A/N: Hi guys! Sorry about the slow update. Have been a bit busy these last couple of weeks, so I didn't get to write much, and I didn't want to rush out sub par quality stuff that I wasn't fully happy with. English isn't my primary language so I spend a bit more time proof reading too. Hopefully the next few chapters shouldn't take as long. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you for your patience :)

Chapter 12: The New Normal

When Astrid's eyes blinked open, the sun hadn't quite risen yet, and the sky was a deep blue, soft light shining in through the window.

She sat up in the bed and felt something tug at her hand, and turned right to see Hiccup sleeping peacefully, holding her hand firmly in his grasp, his fingers warm around her own.

She did a double take at the sight before recalling that she herself had accepted his unexpected request last night. She didn't even know why she had done it, maybe it was the endearingly honest way in which he'd asked, or maybe because... after he'd put the thought in her head, she realised that yes, a part of her did want to hold his hand too.

Except for the occasional hug from her parents, she'd pretty much never had any sort of physical contact of the affectionate nature. Emotions were for the weak, and she considered herself stronger than that. But as much as her tougher side was telling her to, she couldn't risk pulling her hand away and wake the sleeping boy.

So she waited.

This was the first time she'd seen Hiccup sleeping in her life, since usually he woke long before her, and she took the chance to get a long and proper look at him.

His eyes were closed but she already knew how green they were underneath, rich and deep, the color of the forest after a long rain shower. Then there was the dusting of freckles on his nose and cheeks, and his lips curled into his signature smile, even in sleep.

He was small yes, he was dorky, but with the shaggy mop of auburn hair on his head and pleasing simplicity of his features, she would be lying if she'd said he was bad looking. She definitely preferred him over the more muscular or 'Viking-like' teens.

He shifted a bit and suddenly pulled her hand closer, to his chest, putting his arms round it like it was a stuffed toy of his. She was pulled along with it and suddenly found herself leaning over him, her hair trailing down and tickling his cheeks.

She stayed frozen in that awkward position for a few tense moments, wondering how to extricate herself from this, till she looked down and found herself staring right into his green orbs. They really were greener than she'd thought.

"Astrid?" He asked softly, blinking a few times as if to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

Unable to keep the smile off her face at his awestruck expression, only one word came to her mind in reply.

"Hiccup"

"You're supposed to knead it, not punch it" Hiccup said, barely containing his laughter.

"What's the difference again?" She muttered, brushing her bangs aside and trying to pound the dough into submission.

"Like this" he showed, using his palm to stretch his dough before rolling it back, then turning it a quarter turn and repeating.

Astrid copied him the best she could, and although her dough wasn't looking as enticing at his, it was still better than the goo-ey mess she'd made yesterday.

Her shirt had a light dusting of flour by now, matching Hiccup's tunic, and they had made a good mess in the kitchen as Astrid tried to learn to make a decent bread.

Hiccup didn't seem to mind though, as he put them in the brick oven and lit a small fire underneath.

These last two weeks had been surprisingly bearable for Astrid, and no where near what she had imagined being married would be like. She didn't feel like a traditional sort of wife, she just felt like a girl living with an... acquaintance? friend? husband?

Hiccup felt like none of those things and all of them at the same time. When she thought about what he'd been to her all her life, acquaintance was the most she would have conceded. But now, when they sparred together in the woods or when he taught her to cook with seemingly infinite patience despite her slow progress, he seemed like a friend, and a good one at that.

She could have almost said that nothing they did went beyond the norms of friendship, but then there were times like on the occasional nights when she let him hold her hand, or when he was overly generous with compliments about her beauty or skill, or even the times he confided in her about his life before the marriage, how he'd felt being shunned by the village, that he really felt like her husband.

And the strangest thing of all was... she didn't mind any of it. She didn't mind being his friend and she didn't really mind being his wife.

Hiccup, on the other hand, clearly had a lingering insecurity about being her husband. She'd noticed it in his behavior numerous times. When they were alone in the forest or in their house, he was much more open, much more free, unafraid to talk to her or put a casual hand on her shoulder like he was proud to be with her.

In public however, she'd noticed his hesitation, the way how he inched away from her, too aware of judgemental gazes from all around. To try to appease his doubts, Astrid had made it a point to hold his hand whenever they walked together, to visit him in the forge to give him lunch, not because she wanted to let the village know that she okay with being his wife, but to let him know.

Astrid hadn't even realised how much of a toll all the years of bullying and public disasters had had on him, how much he'd doubted his self worth. He clearly had some major self esteem issues, and Astrid found herself desperately want to remedy those any way she knew how.

She was impressed by his inventive skills as much as she was by his good nature, by how much affection and care simply oozed out of him towards her. Astrid couldn't figure out what she'd done to earn this treatment from him, as he'd been doing this from day one.

But she did know that as much as he gave her, sometimes she inexplicably found herself wanting more. Sometimes it was her who made the first move to hold his hand, it was her who pretended to be asleep whenever he kissed her forehead in the mornings, and it was her who found herself wanting him to put his arm around her waist on the chilly nights they sat together by the fire.

Her deeply ingrained wish to break the marriage off had gone by the wayside while she'd gotten busy settling into this new domestic life she had imagined she would despise. At first, the plan had been her sole focus, the only goal, but slowly, it had morphed into a chore that she kept putting off as long as she could, until she realised she didn't really wanna do it anymore.

Something had changed. She had changed. Hiccup had changed something inside her, something at the core of her very being, at it was becoming increasingly apparent to her that she would never be the same again. And the truth was, she didn't really want to be.

The Astrid that was dead set on being a shield maiden, the Astrid that had turned a blind eye whenever Hiccup was bullied, the Astrid that made it a point to never admit weakness, never admit she was wrong, was now gone. Gone and gone and never coming back.

Astrid propped the large basket against her hip as she made her way to the stream. Wash day, as it was called, was the day of the week when most of the women congregated to wash clothes at the small river and bathe in the springs afterwards.

There was a sort of unofficial rule that only married women were allowed at the stream, but apparently that didn't stop Ruffnut as she and Astrid reached their spot near a flat rock jutting into the flow.

Astrid was pretty sure Ruffnut only bothered to come here because of her insatiable need for the latest village gossip, and there was no better source to get it from than a gaggle of talkative women.

Astrid on the other hand, came here as she was the only woman in her household, and hence it was her duty. Hiccup had insisted he could take care of this, but Astrid hadn't budged until he was the one who had to cave in. Astrid wanted to be successful at everything she did, and if she had to be a wife, she was going to be the best darn wife that ever lived.

She'd admit it felt strange here with all these women vastly more experienced in married life than her, but it felt good also, to be pulling her own weight in her household. Hiccup did enough as it was, earning money for them from his job and helping out with the cooking. The chief had been more than happy to support them financially for the time being, but Hiccup had insisted. Astrid figured he wanted to be independent, to prove he was more than just the son of the Chief.

"What has gotten into you?" Ruff commented, snapping Astrid out of her thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Remember last week when you said you'll meet up with me the next day and we'd brainstorm a way to annul your marriage. And you never showed!"

"Oh" Astrid said, realising. She'd been distracted the next day while cooking for the first time with Hiccup and all, that it had totally slipped her mind.

Astrid unloaded her pile and started washing, trying to pointedly avoid her friend's intrigued gaze.

"And where have you been for the last two weeks? I understand you two are excused from dragon training being your honeymoon and all, but I've hardly seen you at lunch or dinner in the great hall! The only time you're ever around is when I see you going to or coming out of the forge"

Astrid sighed at the explanation she'd have to give now, despite not knowing the answer herself to any of her questions.

"I've been having my meals at home... with Hiccup"

Ruff blinked in surprise.

"What?" Astrid asked.

"You called it home instead of 'Hiccup's house'"

Astrid blushed at her insinuation. "Whatever, what I was saying is that he has been teaching me to cook, and I can finally say I can feed us both with only a minor risk of accidental poisoning now"

While Astrid looked away, a mischievous smile formed on Ruffnut's face. "So Astrid..." she began, almost too casually. "I discovered an old clause in a scroll we'd missed earlier. I found the solution. I can have your marriage annulled in a snap." she said, snapping her fingers to prove her point.

Astrid was taken aback by this. Just like that? Why hadn't Ruffnut found whatever this was before the marriage? And why was she bringing it up now, not when they'd met up in the morning?

Despite this being what she'd thought she wanted for the longest time, Astrid found herself frowning.

"Aren't you gonna ask me what it is?" Ruff said, excitedly wriggling in her place.

Astrid said nothing for a long while, trying to delay her inevitable answer. "No. I don't want to know" she said firmly.

Ruffnut's smile grew into a triumphant smirk. "I knew it!" She proclaimed, squealing like a little girl and attracting confused looks from the nearby women.

"Shush!" exclaimed Astrid, stupefied by her reaction. "Knew what?"

"You like him!" She announced, as if she'd just made the most surprising discovery in the history of mankind.

"What?!" Astrid exclaimed.

"You like him you like him you like-" she sang in a sing song voice while dancing in a little circle, resisting Astrid's frantic attempts to get her to shut up. Then she changed her tune. "Hiccup and Astrid sitting in a tree, K-I-S-oof" she was tackled to the ground by a red faced Astrid, who clamped her palm over Ruff's mouth to stop her singing.

"Stop it!" Astrid hissed, before withdrawing her hand in disgust. "Did you just lick my hand?"

Ruffnut waved the question aside, and said simply, "You like him"

Astrid covered her face with her hands in exasperation, and it had the added benefit of hiding her blush. "That's preposterous"

"It's not"

"Is so"

"Is not!"

"Is so!"

"IS NOT!"

Astrid finally groaned and gave up, making Ruffnut do another jig in celebration. "I told you it won't be so bad" she eyed her friend up and down, before her gaze landed on the pretty looking bracelet on her wrist. "And I think it's definitely better than even I'd expected."

"It's nothing" Astrid insisted, covering her wrist with the other hand, although the bright red color rushing to her cheeks gave away the fact that it was in fact very much a something.

"Oh by the way, I was lying about that. I didn't find any clause or whatever."

Astrid turned on her friend with an intense glare. "What?! Why did you lie?"

"I just wanted you to admit that you were dropping your 'plan' for good. And it looked like I succeeded" she finished, wriggling her eyebrows.

Astrid just rolled her eyes and got back to her washing, before her friend spoke again.

"So?"

"So what?"

Ruffnut grinned devilishly. "Tell me everything"

Making sure Astrid had left, Hiccup snuck out of the house and hightailed it into the forest, heading for the cove.

As much as he was thankful for the fact that Astrid didn't seem to avoid him these days, and seemed to spend more and more time with him, it did make having to sneak off to go see toothless quite challenging.

He hadn't really given it much thought as to how this would work when he'd first decided to duel for Astrid's hand, as he hadn't really thought he would actually succeed. And now, he was having to sneak around behind his wife's back to visit his best friend.

He wanted nothing more than to tell her the truth, maybe even introduce her to toothless, show her how wrong everyone was about dragons. But the problem was, as a top tier dragon fighter, he knew she'd not believe him, she'd out him as a traitor to the whole village, annul the marriage, and everything Hiccup had worked on for the last few months will crumble to dust in an instant.

The fact that Astrid actually seemed to have stopped resenting him and went as far as spending peaceful time with him was so blissfully unbelievable that Hiccup didn't want to dare risk it.

So Hiccup did his best to be inconspicuous while he disappeared into the forest each day, trying to do it at a time when either Astrid was out of the house, or sometimes he'd go fly toothless on the way home from the forge.

He'd had some close calls, but so far, he'd managed to keep this side of his life a secret from her. Not out of choice, but out of necessity. At a couple of occasions, she had asked him where he'd been or sometimes his story didn't add up but Astrid hadn't held onto the issue, much to his relief.

Toothless greeted him like an excited puppy as always, and before long, they were soaring through the sky and zig-zagging between clouds.

Hiccup had been feeling a bit down the whole day, due to the dread that he and Astrid were due to return to dragon training from tomorrow.

Each minute he spent in the arena, he ran the risk of raising suspicions about his 'fighting' style (or the lack of it) against the arena dragons, and he didn't want to attract any more attention to himself than he already had with the monstrous nightmare.

The other, and perhaps more important reason was that he wasn't sure if he'd be able to watch Astrid fight the dragons and not do anything about it. Of course seeing her in battle was nothing new, but now that she was his wife, it felt like everything was different. He felt responsible for her in every way, and that included responsibility for her actions if they harmed dragons.

He wasn't sure how to confront her about it, or if he even should. He didn't want to do anything to halt their relationship which was improving slowly but steadily, but neither did he want her to stay ignorant of the reality about dragons.

He really enjoyed sparring with her in the evenings, even though she was technically training him to fight dragons.

He smiled when he recalled how much she'd opened up to him, going as far as to letting her hair down whenever it was just the two of them, even during the day, in their house or the forest. It was like a special part of her life that only he had the privilege of witnessing, and he didn't want to spoil that, didn't want her to think worse of him for being a 'traitor' to Berk.

Laying back on the saddle and looking at the upside down ocean, he took a deep calming breath and let the worries go for the moment as he enjoyed the crisp and cool wind on his face.

"You seriously mean to tell me you guys haven't done it yet?"

Astrid's face turned scarlet. "No! I told you, we haven't done anything"

"Nothing at all?" Ruffnut pressed, raising an eyebrow.

Astrid looked down at her lap. "Well... we have held hands... and he's kissed me on the forehead a few times"

"That's it? Gosh, you guys are so boring"

Astrid scoffed. "Hey, remember who you're talking too. This is more than I ever expected I'd do, let alone with Hiccup of all people"

"So what changed?"

"Well... It turns out my mom was kinda right after all. He's... a really sweet and caring guy, even if he does get on my nerves sometimes with his troublemaking streak. He treats me so well it's unbelievable. Not to mention he's also... not that bad to look at" Astrid finished shyly.

Ruff looked at her friend skeptically.

"It's true! I'll admit I hadn't really looked at him that way before, but he's got this dorky smile that makes my insides go all funny if I look at it too long, and one time he was working in the forge without a shirt on and he almost caught me staring..." she trailed off, shutting her eyes in embarrassment.

"Aww, I'd never thought I'd live to see you this mushy over a guy"

"If you tell anyone about this then you're dead" she threatened.

Ruffnut did a 'my lips are sealed' gesture.

"And he's not just some guy, he's my husband. I have all the right to gush over him"

"Okay, so getting back on track. Why haven't you guys kissed yet?"

Astrid was taken aback by the bluntness of her question. "Well... we did at the wedding didn't we?"

Ruff rolled her eyes. "As if that counts. That kiss was so short I was wondering if I missed it by blinking at the wrong time"

"It definitely counts!"

"Ok, why haven't you kissed since then? Haven't you wanted to?"

"No, of course not!"

Well, that wasn't completely true. Their brief kiss from the wedding had often popped up in Astrid's mind in the days that followed, and she found herself curious about it. What would it feel like if they did that on their own volition, while not having a room full of vikings staring them down? Was Hiccup a good kisser? Was she? A single peck was all she had to go on and it wasn't nearly enough to reach any solid conclusions.

"Okay fine, maybe I wanted to a tiny bit. But I can't make the first move, that's his job!"

"Why don't you just cuddle up to him at night? That might prompt him to take the initiative."

"Umm well about that.."

Astrid sheepishly explained about how she'd divided their marital bed into two sides to force him to lie with her one night, and now she was too proud to be the one to break that rule first, and Hiccup took her boundaries too seriously to even think about overstepping them.

"Oh gods, the more you talk, the more I feel like my brain is gonna cringe itself to death. You two are hopeless."

"We're not!"

"Ok fine, wait for him to make a move, but you gotta meet him halfway. Take the leap."

Astrid stayed silent but pondered over that last bit, absently wondering what Hiccup would be doing right about now.

Later that evening, Hiccup was sparring with his wife in the woods, like they did on most evenings.

"You better try harder than that, the dragons won't go as easy on you as I do" Astrid said, sidestepping around his punch.

"Oh really? I thought they'd see all this.. raw viking-ness and run home crying to their mommies" he deadpanned.

This was one more thing that had changed, Hiccup had opened up to her recently. In the first few days of marriage, he'd been a nervous stuttering mess, only speaking to her when necessary, and hardly ever joked. But now, smiles, teases, and sarcastic remarks were a common fixture in their banter, and she'd noticed that Hiccup only got this way when no one else was around.

It made her happy to know that he trusted her and was comfortable enough with her to open up like this, and she knew a similar thing was happening to her too. Astrid had never been one to ever giggle like a girl, but somehow most of Hiccup's jokes seemed to hit the right spot for her. It both amused and baffled her to no end.

She especially enjoyed how much she affected him, how a simple act like undoing her braid in front of him had him practically drooling on the floor, and even though sparring with hair down made it get all tangled, it was worth it in the end as it distracted Hiccup enough to give her an edge in their duels.

Even though she'd passed of his win against her in the arena as a fluke, she had to admit that he'd improved a lot in the last month, partly from her instruction, but on his own too.

A part of her was concerned about dragon training tomorrow, and she was trying to make sure Hiccup was good enough to at least keep himself safe in the arena.

There was a time earlier that she wouldn't have batted an eye had he been blown into ash by a dragon blast, but now the mere thought of it made her shudder. She told herself it was natural since he was her husband, and not because she liked him or anything. She did tell herself that.

Her thoughts were still distracting her when she suddenly found herself sprawled on the ground, Hiccup grinning down triumphantly at her. "I win"

"No you didn't! It was just a practice session. There are no winners or losers" she said, taking his hand to pull herself up.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Well, how about a little competition then?"

"What's the point? I'll win anyway" Astrid said dismissively, knowing Hiccup would protest.

"If you're so confident, then how about a little wager? If I win, then you'll have to... give me a kiss" he challenged, giving her a sly smile.

"What? no way am I doing that" Astrid said automatically, ignoring the thumping of her heart at his suggestion.

"You said it yourself that you'd win right? What's Berk's toughest warrior got to worry about?"

Oh darn him to heck. Hiccup had figured out by now how to push all her buttons.

"Fine!" She said. "But what do I get if I win?"

Hiccup pretended to think for a moment before sighing dramatically. "I guess if you win, then I'll have to give you a kiss" he said in a dejected voice, as if it was an unwanted chore.

Astrid's face grew even hotter. "That doesn't sound very fair" she mumbled.

"All is fair in love and war, milady" Hiccup said, making Astrid's eyes widen, but before she could respond, he came at her faster than a leaping terrible terror.

It was on.

Astrid lay on the ground, heaving panting breaths, with Hiccup doing the same beside her.

She didn't know what had gotten into him, but he'd fought like never before, moving faster, reacting faster, hitting with more power, and had kept going even after the point where he usually ran out of steam, and the intense fight had gone on until, unbelievably, Astrid had been the one to succumb to fatigue first, at which point it was just the simple matter of pin and win.

And Hiccup had won (curse him) and Astrid will have to- But there was no way she was going to-

Meet him halfway, Ruffnut's voice spoke in her head. Take the leap.

Fine. This was what she wanted anyway, didn't she? As a bonus, she had now discovered that an incentive like this turned Hiccup into this berserking fighting machine.

After a long while of catching her breath, she sat up on the ground, Hiccup still lying comatose on the ground like he'd run a hundred miles.

"You do know that a dragon won't wait for you to rest in a real fight, right?"

"Good thing you're not a dragon" he replied, smirking victoriously even with his eyes closed.

"You're insufferable" she grumbled, moving to stand up before she was stopped by Hiccup tugging on her hand.

He sat up too, shaking dust from his hair and grinning widely at her. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

He'd gotten much braver than earlier too. Although given he'd went up unarmed against a nightmare (how?), perhaps he'd always been that way.

Even though the adrenaline from the fight was wearing off, Astrid still felt like her veins were full of lighting when, after making a big show of how she didn't want to do this and was only doing this cause of the stupid bet, she scooted a bit closer to the boy, whose eyes widened in surprise as if he'd hadn't expected her to actually follow through on her promise.

The Astrid I know would never let anyone tell her what to do, the words he'd spoken to her at their wedding, a lifetime ago.

Her heart was thumping in her chest as she leaned forward until their faces were inches apart, and he was still staring at her in awe as she put a gentle hand on his cheek to guide him closer until their lips met.

She'd intended to just give him a peck, but neither of them seemed to want to be the first to pull away, and given that her husband was probably enjoying this way too much, she finally pulled away some fifteen seconds later with a pop, and looked away all shy-like.

"That was... wow" he breathed, causing her blush to deepen as she tugged on his hand.

"Let's go, it's getting late" she said, nervous to meet his eyes. He squeezed her hand once in response and they walked back to the village hand in hand, both of them feeling thankful for the dim light which hid their bright red faces.

This feels... she thought, glancing down at their joined hands. This feels normal.

A/N: Aww, they are so cute! I hope you guys were as excited about their developments as Ruffnut was :p

Astrid wants to make Hiccup better at fighting dragons while Hiccup is trying to figure out how to keep her from hurting them. I wonder how this will play out at dragon training ;)

Please leave a review if you enjoyed, I'd really appreciate it! :)