I thought this would be the last chapter, but then it turned out longer than I originally anticipated, so it's not. The next one probably is. Thanks again to all my readers! It means a ton to know that you're enjoying what I'm writing!

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Chapter 17: Tea and Talk

"Hiccup?" Astrid said breathlessly.

Lydia's smile was all she needed in return.

A warmth that she'd never known expanded in her chest, pushing the air out of her throat in a hasty sigh, replaced by a sharp gasp to reclaim the breath she's lost. She pushed herself up and looked toward the door. A dizzy spell sent her colliding back to the hearth but she didn't let that stop her. She was on her feet and reaching for the door when Lydia grasped onto her arm.

"Wait dear," she said, a hurry in her tone.

Astrid turned, hand still outstretched toward the door, to see Lydia looking both worried and humored. When she had Astrid's attention she pointed to a neatly folded pile of clothing which looked remarkably similar to Astrid's.

In a quick panic she looked down. It was hers. She stood in nothing but her undergarments. She was about to walk outside like this. She laughed off the slight embarrassment at the almost-disaster and accepted the tunic that Lydia handed her, a motherly smile on her aged face.

Fully dressed, Astrid looked to Lydia for approval. She nodded and Astrid turned toward the door. She threw it open, half-ran down the stairs, and came to a stop at the edge of the village. It was a completely different place. The sky was a marvelous blue and birds and bugs filled the trees. People were working on restoring homes and buildings, hammering and laughing and talking.

The air was free of the insidious fog and its hellish chill. The air was pleasant and the sun felt warm on her face. She could see why they lived here. It was paradise.

Astrid wound her way to the temple. The air had stirred up something warm and fuzzy insider her. It was like waking up to a warm house on a clear winter morning, still half-sleep, dreams lingering on her eyelids, blankets warm and tucked tightly around her, where for a brief moment, everything was perfect. It was the same feeling that the island emitted but it was constant. It was peace, serenity, a permanent exhale of relief, a sure paradise by gods.

The temple doors were open and people were flowing freeing between inside and outside. There was a lightness in the air, a warm laugh, gingerly and loosely being passed person to person. Astrid hesitated outside. Was he even inside? There's a whole village out there that he could be wondering around in. What made her think the temple is where he'd be? If he had come back from the temple's inner chambers then someone would have found him there, right? And therefore that someone should know where he went, right? Right? That is how that works, isn't it? Astrid wasn't sure. But is was a start.

She inhaled and followed an older woman inside, who was greeted as Old Pearl by several smiling villagers, and shook each of their hands with both of hers. Compared to the brightness of the outside, the temple was dark, but none less welcoming. Firelight glittered along the stone walls and the pleasant murmur of life buzzed between them.

Would it be rude to go looking for a priest? Would any of these villagers be able to help? She came to stand at the base of a simple altar at the far side of the main chamber. It stretched to the ceiling and to these villagers must have been something cherished. But it held nothing for Astrid. Was it supposed to be celebrating Odin?

"Astrid!" Esol's voice rang against the stone, a bit above the others. It was a glad tune to Astrid and she gladly searched the crowd for her. Esol's brown hair bobbed through the crowd, swimming around people with an odd grace, and coming to embrace Astrid.

"Hi," Astrid said as they let go of each other. Esol was not dressed in her heavy maidens robes but in regular attire.

"I'm so glad you're awake," Esol said, "There were a few moments when I was sure that we'd lost you. But, here you are, alive and well."

"Yeah," Astrid shrugged.

"The entire village knows what you've done, for us, and everyone, Astrid. Honestly, I haven't seen anything like it since I've been here. It's like…you're their new saint or something." Esol smiled.

"A saint?" Astrid said, skeptically. That's the last thing she wanted, although the idea was tantalizing.

Esol nodded. A smile stretched across her lips, "But that's not what you want to hear, is it?"

"What?"

"You want to know about Hiccup, right?"

"Yes!" Astrid said, her breath expelled with the word.

"Well, the High Priest gave him room and board in the temple but I doubt he's there now. He's most likely out there somewhere," Esol pointed outside. "He's been working wonders with the Changewings, even got a couple of them to help."

Just as she spoke a group of three red-orange dragons flew over the temple and to the village carrying a large bundle of logs between them.

"He's good at that." Astrid sighed.

"It's almost lunch. He'll come back here to eat with us so if you want to hang out until then you're more than welcome to. You can take a nap. You look exhausted." Esol nudged her arm. "I'll take you there, come on."

When Esol tucked her elbow into Astrid's, she didn't object. She looked down at herself to try and see what exhaustion that Esol had seen. Although, she didn't need to see it. She could feel it. It was like she'd been sleeping for a year, waking stiff and tight, but horrible exhausted like she hadn't at all.

She was lead down a corridor and down a smaller one which was lined with simple curtains, portioning off smaller rooms. Esol came to paused in front of a curtain that had been tied back and a candle lit in the small room beyond. It was simple, small but adequate living chamber, set up with a bed, a small chest, and a washbasin.

"Go on, sit, I'll bring you some tea." Esol said. She wasn't giving her the chance to decline. She gave her a gentle push inside. "I'll be right back."

Esol flashed a kind smile and vanished back into the corridor. Astrid stood in the room, suddenly alone, but transfixed on the smell. It smelled like the temple, salt, rocks, and dust, but there was an underlying musk, Hiccup. She took a deep breath and then another. Then the smell was gone. She sat down on the bed and laid a hand on the pillow. She pulled a short brown hair from the fabric, and in examining it under the lantern light she could see the brown, the red, and the rare golden shine when held at just the right angle.

Could it really be him? Lydia hadn't actually confirmed that it was him. Astrid had spent an entire passage of a ship with him, and it hadn't been him. What makes this time different? Everything, Astrid prayed.

She'd had her heart torn apart, hastily put back together, only to have it slowly pulled apart again and then it had been smashed. It had been harder to sew it back together the second time she knew that another blow would shatter it into irreplaceable pieces that couldn't be reconfigured.

She twisted Hiccup's hair between her fingers. She wanted it to be true. She wanted it to be him, so terribly.

Esol appeared suddenly at the door with a steaming cup of tea in her hands. "Temple's special herbal brew. It's not the most delicious tea but it's a soul soother."

"Thank you," Astrid accepted the warm cup. It smelled like flowers and weeds. It tasted a bit like them, too. But it did sooth a warm trail down her throat.

Esol came into the room, tentatively, and twisted her pale hands together. "You know, I don't know how you did it."

"What?" Astrid asked.

Esol inhaled, "Push him in. Even knowing that it wasn't him. I-I don't think that I could have done the same thing if it had been Chuck on the other end."

Astrid took a sip of the hot earthy tea and held it on her lap. "I wasn't planning on doing it. There was a moment, that I knew, it…I knew it wasn't him. I didn't know what to do about it and then…I saw the pit. I saw this crazy and stupid chance, and I didn't have time to think about it."

"You're stronger than me."

"I don't think so," Astrid said. Physically, yes. "I watched him fall and I knew it wasn't him but…it looked like him, and…watching him fall was…it was horrible. You were there, you saw me completely break down." And she wasn't entirely proud of that. "It was like watching everything vanish with them…my future, was…just gone."

"Your future?"

"Yeah, Hiccup was my future. I couldn't see myself without him, tomorrow, or ten years from now, he was always there. He…is a part of me. And losing him was like losing a part of myself. It…hurt. I knew what I was doing but I wasn't prepared for how much it would hurt." Astrid sipped her tea. She'd never been keen on speaking about these kinds of feelings, even with Hiccup, even if she felt a little lighter afterward.

"I understand." Esol nodded. "My father would talk about marriage being a combining of two people into one. I never understood what he meant. Then I met Chuck and it was like no matter how many other men I met, how long we spent apart, he'd already set his claws in, you know? And now, I can't foresee myself without him. In some unexplainable way, we're a part of each other. We became a part of one another. We become one."

"It's weird how it happens." Astrid smiled. "I didn't see it happen and then one day it just was, you know?

"Yes," Esol smiled. "Oh, and, speaking of marriage, we've set a date."

"Really?"

"Yes, the new High Priest approved my request almost immediately. She's a bit more understanding than an old man." Esol smiled.

"Request? You had to request to get married?"

"It's a thing on the island. Because I am a temple maiden I am sort of a child of the High Priest, metaphorically, and they need time to find a replacement maiden, train her, so that when I leave the temple she can immediately take my place. And I have time to plan a wedding and whatnot."

"What will you do after?"

"Well, Chuck and I will be able to get a real house, he'll still fish, and I'll work with the other fishermen's wives to clean the fish, dry the fish, and other fishy duties. It's not bad, I like them, they're warm and friendly." Esol smiled. "And, the sunshine will be a nice chance from this place. It's a little dreary for my tastes."

"I know what you mean," Astrid nodded. She'd rather be outside, too.

Esol sighed, "I should get back. Someone is bound to be wondering where I've gone."

A sudden though struck, "Wait, who is the new High Priest?"

Esol smiled, "Rory. She's the first female High Priest. Generally, it's a man, but Rory has been here long enough that the elders believed her more than capable, and also the most qualified.

"Wouldn't she be a priestess?"

"Technically, I suppose, but she said that it sounded too girly. But that's Rory for you." Esol smiled. She stepped toward the corridor. "I'll come back and get you for lunch, okay? Get some sleep."

Esol vanished into the corridor. Astrid sighed, unsure if sleep was even obtainable. She was exhausted, yes, but she's also spent the last several weeks in a dream-coma. She laid back on the same bed that Hiccup had been occupying, pressing her head where his had been, and staring up at the stone ceiling. The torch-shadows danced along the cut stones. The temple was warm and the pillow smelled like Hiccup.

She was back at the smithy. She was falling half-asleep while Hiccup was working on some dangerous contraption or another. The forge was burning. It crackled and burped. The heat filled the smithy and the smoke was stifling. Hiccup hammered on the white-hot metal and it clanked against the anvil. The water sizzled and hissed. She could see his face, twisted in tunnel-vision determination and whole-hearted concentration. It was amazing to watch him when he worked.

Voices drifted into the smithy, shattering her dream-world, and bringing her back to the temple's dim chambers. Thick grogginess pushed her eyelids back over her eyes. The bed was so warm…pleasant.

"…Lead should be arriving in about a week, they said. Johan isn't due back for another three weeks or so."

"And he skipped a lot of his stops on the way here. He might take longer this time around."

Astrid fought against the sleep, to hear more of that second voice, one that she could have sworn that she knew.

"Whatever you want to do," Esol was saying, "We'll house you both as long as you need."

"Thanks, for all this,"

"It's the least we can do."

Two shapes came into the room. Their shapes were clouded by her wavering eyelashes, sleep pleading to return. She knew those limbs, too skinny for a Viking, hair floppy over his ears. She knew those bright green eyes.

"Hiccup?" Astrid forced out, desperately wanted his attention. She wanted him to look at her, to solidity his reality, to prove that he was real and she wasn't still dreaming.

Astrid pushed herself off the bed, forcing herself awake. Esol was smiling widely as his green eyes settled on her. His freckled face broke into a welcoming grin as he knelt down beside the bed, his metal foot scraping the stone floor, hands grasping her arms.

"Good morning, I thought I'd have to carry you home." Hiccup smiled.

"It's you," Astrid said, a plea of joy in her throat jellified her words. It was him. Those were his eyes. That was his voice. That was his kindness in his tone. Those hands were his.

"Yeah," Hiccup nodded. "It's really me this time. I promise."

Astrid felt tears welling as she lunged for him. Her arms clamped around his neck and she pulled him as close as she could. She buried her face into his neck, soaking her tears into his shirt. She held on tight in case he would fall away again. She would catch him this time. She wouldn't let him go.

Hiccup wrapped his arms around her and tucked his cheek into her hair. She could feel him breathing, the gentle breath rustled the top strains. She could feel his warmth. She could hear his heartbeat. She could feel the life flowing through his bones. She didn't want this to end. When Hiccup began to pull away Astrid wanted to grip him tighter, hold him so close that he couldn't move, but she didn't.

Hiccup's face was concerned. He patted her knees, a tentative worried on his lips that he couldn't quite form.

"What's wrong?" Astrid asked.

"Astrid," Hiccup said, looking her in the eye, biting his lip. He started to speak but he closed her mouth and shook his head. He moved a hand down to her stomach and laid it flat against her. "Are you really?"

She bit her lip, nodding, anticipating whatever his reaction would be. He smiled, closing his eyes, and laughing, disbelief and wonder sharing emotional space with joy and fear.

"Wow," Hiccup breathed, and he added, barely a whisper, "A baby?"

"Yeah," Astrid nodded.

Hiccup collapsed onto her, wrapping his arms around her middle and burring his face in her stomach, and he laugh-sighed onto his shirt. He mumbled something that was muffled by his breath and her shirt. Astrid ran a hand through the mass of his hair. She watched the red and brown flicker under the firelight.

"I was going to tell you, but…" Astrid said, "I just never had the right time. I was going to wait until it was a sure thing but then things started happening, first it was the spirit world and then it was the Berserkers…"

"I know, Astrid, I understand." Hiccup breathed against her stomach.

"What are we going to do?" Astrid asked him. She'd wanted to ask him for weeks now but hadn't had the time.

Hiccup sighed and his grip around her loosened. He leaned back onto his heels and kept his hands on her knees. "What do you mean?"

Astrid gaped at him. Was he serious? "Hiccup, we're not married and your supposedly dead and I'm pregnant."

Hiccup smiled. "We're going to go home. We're going to get married. We're going to have a baby."

"You sound so sure about it." Astrid sighed. Saying it was a lot simpler than doing. But he probably knew that.

"Because it's what we're going to do about it. We'll get married in a month or so and no one will know. We can say that the baby came early, problem solved."

"What about a rushed married? Vikings may be a little slow but someone will put two and two together."

"You were so relieved that I was alive that we couldn't wait."

"What if the baby is early? People won't believe that I cooked a child in four months and it came out okay."

"Odin's blessing."

Astrid sighed. He was determined. She could see it in his eyes. He was going to counter her doubt at every corner whether his answer made sense or not.

"Okay," Astrid nodded.

"But, will you promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"That we tell our parents together, at the same time, so the odds of one of us being kills is lessened." Hiccup smiled, and Astrid could feel the humor on his words. Gods, she'd missed it so much.

Astrid smiled. She'd doubted that Stoick would kill his son over a grandchild, especially if he thought his son was dead. He'd be more than overjoyed.

"Yeah," Astrid nodded. "I promise. But you know that your dad is going to be thrilled. He's been wanting grandchildren."

"I know." Hiccup sighed. "And he gets to throw his big Viking wedding."

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