Stormfly wheeled around as Astrid yanked on the reigns, thought completely abandoning her. Hiccup was falling. Her Hiccup was falling! Stormfly's intelligent eyes spotted the small form of Hiccup and she let out a squawk and started beating her wings furiously, needing no encouragement from her rider. Astrid planted her feet as best she could in the stirrups and lowered herself onto the dragon's body as much as she was able, almost mentally willing the dragon to be able to get as much speed as possible.

And speed was what she got.

Stormfly beat her wings with such power that the strokes seemed almost painful to Astrid, but her loving mount didn't relent. It took mere moments for her and Stormfly to completely reverse course and start speeding towards Hiccup, but everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

Wind whipped at Astrid's face and body as Stormfly expertly evaded an incoming attack and turned into a dive. Astrid was vaguely aware of Snotlout diving down and grasping Toothless in his dragons claws, as they were able to angle over and crash into the top of the closest rocky pillar. Her concentration was on the small body ahead of her, tumbling towards the rapidly approaching ocean.

Stormfly's dive was nothing Astrid had yet to experience. Her well toned thighs were aching with strain as she tried to hold on to the back of her dragon, knuckles white with determination of keeping a hand-hold on the reigns. But Stormfly's speed kept increasing. The wind blasted her in the face, taking streaming tears out of her eyes before they touched her cheek. It was so overpowering that despite the death grip she had with her legs, she felt the air slowly separating her body from the back of Stormfly. Astrid had never flown this fast, ever. The only time she had ever experienced speed like this was on…

Toothless. Stormfly was streaking through the sky like a Nightfury.

She mentally guessed the distance to keep her mind focused, on task. 100 feet. 80 feet. 50 feet. The ocean was racing up to meet her. I've got you, babe. I've got you. She was so close now that she could see features on his face. He looked calm, serene, like he accepted his fate. He slowly opened his eyes and they locked into each other's soul. A slow smile crept onto his face, I love you he mouthed to her. I've got him, I've got him, IvegothimIvegothimIvegothimIvegot-

No….

She didn't even allow her mind to register the sound of Hiccup's body slamming into the water as Stormfly barreled in right after him. The sudden pressure of the water at that speed nearly ripped Astrid's shoulders out of their sockets as she refused to let go of the leather. The water plume went up, up, up fifty feet into the air from Stormfly's desparate, insane gambit. Astrid felt her dragon reverse course and suddenly explode out of the surf, frantically beating her wings to gain altitude. Astrid risked a glance over the side and saw a single arm hanging limply out of a claw.

Astrid didn't allow herself to feel. She had him, she had her Hiccup and everything was fine. As soon as Stormfly put Hiccup down next to Toothless he was going to make some dumb joke about how he was now going to coin the nickname 'mi'lady' as he was saved like a Damsel in Distress and she was going to have to hit him, for the thousandth time. Stormfly beat her wings until she caught an updraft and glided up to the top of the pillar, laying Hiccup down softly in the grass next to Toothless. Astrid sprang off her back and landed next to him, instantly sinking to her knees. She held his head, then placed her ear to his heart.

Nothing.

"Fuck you!" She cried as she started to batter her hands on his chest. "Fuck you, wake up!" she cried as every bit of emotion she had tethered inside of her on her frantic rescue attempt came out. Sobbing loudly, tears exploded out of her eyes, snot dripping out of her nose as she grabbed the scruff of Hiccup's jacket and shook him violently. She pulled him forward into the hardest kiss she had ever given him, like somehow she could transfer life into him, but there was no response.

Letting go of him, Hiccup fell back against the ground as she threw her head back and let out a wail that echoed out over the sea. She punched him as hard as she could in the heart and reared back for a second strike when something gently, but firmly caught her arm, pulling her strongly to her feet and into a tight embrace.

"I've got you," came Snotlouts rough voice, "I've got you. You did everything you could. This isn't your fault." He continued, tears stinging his own eyes as he looked down on Hiccup. He distantly remembered a time he would have given anything to have Astrid in his arms like that. Now all he wanted was some way to make his friend sit up and stop this horrible nightmare. Astrid screamed into Snoutlouts vest and hammered him in the sides with punches. She screamed and screamed and screamed and the flurry of blows didn't cease. Snotlout took it all.

After several minutes, Astrid relented and instead settled for just sobbing loudly into Snot's now very wet jacket, until a heavy thud pulled her away. She immediately looked to see if Hiccup had made the sound, but it was Stoick and his dragon, who had landed finally and he very slowly and deliberately got off the back and stood there staring at his son, expression blank. Astrid slowly gathered the courage to look the Chief in the face, but he didn't even look at her. Hiccup filled his gaze.

The top of the rock was silent for many minutes, with the occasional sob escaping Astrid, before Stoick finally said, "Get him back to the village." And turned to mount his dragon.

"That's it? That's all you're going to say?" exploded Snotlout, "Where are you even going?! Your son is dead! Where the hell are you going?!"

Stoick stopped with his back to Snotlout, one foot in the stirrup, gaze locked out over the ocean.

"I'm going," Stoick replied slowly and evenly, "to go brutally kill a man." And he and his dragon shot into the air.

Astrid's gaze followed the Chief for a moment before it gravitated back to Hiccup. She slumped down to her knees again, tears streaming freely but quietly down her cheeks. "Come back to me," she mumbled, "I need you." Snotlout squatted down next to her, a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked over at him, "I hadn't- even told him- yet." She said in between stifled sobs. Snotlout had a confused look of concern on his face, the silent question unasked. "I went to- to Gothi and- she told me…" she trailed off as a new wave of tears exploded.

"Gothi…" Snotlout repeated to himself, "Gothi told you what?" Slowly the dots connected in his mind, "Wait! You're…. you're…?"

Astrid held up two fingers, "Twins." She whispered, grabbing Hiccup's hand and throwing her head back, another earth-shattering wail erupting from her lips. She ripped her hand away and covered her eyes. She couldn't do this. She needed him, needed that auburn haired man she had so desperately fallen in love with. She pictured his smile, full of mirth. His deep, green eyes that seemed to make all other shades of green pale in comparison. His warm touch that sent shivers of electricity through her. He bubbled to life in her mind.

Her Hiccup

Her love.

Her soul.

FLASH

Astrid fell back onto the grass and let out a deep, exasperated sigh she didn't know she was holding in. "He's just so Gods damned impossible!" she yelled into the air, drumming her feet rapidly on the ground. "I mean, I kissed him in front of the whole village after he had just got done literally saving everyone! What more does a girl have to do?"

Trista let out a long breath from the pipe she was smoking next to Astrid on the cliff top, admiring the scenery. The way the ocean reached out to the horizon and the setting sun danced different colors across the sky had been the specific reason Astrid has asked her out here. She had to admit, it was way better than home. Tapping the bowl with a rock to move the contents she stole a look at Astrid, laying in the grass with her hands on her forehead.

"Yeah, who would have thought that a boy that has been ridiculed, tormented and ostracized for the past decade by his entire Viking Clan, you included, by the way," she said pointedly, making sure to lock eyes with Astrid to drive the point home, "Didn't just suddenly get way better socially because of a single kiss you gave him, what, 8 months ago?" She puffed again and let her eyes go wide, "Shocker..."

Astrid gave her older cousin her most scathing look, but Trista seemed not to notice. She propped herself back up on her elbows and stared towards the waves. She had been so embarrassed to kiss him. Not that she didn't want to, it was just, in front of everyone like that. She had felt so vulnerable and was under the impression that from that moment forward everything was going to be different with her and Hiccup.

Boy, had she been wrong.

He still avoided her like she was diseased and when she would finally corner him into a conversation; he just mumbled and stuttered his way into an excuse to leave. She was so conflicted. Every time she saw him lately she had equally irresistible urges to punch his teeth out for being so obstinate, and knocking him to the ground and mounting him for an extremely satisfying make out session. Even the thought of it right then gave her goose bumps down her arm.

Her eyes drifted from the setting sun back to Trista. "So," she began slowly, Trista turning her head waiting for the question, "what do I do?"

"What should you do? Or what would I do?" Trista replied with a laugh, "Because I'll tell you what I'd do if I were into a boy as Gods damned hard as you're into Hiccup. I'd drag him into the woods by his collar and wouldn't let him back into the village until he understood very well that he was mine, by any means necessary. I would claim every part of his body before I was done with him and he would walk in a daze for a week."

Astrid's eyes went wide as her cousin talked and balked openly at the last part. "I am no hussy!"

"No, of course you aren't. I'm not saying you should be, you're way too proud for that. What I'm saying is…What I'm saying is Hiccup is very sensitive and very honorable and you are hard to break open. You need to show him more interest. A LOT more interest."

"I kissed him in front of the whole village," Astrid repeated in a sulky tone.

"Yeah? How long ago? When was the last time you went down to the smithy while he was at work?"

"I dunno," Astrid said continuing to sulk, "a month ago?"

"Fucking shit, Astrid. How often do you think Heather has gone to see him? Every other day?"

Astrid's head whipped around at the mention of the other girl. All Trista knew of Heather was what Astrid had told her, which was, admittedly, very one sided. But she hadn't over exaggerated, in her mind. "Don't even. That girl is so trashy, she just launches herself at him. Sometimes in really slutty ways."

Trista just stared at Astrid through her whole tirade, at the end quirking an eyebrow up and cocking her head.

"I am not going to act like that for any man." Astrid replied hotly. She blew and angry huff and her bangs and crossed her arms, daring her cousin to challenge her.

Trista shrugged, "Then you'll lose him." She replied simply.

The simplicity and finality of the statement hit Astrid in the gut, hard. She didn't even want to entertain the possibility of Hiccup falling under the spell of such a…such a… bitch.

"Hiccup is very used to people treating him badly. Very badly. For years." Trista said, lighting the pipe again, "And it is not shocking to think that he might react positively to a girl literally throwing herself at him. He hasn't had a lot of girls do that and he might think himself fairly unable to attract a girl. Especially now that he has the leg. Hint Hint." She concluded, gesturing at Astrid to really accentuate the last point.

They sat in silence for a few minutes as the last rays of sun caressed the sky and the stars started to come out of hiding. Suddenly, Astrid popped to her feet and extended a hand for her cousin, a mischievous smile on her lips. "Okay, you win. How do I claim this boy?"

Trista grasped her hand and came to her feet with a smile.

"That's my girl. Fuck that bitch, Heather. Let's wrangle us a boy."