Alrighty then. The last chapter didn't seem to garner much response. I hope I didn't make Hiccup too whiny and emo. (Or have too many egregious typos!) But regardless, here is the final chapter! So, without further ado….
Wounds of the Flesh, Wounds of the Spirit
In short order Astrid had a pile of dry branched and twigs arranged at the edge of the pond. Up until now Axe had kept his distance from the trio, hunkering down to take a nap a few dozen feet behind them. At Astrid's request however, the Deadly Nadder happily trotted over to set the campfire alight. The blonde Viking barely had to bother with kindling, since the dragon's breath was more than hot enough to set even the dampest wood alight.
It was rather interesting to see the dragons react to each other. All the other dragons tended to maintain a… call it a respectful distance around Toothless. Or maybe it was around Hiccup. It was hard to tell, since the two were practically inseparable. But they also seemed surprisingly trusting of Hiccup, and always eager to help him. When he was giving lessons, wild, un-bonded dragons would happily bound right up to him at a gesture. And axe was no exception. She seemed quite pleased with herself, trilling a bit and preening over the chance to help.
And so Hiccup found himself surrounded. Behind him was the black scaled bulk of Toothless, against whom he was still leaning against. To his left was Astrid's curious Deadly Nadder, who was keeping a respectful distance, but watching the proceedings with interest. To the right was the stream that fed into the grotto's pond. And before him, silhouetted by the fire behind her, was Astrid. With her hands on her hips and a victorious smirk on her face.
"Now, let's take a look at that leg."
Hiccup just groaned, not seeing any way out of it. It wasn't as if he could outrun Astrid, even if he still HAD two good legs. And Toothless seemed disinclined to whisk him away, the useless reptile.
"All right, fine. Just remember, it's not as bad as it looks." Trying not to cringe, Hiccup began rolling up the leg of his pants, revealing the wood and metal cup that cradled his stump, as well as the straps that held it in place. With shaking hands he began to reach for the straps, but Astrid stopped him.
"Here, I'll get it." She said with surprising gentleness. A gentleness matched by her actions as she carefully began removing his prosthetic. Despite her soft touch, he still found himself sucking in air through clenched teeth. Toothless purred unhappily beside him as the dragon watched, ears drooping.
With a gentle twist, Astrid pulled the false leg free. Hiccup's hands clenched into fists as he closed his eyes tightly, trying to ignore the pain. Astrid herself hissed in surprise as the prosthetic slide free, and at what she found beneath it.
Blood. Crusty, dried blood, but blood none the less. His stump was swathed in linen bandaged, keeping his wound clean and cushioning his stump. But in the flickering firelight she could see plenty of red spots on the white fabric. Once again, a fist seemed to grip her heart.
'It's been weeks since the battle. A wound like this takes time to heal, but it should have stopped bleeding by now!' Cautiously, gently, and slightly fearfully, she began to unwrap the bandages, trying to ignore the way Toothless whimpered and moaned at every twitch and whimper Hiccup made.
"Hey, it's okay buddy. It's… It's fine…" His eyes still tightly closed, Hiccup none the less lifted his hands to where he knew his friend was, scratching the dragon's neck to comfort him.
When Astrid finally unwrapped the last turn of bandages, she let out a sigh of relief. There was bleeding, yes. But none of it was from his main injury. She could still see the stitches where the healer sewed together the flesh of his leg at the end of his rounded stump, but the wound was neat and clean and showed no signs of bleeding or infection. Even without fighting with dragons, life on Berk could be hard and dangerous. And while amputations were not quite commonplace, the village healers still had an unfortunately large amount of experience with the process. They had done good work on Hiccup, and in time he'd have little more than a few long scars on his stump.
No, his main wound, and the source of her fear, was healing nicely. But further up his leg was another matter. There were a few scars and burn marks closer to his knee, signs that the flames that had devoured his leg had gotten a slight foothold that far up the limb. But mostly his stump was covered in angry red skin and blisters. Burns caused not by dragon fire, but by friction and rubbing. The bright red lines where the straps of his prosthetic bit into the flesh were the worst areas, but were far from the only painfully inflamed spots. Both Toothless and Astrid hissed at the sight.
"Hiccup… How are you even walking on this?" She lifted her head to look into the read-headed boy's pain filled green eyes, which he had finally opened.
"It's.. Really not that bad." He insisted, slowly unclenching his teeth.
"Yes it is! There's no way these blisters will heal if you keep walking on them!" She nodded her head firmly. "For the next few days you're off your feet, mister!"
"No."
The word startled Astrid. Or rather, the tone of voice did. Suddenly Hiccup wasn't slumped against Toothless' side. He was sitting up tall and straight and staring right at her, his voice filled with strength and determination. For a moment, Astrid could do little more than stare at him. Just like that first night when they discovered the dragon's nest, that inner strength was showing through.
She shook her head a bit and frowned at him. This time was different however. This wasn't something as minor as hiding a Night Fury from the village or finding the dragon's nest. This was SERIOUS!
"Hiccup, you HAVE to stay off this leg!" she narrowed her eyes at him. "If you keep this up, these blisters could get infected! Hiccup, you could DIE!"
But Hiccup didn't so much as flinch at her words, nor did the look of determination leave his face.
"It doesn't matter. I can't spend days bedridden!" He started to reach for his prosthetic, but Astrid just pushed it out of his reach, growling at him in exasperation.
"For the love of Odin Hiccup, why not? What's so important that it can't wait for you to heal?"
"I've got too much stuff to do, and I can't let everyone see how weak I am. If they see me staggering around like I'm drunk, or worse, bedridden, they'll see how weak I am! They'll remember how weak I ALWAYS am! They'll lose respect for me and they'll STOP LISTENING!" Astrid's face softened at his words, looking at him sadly.
"Hiccup, no one is going to think less of you or stop listening to you just because you need some time to heal." She said soothingly. But his green eyes remained locked onto hers, filled with stubborn determination.
"Yes they will!" He waved his arms in exasperation. "Don't you see Astrid? I haven't changed. I haven't changed at ALL." He dropped his arms to his side, but kept his gaze upon her. "I'm still the same scrawny, clumsy Hiccup I was before. Only back then, I was a failure and a disappointment. Now they're acting like I'm a hero. But nothing about me has CHANGED!" He shook his head vigorously.
"Eventually they'll realize I'm just as bad a Viking now as I was then. The truth will come out, just like with dragon training." He took a deep breath, that steely determination returning. "But for now, they're listening to me! I have to teach everyone as much about dragons as I can! While I can! For as long as I can!"
"Hiccup, you ARE a hero! The village isn't just going to lose respect for you overnight! You don't have to push yourself so hard!"
"Why wouldn't they?" He snorted. "They gained it for me overnight, didn't they?" Astrid cringed at his words, unable to deny them. "Anyway, I can't risk it. I've got to make sure dragons and Vikings get along as fast as I can."
"I don't understand. Why are you in such a rush? Things seem to be going pretty well so far…" Astrid knew SHE was getting along well with HER dragon. The rest of the trainees seemed to have formed strong attachments to their mounts as well. As for the rest of the Berk, most of the Vikings were still wary of the dragons. But they were slowly growing more relaxed. And more interested in them. Quite a few of the older Vikings were befriending dragons, with some tutelage from Hiccup of course. And several were already flying on their partner's backs. And all this in but a few weeks time. When Astrid took the time to think about it, it really was an amazing sea change in behavior.
But Hiccup clearly didn't feel the same way.
"Isn't it obvious? Vikings and dragons have been fighting for generations! They've only been tolerating each other for a few weeks! Things don't change that easily!" The green eyed boy gestured with his hands in agitation, trying to make her see what he saw.
"What if the Elders decide that things were better when we fought dragons instead of befriending them? What if someone does something to anger a Nightmare and gets a hand bit off because they didn't know better? Or a Nadder accidentally sets someone's house on fire? How long would it be before everyone is reaching for swords and axes? And what do you think the dragons would do THEN?" He stared into her eyes intently as he spoke, slowly calming down. "Do you want to have to decide between being with Axe, or being a real Viking?"
Astrid stared at him, mouth hanging open. She hadn't really considered things in that light. She was just too enthralled with Axe to even consider how things could go wrong between humans and dragons. All she had seen was how well things seemed to be going. She hadn't concerned herself with how quickly they could go the other way.
But Hiccup clearly had.
What would she do if she WAS forced to decide between being a dragon rider and being a Viking? Between carrying an axe, and being carried BY Axe? Between her family and her new friend? Between her past and her partner? It was a terrible choice to have to make. A fact that Hiccup knew well.
After all, he' had to make it himself.
"I have to do this Astrid. As fast as I can. I'm not good with big groups, but I can handle a few people at a time. They'll listen to me in small groups. For now. And the more of them that learn to appreciate dragons for something besides a good fight, the less likely it is that anyone will have to make a decision like that." The 'anyone ELSE' was silent in his words but clear on his face.
Astrid let out a loud sigh, looking down at his leg.
"Okay. You're right." Hiccup perked up a bit at her admission, but Astrid was far from finished.
"You're right about needing to get the rest of Berk to understand." She poked him in the chest with her finger. "But you're wrong thinking you have to do it alone!"
"But…" Astrid refused to let him get a word in edgewise.
"No buts. The rest of us know enough about dragons to at least help out teaching people. Even if we don't know quite as much as YOU do." Astrid snorted. NOBODY knew as much about working with dragons as Hiccup did. And seeing how strong the bond between him and Toothless was, she doubted anyone else ever would.
"Ah, I guess that would help a bit…" Hiccup smiled at the blonde girl as she returned her focus to his leg. "Thank you Astrid."
Astrid flushed a bit at his smile, keeping her head down and turning his leg this way and that gently, inspecting his injuries.
In truth she was rather embarrassed that she hadn't thought of helping Hiccup with dragon training earlier. None of the teenagers had. In their defense, they were all rather focused on learning about their own dragons, and enraptured by the thrill of flying through the skies. None of them would dream of calling themselves an expert on dragon training. There was no doubt that that title belonged to Hiccup, and Hiccup alone.
He was the Master, and the rest of them merely apprentices for the moment. At least that's how Astrid and the others saw it. It never occurred to her to wonder just how many 'apprentices' Hiccup could handle at once. And how little assistance they were offering him. It wasn't as if Hiccup ever COMPLAINED about it.
"I'm going to need some water to clean these blisters. Don't go anywhere." Hiccup gave her a lopsided smile and wiggled his stump in the air at her comment. "Eh, somehow I doubt I'd be able to get far." His prosthetic was still on the ground out of his reach. But at least there was some honest humor in his voice and smile this time. Astrid placed her hands on her hips and smirked at him in return.
"That wasn't a 'yes'." She shifted her gaze to Hiccup's partner. "Toothless, make sure he doesn't go anywhere."
Toothless nodded his head at Astrid, giving her a tight lipped smile and wrapped his tail around Hiccup's waist. The trapped Viking put on a mock pout and glared at his friend.
"Traitor." He mumbled.
Ignoring the rumbling draconic laughter behind her, Astrid picked up Hiccup's bandage and walked to the edge of the pond at the center of the grotto. She would much rather have used clean, new bandages to wrap Hiccup's leg, but she wasn't carrying enough of them herself. All she could do was clean the wrappings as best she could, and make sure he changed them for fresh ones when they returned home.
Astrid tried to ignore the feeling of Hiccup's eyes on her as she stretched most of the bandages out on a few sticks next to the fire, letting the heat dry them. She kept a few swathes of cloth damp however as she moved back towards Hiccup and Toothless. Without a word she sat herself back down in front of the other Viking and began to dab at his blisters with the wet cloth.
"You need to take better care of your injury Hiccup, or this is only going to get worse." She moved her hands as carefully and gently as she could, trying not to reopen any of the blisters. Despite her efforts, she could still feel Hiccup tense in pain regularly.
"Sorry. I just haven't had… Much time lately… And.. I don't like to do it… around.. Toothless..." He tried not to hiss in pain as Astrid worked. Her hands were rough and calloused from practicing with weapons, but they still felt wonderful against his intact skin. The problem was that far more of his skin was angry and irritated than intact. The cool water combined with Astrid's delicate touch went a long way towards soothing it.
"What does Toothless have to do with anything?"
"Oh.. He gets upset.. when he sees my stump. Even though I keep telling him… it's not his fault…" Toothless still had his tail around Hiccup, though now it was just resting across his lap. The dragon's head was turned to watch Astrid work, a look of immense sadness on his expressive face. Whenever Hiccup hissed or flinched, Toothless would make an unhappy little rumbling sound, as if he were the one feeling the pain.
The next few minutes passed in silence as Astrid worked. The only sounds were those of nature… Assuming you considered the low unhappy whining of a worried Night Fury part of nature. Not to mention the occasional hiss of pain from Hiccup. The silence stretched on, Hiccup too distracted by the pleasantness of her hands on his leg, alternating with the pain of his injuries… And Astrid simply unsure of what to say.
"You're wrong you know." Astrid spoke without looking up from his leg, finally breaking the silence.
"Huh?"
"You're wrong." She met his eyes this time, a serious expression on her face. "You're wrong about the village losing respect for you. You've shown us all that we were wrong. Wrong about lots of things. Wrong about dragons. Wrong about the Nest. Wrong about YOU."
"I was wrong about you." She lowered her eyes, the edges of her lips curling downwards in a frown as she focused on his leg. She was a Viking. Strong and proud and perhaps a touch arrogant. And plenty stubborn of course. It wasn't easy for her to admit to being wrong. But when Hiccup had flown off, his words had stirred up a great many memories. Not all of them pleasant. Hiccup had opened himself up to her. She could hardly do less in return, could she?
"Astrid I…" Hiccup began, trying to think of something to say. But Astrid continued on without looking up from his injuries, not letting him speak.
"I hated you." She said softly. She could feel his leg tense up in pain, and she was certain it was caused by her words and not her hands. But it was the truth. Or most of the truth, because in fact she had not merely hated him. She hat hated him with an incredible, burning passion that was difficult to describe.
"Not at first of course." She continued, her hands gently, carefully cleaning his blisters. "Not before dragon training. Back then I… I don't know. All I knew about you was that you were considered a walking disaster area and it was best to stay away from you." She sighed softly, wringing some more water out onto his leg.
"You never really made fun of me like everyone else did though…" Hiccup smiled lopsidedly at her, trying to cheer her up. But when she raised her head to meet his eyes for a moment, her face was still serious.
"That wasn't out of kindness Hiccup. I didn't join in because… Well, because I didn't see the point. I guess I didn't see any reason to waste attention on you, even to make fun of you. And in a way maybe that's worse than what the others did." At least the other teenagers had acknowledged his existence. To Astrid he was just.. unimportant. Irrelevant. Beneath her notice.
"When we started dragon training, I just thought you were annoying. You were always in the way. Always talking instead of acting. Always in the WRONG place at the WRONG time." Oh yes, she'd found Hiccup annoying. But even then she'd thought of him in the same way she'd think of a low hanging tree branch or a slippery rock. He was an obstacle. Something in the way. Something to be dealt with and overcome. Not really a person, just an inconvenient piece of furniture.
"But then when you suddenly started getting good at dragon training…" She trailed off into silence for a moment. "I like to win. And I work hard to win. But I'm not stupid. I know I can't always be the best at everything. If someone works hard to beat me, I'm… okay with that I guess. It just means I need to train harder myself." Sure she was competitive. Very much so. But being competitive meant being able to recognize and respect OTHER competitors.
"But you… You just came out of nowhere and started surpassing me. Knocking out dragons left and right, half the time with your bare hands. I couldn't make sense of it! You never seemed to practice. You never trained. You didn't work hard at it. You didn't even act like you wanted to be there!" She could feel her chest burn at the mere memory of just how ANGRY that had made her, her hands curling into fists.
But after a moment she deflated, shoulders slumping as she returned to tending to his leg, not looking up to meet his eyes.
"And that… was when I really started to hate you."
The truth of it was, she could have understood it better if almost anyone ELSE had beaten her. She could have accepted most any of other of the teens challenging her for first place.
Snotlout was a braggart and could be a jerk, but he still had some skills. He was, at best, half as good as he claimed to be. But his claims were pretty lofty indeed. He was a showoff, but he worked HARD to showoff.
Ruffnut and Toughnut were excellent fighters with years of experience. Mind you, they were experts at fighting EACH OTHER. But there was still a lot of effort and spirit put into it. If they ever focused on something besides each other, they'd be a force to be reckoned with.
Even Fishlegs worked hard at being a proper Viking, in his own strange way. All those memorized facts and rambling descriptions may have been annoying, but they were the product of hard work and studying. He may not have been very good, but he was TRYING.
And then came Hiccup. Hiccup who didn't seem to be taking anything about training seriously. Hiccup who was weak, clueless, and a bigger danger to his fellow students than the dragons. Hiccup who put in no real effort in ANY of their fights.
"I spent years working hard. Practicing and training. And then, overnight, you suddenly become better than me. Like all my hard work was pointless." Hiccup opened his mouth to speak, but Astrid just rolled on. She'd started to bare her feelings, and if she stopped now she wasn't sure she would be able to start again.
"And what made it worse was the way you ACTED. Like you didn't even want to BE there! You were always in a hurry to finish and run off after training. Always avoiding the rest of us. Always pretending to be uncomfortable when people praised you. Even though it was obvious that's what you wanted. What you'd ALWAYS wanted!" Despite the passion in her voice she still maintained a deft touch with the bandages in her hands. Not that Hiccup would have registered any pain from her touch, so focused was he on her words.
"Astrid, I never meant to…" Hiccup began to speak desperately, but the blonde Viking wasn't giving him a chance to interrupt.
"But what really pushed me over the edge wasn't the way you kept avoiding the rest of us. Like you were suddenly too good to hang around with us. Or the fact that I'd see you wandering around the forest doing who-knew what while I sweated and strained and practiced." She shook her head, slowly beginning to wind the now-dried bandages around his leg. "No, the worst part were those mocking, apologetic smiles you kept giving me every time you beat me. As if you were SORRY you'd beaten me. As if I needed PITY."
Hiccup was practically frantic at her words, waving his arms and sputtering.
"Astrid! I didn't know that… I would never…! I just wanted to…" He gestured wildly, practically panicking as he desperately sought to express just how far from his intent that was.
Astrid just looked up at him and gave him another gentle smile, patting his knee with her hand to calm him.
"I know." She said softly. "I know that's not what you meant. That you were being honest back then." She sighed. "I know that NOW. But back then I was too angry to see it. Which was why I followed you after you won the tournament."
She cringed a bit at her memories of that evening. Of the earlier part at least. The part she hadn't given much thought, until Hiccup brought it up just a few hours ago. The part where she'd menaced him with her axe. Threatened him. HURT him. Twisted his wrist, knocked him to the ground, dropped her axe on him… She had just been so ANGRY. Angry and confused. And the confusion had just fed her anger.
And then Toothless had shown up.
"When Toothless came charging at us and you knocked me down and threw away my axe, I was certain we were both going to die." She gave Toothless a smile as well as he listened intently to her words along with Hiccup. "But I was wrong."
"When you got him to stop… Just by TALKING to him… And introduced him like he was an old friend… I didn't know what to think. So I ran. And when Toothless snatched me off the ground, I was certain I was about to die. Again." She gave the pair a lopsided smile. "And I was wrong. Again."
"At first I didn't want to listen to you. I thought you were crazy." She eyed him, seeming to consider him for a moment. "I don't think I was TOTALLY wrong on that one." That at least earned a smile in return. "Anyway, I didn't have much choice so I got on Toothless' back. And again I was certain I was going to die." Hiccup had the good grace to look abashed at those memories. Toothless just gave Astrid a smug grin.
"But even when we were spinning through the air and my life was flashing before my eyes, I remember how surprised, no, SHOCKED I was by how calm you were. How fearless. How BRAVE. I was wrong about dying. Again. And I started to realize that maybe I was wrong about YOU." She finished wrapping his leg, and carefully tucking the end of the bandage in.
"It wasn't until later, after we'd landed, that I started thinking back on things. And I realized I'd been wrong about LOTS of things. You really DIDN'T want to be in dragon training. You really DIDN'T want to hurt the dragons. You really WERE embarrassed by the attention ad praise. And you WEREN'T mocking me with those apologetic smiles. You really meant them." She smiled up at him again as she picked up his prosthetic leg, preparing to reattach it. Hiccup barely noticed, flushing in embarrassment.
"You were wrong about me being brave and fearless too you know." He corrected her. "I was wasn't worried because I knew Toothless wouldn't really hurt me, that's all. There was never anything to be scared of." His black scaly friend nodded his head in agreement before nudging the Viking's side affectionately.
"That's not the point." She smirked at the pair as Hiccup scratched the Night Fury's neck. "The point is that you opened my eyes with that flight. It made me really see you for the first time. Not just all the things you weren't, but the things you WERE." She looked away from his face to hide her blush, focusing on carefully sliding the socket of his artificial leg over his newly bandaged stump.
"Well, I.. Uh…" Hiccup stuttered a bit, suddenly embarrassed. But Astrid stillw wasn't allowing him to say much.
"You opened MY eyes that night. And you started to do the same to the rest of the village when you were in the arena with Snoutlout's Nightmare. And you DEFINITELY opened their eyes when you took on the Red Death in the skies over the Nest." Hiccup barely noticed the pain as she carefully cinched the straps on his leg tight. He was too focused on her face as she looked up at him, honesty and moonlight shining on her expression.
"People aren't going to just forget what they saw there Hiccup. We might not listen to you all the time. We're Vikings. We're stubborn. But we're not going to forget." She patted his prosthetic one last time as she stared into his intense green eyes. He was staring right back at her intensely, his brilliant green orbs filled with surprise and wonder as he gazed upon her. After a few more seconds she pulled herself away from his eyes, flushing brightly and standing up quickly.
She'd said too much. She'd gotten lost in the moment and, well… talking wasn't Astrid's strength. She was more of a 'hit things until the problem goes away' sort of girl. And she was suddenly feeling uncomfortable being so open with her feelings. Especially with Hiccup just sitting there quietly, staring at her.
"Thank you Astrid." Hiccup smiled at her again, a real, heartfelt smile. And regardless of how dark the night was, the grotto seemed to light up in response to his smile, at least for Astrid. Her embarrassment seemed to melt away, and she smiled right back.
Until he opened his mouth again.
"You're wrong you know." He smiled as he said it, but Astrid's eyes narrowed.
"Hiiiccuuuppp.." She began, hands on her hips. He held up his hand to forestall her.
"You're wrong. You said you can't be the best at everything." He wiggled his injured limb a bit, checking to see how it felt and how it moved. "But you've ALWAYS been the best at anything you've done. To me, you'll always be the best." He said so softly it was almost a whisper. Astrid looked away from him for a moment to hide her blush.
While her head was turned, Hiccup bit back a groan and forced himself to his feet, with a little help from a concerned Toothless. Gingerly testing his balance, he was pleased to discover that his leg felt a great deal better. It still hurt, no doubt. But after a bit of rest and Astrid's tender care, it hurt less than it had in days.
"How does it feel now?" Astrid asked, glancing at his artificial leg with thinly disguised concern.
"Better. A LOT better." He smiled at her reassuringly. "You do amazing work." It was obvious he was talking about more than just his physical injuries.
"It's nothing." Astrid had to fight down another blush. She was doing that far too often as of late. FAR too often! "Do you think you'll be okay getting back to the village?"
"Sure, no problem." He nodded confidently. "I'll just help Toothless fly up out of the grotto. After that he can just walk us back to town. I won't even have to use my leg in the harness that way." He patted his partner's neck as the dragon nodded in agreement with him.
"Good. And then you can take tomorrow off and spend the whole day resting and healing."
"But I can't just…" He began, a stubborn look appearing on his face. He cut himself off rapidly however when she saw the no-nonsense look Astrid was shooting at him. Sure, he could be stubborn, but Astrid could manage stubborn AND scary at the same time. It was no contest.
"You'll spend the WHOLE day in bed. The rest of us will fill in for you, getting the rest of Berk comfortable with dragons. YOU are going to REST! And change that bandage first thing in the morning!"
Hiccup rolled his eyes at her orders, muttering "Yes dear." Under his breath.
But apparently it wasn't muttered quit lowly enough, because the next thing he knew Astrid was socking him in the shoulder. Hard.
"Ow! What was that for?" He asked reflexively, rubbing his arm.
"THAT was for thinking you had to run away from everyone. From ME." She nodded firmly. Hiccup opened his mouth to reply, but discovered that Astrid had a better use for his lips.
This wasn't a chaste peck on the cheek like their previous kisses. This time Astrid pressed her lips to his, a bit tentatively at first, but then with more vigor as he began to respond.
After a few seconds, the pair of them broke apart, both flushed and red faced.
"And THAT… Was so that you'll remember that you'll always have something here to come back to." She smiled at him for a moment before turning around and hurrying towards the shadowy lump that was her dragon. She wasn't running. That would be undignified!
"I'll see you back home in the morning Hiccup!" she called over her shoulder as she very hastily mounted Axe and made her escape, her face still red.
Hiccup failed to respond, still standing stock still, only moving to lift one hand up to his lips. He remained in that state long after Astrid and Axe had taken flight, vanishing almost instantly into the night sky. Finally it was Toothless' rumbling laugh and nudging that snapped him out of his stupor.
"Y.. Yeah, you're right buddy. We should get home. Are you okay with a long walk?" He asked, still brushing his fingers along his lips
Toothless just nudged him happily and motioned with his head that his partner should hurry up and get on.
"All right, I'll right! I'm going!" Hiccup laughed and smiled, carefully sliding onto his friend's back, locking his prosthetic into place with a familiar click.
Toothless took one last look around the grotto, and smiled to himself. All in all, it had turned out to be a good night. It would be a slow and boring walk back to Berk. No high flying, aerial aerobatics, or screaming dives tonight. But looking back at his partner, Toothless didn't mind at all. He didn't need to speed through the air tonight.
No, tonight he was certain that the pain Hiccup had been feeling wouldn't be able to keep up with him, even at a leisurely walk.
"Come on buddy. Let's go home." Hiccup patted his neck, and with a pleased roar Toothless unfurled his wings and leapt into the night sky, leaving the grotto and the pain far behind.
Annnnddd that's the end of that! I'm still not thrilled with the ending, but it didn't seem to be improving with time. And I'm not sure if it flowed all that well. Perhaps I should have had Astrid tend to Hiccup's leg and give her confession at a later time and place in a different scene. I was having trouble thinking up an appropriate setup though, so smooshed both events together, and now I'm not quite sure if they work that well.
But it hardly matters now because this fic is DONE! Huzzah!
I do have notions for one more full story floating around my head. But alas, my muse seems ready to return to hibernation, so I doubt it will see the light of day. But I managed to complete this one, and that's something!