Author's Note: Woah! It's been a while since I've updated! And quite a lot of things had happened in the meantime!
1) The official second trailer for HTTYD2 has come out and…to my happiness and disappointment, it revealed a lot! Which is good and at the same time, bad. Good because it's confirmed that Valka is the mother of Hiccup. Bad because it sort of revealed too much for me. There's two large dragons now and one of them is good. They showed Drago as…having problems with the good guys and…sort of make him less threatening to me. And the appearance of different tribes of Vikings (I think).
Oh well, two more months to go until the movie! There's ice breathing dragon! Good news for Elsa! And Valka commented that Hiccup has the soul of a dragon…Dovahkiin?
2) It seems there might be an official name for the King and Queen after all. It's not official but some people saw their runic names on their grave markers. The Queen name is Iðunn or Idun and the King is Agðar or Agdar, which to me is quite weird because their daughter's name is kind of far off to me. Oh well, I could make the Walt and Lillian name their middle name or something.
Alright, moving on!
CHAPTER 11 – It's Time
The atmosphere of the royal study was quiet again as the Snow Queen thought that there was nothing else to be said to the Viking King. She thought that it was best for the him to have the silence and peace to think and reflect about himself.
Little did she know, the Viking King had finished doing that a few minutes ago.
Hiccup, unknown to Elsa, was smiling as he enjoyed her embrace.
'She smells nice,' Hiccup thought which made him realized something. 'Oh man, I hope I smell nice after all that running!'
From where he came from, perfume was a luxury and he didn't think he need it for anything during his trip here.
That and his smell was never an issue with women…Viking women anyway. Well, not to say that he could get away without bathing for a few days or after a hard day of work but you get the idea.
In any case, for many reasons, Hiccup decided that they had been in this rather scandalous position long enough.
But it didn't mean that he couldn't have some fun with it.
"So," Hiccup started and hugged Elsa harder.
"Hm?" Elsa replied in small surprise at the Viking King's sudden activity.
"You really like warm hugs huh?" Hiccup said.
"King Hiccup!?" Elsa said, blushing a little. "Are you…"
'Done? Finished?' Elsa thought.
"…alright?" Elsa finished.
"Yes, but I don't mind staying like this for as long as you want," Hiccup whispered.
Elsa blushed harder and gulped. She took a moment to calm herself down.
"I believe that it has been long enough," Elsa said and softly pushed Hiccup away.
Hiccup smiled and he shrugged. "True, because then we won't get to do the tour,"
Elsa's eyes widened for an instant before she smiled as well. "That is true,"
"So let's do it then!" Hiccup said and got to his feet. He then offered his hand to the Queen.
"Thank you," Elsa said as she took the hand and got to her feet as well.
"So…before we go any further," Hiccup said and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He then took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm sorry for my bad behavior. I let my emotions get the better of me,"
Elsa smiled. "Apology accepted. I understand. I've been through the same ordeal as well,"
Hiccup nodded. "Anyway, because we started off on the wrong foot, I like to start over again," Hiccup said and held out his hand. "So…my name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third,"
Elsa gave him a curious look. Hiccup didn't introduce himself formally and he didn't introduce himself as the King of his people. Instead, he introduced himself as a person and as if two common people meeting each other for the first time.
Elsa smiled and took his hand and shook it. "And I am Elsa Agdardottir,"
"So…you can call me Hiccup if you want. I don't mind if you want to call me King Hiccup but I…don't prefer it," Hiccup said and rubbed the back of his head.
"May I ask why?" Elsa asked although she suspected she knew the answer to it already.
"Well you know…King Hiccup, the Hiccup King," Hiccup answered sheepishly. "I mean, Hiccup is bad enough but to be the king of all Hiccups?"
Elsa giggled, the answer was different than what she suspected but it doesn't matter.
"Alright, but only if you call me Elsa," Elsa said and Hiccup smiled. "However, I'm afraid that we could only call each other by our first names in private. I hope you understand?"
"I understand," Hiccup smiled. "Still, I have to apologize again for the cold shoulder I gave you," Hiccup grinned. The second apology wasn't needed but Hiccup couldn't resist the chance for a pun.
"Well, ice to see that you've come to your senses," Elsa replied. Hiccup wasn't the first person to pun her after all.
Hiccup chuckled and raised his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright, as much as I like to trade ice puns with you all day, I want to explore your town more,"
Elsa giggled. "Icy no problem with that," Hiccup gave shook his head. "Come with me then,"
With a wave of her hand, all the snow and ice that was in the room vanished without a trace, leaving no evidence of the monarch's previous activities. Hiccup only whistled as his reply.
Elsa gave a small smile and was about to turn towards the doors when Hiccup spoke again.
"Wait, before we go…I need to do something," Hiccup said and Elsa raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?" Elsa asked and Hiccup only give a small smile before heading towards the doors. He opened it and wasn't surprised at what he saw.
Anna, Kai, Gerda, Kristoff, Tuffnut and Ruffnut as well as Sigurd were all looking at different places in the hallway. Anna, Kristoff and the Viking twins were whistling different tunes while trying their best to not look at him. Kai and Gerda fared better in disguising what they had done while Sigurd was leaning on a wall with his arms crossed. He smiled and only shrugged at Hiccup when his gaze turn on him.
Hiccup however, did not smile at all. In fact, his face was almost the same as before he went into the royal study. Everyone was a bit surprised at this considering the happy sounds they heard before. They thought that Elsa had succeeded in her attempt to change King Hiccup's mind.
Had Elsa failed?
Hiccup then narrowed his eyes and glared at the twins. "Both of you, get in," Hiccup said and the twins jumped with surprise before quickly walking into the royal study.
"Right away!" Tuffnut said before he walked past Hiccup.
The rest of the crowd could only watch him as Hiccup closed the doors. Once inside, Elsa eyed the Vikings and she knew what they, especially Hiccup wanted to do.
The twins were giving her a worried look, as if fearing that Elsa had failed in her attempt to sway Hiccup. Elsa then decided to have some fun. The twins started it with this crazy plan of theirs, so she considered it as payback.
Elsa gave them a sad look and shook her head. She then mouthed and apology at them. The twins looked horrified at this.
Hiccup then turned sharply at the twins and crossed his arms. "So…you guys went behind my back, lied to me, hatched a crazy plan that could put potentially destroy our kingdom and you even got a foreign kingdom involved in the mix. You do realize that what you did was basically treason? I have every right to execute you for your crimes,"
The twins looked down at this. "Yes, we know," Tuffnut said in defeat. There's no point in denying what they did, regardless of their intention anymore. Hiccup was surprised at this; he had expected them to try and defend themselves.
"We understand what we did is wrong and we know the consequences that comes with it, even if…even if it went well. We won't justify it…so…we're willing to accept our punishment," Ruffnut said sadly.
Now Hiccup and Elsa was really surprised at hearing this. The twins were prepared for the consequences of their plan, even if it was extremely severe. They were ready to die for their friend and kingdom.
Elsa was jealous at Hiccup for having such devoted friends.
Hiccup however were having a mixed emotions. He was surprised and touched that his friends were willing to go such lengths for him and their kingdom. He also felt guilty because he was the one that pushed them this far.
After all, his stubbornness was what made them do this.
Hiccup sighed. "Fortunately, it did went well. Fortunately, you guys were not entirely guilty of your crimes…I had a hand in it as well,"
The twins perked up at this and turn to look at Hiccup.
"I was a stubborn idiot who wouldn't listen to his friends and thought that he knows better all the time…so I'm sorry," Hiccup said and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
The twins gave him a disbelieving look for a moment before they went teary eyed and jumped at him. "You're baaaaccccckkkk!" the twins said and hugged him.
"Hey hey! Don't think that you're off the hook! I'm still gonna punish you guys!" Hiccup said as he tried to break free from the twins hug.
"We don't care!" Ruffnut said.
Elsa giggled at the scene. You could say that it was almost a fairytale ending to a dark chapter in the Vikings' life and it made her feel happy for the Vikings as well, especially knowing that she had an integral part in it.
However, Elsa felt the jealousy strike again. Hiccup has so many people that care about him to the point that they were willing to sacrifice their lives for him. What about Elsa? How many friends does she has that would do the same just because Elsa was their friend and not leader?
In fact, you could say that when the time comes, Elsa probably wasn't in her friends' 'To-die-for' list. Kristoff and Sven, given the choice between saving her or Anna, would probably choose her sister. Kai and Gerda would…probably. Frederik, the closest thing Anna and Elsa had for an uncle, would most likely choose Arendelle first before them.
That leaves Olaf and Marshmallow; her creation or sons. Well, it wasn't a bad amount to start.
Hiccup finally managed to get the twins to behave again before he realized that Elsa was spacing.
"Els-" Hiccup stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the twins were giving him a weird look. "Queen Elsa," Hiccup said with a bit of venom. Elsa was brought back to reality and thankfully she didn't took offense to it. It wasn't directed at her but at the twins to prevent them from doing anything else.
The twins shrugged and didn't say anything. They did gave him a mischievous smile however.
'Dammit,' Hiccup thought. He knew what they were thinking, especially what they were thinking of doing later on. Strangely enough, Hiccup wasn't hostile to the idea as he would before. He didn't have much time to dwell on it though.
"Anyway, the twins would like to apologize for what they did," Hiccup said. The twins turned to look at her with a sheepish smile.
"We're sorry for what we did. We know it is wrong and we ignored your feelings and opinion on the matter just for our sake. It was selfish of us," Tuffnut said and Elsa smiled.
"You are forgiven. I also have to apologize as well for my outburst. I could have hurt the both of you back then," Elsa said.
Tuffnut shrugged. "Eh, could have been worse,"
"True. Now, let's not waste any more time, shall we?" Elsa said and turned her attention to Hiccup.
Hiccup smiled.
…
When Elsa opened the doors, her gaze fell upon Anna first. Her little sister looked tense, as if a tightly coiled spring was waiting to let loose. Elsa gave her a smile and knowing look and Anna understood. Anna look as if she wanted to squeal, jump her, embrace her in a bone crushing hug and would ask her to spill the beans of what had happened in the room.
Elsa raised a hand and Anna stopped in her tracks. "Anna, we will be giving our guests a tour of the castle and the town. Let's start with the art gallery first, shall we?" Elsa said and Anna only gave her a muted nod.
Elsa nodded with a smile and started to walk towards the art gallery. Anna quickly walked beside her sister, with the Viking group following behind. Sigurd the bodyguard tailed behind the group along with Kristoff.
"So, what happened?" Anna said quietly.
"I'm sure you already know most of it," Elsa said and Anna had the decency to look guilty for a second.
"Well what do you expect for me to do? It is in my character!" Anna said. She could try and feign innocence but she knew Elsa wouldn't buy it. That and she wanted to get straight to the juicy parts.
Elsa internally agreed.
"So tell me, tell me, tell-"
"Hush, the gossip can wait later," Elsa said with a sly smile and Anna pouted.
"But it is too looooooong," Anna whined.
Elsa's mind almost give out an automated response of "you've waited 13 years, surely you can wait a few hours more?" but she managed to clamp her mouth shut.
Elsa felt a flash of guilt and in order to quell the feeling, she decided to quickly give a different response. Although it wasn't well thought.
"Well, I don't have much material if I tell you now. Perhaps later on after the tour when I have accumulate more,"
Anna gave her a skeptical look before she grinned. "I didn't think that you would ever want to 'accumulate' more," Anna air quoted.
Elsa blushed at realizing what her words had implied. "I-I! The material is not what you think it is!" Elsa almost screamed. Elsa glanced at her back, hoping that she didn't get the Vikings' attention.
Fortunately, the Viking King was distracted by the twins. It seems that the King Hiccup was in a similar predicament as her.
"Uh-huh. Suuuuureeee," Anna hopped in front of her when they were nearing the art gallery.
Elsa sighed with a smile. Elsa might be the more experienced ruler, but Anna has more experience in being in love. It was on such subject that Elsa had difficulty besting her little sister.
It was funny, 2 years ago, Anna was the clueless one but now…well, she has Kristoff to thank for that.
…
"This must have been the biggest art gallery I've ever been so far," Hiccup commented as he took in the sight of Arendelle's Royal Art Gallery.
"Does your kingdom have an art gallery?" Elsa asked.
Hiccup shrugged. "Eh, the closest we have to an art gallery is the portrait of our chiefs in the Great Hall. They tended to be greatly exaggerated though"
Hiccup then leaned close to her as if to whisper a secret. "They painted me as a buff kid at first," Hiccup whispered.
Elsa giggled before she blushed lightly at imagining a much more muscular Hiccup, like the one in her dream. Then, Elsa realized something.
"At first? You have it changed?" Elsa asked.
"Yep, I look like an ogre!" Hiccup joked.
Elsa gigged. "Oh my, that I would like to see,"
"Fortunately for me, it is gone for good," Hiccup grinned.
"Ah, such a pity. I shall mourn for the loss of such wonderful work of art," Elsa teased.
Hiccup chuckled.
Meanwhile, Anna was eyeing the monarchs from a distance with a smile. 'They're really hitting it off!' Anna thought. And to think that their first encounter was quite terrible! However as much as she wanted to…spy on them the whole day, she had her own share of responsibilities.
Namely the twins.
Anna tried to explain each painting to them but it was obvious that their interest was faked for her sake. She could tell their interests and taste in painting was different than hers.
However, there was something that worried her. The twins' hands and eyes were twitching when they were looking at the paintings. Anna recognized those signs. After all, she too exhibit the same signs when she was younger.
Having nothing much to do, coupled with her lack of appreciation for art at the time, she was tempted to vandalize the paintings to make it more 'interesting'. Fortunately, the paintings were spared from her lack of ability or rather, her lack of height to act on said temptations.
There was a reason why the paintings were hung at certain heights.
"Urgh!" Anna sighed and the twins looked worried that they might have offended her. "Alright, spill it! I know you're not interested in the paintings at all, weren't you?" Anna said with her hands on her hips.
"Y-yes?" Ruffnut said. "Sorry, it's just…I don't see what's so good about paintings of people…doing mundane normal stuff,"
"So, what kind of painting do you guys like?" Anna asked, although she had a feeling she knew the answer already.
"Battles! Dragons!" Tuffnut suddenly said. "Like the battle between Thor and Jörmungandr! Oh, or the RAGNAROK!"
"Well…it does sound interesting," Anna said.
"I know, right?!" Tuffnut said rather excitedly.
"Unfortunately, the Arendellian Royal Family isn't too keen on paintings about violence. The most we have is the painting of Joan of Arc,"
"Eh, who's that?" Tuffnut asked.
"A friend…of sorts," Anna said and the twins gave her a weird look. Anna rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go and meet her!"
A few minutes later…
"I think that she'd look cooler riding a dragon," Ruffnut said as the three of them were looking at the painting of the saint.
"Yeah…" Anna had to agree.
"We could turn the horse into a dragon," Tuffnut offered.
"Tempting, but I have to decline for Joan. She loves Maximus just the way he is,"
"Uh-huh…" the twins chorused while giving each other a worried look.
…
"So…"
"So…"
"Royal Ice Master and Deliverer…" Sigurd asked while looking at a portrait of the past royal family.
"I know what you think. It didn't exist before me," Kristoff answered.
"Right…"
"Yeah…" Kristoff simply said.
"…"
"…" the silence continued and Kristoff wondered why he was doing this. Why he decided to stick with the bodyguard? Maybe it was because he was suspicious of the Vikings. Maybe he figured that should they decided to do something bad, he would at least be able to handle the biggest threat of the group?
"So…"
"So…"
"I heard that you and the princess are an item?"
"Yeah…" Kristoff answered. He always grew uncomfortable when the subject of his relationship with Anna was brought up.
"Congratulations. You're quite the lucky guy," Sigurd said and Kristoff rubbed the back of his neck.
"The luckiest guy in the world as far as I'm concerned," Kristoff answered.
"So…"
"So…"
"When are you going to pop the question?" Sigurd asked.
"…"
"…"
"Soon…I'm just waiting for the ring to arrive," Kristoff answered and he internally berated himself for this. He didn't know why he decided to tell the guy about his secret plan. Maybe it was because they both were two socially awkward people that would use any topic for conversation?
"Oh, you have it made?"
"Yep. I had a friend have it made for me," Kristoff answered.
"That's going to make her very happy,"
"I hope…"
"…"
"I'm planning to surprise her," Kristoff said, hoping that Sigurd would keep his secret.
"Obviously. I'll keep it quiet, although I don't know why you choose tell me in the first place," Sigurd said and Kristoff sighed in relief.
"I don't know either," Kristoff answered.
Sigurd chuckled and patted Kristoff on the back. "You're a good man, Kristoff. You'll make her happy,"
Kristoff smiled. "Thanks. I'll do my best,"
"You have no choice because if you don't," Sigurd gave a short glance at the Snow Queen before he whistled. "Phew!"
Kristoff chuckled at this. "Don't I know it!"
Maybe, the Vikings wasn't so bad after all.
…
"And this is the Royal Garden!" Anna proudly exclaimed to the group.
"Ooh! Pretty!" Ruffnut said as she head towards a flower.
"And please do not pick the flowers," Anna said and Ruffnut deflated.
"Dang,"
Hiccup however was examining the gardens instead of the greens that it contained.
"How do you like the garden Hiccup?" Elsa asked.
"It's quite spacious. I like the landscaping," Hiccup commented and it was true. The garden had fountain in the middle with gravel pathways leading to various bushes of flowers around the gardens. There was also benches near flower bushes and around the garden.
Fortunately, the garden has enough space to a number of medium and large size dragons without damaging the gardens too much.
"I see. What about the flowers?" Elsa asked again.
"Eh, flowers?" Hiccup said and he squinted his eyes at the various flowers. "I guess they're harmless,"
Elsa raised an eyebrow at this.
"And beautiful," Hiccup added. "Sorry, I'm not much of a gardener,"
Elsa smiled. "So am I, to be honest,"
"What about your sister?" Hiccup asked, gesturing at Anna who was busy explaining the types of flowers to the twins who looked disinterested again.
"Better than me, that's for sure," Elsa answered. "She has a lot time to spare,"
"Speaking of spare time, what do you with yours?" Hiccup asked. "I bet you read,"
"I do read a lot," Elsa answered. "In fact, I think I've read almost all the books in the library.
Hiccup looked impressed.
"What about you? I bet…you fly a lot?" Elsa asked and Hiccup smiled.
"I have to, Toothless would make sure that he at least got his sunset flight," Hiccup answered. "Even though I've made it so that he can fly solo,"
Elsa gave him a curious look. "Why the name Toothless? I mean, I get it that he can retract his teeth but still…"
Hiccup gave her a weird look. "How do you know about Toothless?"
"The twins gave me a book about your adventures," Elsa answered and Hiccup looked embarrassed.
"Oh, THAT book! Umm…I hope that you don't find it…I mean it's not that I'm vain or something…" Hiccup tried to explain but Elsa silenced him with a giggle.
"It's alright, I understand," Elsa smiled. "But I must say that I'm a bit disappointed that you weren't buff in the book,"
Hiccup laughed at this. "Yeah, others that read the book find it hard to believe that it was the scrawny kid that had done all those things,"
"Anyway, about Toothless, well, it sort of fit him. That and I guess giving him a harmless name would make him less scary," Hiccup answered. "Well, to be honest, if you want to compare looks, other dragons had him beat in the "fear-inducing-look" department,"
Elsa nodded in response. "How does it feel? To fly?" Elsa asked.
Hiccup grinned. "The one word that's best to describe it? Freedom. When you can fly, you're free to go anywhere you want to without anything or anyone to stop you…well, unless they can fly as well or shoot at you,"
Elsa giggled. "It must be nice to be…" Elsa hesitated.
'You can't be free…free of your burden and 'yourself',' Elsa thought.
Hiccup however, noticed and understood why. After all, he can't be free as well.
"It is nice to feel free," Hiccup finished for her and Elsa looked surprised. "But, even when you can fly, even if you have wings, you're still not free of the ground,"
"That is true," Elsa smiled knowing that Hiccup understood of the burden that they both had.
"Do you want to fly?" Hiccup offered.
Elsa looked surprised again. "Well…I…I don't think-"
"OH MY GOD! I WANT TO FLY!" a loud voice suddenly could be heard behind the two monarchs causing the both of them to jump.
"I WANT TO RIDE A DRAGON!" the voice then moved into their front, showing a very excited Anna. "LET'S DO IT SIS!"
At this point, Anna was holding both of Elsa's hand and was staring at her intently. Elsa could swore that her eyes was sparkling even!
"It's not a good idea Anna!" Elsa tried to shoot the idea down but Anna was having none of it.
"What? How it is not a good idea? It IS a good idea!" Anna defended.
"Because if we were meant to fly, then we would have wings," Elsa tried.
"Pfft!" Anna waved her hand at Elsa. "That is why the world have dragons, sister dearest," Anna said in a smug tone, as if stating the obvious.
Much to Elsa's annoyance, the Vikings decided to side with Anna.
"That is so true," Hiccup nodded sagely and Elsa glared at him.
"Not helping," Elsa said through gritted teeth.
"I'm not helping you," Hiccup grinned and Elsa's glare intensifies. Hiccup could actually feel colder by the second!
Fortunately for him, he was saved by Anna. "Come on sis!"
Elsa was still not convinced however. "We might fall," Elsa said deciding to discard the tact. She would regret saying that however.
"Whaaaaaat?" Hiccup said and the Royal Sisters turned to look at him. "Are you implying something about our flying skills?"
"Yeah! You do realize that we are the pioneers of dragon riding and flying?" Tuffnut jumped into the conversation.
"Yeah! We're like…the safest choice you have when it comes to flying!" Ruffnut added.
"That's because you're the only choice and I didn't imply that your flying skill is horrible. What I'm implying is that there's still a chance that we might fall," Elsa tried but it was hard when almost everyone was against her.
"Meh, falling is part of flying actually," Hiccup shrugged. "In fact, if you don't fall from the sky at least once, then you're not really flying,"
"Are you implying that you might drop us if I allow this?" Elsa asked in disbelief. "Did you hear that Anna? They might let you fall!"
Anna looked even more excited at that. Elsa mentally face palmed. She forgot what kind of person Anna was.
"Yep," the twins answered quickly.
"Yes-I mean no!" Hiccup answered.
"No!" the twins corrected just as quickly.
"They will," Sigurd added.
"Not helping!" Hiccup said through gritted teeth.
"I'm not helping you," Sigurd grinned.
"You're supposed to be on my side!"
Elsa smiled. Oh, she liked the Sigurd already!
Elsa crossed her arms. "My answer is still no,"
"And I side with the Queen," Kristoff said only to receive a glare from Anna. Kristoff shrunk back after that.
"Please Elsa. This might be a once in a lifetime chance!" Anna pleaded.
"She's right you know. Besides, you're not just flying, you'll be riding a dragon!" Hiccup added and Elsa was silent for a moment as she think about it. They were right.
Besides, what was the harm to…feel free once in a while?
Of course, Elsa still wasn't comfortable with the 'falling' issue which she was sure Anna or the Vikings would attempt to do during their flight. However, Elsa was sure that she could talk the Vikings not to do it…and prevent Anna from doing it as well.
Elsa sighed as she uncrossed her arms. "Fine,"
Anna squealed as she jumped in delight and hugged her sister. "Thank you thank you thank you!" Anna mouthed before she went towards Kristoff to tell him of the good news.
"Alright so, we'll met here before sunset. Oh and make sure to wear pants," Hiccup said and Anna looked disappointed.
'Ah, that's why he was checking the gardens!' Elsa thought.
"Why can't we do it now?" Anna asked.
"Because one, I don't want people to see the dragons. Two, I still want my tour of your town," Hiccup answered.
"Three, it's more romantic that way!" Tuffnut added and Hiccup elbowed him.
"And three, my dragon likes his sunset flight," Hiccup glared at Tuffnut.
Anna grinned for a second before Hiccup or Elsa could see it. "I see. Fair enough! So let's do the tour already!"
Elsa could only sigh as an excited Anna ran towards the castle doors. Hiccup grinned at his victory and Elsa gave him a glare.
"I thought that you didn't like showing off your dragons?" Elsa asked.
"Well, not to everyone. But for certain people, I feel that's unfair if I don't do my part in showing that the dragons aren't as what they're rumored to be," Hiccup explained.
Elsa smiled, feeling proud that Hiccup trusted her with the dragons.
…
The group separated into two before heading into the town. Anna, as usual was in charge of the twins while the 'bodyguards' which consisted of Kristoff and Sigurd tagged along. Not that the twins needed the tour anyway because they already knew of the town weeks ago but they could do some shopping. Especially when Arendelle was handling their expenses.
Meanwhile, Elsa was in charge of Hiccup and they were tailed by a few of Arendelle's elite soldiers. Elsa of course preferred that Anna was there with her to lead the tour but it looks like that she was on her own.
Luckily, her activities with Anna the day before proved to be useful and so Elsa lead Hiccup to the market as their first destination.
Hiccup looked impressed as he scanned the different variety of merchants and items at the marketplace. Elsa noticed that there was a glint of curiosity and wonder in his eyes, much like a child in a toy store. The Queen then thought that she could see the gears in The Viking King's head spinning.
"Fancy anything?" Elsa asked and Hiccup shrugged.
"You could say so," Hiccup answered and before Elsa could say more, the Viking King already went ahead and began talking to the merchants.
Elsa could only watch in amazement as she observed Hiccup doing his shopping spree with finesse. Hiccup would wait for a while near the stall that has the item that he want as he would listen to the customers bargaining with the merchants. Hiccup then would get the idea of how much an item's market price was worth and then he would start his own bargain.
Of course, seeing that he didn't bring much gold with him for trade, Hiccup would pull out a notebook, scribble something on it, tear half a page and hand it to the merchant. Elsa guessed that it was an invoice of sorts and seeing that Hiccup did not take anything from the merchant, the merchant would have to deliver the goods to his ship and collect the payment there.
Elsa watched as Hiccup does this to a number of merchants until they reached the end of the market. "Man! I'm going to need a new notebook!" Hiccup said as he brandished the now thin notebook in his hand.
"That can be arranged," Elsa said. "That is quite the sight, King Hiccup,"
Hiccup shrugged as reply. "So where to next?"
Elsa smiled.
Their next destination was of course, the chocolate shop. Elsa smiled as she saw Hiccup's eyes grow wider at the smell of the heavenly treat.
Hiccup's smile grow wider until he suddenly laughed. Elsa gave him a weird look, fearing that the experience might have been too much for the Viking.
'Oh my! And this is before he taste it! I hope he won't go crazy like Anna years ago,' Elsa thought.
Hiccup noticed the weird looks he got from Elsa and the shopkeeper and calmed himself. "Oooh, it's just…I just remembered a funny memory about…this," Hiccup gestured to the chocolates in the store.
"The chocolates?" Elsa asked. "You've had them before?"
Hiccup grinned. "Oh yes, courtesy of the twins,"
"Oh…" Elsa simply replied, not seeing the connection until she figured that if the twins were involved, something weird must have happen. "I take it that the twins, added with chocolate equals something funny?"
Hiccup nodded and began to tell Elsa the story of how the twins fabricated the lie to get him here including their effort to calm his anger using chocolate.
"Sweet smelling mud? Mud with milk?" Elsa laughed lightly. "If it was in any other situation, I would have been angry and insulted!"
Hiccup laughed before he finished his story, including the part where the twins claimed that they 'burned' her ice dress.
Elsa's pale skin instantly turned red. "Ice don't burn! They melt!" Elsa turned away from him to hide her embarrassment.
Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah, my mistake. I should have realized that,"
Elsa sighed. Her blush was gone and she faced Hiccup again. "Your twins really are something,"
"Eh," Hiccup shrugged. "Their shenanigans at the time can be annoying but when you look back, it's pretty funny. I've had a book about their antics and I read it sometimes for laughs,"
Elsa giggled. "That would be an interesting read. So, chocolate?" Elsa said and gestured towards the selection of the treat in the store. "Pick your poison," Elsa grinned.
Hiccup's mind however, went on full automatic with his next response.
"I'd choose you," Hiccup instantly said as he turn his gaze towards Elsa. They both stared at each other for a moment before they realized what had happened.
They then both blushed and turned away from each other.
"Right-right! Chocolate! That one looks nice!" Hiccup quickly said and went towards the chocolate.
"Ye-yes, go ahead. Take anything you want, it will be on me," Elsa offered and she turned towards Hiccup again.
Hiccup's snarky mind decided to go automatic again as he turned towards the Queen and said, "Does that include-"
Fortunately, he was able to stop himself as he put a fist on his lips and groaned with his eyes closed. Elsa smiled and decided to play along.
"Include…?" Elsa asked and titled her head a bit to the side while pretending to be confused.
Hiccup opened his eyes and saw the rather suggestive pose and he was speechless for a moment. His brain was scrambling to get a different reply than what he thought of earlier.
"The chocolatier!" Hiccup finally said and gestured towards the silent chocolatier who clearly was enjoying the scene very much. "Because the Viking Kingdom could use her own chocolate store!"
"I don't know…I think the Queen would be jealous," the chocolatier said with a smirk.
Elsa blushed lightly at the comment. "Jealous? Of what, exactly?"
"I'm not sure," the chocolatier shrugged. "Either of him taking away your favourite chocolatier or of me having his attention so close at his home. Or perhaps both,"
Elsa stuttered and her blushed deepened. "Whaaaaaat…" was Hiccup's only reply.
"Hmph! You can have the chocolatier, King Hiccup. In fact, I'll pay for the setup of his shop in your kingdom," Elsa crossed her arms before heading towards a mint chocolate section.
"I'll take your word on that," Hiccup said and all he received was a cold glare.
The chocolatier couldn't resist laughing after that.
…
After sampling the chocolates and buying quite a number of them, Hiccup decided that it was time to move on. As they stepped outside, Hiccup noticed the darkening sky.
"It's about time," Hiccup said as he scanned the sky and then pulled out a pocket watch to confirm the time.
Elsa noticed the pocket watched and was intrigued by it. "Ah, a pocket watch!" Elsa said and scooted closer.
Hiccup gave her a curious look and Elsa noticed it.
"My father used to have one. His was given to him by his father and it was tradition of sorts," Elsa smiled and took out her own pocket watch.
The pocket watch was silver in color, the cover has a symbol of an incredibly complicated blue snowflake. The back of the watch has the engraving of Elsa's name. Elsa then opened the cover of the pocket watch and there was a portrait of the Royal Family on the inside of the cover.
Hiccup noticed Elsa's smile turned sad as she touched the portrait.
"But my father said that I'm a special snowflake and I'm not to be shackled by traditions of the old but instead, I'll start my own," Elsa said.
"Sad memories?" Hiccup asked and Elsa turned to look at him.
"…yes," was the only reply as Elsa turned to look at the watch again.
"Please! Please! Please!" Elsa said as she desperately turn her pocket watch's time backwards, hoping that it would somehow turn the real time backwards so that her parents would be safe again.
However, she found that she couldn't do it anymore as the pocket watch was frozen by her powers.
"No!" a grim reminder of the harsh reality and she threw the watch away. The watch broke and wouldn't be repaired for a long time. Elsa didn't want to repair it. It was a painful reminder and she wanted to throw it away. But she couldn't.
It wasn't until two years ago that Anna found the watch and have it fixed.
"The past is in the past, we have to move on," Anna said with a soft smile and presented the pocket watch, the time kept on moving.
"But not all of it is bad. It's a reminder of what I've lost, what I still have and what I can gain. A reminder of my past present and future," Elsa said.
Hiccup chuckled. "It's funny. I have…the same thing with my watch," Hiccup said and he showed the watch to Elsa.
The watch was also silver, except that the front cover has a dragon symbol, while the back had a name.
VARIN HAFRSON
Hiccup then opened the cover and inside of it was a portrait of a man. He has black hair that was combed backwards, silver eyes and a rather handsome face. The man however, wasn't smiling and his eyes showed a conflicted soul.
Elsa gave Hiccup a confused look.
"It was his watch. I know, I know…why would I keep something of his when he was my enemy?" Hiccup said with a sad smile. "Because like you, he's a reminder of what I've lost, of what I couldn't save. It's a reminder of what I've paid for the future,"
"You can't just throw your life away after all this! Not like this! Not for me! You have a future!" Varin screamed as he tossed Hiccup's sword back at him. "Fight! Fight me!"
"A future that I was afraid of," Hiccup closed the watch and smiled at her. "But not anymore, thanks to you,"
Elsa returned the smile, happy that both of them had won over their past and was ready to move on to the future.
"Such a strange turn of events for us to have the same sentimental token," Elsa said. "Coincidence?"
Hiccup shrugged and auto-responded again. "Or fate, heh,"
"Perhaps…" Elsa's reply was barely audible.
An uncomfortable silence descended upon them for a moment before Hiccup break it. "So uh, I need to get to my ship to get ready and get Toothless ready and you need to get ready and your sister need to get ready and-" Hiccup rambled on. "-we all need to get ready! So, let's get ready!"
Hiccup punched a fist on his palm and Elsa giggled. "Yes, getting ready is very important! Let's do it then!" Elsa said.
Hiccup grinned. "Don't forget to wear pants!"
"Alright, will do Hiccup," Elsa said and Hiccup smiled giving her a curt bow and turned away towards his ship.
Elsa then took out her pocket watch and smiled as she ran her thumb on the snowflake symbol.
Little did Elsa knew, the watch that was frozen and broken before in the past…would do so again in the future in the upcoming storm.
Author's Note: The Royal Sisters will fly for the first time! How would it turn out?
Would Hiccup let Elsa fall from the sky?
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