The last weeks of February were nothing by easy going for Hiccup and Astrid. Her depression was fading slowly and she was getting back in to the swing of smiling and being happy. Beside their wedding being a big event was also that Hiccup turned 18 a few days after Valentines Day which they spent going out for dinner and then a quiet evening at home. Astrid was catching up on school work as Hiccup took his chances to start flying Toothless again to prepare for the upcoming races. Astrid's 18th birthday was the night of the homecoming dance/prom and Hiccup had full intentions to tell her everything about his other two lives being a singer and dragon racer. He wasn't waiting until graduation, he couldn't. He didn't want anymore secrets between them.
Now back in school, things were getting complicated again because the dragon trainers decided to come back to do a lesson in flying a dragon. Only two were coming this time Asger with his dragon Stormfly the Deadly Nadder and by popular demand, Toothless the Night Fury. He promised Astrid he wouldn't disappear from class this time and that meant he needed another way out of this, maybe be sick again? No he couldn't do that either. He would just have to hope he could get Toothless out of flying by giving hand signals to make him growl and keep other's away.
"Hiccup! This is so exciting! We actually get to fly today!" Astrid said happily clinging to his arm.
"I know, I can't wait..." Hiccup trailed off nervously. He was praying nothing went wrong today, least he didn't have to worry about Eret making Toothless mad since they were all friends now and Toothless had seen Eret at the house before and understood he was okay.
"Welcome young riders in training. Quite a bit to cover today and your teachers have been kind enough to give you the rest of the day off so we will have time to get through you all. I have brought my dragon, Stormfly and Fury's...Toothless." Asger said calmly.
"Will we get to ride the Night Fury?" Someone in the back asked.
"Unfortunately no. Fury made it clear that no one was to ride Toothless because no one can control his tail fin. I only brought him because it was by popular demand that I did." Asger replied.
"But you know how, don't you?" Dagur asked.
"Yes but only for emergency purposes. Sorry kids, Fury's orders." Asger stated firmly. They all sighed heavily. Hiccup sighed in relief, so far he was safe. Now he prayed that it'd stay that way. Hiccup watched as every got the chance to approach Stormfly and pet her lightly on the snout. It took an hour or so to get through everyone. Next was flying facts, asking questions, and taking safety precautions. Everyone got the chance to mount Stormfly and get used to how it felt. Hiccup stayed in the back until Asger finally asked, "Now has everyone had a turn?"
"Hiccup hasn't!" Ruffnut called out raising Hiccup's hand.
"Well young man, come along." Asger stated, seeing Hiccup walk forward out of the group now, Toothless got excited and stood up.
'Fuck!' Hiccup thought as he looked for an opening to give Toothless the signal to lay back down. To late, someone noticed.
"Wow! Look at that, Toothless got so happy." Astrid said.
"Yes...he did, didn't he..." Asger stated slowly. Hiccup groaned out, he needed an idea and quick. It hit him, Hiccup wobbled a bit and passed out on the ground.
"Oh my god, Hiccup!" Astrid exclaimed rushing over to him. Toothless warbled worried and ran to Hiccup's unconscious figure. Astrid saw Toothless coming and put her hand out nervously, Toothless stopped and pressed his nose to her hand than sat down. Hiccup had been watching, thank God that had worked like he envisioned it happening. "Hiccup...Hiccup, wake up...please...Oh God! Someone call the nurse!" Astrid called.
"Wait, look he's starting to wake up!" Heather pointed as Hiccup's slow awakening.
"U–ugh...what...happened?" Hiccup said looking up to see him in Astrid's lap.
"You passed out when Toothless stood up and looked at you...what happened?!" Astrid asked quickly.
"I–I guess I got a little freaked out thinking he'd attack me..." Hiccup chuckled nervously. Since everyone's eyes weren't on him and wondering what happened, he was able to give Toothless the signal to settle down back in his original spot.
"Oh Toothless is harmless babe...Are you okay?" Astrid asked him.
"Ye–yeah, I think so...little woozy...Might just stay down for a while..." Hiccup said to her.
"Okay, if you're sure..." Astrid said to him. He nodded and moved back a bit, mouthing a good boy to Toothless who in turn snorted and laid back down. Hiccup did feel bad, Toothless was like a brother to him and here he was hiding their bond because he didn't want people to know his secret. Hiccup was actually thinking about revealing it now, to many things could happen to blow his cover and he was sick of making excuses. If he left and showed up as Fury, Astrid would be upset that Hiccup took off again it'd just be more lies. For now he'd have to think on it, he wanted Astrid to know, not everyone else just yet.
Hiccup watched as Asger gave short rides to everyone again, it took another hour. As it was rolling on 1pm, people were able to fly on their own but only as high as the flag pole and a few times around the track. He wanted to partake in it but it'd be to obvious to show how well he could fly on dragon back and Astrid was looking a little upset that Hiccup was sitting out again. Hiccup's mind raced with possibilities if he told the truth. Astrid could hate him, leave him and honestly as much as it would hurt him he wouldn't blame her. Hiccup sighed closing his eyes now listening to Asger call instructions from the ground. He didn't realize that Astrid was next to fly on Stormfly, he peeked open an eye hearing her nervous reaction to getting on the large dragon and sat up.
"You got this babe!" Hiccup called for encouragement to her with a smile. She nodded to him as she held on to the saddle tightly shaking a bit.
"Easy does it, she can sense if you're afraid...take a few breaths. When you're ready, just give her a light nudge to the side." Asger told her. Astrid took a few breaths in and out as she looked forward.
"O–okay Sto–Stormfly...Lets go nice and slow..." Astrid forced out softly as she stopped the visible shaking and gave Stormfly a light kick to the side and the dragon took off with a happy squawk. Astrid screamed out with her eyes closed, this got Hiccup to sit up quickly and watch everything. Stormfly went much higher than instructed, Asger was trying to call her down but she was being extremely defiant to Asger.
"Do something!" Hiccup yelled at Asger who tried to get to Toothless who wasn't having it, he snarled at him and bared his fangs.
"HELP ME!" Astrid cried out as Stormfly started doing a series of aerial moves.
"Okay, I lied. I have no idea how to fly Toothless! Fury said no one was supposed to ride him, I only brought him so the kids could see him again!...Oh Thor..." Asger panicked now covering his head.
"She's gonna fall!" Heather called as her and Ruffnut were locked in a worried hug. There was no debating this anymore. Astrid was in danger and he was the only one who could save her. Hiccup backed up a bit with narrowed eyes. He didn't care who found out his secret. He put his fingers to his mouth and gave a whistle to get his dragon's attention.
"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup called out, the dragon roared and jumped to his side and Hiccup climbed on his back locking his legs in place on the stirrups.
"Hiccup, what are you doing! You can't fly him!" Snotlout exclaimed. Hiccup ignored him as he clicked the tail open.
"Yes I can...because Toothless is my dragon. Lets go bud!" Hiccup yelled as Toothless launched in to the sky after Stormfly and flew ahead of her and came to a halt in air, it startled Stormfly at Toothless's sudden stop above her and she reared throwing Astrid off her and she started falling towards the ground. "Toothless, dive!" Hiccup ordered. Toothless roared as he dove down after the falling Astrid. Hiccup got just close enough as he locked Toothless's tail and jumped off his back going towards Astrid.
"HICCUP! Oh God...!" Astrid cried out.
"Give me your hand, Astrid!" Hiccup yelled to her. Astrid reached forward and Hiccup grabbed her hand and pulled her in to his arms looking up at Toothless now. "Whatever you do, don't let go! Toothless, now bud!" Hiccup called out. Toothless closed his wings and shot past them. Astrid had her eyes closed holding tightly as Hiccup reached for Toothless's saddle and grabbed on then pulled himself back in to position and unlocked tail as he flipped it to another position and they pulled up and glided easily back to the ground. Astrid was breathing heavily, clearly scared and holding Hiccup as tightly as she could as he climbed off Toothless and rubbed his head gently. "Good work bud...You're the best, Toothless." Hiccup said to him as Toothless crooned and licked his cheek affectionately.
"Woah!...Hiccup...do you have any idea what you just did!?" Tuffnut exclaimed as the group rushed over. Hiccup didn't care as he set Astrid down on the grass, she was finally calming down and trying to process what just happened. Hiccup backed up slowly now towards Toothless who put a protective wing around him and nuzzled his cheek.
"Wh–what just...happened..?" Astrid said finding her words finally.
"Hiccup just saved your life on Toothless! No idea how he did it but damn if that wasn't an amazing save!" Eret said now.
"Are you alright, Astrid?" Hiccup asked her now, his tone was different. Low and full of guilt.
"Ye–yeah...I–I'm f...fine...I think..." Astrid replied slowly looking at him now. "Hiccup...?" She asked getting to her feet and reaching a hand towards him.
"I'm glad...you're okay. Come on Toothless, let's go get Stormfly down..." Hiccup said quietly as Toothless turned and let Hiccup back on his back. Hiccup opened his tail and they took off again before Astrid could stop him. They flew up to Stormfly who was nervous and backing up thinking she was in trouble. Hiccup closed his eyes and put his hand out, palm up towards her. "Hey...it's okay girl...calm down. Remember me? It's not your fault...Toothless spooked you is all...ssh...come on. Astrid is okay, she's not hurt..." Hiccup said gently to the dragon, it was then he realized that Stormfly recognized Toothless but not Hiccup since he wasn't in his Fury costume. Hiccup sighed as he reached around side in to Toothless's saddle bag and pulled out his mask. He put it on and looked at Stormfly again, she squawked and instantly pressed her nose to his hand. The other's on the ground gasped in shock now seeing this. "That's right...now lets go back down okay, nice and slow..." Hiccup instructed softly.
Toothless slowly flew back down to the ground and Stormfly beside him as Asger came over. "F–Fury?..." He said in shock.
"Oh my...Hiccup...Yo–you're...F–fury?" Fishlegs said in shock, all their mouths were hanging open in shock. He didn't say anything, his back was to them as Astrid stayed quiet.
"Weren't you listening when I said Toothless was my dragon before..." Hiccup sighed. Astrid tried to take his hand, he flinched and pulled it away. "Don't, Astrid...Just don't...If you're going to leave me, just...get it over with..." Hiccup said to her. She was slightly taken aback by his cold response.
"Le–leave you? Why in Thor's name would I leave you, Hiccup?...D–did you...think I would or something..." Astrid told him now.
"Yes actually, as you should." Hiccup replied.
"Why, because...you're really Fury? The famous dragon rider of a Night Fury? You think I'd be upset about this?!" Astrid asked him. He didn't say anything as she took his hand and made him look at her now and went to take off his mask but he backed up.
"Don't..." Hiccup told her.
"Hiccup. I want to see your face..." Astrid argued.
"My face...You mean the face of a liar?..." Hiccup mumbled.
"No...Please Hiccup?...Take off the mask." Astrid said softly. Hiccup sighed nodding as Astrid reached up and lifted the mask off his face and seeing him under there made her drop the mask in shock, making a thud when it hit the ground.
"There you go. The face of the man who lied to you, and kept his other life a secret." Hiccup said closing his eyes. Astrid was a bit shocked, she was thinking it was just a joke or maybe she was knocked out and this was a dream but no, it was all real. Hiccup was really the one under the mask. Hiccup looked away from her as she put her hand on his cheek and he sighed heavily.
"Hiccup. Look at me..." Astrid said to him firmly. Hiccup opened his eyes and stared at her blue orbs. "Just answer me this..." Astrid paused, "Are you still the same Hiccup who saved me from a bad part of town, the Hiccup who let me live with him, the Hiccup who has taken care of me since we started the project in November? Are you still the Hiccup who loves me more than anything else in the world?" Astrid asked.
"Of course I am..." Hiccup replied but before he could continue, Astrid put her hand to his lips.
"Then I forgive you babe..." Astrid smiled to him, his eyes widened now. She forgave him! For lying to her for months about him being Fury. "But!..." Oh god here came the scolding. "Few things first...One, you owe me and the others a major explanation when we get home. Two, you never keep a secret this big from me again. And Three..." Astrid smiled with a giggle now. "You take me flying again." Astrid finished. Hiccup arched brow at her reasoning.
"Astrid really? How can you forgive me so easily for outright lying to you about being Fury!" Hiccup asked quickly now.
"Because silly...You're still my Hiccup. You still dropped everything to save me, even if it meant giving up your secret. You didn't care what happened when we found out, you just wanted me to be safe...That's the Hiccup I fell in love with, and as long as you never change who you are inside...Then I'll still always forgive and love you." Astrid explained to him.
"I still don't...understand, Astrid. I lied to you...for months about this...I played sick the day of the race so you wouldn't find out who I was...I ran away from the first class and changed in to Fury to stop Toothless from blasting Eret to a crisp and made you think that I was on the phone with Gobber. I flew off that day after saving Eret when my mask fell off, out of fear someone discovering my secret..." Hiccup said to her.
"Hiccup. Listen to me. When Stormfly took off with me and I was screaming in fear. What did you do?" Astrid asked.
"I–I demanded that Asger get on Toothless to go after you." Hiccup replied.
"Right. And when he admitted he couldn't fly Toothless...And I was close to falling, what did you do?" Astrid asked.
"I jumped on Toothless and flew after you. But Astrid what does this have to do with..." She put her hand up to him again and he was quiet.
"Last question, when you saw me in danger...the risk of losing me...Did you care who found out who you were?" Astrid stated.
"No...No I didn't. When I saw you about to fall, I stopped caring what everyone would think...even if you left me for lying. I didn't care as long as you were safe..." Hiccup said to her.
"Exactly. Didn't you do the same thing when Eret abandoned me in a bad part of town? When I got in to the accident? Didn't you drop everything you were doing and just rush to get me, not caring about anything else. And tell me why you did all that?" Astrid asked now with a small smile.
"Because I love you, and the thought of losing you terrifies me...Whenever you're in trouble, I don't care how it will affect me, you're all the matters at that moment." Hiccup replied.
"I don't care that you're Fury, Hiccup. I didn't care when I found out who your dad was because you were still you. I feel the same now as I did then. Yes its amazing, cool, wonderful even that my boyfriend is also a world famous dragon racer...But...you're still you, Hiccup and I fell in love with you." Astrid said softly as she leaned up and kissed his lips lovingly.
"I really don't deserve you, you know that..." Hiccup smiled softly as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I know...but you're so stuck with me. Now...Do you promise to never keep a secret this big again?" Astrid asked. Hiccup's eyes fell on Fishlegs and Tuffnut now, he could read them without them saying a word.
"I–I do have...one more sort of...little...okay big secret..." Hiccup said nervously.
"Okay, lets hear it then..." Astrid said to him as Toothless nuzzled her hand and she rubbed his head gently.
"Ah...about that...I swear on my life I will tell you, Astrid but...can it wait until homecoming?" Hiccup said to her.
"Why can't you tell me now?" Astrid asked arching her brow at him.
"Because...It's a surprise for your birthday!..." Hiccup said quickly.
"Really...okay than...I'll wait. It's only a like 3 weeks away." Astrid smiled now as Toothless nudged Hiccup's back with a croon.
"Okay okay, yes we can go flying now. And as for you mi'lady...I believe I owe you a ride." Hiccup said as he climbed on Toothless's back and offered his hand to her, she nodded and took it as he pulled her up behind him. "Hold on tight..." Hiccup whispered to her, she wrapped her arms around his waist tightly as Toothless's wings spread out and they took off in to the sky. Astrid screamed a bit at the speed and buried her face in to Hiccup's back. "Ssh...it's okay babe. Trust me...Toothless and I would never let anything hurt you as you clearly saw earlier..." Hiccup told her gently.
Astrid slowly opened her eyes and looked around, they were flying in the clouds, not above or below them but in them. Astrid gasped out looking around. "This is...amazing..." Astrid breathed out as she lifted a hand to feel the clouds through her fingers with a wide smile.
"Ever seen what's beyond the clouds at this time of day?" Hiccup asked her, she shook her head as Hiccup rubbed Toothless's head. "Lets show her buddy." Hiccup said, Toothless crooned as Hiccup changed the position and the flew up past the clouds and much to her surprise, it was already dark above them. She could see the night sky perfectly.
"Hiccup...I don't...have the words for this...It's...incredible. You and Toothless do this every day?" Astrid asked him.
"Only when you were to distracted to watch me sneak out and go for a flight with him. I did it when you were asleep or doing homework..." Hiccup told her. Astrid grinned and punched him in the arm. "Ow!" He yelped.
"That was for lying to me..." She mumbled, Hiccup sighed so she was mad but then she kissed him deeply. "That's for...everything else..." She blushed. Hiccup smiled as they continued their flight for a while longer before they set back down on the ground. Most everyone had gone home except their friends. Hiccup and Astrid got off of Toothless and looked at their friends.
"And now you owe us an explanation, Hiccup..." Fishlegs said with his arms crossover over his chest.
"Yeah... Alright lets go back to my house..." Hiccup sighed. It didn't take long for Toothless to get in the back of Hiccup's truck then they all drove to Hiccup's place. Toothless went back to the stables as they entered the house and all sat down around the living room.
"We're waiting..." Heather stated.
"Don't rush him guys..." Astrid mumbled. They nodded and sat waiting as Hiccup took a deep breath as he prepared to tell them the story from start to finish.
