Astrid was sitting with Ruffnut. Both girls were in the dragon-fighting arena, although it was now just a fight-training area. They were watching Snotlout and Tuffnut practice their sword fighting against each other. Astrid watched Snotlout stab his sword, which was wooden and blunt, at Tuffnut. He had been asking her out over the years constantly. Each time, she said no, and each time, he said it was because she missed Hiccup. She denied it.
Astrid knew, of course, that it was the absence of Hiccup that made her refuse anyone who fell for her.
But she tried to ignore that.
Ruffnut snorted as Tuffnut stumbled over his shield, and fell on his butt.
"Good one, idiot!" She called over with a laugh. She was dating Fishlegs. As odd as it would seem four years ago, it came as no surprise to anyone that they had become an item. Over the years, Fishlegs had grown upwards and lost the roly-poly roundness that had deemed him as immature and babyish in the past years. Instead, he had actually turned into a somewhat handsome boy, although Ruffnut found that she loved him because of how he was able to spew out facts about anything and everything.
She loved a smart boy, and as everyone had noticed, she had taken a liking to Hiccup when he had been successful in warding off the dragons without violence. That, of course, was in the old days.
When asked about Hiccup, she always stood up for him resolutely. She knew, as almost everyone else did, that it was not necessary for Hiccup to have been banished, and she never let Astrid forget it.
Astrid, in turn, was guily for having supported the decision.
Everyone missed Hiccup. There was no denying it.
Tuffnut let out a growl of frustration and scowled at his twin.
"Shut up," he muttered. "I'd like to see you try to beat this guy. He's a friggin' tank."
Ruffnut shrugged. "Sure." She grabbed his sword as she passed him and assumed the stance. Snotlout smirked at her.
"Bring it," he said.
"You asked for it." In a series of exactly three moves, she deftly knocked his sword ot of his hand, forced him a step back, and held the sword to his throat.
"Yeah, right!" Tuffnut laughed. "Dude, you suck!"
"Shut up." Snotlout glanced and Astrid and flashed hs trademark flirt-smile. "You see, Astrid, I can usually beat anyone. I've been working out lately, you see, and-"
"Astrid, Ruffnut, and you two boys," a voice interrupted, "C'mere."
They turned to see Gobber, who was standing next to Fishlegs. He had an odd smile on his face, and urged them to go faster with his hook. "Hurry up, now, we don't have all day."
Astrid glanced at the rest of her friends and jogged over.
"What's up?" She asked, taking off her helmet and smoothing down her hair. "Everything good?"
"Weeeellll..." Gobber smiled. "I know you all miss fightin' dragons, eh?"
They all shrugged. They obviously enjoed their now peaceful relationship with the dragons, but they did miss the adrenaline rush, the thrill of the fight.
"If that's a yes, then I have good news for you." He cleared his throat and unfolded what looked to be a letter. "This is a letter from someone. I'll read it out." He waited for complete silence, and began. "Stoick, for the past two years, since you banished me from my home..."
He read the rest with a twinkle in his eye, and then glanced at everyone. The twins just looked completely overjoyed to know that Hiccup was safe. Tuffnut was snickering with the sneaky insults that Hiccup had added in towards his father. Ruffnut swatted him as he muttered, "that's my boy." Fishlegs was just as happy, and let out a giggle. Snotlout was obviously glad, but he was more focusing on Astrid, who looked completely shocked.
"Th-Th-That's from... Him?"
"If by Him you mean Hiccup, then yes."
Astrid let out a little laugh, and then stopped, and then laughed again.
"So, if all of you are up to it, then we'll leave tomorrow. Stoick's already sent a letter back."
"When'd you get this letter?" Fishlegs asked.
"Yesterday," Gobber replied. "Our dragon couriers will fly the whole way there, because there are no ships due to return to Scotland this time. The letter will arrive sometime late today. We'll get there around noon tomorrow, if we leave early tomorrow."
"I'm in," Said Fishlegs. He began muttering about airspeed and wing length and miles-per-minute sort of stuff. The twins agreed, as well as Snotlout. Tuffnut began to wonder about the Scottish princess that had been mentioned in the letter. Astrid took a deep breath and nodded.
They were going to see Hiccup again.
There was a silence for a minute, and then Fishlegs brightened.
"I bet we can get there faster is you all just do what I do."
Gobber glanced at him. "Tell me about it, Fishlegs, lemme see if I agree." The pair walked away together, leaving the gang thinking. Astrid turned away from the rest and left the arena.
I'm going to see Hiccup again, she thought. Will he still like me? Will he be happy? Her brow furrowed. Will he be... Angry?
Only time would tell.
...
For the few days after Hiccup sent the letter, he and Merida scouted out the area the dragons were staying in. There were continued attacks on people's houses, although they were becoming more and more harmless as the evacuations began to become successful. There were, unfortunately, a few deaths. King Fergus grew more and more nervous, pacing the halls of the castle. Elinor spent her time picking at her clothes with a crease between her brows, a sure sign that she was worried.
Even Merida grew worried. The deaths unsettled her, and she could often be found out in the stables, or going for a walk in the woods, which was becoming decidedly unsafe.
Everyone was affected when there came news of three little kids dying, two boys and one little girl.
At that, Merida snapped. She and Hiccup and her parents had been gathered in the throne room when she heard the news, but she pushed through all of them and ran through the castle halls, finally depositing herself in an unused guest bedroom, in the closet. She didn't think anyone would find fact, she was fully prepared to grieve in solitude.
She underestimated Hiccup's finding skills..
"Merida?" He whispered, interrupting her silent mourning. She looked up to see his green eye peering through a crack between the two closet doors. She wasn't crying, just thinking very deeply.
"Hiccup." Nothing more, just his name. He shuffled in and sat quietly down next to her, not sure what to do. After a minute, he laid his hand on hers.
"I-I know how you..." He swallowed. "I know how you feel. Once, during one of the dragon attacks, a little girl from Berk was killed. It hit everyone hard because she was so... Happy. And then we found out that two of the neighbours' children had been in her house when it burned down." He drew in a shaky breath. "Nobody was the same. Berk was quiet for days, the families were forever scarred." He avoided her eyes, still keeping his hand on hers. "Anways, what I'm trying to say is, everyone recovered. Slowly, of course, but we did."
"You're telling me," Merida said, "that I'll get over it."
"Yes." Hiccup glanced at her, her angry expression. "Is that such a bad thing, Merida? I wasn't that blunt. I'm just... I know it's hit you hard, Merida, and I know you're down right now. But it's not about that. It's not about the fact that you're down. It's about how you, you know, recover. How you get back up, how you help others get back up." He sighed. "And I know this is a terrible thing, and I know that it's going to affect all of us. But we need to avenge these children, and we need to prevent this from ever happening again."
Merida was silent for a long time. When she finally spoke, she was crying.
"Y-You're right."
Hiccup pulled her close, and it was a hug like no other. It wasn't a friendly hug, although that was what it was meant to be. However, the memory of the kiss they had shared that one time, the tight space, and the darkness brought it to a whole new level. It was almost a romantic hug, and made the situation awkward.
"Is this too weird?" Hiccup whispered. He felt Merida shrug.
"Maybe, but..." She tilted her face up, her lips so unimaginably close to his. "I don't mind too much."
Hiccup's breath caught in his throat. He was completely surprised. This was just so... Un-Merida. But he grinned and closed the distance. Merida's first thoughts were pure, simple relief, and happiness that spread through her body.
Hiccup felt the same way. Heat spread fron his lips and pooled in his toes, and he smiled against her mouth, and set his hands on her hips. For the first time in a while, he felt completely and utterly happy.
Merida kissed him. Merida kissed him.
He felt himself blushing slightly, and noticed that she was, too.
The kiss was not a long one, but it was still the most electrical, the most satisfying he had ever experienced. He was disappointed when Merida pulled away, but he was also aware that it was for the best. They knew their boundaries with each other, and anything other than kissing just seemed plain inappropriate. In the closeness of the closet, crossing that boundary was very possible.
Merida opened her mouth, obviously about to say something, but a bell interrupted her.
"What's that?" Hiccup asked. "What does that mean?"
"It means my parents need me," Merida said. "And probably you." She hurried out of the closet, shooting him a smile on the way.
When he was alone, he sighed. "Ruined by the bell," he muttered.
...
"Hiccup," Elinor read in a calm, clear voice. "Your father and I read your letter, and we agreed to help. Even though the Scots aren't the most agreeable of people-" Elinor coughed, "we can't let a whole country go to waste. We'll be there the day after you recieve this letter. By everyone I mean all your friends, as well as me, and your dad, of course." Elinor smiled. "Glad to hear from you. Sincerely, Gobber. And Hiccup, I hope you realize your dad told me what to write in this letter, and made it seem like I did. Except for this part. This was all me."
Hiccup smiled at his old friend's words. "Gobber was always a cool guy."
King Fergus looked at Hiccup. "This just came a few minutes ago. " He searched Merida's eyes. "Merida, uh, I know the news of the little girls upset you, and I'm sorry to have called you back here right when you ran out, but I figured this was important."
Merida smiled sadly. "It's alright, dad. Thanks."
"Well," Elinor sighed. "We'll have guest bedrooms set up. How many?"
Hiccup thought. "There's Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Gobber, my dad, and..." He gulped. "Astrid."
Merida stared at him, strying to ignore a feeling that had been making its way to her mind ever since the kissed a few minutes ago. Regret. She swatted the thought away. She shouldn't regret kissing Hiccup. But at the same time, she knew that Hiccup might not be over Astird.
Above all, though, she was scared. Merida was scared of being in a relationship, and she was giving in. She was making herself believe that her and Hiccup just weren't meant for each other.
Calm down, Merida, she thought. Just... Calm down.
"Well," she said aloud with a bright smile. "I guess that means seven."
Elinor just stared at Hiccup. "Odd names."
The teenager shrugged. "What can I say," he grinned. "We're Vikings."
"Well," Merida said. "I'm going to go and get ready for bed."
"Merida, wait." Hiccup followed her out. Fergus raised an eyebrow at Elinor.
"What do you think's going on between 'em?"
Elinor sighed. "I don't know. What I do know, though, is that Merida can't fall for that boy."
"Why not?" Fergus asked.
"Because, Fergus." Elinor glanced down at her hands. "I have arranged a marriage with a prince from not too far away. It is a promise that cannot be undone."
Fergus stared at her. "Without asking me?"
She sagged against her throne. "Fergus... I know it was a bad idea. I did it when I was mad. I'm sorry." She whispered the last two words, and her vulnerability melted Fergus's heart.
"We've got to undo this," he said. But he folded his wife into a hug, and kissed her cheek. He knew she was as stubborn as Merida. But this time, she had gone too far.
...
"Merida, wait up!" Hiccup finally caught up to Merida, who had been all but running to her room.
She whirled around and stared at Hiccup. :I-Hiccup, it was a mistake."
He stopped in his tracks. "What? What was?"
"Kissing you." She blinked tears away. "I... You're still in love with Astrid, and I'm- I'm just scared, okay? I can't do this?"
"You can't... Be my girlfriend" Hiccup asked quietly. "You're scared?"
"I'm not ready," she whispered. "I'm just not." Thoughts of Astrid filled her mind. Was she beautiful?
Hiccup's mind was filled with thoughs of Astrid, too, but only because she was the first one. The first one to, with lack of any other cheesy phrase, break his heart.
But he just stared at her for a long moment, turned, and headed to his room. He hadn't realized that he really, truly, had become to like Merida.
Hi. I read over the last chapter, and realized with a very loud and annoyed scream the a bunch of the sentences were deleted half-way through. So, sorry for any confusiuon. Hopefully that won't happen here.
Thanos for following, reviewing, and favouriting! Please keepn on doing so, let me know what you think! I lurve input.
