=Astrid's POV=

{Saturday, April 30, 2022-7 pm}

(Berk; Haddock Manor)

I couldn't express how proud of Hiccup I am. The teenager who is my age has had such a positive outlook on everything since losing part of his left leg. Sure, there were some bumps along the way, but that's life for anyone. Hiccup has regained his memories, healed well, redesigned Toothless's flying rig, and even built himself a working prosthetic leg. The only thing I'm not sure about is if Hiccup is doing better with accepting he can't join the military. I knew it bothered Hiccup, but he was a hero in my eyes and many others too. I just don't think Hiccup sees that yet, but he would. I was working on something to make sure he would never forget; I didn't know how long it'd take, but there were a lot of channels to get through. Hiccup's prosthetic was like nothing I'd ever seen before, but the most important thing is that Hiccup seems to be comfortable wearing it, and he can walk. There's a slight limp, and he goes slow, but Hiccup can walk. The next test was seeing if the piece he created for Toothless's rig would work, but that was for another day.

Dinner was over, and everyone was relaxing in the Great Room as always. Stoick and Gobber were watching the Soccer game; Hairy Hooligans from Berk against the Merciless Meatheads of Meathead Island in Stoick's office. So far, the Hooligans were losing thirteen to seven, and there wasn't much left of the game to go. Valka was reading a book on the couch while the rest of us teenagers were chatting quietly among one another.

"I told you that Bork was gonna screw it up for us; I don't understand why they keep putting him towards the end," Stoick muttered. "Man hasn't scored a goal in the last seven years…" Gobber rolled his eyes. "He needs to retire, Gobber," Stoick remarked.

"He's the oldest member of the team!" Gobber defended.

"My point exactly," Stoick crossed his arms over his chest.

"I take it the Hooligans lost?" Snotlout asked.

"Yep," Stoick replied.

"My old man outta be happy about that…" Adelaide sighed a bit.

"This is why I don't do sports," Hiccup chuckled.

"You'd be good at it, son. You played little league ball exceptionally well," Valka reminded.

"Which I never wanted to. You and Dad needed a place to stick me over the Summer when Uncle Gobber had military stuff going on, so baseball camp it was," Hiccup grumbled.

"I never said you liked it, Hiccup; I said you were good at it," Valka giggled a bit as she put the bookmark in its place; then closed the book on her lap.

"So, what now?" Heather asked.

"Well, if all ideas are welcome…I'd like to hear my son play his music again," Stoick offered.

"For the Odin only knows how many times I've said it; very few songs you hear are my creation. The rest are all just…covers from other accomplished artists," Hiccup groaned.

"All I'm saying is that you're good at playing instruments and singing, son," Stoick informed while sitting next to his wife.

"Yeah, yeah…" Hiccup sighed.

"Can I…Ask about something in particular while we're on this topic?" I wondered softly, now looking at Hiccup.

"Sure, shoot," Hiccup invited.

"Okay, so I know it's not the best thing to bring up…But the day I jumped off the roof of the school, and you yelled at me…You said something very….I don't know, lyrical, I guess. And I'm curious if it's to a song or not," I asked. The room was a bit quiet, shocked I brought up such an incident.

Hiccup stared at me, and I hoped that I hadn't made him mad. Finally, he relaxed a bit. "The depends on what I said was lyrical in your opinion," Hiccup replied.

"At the end; the whole every time that you wake up breathing, every night when you close your eyes, every day that your heart keeps beating, there's purpose for your life. So don't give up, don't lay down, just hold on, don't quit now thing," I recited to him.

Hiccup looked at me a moment longer, then closed his eyes and sighed. "Yes, they were lyrics to a song I wrote before Olivia passed away," he confessed. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason. I-I was just curious; they were…Inspirational that day, and got me to open my eyes…" I explained.

"Olivia suffered moments of severe depression after learning she had cancer, and there were a lot of times she wanted just to give up and die since she knew she would eventually, but she was tired of waiting for it to happen. I know a lot of people feel that way sometimes, that there's no point in continuing because of life not going the way you want or need it too. I started working on a song called Here For A Reason, and I sang it at the hospital for her and a bunch of other patients. Most of them were cancer patients, but some were people dealing with drug and alcohol addiction, kids who get bullied…Stuff like that," Hiccup explained.

"It was pretty moving, Hiccup," Minden smiled.

"Yeah, I got a few songs like that; ones telling people not to give up and fight as hard and as long as they can," Hiccup shrugged as I nodded, understanding. I was hoping he would play it, but I guess not. "You want to hear one of them, don't you?" he asked, taking me by surprise.

"I mean…Yeah, kind of," I nodded.

"Fine…" Hiccup sighed as he forced himself to get up now. "I'll show you the newest one; it was uh, actually something I wrote for you," I blinked.

"M-Me?" I inquired, a bit surprised.

Hiccup gave a nod. "In case you ever felt like that again. You seemed to respond well to the Here For A Reason lyrics, even though I didn't sing them to you that day. I thought maybe if you had a song to hold on to from your best friend; you'd never forget that you're not alone, and a lot of people care about you," I was shocked; I couldn't believe Hiccup wrote a song for me. Hiccup moved to the piano and sat down while adjusting himself on the seat. "Frigga, play Astrid's Song,"

"Playing Astrid's Song-Tell Your Heart To Beat Again by Hiccup Haddock."

I sat down near the piano as Hiccup put his fingers on the keys, entirely focused on listening to the song Hiccup was about to sing. The music began slowly; then Hiccup came in with the notes from the piano.

"You're shattered like you've never been before. The life you knew, in a thousand pieces on the floor. And words fall short in times like these when this world drives you to your knees. You think you're never gonna get back to the you the used to be…" Hiccup started as I was hanging on to every word; how close it hit to home about the day I lost my parents. Everything started going wrong after that, but the day they died; it was like I shattered.

"Tell your heart to beat again. Close your eyes and breathe it in. Let the shadows fall away. Step into the light of grace. Yesterday's closing door; you don't live there anymore. Say goodbye to where you've been…And tell your heart to beat again," Hiccup continued gently. The song tugged at my heartstrings, and I felt the pressure building behind my eyes; the one that meant I would likely start crying soon.

Valka and Stoick were smiling, her head on her husband's shoulder as both enjoyed the tune. My eyes hadn't looked anywhere else; only on Hiccup and still sitting with the fact he wrote this for me.

"Beginnings; just let that word wash over you. It's alright now; loves healing hands have pulled you through. So get back up, and take step one. Leave the darkness, feel the sun. Cause your story is far from over, and your journey has just begun," Hiccup's eyes left the keyboard; looking at me slightly.

"Tell your heart to beat again. Close your eyes and breathe it in. Let the shadows fall away. Step into the light of grace. Yesterday's closing door; you don't live there anymore. Say goodbye to where you've been, and tell your heart to beat again," Hiccup sang as the music picked up a bit more.

"Let every heartbreak, and every scar; be a picture that reminds you who has carried you this far. Cause love sees farther than you ever could. In this moment Heaven's working everything for your good…" Hiccup trailed off lightly. I felt tears forming but refusing to fall. The music softened slightly now.

"Tell your heart to beat again. Close your eyes and breathe it in. Let the shadows fall away. Step into the light of grace," there was a brief pause, and the music picked up once more as did the passion in Hiccup's voice. "Yesterday's closing door; you don't live there anymore. Say goodbye to where you've been, and tell your heart to beat again!" Hiccup held the note. "Your heart to beat again!" he went on. "Beat again," it went back to being just the piano. "Oh, so tell your heart to beat again," the last note played as he moved his hands off the keys.

"Beautiful, son," Valka complimented.

"I don't even have the words for how much I love that song, Hiccup…" I admitted.

"I'll give you a copy," Hiccup offered. "I'm glad you like it, and never forget it's message," he smiled.

"I won't forget," I said as I hugged him from behind. "Thank you," I felt Hiccup's hands come up to hug me somewhat back.

"You're welcome," Hiccup replied. "Wanna relive something ridiculously old?" he asked without warning as I blinked unsure of what he meant.

"How old are we talking?" I wondered.

"This old," Hiccup chuckled as he put his hands on the keys of the piano again. "Let's see if you remember," he challenged as I got a bit nervous. Hiccup began playing a soft melody as I watched him closely. Oddly enough; it felt really familiar.

"If I could do it all over, maybe I'd do it different. Maybe I wouldn't be here, in this position…" Hiccup started as it hit me like a pile of bricks. This was a song I made before meeting Eret in ninth grade; Hiccup and I had grown distant from one another, and it hurt me because I never got to tell him I liked him. Eret showed an interest in me, but it still bothered me to know that I'd lost Hiccup. I know now that it's my fault for letting popularity take over. What I didn't understand was how Hiccup knew this song? I…had been by myself when I sang this song, or at least I thought I was. My eyes widened a little as he smiled at me and moved over on the bench he was sitting on, offering me a place beside him.

"I found you then I lost you. Looking back is torture. And it hurts to know I let you go. You live right around the corner," I sang.

"And I could have had it all. Could have had it all…" Hiccup and I continued softly together. "True love; I knew I had it. True love was so hard to find. True love, if I could get back; I'd never let it go this time,"

"True love…" Hiccup went on.

"Is an inspiration," I sang next.

"True love…" Hiccup repeated.

"It was mine all mine," I stared at him.

"True love…" Hiccup sang again.

"Yeah…" I held a moment.

"I'd never let it go," Hiccup continued.

"I'd never let it go," I recited after him.

"I'd never let it go this time…" our eyes locked as the final small notes were played. Hiccup smiled as he pressed something on his phone without looking; he even smiled a bit as I blushed. Gods, I couldn't believe this was happening right now; my heart was racing. The music seemed to pick up, a faster version of what Hiccup was just playing, only on guitar now.

I heard the next queue and Hiccup nodded at me to go ahead. "Feeling it all around me. Wondering how I blew it. And I wanna know the secret of how they do it. There's no such thing as perfection; I'm still learning the lesson. To forgive is key to forgetting me. Am I staring at my reflection?" I smiled while singing. "And I could have had it all. Could have had it all!"

"True love; I knew I had it! True love was so hard to find. True love, if I could get it back; I'd never let it go this time. True love is an inspiration. True love; it was mine all mine. True love, if I could get it back; I'd never let it go…I'd never let it go this time!" Hiccup and I sang together, both smiling now. Things calmed a moment, and our eyes never left one another.

"If I knew then what I do now; I'd be with you tonight. If I knew then what I do now; we'd be alright…And I could have had it all…" Hiccup sang soft and slow with a beautiful voice that I'd never heard before. My heart was pounding; I could hear it in my ears. "True love. True love. True love, yeah, yeah…"

"And never let it go this time!" we sang out together loudly as the music lifted again. "True love is an inspiration. True love; it mine all mine. True love, if I could get it back…If only I could get it back! True love; I'd never let it go! True love; it was mine all mine! True love; I could have had it, could have had it, could have had it all. True love, is an inspiration. True love; it was mine all mine. True love, if I could get it back; I'd never let it go this time. I'd never let it go…This time. True love…" we finished the duet, though; it originally wasn't one.

Hiccup and I were still looking at one another, everything else around seemed to have faded out. We leaned in a bit; I swear we were going to kiss. This was happening, right here and now. However, someone cleared their throat, and I was brought back to reality. Hiccup and I quickly opened the space between us and looked away from one another.

"I, uh, heard you singing it and I guess it kind of stuck with me. I recorded you, and sort of vamped it up a bit for a duet version. I couldn't get it out of my head and thought maybe we could sing it at the talent show, but you forgot about me, and we stopped talking as friends until this year that is…So yeah…" Hiccup admitted.

"Right! Right, I, uh, I'm sorry about all that…again. I was stupid…It sounds great…The way you did it," I cleared my throat a bit, trying not to blush.

"Thanks…A-And it's cool; we're past all that now. I saw the song come up as next to play and just figured I'd like to see if you remembered, and finally see how it sounded together…" Hiccup rubbed the back of his head some. There was a bit of silence between us now. Hiccup closed the piano now and got up. "Well! I think that's enough music for one night…" he said quickly.

"Awe really? Can't we do one more?" Heather pleaded.

"I know I'd like to see you two almost kiss again!" Camicazi giggled with Ruffnut, Nadia, and Ragna. My face lit up bright red. Fuck! I was hoping they hadn't caught that!

"You don't know what you're talking about," Hiccup stated calmly.

"It's all over your face, dude," Tuffnut pointed.

"And hers. You two were gonna kiss if Stoick hadn't cleared his throat," Snotlout chuckled, snickering with the guys.

"Looked that way from this angle, laddie," Gobber grinned.

"Astrid and I were not…I repeat, NOT-" Hiccup got to his feet fast.

"Then how do you explain the leaning in?" Thuggory questioned.

"And your defensiveness?" Eret added. Hiccup stalled on an answer; then his eyes narrowed a bit to reply. Why was Hiccup getting angry? We were about to kiss or was Hiccup thinking about Olivia when we sang together. The song was about finding true love and losing it. Hiccup loved Olivia; they raised Runa together and even got married before Olivia died.

"It's not…We weren't going to…It was just a-" Hiccup started as the others grinned a little. "You know what…I'm not even going to grace this with an explanation."

I didn't understand why Hiccup was being this way. So what if we almost kissed? I wouldn't have minded. Of course, I like Hiccup, but maybe he didn't feel the same. "Hiccup…" I asked, putting my hand on his arm as he looked at me quickly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Hiccup retorted. Before anyone could say anything else; Hiccup's phone started vibrating on the top of the piano. Grabbing the device and casting a quick glance at the screen; his face changed a bit. Hiccup selected the icon to accept the incoming call. "Talk to me," he said. "I'll meet you there in ten," then he ended the call, slipping the phone into his pocket now. Hiccup went to the window and whistled for Toothless; the Night Fury bounded over wearing his rig a moment later.

"Where are you going?" Valka stood.

"You need not insert yourself in my personal affairs, Mother. I'll be back in an hour," Hiccup said as he secured himself on Toothless and switched the leg pieces, locking it in place. "I guess we'll test this now, won't we bud?" he mentioned with a small smile. I couldn't take this. I got up and moved next to Hiccup now.

"What is going on, Hiccup? Please tell me?" I pleaded with him.

Hiccup stopped a moment, then sighed with his eyes closed. "The less you know, the better. And that's all you need to know at this time," Hiccup informed before holding the bars of Toothless's saddle before the Night Fury darted into the dark sky above, leaving me absolutely stunned at what he said, but also very confused.