THE TRANSLATOR, httyd.

the translator, nineteen.

hiccup was forced to take a shower and clean himself up by astrid, who told him that he had to apologize to elina immediately. so, hiccup took the longest shower possible, and got himself dressed. he walked towards elina's door and hesitantly knocked.

"elina?"

no response.

sighing in disappointment, hiccup hesitated, then walked away from elina's house.

he met with astrid.

"you look great," hiccup said. astrid nodded.

"thanks. you clean up nicely as well." the two walked in the hall, a fake smile plastered on hiccup's face. snotlout waited down the stairs with a fur coat draped around his back. 

all of a sudden, snotlout's jaw dropped, and astrid's eyes widened. hiccup looked towards what they were staring at — or more specifically, who they were staring at.

hiccup felt all his muscles went slack as he turned to see elina walking down the steps hesitantly with a small smile on her face. she looked absolutely gorgeous. hiccup felt a prick of envy as snotlout linked arms with elina, and hiccup's gaze followed elina's form.

"she looks amazing," astrid whispered. hiccup couldn't help but feel inclined to agree, which added to his feeling of regret as he remembered the argument between them. 

"yeah, she does," hiccup murmured. suddenly, he heard his father's voice being broadcasted using the horn. 

"let the celebrations begin!"

music started playing, and hiccup winced at the loud noise. however, his gaze never left elina once, even when astrid pulled hiccup up to his feet and danced for their 'public image'. elina laughed with snotlout, making jealousy flare in hiccup's eyes. 

what are you even thinking, hiccup? elina hates you already. don't make it worse.

suddenly, hiccup noticed snotlout's hand inching lower and lower from her waist. hiccup saw red. immediately, he left astrid's grasp as he forced a smile at snotlout and elina. clenching his jaw, hiccup asked, "may i have a dance, elina?"

snotlout was about to protest, when elina gave him a look. snotlout clamped his mouth shut, and elina hesitantly took hiccup's hand as hiccup brought her to the dance floor. hiccup saw astrid looking at them, and hiccup mouthed, sorry to astrid.

astrid smiled at them.

hiccup looked at elina. gods, she looked beautiful. her honey brown eyes sparkled under the lights, her cheeks flushed a rose pink. she didn't look at hiccup, though, looking downwards or sideways. the music became slower, and the two fell into a waltz.

hiccup tried to catch her gaze. "elina?" she didn't respond. "ellie?"

elina turned to look at him for just one second, and emotions flashed in her eyes. guilt, betrayal, sadness. "can you follow me? i want to show you something."

elina looked like she wanted to accept, but then her eyes turned as hard as steel again. "why should i? apparently, i'm not good enough, right? why don't you just bring astrid?"

hiccup lowered his gaze, before momentarily breaking the dance by using his fingers to tilt elina's head up. the two stared at each other, forest green clashing with honey brown. "please, elina? for our friendship?"

elina scoffed. "friendship," she muttered bitterly, but still reluctantly nodded. "okay. i'll hear what you have to say."

so, hiccup and elina snuck out of the party, unaware of a blond-haired girl following their tracks as well. 

hiccup brought elina under the moonlight, and whistled. toothless came bounding towards them, stopping at elina's feet and licked the palm of her hand eagerly. elina chuckled, scratching toothless's chin and making him purr excitedly, bouncing around.

"hey, toothless! what are you doing here, buddy?" elina asked, and hiccup answered, "he's part of the big surprise." before elina could protest, hiccup carried elina bridal style and placed her on toothless's back. elina's face turned red in the dark, almost resembling the color of her hair.

hiccup climbed on behind elina. the familiar smell of cherries and smoke filled hiccup's senses as he sat behind the girl. toothless looked at hiccup, and hiccup nodded encouragingly. toothless flapped his wings, and a pair of blue eyes followed the dragon's form as toothless flew up into the air.

hiccup smiled at the look on elina's face. elina had her eyes closed as the cool wind blew. toothless growled happily, making hiccup pat his dragon on the side. when elina didn't say anything, hiccup apologized. 

"ellie? i'm so sorry. i guess i was blinded by... jealousy and i didn't even think before i said those words. i want to say that sometimes, it is kind of hard being your friend, but that's why i love you being my best friend, because all of our differences have made us stronger. and i don't want a stupid mistake to stop us from being friends again, so will you please forgive me?"

somehow, the word 'friend' didn't seem right to use to describe elina.

elina turned to look at hiccup, and she whispered, "do you know how hard it is to stay mad at you?"

hiccup's lips twitched up in relief. "does that mean you forgive me?"

elina rolled her eyes, and she hesitantly put her hand over hiccup's. "yeah, i guess that means i forgive you."

the two looked at each other with a smile on both of their faces. toothless circled around the dock before landing back on their starting position, leaving hiccup to help elina get down from toothless. elina smiled.

they gazed into each other's eyes. the stars in the sky twinkled just like her eyes, and hiccup said quietly, "do you want to finish our dance?"

elina put her hand in his. "maybe i do."

the two of them danced together, following the sound of the music echoing from inside the hall. their eyes never left each other's, and hiccup felt his heart beat increasingly faster as elina smiled at him. 

then, the music stopped, and hiccup and elina stared into each other's eyes.

elina leaned forward, and their lips clashed.