Hiccup sat in a chair next to his bed. It has been two weeks since Astrid saved him. She saw the dagger before he did and pushed him out of the way.

Since he didn't have his fake leg to fly Toothless back to Berk, Fishlegs and Heather helped him and Astrid get onto Stormfly. After they bandaged Astrid up the best they could, Heather flew ahead of them to let Gothi and Gobber know what happened.

He remembered not letting Gothi or Gobber to take a look at him until he knew Astrid would be okay. Once he was sure she would pull through, he passed out.


Hiccup woke up in Gothi's hut, shirtless, in a bed next to Astrid. He moved to sit up, only to have a rough but gentle hand push him back down.

"Easy Hiccup," a voice soothed. "Gothi is still treatin' your injuries."

Hiccup didn't care about his own injuries. He was worried about, "Astrid?"

"She'll be fine, lad," the voice reassured. Hiccup finally put a name to the voice. Gobber.

"Has she woken up yet?" Hiccup asked.

Gobber shook his head. "Not yet. Poor lass lost a lot of blood. She'll be out for quite a while."

Hiccup pushed Gobber's hand away and sat up, not listening to the protests. He got up, hopped over to Astrid's bed and sat down at the foot of it, taking hold of her limp hand. Her shoulder and part of her chest were heavily wrapped in bandages. Her skin was pale against the white wraps. Gobber was right to say she lost a lot of blood.

The Pride of Berk could feel a tear run down his cheek. Astrid had been injured because of him. It was his job to take care of her.

"When can she be moved?" Hiccup asked.

"In a couple days," Gobber said glancing at Gothi as she wrote her symbols.

"She has three younger siblings running around in her house," Hiccup remembered. "She won't get the rest she needs there. Astrid should recover in my house. It will be quiet and calm. It will be safer."

"I'll talk to her parents when they get back," Gobber promised. "Let's get you back to bed, so Gothi can finish tending to your broken ribs and various bruises."


Hiccup placed a hand over his still healing ribs. His bruises had faded, but his entire body was still tender. He couldn't even wear his peg-leg, due to how irritated his stump was after having it yanked around.

Once the Hoffersons agreed to let their daughter stay in the Haddock house, Hiccup gave her his bed, which has been moved down stairs, and he slept in a chair.

It had been a long two weeks. He jumped to his foot every time Astrid groaned from the pain, hoping it was her waking up.

He finally understood what it had been like for his father, Astrid, and everyone else, having to wait for him to come out of his coma four years prior. It was heart wrenching not knowing when, or if.

Everyone kept reassuring him that Astrid was going to fine. Hiccup couldn't bring himself to believe that. Seeing Astrid's lightning blue eyes again would tell him all he needed to know.

So when Astrid started moving and groaning, Hiccup was on his foot once more, praying to the gods she would open her eyes. He grabbed her hand and watched.

"Come on, Astrid, you can do it," Hiccup encouraged. "Just please wake up."

Hiccup's lips broke into a smile as Astrid's eyes opened. "Thank the gods you're finally awake. I was so worried about you, Astrid."

Astrid just stared at him, confused for a moment as everything came back. "Hiccup? Where am I?"

Hiccup sat on the edge of the bed next to her hip. "You're back on Berk in my house, recovering. What do you remember?"

"We found you on the hands of Ryker. Toothless disarmed him. You fell. I helped you up. On the way over to Stormfly, Ryker through a dagger and it hit you," Astrid said.

Hiccup's smile fell. "It didn't hit me. It hit you."

Astrid tried to sit up, but Hiccup pushed her back down. "That's impossible. It hit you. Heather and I flew you back to Berk. You died and Heather brought you back to life. It was real. It happened."

"Astrid, you have fifteen stitches in your shoulder from where the dagger hit you. That says otherwise," Hiccup calmly explained. "Sounds like a dream you had, maybe to help your body cope with recovery."

Astrid stared at Hiccup. He was telling the truth, but that other world felt so real. It was real, right? Maybe if things had played out differently, the way it had in her dream. That just leaves the question if Hiccup really loves her or not. He's got to. He spent years crushing on her, back during the Dragon Raids. To some extent he has to love her.

Astrid tried to sit up, again, only to have Hiccup push her back down, again. "Just rest, Astrid. You shouldn't be up and moving yet. At least not until Gothi gets here. Which will be soon."

"How long is soon?" Astrid wondered.

"About an hour?" Hiccup shrugged.

"Why don't you go get her?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup let out a small smile. "I don't think I would get very far with one leg." Hiccup gestures to his left leg, which was missing a piece.

"Where's you prosthetic?" Astrid questioned. "And why aren't you wearing it?"

"Gothi is holding on to the spare until the swelling goes down. Having a metal leg ripped and forced off doesn't help a stump," Hiccup answered.

The two fell into a comfortable silence. Hiccup was still holding her hand, as if it was the only thing keeping her anchored to the real world.


An hour later Gothi showed up with Gobber in tow to translate. Both were happy that Astrid was awake. Hiccup moved back to his chair, allowing Gothi room to examine Astrid and change out the bandages.

The whole process took about thirty or so minutes. Gothi wrote that she should remain in bed for a few more days before getting up. If she was lucky, she would be able to fly back to the Edge in a few weeks.

Gothi gave Astrid a tonic to help relieve the pain and to help with sleep, before moving over to Hiccup. She removed Hiccup's red tunic and looked at his ribs, occasionally poking them. Once she was done, she moved on to the stump, checking the swelling.

When the elder finished, she wrote that Hiccup could have his metal leg back since the swelling was gone, but not too much pressure on it. It would be another month before his ribs were completely healed and he could not fly until she gave the okay.

After they left, Hiccup went right back to sitting on the bed with Astrid, holding her hand. Astrid hesitated for a second, but relaxed. She knew Hiccup loved her, and that he wanted to make his move. The time just wasn't right. He was waiting for the perfect moment. And that was fine with her.