever. It would be unnecessary because the upcoming battle was unnecessary.

Soon after that, they left the clearing and the forest.
Hiccup's heart was aching.

EEHEHEHEHEEEEEEE I AM SCREAMING
I have been dying to write this chapter ever since I knew this chapter was going to happen :D

Comments = I will love you and give you a crushing virtual hug (I love you even if you don't do it)