I am so sorry. Since last upload i had a vacation in Berlin, two exams, two school project, which spanned over the same week and my birthday. Also i completely underistamed how hard it is to write stories, that are not too detailed and stretched, but also not underexplained. But i also didnt expect the Support. Not even 25 hours after posting i already had 100 views and now over 10 likes and follows. I did not expect any of this. And i would consider Capter 1 bad because it was so short and had barely any Plot, action or big emotional beats. It just set up for everything that is about to come. Of course again please notice about any mistakes, but i wont bore you any longer. Enjoy.

Chapter 2

Astrid already flown for about half an hour but still hadn't seen any sign of Hiccup and his Dragon. While she looked around once again searching for an island or a black spot, the sun slowly sank down the horizon filling the sky with a darkness. She knew it would be harder as the night approached due to her getting tired and the Black sky perfectly being able to hide Toothless if he was careful enough.

Searching for another hour, feelings slowly creeped inside of her. What was if she wasn't able to find Hiccup. What if she wouldn't see him ever again. What if he died out there, completely alone except his Dragon friend. Her stomach tightened at this thought. Would she be able to just go back to Berk and seem like nothing happened. Like she didn't just befriend a Dragon to search after a Traitor.

Astrid was torn between Regret and something unfamiliar to her. She regretted so much. She regretted leaving Berk, her friends and family without any knowledge of why. But those regrets where quickly put aside when she again thought about Hiccup being out there by his own and the possibility of his death. Now she regretted never approaching him, never even trying to understand what he was going through, never trying to stand in the way of Snotlout when he bullied Hiccup.

The other feeling, she couldn't figure out exactly. She hadn't felt it before or at least didn't remember it. It was like her heart skipped a beat every time she thought of not finding Hiccup, or what would happen if she didn't find him. Going through every emotion Astrid knew she still couldn't figure out what it was. So, the only reasonable option was it was the one emotion she didn't know.

Fear.

She feared she wouldn't see Hiccup. She feared he would get hurt or worse. Astrid Hofferson feared for a Person who befriended their tribes 300-year-old enemy. But it made sense. He showed her a new world, a new friend a whole new way of living and she cared about him even before that. She just wouldn't let anyone know that. Maybe she thought it would be a sign of weakness, maybe she didn't want to be associated with a scrawny hiccup. She didn't know for sure, but right now she didn't care about any of it. She just wanted to see lose herself in his forest-green eyes and auburn hair again. She wanted to hear his constant sarcasm and jokes again.

Feeling her riders inner turmoil but not knowing about what it had been, Stormfly looked up and squeaked at her rider snapping Astrid out of her thoughts.

"I'm okay girl. But thanks." Then she realized for the first time since her departure, she was actually riding a Dragon and not like with Toothless. She wasn't just a passenger; she was part of the ride. She was on the back of a Dragon and talking with it like a pet. Although the thought didn't remain as she was instantly thinking of who teached her the truth again, like she had been the entire day. No matter what, she was going to find that boy. Even if it took her all night and day.

…

The next Morning Hiccup woke up and felt an unfamiliar weight on his shoulder. When he looked, he saw a familiar girl, her blond hair sleeping and resting her head on his shoulder. He jumped at the sight and awoke Astrid with that.

"A- Astrid. What are you doing here." Hiccup asked with a mix of confusion and embarrassment.

"Obviously I followed you." She said while standing up and dusting herself off.

"I can see that part." Hiccup snickered sarcastically "But why did you follow me?" His voice turning more confused and his head cocked to the side like a questioning dragon. Another thing he had in common with those creatures.

"I just wanted to see if you're okay." Astrid mumbled avoiding eye contact. "So, what is your plan now?" She said, quickly attempting to change the topic.

"Well, I don't have anything with me, after leaving so suddenly and unplanned. So, I'll just go back and get my stuff. But first I want to have some breakfast."

"Well, I brought some food from home"

"Thanks for that but I'll have to fish either way. I doubt Toothless wants anything else than fish. Right Bud" Toothless crooned happily at the mention of food.

While Hiccup and Toothless went fishing for the Dragons Astrid relit the bonfire and prepared the food she brought with. After a short time, they met up again and started eating.

An awkward silence passed between the two. Hiccup knew Astrid didn't tell him the whole truth about her motives but as long as she wouldn't say anything, he wouldn't push it. Astrid didn't know what to say. She feared he would find out why she actually followed him.

"So how did you find me." Hiccup asked breaking the silence that overtook the two dragon riders

Astrid sighed out thanking the gods Hiccup wasn't pressuring her more into her motivations. "After you left most of the village went on with their day like nothing happened. I was one of the first ones to leave." Hiccup dropped his shoulders and sighed of course everyone ignored it. Of course, they didn't even think about what he showed them. He went even more limp at hearing Astrid was one of the first to leave. Did she really didn't care for him. Seeing that, Astrid was quick to try and reassure him. "Don't worry. I went to the Cove, you showed me Toothless, or rather I found him." She added sarcastically, lightening up the mood. Hiccup just chuckled, relieved at least one person didn't ignore him. "I stayed there a bit hoping you would maybe return." Naturally she left out the part of her crying. Hiccup nodded signaling for her to continue. "In the evening I left for dinner but left quickly. They talked about me now having the honor of killing a dragon, when we get another Nightmare. On my way back home, I talked with my dad. The entire conversation was just him belittling you and me counterarguing in my head. When we were home, I packed my stuff and waited 'till everyone was sleeping. From there I used your tricks to tame Stormfly and search for you. When the Sun went down, I almost gave up. Luckily for me you weren't really stealthy and your fire was still on while you slept so I was able to find you relatively easy.

"Oh. I guess I always find a way to be clumsy, even in the wild." Came a sarcastic reply still thinking over everything he learnt. Most people didn't even think about his connection to Toothless. Astrid went to find him in the cove. She actually cared for him. She even tamed her own dragon and searched for him all alone. Why was she doing all this. Not even a month before she completely ignored him and to everyone it seemed like she didn't acknowledge his existence.

Most of the meal they were just talking about what Hiccup and Toothless did while he was hiding him and Astrid learned even more about Dragons. It fascinated her to know there was so much knowledge to be learned. Fishlegs would probably freak out if he heard all this. After finishing, Astrid packed her stuff again and Hiccup put on his flying harness.

…

After three solid hours of flying the two finally saw the well-known shape of Berk on the horizon. They flew high above the clouds as to not be noticed, which was way harder with Toothless nightly camouflage being useless in the day. Once at the Island, they flew around the mountain and landed on the other side of the Island in an awfully familiar cove.

Hiccup searches under some tree roots and pulls out a basket he left there the day before the trial. "Okay everything's still here. Now that I have my stuff I'll just have to see where the wind takes me. Astrid just some Advice. You can keep Stormfly perfectly hidden in the Cove. Nobody ever goes here and its distant enough so they won't hear her. Dragons generally don't like eels so keep those away when you feed her." He said while binding the basket to Toothless' saddle and strapping himself in.

"No!" Hiccup stopped and looked up at Astrid, confused about her statement.

"What do you mean. You can't take Stormfly with you to the village and you'll probably don't want to leave her alone."

"I'm not going to let you leave again." Astrid countered confident but her tone having a slightly sad undertone at the thought of losing Hiccup a second time in two days.

"Astrid, you know I can't stay. Everybody hates me for befriending Toothless and Stoick even disowned me in front of the entire village." Hiccup argued knowing he wouldn't ever be able to come back to his home.

Astrid just continued as if Hiccup didn't say anything "At least not alone." Her voice becoming more confident and prouder at her idea.

"W-What do you mean. I am not going to take you with me. The world out there is way too dangerous. You've seen the Nest and I bet there are even worse things out there." Hiccup said, ironically after she forced him on the ground in a few seconds mere two days ago "Why would you want to leave anyway? You are respected here. You are the favorite of all the teens for dragon killing. You have people that are important to you here." He listed growing sadder with each reason for her to stay wishing he had at least one of them.

"But nothing here is more important to me than you." Astrid said in a low tone and shyly looking away.

Hiccup instantly stopped mounting Toothless and looked at Astrid. Her cheeks were turning slightly red and she tried hard not to make eye contact but sometimes looked at Hiccup to see his reaction.

"What?" Hiccup asked fully knowing what Astrid had implied but not completely certain she meant it that way. There was no way Astrid would-

"Oh, for thors sake. I LOVE YOU Hiccup." Astrid shouted Finally looking back to Hiccup and staring, waiting for his response.

Hiccup was speechless. Astrid Hofferson. The Astrid Hofferson he had a crush on since they were like eight, admitted to loving him. HIM. The scrawny little village screw-up, the heir that no one wanted, 'Hiccup the useless'.

"I always felt something warm, when watching you work in the forge. I always thought it was just the heat or something. But after you left, I couldn't stop thinking about you. That's the reason I followed you. And that's the reason why I will follow you again."

Hiccup still couldn't believe it. He dismounted Toothless and went to Astrid. His mind still thought of what to say but couldn't think of anything.

Astrid looked him deep in his eyes trying to figure out what was going on inside his head. Hiccups eyes reflected a kind of Happiness mixed with pure amazement. Her mind was repeating the same words over and over again. 'I did it'. She could have looked into those eyes for an eternity but wasn't able to due to Hiccup breaking eye contact and advancing towards her. Before she could even react, Astrid felt Hiccups arms around her embracing her tightly in a hug. Astrid, not knowing if she should return the gesture or not, opened her mouth and wanted to start talking again, but Hiccup beat her to it.

"I Love you too" Hiccup slowly whispered in her ears.

Hearing that Astrid closed her mouth again and decided to squeeze him back. They stood there embracing each other for a few short moments, but to them it felt like hours. Even after their departure both felt like they wanted to have the experience on repeat forever.

Of course, both had have a hug in their life but this one just felt special.

Unbeknownst to them though, a rather big figure was standing at the edge of the cove, watching their moment with a genuinely happy smile for the two teens.

…

Silence filled most of the way back to the Island Hiccup and Astrid first met after the Incident in the kill ring. Both wanted to relive the moment that had just transpired but even when looking at one another, they blushed realizing both had also admitted to loving each other.

After one awkward hell of a flight, they settled down again being at the campfire, they slept at last night.

"So, what now?" This time Astrid spoke up trying to break the silence that befell them. "You have your stuff and if we stay here Berk might find us."

Hiccup was still thinking what exactly to do. What even could they do. All tribes they knew hated dragons for their raids, even though some more or less than others. And outside of the archipelago the only other known humans were Romans and Germans. So, he just had to think of something temporary "Probably go south. Now that we don't have a place to stay the nights will be even colder, so going south might help. Maybe we'll find some place to trade." Even though going south would higher the chances of encountering Romans, Berk sat atop the north end of the archipelago. So going south was basically the only option and it would still be a long time to even get near to mainland.

Both were satisfied with the Idea although they also knew it had just been a temporary Idea and not a fully-fledged plan on what do to. Perhaps they could think of something on the way.

"When do you want to start? The day is almost ending and if we start flying now, we could just get a few hours of flight before going to bed, or anything similar to that." Hiccup chuckled at the sarcasm Astrid has been using like he would.

"You're probably right. I think its better to stay here and rest a bit. The last two days have been somewhat exhausting." It was true. Nobody had expected anything of the things that had transpired. Hiccup trying to tame the Nightmare in front of the whole Village, Toothless coming to rescue him, the whole argument between him and his father, no him and Stoick. Astrid taming her own Dragon just to follow Hiccup, all that happened in the cove. All that sucked at the energy of both teens and Dragons, so it had been good for them to have the entire rest of the day to rest and have a good talk.

While Hiccup and Astrid mainly talked about anything else than the village, Toothless and Stormfly ran off into the forest and hunted a few wild rabbits or boars living there. The Night Fury had rarely ever interacted with any other Dragon before and the Nadder although being a social one in nature also didn't have any dragon contact in a while, due to being caged in the Arena. Even thought the midnight black Dragon had rarely any contact other than Hiccup, he and Stormfly understood each other quite well. Nobody could understand what the Dragons were talking about, but Toothless surprisingly could be a very kind and social Dragon once he actually tried to interact with somebody.

Once the evening sun settled and stars filled out the blank sky, the two teens wanted to get a good nights sleep before the next day came. Hiccup decided on again sleeping in Toothless wings while Astrid pulled out her sheets, she brought for herself.

After both had settled down and about to go Asleep, Hiccup spoke up, his voice being one of few things to be heard at this time of the day.

"Thanks Astrid."

"What? Why?" Said girl replied having no Idea why he just thanked her. The only thing she had done for him was search for him. But he never really thanked her for that. So maybe it was just a late thanks for her sacrifice.

"When I left, I didn't know what do. I couldn't stay out here alone. No offence to Toothless, but he's a Dragon and I am a human. I would have probably went Insane or something. But who would accept me? I befriended a lifelong enemy of ours. Frankly speaking, I was scared. Just you being here, makes me a bit reassured. So, thanks" saying the last sentence his face turned from a saddened look into a weak smile like it had been when he looked at Astrid at the time of leaving.

Astrid just sat there, completely awe struck. With every word Hiccup mumbled, she lost herself in his eyes a second time that day. Those beautiful green eyes. The very same feeling she had told Hiccup about in the cove came back to her, warming her from the inside as if they weren't out on an isolated Island at the beginning of Winter without any shelter. That was not entirely true. Their Dragons were a shelter. Now she realized, the warming feeling hadn't just been from seeing Hiccup blurt out his emotions like nothing. At her back breathed a Scaled belly, with every breath Stormfly took she could feel the warmth of the Dragon. It made sense. If they were able to breath fire, why not have an inbuilt warming system in their bodies.

Her mind knew this moment should remain silent, but what would she do, if not say something. The memory of this day sprang in her mind. What Hiccup had done in this Situation. She walked over to him, focusing her stare on his smile, a sincere one but still full of fear and regret.

After finishing his speech, his gaze wondered to the ground and his mind went to the evening of his run off, so his senses made no notice of this approach. He only came back down to earth with his thoughts, when blonde lock tickled his face and strong but gentle arms embraced him to the point, he felt them move with each breath lightly shifting them. Although Astrid being there already helped him relax a bit of what to come, feeling her this close completely erased ever thought of worry he could have ever had.

Both felt the very same as in the cove. A normal hug, that both experienced as the sincerest form of affection. It could have been, that both loved this moment or everything that came with it. The freedom, the dragons, their new friendship. But it felt just right. All of it.

This time they didn't have the emergency of being found, so they could sit here for hours without moving and both would love to. So they did.

…

The next morning Hiccup woke up again with a blonde sleeping on his shoulder, but this time he didn't freak out. He smiled and took in the scent that came with the morning. After their flight the day before, he could smell the distinct smell of the ocean and a bit of salt mixed with fresh air.

He laid Astrid as gentle as he could on Toothless back, but still managed to awaken her and the Dragon. The same procedure, as the day before repeated, with Hiccup going fishing and Astrid starting a fire to cook some fish for themselves and the rest of meals she brought with.

After finishing their meal, Hiccup saddled Toothless and noticed, Astrid only had a rope to hold on to. Man, he would have to make her a saddle, but where. The last time he made one was in a smith, and there's a big lack of smith in wild untouched Nature.

Like the last day, they started flying again, but this time not back to Berk, but south, which was nearly the opposite direction.

Finally done with this. I completely underestimated how hard it is to write good emotional moments, and i still dont really like it 100%. To the Topic of my updates. I decided to have no real scedule, because i still dont know if I can keep up with this lenght or detail. I will also maybe update older Chapters, with some small bits of things i like to add, but not to an extend, where the story will completely change. So reread if you wish, but you dont have to. I also dont want to have Hiccup and Astrid instantly have a loving relationship, because they barely knew each other before and i didnt like the sudden turn of this in the Movie. But we will see what happens.