Hi everyone! SO been a long time, I'm sorry! BUT I am officially finished with school, and officially finished with my rewriting of this story! This means back to regular updates! Yayayayayaya!

Special thanks to TheWorldGoesBoom for their awesome help with this chapter!

As always Guest Review Responses can be found at the bottom.

Read, Relax, Review!

~o0o~

16.

That same day, Rapunzel heard back from North. There was good news and bad news.

The DunBroch relic had been stolen.

The Corona relic remained hidden and intact.

The Hofferson family had refused to divulge any information regarding the Berk relic.

"Well, that's that solved," Jack commented when no one else spoke. Hiccup had returned from his patrol, and he was undoing Toothless's saddle in the Common Room while the other three Guardians sat gathered around the couches.

"I wouldn't consider that solved, Jack," Hiccup answered as he pulled the leather contraption away from the dragon's body. Toothless grinned and shook himself, much as a dog shakes his fur free of water, clearly more relaxed now that his burden had been removed. "The DunBroch relic is missing, who knows what's happened to it," the boy finished, joining his friends, careful to choose a chair far from Merida. No one, except Merida, questioned it.

Merida couldn't stop thinking about Hiccup. No matter what she tried, he was always in her thoughts. She couldn't control it. She didn't know what to do. She heard her friends begin to discuss the relics further, but her brain tuned their words out. She heard without listening. She saw without really seeing. She stared at Hiccup, who sat across the room from her, she stared at the way he sat in his chair, how he slouched somewhat, how he rested his arm on the side, how his eyebrows furrowed as he contemplated what everyone else was saying, how he ran his hands through his hair when he got frustrated or didn't quite agree-

"Merida?"

The redhead jumped. "Wha?" she asked, startled.

All three Guardians were looking at her now.

Rapunzel titled her head. "Are you ok? I know… I know it's hard for you…"

"Sorry, what is?" Merida asked before mentally slapping herself. She was supposed to be paying attention to them!

"…well, your powers, the DunBroch relic being stolen..?"

"Oh! Yes, very hard." Merida agreed… a little too fast.

Jack laughed. "Merida… are you ok?" he asked. "You don't sound like you… at all."

Merida caught Hiccup's eye. He was staring at her with confusion. The room remained silent.

Jack paused, his smile fading. "Sorry… was laughing a bad idea?" he asked awkwardly.

Merida composed herself as best as possible. "No, it's ok Jack," she said. "Ah'm not mahself… what with everythin that's happening…" she said, knowing this was the excuse they clearly all expected to hear.

Rapunzel squeezed Merida's shoulder from her place beside her. "Don't worry Mer, we'll figure it out," she promised with a small smile. "Besides!" the blonde added excitedly. "The Festival of Lights is coming up in a few days, remember?! I think we all need a few hours reprieve from all this, don't you?" she said, holding up her completed purple banner- Jack recognized it as the one she'd been working on the past week that he'd been a Guardian.

"Festival of Lights?" he asked, curious.

"A celebration Corona holds each year on the day the Kingdom was supposedly settled," Hiccup explained, standing up. "Kinda like the Kingdom's birthday. It's supposedly a huge event."

"Supposedly?" Jack asked.

Hiccup shrugged. "I've never been."

"Sounds fun," Jack grinned.

"Oh it is!" Rapunzel exclaimed, beginning to dance around the room. "There's music and dancing and- Oh that reminds me-!" she said, stopping suddenly. "I'll see you all later!" She cried out with a smile, racing from the room.

"Well. Someone's excited," Jack remarked, eyebrows raised.

"It's her favorite day of the year," Hiccup chuckled in agreement. "You'd think it was her birthday."

Jack smiled again, staring after the spot she disappeared. "I'm… I'm going to go see if she needs help. I don't have anything better to do anyway…" he rambled.

It was Hiccup's turn to raise his eyebrows. "Go right ahead Romeo," he teased, raising his hand in the direction of the doorway.

Jack pointed his staff at Hiccup, and instantly a mass of snow dumped itself on the brunette's head. Jack laughed and trotted away, leaving Hiccup to brush the cold and wet flurries from his body.

Still situated in her place on the couches, Merida laughed as well at Hiccup's predicament. The boy looked over at her with a grin, before shaking his head.

"Thanks Jack!" He called out, but the white-haired Guardian was already long gone. "Ugh, what am I going to do with him?" Hiccup sighed, sitting down again, soaked from melted snow.

"Ah thought it was funny," Merida laughed. "Besides, yew asked for it."

"Ha, that's true," Hiccup acquiesced, combing his wet hair back with his hand.

Merida stared at him, captivated by the motion. Then she shook herself out of the trance. "Hiccup," she began slowly, "Ah've been thinkin…"

"Thinking what?" Hiccup asked when she didn't finish, curious.

She sighed. "About yer deal with Jack."

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then, Hiccup shifted in his seat. "What about it?"

"Yer power… what if yer just thinking about it the wrong way?"

Hiccup just stared at her, waiting for her to finish.

"Ah mean, when ye talk ta us up here," she said, pointing to her forehead, "It's only one way, right? Why?"

Hiccup leaned forward in his seat. "Merida, we've discussed this. It's only one way because I think it's wrong to-"

"Ta dig around our personal sanctuary because it's oh so violating. Ah know," Merida nodded, imitating his voice and thus finishing his speech for him.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "So… what's your point?"

"Well…" Merida struggled to find the right words. "Wha if… if we wanted yew ta see our responses? Or hear them, feel them, whatever."

Hiccup shrugged. "I'd have to be in your mind."

"Are ye sure?"

Hiccup looked at Merida closely, a hint of amusement in his eye as he began to really think about what she was getting at.

"…No."

"Then let's try it!" Merida urged. "Yew ask me a question using yer mind, an' then figure out how Ah respond, without entering ma mind."

Hiccup exhaled. "Ok, sure, I don't see why not."

Merida grinned from across the coffee table that separated her from Hiccup.

"What is… your favorite color?" she heard Hiccup's voice echo in her mind.

Red. She thought, Like tha sunset. Merida's eyes never left Hiccup's, thinking her thoughts as if she was speaking them.

Hiccup's eyes widened the tiniest bit in shock.

"Red," he stated simply, astonished.

"Yes!" Merida nodded excitedly, jumping up. She sat back down, tucking her legs underneath her. "And ye didn't meld your mind with mine ta see that?"

Hiccup just shook his head, grinning widely. "No… it was sitting right at the surface of your thoughts, waiting for me to see. There was no need for a more… personal connection."

"Ok," Merida encouraged, "So tha's a start."

"You think I've just been approaching the use of my power the wrong way this whole time?" Hiccup asked, amazed.

Merida nodded.

Then Hiccup felt something else- a tickle in the back of his head. A slight buzzing sensation. He snapped his attention to it, and the buzz became… a voice. Merida was thinking his name. He didn't know how he knew, but she was intently thinking it, as if she was calling out to him from far away.

"Are you…" he asked, not sure what to call it.

Merida's eye's widened excitedly. "So ye can hear us when we call out to ye, too."

"I can hear your thoughts if you're thinking them to me… without breaching the boundaries of your mind," Hiccup spoke slowly in realization. "Merida… you're a genius."

Hiccup grinned as he thought about the different possibilities made possible by this new discovery. Then his face fell. "It's a good trick to know, but Pitch's plans and location won't be on the surface of his thoughts."

Merida frowned. "Hiccup… this is Pitch we're talking about… isn't it worth it? In the end?"

Hiccup didn't answer. He just gazed out the window.

"What if… what if ye could practice first?" She ventured. "Then maybe you'd find a way ta do it… without it hurting…"

Hiccup inhaled sharply, turning his head slightly and narrowing his eyes further. "Practice? You don't mean-"

"Warren is fallin into chaos. Ah've lost control over ma powers, Hiccup," Merida argued. "Ah can only do so much ta help, but you… ye have the answer in yer grasp. Practice on me," Merida insisted, determined now. "Ah'm giving yew permission, Hiccup. Now it's not an 'intrusion of privacy'," she said. Maybe then you'll be confident enough to try Pitch, she thought silently to herself, secretly hoping he'd hear it.

Hiccup stared at her, incredulous, clearly fighting with himself. Merida knew then that her offer was a good one. Her first suggestion had met with success and changed the boy's viewpoint ever so slightly on something he would never have considered before. She knew he was curious to know if this second suggestion would have the same result. As he fought with himself, Hiccup gripped the edges of the armrests of his chair so hard his knuckles turned white. Even Toothless sensed his distress, and padded his way over worriedly.

Then Hiccup sprang up from the chair, his face set determinedly. He pushed the center coffee table out of the way, and knelt in the center of the floor. Merida rose to join him, copying his motion so she knelt directly in front of him. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as she did so.

"You're giving me permission?" Hiccup clarified again, seeming still to be battling with himself.

"Permission," Merida nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Ok," Hiccup nodded, inhaling and exhaling as well. "Just for… a moment or two. That's it."

"Ye can do it, Hiccup," she said, and then she shut her eyes, waiting.

Hiccup shut his eyes too, concentrating, allowing himself to reach out with his mind. It was like the floodgates of a dam had opened. Hiccup could feel his consciousness everywhere at once, expanding in every direction. He had to force himself to reel it in. He focused on Merida, directed his mind to hers. He felt his heart speed up with adrenaline…

Then his mind touched hers. His consciousness touched hers.

And then for that brief moment, he became her.

Merida waited anxiously, not knowing what to expect. Would she feel his touch the way she did when he spoke in her mind? So far she felt nothing. She peeked her eyes open to see him concentrating in front of her, his eyes shut tight, his fists balled.

She stared at him, taking in his every detail- his still damp, messy hair that stuck up in just the right places and strayed in front of his face, the way the corners of his mouth turned upward slightly, the firm placement of his squared, confident shoulders, the way his chest rose and fell as he breathed in and out, how he smelled like the forest trees…

She still hadn't felt him touch her mind, but her heart was speeding up, the way it had that night on the staircase… she realized they hadn't been physically this close to each other since that night… now she felt herself breathing in and out, her own chest rising as her need for air became greater, her eyes were drawn to his face again, to his lips…she felt like she wanted to reach out and-

Hiccup's eyes snapped open, his face a mask of shock.

He'd felt her. He'd let his mind merge with hers. At first he'd felt simple, generic, thoughts and emotions… worry, doubt, courage, hope, determination… but then the connection sharpened into something… greater.

He could not define the emotion that suddenly grew in Merida's being. It was wild, intense, passionate, full of fear and empathy and eagerness and… love.

He felt her thoughts, her memory for some reason triggering their encounter on the staircase a few nights before. He felt her desire for something… for someone…

And then Merida's intense jumble of thoughts and feelings clarified into one single concept.

The thought of… himself.

It shocked him.

He ripped his consciousness away from her-

Hiccup's eyes sprang open as his mind returned to his own body. He fell over backward from his kneeling position and scrambled to right himself, breathing hard all the while. Never, in all the times, rare as they were, that he'd used this particular one of his powers, had he felt the onslaught of emotion that had unexpectedly filled Merida's head. He couldn't have prepared himself for it.

He couldn't have prepared himself for what he saw… what he felt.

But those were her feelings. Hers.

Did he feel the same? Could he feel the same?

Hiccup's brain wasn't functioning. It was as if combining minds with Merida had caused irreparable damage to his own.

"I… I… what… how…" Hiccup couldn't speak.

Merida's face was full of obvious concern and worry. "What's wrong? What happened? Did ye do it?"

Hiccup stood up with shaky legs, swallowing. "I… I did it alright."

"Well?" Merida asked, excited, standing up as well.

"Merida…" Hiccup breathed, uncomprehending.

He wanted to ask her if what he saw was real. If she really felt for him the way he thought… if she really loved him that much.

But asking was pointless. Hiccup knew how impossible it was to lie to yourself on that deep a level. Hiccup had been witness not only to Merida's thoughts, but her heart's deepest and truest desires.

Everything he'd seen and heard and felt… it was all truth.

"Hiccup… what's wrong?" Merida asked, fear rising in her face. He stood motionless in front of her, staring at her, bewildered and speechless.

"Hiccup! Say somethin!" she almost yelled.

"You love me." He said simply. It wasn't a question. It was a statement. She'd wanted him to say something, and that was all he could say.

Merida felt her heart drop in her chest. "Ah-" now it was her turn to be caught off guard.

"What did ye say?" she asked, her eyes wide.

Hiccup shook his head and turned, facing away from her, instead looking out the windows to the world beyond. He brought both hands to his forehead in frustration. "You… are in love with me," he repeated slowly, as if still trying to comprehend it himself.

"What- Thet's… thet's ridiculous Hiccup, Ah-" Merida began to reason before stopping. She felt like her pounding heart might explode in her chest.

She didn't love him. Did she? Could she?

Something in Merida burst, and suddenly every feeling she'd had made sense. Every sensation she'd ever felt around him, she now understood. She saw with perfectly clarity. It frightened her, it gladdened her, it sickened her, it elated her, and she was completely at its mercy. She was in love with Hiccup.

You love me, he had said.

"Ah do." She told him after a moment, and he turned around again to face her, his face a mask of bewilderment. She spoke, knowing it was true even as she said it, her face set and determined, daring him to laugh, to question her, to scream at her, to walk away… to do something besides just staring at her. "Stop lookin at me like thet Hiccup," she said quietly. Her cheeks burned, but she refused to look away.

Hiccup blinked in surprise, then dropped his gaze. He ran a hand through his hair. He looked around him, feeling disoriented, looking anywhere but at the redheaded girl in front of him. "I… uh," he started. "I… I need to go," he said, still shaking somewhat, feeling nothing but confusion… and hurt. Hiccup left her standing there, walking as fast as he dared out of the room.

Merida watched him go, stunned.

She'd only wanted to help him… she in no way had foreseen something like this… she never could have guessed her true feelings for the Guardian would be revealed.

And yet, she should have known.

She should have realized.

…

Hiccup ran outside the palace. He'd left Toothless behind with Merida, but he couldn't think about the dragon now… He ran and ran, at last finding himself on top of a high cliff overlooking the sparkling sea. Waves crashed on the shore below him, and birds flew high in the air. Air. He wanted fresh air. He fell to the ground, on his knees. He held his head bowed in his hands, breathing hard, staring at the grass beneath his feet, rocking back and forth.

"It's a mess," a voice said.

Hiccup blinked, knowing the voice. He'd always recognize her voice.

He dropped his hands to his lap and sat back in the grass, closing his eyes for a moment.

When he opened them, he saw her standing in front of him, just the way he remembered her.

Golden hair braided and knotted messily down her shoulder, bangs in desperate need of a trim falling in front of her face, her hand resting leisurely on her popped hip, and a knowing smile playing upon her lips.

Astrid.

I promise to update super soon! Because now I can haha!

Guest Reviews:

OrangeCat: Sorry, still not much on Jack! He gets some time in the next chapter though. Honestly I wouldn't worry yourself too much on his and North's conversation just yet. It will come into play later, but it's not a focus right now. Haha nice summary and glad my grammar is still A plus! *takes a bow during applause* No worries- I'll take whatever criticism I get! I know that "ok" is actually spelled "okay"... but writing "ok" is a really bad habit of mine (thank you technology and shorthand) and to me honestly it looks better than "okay", and I really couldn't tell you why. So yeah I'm a little lazy and decided to write "ok" haha. And of course I respond to your reviews! It annoys me how sometimes people don't respond to their reviewers... like that just seems plain rude, you know? Thanks for the fabulous support! Hope you continue to like what I've got in store...and remember to stay amazing! -Iceprincess

Saph: I love the way you think. Keep that thought in mind. It may play a part the further along we get...You'll see what happens... Thanks for the review and the support!- Iceprincess

Amethyst: Hope this chapter was worth the wait for you! (I know you said you weren't much of a Merricup fan but I'm working in their arc at the moment so I'm totally focused on them!) This one gave me a LOT of anxiety but I think it pulled through...? And haha I see your point. Really, thank you for all your amazing words and for convincing me that I am wittier than I think. I truly appreciate it. Thanks again for the outstanding support and reviews that make me smile like a fool, and from one weird person to another (haha)- Iceprincess