Author's note : just like last time, thank you so very much for all the reviews/favorites/subscriptions to story and/or author alerts, and so on (although I especially thank those of you who left reviews)!!! It's just amazing to me! =D

Unlike last time, though, I won't write a reply for each and every one of you. Don't worry, it's not because I don't want to – it's quite the contrary – but just because it's nearly two in the morning here and I'm dead tired! I worked really hard to finish this chapter tonight, and now I'm falling asleep in front of my computer. I'll make up for that when I'll post the epilogue (yes, there will be one!).

Anyway, this chapter is about twice the size of the previous ones, so please have a seat, make yourself comfortable and enjoy your reading!

Thank you all again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, … ;-)


However powerful a Viking Stoick the Vast was, he did not have the slightest idea in regards to how he was supposed to react in front of a tamed Night Fury that was apparently seething with literally burning anger. Every time Stoick took one tiny step towards the staircase that led to his son's bedroom, the black dragon displayed two rows of teeth which were as sharp as could be, and snarled viciously. Toothless's eyes had narrowed dangerously, and his tail whipped the wooden floor in agitation. Every now and then, the gigantic reptile would even threaten to shoot one of his deadly bluish fireballs but changed his mind at the last second, that is to say when Stoick went away from him and the stairs he was stubbornly guarding. For the umpteenth time that day, the mighty Viking chieftain couldn't prevent himself from letting an exasperated growl escape his cursing mouth. Ever since Hiccup came home that morning, the Night Fury had decided to sit at the bottom of the staircase, not letting anyone approach him. Stoick had a pretty nasty feeling that told him whoever tried to ignore the beast's warnings would end up seriously injured, to say the very least. Not being able to climb up the stairs meant not being able to see Hiccup who, judging by the ambient noise, was busy turning his room upside down in a desperate attempt to release the anger and distress that wolfed him down from the inside.

This was not the first time Hiccup acted this way, but it definitely was the first time Stoick actually paid attention to it. Ever since it had become clear his son would become the exact opposite of what he was supposed to be, that is to say a true Viking – the way everyone in Berk meant it until quite recently – Stoick had decided to simply and purely ignore whatever Hiccup could do when he was not working at the forge with Gobber the Belch. Consequently, the chieftain of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe had not set a single toe in his son's bedroom for quite a number of years. He did not even know how it actually looked like by now. Needless to mention, Hiccup didn't let anyone enter his room anyway, one thing Stoick had actually respected for all those years. But right now, when he finally wanted to go and see his son to ask him what was wrong, he could not do it because of one angry, stubborn Night Fury whose only current idea was to protect the one human who had tamed him, and thus, to guard that damned staircase! It seemed nothing could make Toothless budge an inch. Stoick had tried everything he could think of: soothing the dragon with careful words and pats, luring him away with a bunch of fishes, scaring him away with eels, whatsoever, but none of those worked. The only reactions Stoick had earned from the Night Fury were snarls and growls, and those only resulted in making the Viking chieftain angrier and more and more frustrated by the second. And, as everyone knows, there are a lot of dangerous things in the world, but very few of them are considered more dangerous than a frustrated Viking. Except a frustrated dragon, maybe. The point is, when Stoick the Vast did hear the two series of repeated knocks on his door, he decided to call all the gods of Asgard to witness the way he was going to take it out on the unexpected visitor. Whoever it was, he was going to have a hard time of it.

"WHAT???", Stoick roared as he opened the door as brutally as he could, only to find a slightly surprised female Viking staring at him with blue eyes that had widened a bit at his obvious outburst. One hand coiling around the collar of her fur coat, her cheeks redder than usual because of the raging snowstorm, several golden bangs of hair escaping her headband and falling haphazardly about her face, Astrid Hofferson took a step back, maybe without even realizing it, and straightened her shoulders in true Viking fashion, obviously not caring one bit about the weather. Stoick, in spite of his anger, could only admit how fierce and proud she looked and see the definite, dangerous beauty she would have as a fully grown woman. She was a Valkyrie, and she knew it. A couple of seconds passed in a silence that was only broken by the howling wind and the curious squawking sound Astrid's Deadly Nadder gave while watching the two Vikings interact –or lack of interaction- with one another. Astrid eventually decided to break the ice and put her right hand, curled in a tight fist, in front of her heart.

"Greetings, chieftain Stoick the Vast. Respect and Strength."

Stoick smiled, finding his anger was vanishing rather quickly, and returned the greeting.

"Respect and Strength, Astrid Hofferson. What brings you here?"

"I'd like to see Hiccup, if that's alright. I need to talk to him."

"Yes, we all do, don't we?"

Astrid felt her eyes narrow at the odd comment, and watched as the chieftain of the tribe let out a heavy sigh. In an unexpected gesture, he put his large hand on her shoulder, making her body tense for a second.

"Well, come inside, Astrid, we don't want you to freeze out there."

"Thank you."

"And maybe you'll be able to talk some sense into that crazy dragon's head!"

"What? Toothless?"

"Yes, and Hiccup will have to explain why he named him that. Nearly bit my head off! That beast's so stubborn I doubt Loki himself could trick him!"


After Stoick finished explaining her how Toothless had acted since Hiccup had locked himself up in his room, Astrid rose to her feet and made her way towards the Night Fury. If it was even possible, Toothless actually looked nothing like, well, Toothless. Growling menacingly, the dragon stood on his paws, ready to bounce on Astrid. But the Viking female did not slow her pace down. She only stopped when she could look the dragon straight in the eyes, her face mere inches apart from the snarling reptile. Then, lowering her gaze to the ground, Astrid turned her back on the black dragon and sat down on the wooden floor, willingly putting herself into a vulnerable position. She did not see it, but Toothless's eyes grew bigger. The move, although incredibly stupid in his opinion –who would dare to expose his/her back to him, the most dangerous of all dragons, and hope to get away with it?- had taken him by surprise and he couldn't help but feel respect for the female he knew his human was attracted to. That didn't mean he would let her pass. She was the reason Hiccup was feeling the way he was, and that was enough for Toothless to resolve she didn't deserve to see his human friend. But then, just as he had made up his mind, she began to talk, her back still offered to his sharp teeth, and he listened.

"Toothless, I don't want to hurt Hiccup. I know you want to protect him, and you're doing it really well, but I need to talk to him. You have to let me pass, Toothless. I didn't come here to harm Hiccup. I came to make things right. There's been a huge misunderstanding, you see. I know he heard what my father said, but if he'd stayed a bit longer, he'd have heard what I told my father afterwards. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I want to help. Think you can give me a chance?"

The Night Fury retracted his teeth and lowered his head to sniff Astrid's body. Sensing no hostile intention from her, and noticing she was carrying the strange metallic staff his human had made for her by her side, Toothless finally nuzzled her back, purring loudly in agreement. Astrid felt her lips curve into a triumphant smile. Standing up, she finally allowed herself to look at the black dragon and patted him gently.

"Thank you, Toothless. I'll get you an extra fish for that."

The two things she got in return were:

1) The fact that Toothless moved aside to let her climb up the stairs.

2) The same strange yet incredibly cute toothless grin the dragon had first given her when he had caught her in mid-air and prevented her from falling to her death.


For the second time that day, Astrid knocked on a door. And for the umpteenth time since she had left her house, she hoped everything would be alright. But with Hiccup, nobody could know for sure what would actually happen. It was like throwing a coin in the air; you never knew on which side it would fall. When she was only greeted by silence, she knocked louder.

"Hiccup! May I come in?"

No reply.

"Hiccup, I know you're in there. Please let me in, we need to talk!"

"I don't wanna talk to you. Leave me alone!"

Astrid sighed. She was not known in Berk for her patience –except when hunting- but she did know forcing Hiccup to do something was useless. And even if Toothless had let her pass, it didn't mean he couldn't change his mind if he considered she was being too brutal with the young man. So, she chose to use another tactic.

"Remember our first ride together, Hiccup? When I refused to listen to you, you didn't get me down from that tree like I ordered you to. You wanted me to understand, right? I was reluctant, I admit, but I gave you the chance you were asking for. Now I'm asking you to give me the same chance. Please."

No reply came, but Astrid waited, holding her breath, until she heard the peculiar sound of his prosthetic leg coming closer. Suddenly there was the sound of a key being turned in its lock, and Hiccup appeared in front of her, looking pale and terribly tired. He gazed at her for a second, then past her shoulder to glance at Toothless who still sat at the bottom of the staircase, and finally stepped aside to let her enter his room, extending one arm in some sort of welcoming gesture that didn't look very convincing. Astrid nodded and walked past him. When he closed the door behind them both, she took in her surroundings and felt her lips part slightly.

It was a mess. Of course she had expected his room to be like that, just not this much. There were pieces of parchment everywhere, scattered on the floor – amongst countless bits of broken items made of metal, wood or leather that proved how Stoick's son had poured his wrath on them - and hanging on the walls. Most of them represented sketches of different kinds of tools, weapons – she could make out a very detailed drawing of the ballista some longships used for war -, and all kinds of inventions. Astrid suddenly realized Hiccup had been providing for the Vikings of Berk for years, working in the darkness of the forge without anyone noticing it. Several drawings represented Toothless in random positions. Those sketches, she noticed, seemed cleaner than the others, indicating Hiccup had been extra careful with them. A few candles were lit in the different corners of the room, casting a light that she thought was definitely not bright enough to do anything. Which was exactly what made her clench her teeth. The knowledge that Hiccup deliberately created an artificial form of darkness in his very bedroom unnerved her.

"You know, if you don't like it, you can still get out. The door's right behind you."

She was almost startled by how cold his voice sounded. Subconsciously, she let her left hand rest on Dagmar's pommel whilst shaking her head in denial.

"No, it's just…I didn't think your room would look like this."

"And how did you think it'd look like, exactly?"

"I don't know. Not like this."

"This is my place, Astrid. My sanctuary. As far as I can remember, you're the first person I've ever allowed to come in here. I doubt anyone can imagine what it looks like."

"I guess so…"

"So, Astrid Hofferson," Hiccup began as he walked away from her, clearly limping, "fancy telling me why you've been hanging around a cripple who can provoke Ragnarok all by himself?"

"I never said such a thing!"

"Yeah, right. I'm stupid, crazy, crippled and now I'm also deaf. Sorry for forgetting about that part."

"That's not funny!! Would you please listen to me?!? I know my mother asked you to forge a sword for me…This sword! And I suppose you came this morning to give it to me. If you had made your presence known instead of eavesdropping- In the name of the gods, Hiccup, why are you smiling like that?!?"

"Mmm? Oh, I was just thinking how funny it is that I'm never where I should be, if that rings a bell."

Astrid felt as if her blood had turned cold as she recalled the words she had uttered that night in the Great Hall, when Gobber had expected his trainees to study the Dragon Manual. She had spoken without knowing anything about him, back then, and regretted it. But somehow, hearing Hiccup quote her in such a sarcastic manner, yet so calmly, made it ten times worse. She didn't know how to act around this Hiccup she was not familiar with. He was bitter, somber, and in his emerald eyes, she could see he was furious. There was a moment of silence between them, and she used it to observe him as he sat down on his bed and undid the straps that kept his prosthetic leg in place.

"Hiccup…What I'm trying to say is, I don't care about what my father thinks or says about you."

"My point exactly."

"What?"

"You don't care. People can say whatever they want about me, you don't care. That's what you said, right?"

"Wha- No!! I didn't mean it like that and you know it!!!"

"I think you meant exactly that, Astrid. And I'm gonna prove it to you."

She couldn't help but snicker. Cocking her head to one side, she defiantly crossed her arms.

"Fine. Go on, shoot."

"It's real simple; during all those years when you were busy becoming the best female Viking ever and I was the laughing-stock of, let's say, everyone on this isle, what did you do when Snotlout and the others spent their time bullying me or making fun of me?"

"Hey, I NEVER insulted you like they did!!"

"Why?"

"Because I thought it was unfair, of course, that's why!!!"

"Okay. So you never insulted me like they did. That's what you didn't do alright. But what did you do?"

"I- I did…", Astrid's jaw dropped slightly as she finally understood what Hiccup meant, "nothing. I did nothing."

"Yep. Exactly. You did nothing. You thought it was unfair and you did nothing. You could have done something, and you didn't. Why? I'm going to tell you why, Astrid. Because it was so much easier to keep quiet and ignore it. Because helping me just once would have meant you accepted to break free from the group, and you knew you would have been considered an outcast too for having helped the weak, useless Hiccup. You did not do anything because you were afraid, Astrid. Afraid of what the other Vikings would think of Arvarodd Hofferson's fierce daughter if she tried to get to know me. And so you kept ignoring me, because you did not care, just like you do not care about what people call me today!"

"Are you calling me a coward?!?"

"You know, maybe I am."

Hiccup did not even brace himself when she closed the space between them and slapped him twice.

"Never, Hiccup, never call me a coward again!!!"

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage!! There are different forms of courage, Astrid, and being able to rise and speak the truth when all the others choose to remain silent is one of them!"

"You think you're the only one who knows what loneliness feels like?!? Odin help me, Hiccup, have you any idea how many things I had to sacrifice to become what my father wanted me to become?? I gave up everything I liked, Hiccup, everything!! Every moment of my life was spent training from dawn until dusk! You think that was a funny thing to do?!?"

Hiccup did not reply straight away, obviously considering what she had just confessed, and the look in his eyes softened as she breathed in deeply, trying to calm herself down.

"Have you got your dagger with you, Astrid? I happened to leave mine downstairs."

She blinked, taken aback by the sudden change of subject. What could Hiccup possibly have at the back of his mind?

"Yeah, I do."

"Can you please lend it to me? I'm going to show you something."

She took her dagger out of its scabbard without a single word and handed it over to him. He took it carefully and motioned for her to help him stand since he had removed his prosthetic leg. She complied, wondering what he wanted to do. Carrying his instructions to the letter, she led him to one of the walls of his bedroom, and watched, completely astounded, as he used her dagger to carve a tiny cross on the wood. Now that she paid attention to it, she actually noticed his whole bedroom was covered with hundreds –maybe even thousands- of crosses that looked identical to the one he had just marked the wall with. Hiccup gave Astrid her dagger back, and she looked at him, a puzzled expression written all over her face.

"Each cross represents a time when someone called me weak, useless, unworthy, weird, 'failure', 'worst Viking Berk has ever seen', and so on. 'Cripple' being the latest one. Oh, and you see that bigger cross over there? That was the time Dad told Gobber I was the one to blame for my mother's death. He even wished I had died instead of her. Made me feel pretty good, as you can imagine."

What could she reply to that? What could she even try to reply when all she could see were countless crosses, visible carvings for invisible wounds that had never healed? Suddenly, as she helped Hiccup to get to his bed again, Astrid was able to see what was behind the mask of happiness and dry humor Hiccup put on everyday. Suddenly, she understood his constant, witty jokes were the result of what the inhabitants of Berk had done to him, of what she had done to him. Mountains of sadness, rejection and solitude had reached peaks she couldn't even fathom within him, and it was Toothless, the equally lonely dragon, that had been the first, slow remedy to make them shrink a little. But it was far from being over, and it was no wonder Hiccup had been so hurt by her father's words. Even now that he had proved everyone on Berk that he had been right all along- and lost his left foot in the process- people still rejected him. It would take a very long time, Astrid realized, for Hiccup's wounds to heal, and that did not include his leg, or what was left of it. Sitting beside him on his bed, Astrid looked down, consumed by the feeling of shame that was making her stomach churn in disgust.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup. I'm terribly sorry. I- I never knew…"

"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have talked to you that way."

"No! No…You had every right to say what you said. And I promise, I will do everything I can to make up for all of those crosses. Everything, Hiccup."

"So, you really didn't agree with what your father said?"

Astrid couldn't help but smile as Hiccup returned to his shy self, hope glittering in his eyes. She saw the unspoken question in them, and did not need to see it twice.

"Of course not. I even told him I would never let anyone insult you again, but you had already left up at that point."

"Oh. Um…oops?"

"Oops is right", she laughed, and he smiled sheepishly. Raising one of her hands, she cupped his cheek, stroking the soft skin with her thumb. "How about I begin repairing my mistakes right now?"

"You can try."

Astrid leaned forward and gently brushed her lips against his. Sometimes, just sometimes, she didn't want to punch him beforehand. As he tentatively kissed her back, she wrapped one arm around his neck while his found their way around her waist. She felt him smile into the kiss, and couldn't stop herself from doing the same. How long they stayed like this, wrapped into a tight embrace that spoke of comprehension, forgiveness and love, neither wanted to know. When she finally forced herself to pull away from Hiccup, all she cared about was the endearing smile on his face.

"Well, now that our little problem is settled, I'd better go. Think you can forgive me for the two slaps?"

"I've already forgiven you."

"You're too kind for a Viking, you know that?"

"Maybe I'm not a Viking at all."

"Maybe that's a good thing. Fancy going outside with me?"

"Uh…No, thanks. I…currently don't like being out in the open."

"Why?"

"Footprints."

"Footprints?"

"Footprints.", he confirmed, gesturing to the prosthetic leg that lay, momentarily abandoned, on the floor.

"Oh. I see. Well, I guess I'll see you later, then?"

"Yeah. Whenever you want."

"Okay", she agreed, and bent over to kiss him once more.

As she was about to leave Hiccup's room, Astrid turned round, a suspicious look on her face.

"Dagmar is a marvelous sword, you know."

He gave her a proud grin, nodding vigorously.

"I'm glad you like it."

"Something does bother me though. How in the world were you able to make it this perfect? For me, I mean."

"That's my little secret."

"Hiccup!!"

"How did you convince Toothless to let you pass, by the way?"

"That's my little secret."

He laughed delightedly, and Astrid felt her heart soar as he did.


Astrid climbed down the stairs as fast as her legs would enable her, a grin plastered on her pleased features, only to find herself facing Stoick and Toothless, the both of them looking anxiously at her. She found the sight rather amusing.

"So? How did it go?", Stoick wanted to know.

"It was…tumultuous. But everything turned out just fine. There's one thing we should do to make sure it stays that way, though, and we will need the help of both Vikings and dragons."

"Whatever it is, you just have to name it, and it'll be done."

Astrid grinned in a conspiratorial fashion, and motioned for them to come closer.

"Here's what we are going to do…"