Deception

by Sandfire Kat

The past has a habit of coming back up. It has the habit of growing in size and in importance, and cloud whatever is here in the present. It has the habit of destroying everything. Hiccup thought that when he brought the female Night Fury back to Berk, the present would only get better. He thought things would be perfect. He hadn't realized he was making a horrible mistake. (1/29).

25. Chapter 25

A/N: HEY. I have an idea! Let's have a little contest thingie! (Yep…I'm stupid *derp face*) Let's find character's theme songs for this story! I find that finding theme songs is quite fun actually, and I think you all should give it a try! Nightflight needs a song, Toothless needs a song, will you all find the perfect song for Hiccup? :3

WHO HAD A VERY MERRY SNOGGLETOG OUT THERE? ANYBODY DRINK ANY YAKNOG FOR ME? Tell me ALL ABOUT IT. Here is what I got: Boots for my Hiccup cosplay that look PERFECT. A Toothless Pillow Pet. The eighth book in the HTTYD series. Other boots for my Hiccup cosplay that looked bad so we are returning them tomorrow. And…A GIGANTIC TOOTHLESS ACTION FIGURE THAT SHOOTS OUT FIRE AND ROARS AND HAS HICCUP RIDING ON HIS BACK. :D

…I'm sleeping with ALL of it tonight. And my dog Tinkerbell, who DOES NOT SLEEP IN HER BED. Tinkerbell. *throws her a look where she sits*

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Night had fallen over the village of Berk, making it easy for Toothless to remain unseen. Swooping downwards to the ground, the Night Fury landed on the ground silently, folding his wings close to his sides as he did so. The dragon perked up, ears flicking to the side as he scanned the clearing. The only light that shone was from the torches that lined the pathways, bathing the square in a flickering orange light. Nobody was in sight, and Toothless let out a relieved sigh.

He started to take a step forward, but froze immediately, backing away into the shadow of one of the houses. Flattening his ears to his head, the Night Fury ducked his head to look at the ground. He couldn't be seen here, they would find him and do who-knows-what in revenge. He knew for a fact that Astrid had spread the word about him around to all of the Vikings. If he was caught, he didn't know what he would do.

Letting out a small whimper, Toothless craned his neck to look around the corner of the house, blinking as his eyes landed on Hiccup's home immediately. The dragon let out a small whine at the familiar image, a pang of homesickness shaking him to the bone. It was stronger than he had anticipated, and he longed to race forward and let out a loud howl of greeting. He longed to throw himself through the door and rush over to Hiccup to see if his human was alright. But he wasn't allowed to do that. He'd never do that. Not ever.

He would never know if Hiccup was okay. If Astrid was. How Hiccup would grow up. Whether or not he would get another dragon in time. If in time Hiccup would have children (he always used to rant about how he didn't like kids at times). All of that knowledge would escape him. He let out a small huff of sadness, hesitating for a moment as he stared at the building a moment longer. But then he shook himself, backing away and turning around.

He raised his snout to the air and gave a tentative sniff, ears wriggling as he did so. He was narrowing down where he could go. He wouldn't leave Berk. It was true when he said that this was his home. Although he couldn't go long before he was discovered, no matter how careful he was. Maybe he would just stay here for some time. Before he really had to leave. He was reluctant to leave this place, and he knew in the back of his mind that he would put off leaving until it was absolutely necessary. And even then he might just move somewhere else.

The thought of hiding his whole life did not appeal to the dragon that much for obvious reasons of course. But he really didn't have anything else to do. Forcing his legs into motion, Toothless pushed himself onward, walking away briskly from the village. His life had revolved around being with Hiccup. If he couldn't be with Hiccup, he had nothing else he could do or be anymore.

He decided that he would go to the only place where he would be happy on the island without Hiccup. The closest thing to being with Hiccup. The dragon turned and started to head to the spot, ears flattening to his head uncomfortably as he passed by Hiccup's home once more. Forcing himself to not look at it, Toothless quickened his pace to a silent run, flashing away from the village and disappearing into the foliage in less that an instant.

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His eyes flickered open ever so slightly just to shut them closed once more from the blinding light that met him. Head ringing with pain, he opened his eyes slowly as he became aware of his surroundings. He was stiff and sore, skin itching and burning where there were cuts and gashes. Hiccup let out a small groan as he reached up to hold one side of his head, trying to clear his mind by blinking.

Hesitating for a moment, Hiccup pushed himself up to look around the room. He was at his house now, the fire flickering and crackling in the hearth and lighting the room with a soft glow. The Viking was confused for a moment or two about why he was here. He didn't remember coming into his house.

But then it hit him. What happened with Toothless in the cave, the attack. It hit him so hard that he gasped sharply, one hand flying over to grip one of his wounds tightly. His eyes were wide as he looked at the blanket, and one sentence ran over and over in his head. He had failed. He had failed to go save Toothless, and he had failed to make it out of there on his own. But that meant that they had gone after him in order for him to be here. Or maybe…Toothless brought him back here!

A smile slowly spread over his face. It made sense, after all. The dragon could fly on his own now with his tailfin! Hiccup could imagine the Night Fury snapping out of it and flying back to Berk with him. Maybe he was outside right now, waiting for him! Looking up, Hiccup felt a light feeling that he had not felt in more than two weeks. Toothless was back! Toothless was going to stay here and-

"Hiccup?" His name snapped him back to reality, the boy turning to look at the direction the voice had come from. Astrid stood in the doorway of his kitchen, blinking rapidly as she looked at him. She held a small platter of food and drinks, by the way the sun was up it must have been around lunchtime. The blonde looked surprised to see him up to say the least, but she quickly smiled at him. "You're awake! That's great! You know- because if you died, then I would have to kill you."

Ignoring the last part, Hiccup glanced around the room. "What do you mean, die?" He asked, his voice quiet from not being used in a long time. "How long was I asleep?"

Astrid pursed her lips, looking out the window with a thoughtful expression. Pacing forward, she went to sit on the edge of his bed, placing the platter in between them as an invitation to share. "A few days." She said, Hiccup blinking with surprise as she spoke. "I was pretty sure that you were going to loose your other leg or something, but the Elder managed to save it this time." Looking at the boy from the corner of her eye, Astrid's eyes flashed. "You just want to make a hobby of scaring me, don't you?"

"I already made it." Hiccup said firmly, reaching over and taking a slice of fruit. "Hey- where's Toothless? Is he outside?"

Astrid stiffened at the question, blue eyes flashing over to Hiccup quickly. She swallowed the piece of food uncomfortably, her hands falling to be in her lap. When she spoke, she spoke quietly, voice slightly subdued as she glanced at him. "Hiccup, you know what Toothless did." She said, watching as Hiccup deflated in front of her. "He attacked you, Hiccup. He was so close to KILLING you. We couldn't let him come back with us. You know Stoick would never let that happen." She hesitated a moment before adding. "I'm sorry. Toothless is still gone."

"But…but how did I get back here then…?" He asked weakly, looking around helplessly.

"I knew better than to let you take charge of yourself, Hiccup." Astrid said calmly, not even flicking an eyelid. "As soon as you left I went and told Stoick what you were planning," She ignored Hiccup's sharp glare. "and he set up a rescue party to go after you at once. We set out and then we got lost. Stormfly found us though. She lead us to where you were quickly. We went into the cave and then we managed to rescue you before anything worse happened."

"Stormfly." Hiccup grumbled. "I thought she just left to go back to Berk."

Astrid shook her head from side to side. "Stormfly isn't like that." She assured him.

There was silence that followed her words. Astrid looked at Hiccup with concern in her eyes, the boy was looking down with sadness, shoulders slumped as he looked down. Something was bothering him other than Toothless it seemed, but right when she opened her mouth to ask, he spoke up, his voice quiet. "You left Ludi there?" He whispered.

"Why would we do that?" Astrid asked, giving him an odd look. "Did you WANT to leave her there? I thought you finally started to like her. She's over by the fire, if you want to get rid of her, it might not be so easy. She wouldn't sleep for such a long time without you, I just managed to trick her into going to sleep. You don't even wanna KNOW how bad it was to get her to eat. She wouldn't eat human food without it being shoved into her mouth. But I guess I can take her, I mean, she's really adorable and-"

Hiccup wasn't listening anymore. His heart hammered against his chest, and he spun around to look at the fire again. Before, he had barley seen the small fluff of fur that was lying down beside the fire. Now he could see that it was indeed Ludi. The small cat's ears were flicking from side to side as she dreamed, and Hiccup let out a relieved breath, smiling to himself. "She tried to protect me from that female, I thought she was dead."

Astrid let out a small chuckle. "No. She made far too much trouble here the last few days to be dead." Pausing for a moment, she blinked as she looked down at Hiccup's blanket. "Hey- can you walk on your leg yet?" She asked, Hiccup starting at the question. "It looked pretty bad, the Elder said that you should try and exercise it. But she said to be careful. No running or anything."

"Well, what does she want me to do?" Hiccup huffed. Astrid stood up from the bed, and Hiccup shifted his covers off of him. His prosthetic leg was already in place, it must have been left on by the Elder. His other leg was still there thank Thor. Reaching out and giving it a small prod, Hiccup immediately winced at the tingling pain that followed the movement. Astrid looked at him carefully for a moment in silence before a slow smile spread over her face.

She reached out her hand to Hiccup, the boy looking up at her curiously as she did so. Slowly, a small red tinge started to show on her cheeks, and she immediately cursed herself mentally for the fact. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she looked at Hiccup a little shyly. "I have an idea." She said. When Hiccup merely looked at her expectantly, she only shook her hand out to him again. "Dance with me, Hiccup." She requested softly.

Slightly surprised by the statement, it took Hiccup a moment to find his voice once more. As he recovered, he let out a small laugh, almost hoping that Astrid had been joking. But her eyes were soft as she held her hand out to him, and he realized that she wouldn't take it back until he refused. Giving a small huff, he looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Astrid, you know I have two left feet." He joked weakly.

Astrid snorted, leaning down and grabbing his hand in her own, trying to pull him up. "Come on, I'll help you." She encouraged. Hiccup let out a dramatic sigh before he finally stood up, immediately staggering on his injured leg. Astrid took his other hand, supporting him carefully as she shot him a small smile. "I'll lead." She offered, Hiccup going red as he looked away from her. He mumbled a reply, and Astrid rolled her eyes before she started to dance.

It was more of them just swaying on the spot, but that was all that Hiccup could do with his leg, really. Astrid gave him a small smile, looking at him through her bangs. "I was really worried about you." She said, breaking the silence. Hiccup looked at her carefully as they swayed together. Astrid made a small noise, reaching over and grabbing Hiccup's hand, putting it around her waist. She saw Hiccup go red at the movement, but she pushed the thought away. "I want you to stop dying on me, alright?" She asked.

Hiccup didn't say anything, and Astrid noted that he was starting to get used to the movements. They started to edge to the side slightly, moving with odd grace considering Hiccup's injury. Astrid squeezed Hiccup's hand tightly, the boy doing the same to her. "You know, even if Toothless is gone…you still have me and Ludi. And that will never change."

Hiccup gave her a crooked smile. "Yeah, I suppose I do." He said brightly. "You've done a lot for me, Astrid. Thank you." The sentence seemed unfinished, and Astrid blinked as she realized what was missing. They had never said it to one another. The thought made her slightly put-out to Hiccup, but she guessed that it was as much of her fault as it was his. She bit her lower lip tightly, the two sidling around the room slowly together.

"Hiccup?"

"Hmm?"

"I want to tell you something." Astrid mumbled, growing warm.

Hiccup tilted his head to the side, blinking. "What is it?"

Before he could do anything else, Astrid lunged forward, pressing her lips to Hiccup's in a kiss. The boy stiffened with surprise for a moment, eyes wide as he looked at Astrid. The two came to a stop in their movements, and Astrid hugged Hiccup tightly as she kissed him. This was the longest kiss the two had shared, usually it was only a small peck from her. But after the fright of almost loosing Hiccup, Astrid realized that she wanted to keep him. She wouldn't know what to do if he died.

Finally, she pulled back, Hiccup looking slightly dazed and caught off-guard as he looked at her. He seemed to be at a loss of what to say, so Astrid said it first. Looking at him straight in the eye, she said it clearly and quickly. "Hiccup, I love you."

Hiccup looked surprised, but Astrid felt warm inside as he didn't even hesitate. "I love you too, Astrid." He said, giving her his classic Hiccup smile that Astrid loved so much. Smiling widely, Astrid leaned forward and hugged him tightly, closing her eyes as she did so. Hiccup did the same, and Astrid pulled back shortly to only press her lips against his right after.

Everything was perfect. And hopefully this time it would stay like that.

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A/N: TASTE THE FLUFFINESS FUUUUUU

I hope you liked :3