AN: Whoa. For someone who's been romantically defunct all her life, I was heavy on the fluff in this chapter.

And I have made dung biscuits from the Ten Fanfiction Commandments. What happened to not using the ANs for rambling?

Chapter Five

Riding the Storm

When Hiccup returned, there was a long scratch on his cheek. Behind him, Gobber was mounted on a Hobblegrunt and Gustav was petting a violet Nightmare. Stoick strode towards them out of the village.

"On the upside, we found all the dragons we needed," Hiccup announced. "But on the downside… ugh. As if our problems could get any worse,"

"What happened?" Astrid asked. Hiccup scowled.

"An Outcast boat spotted us. Toothless is pretty unmistakeable. They'll be swinging for the whole of Berk now; they saw Gobber too."

Gobber was scratching the Hobblegrunt's snout. He glowered at Hiccup.

"Spotted is an understatement. You nearly got killed."

"Again," Fiske interjected cheekily. Stoick shot Hiccup a sharp look.

"Seriously, I was fine. It was only a small bola. And Toothless wouldn't let a puny Outcast shoot him down." At this point he struck a ridiculous pose. "He's reserved for me!"

Snorri laughed.

"Besides, you don't mess with a Night Fury and a Viking with a fire sword. Anyway, Astrid, how did you go with the Nadder?"

It was Astrid's turn to scowl.

"Everything's fine; except for the riding part. I just can't do it. It's a dragon, for Thor's sake!"

"Astrid?" Gobber said in astonishment. "Surely if I can ride a dragon, you can."

Astrid turned to Hiccup.

"Guess the bola thing must have really changed his view on dragons," she murmured. Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"I was lying before. It wasn't such a small bola; I just have a healthy sense of self-preservation when my parents are around. Mom would probably whack me with her staff for being 'careless'"

He rolled his eyes.

"So, with your Nadder, you say you can't fly a dragon?"

Astrid nodded mutely.

"Then why don't you let someone else fly it for you? Hop on,"

He held out a hand, and Astrid flinched.

"I don't know…" she stuttered. "I mean, it's a dragon. They kill people. People kill dragons. That's the way it goes. You're one thing, you always have been, but me?"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"What, the fearless Astrid Hofferson doesn't want to ride a dragon?" he questioned. She glared at him, and slapped his offered hand before climbing gingerly into the saddle behind him.

"Don't let me think about it for too long, do it fast," she muttered.

"Toothless, up, gently," Hiccup told the dragon. It climbed to its feet and spread its wings before sweeping them down and hurtling skywards. Astrid yelped in fear and grabbed Hiccup around the waist.

"Toothless!" Hiccup said, outraged. "I said gently! TOOTHLESS!"

The dragon promptly began spinning in circles. Astrid screamed even louder.

"And now, the spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile," Hiccup deadpanned, before there was a scrape of metal on metal and his metal leg skidded off of the stirrup. He grabbed the saddle and held on tight, managing to slip the prosthetic back in again. Toothless was still spinning like a maniac. Astrid could hear Stoick's shocked yell from below.

"HICCUP!" he bellowed.

"Yeah yeah… I'm on it, Dad…" Hiccup muttered, waving a hand in front of Toothless' face. The dragon ignored him completely.

"Alright! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Just get me off of this thing!" Astrid cried. Abruptly Toothless halted and started peacefully gliding, high above the village. She opened her eyes cautiously, and gasped at the view.

"Wow…" she murmured. Once you got past the fear-of-imminent-death-by-dragon, it was actually quite peaceful. She lifted a hand and felt it brush the fluffy snow-clouds, and laughed, waving both hands in the fluffy white.

"Thank the gods," Hiccup groaned, slumping in relief.

"You're right," she admitted. "He's amazing… you're amazing…"

And then Astrid realised that she had wrapped her arms around Hiccup's waist; but she didn't let go.

o~0~O~0~o

Toothless landed gently outside the arena. Hiccup had barely dismounted before he got a face full of ginger beard. The owner of the beard was furious.

"Hiccup!" Stoick raged. "Having Vikings ride dragons is bad enough without your disobedient Toothless trying to kill our warriors!"

"Dad, seriously…" Hiccup began, but then fell silent. Astrid groaned mentally. Hiccup could confront a murderous dragon lord, could leap off cliffs and stand unafraid in front of an arena full of dragons, but when it came to his father, he might as well still be fourteen.

"Either you learn to control that thing or we control it for you! You're the one who convinced us to train these infernal beasts in the first place; you're not a very good example! You're seventeen; act it!"

It was firing up to be one of the famous Haddock arguments, and it was following the exact patterns laid out more than twelve years ago. Hiccup, despite the fact he could probably hold his own against Stoick if he absolutely had to, was shrinking beneath his father's fury. Valka's face was shocked; no doubt Hiccup had told her about the Haddock arguments, but here was one right before her face. Snorri and Fiske were looking at each other, surreptitiously gripping their weapons. Idris' face was downcast, her shoulders hunched against the onslaught of noise. Astrid remembered what Idris had said about relying on sound to guide her; it must have been utterly awful for her. Fiske, seeing her, drummed a rhythm on his axe haft, and she relaxed slightly.

"Hiccup, you need to learn to have some authority! Did you not learn that after so many raids? You left more damage behind you than that dragon!" Stoick gestured forcefully at Toothless, who growled. "Son, I don't-"

And then Hiccup surprised them all.

"Dad," Hiccup interrupted. Stoick stopped, dumbfounded. "I get that Toothless was a bit crazy there, but have I not proven that I'm trying to help? The raids are behind us! What do I have to do to prove that? Lose another foot? An arm? Maybe if I get myself killed trying to beat Drago and his Beast from Hel I'll be considered enough of a Hero to be a proper Viking? I don't care what happened three years ago; I'm willing to put that all behind me. But I can't if you keep dragging it up."

His eyes were wet, and he swung himself back into Toothless' saddle and flew away, angling towards Raven Point.

"Thor almighty," Stoick murmured, and Valka shook herself out of her shock, strode up and gave him a good hit with her staff.

"What were you thinking?" she cried. Astrid watched for a second before running back into the arena. She woke the Nadder, which was snoozing, and grabbed the rope again and looped it around her waist. Astrid breathed deeply. She could do this. If Hiccup, of all people, could, there was no reason she couldn't. Set, she climbed up the Nadder's scaly leg and settled into the hollow at the base of its neck. The Nadder twisted its head to look at her.

"Come on, girl. We need to find Hiccup." Astrid coaxed. The Nadder tilted its head.

"Hiccup," Astrid repeated, and mimed Hiccup's hand-out dragon taming posture. The Nadder seemed to understand, because it spread its long, dappled wings and charged out of the arena gate. It threw itself skywards, and Astrid gasped.

"Great Odin's ghost, this is it," she swore, terrified. The Nadder let out a gurgling chirp, and Astrid looked up just as they plunged into a thick bank of clouds.

It was like flying through a snowstorm. Cold wet streaks hit Astrid like arrows, and she ducked behind the Nadder's rough neck. The dragon skilfully ducked and weaved, flying through the storm, and emerged on the other side crowing victoriously.

"That's what I'll call you," Astrid decided. "Stormfly."

Stormfly crowed even louder. She seemed to like the name. Then she started sniffing deeply, and angled towards Raven Point, following Hiccup's trail.

They found him in a rather beautiful cove. He was flopped against Toothless' broad side and poking at the dirt with a stick. Stormfly landed, screeching happily, as if to say "I found it! I found it!" The Nadder stomped over to Hiccup and prodded him gently with a toe.

Hiccup smiled weakly.

"Not a toy, no. Please don't- ack!"

The Nadder had swept Hiccup between its feet and settled down like a mother bird on her eggs. Astrid fought back a laugh. Toothless screeched angrily.

"Stormfly," she said sternly. "Let him go."

Stormfly just stared back impudently. Hiccup's muffled voice drifted from beneath the huge reptile.

"Ugh. Never take a toy away from a dragon." he groaned. Toothless stormed up to the Nadder and roared in its face. Stormfly shrunk away and gingerly released a bedraggled Hiccup, who muttered a few words in a language Astrid didn't recognise, then dragged himself to his feet.

"Stormfly, nice name." he told Astrid, and slumped back beside his satisfied Night Fury, who was purring as if to say "I bested the terrible monster that took my Hiccup. Fish please."

Astrid cautiously approached Hiccup and sat down beside him.

"Hiccup…" she began. He lifted one eyelid slightly.

"You called, milady?" he drawled good-naturedly. Astrid rolled her eyes.

"Yes, you baby. I…" she trailed off. Tact and Sensitivity were NOT her strong points.

"Let me guess; my mother sent you to see if I was alright," Hiccup muttered. Astrid bristled.

"No, I sent me to see if you're alright," she said to him angrily.

"In that case… I am completely fine."

Astrid softened.

"Hiccup, don't be an idiot. I know you're not fine. Just because I ignored you for fourteen years doesn't mean I ignored you."

Hiccup lifted his head to look at her.

"That makes no sense," he said.

"No. No it doesn't. But then, neither does any of this. Vikings riding dragons?"

"I know," Hiccup scowled. "Three hundred years and I'm the first Viking that couldn't kill a dragon. I brought this war on us; it's my fault Drago found the Sanctuary. Without the Sanctuary dragons, he wouldn't have enough power to take the islands. It's my fault."

"No, Hiccup," protested Astrid. "It's not. That's ridiculous. By the sounds of it, Drago was going to attack the islands anyway. If you didn't try and step in, then Drago would have probably killed all of you when you tried to stand up to him alone, and the islands would have no-one to protect them. Don't blame yourself, Hiccup."

It was then that Astrid saw just how badly the fourteen years on Berk had affected Hiccup. No matter where he turned, there were people telling him how he'd messed up, where he'd messed up, what he had messed up and how if he was more Viking he wouldn't have done it.

A line came back to her.

"Where did Hiccup go wrong today?"

"He's never where he should be."

And now, how much she hated the person who had said that, with the poor boy, dripping wet, in the room, almost right beside them. And it was now that she realized how cold-hearted she was. In the end, it hadn't been her prickly personality, or her excessive 'communication', that had scared her suitors off; it had been pure cold-heartedness. Yet the one person whom she spat her venom at the most was the one person who had never stopped loving her. Hiccup looked past her shields and found the girl who hid inside; and he had always sought to bring her out.

And just like that, the barriers fell to pieces, and Astrid reached out, grabbed the front of Hiccup's jerkin and pulled him into a kiss.

For barely a second his green eyes were wide; then she felt the contentment emanating through his whole being and he kissed back.