Sorry. I was trying to keep my update days on Wednesday nights / Thursday mornings but I'm gonna have to move it Friday nights / Saturday Mornings.

"What on Midgard was that about?" He mother asked once they got outside, arms on her hips.

"I…I don't know." A part of Astrid wanted to point out that Hiccup started it, but knew that would only make her sound more childish.

She cringed as she remembered her mother shuffling her outside to talk and overhearing Ruffnut ask if that's what it looked like when her and Tuffnut fight. Astrid didn't hear the answer, but just knew that Fish and Snot had nodded to the question.

"I've never seen you act like that before." Her mother mused. "Not even as a child. You were always so steer and serious."

"I guess I was just so shocked that he left a note that we all managed to miss that I didn't believe him." Astrid shrugged, feeling very foolish. Was that really the best she could come up with?

"Well," Her mother patted her shoulder. "foods almost ready. Think you can get over your shock and have a civilized meal with the boy?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute." Astrid nodded while she found a spot on the ground to sit for a bit.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Her mother asked, sitting in front of her.

Astrid pushed her mothers hand away. "I'm fine. Just a few scrapes and bruises. Hiccup got the worst of it."

"Are you sure? You've been checked over, right?" Her mother was scanning her up and down as if she would all the sudden find a huge cut on her somewhere.

"I'm fine! Hiccup's the one that was injured, not me."

"I worry!" Her mother declared. "You're my precious baby girl! If anything happened to you I don't know what I'd do."

Astrid fought an eye roll. She knows her parents love her, but she's twenty! A fully grown, capable woman who can take care of herself.

"You still have Olga and Sven." Astrid teased.

"Yes, I love your siblings too. But they're married and out of the house. I don't even want to think about Sven, he's so far away!" Her brother had married a girl from the meathead tribe and, surprisingly, chose to move over there. Her parents were crushed to see him go.

"But, you'll have grandkids soon." Astrid hummed. She knew her mother was excited to be a grandma.

"Speaking of marriage and kids…" Her mother started, a scheming look in her eyes. "Did you happen to tell Hiccup about the arrangement?"

Astrid chocked on her own breath. She wasn't expecting that.

"He did grow up nicely, didn't he?" Her mother raised an eyebrow, daring her daughter to disagree.

"Yes, I suppose he did." Astrid mumbled while avoiding eye contact.

"And you two seem to be getting along well."

Astrid looked around for any excuse to change the subject. She should have known her mother would want to talk about it at some point.

Her mother gave a sickeningly sweet smile. "It's just us out here, isn't this the perfect time for some girl talk?"

Of course her mother would corner her to talk about feelings, and promise's made, and everything else she didn't have to talk about back when they thought Hiccup was dead.

"Now, I'm assuming you are still betrothed to Hiccup. Right?"

"I think so.."

"You think? What did he say when you told him?"

"I told him everything. He knows it was an arrangement made after he left, and that it was only to get someone competent as Heir. And that I would leave it for him to decide whether we stay betrothed or not." Astrid figured the best way to handle this was to stay calm and simply state the facts.

"And what did he say to that?"

"Umm.." Astrid had to actually think about it. What did he say? "We kind of talked about breaking it, but he didn't really say."

"So, you're not gonna fight to stay with him?" Her mother tilted her head curiously.

"I said I would leave it up to Hiccup. If he want's to break it he can." She had already said that to Cami and Hiccup, but she's not sure if Hiccup understood that she meant it.

"So, you're not interested in Hiccup at all? Ruffnut said something about you finding him attractive." Her mother sounded pleased with the situation.

"Okay, yeah, he's handsome now! There's more to a person than just their looks!" Astrid made a mental note to kill Ruffnut later.

"That is true… I don't even know what he's been doing this whole time." Her mother wondered.

"He's a dragon trapper. Looked like he caught a few dragons before the Outcast captured him." Astrid replied, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Oh. And how did he get captured again?" Astrid didn't notice the sly look on her mother's face.

"He got an emergency letter from Thuggory and Cami and was on his way to meet them when he got jumped."

"So, Hiccup is a very capable dragon trapper who is extremely loyal to his friends, has a great sense of humor, caring and confident, a jaw that could cut glass, and is the Heir to the Hooligan tribe; but none of that interests you?" Her mother had a look of complete innocence, but Astrid could see right through it. She was trapped.

"I mean…kind of, but I'm not in love with him or anything!" She stuttered out a reply.

"Of course not, you've only just met up with him after five years apart. But are you interested in getting to know him now?" That surprised Astrid. She never thought about it like that.

"I'm sure he'll do something to get on my nerves and I'll be over this silly crush in no time." Astrid quickly waved off her mothers ideas.

"You DO have a crush on him then!" Astrid froze in shock at her own words. Reluctantly, she looked towards her mother.

There she sat, head in her hands grinning at her. "Could it be someone has finally caught my daughter's eye? And how wonderful! You two are already betrothed." Her mother giggled in excitement.

"No! It's not like that!" Astrid huffed, which only made her mother laugh more.

Her mother stood up, and started walking back to the house. "Alright, alright. Whatever you say."

Astrid let out a sigh as soon as her mother was back in the house. Now that she was alone she pushed her mother's words out of her mind and focused on her fight with Hiccup. She has absolutely no idea what came over her. Sure, she was always competitive and hated being wrong; but to go that far? To act like a stubborn child trying to rip the note from his hand? She went way too far. Really, she didn't even have a right too read it!

"Umm…Hi." Astrid's head shot up. Hiccup was standing in front of her looking just as confused and embarrass as she was. Astrid moved to stand up but Hiccup put his hand out, stopping her, and sat down next to her instead.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me…" He said.

"No, no I'm the one who should be sorry…"

"I started it…"

"I had no right to read it in the first place…"

"Can we just blame it all on stress?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Stress?"

"Yeah, we were both kidnapped by the Outcast's, you found out I'm alive, I found out you all thought I was dead, we escaped, I got hurt; it's a lot to take in. Could leave someone a little loopy don't cha think?" Hiccup looked at her with a crooked smile that made her smile. The sun behind his head made him look like a dream. It was weirdly calming.

"Okay, yeah." Astrid nodded, and the two fell into silence. It wasn't as awkward as she though it would be, yet she couldn't stop herself.

"Did Gobber tell you what he was gonna do with the note?"

"He said he'd keep it till my dad gets back, then give it to him. Which is fair. I still would like to burn it, but…" He trailed off.

"Is it really that bad?" She asked. She didn't think Hiccup could ever write anything mean, but if he did they deserved it.

"It's not bad. It's just… it was so long ago, and I was just a kid. And I realize that it was cowardly to just leave like that." Hiccup stared straight ahead as he talked, as if he was reliving his thought processes from when he was leaving. "I was afraid my dad wouldn't listen. Would stop me from going, or worse! Send me off while everyone celebrated me leaving. I mean, yeah things had gotten a bit better with training and all, but…"

"That's right!" Astrid was surprised she forgot that point. "You got top of training, you were popular, and it looked like you and you're dad were getting closer. So why leave then?"

Astrid look at him for answers, but he avoided her eyes.

Don't say it. Astrid told herself. Don't say it. Don't say it.

"Did you cheat or something?" Damn it!

Hiccup breathed in through gritted teeth, scratching the back of his head. His silence told her everything.

"You did cheat. I knew it!" Astrid punched his arm. Hard. "How did you do it? I could never figure out how you did it, but I knew you cheated!"

By now Astrid was sitting on her knees practically leaning over Hiccup, who had fallen over after her punch.

"Yes, yes! You were right!" He sat himself upright. "That's one of the reason I left. I knew I didn't deserve to win. I could never actually kill a dragon." He side eyed her waiting to see if she would comment on that, but she just nodded; wanting to hear how he made the dragons act the way they did.

"When I was out walking in the woods I found a field of what looked like wheat, but there were a few dragons rolling around in the stuff, so I took some and brought it into dragon training. When I held it up the Gronckle it just fell over."

"You're telling me you found a plant that weakens dragons and you didn't say anything? This could have helped so many during the raids and you kept it too yourself to win training?"

"It doesn't weaken them." Hiccup quickly explained. "They like the stuff. It's like cat nip, but for dragons. I call it dragon nip."

"Clever." Astrid eye rolled. "Still, it would've been nice for us too know."

"I know. I was a stupid, dumb kid who couldn't do anything right." He said it so offhandedly and light heartedly it made her sad. He wasn't being that dumb, if anything they drove him to it.

"I guess we wouldn't have believed you anyways." She sighed in defeat.

"That too." He agreed.

"Did you have any other tricks?" She asked. "I promise I won't get mad!"

"Well," He rubbed his chin while thinking, "I did also use an eel."

"An eel?"

"Yeah. Apparently dragons don't like eels, living or dead ones." He looked at her and gave a small smile. "That one could have been useful to the village, which is why I did put it in the note."

"So, you came clean in the note. Told your dad everything?"

"Not EVERYTHING, everything; but most, yeah. It was mainly me complaining about how I didn't fit in, or how he never gave me a chance to prove myself."

"Do you think you did the right thing? I mean, leaving…" She asked.

"Honestly, yeah. I think it was the best for everyone. Sure, I could have talked to my dad directly. I could have left the note on the table downstairs, nailed it down so it wouldn't move. But, if I had to do it over, yeah I would still leave."

"While it would have been nice to know you weren't dead, I do think you leaving made the village realize how much they needed you."

"Of course you guys don't start appreciating my talent till after I leave." He joked.

They were then interrupted by Cami coming to get them for lunch. Or was it dinner?

Astrid woke up in her own bed, in her own home for the first time in almost a week. Despite her tough exterior, Astrid loved snuggling in her bed. She made it comfy with extra pillows and an ultra soft pelt, and considered it one of her few leisurely joys in life. As much as she loved training and working, cuddling up in bed after a long day was truly wonderful.

She must have woken up latter than she normally did, as she could hear her mother making breakfast. As Astrid sat up and stretched a part of her was scolding herself for being so lazy while Stoic was away, but Astrid was too happy to care. Even Stoic would suggest taking it easy after being kidnapped, and she happened to find their "dead" heir alive and well. Why shouldn't she reward herself with an extra hour of sleep?

"Morning!" Her mother called brightly over her shoulder. She was still heating up some stew and getting the bowls ready. Astrid sat down at their table, intending to eat her breakfast slowly before heading out.

"How did you sleep?" Her mother asked.

"Very well! It was so nice to sleep in my bed again."

"That's good to hear." Her mother put a bowl of warm stew in front of her, and sat down in front of her with her own. "And you're sure you're not hurt?"

"Mom! I told you I'm fine. I even let you check me last night." Astrid protested before she started eating.

Her mother had run a bath for her once they got home. Astrid didn't realize till it was too late that her mother used it as an excuse to check her whole body for injuries. She let her mother check her over before getting in the bath, seeing nothing but the few, faint, scratches and bruises.

"Yes, yes. I'm just checking." Her mother said as her father joined them.

They has a lovely quiet breakfast. With her father there her mother wouldn't dare bring up Hiccup or the betrothal. They both know he doesn't like talking about his daughters getting married. He ignored Olga's betrothal until the day of the wedding where he tried to get Olga to run away.

The rest of the morning went by quickly, the only real problem was the many women coming up to her to ask about the stranger from the docks. It seemed that was the only news people cared about today. It was a little before mid-day that she was able to check in at the Haddock house. The twins should be there to "supervise the stranger" today. Tomorrow was Snotlout and Fishlegs turn. She remembered she needs to give Ruffnut a beating for talking to her mother behind her back.

After knocking on the door, it flew open almost hitting her. Cami and Tuffnut ran out the door and down the steps before she could stop them.

"I'm gonna show Cami some cool spots around Berk! You can watch Hiccup!" Tuffnut yelled back. Astrid cringed at Tuffnut saying Hiccup's name out loud, but luckily no one was around. Cami smacked his head for her.

"He's taking a nap!" She called up before running off again.

Moving inside, Astrid couldn't find any sign of Ruffnut or Hiccup. Figuring she'd find both upstairs, Hiccup sleeping and Ruffnut pranking him in some way, she made her way up the stairs. When she got to the top of the stairs she saw Hiccup lounging on his bed, drawing in a book. No sign of Ruffnut anywhere.

A shock ran down her body for a moment when she saw his left leg was gone! For a moment her panic was strangling her till she remembered he had a prosthetic leg when she found him. She made a mental note to have him tell her the story later. It was a bit unnerving to see him without half his leg. She's seen other amputees, of course, but it was always weird when it was someone you know.

"Where's Ruffnut?" She asked, startling Hiccup.

"Oh! Hey, hi. Ruffnut left hours ago." He said as he picked up the charcoal pencil that fell from his hands.

"What, why? She's suppose to be watching you!"

"Apparently Fishlegs needed help with something so she left." Hiccup shrugged and went back to drawing. "I think she just got tired of Cami and Tuffnut flirting with each other. I know I did."

"Well, they just took off, leaving me to babysit you." Astrid sighed, frustrated with today. Why does no one listen?

"I don't need to be babysat, I'm twenty years old!" He replied with indignation.

"Clearly you do." She teased him. He rolled his eyes while shaking his head, his scruffy hair moving slightly. She sat down on his bed and tried to peak at his work.

"What are ya working on?" She asked.

Part of her thought he would hide it from her, like with the note but when he turned it over for her to see she smiled. It was a rough sketch of a design, some sort of dragon.

"Ruffnut is forcing me to give her a tattoo. She say's it's only fair cause Tuffnut has one." He went back to the drawing.

"What does she want?" Astrid asked; she couldn't tell from the sketch.

"It's a Scauldron surrounded by fire, explosions, and gold coins." He sounded very unhappy with the idea.

"Why would there be fire? It's a water dragon."

"Don't ask me! She also wants it to be small enough to hide from her mom." He rolled his eyes. "She's one of those people that sucks at coming up with designs."

"And you're actually gonna give her that? Wait, do you even know how to tattoo people?"

"I'm gonna show her a sketch of her design idea. Hopefully she'll see it and change her mind. And yes, I do know how to give tattoos. I would do that for extra money here and there. I did Cami's tattoo."

"Oh, cool! I knew you were good at drawing, but I didn't know you were good enough to tattoo people."

"Thanks, I got into it after I got my tattoos, and-"

"You have tattoos?!" Astrid sprung up. For some reason she couldn't imagine Hiccup with any kind of tattoo.

"Oh…Yeah." Now Hiccup looked embarrassed. "They're around my shoulders and down my back."

"Can I see? I've always wanted one, I just don't know what I want."

Hiccup's face turned red, but he nodded. Sitting up, he started pulling his shirt over his head. It was then Astrid realized why he was blushing. In order to see his tattoos his shirt needed to come off. They were sitting on his bed and he was taking off his shirt. She didn't think this through. Astrid could feel her cheeks heating up but did her best to push it down.

She was surprised to see a trail of hair on his stomach leading into his pants. Was it always there? She hadn't noticed when she was caring for his wound. It was like an arrow drawing her attention, and curiosity, down into his pants. Forcing her self to look away from his body hair she secretly checked over his wound. It was healing nicely, looked like more salve had been put on it recently. She did wish he was still wrapping it instead of leaving it exposed.

The shirt moved up to his chest, showing her he was still as skinny as a fishbone. His hip bones were sticking out and she could see some of his ribs. She could easily snap him in half if she wanted too. A smirk formed on her face as her heart speed up. Astrid shock her head in surprise. Why was that thought exciting to her? Sure, she never cared about a how strong a guy was; since she was usually stronger than them anyways. And she knew she wasn't interested in the bulkier guys like Fishlegs. Did she actually like the skinny and scrawny guys? Or was this just part of that Dead Man's Charm?

All the sudden Astrid's view was blocked by the shirt fully coming off and Hiccup's head reappeared. Astrid tried to turn her face into a blank slate before he could see her staring at his body. He didn't even notice, as he was removing his arms from the long sleeves. She caught a glimpse of a few scars on his arms though she was unable to see them clearly as he kept moving them. Barley glancing at her, Hiccup turned around and for a second Astrid forgot what they were doing, till she saw his back.

Knotwork designs came around from between his shoulder and collar bone making a circle, but not connecting. In between the two knotwork designs was the image of a black dragon. Wings spread out connecting both sides, a small sleek body with a tail going down the center of his back. She vaguely noticed one of the tail fins was blank while the other was black, like the rest of the body. At first she couldn't tell what type of dragon it was but the she realized.

"Is that a Night Fury?" Astrid started reaching out her hand to touch it, but quickly brought it back before she could.

"Yeah." Hiccup muttered. "I saw one and have been following it every since."

"The one from the Outcast Island?"

"Yeah. Finally caught it and I had to let it go. Darn it!" Hiccup shock his fist. Astrid was too busy inspecting his tattoo to realize he didn't sound that upset over losing one of the most powerful dragons in the Archipelago.

"How did it not kill you? You were right there in the cage with it." Astrid mused out loud, not actually expecting his answer.

"You'd be surprised how often a dragon won't go for the kill." He turned sideways to talk to her, while still giving her a view of the tattoo. "The first time I got close to a Night Fury it got right in my face and just screamed at me before flying off."

This shocked Astrid enough to take her eyes off the tattoo. Her jaw practically dropped to the floor as she started at Hiccup. Getting close to a Night Fury sounded horrifying in and of itself, yet Hiccup looked amused by the tale. He even chuckled a bit.

"How did it not kill you?" She demanded again. She didn't know anyone who was crazy enough to chuckle at getting so close to a deranged dragon. Even if it did let him go.

"Back then I think I was just so small that he didn't take me as a threat. Recently, I don't know. Maybe he was just focused on getting out?" He shrugged.

"Wow." Astrid leaned backwards. "You actually survived meeting a Night Fury twice. And even managed to capture it! Your dad is going to be so impressed!"

"If he believes me." Hiccup muttered as he started putting his shirt back on.

"Why wouldn't he believe you?" Astrid asked. She saw it herself so she could back up his claim.

"Remember that raid where I said I shot down a Night Fury?"

"Yeah." He gave her a pointed look. "That first run in with a Night Fury was on Berk? When you were fifteen?"

He nodded and Astrid was baffled at how the shrimpy little Hiccup had actually downed a Night Fury. And of course no one believed him. A part of her wanted to excuse their behavior. They were just kids and he was always making a mess of something, but he had never been a liar. She knew he was telling the truth now because that was definitely the dragon she saw leaving the cove that day.

"It was probably injured and hanging around Berk till it was healed." She thought out loud. "And you never told anyone because we already didn't believe you. Did you follow it off the island that day?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I saw it was getting ready to leave, so I quickly packed my things and, uh, followed after it." He stuttered along, going back to his drawings.

"Speaking of Night Furies," Astrid began, "have you heard of the Dragon Riders?"

Astrid watched Hiccup's eye's widen and his mouth pressed into a thin line.

"Why would you ask that?" He asked back.

"Their leader supposedly rides a Night Fury. What if it's the same one you've been chasing?" If he captured the leader of the Dragon Rider's dragon then they would certainly go after Hiccup for revenge.

"What, is there only one Night Fury in the world? I'm not even sure if I've been chasing one Night Fury or several different ones." Hiccup laughed off her concerns.

To be honest Astrid didn't know if Night Furies were a common dragon with incredible stealth or a rare dragon breed. But Hiccup was definitely hiding something. He seemed to already know about the Dragon Riders, and wasn't shocked at the idea of someone riding a Night Fury. He was keeping something from her.

Suddenly a note book was shoved in front of her.

"You want a tattoo right?" Hiccup said, obviously changing the subject. "You can look through some of my designs if you want. Pick out a couple you like."

Astrid watched him go back to drawing before she flipped open the book. Her mother was right, in a certain way. She didn't know this Hiccup. He was similar, but also extremely different from the child she remembered. She did want to get to know this Hiccup, and wanted to know what secrets he's keeping. Her gut was telling her he knows something about the Dragon Riders that might be helpful to Berk.

Plus, his sketches were amazing! She's gonna get the coolest tattoo!