Set after HTTYD Hidden World.
***
The sound of a swinging axe and the terrifying echo of Astrid's grunts and screams bellowed from the Haddock house.
"UGH!" Crash after crash could be heard from across the village.
"Hiccup? What's going on with Astrid?" Fishlegs shrieked. "She's been tearing up the village. The stables, the arena..."
"I know. I'll talk to her!" Hiccup assured. "If I don't come out in twenty minutes..." Hiccup honestly had no idea what he was going to say next. "... well, just tell my mom I love her. And, maybe Gobber." He shrugged.
With that Hiccup bolted inside, to find his pregnant wife ransacking the house.
"Ugh, where is it? Where is it?!" Astrid scowled, tossing an axe over her shoulder.
Hiccup dodged as the deadly weapon flew past him, piercing the wall behind him.
"Woah!" He gasped. "Astrid, what the- What did I tell you?! No weapons!"
"Argh! It's not here!" She cried.
"Astrid, did you lose your axe again?" Hiccup wondered.
"No." She said. "Well, yes. But that's not what I'm looking for."
"Oh, come on, Astrid. What could you possibly be looking for that's more important than your axe?" He thought. Astrid slept with her axe under her pillow. Literally.
"I'm gonna go and check the great hall." She dodged the question.
"Astrid," Hiccup grasped the blonde's wrist as she raced past him. "Maybe you should take a break. You're gonna wear yourself out."
"Hiccup, it's me." She reminded. "Pregnant or not, it takes a lot to wear me out. I have to find it."
"Well, what are you-" Hiccup was interrupted by a closing door as Astrid rushed out. "-looking for?"
"Hiccup?! Are you alive?" Fishlegs called from outside.
Hiccup opened the door.
"I'm alive, Fishlegs." Hiccup chuckled. "Can't say how long for." He admitted, yanking an axe out of the wall and placing it back in the chest across the room when a high-pitched scream was heard approaching.
"Chief, Thank Thor!" Tuffnut cheered.
"Ruff, Tuff? What's going on?"
"Astrid has completely lost it," Ruff explained. "She charged into the great hall and started tearing the place apart."
"It was awesome." Tuff cheered. "But, she wouldn't let us help."
"Had to dodge several axes," Ruffnut added.
"Oh for the love of Thor!" Hiccup charged past the twins and raced to the great hall. "Astrid what did I say about the weapons?!"
"Ugh! Where is it? Where is it?! WHERE IS IT?!" Astrid cried, her hands slid in through her hair and grasped tightly. Hiccup grasped her shoulders and spun her to face him.
"Astrid, breathe." He advised. "You've almost taken off three heads already."
"I have to find it!" She cried.
"Find what?" He asked. "Astrid, what did you lose?"
Astrid lowered her head refusing to meet his gaze. She let out a sigh.
"Fishlegs, get everyone outside!" Hiccup called to the other Viking that had dared to stick around. "Astrid? What's going on with you today?"
She took a deep breath, fighting back a tear.
"I lost it." She sighed.
"Astrid? What did you lose?" He asked, rubbing her arm in reassurance. There was something oddly comforting and soothing about his tone.
"The necklace." Astrid sobbed. "I lost the necklace." She sniffled.
"Necklace?" Hiccup wondered. "You mean the betrothal necklace?" Astrid nodded lightly. Her hand flew to her stomach. "Take it easy. Let's sit down." He led her to the table and sat her down. "When did you last see it?"
"I don't know." She sniffed, as Hiccup wiped a tear from her cheek before placing a hand over her bump and tracing gentle circles. "Yesterday?" She thought.
"And yesterday, you were at my mother's, did you check there?"
"Oh, of course!" Astrid rolled her eyes jumping up and darting towards the large doors of the great hall where Valka was stood on the opposite side.
"Hello, Dear." Valka greeted. She held up her hand revealing the very thing Astrid had torn the village apart looking for. "I believe this belongs to you."
Astrid's face lit up. She threw on the necklace, tucking it under her red overshirt. She enveloped her mother-in-law in a bone-crushing hug.
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She cheered.
"You're very welcome."
Astrid spun back to Hiccup and jumped in his arms. He let out a chuckle.
"So, my necklace is more important than your axe?" He smirked.
"Well, they are both important." She admitted.
"If they're equally as important, why aren't you tearing the place apart to find your axe?" He fought the urge to smile.
"Well, I like having it around when you're not." She admitted. "When you're busy chiefing all day, it reminds me that you're working as hard as you can so you can get back to me and little Haddock by dinner."
"You got all that from a necklace?" He chuckled.
"It's not about the necklace." She explained.
"Then what's it about?"
"It's about what the necklace represents," Valka told him.
"Hiccup, you gave me this necklace to signify that we were going to be together for the rest of our lives." Astrid reminded.
"Then you gave it back, that day with the armor wing." Hiccup remembered.
"Then you gave it back. The first time you said you loved me. That's what this necklace represents. And that's why it's so important to me."
Hiccup grasped Astrid's waist and pulled her close, gently. He kissed her softly as her hands grabbed his shoulders, pushing him back.
"Hiccup..." She whispered and pushed him back, leaning their foreheads together. "Your mom's still here."
***
