I'm alive! I'm really sorry for taking so long again. I wasn't entirely sure how this chapter was going to go and it took me a while to figure it out, but it's here!

I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.

I shall not hold you back any longer. Read on!

"I can't believe that worked!" Astrid glared at Hiccup hearing his words. He held up his hands and shrugged. "I'm not going to lie. I really didn't think that would work. I've never done this before. Let's just be glad that it did."

"Idiot," she muttered. Her eyes went wide as she heard her voice. This was not how she usually sounded. She heard a growl. Hiccup grinned at the sound.

"Who are you calling an idiot?" he growled back, crossing his arms, the grin only growing. "It worked didn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, more to herself than to him, amazed at the noises that left her mouth that just sounded so natural. Everything just felt completely normal, and she wasn't sure if that scared her or not. She had just changed into a dragon. A few weeks ago, if someone had told her that she was part dragon she would have laughed at them. Yet here she was. A dragon for five minutes and the first thing she does is have a snarky conversation. The main thing that stumped her was the fact that she felt completely normal. Like suddenly being able to turn into a dragon was the most natural thing in the world. It just felt so right.

She decided not to dwell on her confused feelings. She had plenty of time to do that later. Right now, she would just embrace them.

"So what now?" she asked Hiccup.

"Now you learn how to fly," Hiccup replied changing into his Night Fury form. It was strange how much smaller he seemed as a dragon. She guessed it was because her form was quite tall while his was closer to the ground. "You probably already have good instincts so all we have to do is get them to kick in." She watched as he hopped up onto the same rock Toothless had been on not long before.

"What about if I don't have instincts?" she asked, suddenly feeling afraid. What if she was a terrible dragon? How could she live in Berk? How could she face her parents?

"Then we'll just teach you," Hiccup replied smiling. It amazed her how supportive he was being. Taking the time to teach her things she should already know.

She watched as he showed her how to stand before taking off. He pointed out where she needed to be in the air to successfully glide across the pond to land beside him on the grass. He even showed her how to land without hurting her feet. Not once did he sound condescending or fed up or annoyed. He was comforting and encouraging the entire time.

When it was finally her turn, Astrid walked up to the rock and hopped up. It occurred to her that this was the first time she had moved in her new form but she decided it would be better not to think too hard about it and just let her body take her to where she wanted to go, amazed that she didn't have to think about the movements herself. Her body knew how it was supposed to work.

She stood atop the rock looking down at the water below and then at Hiccup sat on the grass with his tail curled around himself. She made sure to stand the way he had told her and readied herself to jump. She tried to push away any thoughts that doubted whether she could actually do this or not. She just needed not to overthink. Let her instincts take over. She took a deep breath. And she jumped.

She had to force herself not to close her eyes in fear. She felt like her heart was in her throat and that any second now she was going to fall out of the sky. But then her panic passed. She felt the currents in the air passing over her wings and knew just how to adjust them to keep her aloft. She moved her tail in a way that wouldn't hinder her flight. She was doing it. She was actually flying.

She looked down to see Hiccup's proud face and angled her wings in a way that would bring her down beside him. She landed softly and tucked in her wings in a way that just felt so natural.

"You're a natural," Hiccup said, standing up as she landed. "Now let's try something more difficult." He leapt up off the grass and into the sky. She stared after him wondering what he was doing.

"Where are you going?" she called out.

"We're going for a proper flight. You need a real tour of the island," he called back, waiting for her in the air.

She looked up at him, unsure. She had just managed to glide, but flying was different. She decided not to doubt herself and to just do it. So she mimicked his stance and leapt up the same way he had. Once she was in the air, she knew exactly what to do. She manoeuvred her tail and angled her wings, and with a few flaps she was up to the same height as Hiccup.

He smiled and flew up a bit further. She followed and soon they were soaring over the tree tops. She looked down in amazement watching birds flying beside and below her, watching animals scurrying across the forest floor so far underneath them. She looked up and the sky had a different meaning. It meant freedom. Humans were tied to one place unless they had the means to travel, and even then it wasn't always easy. Dragons, on the other hand, had the capability to go anywhere they wanted to. They were truly free.

"I have something to show you," Hiccup interrupted her thoughts. He banked left towards the coast and she followed. They flew along the edge of the island, over small beaches and rock pools before eventually landing on a rocky beach on the far side of the island.

Hiccup changed forms and walked towards the large rock wall that surrounded the beach, cutting it off much like the cove. Then he remembered Astrid who stood behind him wondering what he was doing, and turned back.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to explain how to change back," he apologised.

"It's ok," she replied. "I want to see if I can figure it out on my own." How much different could it be to change from dragon to human than human to dragon? She closed her eyes and concentrated. She concentrated on how she felt when she changed the first time. Soon enough she felt her core dim and opened her eyes. She looked up at Hiccup's grinning face and smiled. She had done it. On her own.

"And the student becomes the master," Hiccup said with a laugh. Astrid's smile grew wider as she punched his arm.

He turned back towards the rock wall and walked over to a boulder that was perched against it. He pushed the boulder aside a few meters revealing a small hole tunnelled into the rock wall that was hidden behind it. He turned back grinning mischievously and climbed through.

Astrid stepped forwards and peered through the hole but it was too dark to see. She decided to just follow Hiccup. She climbed through and was surprised to find that the tunnel was sloped. She slid down and then the tunnel opened up into a cave. She dropped down shocked, not expecting the sudden ending of the tunnel. Fortunately there was a pair arms waiting to catch her at the bottom.

"Hello," Hiccup grinned as he held her in his arms.

"Ha ha," she said rolling her eyes. "What is this place?"

"My little secret," Hiccup replied gently putting her down. "I don't know if anyone else knows it's here but I've never told anyone. Not even Toothless."

Astrid looked around at the cave taking in the sight. There were small holes in the ceiling above her where the rock had worn away leaving small patches of light falling through. Where they stood it was rocky but just beside them was a small pool of water that was clearly a part of the sea that was on the other side of the cave walls. The light peaking through the small holes in the ceiling hit the water making it shine and reflecting the ripples across the cave's walls. Astrid looked around her, mouth agape, marvelling at the sight before her.

"It's amazing," she said smiling. She looked to Hiccup to see that he was sitting down on the floor with his back against the wall. She sat down next to him making herself comfortable. "So why did you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Hiccup asked looking at her with confusion written across his face.

"You said that you've never told anyone about this place. But you told me. Why?"

He was silent for a second before taking her hand in his. He laced their fingers together before looking up at her. She gazed into his forest eyes, feeling him tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear. The hand in her hair then cupped her neck bringing her head closer to his until their lips met. The kiss was short but full of emotion. She had to focus on her breathing as they pulled apart.

"That's why," was his only reply. She smiled and lay her head on his shoulder, tucking herself into his arm. Their fingers never unlocking for even a second.

They sat together in comfort for a while. The talked. Astrid about her family, Hiccup about his. Astrid especially enjoyed his stories of Gobber and of the things he and Toothless did when the were small. She spoke of some of the wonders of the other world which left Hiccup uncontrollably excited causing his hands to flail around as he spoke. Astrid then enjoyed mocking him about it, at which point he pouted adorably.

Eventually they realised that they ought to leave. The light leaking through the cracks and holes was no longer bright but had turned a dark orange colour. The pool too was no longer reflecting so brightly.

"So how do we get out of here?" Astrid asked looking up at the hole they had fallen out of. It was pretty high up and rock wasn't easy to grip. She guessed they could probably climb back through but it wouldn't be easy.

Then she heard a splash from behind her. She turned around to see Hiccup in the pool grinning at her. His hair was wet and sticking up in all directions.

"What are you doing?" she asked staring at him as he splashed about.

"I'm floating," he replied, his grin growing as she rolled her eyes.

"I can see that, but why?"

"You can't get back up through that whole. This is the only way out." He gestured with his head towards the small pocket of light leaking in beneath the water.

"So we just swim out into open sea?" she asked with a look that spoke volumes of her view of his sanity.

"There's a rock, just the other side of the opening. We climb on, change forms and fly home." He said it like it was the most logical thing in the world.

Astrid just shook her head and sat on the edge of the pool, her feet in the water. It was freezing. Hiccup clearly found her cringing face funny but spoke encouraging words anyway. Eventually she eased herself into the water. And regretted it immediately. She felt like she was about to freeze to death.

"H-how are y-you n-not f-frozen?" she chattered out unable to speak the whole sentence properly.

"Your core," Hiccup replied simply. "It's warm. Use it."

Astrid closed her eyes, struggling to breathe. She focused on her core and slowly felt her temperature rise. Once the water was bearable she opened her eyes again to once again see a proud look in Hiccup's face.

"Are you ready?" he asked, taking her hand in his. She nodded. "Okay, take a deep breath." She did as told and soon he was pulling her under. They swam down and through the underwater entrance, and then swam straight back up to the surface once they were on the other side.

The water of the open sea was choppy and the waves lapped up against the rocks around them. Astrid found it hard to stay above the water. Fortunately, Hiccup had latched himself onto a rock and she was latched onto Hiccup. He pulled her towards the rock and she grabbed a hold too. He ushered her up the rock and she managed to climb on top, soaking wet. He then climbed onto the rock with her and they both changed into their dragon forms and flew up into the sky.

Astrid looked down at the rocks below her. You would never have know that there was a cave beneath the waves. As they flew over the beach she looked down to where the cave entrance lay. From this height, she couldn't even see it.

She looked back up to see Hiccup way ahead of her, she pumped her wings to speed up so that she could catch up with him. It was so strange. She was a dragon. And she was flying. It would take her a while to get used to that.

They flew on, the sky around them in dark orange and red and pink. The sun had sunk below the horizon but the remains of the sunset could still be seen. As they flew the sky grew darker and star began to light it up. A full moon shone brightly about them.

Soon enough they saw the village. Fire torches were lit to light up the streets for those who hadn't gone home for the night. Lights shone from inside houses. At the gate of the harbour, two great stone statues stood like guards, one a viking holding a sword, the other a dragon flaring it's wings. Both had fires lit in their mouths that would surely look fearsome to others, but to those who lived behind the rock guardians, brought comfort.

Astrid stared in awe at the sight before her. She thought of her old home, and how it never felt quite right. She always just assumed that it was because she didn't have many friends or that maybe when she wasn't so busy with school that she'd settle down a bit. But looking at the sight before her made her feels something she hadn't felt before.

Astrid finally felt like she was home.

So? What do you think? I considered doing a long 'teaching Astrid to fly' chapter but I honestly couldn't be bothered especially when's I realised it would take up a few chapters and I also have no idea how to fly... so...

But the the story can really pick up and here's where it gets exciting! I have plans, just bear with me.

OechsnerC: Sorry it wasn't sooner...

thearizona: Yay! I make sense! Also, I'm sorry my weird brain took so long.

Miti-sweets: Yay! Thanks!

The SkrillRider: Woohoo! Excitement! And don't worry, I'm not cancelling this. Yet... Haha, kidding! Or am I...?

dracologistmaster: I hope this lives up to your expectations.

FirstBookworm: Thanks so much!

Changewing rider: Really?! *sheds tear of joy* Thanks!

Poksie: YESSSSSSSSS

Isolde of the Night: Thanks!

Thanks for all the follows, favourites and reviews! You guys are all awesome! Let me know what y think of this chapter please!

Until next time!