She was really here.

The entire thing felt surreal. For years and years she'd dreamed of being in this position. To dance amongst the princes and chatter with the princesses. She'd imagined being in this position a thousand times.

Yet, here she was, and she was a million miles away.

Heather and Ruffnut found an old gown of Heather's that was never worn. It was a beautiful sky blue colour that flowed from the waist to the floor and had elegant lace patterns on the skirt.That plus all the make up she had begrudgingly agreed to wear, she barely recognized herself. She felt truly beautiful, and that was strange for her.

It's not that she felt unattractive. However, when all you ever wear is rags and the closest you have to makeup is dirt on your cheeks, you can only feel so pretty.

She wasn't exactly sure why she was so distracted. Maybe it was because she was older. Astrid understood the world a lot better than she did before. There were politics to society. Just because Heather was nice to her servants, didn't mean every royal was. She'd experienced such unpleasantness in other trips to different tribes. Just because she was a guest, it didn't mean that she deserved to be treated like the royals. No matter where she was, she would always be the help.

That was the problem. She knew the truth. She knew that the gown and the makeup was all just a facade. Tomorrow she would put on her rags and this night would be a distant memory. All the attention she was getting from royals had nothing to do with her. It was her appearance. She looks like a royal so people love her and treat her with respect. Every other year she's been a servant and nobody's given a damn about her.

She was so consumed by these thoughts, she didn't even notice the young, attractive prince of Berk making his way towards her and holding out his hand.

"May I have this dance, milady?"

Almost on instinct, she turned around to see who he was really asking. Astrid assumed that he must have been asking someone behind her. It's not like he was asking her. She was only a...

... Princess. She was a princess for the night. Right, she'd forgotten about that. Slightly bewildered, she turned back to him.

"M-me?"

He chuckled, a sound that seemed to be music to Astrid's ears "Yes you"

She merely nodded and took his hand. It was still unbelievable to her that she was dancing with Prince Hiccup. As Ruffnut had said earlier, he was the man who managed to unite man and dragon alike. And she was dancing with him.

He led her gently to the dance floor and the pair began to sway in time to the music "I don't think I've seen you at this ball before"

"Well with so many kingdoms attending the ball I suppose you can't meet everyone" She reasoned quickly "But I also haven't been attending the ball for the past few years"

"Really?" He asked "Why is that?"

"I've been travelling on behalf of my father. I only returned for good recently."

"For good?"

"I've been home once or twice to see my people and my father, but often I've returned after the ball"

"Wow. Where have have you been traveling?"

"Everwhere. My dragon nornally decides where we go" She laughed.

"That's amazing! Why has it taken so long?"

"I've only had dragon and boat to travel by. It can take quite a long time but I've also liked to stay in the cultures I visited. Get to know the society"

The story sounded too good to be true, and that's because it was. Astrid wasn't stupid, she knew that a random princess showing up after Thor knows how many years would look suspicious. Heather and her had come up with this backstory basing it off of Astrid's very own dreams. Oh, how she wished this story could be true.

"I must admit, I am envious of your adventures princess. I wish I could do the same with my dragon"

"And your dragon is...?"

Of course she knew which dragon he rode, a majestic Night fury called Toothless. Everyone knew that. But she was posing as a princess returning after three years of travelling. She had to keep things realistic.

"The Night fury, his name is Toothless"

"Of course, how could I forget? Prince Hiccup, infamous dragon rider. Managed to befriend the one and only night fury in existence. No wonder the other princesses have been all over you" She joked lightly.

"T-they have not been all over me!" he defended poorly.

A scoff left her mouth before she could stop it "You haven't noticed?"

"I-I haven't really n-noticed any other girls t-tonight"

It would have come off as smooth had he not blushed and stuttered the whole time. Astrid didn't mind, she found it cute, endearing even. So cute and endearing that now she was also blushing. She needed to change the subject. Fast.

"I think I might have seen your dragon earlier whilst I was tending to my own. I must admit, I did not expect a night fury to be so playful"

"Well that's Toothless for you, offspring of lightening and death, but still a complete softie"

"I suppose all dragons are like that in a way, without the offspring of lightening and death part" she giggled. "I just mean that they're fierce beasts in battle but extremely playful outside of battle. They really do make wonderful companions"

He began to grin which confused Astrid.

"What is it?"

"It's just very nice to hear someone call the dragons companions instead of pets"

"Well they're not pets. They are intelligent, beautiful creatures that comprehend emptions much better than any pet ever could" she said, eyes shining with happiness "Sometimes, when I'm feeling overwhelmed or upset or even angry, I look at Stormfly and I just say 'Take me anywhere girl' and when she does, it's marvellous. No pet could do that"

Astrid was taken by surprise when Hiccup spun her out then pulled her closer to him once more "I couldn't agree more"

From then on they danced in a comfortable silence. Her heart was racing and she couldn't quite figure out why. She knew better than to fall for a prince. It would do her no good. It's not like it would ever amount to anything. Tomorrow he would probably forget her.

Why would she set herself up for heartbreak?

xxxx

She missed dancing with him.

After the song had ended she had scurried off and began talking to Ruffnut and Heather. She and Heather didn't care about Ruffnut being a server. They were all humans at the end of the day. The only thing really separating them was the clothes on their backs.

Then before she knew it she was in a conversation with Prince Snotlout. She wasn't exactly sure how she'd ended up in this position. Prince Snotlout was arrogant and self-centred. All he did was talk about himself. He must have thought he was impressing her, when in reality she'd never been less impressed in her life. All she wanted to do was leave, but that would be impolite. Princesses weren't impolite.

Thankfully, as if he had read her mind, Thankfully, as if he had read her mind, Prince Hiccup approached them.

"Mind if I steal the princess?"

"Whatever" he dismissed looking at Astrid "You know where to find me babe"

He blew a kiss then walked away, making Astrid shudder. She turned to Prince Hiccup, who was grinning wildly.

"Would you like to take a stroll around the garden?"

Relief filled her "Oh gods yes"

xxxx

"So I realised something"

Astrid strolled about the garden idly, remembering all the times she'd watered these flowers "What is it?"

"I never caught your name earlier"

Of all the details she'd prepared, name was not one of them.

"What is your name princess?"

She could say her name was Astrid, he wouldn't know or recognise it. But Astrid was a name she related to boring routines and unfulfilled dreams. A name that reminded her of all her false hopes. She didn't want to be Astrid tonight.

"A secret" she covered swiftly "I like to keep a little mystery in my life"

"Curiouser and curiouser milady. I wish I could live a life like yours"

"Why can't you?"

"My father only really cares about marrying me off and making me king. He doesn't understand the excitement of exploring"

"I'm guessing you don't want to be king and get married?"

"Maybe one day, but not right now. I'm still so young. I'd rather go on adventures right now instead of settling down"

She nodded and then it went to another comfortable silence. It was peaceful and Astrid loved it.

"I noticed you talking to some of the servers earlier" He started a conversation again.

There were so many things she could have said to explain why she had spoken to other servers as well as Ruffnut. It would've been easy to lie and say she was just bossing them about. But she felt no need to lie with Hiccup.

"We're all humans at the end of the day"

Before he had been on the other end of the garden but all of a sudden he was next to her. Her heart began racing as he came closer to her.

"You have some extremely refreshing viewpoints milady"

Blood rushed to her cheeks "As do you Prince Hiccup"

Astrid had barely registered how close she and Hiccup were. She wasn't sure who initiated it. Whether it was herself or him. Either way, his face was inches from hers and her heartbeat was picking up massively. He kept leaning in until he stopped and looked at her hesitantly, as if he was asking for her permission. Kissing him would go against all her rules. The Astrid she knew would've stopped this by now.

But in that moment, she wasn't Astrid.

She stepped forward and boldly pressed her lips against the young prince's. She remained that way for a few seconds. After getting no reaction she assumed that she had misread the situation. Embarrassed, she began to pull away but before she could even begin to observe his reaction his lips trailed after hers and recaptured them eagerly.

A spark surged through Astrid as she slid her arms around his neck. She'd never kissed anyone before. Her regularlife didn't exactly have a lot of room for romance. His arms snaked around her waist, pulling her flush against him. She savoured the moment, knowing it could never happen again.

Eventually they had to part for air. All they could do was stare and smile. The moment was short lived as Heather was heard calling Astrid in the background.

"Princess! You need to come back in! There is someone wishing to meet you!"

Astrid gently placed a hand on Hiccup's chest "Tonight was wonderful"

As she rushed back to Heather she vaguely heard the prince call after her about her name but she pretended not to hear.

What a crazy night.

xxxx

The next morning Astrid was still on cloud nine. The kiss was... Magical. It was soft, innocent, gentle. It was everything she ever wanted a first kiss to be. Every time she thought about the kiss with the prince, her lips tingled and her heart began to soar. In short, she felt as if she was walking on air.

But she crashed to the earth when she saw said prince sitting at a table eating breakfast and talking to other royals the next morning.

She found Heather as quick as possible and dragged her aside.

"What is Prince Hiccup still doing here?!"

At this, Heather raised an eyebrow "Didn't you remember? Prince Hiccup and the other royals are staying all week"

Wow you guys! I was not expecting such a positive response from the last chapter! I'm glad everyone likes this story! I'm sorry if I made this chapter too long!

So now Astrid has to make sure Hiccup doesn't recognise her... That should be interesting.

As always please feel free to review! All feedback is appreciated (just make sure any criticism is written constructively)

Shohini :)