6 months after their initial meeting, they had indeed become the best of friends. Overall, everyone was happy and it showed wherever they went. Elsa and Anna still had separate rooms, and the gates were still locked to outsiders but that was due to the cautiousness of the situation. Hiccup's arrival to the castle made everything better, he learned so many new things and adjusted quickly. The first few weeks after Hiccup and Elsa met the change was easy to see. Hiccup was happy, Elsa was happy. The whole family and castle were. Hiccup had moved in to the castle now too.
It happened a month after being there where he decided he didn't want to sleep outside anymore so he now slept in a room that over looked the stables so he could see Toothless, and vice versa. Elsa had her relationship back with her sister, the three of them played all the time and Elsa's powers were always under control. They never spiked, sparked or activated. Hiccup had fixed Toothless's tail too, which Elsa oddly enough loved watching. To her it was incredible that a 12 year old boy knew how to work with such things.
The only thing is that Hiccup still didn't know about Elsa's powers, neither did Anna. Since Hiccup's arrival Elsa got the chance to be normal without her powers interfering. And Hiccup hadn't told Elsa about his past either, why he left his home. They still kept their secrets although urged at different times not too. Elsa knew her magic was still there, it would always be around and in her but with Hiccup around she just wasn't scared, she had confidence again and it felt like she had complete control. Hiccup still was cautious with Toothless even though the king and queen told him he was allowed to fly around, Hiccup flew at night with him and only if the weather was clear.
Yes things were working out perfectly, there wasn't a problem in sight for Arendelle or at least the royal family. Hiccup was now 13, his birthday had passed in the 6 months he was there. They'd thrown him a surprise party, and got him a bunch of new things like drawing pads, pencils, erasers, colored pencils, markers, and crayons which he adored so he could make colored pictures now. He also ditched all his Viking attire and now wore what a prince should, he took up princely like lessons to take up his spare time when Anna and Elsa were taking theirs.
The clothes he wore now were black dress pants with formal black shoes that tied. In addition to that he wore a jacket similar to the kings only it was white with a blue sash and black stop in the middle of the blue. He wore a belt with a gold clip what was black too. There were also some pins too on the sash and outer coat, not that Hiccup knew what they meant other than they meant he was royalty. Yes he cleaned up nicely for a Viking turned royal. The best part about his new suit was that it was equipped to handle flying on Toothless without being uncomfortable.
If he wasn't in lessons, he worked in the smithy helping the others. Toothless was with him when he was there and shockingly no one in the kingdom minded that there was a dragon among them. Many thought it was cool since up until Hiccup arrived, no one believed they existed. Elsa was turning 13 soon too and Hiccup wanted to make something special for her so today he was working on her gifts. He was making her a picture of her and her family, and also a pair of new gloves since her current ones were falling apart.
The drawing would take some time since he had to sketch when he got a good look at them sitting together. Like now when everyone was outside for lunch and he'd already finished eating and was sketching on his pad with Toothless behind him. Things were amazing for him, he loved all he gained by leaving Berk although times he did wonder if everyone was still okay or if they even cared that he'd left. They probably assumed he was dead by now, he sighed taking a break from the sketching. He'd just finished the portrait of the king and started on the one of the queen, he flipped the book closed and put it down beside him closing his eyes with his head tilted to the sky. He felt a shadow over him as he opened an eye to see Elsa standing there.
"Hey Elsa." Hiccup smiled at her.
"Hello, Hiccup." Elsa replied with a smile of her own. "I was wondering if you'd like to take a walk with me in the gardens?" Elsa asked lightly.
"Sure thing. You good here, Toothless?" Hiccup asked his friend who replied with a croon.
"Actually...I was hoping...you'd...take me on a flight with him? I always watch you fly with him and...I realize I've never done it the times you offered...Forgive my curiousness..." Elsa said bashfully to him.
"Well you have to earn his trust first..." Hiccup said as he got up and Toothless did as well stretching with a yawn.
"He lets me near him though, I don't understand?" Elsa replied slowly.
"I'll show you what I mean. He has to trust you, and you have to trust him. That and you have to ask your parents first..." Hiccup told her, she turned to face Iduna and Agnarr.
"Mother, father...is it...okay if Hiccup takes me on a flight?" Elsa gently.
"It's fine with us." Iduna replied with a nod as Elsa looked back to Hiccup and Toothless now.
"Great, now we work on the trust parts. Toothless knows you won't hurt him but...you have to show him. Will you...allow me to touch your hand?" Hiccup asked with a light blush, "And you...have to take off your glove." Hiccup added.
"O–of course..." Elsa stated while she slowly took off her white gloves and placed them in her dress pocket and then Hiccup moved beside her now and lifted her hand for her with the palm out to Toothless. She was a little nervous, she'd never taken her gloves around him, being afraid of her powers starting up. But with Hiccup there, she didn't feel so scared.
"Its okay. Don't be afraid...now go ahead and close your eyes and turn your head off to the side. You have to trust him." Hiccup instructed her while her parents and Anna watched closely.
"I–I don't know if I can do this..." Elsa said shakily.
"Elsa, I give you my word on my life that I wouldn't let any harm come to you. Toothless trusts you, now you have to trust him." Hiccup said softly to her. She nodded shakily as she closed her eyes and turned her head slowly to the side. "Trust me..." Hiccup whispered to her, Elsa took a deep breath and the shaking stopped completely. In the silence Toothless sniffed her palm then pressed his nose to it gently.
Elsa quickly turned her head and looked at Toothless pressing his nose to her palm calmly, and her powers weren't out of control. She'd done it! "Its...amazing, Hiccup." Elsa breathed out.
"I know right. So, are you ready to fly then?" Hiccup asked her as she lowered her hand to her side now. Elsa nodded softly to him as he jumped on Toothless's back and locked his legs on the stirrups, he pressed the petal down a few times to check it was moving properly then offered his hand to Elsa, she took it as Hiccup pulled her on Toothless's back behind him. "Just tuck your legs a little and mind his wings." Hiccup told her, she did and wrapped her arms around his waist blushing a deep crimson color.
"I–I'm ready." Elsa nodded to him.
"Hold on. We take off fast...Lets go bud!" Hiccup smiled wide as Toothless spread his wings and launched in to the sky. Once up high enough, Toothless leveled out and glided on the summer breeze. Hiccup looked back saw Elsa's face buried in his back, and her eyes closed. He laughed a little, "Elsa...open your eyes...You're flying." Hiccup said softly to her. Elsa slowly opened her eyes and looked around, there was nothing but blue sky around them and white clouds above.
"Wow..." She smiled wide looking around at everything.
"Told you..." Hiccup returned the smile as Elsa's grip lessened around him. "Go ahead...touch the clouds. I won't let you fall." Hiccup told her gently. Elsa carefully put her hands on his shoulders as she lifted one and ran it through the clouds giggling.
"I've never been so high up...to be in the sky, touching the clouds...I can see why you like to fly so much now..." Elsa stated returning her hand to his shoulder then placing them on his hips while her head rested on his shoulder which made him blush a little. He knew this feeling that he got from being so close to Elsa, he was crushing on her. The only other crush he'd ever gotten was on Astrid but that was never going to happen since she thought he was invisible like the rest of the village did. But this with Elsa, felt stronger, better. He liked her a lot and after this flight he was sure of it.
Elsa too never had a feeling quite like this before. She was happy, safe, content, and in complete control of herself. She liked Hiccup a lot, from the moment they met he was different. He was kind and understanding, he saw things differently than others. Elsa had developed a severe crush on the former Viking boy, she liked being around him. But she wondered if he'd like being around her if he knew about her magic. She had to tell him eventually especially if things between them ever evolved to more. Sure they were only 13, well she almost was but that didn't mean anything. Girls her age dated boys in the village.
"Ready to go back down? I'm sure your parents won't approve of you being up here all day." Hiccup asked her.
"Yes, and when we land...can we still take that walk?" Elsa asked him softly.
"Anything for you princess." Hiccup replied earning him a dark blush from Elsa again. Hiccup steered Toothless down to the ground near her parents again and landed. He slid off and then helped Elsa down.
"Me next!" Anna said happily.
"Haha, alright. Later on though, Toothless needs his rest and I promised your sister we'd go for a walk in the gardens." Hiccup said ruffling Anna's hair a bit as she nodded to him and rushed off to play. "Whenever you're ready mi'lady." Hiccup said in a formal tone as he bowed with a hand behind his back and offered his other arm to her as he stood straight from the bowing position. Elsa giggled a little as she accepted his arm with her hand and they headed towards the gardens.
The king and queen smiled now watching their daughter walk with Hiccup. "I still think he's the one, Agnarr. Elsa has been nothing but happy and in control since they met 6 months ago." Iduna mentioned softly.
"I will agree but also, Elsa knows nothing of his past. And she hasn't revealed her magic to him, that will be the true test." Agnarr nodded.
"In time my love. In good time." Iduna smiled.
(The Gardens)
The two walked in silence through the castle gardens, the sun was high overhead and a cool breeze whipped through gently. "I never thought I'd get used to living somewhere other than my former home." Hiccup sighed with a smile.
"You know its dawned on me just now that you've never talked about your past, Hiccup." Elsa stated softly to him.
"They aren't fond memories for me. Can you imagine being told every day that you had to stay inside because you'd cause trouble if you didn't..." Hiccup mumbled a bit.
"Actually...I can. My parents separated me from Anna for 4 years, never let me out of my room..." Elsa added, she had to tell him so she might as well use his story to her advantage to get him talking and she could make similar comparisons.
"4 years, wow. Got me beat. I spent my time in my house or the forge since I was about 5. Why did you get locked up in your room?" Hiccup asked her softly.
"I...hurt my sister by accident...And my parents were afraid of it happening again so they kept me away from her, I'm surprised she doesn't hate me for staying away for all those years...my parents told her I was sick. I hated lying to her but my parents believed it was for the best. Why did you have to stay locked up?" Elsa asked now.
Hiccup shrugged, "Its kind of a long story...Viking tradition is to name the runt of the litter a Hiccup. So...when I was born early, that became my name. The rest of the people in the tribe are big, and burly...and well you see me. A scrawny, short kid." Hiccup chuckled a bit as Elsa giggled.
"Oh come now, Hiccup. You've got some muscle on you, nothing wrong with a lean figure." Elsa teased him.
"Yeah well they didn't know about...all this." He gestured to his arms now. "It comes from working in the smithy but...well the village didn't like my inventions since...most of them failed and caused some kind of damage. So...I was pretty hated there. My nickname was Hiccup the Useless, I didn't have friends growing up. Even my cousin and father hated me...but after I met Toothless...Everything changed for me. I didn't want to kill dragons, or fight them. I wanted peace but the village didn't. So when I won the big honor of killing my first dragon...I ran away. I knew I'd never be accepted so I left, and crashed here 5 days later. I'm grateful to your parents for giving me a home, a place where people like me and Toothless...Its funny, they said I could stay under the pretenses I helped you but I don't see what you need help with." Hiccup smiled.
Elsa blinked a little, sure her parents said that morning that they brought someone who could help her but she didn't know they let Hiccup stay under those conditions. "It's...with what caused my sister's accident...they wanted you to...help me control something inside of me..." Elsa looked down now with her eyes closed.
"The only thing inside of you is a kind, caring, heart Elsa. You don't need my help with that." Hiccup replied.
"No...Hiccup...I have...powers. And I...hurt Anna with them. Its why she has that white streak in her hair...where I hit her." Elsa sighed heavily.
"I don't understand? Your parents said you were different, and wanted me to help you adjust." Hiccup stated now.
"No...well yes I'm different from everyone else, but they wanted you to help me control my powers...Anna doesn't know about them because the trolls erased her memories of it happening, she knew about it when she was 5...but she doesn't anymore." Elsa sat down on a stone bench now.
"Well so what. You have powers, and I ride a dragon. We're not that different." Hiccup smiled to her. "Come on, you can tell me. We're best friends after all." Hiccup smiled.
"Alright...I'll show you. I just don't want you to think I'm a monster..." Elsa replied as she looked at him softly.
"I don't think that's possible for me to do, Elsa." Hiccup put his hand on hers and she blushed a little nodding to him as she now stood up with her hands together, slightly apart and moving them around in a circular motion, a snowball formed between her palms, Hiccup's eyes widened in amazement. Elsa tossed it in the air slightly as a light snow fell around them.
"Wow, Elsa...this is...so cool!" Hiccup said with a big smile.
"You really think so?..." Elsa asked him.
"Of course I do! Look at this...You made it snow...In summer! Why on earth do you need to control this? It looks fine to me." Hiccup told her happily.
"Well it happened 4 years ago. Anna woke me up to play and she always got me out of bed by asking if I wanted to build a snowman. Of course I did, so we went to the ballroom and I made it snow there, inside. We built a snowman named Olaf, who liked warm hugs, we went ice skating on the floor together, then she wanted me to make tickle bumps. Small snow hills for her to jump to and I'd catch her before she fell. She started going to fast and I slipped, I tried to make another snow peak to catch her but I hit her head and she went unconscious..." Elsa began slowly.
"And that's how she got the streak in her hair...so your parents separated you two after that?" Hiccup asked gently.
"No...we rushed in to the mountains, and found these...rock trolls." Elsa said.
"Trolls?! They exist?" Hiccup asked in shock, he thought they were a myth.
"Seems we both had our own myths we didn't believe. We didn't believe in dragons, and your tribe didn't believe in trolls. But...the trolls took Anna's memories and changed them to instead of us playing with my magic, that we were playing normal in the winter time. Sledding, building snowmen and what not. The elder told me that my powers would only grow. That there was beauty and also great danger in them. I had to learn to control them or fear would become my enemy...I fell asleep on my dad but when I woke up...all my things had been moved to the room I have now. I was told that my powers had to stay a secret from Anna...and well that's where I was for 4 years until you came along and my parents started letting me out again." Elsa explained.
"I don't see why...Look at this...Its so peaceful and beautiful." Hiccup told her.
"My father told me that the gates would stay locked, the staff would be reduced, and we'd keep my powers a secret, from everyone including Anna. I'm not sure why my parents changed it when you came around...I've always wondered. The times I was locked away, my father gave me the gloves and told me to conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show. My powers were fueled by emotions...so if I was scared they were stronger. I got so afraid that I refused to let my parents hug me anymore...I didn't want to hurt them." Elsa smiled a bit.
"Maybe the reason they are controlled are because...you're happy." Hiccup suggested.
"You think so?" Elsa asked him, she hadn't thought of that before. Was it because she was happy finally? Or that Hiccup made her happy and filled her with such confidence.
"I do. Come on, lets go talk to your parents. We can ask them why they thought I could help, you got this all on your own. But...if I can say this. I'm glad they thought I was needed because I got to meet you and you're amazing, Elsa. Really you are. You're smart, funny, and caring." Hiccup said as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. "I like you. Just the way you are, Elsa." He admitted with a faint blush.
"I like you too, Hiccup." Elsa replied blushing back. Hiccup offered his hand to her, she smiled taking it as the snow began to stop falling, he lifted her to her feet as they walked back towards the outside area where they'd eaten lunch. Her parents were still waiting there smiling when Elsa and Hiccup approached them.
"Did you two enjoy your walk?" Agnarr asked.
"We did, we were hoping to talk to you about something though...alone?" Elsa asked.
"Of course dear. Shall we talk inside or out here?" Iduna asked them.
"Wherever Anna isn't..." Elsa mentioned so her parents would understand why.
"We understand, so we take it...you told Hiccup about your powers?..." Agnarr stated, both nodded smiling. "Well Anna is in her lessons right now so its safe to talk here." Agnarr added.
"Perfect...We just...wanted to know why you thought only I could help Elsa with her powers, controlling them at least. She just showed me them in the gardens and it was fine..." Hiccup asked them.
"It's quite a story, starting from when Elsa first hurt Anna 4 years ago..." Iduna said sadly.
"I told him all that, but we both don't know why you kept me locked away fro 4 years until Hiccup arrived here..." Elsa stated gently. The king and queen sighed heavily as they motioned for Hiccup and Elsa to sit down at the table so they could explain everything to the two since it involved them both directly. Hiccup and Elsa sat down across from her parents and waited patiently for the explanation about all this.
