𝙃𝙞𝙘𝙘𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙙 𝙊𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨💞

Lying

A/N: please always feel free for suggestion or prompts of stories you want to see :)

Set: after httyd 3 but before it's end credit
Zephyr is born, Astrid is pregnant with Nuffink
Valka is gone.

1.3k words
TW

Enjoy <3
(He he hee)

The hardest part was lying. Lying to their best friends, the village. Lying to their own children.

———
(Let's go back to where this all started)

The young parents were lying in bed, cuddled up close. They were both lying on their sides, intertwined. Hiccup held Astrid particularly tight tonight.

"I love you." He whispered and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you too." She leaned into him.

Astrid fell asleep quickly, but Hiccup layed awake.

——

"Goodmorning, babe." Astrid rolled over to find an empty bed.

"Hiccup?" She wandered downstairs.

"Hiccup?" She stuck her head outside.

Nothing.

She got dressed properly and made her way outside.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." She whispered to herself. A bad feeling twisted in her gut.

She made her way through the forest to the edge of the 'Hiccup-thinking' cliff. He wasn't there. She ran to the edge, so her toes stuck out over the end.

"Hiccup!" A Valhalla-splitting cry left her throat. She panicked, looking around. "No! Hiccup!" She let out in the most desperate of cries.

Astrid made her way down to where the cliff met the water at a concerning speed, especially for a pregnant woman.

She pulled her husbands body into her arms. She pushed his hair out of his cold, scarred face and put her ear to his chest. "No no no no no, you are not leaving me in this hell-hole with two kids young man!" She started cpr. She hugged him close.

He was wearing his flight suit.

She whispered in his ear. "You smart fucking prick." She softened. "I love you so much."

She noticed a few heads peeking over the cliff edge before people started gathering around her.

"Move it! Let me through!" Gobber made his way through the crowd before stopping in horror. He kneeled down next to Astrid, a gentle hand on her back.

"Gobber he gone." She said just loud enough for the two of them. "He left me."

Gobber had never seen the last so defeated. And rightfully so. Her husband, her true love, was gone! "He didn't leave ya lass," Gobber said in the same dynamic. "He'll never leave ya lass." He sighed. "His love will just take a different form for a few decades." Astrid looked up at Gobber, barely loosening her grip on the young man. "And when I see him up there," he motioned to the sky. "When I see him, I'll give him a bloody good scolding, just like the one I bet his father is givin' him." He watched a defeated smile pass through her face. "And then I'll give him a bloody big hug," he looked into her eyes. "For the both of us."

——

It was unspoken between Astrid and Gobber, the knowledge that Hiccup had taken his life. But that fact would never be revealed to the rest of the village as suicide is the cowards way out. Or so it was viewed by them.

Breaking the news the 'dragon riders' was the hardest part.

"Hiccup wouldn't crash like that! He knows how to fly! He's never crashed!" Fishlegs cried. Astrid wasn't the only one who had lost her bestfriend.

"I don't know what to tell you Fish, I guess he just made a mistake." She barely shrugged. Guilt twisted deep in her gut. She knew he didn't believe her, but if she fed him these lies consistently enough he would accept it as his truth.

The others all held doubt but the look in Astrid's face told them not to ask questions.

——

"You were always the most caring of us all." Astrid looked down at her feet. "And no one is more proud of you, than I am. You brought peace to this world. You taught us that the impossible, is in fact, possible." She brought her arrow back. "I will always love you." She released it. The firy arrow flew through the night, igniting the boat. Several other arrows followed its path. The whole village has gather on the cliff. All bowed their heads. All except the dragon riders. A shadow passed, catching their attention as it briefly covered the moon. The familiar figure shot a purple blast, truely igniting the boat.

"I'm sorry I didn't protect him." Astrid whispered to Toothlesses figure as the intelligent reptile passed through the starry sky magnificently.

——

"Mum?" Nuffink looked up at his mum while they sat on the couch.

"Yes, Nuffink?" She smiled.

"Why don't I have a Daddy?" That question.

"Because he's dead, Nuffink." Zephyr chimed in.

"Zephyr!" Astrid scolded. Of course, she wasn't wrong. But still. "You do have a dad, Nuffink. He's just not here anymore. He had a terrible accident just before you were born." She sighed. "But he loves you so very much."

"Why did Zephyr get to meet him and I didn't!? If he loves me why isn't he here for me!?" Nuffink was still young and didn't mean the question the way it came across to Astrid but she had thought the exact same thing so many times.

"That's because he loves me more than you!" Zephyr teased. Astrid shot her a death-stare.

"Clearly not because he died after spending time with you!" Astrid was speechless at Nuffinks response, then shot him the same glare.

"Your father loves the BOTH of you very much. Just in a different way to how the others kids dads love them. And you'll both get to spend lots of time with him in Valhalla." She reassured.

It was hard for the two kids. Not having a father brought them together in a way no other sibling were, for the only person who understood them was each other. They had been born into the generation where none of the kids' parents had fought dragons, therefore for once, it was unusual to be missing a parent.

Their mother was the first female cheif, their dad was dead. Their lives were anything but usual.

They never got to spend time with their dad. For Nuffink, he had only seen his dad expressed through art or the statue that looked over the village alongside his grandfathers. The statue stood as a reminder that he would never see his father in flesh and blood. Only in chiseled stone.

——

Almost as soon as he was ready, Nuffink took over as cheif. (Astrid check a million times to make sure he was actually ready, and that he wouldn't be forced into the role like his father and herself) Once he was cheif, she could finally step back and take a break. She didn't know what to do anymore. She used to be so busy and now she could just relax.

Zephyr was offered the position of cheif, but she shared her fathers heart and would rather explore the world than run the village. Nuffink shared his mothers spirit of being a natural leader.

Nuffink was continually told he resembled his father, which was his least favourite comment. People thought telling him he reminded them of The Dragon Master was a compliment. But it wasn't. He had never met his father. How did he resemble this man so much? His father barely felt like his father.

——

You are probably asking yourself 'that's it? That's how she ended it??' Yes. It is. Because sometimes stories don't have a satisfying ending like Hiccup and Astrid reuniting in Valhalla. Sometimes life is unsatisfactory and unsatisfying. That's the result of suicide. It's not worth it. If you or someone you know is someone you know is suffering from suicidal thoughts/idealation it is not weak to reach out. Don't be like Hiccup.

(I got writers block and didn't know how to end it)