I didn't come up with the base idea for this. It literally landed in my inbox and I had to write it.

So the seperate upload is because it's an alternative ending, leaving it open for me to go write a different thing if I opt to for Mystery. Not saying I will. Just... leaving the option open.

Anyway. Here is the feels-y one.

-HTTYD-

Astrid kicked off her shoes, relishing the feel of the residual warmth in the sand. Beaches after sundown were a guilty pleasure of hers now. She had to time it right not to be burned by even the final UV rays, but there was a sliver of time where dusk met nightfall that she could creep through sometimes, feel the warmth before the rising tide and chill of night settled in. Most of the humans had already left for their warm, artificially lit homes, but there was what she thought might be a family a little ways down the beach, looking like multiple generations - there were adults and children on the sand, paddling in the edge of the sea, and a couple of older ones further back, one leaning on the others wheelchair handles.

Family was a long-lost pipe dream for her. Of course, Astrid could always turn someone and call that family, but so far she'd never met anyone who she thought she could stand for that long, let alone ask them to consider her sort of... half-life, hidden in the dark, never aging.

Except...

Shaking off the thought, Astrid glanced out to the dying embers of light, the pretty colours painted through the clouds. No, she didn't regret that she'd never brought anyone into her world, not really. It was just a human nostalgia, a dull spark of memory that she had a family once, the joyful laughter and squeals of "mom, it's cold!" from a little blonde girl that reminded her.

Continuing her walk, Astrid paid the family little mind and they repaid the favour, only glancing at her as anyone might investigate a passing stranger. Glancing around, she saw a house nearby, all one floor, one light on and the doors open. Maybe they lived there. She couldn't see anyone inside.

It would have been like any other night, where she meandered until she found someone to eat, then moved back to safe ground before the sunlight crept out to claim her. Astrid really ought to think about moving again... maybe somewhere that was almost exclusively dark for months at a time. It wasn't as though the cold would affect her.

Then the man in the wheelchair looked up, and Astrid felt a spark she'd forgotten long ago. He was older, hair greyed and skin roughened by wrinkles and age and time, something in his life apparently putting him in the chair... but those eyes. She remembered those eyes. Eyes that widened, recognition sparkling there. Hellfire, how long had it been? Astrid struggled to kepe track of time these days.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer!"

The woman standing over his chair snapped, and Astrid tore her eyes up to look at the woman. Blue eyes, sharp and fiery gaze. The faintest hints of blonde left in white-grey hair.4

"Excuse me?"

"Staring at my husbands wheelchair like he's some-"

Finally moving, Hiccup turned to his wife and patted her hand.

"It's ok Cami. She's actually the granddaughter of a guy I used to work with. It's so good to see you again!"

For a minute, Astrid worried for the mans mental state, because he really was looking at her like a fond old man excited to see her 'all grown up'. 'Cami' eyed Astrid suspiciously, but her husband squeezed her hand.

"Go help the kids, looks like someone is trying to swim out to sea again."

Thrown another sharp glare, Astrid was left alone with Hiccup. He waited, watching his wife leave earshot before he looked up at Astrid again.

"How... how long has it been? For you, I mean."

Hiccup cocked his head, surveying her.

"You mean since this?"

He reached up, fingers thin, skin looking a little papery in places, and tugged the thick collar of his jumper down to display a scar. Astrid could only stare for a minute, because that was not meant to happen.

"Yeah."

"Uh... forty seven years, give or take a few months. You look..."

"The same?"

He chuckled, and that crooked smile sloped across his face just the same as it had all those years ago.

"I was going to say good. But yeah. You do look pretty same-y."

Astrid frowned, wondering if she was about to make him think she was bonkers.

"I'm a vampire."

Expecting some kind of response, surprise or shock or disbelief, all she got was a shrug of thin shoulders.

"Ok."

"What? Just... okay?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's you. It's been almost five decades. And my cat didn't like you. I'm an open-minded guy."

Oh yes, Astrid remembered that. Memories flared in the back of her mind, of his burning skin and the way his hands danced over her body. The cool air of the sea blew past them and took the ghost of past touches with it, left her almost shivering.

"What do you remember?"

"Everything. I guess I know why you always left before morning. And that night I woke up in time to see you go..."

"Yeah. I uh, I never go back to someone I've bitten. Saves awkward questions."

"Then why are you here talking to me now?"

He didn't seem resentful, merely curious. Astrid picked up one of the nearby deckchairs, perched it down next to him and sat down on it rather than lean over him. There wasn't a clear answer... but Astrid knew nobody had ever intrigued her the way Hiccup had. So instead, she glanced out to the beach, watching the humans.

"Looks like a happy family."

Hiccup turned, smile crossing his face.

"Yeah... yeah we are" after a minute, his head came back around "I never asked. Do you have... a family?"

"Nope. I mean, I guess I had one once, but I'm pretty old and I wasn't born like this."

"So no little fanged babies?"

"Nope. I could, with another vampire, but I've never found one I like that much. But I'm immortal, I guess I don't need to leave a legacy behind."

Honestly, she was a little jealous right now. Just a little.

"You did though. You left me behind."

It was minute, but Astrid heard that note of pain in his voice, a remnant of hurt for what she did to him.

"I know."

And for all the time that had passed, the lives they'd gone on to have independently of each other...

"I looked for you."

"That can't have been easy. I don't really exist anywhere."

His hands flexed, one moving to rub at his knee.

"It wasn't. And obviously, it didn't work. I went... off the rails, I guess. You did something to me, Astrid, and then you just walked out of my life like nothing ever happened. Like I was nothing to you."

She'd known, back then, that he was getting attached. It was one of the reasons she never went back to the same person before, or since Hiccup. A succubus was easy to get hooked on, and it had been selfish to feed on his lust so many times.

"I'm sorry. I... you were different, you know. I've never met another human like you. I never did repeat visits. Fuck, bite, go."

"Is the sex part of it? Or was I just special?"

Astrid rolled her eyes, seeing a little of that rogue charm in his face for a second.

"Part of it. I feed on lust as much as blood, and it's much more satisfying to feed on someone who's... satisfied."

"Then why didn't you... bite me the first night?"

"Because... I knew I couldn't come back to you if I did. And that night was... intense for me too."

"And yet you left me anyway."

"I had to. Come on, be realistic. What would have happened if I stayed? If I had told you back then? We inhabit different worlds Hiccup. You rise with the sun. I belong to the moon."

He shrugged again, sighing deeply.

"At least I would have known. I wouldn't have spent time searching. I wouldn't have thought I was going crazy. I wouldn't have... never mind."

"Wouldn't have what? Tell me."

Astrid wasn't sadistic enough to use her power to make him tell her; and as it turned out, she didn't need to anyway.

"I... I lost my leg. Drunk. Stupid. But... it worked out fine. It made me turn my life around. It's how I met Cami."

Astrid turned her gaze to the beach, saw the aging wife eyeball her again.

"Blue eyed blonde."

"Yeah... one stole my heart. I've had a thing for them ever since. Well, actually, I guess two did. Because I do love Cami. She's incredible, and we have had an amazing life together. We went on adventures. We had three great kids. I have grandkids."

All things I couldn't have given him, Astrid reminded herself, dead heart aching in her chest as she thought of his accident, saw the chair beneath him. He'd never have been in that situation if she'd not left him. He'd never have been so breakable if she'd stayed, if she'd turned him. Could they have built something together?

Would they have been happy?

The next time their eyes met, Astrid felt the past wash over her. She saw him, the Hiccup she remembered, young and strong and virile. His eyes slid over her strangely, as though imagining her differently too. Maybe he wondered how she'd look if she'd aged, grown old and human like him.

He was the closest she'd ever come to falling in love, and Astrid hadn't just walked away from that, she'd turned and ran.

"I could... I could change you. Make it so you can see the next generation grow up."

She saw the flicker - he considered it, but only for a second.

"No. It's not... I'll live on through them. That's how it's supposed to be. Maybe if you hadn't... I might have... but no."

Astrid nodded. It had been a stupid idea anyway, words born of nostalgia rather than sense.

"I understand."

His smile was sad at the edges, but genuine all the same.

"I do hope that you won't always be alone. You deserve to be happy Astrid."

As she looked up, Astrid saw the sky was dark now, stars replacing the colours of dusk. A stark reminder that she was different; the stars were her light, not the sun. Standing up, she looked over at Hiccup, whos eyes had turned back to his family. Just like all those years ago, he'd touched her soul in a way nobody else ever had.

"So do you Hiccup."

Astrid leant down, pressed her lips to his hair. He still smelled like she remembered, leather and nature and life. She let a little energy flow from her to him... he ought to have fun with his wife that night. Hiccup leant up, his lips a little dry with the chilled sea air, but beautifully warm as ever against her cheek.

"Goodbye Hiccup."

She stole one last look at his family, forcing down the tears that prickled at the corner of her eyes. No, she'd not resent him that. He deserved that happy family. It took everything in her not to run away again, taking human steps until the darkness swallowed her once again.

One minute she was there, and then she was gone. Hiccup supposed that was in keeping with their past.

"Grandpa, grandpa! Who was that?"

Just like her grandmother, just like her mother, all blonde hair and blue eyes, his youngest granddaughter clambered up onto his lap, knowing only to sit on Hiccup's good leg. He smiled as the wind ruffled little Astrid's hair.

"Just an old friend."

The four year old wouldn't understand. Her mother approached them next, rubbing at her stomach - a new baby Haddock wasn't far off from joining them, due next month. His other grandchildren swarmed around, pouting as they were made to shoo back so Cami could wheel Hiccup back home. They had a bungalow by the beach, easy for his chair to get around and the open sea and skies soothed his adventurers heart. He wished he'd been down on the sand with them, but his leg played him up more than ever these days.

Although... he'd not felt any pain since Astrid kissed him goodbye.

"Grandpa!"

"What?"

"Can we have a story before bedtime?"

Little Astrid - he'd only passively commented he liked the name once, but his and Cami's daughter Charlie had somehow stored it in her brain until she too was a mother - still perched in his lap, Hiccup nodded to the young ones.

"Alright. One story. What story do you want?"

"Dragons!"

Hearing Cami make a crack that Hiccup's love of dragons was somehow genetic, he smiled to himself before setting his little granddaughter where she could fall asleep on his lap as she was prone to doing, looking at the assembled grandchildren from four to thirteen around him.

"Alright. Nobody knows where they went. Some people say they left for their own world, others say they must be sleeping beneath the ocean, waiting for the right time to wake up. But once, there were dragons..."

-HTTYD-

*leaves box of tissues for if anyone is hit in the feels*