When I Come Back

Rainy Day pt. 1

ASTRID
We fly for what felt like an hour in the rain.

"Hiccup, where are we going?!?" I shout over the howling of the wind.

"A place that will help ease your mind!!"

After a few more minutes of flying we come across an island of pure rock. No diet or plants, it was completely inhabitable.

"See that island there?!?" Hiccup points to the pile of rock.

I nod.

"Dive into the water like you're trying to go under it!!"

Is he serious??

"What?!?"

Just before directing Toothless to dive head first into the water, he gives me one last instruction, "Trust me!!"

I sigh, "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, you're going to be the death of me."

Stormfly and I dive in after the night fury and his boy; and they direct us to what looks like a cave entrance. We swim towards it and find ourselves in a cave that is absolutely inhabitable. One would think that this existed above water.

We land in some sand that made it seem almost like a beach. A cold chill runs through the cave causing me to shiver.

"Don't worry I've got some clothes for you." Hiccup reassures me, "I'll get you warmed up in no time."

He cues Toothless to walk forward, further into the cave and I follow suit.

"What is this place? How'd you know about it?"

"I used to come here to get away from it all before I left for the academy. I spent a large amount of my free time here. Let's get you warmed up and then I'll show you around." He explains without looking over his shoulder.

I had no idea about this place. I knew that there were times that Hiccup would disappear for a few days at a time, but I just always figured that Stoick had him doing something.

After a few turns down some tunnels, we find ourselves in a sort of room. There was a bed placed in the middle of the back wall, a nightstand on one side, and a dresser on the other. At the end of the bed there was a chest and towards the front of the room was a huge slab of rock and a desk covered in papers. In front of the desk there were many clippings of drawings and blue prints of different inventions.

I hop off of Stormfly and walk towards the desk. I always liked to watch the process of Hiccup's many inventions. I never had the patience nor the ingenuity for it, but they always intrigued me.

I run my fingers along an all too familiar blueprint of a prosthetic tail.

He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck, a movement that I always found adorable, "Yeah, these are all the originals. Almost all of the blueprints in the forge are copies."

"Wow" I say almost under my breath.

I then find a drawing of a girl who once thought that killing dragons and living up to her family's name was all that mattered in life. Gods was she wrong!

I turn it towards Hiccup without tearing it off of the wall. A cheeky grin spreads across my lips, "And this one? Do you have a another one back home?"

He smirks, "No, I have a much more recent one back on Berk. Your beauty has only grown since then."

I feel my checks flush and I turn my head away. Footsteps seem to approach me and I expect him to not let me get away with hiding my flustered face. However, he stops, a few steps away.

"I do have a copy of this one though." He points to a drawing of six young teenagers standing proudly in front of the repurposed training arena with their dragons.

I remember that day like it was yesterday. That was the day that we had finally finished months of hard work to transform what used to be the killing arena into a dragon training facility. We were proud of our hard work. It was another first step to a life with dragons.

I smile warmly at the memory.

Hiccup sighs, breaking me from my thoughts, " I need to make more time for them. No matter how busy I get."

I walk up to him, hugging him from behind, "we both do, and we will."

   He turns around, placing his hands on my hips, and places a loving kiss on my forehead. I absentmindedly cling to him. Despite his wet clothes, he's extremely warm.

   In which he notices immediately, "Let's get you warmed up."

   I a few swift steps, he's already across the room to his dresser. He's now undoubtably bigger, he's definitely in the six foot range and his shoulders have become broad. He had the build of a fantastic warrior.

   He shuffles through a few of the drawers as if he's looking for something specific. He sets aside a tunic and takes his own armor and tunic off.

   I move to the bed and sit upon the edge, watching his every move.

   He puts on the tunic that he set aside, but once it's on he growls in frustration.

   My brows furrow in confusion, "What's wrong?"

   He sighs, turns towards me, and lets his shoulders sag in defeat,"It's too tight on my arms and I feel like my entire upper body is being suffocated."

"Well, you've grown a bit. How old is that tunic?"

   He sighs once again, "A week..."

Damn!!

"Really?? Then how is it already so small??"

   He shakes his head and tries to pull it off, but he's not successful. The tunic ends up getting stuck on his shoulders and covers his face. He wiggles uncontrollably and I can't help but laugh.

"Oh you think this is funny??" He asks jokingly.

   My laughing calms into a giggle, "Yes!! Very!!"

"Well guess what? Now you have to help me get this off!"

   I giggle once more, why do I feel like this, so light, almost like I'm floating on a cloud, "Ok, ok!! Just stay still alright?"

   I slowly inch the tunic up over one shoulder, easily freeing him the rest of the way.

   Hiccup takes a deep breath as if he was being suffocated, "Ok, I'll have to grab some more tunics at the eastern market on our way back home."

   I nod, focusing on the fact that I have to remind him on the way back to Berk because he will most likely forget.

   He returns to the dresser, digging further through the drawer of tunics. "Aha!! Here it is!"

   Hiccup holds up a forest green tunic, turns to me, and with out a second thought says, "Take your clothes off."

"What?!?"