Hiccup guided Toothless to the ground, slipped out of the saddle, and stumbled to the ground, where his legs gave out and he fell to the grass. He stroked the soft green blades, almost not believing that he had the chance to touch them again. When he had ridden Toothless towards that monster dragon, he had silently said goodbye to everything he knew and loved and hated.
Now he wouldn't have to do that.
He heard someone approaching him, and turned his head to see Ruffnut standing there, her long blonde locks spilling out of the braid she had hurriedly tied before the battle.
"So, Snotlout," Hiccup sighed. "How did it happen?"
"Dragon hit him in mid-air. His dragon's okay, but he fell a long ways." She stared up at the sky. "He should make it, though."
"What?" Hiccup's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "He's... He's not dead?"
She laughed. "Of course not! If he was, I would've killed that dragon myself. With my bare hands."
She walked away, still chuckling.
Hiccup felt as if a huge load had been lifted off his shoulders. Snotlout wasn't dead. All was right, or as right as it could be. The kingdom was badly damaged, especially the castle. It had taken the brunt of the battle, and parts of it were literally falling off. Hiccup sighed and sat up, not caring about the icy rain that was slowly soaking him, or the mud that was seeping through his pants.
"Hiccup?"
He turned around, and there she was. She was a mess, with mud and blood streaked across her face, her bow slung carelessly over her shoulder. A large gash on her forearm oozed blood, staining her clothes. The only thing unchanged was her hair, which was bright and crazy and just plain beautiful.
"Merida," Hiccup smiled. He stood up stiffly, the movement jerking his arm and drawing a gasp of pain from his lips. He ignored it, though, and focused on her eyes. They looked tired, but there they were. The sparks of life and energy were dancing around in there, slightly dimmed but still there.
"I thought you were dead," She said shakily, sitting down on the muddy ground and letting her face fall into her hands. "All I could think of was the irony in it all. We're finally allowed to be together, and you die."
"Well, I didn't," Hiccup reassured her. He walked over to her and held out his hand. "See? Pinch. I'm as real as, well, a real person."
She laughed a little and pinched his hand gently, but didn't say anything. Tears began to stream down her face, mixing with the raindrops. "I'm sorry," she finally said. "It's been a very stressful few days, hasn't it?"
Hiccup nodded, her lilting accent easing him into calm. "But it's over now." He kneeled down, so that he was almost level with her. "And we can finally live our lives." He closed the space between them, kissing her softly on the lips. "Together."
"Together," she whispered back. And the tears stopped.
8 months later...
The kingdom was slowly but surely recovering from the battle. New houses sprung up across the countryside, and the castle was back to its normal state, with the new addition of stained glass windows in the church.
Fishlegs and Ruffnut were still going strong, as were Astrid and Snotlout. Snotlout had survived the accident, of course, but still felt the pain of it. Yet he was happier than ever, with Astrid by his side. Phillip was back in England. The girl he had intended to marry had run away with the stable boy, he wrote to Merida, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from being happy. He was currently a single man on the prowl.
Tuffnut had found a girl for himself, back in Berk. He, and all the other Vikings had moved back there after the battle, including Stoick and Gobber, and not including Hiccup. He stayed with Merida, although the castle was frequently visited by the Vikings.
Scotland and Berk were no longer enemies, and almost on good terms. The upcoming marriage of Merida and Hiccup was a long anticipated event, one that would change the future of both countries.
And the wedding day, of course, would be beautiful. It was a Scottish ceremony, with a few twists that Merida and Hiccup insisted on. There would be bagpipers, of course, that would escort Merida through the kingdom in a parade style. They would be married in the castle church, the exchanging of rings a major part, as usual. Merida and Hiccup would them move into their wing of the castle, which had been added on during the renovations. It was a Scottish tradition for the bride to be carried over the threshold of their new home...
And straight into the wedding bed.
This tradition was definitely going to happen.
Merida insisted on wearing white. Hiccup wanted to wear his "breast helmet" that his father had given him, as well as his Viking bearskin cloak. He also insisted that there would be an enormous feast, which was a tradition they had in Berk.
Toothless would be present at the wedding.
One day, as Hiccup was sat at his desk and sketching, he realized how his life had changed. He was 19, now, a perfect age for a Viking to marry in those days. Late marriages were not an often occurence. Merida, too, was getting old for a princess to be married, believe it or not. Most princesses, or women in royalty, were married off at the age of 16. She was lucky.
Hiccup remebered when he had first laid eyes on Merida. She had been riding on Angus, and with one glance at him, had instantly hated his guts. Now she was marrying him.
Change your fate, she had once said.
He realized that they had changed each other's.
The day of the wedding...
Hiccup waited at the front of the enormous church, the new stained glass windows casting spots of colour everywhere. The guests all waited excitedly, Vikings and Scots alike. They heard the pipes in the distance, and everyone stood, murmuring amongst themselves. And then the pipes stopped, the doors were thrown open, and there she was.
She was in white, as she had insisted on. Her hair was not to be tamed, nor would she let it be, and as a result it was down and flowing freely about her face.
"Oh..." Hiccup mumbled. He could not believe that he was going to marry the beautiful woman walking down the aisle, smiling at him and holding her father's hand.
The vows and speeches flew by, and then they exchanged the rings, and then it was over, with the words, "And you may seal this marriage with a kiss."
Hiccup did it enthusiastically, just glad that the ceremony was over. He pulled her to him, dipped her down and planted his lip right on hers, in front of the cheering crowd and guests. Outside, the bagpipes played, and more cheering could be heard. Hiccup stood Merida up again, grinning at the blush on her face.
"I am so happy," she laughed. "I can't believe this is happening." She hugged him, burying her face into his chest. "I'm so sorry for hating you before."
"You're forgiven." Hiccup whispered, smiling into her hair.
The feast was magnificent and huge and delicious. Hiccup recieved hundreds of claps on the back, so that by the end of the night has was bruised and tired, but happy. The twins drew roars of laughter from Scots and Vikings alike, and a few musicians joined up and began to play a few songs that got everybody dancing.
And then came the time for everyone to retire to bed. Everyone wandered home or to their rooms in a somewhat drunken daze, Tuffnut especially wobbly. Hiccup and Merida joined hands and bid everyone a goodnight. Then he picked her up, princess style, and carried her down the hall, through the door of their wing of the castle, across the threshold to their bedroom, and to the bed. She watched his face as he set her down gently, watched as the blush grew on his cheeks.
They had never done anything like this before. She expected it to be a bit awkward, but it wasn't.
It was just right.
Well, it's over. I almost can't believe it haha. I'm not sure how good or satisying this final chapter was, but I hope you are all happy with it, especially with that last part (wink wink).
Is everyone up for an epilogue? Let me know! Please leave a review, with any questions, tips, or your opinion. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing and favouriting and following.
I will be writing another Merricup fanfiction soon. Dragons-of-Berk has given me an awesome story idea, so stay tuned. You should read her stories, by the way.
Good Merricup stuff! :D
Thanks,
Rachel :)
