The Other Woman

"A look into how Fishlegs ended up vying for Ruffnut when he and Heather were a thing in RTTE."

Rated T

3,964 Words

Past/One-Sided Heathlegs, Rufflegs

Heather, Mala, Astrid, Dagur, Fishlegs, Ruffnut

Canon Compliant

August 2nd, 2020

Heather loved him—she really did—so she let him go.

It happened after her best friend got betrothed and her brother got married and the riders left the edge and she decided to stay with the Berserkers. It got her thinking about where she wanted to be and where everyone else was going and where her priorities were. It made her a little confused, honestly.

Heather had a home with the dragon riders, yet she couldn't bring herself to stay with them when they went back to Berk. Her home with the dragon riders was not with Berk. Her home was with her tribe. Her home was with her brother and his new wife. Her home was with them. Heather knew that, if she moved to Berk, it would be more of a commitment and far more permanent. It was something she wasn't sure if she could follow through on.

So, Heather stayed with the Berserker tribe and with her brother and subjected herself to all of the what if's. She was well aware that her first time in Berk did not go over smoothly and that she was a poor orphan girl turned criminal before anything else. The Berserkers liked her; she'd have to work hard to gain the trust of everyone in Berk. Berk would not feel like home. It would feel like she was intruding in someone else's house and she's already felt like the villain enough.

And him. They had been long distances before. They wrote and sent letters to each other all the time, but that was child's play. The riders were still living at the edge. They had a place for her and she could visit at any time. The riders were still living at the edge. Despite all of the danger they had been in and the trouble they had been through, they felt invincible.

The riders were leaving on the edge and that's when Heather realized that they all were really growing up. They had responsibilities and their choices could affect the rest of their lives. Heather spent several nights thinking about it—her future, her future with him. She could see it but, for some reason, she couldn't believe it.

She saw how their relationship was taking a toll on him too.

He was always a bit more reserved and anxious than the others—except maybe Hiccup. It was adorable to Heather and one of the reasons why she liked him. He was a sensitive guy and not afraid to share his own vulnerabilities which made Heather feel so much better about hers. However, she noticed he had become much less talkative whenever she came to visit, which was also becoming a rarer and rarer occurrence. She asked the others if they had noticed and they just shrugged. After their stint with independence and freedom, they were all just adjusting to the thought of going home.

She noticed the passion drain from him as it did in her too. They were barely talking. Even when they were in the same room together, alone, they didn't talk. She felt like they were drifting apart. She didn't really know any specific details about his life nor did he about hers. It was all so vague and distant.

Still, Heather wasn't completely clueless. She visited the riders right after they moved back to Berk. It was like their final goodbye. This is it. She would be back, of course, but they'd never be as close as before. Heather wasn't blind or deaf or dense or slow or anything and she noticed how her boyfriend looked at another woman dear to his heart. It only hurt a little.

Heather noticed how he was always teasing this other woman whilst remaining blunt with her. She noticed how he doted over this other woman as he left Heather by herself. She noticed how he always kept his eyes on this other woman but barely spared Heather a glance here and there. This other woman… Not as much of a friend to Heather as, say, Astrid or Hiccup, but they had still made each other's acquaintance.

At first, Heather was jealous. She'd admit that she was honestly jealous. She couldn't understand what her boyfriend—they hadn't officially broken up yet but she knew it was coming—saw in this other woman. She dwelled on it, prolonging her stay by claiming that she didn't want to leave just yet. She observed, invisible to both her targets. At first, she thought that it was her fault; she thought that she didn't love her boyfriend enough and he was feeling deprived of love so he looked for it elsewhere. She thought he only liked the other woman because she was there and available and that if she loved her boyfriend more, he would get over it. She was half-right.

Heather and her boyfriend rarely kissed throughout their whole relationship. They hugged sometimes and it was nice, but they never got that close to each other. They talked about silly things but, when the topic got serious, they got silent; actually, he got silent first and Heather read the room. He said he would listen to her and try to help but he honestly didn't know how to deal with her and, when she took off her mask, it made him uncomfortable. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't hers either. It was a faultless crime.

She watched how comfortable he was with this other woman. Then, it hit her.

She loved him. Gods, she really did, but she loved him like a brother and a friend. Maybe she liked him a little bit more than that, but she didn't feel like they loved each other. They weren't boyfriend and girlfriend. They were friends who kissed from time to time to hide from that truth.

And this other woman, well, she was closer than Heather was to him. They had been together for years. She couldn't compete with that. No matter how much she and him thought they liked each other, he'd definitely pick the other woman over her. Her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend liked her, but it was different than how he liked the other woman. Heather could listen to them talk and feel it.

It was time.

She asked him to meet her early that morning, just as the sun was rising. She didn't ask him in person. She just left a letter in his room and hoped for the best.

"Um, hey, Heather?" Fishlegs waved at her and Heather could tell how tense he was. His shoulders were raised like they always were when he was nervous. "You asked to meet me."

"This isn't working out." Heather was blunt. She had to be. Fishlegs was a really nice guy but he was a real pushover at times. He was a people pleaser and would have absolutely blamed the whole thing on himself. He would've tried to salvage what little they still had and Heather wouldn't have been able to resist him.

"Okay."

Heather was prepared for a lot of things but she was not prepared for that. It's not like it wasn't a good reaction but… No. She was the one who broke up with him. She didn't have a right to feel upset about it—his lack of a reaction, no questions asked, just accepting.

The guilt and the fear were starting to overwhelm her, but she still smiled. "So, friends?" She was half-expecting him to say 'No'. Her mind was racing, unable to stop thinking bad thoughts. Had he known this was coming? Probably, honestly. But, if he had known, why hadn't he said anything earlier? Has she done something wrong and wanted her to suffer? Did he not care?

Was he happy that she was breaking up with him?

"Yeah, friends." Fishlegs took her hand and shook it before turning around to leave, assuming this conversation was over. Heather wasn't going to keep him. "Oh, and, Heather," Fishlegs called over his shoulder, "I knew this was gonna happen, but no hard feelings."

"None."

Heather stayed where she had Fishlegs meet her, on the island but far away from the village of Berk. She didn't come back until after breakfast when she grabbed her bag, said her goodbyes, and left.

Heather didn't cry that day or many days later. She smiled, a lot. She was happy. She was free and she just freed a boy from a lifetime of misery with her.

Heather couldn't cry? How could she? She didn't love him like that. This was for the better. Besides, she was the one who broke up with him. This was a faultless crime, yet, she was the one at fault. She couldn't cry about it.

Her friends were gone. Her brother was with his wife. Heather kept to herself but she didn't cry. She was strong. She didn't cry. She was brave. She didn't cry. She had been through much worse.

Then her brother and his wife came home.

"Heather?" Heather snapped her head up from the porridge she was eating. She had been waking up and eating breakfast extra early to avoid being witness to her brother and his wife's affections. She slipped up. "I've noticed that you haven't been in the company of your brother and me for a while. He assured me that you could take care of yourself, but we're both aware of our current standings in your life."

"Um, what?" Heather swallowed the porridge in her mouth and pushed the bowl away. She only ate a few spoonfuls but, suddenly, she was no longer hungry. "I don't follow…"

"Your brother came into your life not too long ago and I even more recently." Mala pulled out a chair to sit diagonally to Heather. "I know that I cannot understand how you are feeling with all these changes but I promise you, your brother and I are here for you." To emphasize, Mala took Heather's hand from the table and held it in hers.

Heather liked Mala but, alas, they hadn't spent too much time together. The older woman and her brother spent much of their time before the wedding all over, planning. After, Mala still had a tribe to run. Heather had been traveling too so neither girl bonded.

"That's not the problem." Heather was tempted to pull her hand back. She didn't want Mala's look of pity. However, that would be rude. Mala was just trying to be nice.

Mala smiled and walked away before getting her own bowl of porridge and sitting back down. Heather should've taken her opportunity to leave.

"If that's not the problem, what is?" If Heather had still been eating her porridge, she would've just choked on it and spat it out all over Mala. Instead, her face flushed. "You don't have to tell me but I am married to your brother and I want to be a good sister-in-law." Before Heather could mutter some crude remark about Mala's kindness to her only being an extension of her care for her brother, Mala got up and knelt down next to Heather. "I do want to be your friend."

Heather was beginning to hate how hard her emotions hit her all at once. She started crying. She couldn't breathe. She felt awful but she didn't even know what to say. Mala just stayed there, rubbing her back until the younger girl collected herself.

Barely above a whisper, "How did you and my brother know you loved each other?"

"Well, um, when we met we didn't meet on the best of terms…" Mala pulled her hand back to scratch her neck. "But your friends, the riders, helped us realize that there really wasn't any meaning for such hostility between each other." Heather looked at the blonde as she looked off into the distance. She was probably remembering. "We enjoyed the time we spent together and decided to meet up more. Then we decided that he should take the trials. He passed. We married. And now we're here."

Heather frowned, biting her lip. "But how did you know that it was him and not anyone else?"

Mala turned back to Heather. "Are you having problems with a boy?"

"Wha- No, I just- I- Uh." Heather's face flushed even more and, at that point, she knew she was screwed. "I'm not really having a problem. I had one." Mala raised an eyebrow at her. "It's… over." Gods, she could barely bring herself to say it.

"It's over… but you're still thinking about it?" Mala stood up and now she was towering over Heather. Heather felt like she had done something wrong; like Mala was here to interrogate and prosecute her. Her heart was pounding in her ears. She felt hot. Her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes had stopped watering but she still felt like crying. "It sounds to me like it's not over." Mala held out her hand and, as Heather took it, she lifted the younger girl up from her seat and pulled her closer. Their faces were so close that Heather could see her eyelashes clearly. "From what I've heard, you aren't one to give up on the people you love."

Heather gulped. She hadn't given up. She just let him go.

Heather avoided Mala and Dagur for the rest of their day before they inevitably had to switch off and go back to Mala's tribe. From what Heather gathered, Mala never told Dagur as neither brought it up again. Heather herself was starting to feel better. She was starting to forget about Fishlegs. She was moving on. She hadn't been with anyone, though she spotted a few nice-looking guys. She had moved on.

Astrid visited Heather personally. It had been over a year since they left the edge. Heather had already gotten the news: Stoick the Vast was dead and Hiccup was now the chief of Berk. As the person who took care of the Berserker tribe while their official chief, Dagur, was preoccupied and as his friend, Heather was invited to the celebration. Still, Astrid had wanted to meet with her in person.

Astrid dropped by early, hopping off of Stormfly and practically right into a hug with Heather. The two girls stood there, embracing for a few moments before they finally parted and started talking.

"Heather!" Astrid panted a little. For her to have arrived this early, she either left even earlier and was tired or flew here very, very quickly. "It's been too long."

"It has." Heather led Astrid to the stables where she kept Winshear so Astrid could drop off Stormfly and they could properly catch up. "Um, I mean, I'm sure I'll find out soon enough, but how are things going? How are you guys?"

Astrid paused for a second, as if contemplating what to say. "Well, everyone's been adjusting. It has been hard, of course, but I know Hiccup will figure everything out." Heather's unreactive face told Astrid that this wasn't what Heather wanted to hear about. "Um, Snotlout is still Snotlout—hot-headed and overly flirty. Tuffnut is also the same. No one's really changed much. Oh!" Astrid jumped, catching Heather off guard as she stumbled in response. "There's this new guy, Eret. He was a dragon trapper but he switched sides. He's cool. Ruffnut really likes him."

"Ruffnut…?" Ruffnut was the girl that Fishlegs liked and now she liked someone else. So, what did that mean for Fishlegs?

"Yeah, I can't blame her." Astrid laughed, flushing ever so slightly. "He does look nice and he's a respectable dude. I think Ruffnut will get over it soon enough. He's not interested in her." The girls reached the door to Heather's hut and she pulled it open. "He's just a little refreshing given that the only people available have been Snotlout and Fishlegs for a while and their bickering was getting really annoying."

"Oh?" Heather sat down on her bed and Astrid followed suit. "Snotlout and Fishlegs had been fighting over Ruffnut?"

"Very much." Astrid took off her bag and flung it across the room. "Kinda still are." Astrid noticed the sudden solemn look on Heather's face and knew that, as her friend, it was time to ask the question. "Hey, whatever happened to you and Fishlegs? You guys were still dating when we left the edge but he kinda just started flirting with Ruffnut after we settled in Berk."

Heather wanted so bad to make some snarky comment along the lines of 'Yeah, well not all of us get the man of our dreams like you do, Astrid'. She did want to, but she didn't want to cut off the one best friend she had. She settled for, "It wasn't working out."

"Did you try to make it work?" Astrid scooted in closer to Heather. "I mean, Hiccup and I had our moments where I thought it wouldn't work. Look at the difference between us. I'm this fierce and strong warrior and Hiccup is… well, Hiccup. Not to mention that he is the son of a chief and I kept reminding myself that he should marry some daughter of a chief from another tribe. I thought we weren't good enough for each other. We're like the complete opposite in personality, but we made it work."

Heather laughed, trying to ease the mood of the room. "You and Hiccup are cute but, trust me, it wouldn't have worked."

Astrid looked at Heather for a second before getting up and looking around the room. "What brought this on? You and Fishlegs used to be obsessed with each other."

"Yeah, used to." Heather got up and followed Astrid, making sure the visitor wasn't messing with anything she shouldn't be. "We kinda just drifted apart."

"Why?"

"I don't know," Heather huffed. "Maybe we just weren't as in love as we thought we should be. I know people are getting and have been married by our age but we're young. We moved away." Heather's voice quieted. "Maybe it's because he loved someone else…"

"Are you sure it's not just because you're scared?"

"What!?" Heather rolled her eyes. "And where'd you get that idea."

"I don't know. Maybe it's because you never told anyone that you guys broke up." Astrid walked in front of Heather so that they were face to face once more. She pointed to herself. "You never told me. I saw you watching them before you left. You didn't do anything and I know you didn't talk about it. So, you were scared. You didn't want to bring it up. You broke up with him and you didn't want to bring it up because you were too scared to face it."

Heather picked up Astrid's bag and tossed it to her. They'd have time to catch up at the celebration. Right now she didn't have time for it. "Get out, now." When Astrid didn't move at first, Heather practically yelled. "Please!"

"I just don't want you to make a mistake you'll regret."

It's too late. She already had.

Heather had meant to go back. She had meant to go back and ask the questions and say what she needed to say. She just took her time.

Foolishly, Heather thought that, with the arrival of Eret, maybe things would fall apart between Ruffnut and Fishlegs. This time she thought entirely wrong. Ruffnut was still interested in Eret, but her relationship with Fishlegs only continued to grow. Snotlout had found a new target in Valka. Fishlegs had no competition. Ruffnut was his. He was hers for the taking. Fishlegs was not Heather's.

She actually had all the letters written and ready, but they were never sent. Like Mala, Astrid had mostly dropped the topic after their one confrontation. She pushed Heather to interact with Fishlegs at the celebration but Heather avoided both of them. Mala was watching too.

Heather did not find out from Fishlegs. It was after the wedding between Hiccup and Astrid, which she was in attendance of. She still avoided him. Heather found out from Astrid, of course. Fishlegs and Ruffnut had decided to get married. She had received an invitation that she tossed.

She went on the insistence of Astrid. Astrid told her that she would definitely hate the wedding but assured her that she would hate it even more if she wasn't there for her old friend on his special day. Heather went and stayed in the back and didn't talk to anybody. She only said her obligatory congratulations to the newlyweds and slipped out of the party early.

Dagur found her sobbing behind the building.

"Hey, sis," he called out to her. "I know that I haven't been the best brother and that this must be hard for you, but I'm here." Heather continued crying and Dagur's smile fell. "Um, I'm not really good at these things." He pointed to the door. "If you want me to get Astrid or Mala, I can." Without a response, Dagur began walking away.

Then Heather grabbed his arm. "Please stay." Dagur obliged and pulled the broken girl into a hug. "I- I messed up."

Dagur ran his hand through Heather's hair as she tried to catch her breath. "Hey, hey, hey." His voice was much quieter and softer than his usual loud and brash tone. "We've all made mistakes and, trust me, this is nothing compared to the ones I've made."

Heather tensed in his arms and pulled away a little. "But this isn't the same. Fishlegs is my friend and I did this as a good guy of my own free will and I really messed up and it only hurt myself."

Dagur pulled back to arm's length, looking at Heather's face with his hands on his shoulders. "You're strong. I know you can do this. And you didn't hurt him. That's something." Heather shook her head so Dagur took on a more assertive tone. "Heather, you are a tough and resilient girl who's been through some stuff and had to make tough decisions. I'm not saying that you have to like this, but don't beat yourself over this." Dagur took one of his hands off Heather to stick his index finger up in the air. "If there is one thing I learned after joining you guys, it's that I can't fix everything I've done and, if I want to move forward, I have to leave them behind. We can't let the past weigh us down or else we'll never get better."

Heather wiped off her tears. "I just wanna go home."

Dagur placed his arm around her back and guided her to the door. "Of course. Let's just grab you a hot cocoa and Mala and I will take you home."

"Thank you," Heather whispered as Mala came up to her with a drink in hand already and Astrid hugged her goodbye.

Heather loved Fishlegs. Whether she loved him as a friend or more, she didn't know yet. Perhaps she may never know. She didn't do all she could and that could have changed things. What she did know was that she still had good friends and family out there who were watching out for her. Love was confusing and currently beseeching Heather at the moment, but this was definitely love.

She would forever be known as the other woman when Ruffnut and Fishlegs' kids ask their dad about how he used to know her and, while the title pained her, she could live with that. Once, Ruffnut was the other woman to Heather and Fishlegs. Heather could live with being the other woman because being the other woman wasn't always a bad thing; sometimes it was just how things were. She'd always be there with no guarantee that she was needed and would never act in any way to make it so.

It was honestly a bit hard trying to reason with this so I stretched things and used some of my own personal experiences with "love" to try to relate because the best way to write a believable story is to base it off of things that really happened.

Mala and Dagur may be a bit OOC because I couldn't remember how they spoke too well.

According to the HTTYD wiki, the 2nd movie was about a year after RTTE.

Not gonna lie, It's 2 A.M. and I was very tired at the end so I wasn't thinking the most. I wanted to get this out before I went to sleep but I also just want to sleep.

Also kinda anti-climactic.

Reviews

To NadderoftheStar: In case you hadn't seen my response, yes, I do Hiccstrid. It is my favorite HTTYD ship. I also want to try other ships if anyone is interested.

To Raisa bean (it won't let me include the period): Thank you so much. I've read the piece you've done and it's touching.