"I can't believe this is happening" Ruffnut spoke from beside her as Astrid packed her bags.
"I honestly can't believe it either" Astrid replied, putting the last of her belongings into a small bag.
"How do you pack so quickly? It's unnatural" Ruff complained
"Oh come on Ruff, I'm a servant. Quick and efficient. Always ready to get the job done" she smiled proudly.
"And you basically own nothing?"
"... That too" Astrid admitted before they both burst into laughter.
"It's gonna be weird without you around" her best friend confessed once the laughter died down.
"It's gonna be weird not being around" the blonde soon to be princess replied looking around the tiny room.
"I'm really... Umm... I'm really gonna miss you"
"Awww Ruffnut has emotions" Astrid teased to lighten the mood.
"Shut up!" Ruffnut laughed "Never mind, I take it back. You're an awful human and I can't wait for you to leave"
"You looooveee me" She giggled hugging Ruffnut.
"Jeez what's gotten into you?" Ruff continued to chuckle, hugging back
"I don't know, I'm just happy. I'm not used to this" she replied with a loopy grin.
"Well happy you seems a lot like the you that's had too much of the ole glug glug, if ya know what I mean" the fellow servant made a drinking motion with her hands.
"What? I've never even had mead!" she exclaimed.
"Oh right, ya bore"
"Really feeling the love Ruff"
"You should"
Another fit of laughter.
She was really going to miss this.
xxxx
"Hey you" Astrid heard Hiccup from behind her.
"Hey" she smiled gently.
"You nearly ready? We're leaving in half an hour" he asked coming into the room.
"Yeah, yeah I think I'm ready" she looked at her bag "I hope Stormfly will adjust okay"
"She seemed to get along with Toothless so the two of them will stick together the first few days. Besides, the dragons on Berk are all really friendly. She'll fit right in" Hiccup took her hands in his own "Milady, everything will be absolutely fine"
"Milady?" she quirked an eyebrow, smiling slightly "I like the sound of that"
"I was kind of hoping you would" he smirked before kissing her quickly.
On instinct, she jumped back and looked around nervously.
"Careful! Someone might see you" she hissed.
Upon seeing his amused face, it hit her. They were a couple. They could kiss and be seen. She really had to stop forgetting that.
"Right, we're actually together" she giggled "Still gotta get used to that"
He simply chuckled in response and kissed her again. Astrid smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, moving her hands to his hair. A sound that crossed somewhere between pleasure and surprise escaped his lips as he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist. She pulled away, still unbelievably happy
"I love you" she smiled softly
"I love you too" he was grinning from ear to ear "You sure you're ready?"
"As I'll ever be" came her quick response.
"I'm glad" something in his smile shifted "Remember that when you meet my father"
"Y- your dad?"
"You did realize that you'd have to meet him, right?"
It had completely slipped her mind.
"Hm? Oh yeah, totally" she responded with faux confidence.
"Uh huh, sure" she wanted to wipe the grin right off of his face. Smug half troll.
"So when am I meeting him?"
"Right now if you're ready"
"As I'll ever be" she parroted with a little less confidence.
Hiccup held her hand and rubbed comforting circles over her knuckle with his thumb.
"Hey, don't worry" he reminded gently "He's going to love you"
When he held her hand like that, smiling that smile and looking at her with those beautiful eyes, she could believe anything he said. She pecked his lips quickly.
"Thank you" she said sincerely "I really am ready now"
He continued to smile as he lead her out of the room. She mentally prepared herself.
She could do this.
xxxx
She so could not do this.
He was only a few feet away from her. Yet it felt like it would take years to simply walk over. He was so... Intimidating. And all he was doing was smiling. She wanted to go over. Walk over with a smile and just say "Hi King Stoick, my name is Astrid. I'm the one that caused your son to defy you and go against all the marriage rules"...
Yeah, no, she couldn't do that.
Her feet were stuck to the ground like glue. She was so immersed in her panic and anxiety she barely registered the Prince coming over and draping an arm around her waist.
"You'll be fine"
"He's gonna hate me"
"He's going to love you"
"How are you so sure?"
"Because I love you"
She looked away, blushing profusely "You can't keep saying that"
"Why not?"
"Because."
"That's not an answer" she could hear the grin in his voice.
"Because it makes me blush!" She exclaimed "I look like a tomato when I blush"
"Well I think you look beautiful" he winked before kissing her cheek "Does that make you blush?"
"Hiccup" she said in a warning tone.
"Or this?" he kissed her forehead.
Oh damn him.
"Hiccup I mean it" she said in the same tone, though it was obvious there was no anger behind it.
"Oh come on Astrid, I'm just making my girlfriend blush" the term of endearment certainly had it's desired effect "See?"
"I hate you!" She laughed hitting his chest.
"I'm so hurt milady" he placed said with mock pain.
"As you should be" she stated matter-of-fact.
"I am deeply wounded, Astrid"
"Poor baby" she pouted jokingly.
Unbeknownst to her, the same royal figure she'd been peteified to meet had been looking at her and Hiccup with fond eyes.
"Ahem"
Astrid's laughter ceased and her eyes widened.
"Dad!" Hiccup said smiling "There's someone I'd like you to meet" he placed his arm around her waist again and pulled her towards him "This is Astrid Hofferson"
"It's an honour, your majesty" Astrid curtsied, following protocol.
A bellowing laugh left his lips "No need to curtsy lass"
She hesitantly came up from the curtsy.
"That's more like it! And I'll have none of that 'your majesty' stuff! It's Stoick! Or hey, maybe even dad!"
"DAD!"
Astrid looked over to Hiccup who was going bright red. She couldn't help but smirk slightly.
'Still like the whole blushing thing?'
"It's a pleasure to meet you Stoick" she smiled, hiding her nerves
"And same to you. I just had to meet the girl who managed to steal my son's heart twice!"
"It has been quite the week" she laughed slightly.
"I can imagine. You must be quite the girl if you can get my son over to here to take responsibility for something"
"Aaaand that's enough of that" Hiccup glared at his dad playfully before turning to Astrid "Ok I think we need to go and do... That thing"
"The thing?" Astrid raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, you know... The thing" he clearly indicated that he wanted an excuse to leave, but Astrid decided to torture him as revenge for the blushing incident.
"Oh right, the thing" she acted as if she was going along with his vague excuse. And, upon seeing the relief in his eyes, she smirked to herself "I think Heather said she and Ruffnut could deal with the thing"
"R- right. But we should go check and make sure they're... Getting the thing right"
"Well if it's that important to you I could go check for you. Wouldn't want to tear you away from your dad"
His face dropped and he got out through gritted teeth "I still think we should both help. We'll see you in a few minutes dad" he walked Astrid away from his dad "Thanks for the help back there"
"You're welcome" she flashed him a cheeky smirk "That's what you get for making me blush"
"Point Astrid"
A feeling triumph rose within her. She looked around and noticed the twins joking around in the corner. Nostalgia hit her as she thought back on all the memories "Hey Hiccup, I'm just going to say goodbye to the twins real quick"
He nodded "I'll be with Toothless"
Astrid walked over to the two blonde siblings, who were arguing over some nonsense. It sounded like absolute gibberish to her, and she loved it
"You guys"
They both looked over at her, Tuffnut's face breaking into pure elation.
"Hoff! Just the girl I wanted to see!"
"You didn't think I could leave without saying goodbye to the two biggest muttonheads in the kingdom, did you?"
"You know Ast, this whole ordeal proves something"
"Oh yeah, what is that Tuff?"
"That I'm always right"
Ruffnut scoffed "How?"
"It was me who claimed she would be a princess by the end of the month! And look at where she is! About to leave and become a princess!"
"It's actually princess in training Tuffnut" a voice chimed in from behind her.
"Heather" Astrid beamed.
The raven haired princess walked over to the trio.
"You'll be great, I just know it. Go and kick butt at Princess training" she gave Astrid a quick hug "But remember to come visit"
"Of course" Astrid replied automatically
"I'm gonna miss you" Heather told her.
"I'll miss you too Heather"
"I still can't believe you're actually leaving" Ruffnut spoke up.
"It is pretty surreal. A part of me still thinks I'm about to wake up, and find myself still in bed or something" she laughed a little. "I'm glad you're all here. I had something I wanted to say to you"
The group looked at her expectantly.
"I just wanted to thank you guys, for everything. You've been with me for the last 10 years of my life. You've helped me when nobody else would. You've all been so kind to me and actually treated me like a normal person as opposed to the shamed disgrace everyone else saw me as. You're my friends, my family, and even though I'm really excited about being with Hiccup and becoming a princess" she briefly looked over at Hiccup, who was playing gleefully with Toothless "I'm really going to miss you all. I love you guys"
"Awww Astrid" Heather gave her another, longer, hug.
Astrid happily returned the hug and looked over at Ruffnut, who was staring at them hesitantly. She smiled kindly "Come here Ruff"
The two girls opened their arms and Ruffnut dove in cheerfully.
"And I'm here too!" Tuffnut weeped, throwing his arms around the group
As she hugged the only friends she'd ever had, in the only place she'd ever known, Astrid couldn't help but get emotional. This was new and it was change and it was terrifying. But she had a wonderful boyfriend to help her through the new problems and amazing friends that she could come back to no matter what. Tears welled in her eyes and she quickly pulled away.
"Okay well I'm gonna go before I actually start crying" she laughed tearfully "I love you guys"
She walked over to Hiccup. The Prince automatically noticed her watery eyes and looked at her concerned "Hey, is everything alright?"
"Yeah" she dabbed at her eyes "Just got a little emotional saying goodbye"
"You know you can have a few more minutes if you need-"
"No, that's okay. We probably should get going. I'm just gonna go make sure Stormfly's ready"
Just as she was about to leave, Heather walked over to the pair. She shot the Princess a questioning look.
"I'm just saying goodbye to Hiccup" Heather replied to the look pulling Hiccup into a hug.
"If you hurt her, I hurt you" she hissed with a sugary sweet smile on her lips.
"Wouldn't dream of it" Hiccup responded instantly, unfazed by Heather's threat.
Astrid gave her a semi-disapproving look "Couldn't just leave the goodbye at 'I love you'?"
"To be fair, it's his goodbye not yours" Heather defended "Besides, I'm just being protective"
"I appreciate it" she said amusedly
"Now I'll say my final goodbye and leave it on 'I love you' so... Love you guys!" She yelled going back to others.
"Love you too!" Astrid yelled back, shaking her head and smiling.
Eventually, Astrid made her way over to her dragon. She nuzzled Stormfly's snout affectionately "Looks like you're finally getting that flight after all girl"
Stormfly sqauwked with glee.
Astrid looked around happily as she mounted onto Stormfly. Looking around the place she used to call home, Astrid knew she was ready to let go. This land was not her home. Not by her standards. Home is safety, trust and security. Where you truly feel as though you are protected and as if you are exactly where you should be, like you really belong. Astrid had not necessarily found a home in Beserker Island, but she had in Hiccup. He was her new home now.
She gave everyone one last wave before taking off to the skies.
Whilst she was on the flight back to Berk, something Heather said kept replaying in her mind.
'Princess in training'
Astrid, Princess in training.
She smiled to herself.
That had a nice ring to it.
And now it really is officially over! This is so weird for me because this was my fanfiction for this fandom and it feels weird now that it's actually done! I'm so grateful to all of my readers! Thank you all for being so amazing and leaving such kind comments! I can't wait for you to read the sequel (a reader asked if it's still Hiccstrid and I can confirm it most definitely is)!
Now in terms of that second story I said I'd publish... As it stands there are equal votes on each side. So here's what I'm thinking. My plan was to publish both sets of stories on Friday. Maybe I can post a chapter that has nothing to do with the story, but gives a preview to each story (not necessarily first chapter/scene). That might help people decide. I'll count the final votes and post the first chapter of the sequel as well as the new story on Friday. You'll just have to wait and see :)
Final fun fact: You'd think as a massive Astrid fan, as well as a huge hiccstrid shipper, my favourite scenes to write would be between Hiccup and Astrid. Don't get me wrong, they were a very close second but my favourite characters to write for were actually the twins. They were the base for so much comedy and I adored getting to explore the comedic side of the story with them. It was nice having them as a little stress reliever
As always please feel free to review! All feedback is appreciated (just make sure any criticism is written constructively)
Shohini :)