Somebody to Love

Chapter 15

By: BourbonCowboy

Author's Note and Disclaimer: Again, I do not own any of the Disney / Pixar / Dreamworks characters in this story. I also do not own the song "Peter Pan" by Kelsea Ballerni, I just found it pertinent to this piece of the story.

Lost Boy

A cold wind blew across the cobbled streets of the Crescent City, following a hooded figure as he slid silently from shadow to shadow. The flickering yellow light of a lonely streetlamp illuminated a pale face with ice blue eyes for a moment as the boy paused. Across the street from where he stood was an old sugar mill turned restaurant that jutted up against the muddy waters of the Mississippi River. Music and laughter poured out from the open French doors and windows. The boy approached cautiously. He stuck to the darkness of the adjacent alleyway and paused against the concrete wall. A self-deprecating smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. At one point in his life, he had longed for people to see him, to speak to him, to acknowledge his existence. He could have traipsed into a restaurant like this one, stood naked upon a table and danced the hula and no one would have batted an eye. But not here. The people of this town were naturally more in-tune with magic and mysticism and he could not risk being noticed. Not right now.

The apparition stopped at the corner of the building, listening hard. A cold breeze flowed from his outstretched palm and nipped around the corner briefly, before returning to twine around its master's fingers. The boy nodded to himself and pressed closer. He closed his eyes and opened himself up to the wind, allowing it to carry the voices of the young women to him.

"I'm telling you girls, Jim adores her! You should have seen them together on the ship! It was so romantic." Rapunzel sighed.

"Didn't you tell me that he proposed to her?" Anna's voice was muffled, as though her mouth was full. In actuality it was. Anna was sampling some of Tiana's famous beignets and loving them!

"I don't think he really proposed," Rapunzel replied, "More like hinted that he would like to propose. He asked to meet her family since we were in Scotland but she just sort of clammed up when he suggested it."

"But I thought that was the whole reason she came to Camelot?" Anna asked, confused.

"Just because the girl came lookin' for love, doesn't mean that she plans to settle for the first man to take a fancy to her," the honeyed voice of Charlotte put in. While he could not see her face, the eavesdropper imagined Anna's blush at Charlotte's words. "I cannot tell y'all how many times Travis proposed to me, bless his heart. No thank you! I just know that I am supposed to marry a real prince, not a pauper!"

"Are you saying that if you fall in love with a man who isn't a prince, you won't marry him?" Rapunzel asked.

"Oh, my dear!" Charlotte giggled, "Don't be silly. I could not possibly fall in love with a commoner!"

Anna and Rapunzel shared a wide-eyed glance before Anna ventured, "But what if it's True Love and you don't know because you won't give him a chance?"

"I believe in True Love," Charlotte answered softly, "I believe in it with all of my heart. I believe that when I meet my handsome prince, I am going to know it's him from the moment our eyes meet. It will be just like a fairy tale. Didn't y'all know it was True Love when you first met your beaus?"

"The first time I met Eugene I hit him in the head with a frying pan and knocked him unconscious," Rapunzel deadpanned.

"I was engaged to someone else who I thought was my True Love when I met Kristoff. Of course, it turns out my fiancé was planning to kill my sister and take over her kingdom and he didn't really love me and would totally have left me to die had Olaf not shown up to help me…" Anna paused to catch her breath. "But of course now I know Kristoff is the one!"

"Y'all sure y'all are princesses?" Charlotte asked. "Well, that's not how my fairy tale is going to go! I'm sure to meet my prince at a ball. He'll look up as I walk through the door. I'll pause at the top of the Grand Staircase. The lights will be on me. My dress and my hair will be perfect, of course. He will pause in mid-sentence, captivated by my beauty. Our eyes will meet, and we will both feel dizzy with anticipation. I'll descend as gracefully as a swan. I'll curtsy, and he will bow. We will murmur our 'how do you dos?' and then he will sweep me into a dance. We will dance all night and before we part, he will ask me to be his bride."

"Sounds like you've got it all planned out," Anna chuckled.

Charlotte blushed prettily. "That's how I imagine it anyway. Don't y'all worry none for Merida. When her prince arrives, she won't be able to resist him sweeping her off of her feet."

"You're right, Charlotte," Rapunzel's green eyes sparkled. "It just seemed so strange at the time. It was like Merida was falling for him and then as soon as it looked like things would work out, she closed herself off from him. But I guess I got so caught up in wanting her to find her happily ever after I forgot the Golden Rule."

"True Love conquers all," the three chorused and then fell into a fit of giggles.

"Come on, ladies, let's go find our girl and head home. I'm beat!" Rapunzel said.

Jack heard the scraping of chairs against the bricks of the courtyard. Satisfied with this new intelligence, he wrapped himself up in his cloak and allowed the breeze to carry him up and away. He flew out across the murky waters of the river and alighted on a branch on the far bank. He circled around the old moss-covered oak trees a few times, ensuring his privacy and creating a blanket of heavy fog. With a flick of his wrist he created a barrier of wind to prevent any sound from escaping the area. Pale eyes sought out the full moon above and he wondered, not for the first time, what the Man in the Moon thought of his current course. Shaking his head of the thought, Jack began to wave his hands around, pulling water from the air to create ice which he formed into a large, flat circle and placed upon the ground where it reflected the moonlight. The mirror's surface began to ripple. A hooded and cloaked figure emerged from the depths and stepped out into the heavy Louisiana air. The Guardian stood quietly waiting. The other figure watched him silently for a minute. Finally, a deep voice spoke.

"Did you really think it wise to allow her to mirror travel?"

"I apologize for the oversight. I did not realize their intention until it was too late to intervene," Jack replied.

"You are supposed to be keeping an eye on the girl, Frost," there was no mistaking the ire in the cloaked figure's voice.

Jack visibly winced. "You also have me keeping an eye on Hiccup! It just so happens that he is friends with Captain Hawkins. I barely got the memory spell on him before the good Captain could spill the beans and possibly ruin everything. Then I had to keep the two of them distracted." His speech got louder and louder as he became more upset. Jack was upset about everything. He was upset about the plan. He was upset about his role in the plan. He was upset with himself for agreeing to be part of it. As that self-loathing continued, his anger grew. The ground at his feet froze outwards in a circle. The heavy exposed roots of the oak trees began to frost over and icicles dripped from the Spanish moss overhead.

"Calm yourself, Jack," the voice whipped out, cutting through the night like a knife. Jack gulped, reigning in his temper as he recalled to whom he was speaking. "I understand that this is no easy task I have given you. Captain Hawkins is an unexpected distraction. We have ways of dealing with him. For now, just keep Princess Merida happy and distracted until the time is right."

Jack nodded and then bowed. The cloaked figure descended back into the mirror and was gone. With a flick of his wrist, the mirror and the magic melted away.

Three months later…

The calm of the afternoon was broken by the frantic sounds of a pretty young woman as she ran for her life through the Enchanted Forest. Her boot-clad feet pounded the ground. Wild red locks waved behind her like a flag. Her cheeks were rosy with exertion and her breath panted out in loud puffs as she dodged around bushes and ducked beneath a fallen tree. The screech of the beast behind her had Merida smiling slightly. Heart pounding in her chest, Merida chanced a glance backwards. The hippogriff screeched again, its yellow eyes glaring around as it flapped its steel gray wings and launched over the embankment she had just slid down. Knowing she had to take advantage of this opportunity while she had the chance, Merida sprinted around another copse of smaller trees and brush and made her way towards an outcropping of rocks near the stream ahead. The Highlander launched herself over the topmost flat rock, sliding along her bottom and landing with an undignified grunt before scooching back quickly to press herself into the tiny opening between the rocks. Not far off overhead she heard the hippogriff cawing in obvious frustration.

Merida took quick mental stock of her situation while she willed her heartrate to return to normal. It only took a couple of minutes for the Scout to catch her breath. She had become quite fit in the last three months with her frequent forays into the Enchanted Forest and beyond on her scout work for the King. Feeling secure enough for the moment in her hiding spot, Merida pulled her backpack into her lap to check on her supplies. Three clear jars wrapped in burlap were nestled safe inside the bag. She breathed a sigh of relief that the jars had not broken. She tapped the lid of one of the jars and suppressed a giggle as a tiny ZAP! of electricity tingled her finger. Inside the specially made jars were several dozen lightning bugs. These were not the cute little bugs that children like to catch on warm summer nights. These were true lightning bugs. When startled, they shot lightning from their antennas to electrify their would-be predators. The inventors needed them for their big machine. What Merida did not know going into this mission was that the bugs also happened to be the favorite snack of the local hippogriffs. 'Och! I don' have time to be playing wit' the wee things!' she thought to herself. She dug around in the bag until she came up with a small square of parchment. Quickly, she rubbed the paper between her palms to activate the charm. She felt a tingle as the magic took effect and breathed a sigh of relief. After a run-in with some goblins not too long ago, she always made sure to stock up on concealment spells whenever she was in town. The hippogriff would eventually tire of searching for her. In the meantime, Merida could rest easy knowing she was magically concealed from her pursuer.

With a mental sigh, she acknowledged that it had been her own greed that had landed her in this predicament. She had already collected the three jars of lightning bugs that had been requested. It was while trying to collect the fourth jar for herself that she had stumbled across the grazing hippogriff and her baby. The mama hippogriff had not taken too kindly to Merida's presence, or the sword the frightened princess had brandished at the pair. With a screech, the adult hippogriff had launched itself at Merida. Deadly talons, half a foot long, grabbed Merida's sword and plucked it easily from her grasp and then snapped it in half. Merida had dropped the jar of lightning bugs in favor of running for her life. Now that she had escaped, she counted her losses. Her sword was destroyed. That was the third sword this month she had lost! Her quiver of arrows was gone – dropped down a gully as she ran. Her specially made fairy bow had been snapped in half by the mama hippogriff's strong beak. The scout shuddered to think how close that beak had come to her bare fingers. Then, of course, she had just used her last concealment charm. Merida was out of food but thankfully still had her magical, never-ending canteen of fresh water. Her pants had a hole in the knee, the cuffs of her shirtsleeves were torn and bloody and her toes were growing colder by the minute from where she had run through a stream during her escape. She didn't even want to think about what her hair looked like! All in all, she was in sorry shape. 'After I drop these wee little monsters off, I am goin' straight home and spend an hour in the hot bath! First thing tomorrow I'll head into town and replenish my supplies. Maybe Eugene can help me pick out another new sword.' Merida thought tiredly. The angry cries of the hippogriff were getting further away. The Princess decided she would curl up and nap for a little while, just to be safe, before heading home.

It was several hours later when Merida made her way down the streets of Camelot's Guild District. Tired and dirty, she ignored the stares that she received from the happy looking young couples that were headed off to a late dinner, dancing, or some other form of entertainment. All Merida wanted was to be home in her nice warm apartment, curled up on the sofa beneath her warm furs watching the magic picture box until she fell asleep. Stifling a jaw-cracking yawn, Merida made her way up the stone steps of the Inventor's Guild and to the reception desk. The gold-filigreed mirror chimed once before asking politely how it could help. Merida dragged the advertisement from her breeches pocket and scanned until she found the name.

"Ahh…here it is. I'm here to see Cornelius Robinson." She told the mirror. It chimed again and then an image appeared of a blonde-haired, bespectacled man.

"Would you care for a lighted escort, Scout Merida?" the mirror asked politely.

"Aye. That would be lovely," she murmured, remembering ruefully the last time she had wandered around the massive building for several hours looking for an elderly inventor named Maurice to deliver some thingamabob. The stones at Merida's feet began to glow, leading away down the hall.

"Have a pleasant evening," the mirror sang before falling quiet once more.

Merida followed the lighted pathway down towards the basement. As she neared the open doorway, Merida could hear the steady clang-clang-clang of someone banging away against a metal object. For a moment she was back home in Scotland, watching the young blacksmith's apprentice as he shaped horseshoes for Angus. The vision was so real she could smell the smoke from the blacksmith's forge. Merida shook her head to clear it and suddenly realized she really could smell smoke! Without a thought to the possible danger, Merida sprinted the rest of the way down the stairs and burst into a large smoke-filled room. There in the corner of the room was Cornelius Robinson, using a heavy blanket to try and put out a fire – the source of which Merida could not determine from her position. Mentally thanking her Scout Mentor for catching his apartment on fire and Rapunzel for showing her the "modern" way of putting it out, Merida dashed over to the wall where a large red cylinder resided.

"Outta the way ya loon!" she shouted. She got a glimpse of startled blue eyes before Cornelius ducked out of the way of the black hose Merida had pointed at the fire. She squeezed the trigger. A large amount of bright white foam shot out of the hose, dosing the flame and everything else in the vicinity – including the surprised inventor. Satisfied, Merida put the fire extinguisher down and turned to regard the man.

"Thank you!" Cornelius said with a chuckle. "I don't know why I didn't think of that." He pulled his round spectacles from his nose and a handkerchief from the pocket of his lab coat. He wiped the lenses thoughtfully for a moment, muttering something about conversion principles.

"I'm glad you're alright," Merida said, going back to the wall where she had retrieved the fire extinguisher. There was a shelf of magical fix-its there. She had never had an opportunity to use them before, but Rapunzel had promised that all the charms were intuitive. Shrugging, Merida pulled down a red and white striped magic wand and brought it over to the mess. She gave the wand a couple of flicks and the white foam began to evaporate along with the scorch marks on the floor. The scout and the inventor watched with matching looks of astonishment as every last speck of the disaster was magically wiped away as though it had never happened. With a final twinkling, the spell ended. The wand's job completed, it too evaporated in a dazzle of twinkling lights. Merida looked to the inventor and chuckled at his expression of amazement.

"I would think ye would be used to such things, Mr. Robinson," Merida smiled.

The inventor just shook his head, bewildered. "I can honestly say that I will never get used to such things, as you say. I am a man of science. I cannot for the life of me figure out how magic works! But no matter. How can I help you, miss?"

"Oh aye!" Merida pulled her satchel from her back and opened it. She handed the three jars of lightning bugs to the inventor. "My name's Merida. I'm one of his majesty's Scouts. And well, I answered your advertisement for lightning bugs."

"Wonderful!" Cornelius carried the jars over to another workbench. On the wall above was a sketch of a piece of the machine he was building, the piece that utilized the power of the lightning bugs. Merida looked at it with interest while the inventor muttered under his breath about the magical properties of the insects and how strange it was that they could really conjure lightning! He pulled a notebook from the pocket of his lab coat and began to write furiously. The pencil, which he had plucked from behind his ear, fairly flew across the page. Cornelius paused in his ramblings, tapping the eraser of the pencil against his book and rolling his eyes upward in thought. On their ascent, his eyes caught sight of the king's Scout, still standing there patiently. He gasped upon realizing that he had completely forgotten the girl. "I'm so sorry. I tend to get excited." He cleared his throat nervously. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble for you to collect them."

"Oh it was fine until the hippogriff showed up," Merida offered him a wan smile.

The inventor's eyes became huge and round behind his spectacles. "Hippogriff you say? But – but – but...those don't exist. I mean they're legendary. I mean…well, I suppose this is Camelot. What I wouldn't give to see a real hippogriff! It didn't hurt you, did it?"

"Dinna fash. I'm fine. Lost my sword and my bow and arrows, but those can be replaced." She stifled another yawn.

"New weapons, huh? I know someone who could help with that. He's a Viking chieftan and an incredibly talented inventor. From what I understand he was an apprentice blacksmith in his village before he became the chief. Great fellow. He's in and out of the Guild often enough, but he also works in a blacksmith's shop in the North Ring – near the wharves. You can't miss it!" he placed a hand on Merida's back and began to steer her towards the door. "You must be exhausted from your travels. Next time you come down this way I want to hear all about your daring escape from the hippogriff. A hippogriff! What a thing to see! Have a good night now!" and he slammed the door at her back, still muttering to himself about mythical creatures and where to find them.

Merida just shook her head and made her way back up and out of the building. It was very late. She wondered if the eccentric inventor had any idea what time it was? Was he planning to work all night? No matter. There were few people on the streets at this time of night and little chance of a rickshaw. The Guild District was situated at the junction where the Northern and Western Rings overlapped. The Inventor's and Engineer's Guilds, which shared a common building, were located at the uppermost edge of the Western Ring, close to the river. Merida's own apartment, while also in the Western Ring, was on the southeastern side of the circle, near the Arts District and the Eastern Ring. She could either follow the Great Wall around the edge of the Western Ring all the way to her apartment building or she could cut through the middle of the Ring. She would have to walk through three districts to get to her apartment building, but it would still be faster than the long walk along the Wall. Mind made up, Merida cut across the Guild Square and past the Fountain of Eternal Brotherhood to join up with the main road.

'At least it's a nice night,' Merida thought to herself as she walked. Her feet were tired and sore. The muscles in her neck and shoulders were aching from the odd position in which she had taken her impromptu nap. Worse! She had caught sight of her hair in the mirror at the reception desk. She dreaded the amount of time it was going to take washing, drying, and de-tangling the mess! She should have just kept it in the braid but no! She wanted to run with the wind in her hair again. Further proof that older did not necessarily equate with wiser.

"It's a nice night for a walk, Kotik," a familiar voice broke the silence of the night. Merida stopped and turned to her right with a tired smile.

"Vlad! What are you doing out so late?" she asked, waiting for the large man to catch up to her.

"Sophie is away from Camelot at present, so I went to have dinner with my children. We talked and laughed and drank much too much vodka!" he chuckled as he finally reached her and grabbed her up in a bear hug. "It is so important to spend time with those that you love while you are able." The two turned and began walking together now in the direction of their shared apartment building. "You must be returning from a scouting mission. How did it go?"

"Och! Vladimir! I'm tired and I'm cold and my toes are wet!" she lamented, no longer able to keep the misery at bay. "I got chased by a hippogriff, lost my sword and my bow and arrows. I've used up all of my charms and didn't even bring back anything worthwhile to trade for more." Her stomach gave a loud grumble. "And I'm hungry." She whined.

"Poor Solnyshko," Vladimir intoned teasingly. Merida offered a shy smile, knowing he did not really hold her whining against her. He peeled off his black fur cape and draped it over the princess' tired shoulders. She accepted the offer gratefully and snuggled into the warmth. It smelled faintly of his tobacco and cologne and comforted her more than she thought anything could. The gesture had her thinking of her own father, the Bear King. When she was a little girl and they were away from the castle, he would drape his big bear cape over her and she would fall asleep beneath it feeling warm and safe. Merida's eyes pricked with tears of nostalgia and she clenched her jaw to prevent them from falling. If Vladimir noticed the way Merida's eyes suddenly shone, he did not comment and for that the princess was grateful. "I have a nice pot of borscht at home. It will warm your belly and then you will sleep like a bear in wintertime."

"That sounds wonderful. Thank you."

They passed several long minutes in companionable silence. At Merida's inquiry, Vladimir talked some of his adopted children – Anastasia and Dimitri. He told a lengthy story about Anastasia's failed attempts at cooking tonight's dinner that had Merida crying with laughter. Apparently, his daughter could burn water! After a while, Vlad ventured to change the subject. "You certainly have been very busy as of late. You've been going on more and more scouting missions. Rapunzel told me that you all fought off a gang of trolls just last week!"

"Ah yes. That was fun!" her eyes twinkled at the amused look on her friend's face. "We were supposed to be collecting some rare gemstones for the Alchemists. They suggested that we take a team of at least five scouts since we would be traveling into dangerous territory. It was Eugene, Rapunzel, Anna, Kristoff, Jim and myself. Everything probably would have been fine, but Anna is clumsier than I gave her credit for. She actually caused an avalanche!"

"The avalanche attracted the trolls?" Vladimir gasped.

"Oh no! The trolls dinna show up till Anna pulled out that…what did she call it? A sand witch?" Merida mimed eating a sandwich and Vladimir nodded his understanding. "We all made it out alright. Eugene and Jim are both excellent warriors."

"Mmm…speaking of the handsome captain, how are things going with the two of you?"

"Fine, I guess," Merida cut him a sideways glance. He raised a speculative brow and she relented with an exasperated sigh. "Jim is a fine man. He's sweet and smart and attentive. Whenever he is in port, we spend a fair amount of time together. He takes me to dinner and on long walks. He took me to the pictures for the first time. I can talk to him about anything."

"But?"

"But I don't love him." She whispered. "Not like I think I should for him to be my True Love. Does that even make sense? Och! I've probably spent too much time around Charlotte! This is ridiculous."

They had made it back to their apartment building. The doorman let them in with a bow and they made their way to the elevator. Merida fidgeted and picked at her fingernails, waiting for Vladimir to say something but he just rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The elevator let them off on their floor and she followed him silently to his apartment and took a seat on the sofa in the sitting room. Vladimir disappeared into the kitchen and returned with two bowls of hot borscht and a side of toasted dark rye bread. Once he had settled himself in his chair, he looked at Merida over his glasses.

"Why do you feel the need to defend your feelings, Solnyshko? If you do not love him, then you do not love him. That is that." His voice was gentle.

"Everyone says I should marry him. My mother says I should marry him! She says I will learn to love him in time. It is enough that I care for him and enjoy his companionship, she says." Merida took a bite of her soup and closed her eyes, enjoying the way the warmth spread thru her entire body. "I feel like maybe everyone is right. I know Jim wants to marry me, though he has not brought it up again."

"Yet something is holding you back." Vlad prompted.

"No. Yes. I don't know, maybe," she stirred her soup dejectedly, watching bits of beet, potato and cabbage swirl around in the pink liquid. "It's just that I feel like there is something missing. Like a piece of me is out there, somewhere, waiting for me to come and find it. My other half. My soul mate. My…"

"True Love." Vladimir finished for her gently. He smiled that kind fatherly smile of his. "I will tell you an old Russian proverb. 'Love is like the wind, you cannot see it, but you can feel it.'"

"And a beard does nae make a philosopher." She retorted.

Vladimir laughed. It was a big, belly shaking laugh. He slapped his knee a couple of times and shook his finger at the smiling princess. When he had collected himself again, he said, "You are quite right, my darling. Philosopher or no, I do know that you have spent these last several months in true self-examination. You know your heart now better than ever. If your heart is telling you to wait, then you must wait. Remember this is Camelot! Time is nothing here."

"If time is nothing here, I hope I am not waiting a thousand years!" Merida grumped.

Vladimir laughed. They finished their borscht in companionable silence. Afterward Merida helped to wash the dishes and then bade her friend goodnight.

Storm clouds were gathering around the Island of Berk when Hiccup and Toothless returned from Camelot. Each time Hiccup was amazed by the time difference. He had spent a month in Camelot this time, splitting his time between the Guilds, the blacksmith's shop, and the vast library belonging to the King. Yet the calendar he had erected on the clock tower told the Chief he had been gone less than a day. Hiccup slid from the saddle and patted Toothless' scaled side. "Hungry, bud?" Toothless' ears perked up and his forked tongue darted out to lick his lips. Hiccup chuckled. "Go eat. I'll see ya in a bit." The dragon required no further urging. Toothless chortled in glee and bounded off in the direction of the Academy. Hiccup was smiling as he watched his best friend disappear into the night. A voice in the darkness behind him wiped the grin from the Chief's face.

"How long will you be home this time?" Hiccup did not need to turn around to identify the speaker. He knew without looking the expression of disapproval darkening Astrid's countenance. A few cold, fat, rain drops splatted on his head and all Hiccup could smell was the storm and sizzling cook fires. He was grateful, knowing from the soft coos that Astrid held the newest baby in her arms and that on top of her normal Astrid smell she would also smell of milk and talc…scents that all combined to make him ache with loneliness for the life that should have been his. "Well, Chief?" Astrid asked again, oblivious to Hiccup's internal musings. Hiccup looked up at the dark and forbidding sky and surprised Astrid with his answer.

"You should get the baby inside before the storm hits." He thought he heard a quick gasp, but it may have just been the wind through the rocks. Hiccup continued to watch the heavens lost in thought, eventually forgetting that Astrid was there until he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"What are you looking for, Hiccup?" The Viking Chief shrugged off Astrid's touch and started for the path back to his home. "Right. Just leave, Hiccup!" Astrid yelled, her voice raw with emotion. "It's what you're good at. Always gonna fly away just because you know you can."

Hiccup paused and finally turned to look at the woman who would have been his wife. "What did you say to me?" Astrid's blonde hair was coming loose from its customary braid. She looked as if she had stood out on the cliffs in the wind for hours – awaiting his return? She wore her new baby in a sling tight to her chest, leaving her hands free for a weapon if needed. At present though she had her hands cupping the baby gently. "What are you looking for, Hiccup?" she asked again, her voice low and soft. "You're never here. Even when you are, you've got your head in the clouds."

Hiccup crossed his arms over his chest, feeling an old fire roar back to life at Astrid's accusations, despite her gentle tone. "I am the chief of this clan, Astrid, not you. Don't presume to know my mind. You lost the privilege of my confidence when you tried to cuckhold me."

Astrid blushed, remembering how Hiccup and she had broken up. "I had no plans to cuckhold you, Hiccup. I would have called off the wedding. But that doesn't matter now. It's over. I would have thought that enough time had passed for you to get over your jealousy and realize the truth."

"What truth?"

Her eyes were sad as she whispered, "That you were never going to marry me, Hiccup."

The chief started. Anger blurred his vision. He did not know what he wanted to do, but as his good leg brought him a step closer to Astrid, a tiny fist waved from the cloth covering on her chest. Astrid did not blink. Was that fearlessness or complete trust in her eyes? Of course, as he saw it, she had no reason to distrust him. Astrid's eyes were the blue-green of a storm-swept sea and the rain had left tracks down her wind-chapped cheeks. The Viking warrior stood her ground, her hair blowing in the breeze and her body trembling with cold. Hiccup did not think he had ever seen her look more beautiful than she did at that moment. Just like that, his emotions did a one eighty. Gone was the anger and in its place a longing so fierce he could feel the sharp edges of it against his soul. Without thinking, Hiccup closed the distance between them. He took Astrid's face between his two calloused hands and brought his lips crashing to hers like the waves on the rocks below where they stood. She tasted salty. When he released her, Astrid looked neither angry nor elated at Hiccup's sudden amorous attentions. Instead, Astrid merely appeared weary.

"You're just a lost boy, Hiccup."

Hiccup didn't know if it was the residual magic of Camelot or the Man in the Moon, but he suddenly saw Astrid differently. He didn't see the woman who broke his heart standing there with another man's child at her breast. Instead, Hiccup saw the girl she had been when he fell in love with her, standing there bathed in the soft moonlight. When she spoke, it was a song played directly on his heart.

"The smile, the charm, the words, the spark…everything you had it. I guess I had a naïve heart, cause boy I let you have it. You said I was your only. I never thought you'd leave me lonely." He saw himself scribbling down ideas for journeys into the unknown, pushing the boundaries of what was known and pulling further and further away from his fiancé. Astrid was anchored to Berk forever while Hiccup flew free. He could see the sadness on her face as he mounted Toothless, map in hand with a cursory kiss goodbye. He was already gone. "You're just a lost boy, with your head up in the clouds." Hiccup and Toothless were flying, always together and always gone from Berk. They chased their dreams beyond the horizon, not knowing what they were looking for but forever searching. "You're just a lost boy. You never keep your feet on the ground. You're always gonna fly away, just because you know you can. You don't understand. Deep down, I knew that you were too good to be true. But every piece and part of me wanted to believe in you." He saw how it could have been for Astrid, alone and running Berk while worrying when or if Hiccup would return. He saw his own aloofness when he was home, how little of his attention or affections he offered his lover. Even when he was there, he was gone. He could see her relying more and more on Eret to ease some of her workload. It was natural then that she began to rely on him emotionally too. Natural for that emotional comfort to then become romantically charged. He could see how she did not mean to hurt Hiccup but how she felt just as betrayed by his continued absence as Hiccup felt when he had found the two lovers together. Her sweet voice was sad as she ended her soliloquy, "Now it's happily ever never. I guess now I know better. You're just a lost boy. Too busy chasing stars."

The magic and the light faded. Astrid stood before him as she was, windswept and weary, holding her baby and her feelings in check once more. Astrid turned to leave. "Wait, Astrid." Hiccup didn't know how to respond to this heartfelt outpouring from the normally taciturn warrior. As Astrid turned back to regard him though, Hiccup was momentarily blinded by another vision. It was a woman with crystal blue eyes, a smattering of freckles in a pale, round face framed by wild, waving red curls. Something inside him clicked into place. The vision cleared and Hiccup was once again looking at Astrid. She seemed satisfied with whatever she saw in Hiccup's expression. "Astrid, I'm sorry…" he whispered into the wind, knowing she could hear. "You're right. I did love you. But – I think deep down I have been searching all this time for someone else. My soul mate. I just didn't realize that's why I couldn't settle down."

Astrid nodded, "I don't think that everyone gets a soul mate, Hiccup. A One True Love. I'm glad you do. Have you found her yet?"

Hiccup shook his head and looked back towards the horizon where dawn was breaking. "No, but…I think I know where to find her…and what she looks like."

Author's Note: Yes! The chapter does contain a mini song fic. I actually wrote that piece called "Astrid's Soliloquy" after the first time I heard the song on the radio. If you don't know the song, it's "Peter Pan" by Kelsea Ballerini. Something about this song just really clicked for me and this story and I am super excited to have finally made it to that point in the narrative so that it could be included.

The terms of endearment that Vladimir uses when talking to Merida are common in Russian. "Kotik" means kitten and "Solnyshko" means little sun – which I find highly appropriate due to Merida's hair color. Borscht is a traditional Russian beet soup and comfort food, usually jam-packed with potatoes, cabbage, celery, carrots, tomato and sometimes meat. They usually top it with a dollop of sour cream and dill. You may be thinking borscht is traditionally served cold and you aren't wrong. Russians eat it hot in the winter time and cold in the summer.

Next time on S2L – the big moment is finally here! That's right folks. Merida and Hiccup are finally going to meet!

~ Yours Truly

BourbonCowboy