59. Peaceful
The drunken cheering of vikings rang through the night air. Even when sitting on the dock Hiccup could hear the songs of victory. It was strange for him. The whole day was spent cleaning up the mess they could clean up. Like getting rid of the bodies, taking off the constricting armor from Drago's dragons and taking the survivor to the academy to deal with later.
With all that happening and the promise of the celebration the tribe largely ignored the fact that Hiccup was back and Valka was alive. He knew his mother was currently in the Meade hall getting interrogated by the people who knew her before she left, he saw that and knew he would be next, so he left before the drunk vikings could get to him.
The gang were all enjoying the attention they were getting from being a part of the heroes of Berk and Hiccup couldn't get himself to be involved in the celebrations. He knew he should celebrate, they were victorious! But he just wanted to sit here, watching the calm waters.
He didn't know how long he had sat there, but he wanted to check on Storm before he went to sleep. She had been approached by Gothi soon after the battle ended and had practically pulled the girl to her hut. Storm had been badly injured and would need at least two weeks of bed rest before she could even walk around without constant pain.
"What's up, Chief?"
Hiccup startled and turned to look behind him. Storm stood there in her normal clothes, her armor long gone.
"What are you doing here?" he asked her and stood up going over to her.
"Couldn't sleep," she shrugged and winced, shaking her head at her own stupidity, "Went out for fresh air and saw you."
"Did Gothi say that you can be outside?" Hiccup asked and raised an eyebrow.
"She was pretty adamant that I stay inside, actually," Storm chuckled, "But, technically, I should not understand her scribbles and nobody came to translate, so I'm gonna be okay."
"You're in pain."
"I'm going to be okay," Storm rolled her eyes at his concern, "Help me sit down, will you?"
Hiccup huffed, but relented after a moment and helped her sit down on the dock, sitting down next to her he gazed into the sea. She exhaled and let her head fall on his shoulder. It was nice, just sitting there, enjoying the view, even the noise coming from the Meade hall didn't affect the calm moment.
"I really thought I lost you," Hiccup whispered after a moment, guilt lacing his tone.
"You didn't, I'm not that easy to get rid of."
"Yeah, but I thought - " he cut himself off and sighed, leaning his head back to the sky he closed his eyes, " – I thought about all of the times we fought, all of the times you saved me… just all of the things we've been through and I couldn't help but think that I never said thank you enough times…"
"You don't have to say it every time for me to know," Storm told him, Hiccup shrugged with his free shoulder.
"Still feel bad about it though," he turned to look at her, "So, thank you. For everything."
"It's not a hardship," she shook her head and lifted it from his shoulder, she turned to look at the direction of the Meade hall, "You hear that?"
Hiccup raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the same direction. He looked back at her questionably.
"The sound of the tribe getting so drunk that they won't be leaving their homes until the late afternoon?"
"The sound of people celebrating," Storm chuckled, "We won, you should be up there."
"So should you," Hiccup retorted, "But I don't want to up there at the moment. A lot of questions being asked."
"You'll have to answer them eventually," Storm pointed out.
"I'd rather not, ever. My mom's getting questioned about her life already and Spitelout's already coming up with rumors," Hiccup shook his head, "According to him, Astrid always knew where I was and I'm married to you."
"That's disgusting. He really just needs to shut up sometimes."
"That's a fact," Hiccup chuckled, "You know you'll get questioned too, right?"
"Let's not talk about that," Storm waved it off, "Let's just forget everything for a moment and enjoy this."
"Yeah, if you ignore all of the shouting coming from the Meade hall, it's – "
"Peaceful." Storm finished his thought and smiled. "I wonder what will the next threat will be?"
"I can tell you that."
"Oh?"
"Dealing with the tribe," Hiccup nodded to himself and smiled, "Getting back into the swing of things."
"Oh, I will take that over another Drago Bludvist any time," Storm patted his shoulder, "Help me up, I'm tired and I want to go to sleep."
"I can call Shadow or Toothless if you want to get back to Gothi's hut faster," Hiccup offered as he stood up and gently pulled Storm to stand.
"They're busy celebrating Toothless' new title," Storm told him, "Didn't you notice the forest sky lighting up with a blast every so often."
"I did, but I ignored it," he shrugged, "I'll help you then."
"You don't have to," she assured him as she started to slowly walk back.
"I want to. I honestly don't know how you didn't roll off the stairs to her hut," he joked with a smile.
"I came close," she told him and his smile fell, she shrugged and smiled.
He shook his head and walked next to her, walking with her all the way to Gothi's hut. Hiccup had to stop Storm from falling a few times, her injuries and exhaustion taking a toll on her. Gothi herself was in the Meade hall, so the hut was empty.
Storm headed straight for the bed Gothi had for overnight patients and snuggled into the blanket with a pain filled groan. She patted the stop on the bed next to her.
"Come on, lay down. Otherwise you'll just wander around the island until the sun rises."
"There will be rumors," hiccup half-heartedly warned as he laid down next to her and got comfortable.
"Do you care about them?"
"Nor really."
"Then we'll deal with them in the morning," Storm decided and tucked Hiccup in, "The downside of coming home is that people want to know you."
"And you need to figure out how to show them who you are," Hiccup agreed and closed his eyes.
They fell asleep soon after. The celebrations lasted through the night and when morning came, the only ones who weren't suffering from a hangover were the pair. Even the dragons managed to get drunk, thanks to the twins of course. The sun rose on a new day and a different life for those who came back to Berk.
[This is the end. I hope you enjoyed! I have two more main works planned for this AU and two which are just additional information, clarity and for fun. The thing is, I'm actiually on hiatus right now, meaning none of my works are being updated. I think is going to be a place where I post already completed works, so it might take a while for my next upload. Of course, if enough people want to follow along, I will be glad to post the on-going works too! Just let me know!]
