Let Me Show You

A/N: Just a short bit of Hiccstrid fluff. It's set only a few months after Out of the Sea, six at the absolute most. Enjoy!

"Hiccup, what are you up to?" Astrid asked as her husband led her down to the docks.

"You'll see," Hiccup replied, his voice trembling with excitement. "It's a surprise."

Astrid huffed half-heartedly. "You know I'm not much of one for surprises," she said. "The last big surprise I got was finding out the boy I loved was half-fish."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "This is a good surprise, I promise."

Astrid sighed but said nothing more, allowing Hiccup to lead her down to the pier.

Stoick was there waiting for them. "Good morning, son," he said, waving as they approached. "And Astrid. Nice to see you both again."

"It's good to see you too," Astrid replied, looking suspiciously at her father-in-law. "Are you in on this big surprise as well?"

Stoick's eyes were sparkling. "Now that you mention it, I am, lass," he answered. He then looked over at his son and added, "I'll let Hiccup do the explaining, though."

Astrid turned her eyes to her husband expectantly.

"Well," Hiccup began, forcing himself to stay calm, "you know how you've been asking about what it's like to live under the sea?"

"Yes," Astrid said slowly.

"Well, I've tried to explain it to you the best I can," Hiccup went on. "But words can only convey so much, and they don't really do it justice. So I thought, what if I could show you instead?"

Astrid blinked. "Show me?" she repeated, and then she looked at Stoick, who was carrying his magic hammer in one hand. Her eyes widened in realization. "You mean…"

"I thought Dad could change us both into merpeople," Hiccup confirmed. "Just for the day. And then I could show you all the beauties and wonders that I've tried to tell you about."

Astrid looked from Hiccup to Stoick and back again. "Are you serious?" She sounded hopeful. She turned her gaze to the Sea King. "Can you do that?"

"Of course, lass," Stoick said with a laugh. "I changed my son into a human. Turning you both into merpeople won't be a problem."

Still Astrid hesitated. "I…I don't know," she said, peering nervously into the water. "It seems so…risky. You do remember that I almost drowned out there, right?"

"But that won't happen this time," Hiccup said patiently. "You'll be able to breathe underwater. Drowning is pretty much impossible. Besides, I'll be right there beside you. I won't let anything bad happen." When she still didn't look entirely convinced, he held out his hand. "Come on, Astrid. Please. Let me show you."

Astrid eyed his hand for a moment longer. Then a small smile turned the corners of her mouth, and she reached out to entwine her fingers with his. "All right," she said. "Let's do it."

Beaming, Stoick swam a few paces back, holding up his hammer. "All right. Hiccup, you first."

Hiccup nodded, backed up a couple of steps, and then ran off the pier and dove into the water. At the apex of his dive, Stoick shot him with a bolt of blue energy from his hammer, but he had vanished beneath the surface before Astrid could see the magic take effect.

When Hiccup resurfaced, she saw that his clothes had disappeared, and it their place was a long, silver-green fish tail.

He leapt out of the water, somersaulting in the air before splashing back into the sea. He surfaced again, running his hands through his wet hair, and cried, "Oh, it's good to be back!" Then he called to Astrid, "Your turn, milady!"

Astrid took a deep breath, stepped back, and took off at a run, propelling herself off the dock. As she fell, Stoick leveled the hammer at her and cast the spell. She was engulfed in blue light, and then she hit the water and slipped beneath the surface.

At once she felt the magic work its way through her. Her clothes vanished and her legs fused together, sprouting scales and two large, semi-transparent fins. She gaped down at her new silver-blue tail in amazement, quite forgetting to surface to where Hiccup and Stoick were waiting for her. "Oh my…" she murmured, and then she inhaled sharply. She'd just talked underwater! And breathed!

She heard a faint chuckle and looked up to see her husband and father-in-law descending toward her. "It's truly something, isn't it?" Hiccup said.

Lost for words, Astrid nodded. "I…it's…I don't know what to say!" she admitted.

"You don't have to say anything, lass," Stoick said with a chortle. "Your face says it all."

Indeed it did: her eyes were alight with awe and wonder as they gazed down at her new tail, admiring the way the scales shimmered in the sunlight streaming in from above. She couldn't believe it. She was a mermaid! She experimented a little: she flipped her fins, propelling herself through the water a few feet. She repeated the motion with more effort, and she shot forward, colliding with Hiccup, who caught her in his arms. "Whoa, careful there," he laughed. Then his voice died in his throat as he realized their faces were mere inches apart.

Astrid realized it too and, grinning, she closed the distance by kissing him. Hiccup's eyes flew open in shock but soon fluttered closed as a blissful, if slightly goofy, expression crossed his features.

When they broke apart, Astrid said, "Thank you, Hiccup. This…this is amazing!"

"You're welcome," Hiccup replied weakly. Then, recovering slightly, he added with a chuckle, "And you haven't even seen anything yet!"

This was soon rectified. Stoick led the young couple back to Hyacinth, glancing back occasionally and grinning at his son and daughter-in-law. Hiccup, delighted to be back in the sea after so long away, couldn't resist spiraling and spinning and somersaulting all over the place. Astrid giggled and joined him, getting a feel for her tail, her hair unraveling from its braid and waving out in a golden halo. "This is fun!" she declared after several minutes of this, holding her arms in front of her and corkscrewing through the water.

Hiccup chuckled and agreed. As much as he loved being human, he couldn't deny that it was wonderful to be back in his natural form. With legs he tended to be a little clumsy, and endearingly so, in Astrid's opinion. But here, there was sheer power and grace in his every movement, power and grace that he had no hope of imitating in the world above. And it was a welcome treat to get to experience it once more.

Soon they reached Hyacinth, pausing atop a rock that towered above the kingdom Hiccup had called home for sixteen years. Astrid's mouth fell open as her eyes fell on the great palace, standing tall and proud in the center of the town. Right then and there she decided that she'd never seen anything so magnificent in all her life.

"You mean…you used to live here?" she asked, turning to gape at Hiccup.

"Yep," Hiccup replied, grinning sheepishly at her. "This was my home. I was born and raised in these waters. I grew up in that castle. Toothless and I would swim all around here. It…it was nice."

Astrid's face clouded over for a moment. Hiccup noticed and grew concerned. "What's wrong?"

She didn't reply for a moment or two. Then, slowly, she said, "It's just…so overwhelming. All of this…it's so wonderful. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. And…" She looked at her husband, her eyes filled with confusion and disbelief. "…and you gave it all up…for me?"

Hiccup's face relaxed as he understood. "Yes," he replied simply, taking her hand in his. "I gave up all this, because without you my life had no meaning. All of this…" He gestured to the kingdom below. "…meant nothing to me if I couldn't be by your side. You complete me, Astrid. You are my other half, my everything…without you I am nothing. So of course I was willing to give up all this for you." He cupped her cheek with his free hand, gently forcing her to look into his eyes. He saw that hers were swimming with unshed tears. "And I haven't regretted it for a moment since." He kissed her tenderly. "I love you."

"I love you too," Astrid replied weakly, falling into his arms.

Hiccup smiled and held her for a few minutes. Then he drew back and said, "Would you like the grand tour?"

Astrid grinned and nodded.

They spent the whole day swimming around Hyacinth. The merpeople were all delighted to see their prince again and Astrid was welcomed graciously into their midst. They met Fishlegs and Camicazi, both of whom were overjoyed to be reunited with Hiccup. Fishlegs showed Astrid his dragon Meatlug while Cami talked girl stuff with her. (Hiccup, knowing he was way out of his element here, wisely stayed back and helped Fishlegs feed Meatlug through the girls' conversation.)

Later that afternoon, Hiccup and Astrid found themselves sitting together on one of the palace's balconies, gazing out over the kingdom below. Astrid's head rested on Hiccup's shoulder, and their hands were clasped tightly together.

"Did you have fun today?" Hiccup asked after a while.

Astrid nodded. "Yes, I did. It was utterly magical. Thank you for bringing me here, Hiccup." She chuckled and added, "This is one surprise I actually liked."

Hiccup grinned. "Happy to be of service, milady." Then he yelped, for Astrid had just sat up straight and punched him hard on the shoulder. "What in Odin's name…?!"

"That's for making me cry earlier," Astrid informed him.

Hiccup huffed and asked, "Is this how it's always going to be?"

Astrid didn't answer. Instead, she kissed him gently yet passionately on the lips. Once again, his eyes opened wide in surprise before his face relaxed and he returned the kiss. "And that," she told him as she drew back, "is for everything else."

Hiccup smiled at her, feeling his heart swell with delight. She was his wife, this woman he'd given up everything for, and he loved her more than anything in the whole word, on land or in the sea. So he pulled her close to him, allowing their tails to twist together, their fins drifting about gently in the current.

"I could get used to it," he remarked.

Astrid just smiled in response.

A/N: I hope you're enjoying these one-shots. :) Oh, and in case you weren't aware of it yet, the sequel Return to the Sea has officially begun. The first chapter is posted, so by all means go check it out if you haven't already. I hope you enjoy it!