Third person POV
It was an empty noon.
But not exactly for the queen of Arendelle.
The piles of paperwork she had to deal with was wearing her out, and she was nowhere near close to finishing them. With winter arriving, she had to make sure every resident of the kingdom was going to make it through the winter. The logistics were a nightmare, and if only she could share it with someone who was willing.
Of course, Hiccup would usually be that person. However, he had been absent for several days in the office. Elsa was nowhere near to help since she had to be in Northuldra. Anna was going to ask for his loyal servant's help, Kai, but he, too, had been so busy that he could not accompany her and her paperwork. General Mattias crossed her mind once, but he was not much of a help. He was fonder with, well, his field; swordsmanship and guarding the castle.
In despair, Queen Anna dropped her feather pen and rested her cheek on her fist.
"If only a knight in shining armor could help me out with this…" She sighed.
Knock knock.
Conveniently, the door of her office was knocked. She perked up and fixed her posture. "Come in!"
Cassandra revealed herself, dressed in her Arendellian guard outfit. From behind her walked her little child, Gideon.
'Oh, well, close enough,' Anna thought to herself. "Cass, hello!"
"Hi! Um, let me just…" The Arendellian who used to be the wife of Therondian lieutenant pulled a dining cart from behind and let her son push it to Anna's desk. "You missed lunch again."
Anna's eyes bulged. "I did?" She stood up and stopped Gideon midway. "Thank you, Gideon."
The little boy smiled. "You're welcome, Your Majesty."
The Queen returned the smile as she grabbed her plate and sat down on a couch. Gideon and his mother joined the queen afterwards. "I guess that explains why I cannot function in the last hour… or two," Anna excused.
"Wish I could help, Anna. But I'm not really good with the papers," Cassandra excused herself. "I'm better at slicin' and dicin' the—"
The Arendellian guard then remembered that her son was next to her, so she halted herself. "The melons and… carrots."
"Ah. I see that you've taken interest in culinary now. Maybe you should ask the head of the chef, see if they need an extra cook," Anna sassed her friend.
"I already asked. They didn't," Cassandra answered.
"Heh, right," Anna replied.
Cassandra let the queen enjoy her meal in silence. She turned around to see the view outside of the window, and a smile immediately curled on her lips. The beauty of snowy Arendelle pleased her eyes. She really couldn't have wished to be 'captured' by a better person at a different time. Life was well for her and her kid.
Cassandra was about to share the news of the pretty view to Anna when she spotted her tired eyes, staring blankly while taking small bites of her meal. The view screamed a life that was not well for her.
"Anna?" Cassandra asked, worry sounding in her tone.
The queen turned to her, "Mm?"
"You're okay?"
Anna swallowed her meal, and when she was about to answer, the head of a sleepy Gideon landed on her lap.
"Oh, Gideon—" Cassandra was about to pull her son up, but Anna didn't let her.
"It's fine." Anna placed her cutlery on her plate to stroke the boy's hair. "I wish I could be like this little guy… so free from… responsibilities…"
"You're overworking, Anna. Take a break," Cassandra advised.
"Well these papers ain't gonna take care of themselves, are they?" Anna gestured at the piles of paper on her desk.
"Well… yeah… but…" Cassandra shrugged. "At least have someone to help you out?"
"That would usually be Hiccup." Anna took a bite of her steak.
"And where is he?"
Anna half turned to the window. "At the ranch… The Olson's Ranch. He's been there for nearly a week now. He only shows up at dinner and leaves afterwards."
Cassandra raised her brow. "You mean… he sleeps there?"
Anna nodded.
"He doesn't sleep with you?"
"No."
Hearing the response, Cassandra stood up and fisted her palms. "I'm going to bring him here. Even if I have to drag him."
Anna placed her plate away. "You really don't have to—"
"He can't just leave you like this? Who knows what he's doing out there in the ranch!" Cassandra cut the queen.
"I… do know what he's doing out there. And I can't blame…" Anna paused herself and shook her head. "You know what? See for yourself. If you can't bring him over here, that's fine. But if you can, I'll be more than grateful."
Cassandra smiled at the queen. "Okay. Don't worry, I'll bring him in and make sure you two have a good night—"
"Shh!" The queen cut the guard and pointed at the sleeping toddler on her lap.
"Whoops. Yeah, okay," Cassandra replied sheepishly.
"I'll take care of your son for the time being," Anna gently placed her hand on the child. "Thank you, Cass."
The Arendellian guard nodded and left the room to set off on her quest. Anna, on the other hand, now had to babysit the toddler while the mother way away. However, there seemed to be no better task to do for her. She would rather babysit than to do the paperwork.
While stroking the hair of Gideon, Anna turned around to see the view once again.
"When is cousin arriving?"
Cassandra's POV
"Oh. It's past this wood. You'll find an alley through it, there it's Olson's Ranch."
"Ah I see. Thank you!"
Just when I thought living in Arendelle for two weeks would give me a thorough knowledge of its kingdom, here I was, asking for directions to a random lady. After leaving the lady behind, I could feel her judgement since I was dressed in an Arendellian royal guard outfit.
Starting life in Arendelle was yet another fresh start in my life. Gideon was the previous one. Xander was the one before. Leaving Corona was the one before that. So many starts in my life; I wondered whether or not another start was waiting for me out there.
However, one thing would stay the same. I was always going to be a mother, no matter what happened. Whatever plan the universe had come up with for me, nothing was going to change that. However, despite all the changes in life, I found myself yet again using my swordsmanship as a means of earnings and survivability. Anna offered me a position in the royal guard division, and I accepted it. It would take months for a person to become a proper guard, but with my experience that I demonstrated and shared, General Mattias saw no need for me to train for longer after a mere week.
I couldn't say that I was not happy. I was content, but since this was nothing new, my feelings were neutral. Was there really more to life?
And whenever I questioned that, a little boy would pull me by the cloak and tell me that he was hungry. His appearance answered my question. Magically. There really was, and he was going to exceed my expectations by becoming the best swordsman there was.
"This is it."
After crossing through the small woods, a view of an alley greeted me. An alien one. I had never been here before.
There were wooden fences circling the snowy alley, presumably for the cows or sheep or whatever animal Mr. Olson kept in here. But there was no living being in sight, not even a single animal. However, on the other end of the valley sat a barn and a house next to it. I signaled my horse to walk towards it.
As I progressed, I noticed a sign of life inside the barn through the windows. I saw light being emitted by candles and shadows walking past.
Stopping by the large door, I hopped off my horse and knocked it. I earned no response but I heard chattering inside. To really grab the attention of whoever was inside, I knocked harder.
Only with that did the door slide open. Valka opened it for me.
"Oh, Lady Cassandra! It's been a while!" The dragon lady greeted me. It'd been too long since I was last addressed like that.
"You can just call me Cass. Um, is Hiccup here?" I asked.
Valka stepped aside to let me see Hiccup himself working on something on Toothless in a stable. "Here he is. Come in."
I pulled the saddle of my horse and let Valka take her to a stable. My curious eyes kept watching him when they were distracted by the activities of other Berkians in the barn. I saw some others brushing the cows, forking the hays, or just simply chilling with the sheep. Like that blonde guy, whom I had forgotten his name.
Were all the Berkians here?
"I believe this is the first time you've visited this place, Cass," Valka spoke. I turned to her and nodded.
"Are all Berkians here?" I asked.
She shook her head. "No. Some younger guys got jobs in the village. Astrid got one at a blacksmith. Eret became a fisherman. Tuffnut…" She paused, glancing at the blonde guy by the sleeping sheep. "Well, he's apparently good at herding the cattle, so he's here and nowhere else. Fishleg got a job at the town's library. Some of us, the older ones, just prefer to settle down."
I crossed my arms, smiling. "I see."
"Of course, it was not as simple as that since we had no house, to begin with. However, we stumbled upon Mr. Olson, or Sir Olson, as others addressed him as." Valka scoffed at the title. "After splitting up with his wife, he was left with this farm. There really could not be a better option. After all, we Berkians are a bit of a farmer-y kind of people."
I looked around again at the Berkians, who actually looked no longer like so since they had different attires, and they did seem to be content with this choice. It's an honest work in an honest life. And Valka was right; they were mostly adults and elderlies. "Yeah… you guys seem to be enjoying the farm life. But… you don't sleep here, do you?"
Valka chuckled once. "Heh. Some of us do, actually. Others who don't sleep in the house. Sir Olson has a pretty big house, more than enough to have some Vikings sleep in it."
"Mhm. And where does Hiccup sleep?" I gestured at the guy himself.
"Here, with Toothless," she answered. Somehow, that did not surprise me. "Go talk to him. I got some errands to do." Valka patted my shoulder and walked away.
"Oh, thank you, by the way, Valka."
The dragon lady merely replied with a glance and a smile. With that, I walked up to Hiccup and peeked over to see what he was dealing with. Toothless seemed to be equipped with an... outfit? The outer layer was leather, and the inner was cotton. It almost looked like the dragon was wearing a fine jacket.
"Hiccup?" I called the Viking. He turned around.
"Oh Cass! Hey!" Hiccup stood up. "What brings you here?" He dusted his hands off.
"More like... what brings you to stay here for so long?" I pointed a finger at him.
"Uh..." He scratched his hair. "What do you mean?"
"I mean... why are you here? Why are you not with Anna? She could really use some help with her duty," I explained.
A realization hit him as his mouth rounded. Hiccup stepped back "Ah yes... you see, Toothless here, needs to go back to where he belongs. The Hidden World. It's several days away of flight from here, and it's currently winter. Night Furies are not so great with the cold. I'm making him a suit that he can wear on the air and dismantle easily by the time he arrives."
When I looked back at the dragon, it made sense. The leather, the cotton, the buttons all over for easy dismantling. A fine craftsmanship that sadly wouldn't age long.
I rubbed my chin. "I see... How long have you been crafting that?"
"Two days?" He answered.
"And what were you doing before that?" I asked.
His face briefly showed regret, a tiny hint that he wished he'd given a different answer as he was thinking of a response. "Uh... Designing it?"
"Why do you sound unsure of your own answer, Hiccup?" I crossed my arms, suspecting there's something else.
Hiccup sighed deeply. "Can I... explain along the way? I'm doing finishing touches. The faster Toothless can leave Arendelle, the better."
I gestured him my permission. "Go ahead."
With that, Hiccup grabbed a tool and continued working on the suit. "Cassandra... when you become a leader of a tribe, you are expected not to fail." He looked up to me. "You know that I failed, right?"
My eyes rounded wide. I never knew that the reason was going to be this personal. "Uh..."
"These people, they're the last of Berkians. I may have lived the last couple of months in Arendelle, but deep down, I am still... very much... Berkian. But that doesn't mean I don't want to blend in, no, that's not the case. The case is..."
Hiccup finished buttoning up what seemed to be the last button on the suit and rested his elbows on his knees. He shook his head. "This is the only way for me not to get insane, and they noticed that! Everyone keeps convincing me that it's not my fault, but I can't..."
Suspense. I never knew that it was going to be this complicated. And I was no expert in complications like this. I really was the worst person on earth to handle such situation.
Not knowing of what to do, I knelt down next to the Viking and firmly grabbed his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't know..."
"I'll go back to Anna later. Toothless should be the only real errand that I need to take care of for now. Thank you for telling, Cass," Hiccup replied, surprisingly smiling. The sight internally gave me a relief.
"...Does Anna know?" I asked.
"Know what?"
"Of your... current state?"
He nodded. "She knows, but I guess she doesn't know that it's... this bad." Hiccup shrugged.
"Well." I cleared my throat. "Policy remains the best honesty."
He turned to me, furrowing his brow. "You got that twisted."
I didn't catch him initially. It took me a while to realize that I indeed got it twisted. "I m-mean, honesty is the best policy!" I spoke more slowly this time.
He chuckled, and it made the Night Fury wake up from his slumber. When he did so, the dragon realized the suit he was in.
"Well, Toothless, hopefully Lyrie remembers you," Hiccup jokingly said.
"What about his wings? Are they ready?" I asked, remembering the moment when King Adam of Therondia pierced through the dragon's wing with a spear.
"They've healed. We've had test flights," Hiccup replied. The Viking stood up and gestured me to do the same. "Let's gather the others to bid farewell."
With that, we split to gather the other Vikings. Since the others were said to be in the house, I walked out of the barn to the house next to it. Once inside, I told the Berkians to go to the barn to bid farewell to the Night Fury. While doing so, I noticed just how much of a humble hut the house was. It was large, yes, but interior wise, it really was an old man's house just waiting on the last bits of his life. And when I stumbled upon Sir Olson himself, who happened to want to join, my assumption was confirmed. He was a mere old man on a wheelchair that the Berkians pretty much babysat.
"Push me, will you, young lady?" Sir Olson asked with his throaty voice.
"Sure thing," I replied, pushing the wheelchair out of the house and into the barn. There, the other Berkians were circling the dragon. When they noticed the presence of Sir Olson, they opened a path for him. I used the path to reach Toothless.
Sir Olson reached for the dragon's head, and Toothless gently accepted his hands as they caressed him. "Just when I thought you were the last dragon I'd see in my life... Thank you. You are the proof that my eyes did not lie."
All of us were silenced by the statement as Sir Olson continued to embrace the dragon.
"Wait," Hiccup broke the silence, "You've seen dragons before, Sir?"
"Oh yes. One. A colossal one. Bigger than the mountains, taller than the skies," Sir Olson answered.
Once again, everyone was dumbfounded.
"Is he referring to the dragon back in Berk? The white one?" I asked the expert, Hiccup.
"Well the Bewilderbeast is not as tall as the skies, if I recall..." Hiccup grabbed his chin, pondering in thoughts. "What does the dragon look like, Sir-"
Hiccup cut himself when he looked up to the kind sir. The old man fell asleep!
"Well, a story for some other day," Hiccup said. The Viking brushed himself off and pushed the wheelchair away to make a path for his dragon. I helped him by sliding the door open. When Toothless expanded his wings, I discovered that his wings had indeed recovered. No holes, no scratches, no nothing. Perfect as if Toothless was just born anew. The Viking led the dragon out to the snow. Immediately, I could tell that the dragon disliked the cold, but the suit was there for a reason.
"Has everyone said goodbye?" Hiccup asked the crowd behind him. That reminded me.
"Anna hasn't," I reminded, as Hiccup turned to me. "She would love a goodbye."
"Ah yeah. Right."
Hiccup's POV
"Goodbye Toothless," Anna spoke, planting a kiss on the dragon's skull afterwards.
"GROARR!"
The Night Fury leaped onto the air. Within a matter of seconds, my dragon became a mere speck on the sky. He went full speed to west where the Hidden World resided. Since we were standing on the courtyard of the castle, the speck Toothless was was no longer visible quickly.
"Well, gotta leave you two alone," Cassandra excused herself, hopping onto her horse. She then helped her son get on. "See you."
"See you!" Anna said.
"But horses do not belong in the Hidden World?" I crossed my arms, smiling slyly.
"Nice one Haddock," Cassandra said. With that, the trio dashed off out of the castle's gate, leaving Anna and I alone to ourselves.
I knew that there was an elephant in the room, but I didn't know whether or not I should touch on the subject right away. I pondered of the options there were in the situation when Anna suddenly shattered the silence.
"Wanna go inside? It's freezing," She offered.
"Ah yeah, yes please." I shoved my arms altogether when I realized that it was indeed freezing. Needing no more cold, Anna and I rushed in and closed the door afterwards. Once again, we met an awkward silence. Well, it was awkward for me.
"To... the office we go?" I asked.
"Sure."
That brief response was too brief for my liking. Anna didn't even bat an eye to me when I asked her. Things were not looking good for me. The best thing for me to do was to prepare myself mentally while on our way to the office. And that's exactly what I did. However, I genuinely remembered the way to the office was not this short when the door of it came into view only moments after. It's as if not coming to the office to help Anna out had me forget the castle and its content.
Of course, I was not prepared. But there was no other option.
I opened the door to the office and let the queen walk in.
"You're okay Hiccup?"
I turned around, relatively shocked by the ice breaker. "Um... yeah," I replied, shutting the door.
"You seem tense. Did something happen?" Anna replied.
"No, it's just..." I sighed, readying the words to come out of my mouth. "I'm sorry."
The queen crossed her arms. Her expression screamed seriousness, as if she'd been waiting for this confession for a while. I really was guilty of something, it seemed. "... For?"
I let out another sigh and gestured her to sit down on the couch with me. As I landed my bottom on it, her landing made me bounce a little. "For leaving you and your work alone nowadays."
Anna merely stared right into my eyes sharply. It had been a while I last experienced her glare. "Carry on."
I cleared my throat. "I needed to be with my people once in a while... Clearly, 'once in a while' lasted longer than it should have. But..." I looked away to the window. "Knowing that this is the rest of them makes me... feel so worthless. Hundreds died that night and nothing can ever change that."
"... Does spending time with them makes you forget that?" Anna asked.
I took my time to really determine whether or not it did.
"No... but I suppose it does comfort me. A little," I answered.
"But... I'll take it that you're reminded as well the... failed leader you are when you simply see them," Anna guessed. It was a jackpot.
"Yes..."
A sigh escaped Anna's mouth as she scooched herself closer to me. She folded her hands and readied herself. "Hiccup... you're the first Viking to befriend a dragon. And if I recall... the first to slay a giant dragon?"
I merely nodded, unsure of where she was going with this.
"You're also the first to create a utopia for dragons, and the first to move out of the old isle to a new one after generations successfully." Anna firmly took my hands and kept them in hers. "There really was no better person to be the chief of Berk. At least, as far as my knowledge goes, I can't think of a better leader. You inspired loyalty. Your people chose to follow you for that."
My eyes widened slightly.
"Even good leaders make poor choices. The best take responsibility for them. You did more than that with the circumstances. Remember this."
Our eyes remained connected as I was still processing her statement. Anna continued, "But I'm not going to pretend that I've been lonely in the past few days. Heck, you started visiting them the day Sir Olson let them stay in his farm. That was only two days after we got rid of Therondia. I've started feeling lonely ever since, if you want me to be honest. And then you started spending the night there and..."
I could only nod at her when she listed me the accusations of which I was guilty for.
"Yeah. that. But I'm an adult and I'm going to act like one. If you still feel the need to spend more time with them, I'm not stopping you. But, I need you to remember that... I can help you feel better. I will more than try. Even if your guilt is an immovable object, I will try, and try, and try..."
Naturally, I smiled at her. She returned the same thing to me.
"And I need you to know as well that... this woman misses her man dearly," she blatantly admitted, smiling in the same manner. I chuckled in reaction.
Instinctively, I reached for her cheek and planted my smile on hers. My hand crawled to her nape and deepened the kiss. We enjoyed each other's kisses until I pulled away to kiss her cheek and forehead. Anna really had heart of gold and to keep it safe was a task I was only going to fail by dying, and I intended not to fail.
I pulled her into my arms and she did the same to me.
"Thank you Anna..." My voice sounded weak. I buried my face in her shoulder to shut the remaining gap between us to remind her that I was there for her. Anna lifted her legs and placed them on my crossed ones, leaving absolutely no more gap between us.
"Mhm..."
I pulled away, keeping our arms connected. "B-But... I'll manage my time better. For you."
The queen smiled endearingly. "Thank you."
"I will. Mark my words-"
I cut myself when I spotted a speck on the view outside of the window. There was something on the fjord. It was a ship! No mistaking.
"Are we... expecting a guest anytime soon?" I asked.
"Ah! My cousin!"