A/N: Thanks for all the love for this story! Hope you enjoy the chapter :)

Chapter 20: Warmth

Hiccup and toothless weaved in between tall sea stacks with practiced ease, and he glanced up to see the distant blue shape flying right above them.

"Come on bud, just a little faster!" He encouraged, and toothless responded, pushing a bit harder and emerging out the end, before coming to a slippery landing on the snowy beach.

His wife and her dragon followed right after, swooping down from high above for a landing, stormfly's wings sending snow flying everywhere.

"Hiccup, catch!" Astrid called, giving him hardly a second's warning before jumping out the saddle, right into his arms. He caught her alright, but the impact still sent them both tumbling back into the snow.

Hiccup wasn't really one to want his wife to stop kissing him, but he was afraid his armor would freeze to his back if he didn't get up soon. Astrid whined adorably when he gently pushed her away to stand up, brushing snow off himself.

"Hey I was enjoying that!" she protested.

Hiccup chuckled and replied, "you weren't the one who was lying deep in the snow"

Astrid grinned. "Point taken. Although I had no ulterior motives, I promise. I just wanted to... give you your prize for winning as soon as possible" she winked.

If there ever came a day when Vikings accepted dragons, the child in Hiccup wanted the first thing to be done was to make 'dragon racing' an official sport.

Even just racing with Astrid, it was all too much fun. They'd set up a rule that the loser has to give the winner a dozen kisses, but they both knew that it was more or less an excuse for them to make out after every race.

He tried to handicap himself by having to fly through the stacks while Astrid flew above, and it turned out that balanced their speeds perfectly to the point where it was an exciting battle each time.

Since Gobber was busy this whole week to help prepare for the upcoming expedition to search for the nest, training was cancelled and they had the rare chance to sneak stormfly out during the daytime.

Flying now to the back of the arena, Astrid hopped off stormfly and led her inside, while Hiccup kept lookout outside on toothless.

Coming back out, Astrid climbed in behind her husband and off they went, in the direction of Raven's point. While they had been out, it had started to snow, and the lake had already been frozen over for weeks now in a thin layer of ice.

As they came in for a landing, Hiccup was momentarily distracted by something Astrid had said, and he didn't realise until it was too late that toothless was coming down right in the middle of the lake where the ice was the weakest.

Toothless had been running around over the ice just fine, so he'd assumed it was safe to land on. With the extra weight of the two riders however, the ice buckled pretty much instantly.

Hiccup could only let out half a warning for Astrid to brace herself before they were submerged in the ice cold water, both of them shocked at the sudden and unexpected temperature change, the air knocked out of their lungs.

Hiccup could just make out toothless thrashing around wildly amongst the bubbles, and he turned around frantically, looking for any sign of his wife.

For a gut wrenching five seconds, he saw nothing but dark blue water, when a couple of hands hooked under his arms and pulled him sharply towards the surface.

He gasped in the first few breaths, the air like sweet nectar filling his lungs. Once his vision cleared, he saw Astrid beside him, her blonde hair sopping wet and her face reddened from the chill.

She half swam-half tugged him to the edge of the hole where Toothless had already climbed out and was extending his tail into the water for them to take.

"H-H-Hold o-on to m-me" Astrid managed through chattering teeth, and Hiccup couldn't even find the breath to reply, but managed to put his arms around her middle.

Astrid had already grabbed the tail, and they were both pulled out quickly by Toothless, who proceeded to vigorously shake himself dry.

Now on thicker ice, they both lay there for a good minute, too spent to do anything.

Finally, Astrid managed to pull herself up on shaky legs and extended her hand to Hiccup.

"C-come on Hiccup, we've gotta get inside quick" she said urgently, still shivering.

"I can't" Hiccup wheezed, but Astrid pulled him up anyway, ignoring his protests.

"We've gotta get you warm before you catch hypothermia"

Thus they began the walk back to their home that seemed way longer it usually did. Hiccup asked her to go ahead and not to wait for him, but she insisted on walking with him, helping him go faster by pulling him along.

They arrived at their house and entered via the back door, and Astrid got instantly to work, getting the fire started, drying his hair with a towel before doing the same with hers.

Despite being in relative warmth now, they were both still shivering and Hiccup's lips were starting to turn an unpleasant purple color.

Noticing this, Astrid said, "I'll heat up a warm bath for you, get those wet clothes off and get in there immediately." Too cold to argue, Hiccup began stripping off his many layers, while Astrid lit a small fire underneath their iron tub the wash room, and soon the water was giving off extremely appealing wisps of steam.

Even though she was much more able bodied than he was at the moment, he knew that her stubbornness was keeping her appearance strong, while inside, she herself must be in pain and discomfort like he was.

When he got to his pants, he hesitated, and thankfully, Astrid turned away with a blush, letting him enter the water completely before turning back around. The water came up to his shoulders, and he couldn't help but let out a blissful sigh.

"I'll leave you to it..." she started, backing away but Hiccup managed to grab her icy wrist in time. "Huh?"

"Don't be daft Astrid, as tough as we both know you are, you'll still get sick if you don't get in here right now"

Astrid's eyes widened in surprise. Of course, the notion of stripping off her multitude of sopping wet clothes and getting into the warm tub immediately sounded heavenly, but she'd have to wait till Hiccup was done... right?

"Hiccup?" she asked disbelievingly, almost afraid to admit... (hope?) that Hiccup was suggesting what she thought he was.

"I won't look... I promise" he said with a sheepish smile, repeating her words from that morning last week, invoking memories in her mind that made her ears turn red.

Without waiting for her response, he covered his eyes with his hands, and suddenly she was left standing there, water still dripping off her, frozen in place not from the cold but from indecisiveness.

Astrid almost laughed at how they always seemed to be pushed together in the strangest of circumstances, remembering the way she'd spent the night curled up in his arms during that storm, way back when they were still learning about each other and she was slowly realising that she didn't resent him, and neither this marriage.

Maybe the gods are giving me this push, helping me walk right up to the edge, where all that's left is to take that final plunge.

Hiccup's heart was thudding audibly in his ears when he heard some shuffling sounds as Astrid's wet layers started hitting the floor one by one, and realised she'd actually agreed to his request.

He'd have been lying if he'd said it wasn't a spur of the moment thought he'd had, but it was still out of necessity, even if that wasn't the only reason.

He loved his wife dearly, and the last thing he wanted was for her to get sick due to his negligence. That being said, he also wanted to follow her lead of bravery and initiative, like she had shown a few days ago.

If she could be forward and honest about her desires for him, then he could too. Bathing together like this was fairly common in married couples, both to save water and time, but neither of them had even suggested such a possibility to each other until today.

He felt her slide in with a quiet splash, and then suddenly there was silence, the only sounds being the dripping of water and both of their slightly heavy breathing.

"You can open your eyes" he heard her say, in an oddly shy voice.

"Oh! Umm.." he took a deep breath, and uncovered his eyes to see his wife right across from him, her shoulders and face visible over the steaming water. She was blushing right down to her neck, and he didn't need a mirror to know he was doing the same.

Silence fell over them once again, and even though the pleasant water should have been relaxing, Hiccup could feel every nerve in his body stretched taut. It wasn't like her bare shoulders were a new sight to him, but even though he couldn't actually see much else, just knowing that both of them were close enough to be touching knees without a stitch of clothing between them was enough to turn his feeble brain to mush.

"I-It feels nice... the water" Astrid said.

"Oh? Oh yes, very warm" he replied dumbly.

Even after eight months of marriage, why did it suddenly feel like they were shy newlyweds again?

He glanced at Astrid's gaze wandering the room, going anywhere but in his direction. He'd only seen her flustered like this on a rare few occasions before, and she looked absolutely adorable.

After his heartbeat had settled somewhat, a twinge of doubt creeped its way into his mind. He feared he had overstepped her boundaries, asked her to do something she wasn't comfortable with.

"I'm sorry... I didn't want you to get cold... if you don't want to I can get out-"

"What?" Astrid blinked, looking at him again. "N-No Hiccup, I... I don't want you to go"

That wasn't the reply he was expecting at all. "So... you're not uncomfortable with this?"

"No Hiccup" she shook her head. "A bit awkward maybe, but that's just cause it's the first time" she gave him a half grin.

Hiccup did a double take her wording. 'first time'? Did that mean... there would be more times? Hiccup wondered dizzily.

Mistaking his awestruck face for reluctance and wanting to reassure him, she scooted over to his side of the tub and leaned against his side, resting her head on his shoulder.

"It feels kinda nice you know..." she said, "To be with you like this... to not be alone in here"

Hiccup smiled and braved a loose arm around her waist, his fingers tickling her hipbone making her smile as well.

"We can do this again sometime", worried about sounding presumptuous, he hastily added, "I-I mean if you want to, of course"

Astrid laughed at his fumbling shy tone, and replied, "Of course I want to Hiccup"

Smiling happily, he pressed a soft kiss to her temple before closing his eyes, and just felt content in feeling her breathing beside him.

After a long while of blissful warmth and relaxation, they both felt much better, not having the risk of hypothermia anymore. Their fingers were wrinkly and Hiccup's hair stood up in interesting shapes, but neither seemed to want to make the first move to get out.

Finally, after the water had gotten colder and their stomachs had started rumbling, Astrid detached herself from his side and said, "I'll get going now babe"

Hiccup nodded and promptly shut his eyes, making her giggle at his bashfulness. She had half hoped he'd just keep them open, if only to see his reaction.

Hiccup heard her stand up, getting out and drying herself off, and after a while, he heard an amused, "you can look now"

Opening his eyes, he expected to see a dry and fully dressed Astrid. Instead, to his utter disbelief, he saw her casually sitting on the edge of the tub, a towel wrapped around her waist as she dried her hair with a second towel.

As much as he wanted to, he simply couldn't manage to tear his eyes from her, from the unbroken expanse of pale freckled skin from her neck down to her waist, that he'd not laid eyes upon once in his life.

Astrid spied his dropped jaw from the corner of her eye and smirked, happy that she had managed to get the reaction she wanted out of him in the end.

Hiccup continued to stare shamelessly as she wrapped some fresh bindings around her chest before leaning down close to him, pecking him on the cheek, and going back upstairs to presumably get dressed for real.

And he was left there, a hand on his cheek, wondering why he hadn't had the idea of crashing into frozen lakes until now.

A few days later, the first expedition of the season left, led by Chief Stoick, and with it went most of the adult warriors of the village.

Their training with Gobber had resumed, and Hiccup and Astrid were both locked in a battle for the top spot, or at least that's what it appeared like from the outside.

What actually happened during these sessions was that they put their non verbal communication skills into play, sending each other signals to make it appear like they were fighting dragons while trying their best not to actually hurt them.

The others were already making bets on which one of the couple will top the class and get the 'honor' of killing their first dragon, while Hiccup was dreading the time crunch as he attempted to get to the root cause of why the raids happened.

He'd told Astrid that he had theorized that finding the nest was essential to solving the mystery, but so far, his scouting missions hadn't turned up anything. But she knew he was still determined to keep trying until he succeeded.

Astrid poked at the little bonfire they all sat around one evening on the watch tower as Gobber recounted the tale of how he'd lost his arm and leg for the umpteenth time.

She couldn't help but smirk as she watched Gobber embellish his tale so it became even more fantastical each time he told it.

She had been resting her head on Hiccup's shoulder, but she lifted it when he tensed up, and followed his gaze out towards the sea where the unmistakable silhouettes of approaching dragons were visible against the twilight sky.

"Woah, that's a lot of em' alright" muttered Tuffnut.

Hiccup and Astrid exchanged a glance, and they were the first to step into action.

"We gotta go" they said in unison, but before they could swiftly escape, Gobber caught Hiccup's vest by his hook.

"Ah hold your horses lad, I need ya in the forge tonight, lot of weapons are needed ta be sharpened and I could use yer help"

"B-But.." Hiccup tried and gave a pleading look to Astrid as he got dragged away. Astrid just stared back dumbstruck, unable to come up with a suitable excuse in time.

Then, there was nothing more for her to do then get to fire brigade duty with the other teens just as the first fireballs started exploding overhead, and the whole time Astrid was distracted, trying to think up a way to help Hiccup get away from the forge as soon as possible.

Each passing minute felt agonising, and before long, she was left with no choice but to run off toward the forge, ignoring the confused looks from the others.

As she weaved her way past the crowd of Vikings trying to get their weapons sharpened and into the forge, Gobber, who was manning the grinding wheel, exclaimed, "Aye lass! go find yer husband, will ya? he left to get oil for the wheel ten minutes ago and didn't return yet"

"Oh?" Astrid almost let out a relieved smile but managed to stifle it at the last second, just as the first woosh sound was heard whizzing by overhead.

"For odin's sake" Hiccup muttered under his helmet as he spotted yet another house engulfed in flames down below. Luckily, it's residents seemed to be standing outside, away from danger.

Tonight's raid had been an especially bad one, and Hiccup was yet again reminded of his inability to find the nest and put a stop to all this.

With his father and most of the warriors gone on the expedition, they were severely understaffed and he and toothless had their hands full even as the dragons had started to thin out.

He was about twenty feet in the air when he spotted one of the guys standing outside- Thuggory- rush back into the burning house through the back door, although he had no clue why. Perhaps in a reckless attempt to salvage some valuables?

That was when a monstrous nightmare, already engulfed in flames, landed on the back wall of the house, making it collapse, sparks flying everywhere.

Hiccup vaguely registered the horrified screams of the people standing outside as smoke continued to billow out of the windows, and he made the decision in all of two seconds. Toothless did a low pass over the burning roof, and he jumped at the right moment, landing on the upstairs loft, the blazing heat hitting him like a hammer, even through his fireproof suit.

He crept carefully downstairs where it was hard to see anything due to all the smoke. Coughing inside his mask, he caught a glimpse of the large shape of the dragon before a large claw knocked into his side, and he was thrown to the ground.

Crying out in pain, he clutched his side with his right hand and ignited the sword with his left, managing to startle the dragon and get it to leave the building in search of an easier target.

Crawling on his hands and knees to avoid the worst of the smoke, he spotted Thuggory's limp form slumped near some wooden chests. So he had tried to save some valuables, like a fool.

Grabbing him by the shoulders, he managed to drag him outside, where some family members stared at him dumbstruck before rushing over to take the boy from him, who had probably passed out from smoke inhalation.

Before Hiccup even had time to think about what he'd done, he was already running, right to where Toothless was landed and waiting for him. They took off and got back to work, and Hiccup knew, that he'd been seen, that his secret was out, that there was no going back from here. There was only going forward.

Astrid paced back and forth inside their house, too anxious to even have the patience to sit down. The raid had begun to fizzle out a while ago, and all in all, four houses had burnt down.

Fortunately, no one had been killed, but she had heard some whispers floating through the air, people discussing words like 'rider of the night fury', 'dragon human hybrid' and 'dragon King'.

It wasn't that tough to figure out that Hiccup had actually been spotted by someone, and the word had spread like wildfire and had distorted into a variety of tales painting him in different lights.

She couldn't imagine how Hiccup, who was normally so careful, could have slipped up like this. That question was on the forefront of her mind when she heard some flapping sounds outside, and rushed out back to see toothless come to a clumsy landing, and Hiccup tumbled out of the saddle with a cry of pain. As soon as he was on the ground, he nodded to toothless who disappeared into the trees.

Hiccup never had toothless land near their house to avoid the risk of being spotted, but it was clear that he wasn't in a condition to walk all the way from raven's point right now.

"Hiccup!" she cried and rushed to his side to help him walk up the slope and into their house, where he sat down heavily and took off his helmet, his face beaded with sweat.

"I'm- Ah- f-fine" He said, wincing when she removed the flight suit from his torso.

"Oh dear" she muttered, her heart clenching when she saw the deep gash on the side of his stomach, his tunic already darkening with blood.

"Don't worry" Hiccup managed, putting on a brave face and giving her a weak smile. "It's not as bad as it looks"

Astrid shook her head and got to work, getting him to take off the tunic before cleaning and bandaging the wound. The bleeding had stopped, but it was still clear he was in a lot of pain.

A part of her was wondering how Hiccup had gotten this resilient, but a bigger part wanted to know how he'd come to get hurt like this. Was it related to him being spotted somehow?

As Astrid worked, Hiccup told her, how he had to go in on foot to save Thuggory from the burning building where the nightmare had swiped him.

"Thuggory?" Astrid asked in disbelief. "That's the guy who used to bully you! He's hurt you so much in the past"

"Yeah?"

"You risked your life to save him?"

"I admit he's not my favorite person either" Hiccup chuckled, "but he doesn't deserve to die Astrid." His wife didn't see the funny side of it at all.

She stood up, hands on hips, eyes blazing. "And you do?! Did you care in the slightest about how I'd have felt if you... if you-" she broke off, tears forming in her eyes. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?! Now that people have seen you, they'll try to catch you or hurt you... or worse"

"Astrid... believe me, everything will be okay-"

"You don't know that!" Astrid cried. "You said the same thing earlier but you still got hurt! and if that claw had gone two inches deeper, you'd be dead right now! and for what? the life of a lowlife bully who I couldn't care less about if he lives or dies!"

"But If I don't do this, then-"

"Then the same thing that has been happening for hundreds of years will happen. Let them fight their own battles, and don't punish yourself for the foolishness of others" she took a deep breath, before quietly saying, "stop helping during raids"

Hiccup frowned, half expecting her to say this, but he knew he had to stand firm, and not get swept up in temporary emotions like she was being.

"No Astrid. I-I have to help... otherwise no one will"

Astrid let out a broken sob, making him look up and reach for her.

"Astrid wait just listen-" Hiccup tried, but she ran off upstairs, wiping at her eyes. His shoulders visible slumped, the exhaustion from the long night combined with his wife's anger weighing on him like a sack of bricks.

Was it the right thing that he did tonight? He'd like to believe it was, but without knowing the future, the best that he could do was to follow his gut. And that's what he had done.

After a long while, he managed to gather the strength to stand up, and spotted the half eaten dinner that Astrid had presumably tried to have while waiting for him. His own hunger was non existent, so he trudged upstairs where Astrid was already asleep in bed, facing away from him.

Her pillow looked wet, like she'd cried herself to sleep. It broke his heart to see her like this, but he knew she needed her rest after everything. Whatever he needed to explain, he'd explain tomorrow. For now, he'd let her rest.

Getting into his own side with a tired sigh, he felt his body go limp, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Astrid wouldn't even look at him the next day. She silently served him breakfast and meticulously changed his bandages without as much as sparing him a word of small talk, and all his attempts to explain himself went ignored.

He knew she was hurting, but was forcing herself not to think about it, to not work through the problem. The truth was, both of them had gotten used to this unusual arrangement of his nighttime escapades and hadn't really absorbed the depth of how dangerous it could be.

Him getting hurt and her being helpless to do anything about it had shaken her deeply, and she wasn't willing to listen to him no matter how much he tried.

He tried to pull her aside at the great hall after lunch but she wriggled out of his grasp and ran off, probably to train with her axe to vent her frustrations. He'd been hoping he would get a chance to talk before bed that night, but when he'd gone upstairs afterwards, he was met with his pillow and blanket dumped outside and the door shut in his face.

He couldn't help but chuckle at his wife's stubbornness and ability to hold a grudge. "Guess it's the sofa for me tonight" he said to himself, making his way back downstairs.

Waking up, he stretched his arms and unexpectedly tumbled to the floor, not having realised he wasn't in his bed. Luckily he'd landed on his good side, but he groaned in pain nevertheless.

Recalling his futile attempts from yesterday, he set his jaw in determination, this had gone on long enough. He'd never spent this long without holding her since their marriage, and the distance was really getting to him. He loved her too much to have her be mad at him for so long.

Putting his brain to work, he tried to think of a way to appease her, or at least get her to actually listen to him. As he brainstormed, he noticed the unusual humidity and warmth in the air, and craned his neck to see the closed door of their wash room.

Oh no Hiccup, don't you dare, he told himself intensely. This idea was especially terrible even by his standards, and came with a guaranteed expiration date on his life as soon as Astrid could get her hands on him.

But it was going to accomplish his goal of getting her to listen... plus he had to decide quick as it'd only work right now... and even as he was making up his mind, his legs decided to make him stand up and shakily walk towards the closed door.

Not allowing himself to cower in fear, he knocked lightly on the wooden surface, then a bit louder when he heard no response.

"Go away" he heard her muffled voice say irritably.

"I'm coming in" he replied, and heard a "Hiccup don't you dare-" before he walked in, setting his gaze on Astrid, her blonde curls tied up in a messy bun as she sat submerged in the steaming water. Her cheeks were rosy, though that might just have been from the anger. But even her furious expression didn't stop her from looking downright adorable.

Her mouth was open in disbelief, as if she couldn't believe his guts to walk in on her like this. To be honest, he couldn't either.

"Astrid- please just listen to me"

Astrid scoffed and reached up to grab a towel, but he was quicker, grabbing it along with her clothes till they were out of her reach. She was definitely gonna kill him later, but he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

She definitely wasn't about to get out and give him an eyeful, especially at a time when she was probably feeling the opposite of love for him.

"Hiccup you give me back my clothes and leave this instant or I swear you're gonna regret it"

Hiccup shook his head and sat down beside the tub until they were face to face. "No Astrid, you're not gonna run away from me anymore. Please just listen to what I have to say, and then I'll leave"

She just crossed her arms and glared at him, and he figured he could just start with it.

"I don't understand why you're mad at me. I just wanted to help save lives until I can find the nest"

"Shouldn't you care about your own life first?" Astrid asked gruffly. "Instead of the lives of people who have treated you horribly your entire life?"

"Astrid... what is this about? you're not usually like this.."

She stayed quiet for a long moment before speaking in a much quieter, vulnerable voice.

"I... I love you too much Hiccup, so much that I can't help but hate every single person who ever hurt you. Letting you risk your life for them seems absurd to me now"

"You know we can't think like that sweetheart. What's in the past is in the past. They're not bad people, they're just... ignorant. Misguided. They don't know the things you and me do..."

"Doesn't mean I'll ever forgive them for hurting you"

Hiccup laughed quietly, "I know you will one day. We'll start the change we wish to see in the world. And besides..." he gently palmed her face and ran his thumb across her cheek bone. "I'm not hurting anymore... not once, ever since I got you"

Hearing that, her anger crumbled and she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning over the tub to hug him tightly. "Promise me Hiccup... promise me you'll never scare me like that again"

He rubbed her back soothingly and answered, "Of course dear. I promise I'll try to be even more careful from now on"

She sniffled, pulling away and wiping at her eyes with a weak smile before realising her state of dress. "Hey!" she grumbled, crossing her arms and turning away slightly. "Quit staring at me"

Hiccup laughed in embarrassment and turned to leave but her hand tugging on his sleeve stopped him. "What is it?" he asked, confused.

"Well I... the w-water is nice..." she mumbled, biting her lip while looking away.

"Uh... so?"

"gods, you're really an idiot sometimes" she grumbled, and he finally caught on to her meaning.

"Ohhhh" he replied, smirking at her. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Either get in or get out Hiccup, I haven't got all day"

"Okay okay" he laughed, tugging his tunic over his head while a healthy blush made its way to her face.

And when he'd entered the water this time, Astrid realised how deprived she'd felt being away from him this whole time, and a part of her regretted her childish stubbornness.

Nevertheless, she wasn't complaining now, not when Hiccup had his arms wrapped around her and gently kissed all her anger away till there was only love left, love for him.

Hiccup squeaked adorably into the kiss when her bare chest rubbed up against his, before pulling away to kiss her cheeks, down her neck and across her collar bone.

"My eyes are up here Hiccup" she said teasingly when he got caught up in staring at her blurry form under the water. "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to-" he stammered an explanation but she interrupted him with another kiss. "Just messing with you" she said, giving him a wink. "You are my husband after all... you have my permission to look at me all you want"

Even though she was breaking character by being so playful and forward, it was all worth it in the end to see Hiccup's gobsmacked expression. And later, when she finally got out of the bath and stretched her arms over her head lazily, she didn't have to look back to know he was staring open mouthed at her as she sauntered over to pick up her clothes before wrapping a towel around herself and leaving the room.

I really have him under my thumb now, she thought cheekily. Being a girl sure has its benefits.

Hehe, that one got a bit... steamy towards the end there.

*ducks under tomatoes thrown for the bad pun*

*pokes head back in to ask you to leave a review*