Tangled Vows

Chapter 49

"Are you ready for this, Astrid?" Ruffnut asked excitedly, looking at Astrid in the mirror wearing her bridal dress. She looked like a goddess who had come down from the heavens to commit one final miracle upon one lucky soul.

That lucky soul was Hiccup Haddock.

Astrid smiled at herself in the mirror, wearing her dream dress. It was not the same as the one she was to wear for Eret, but not one too dissimilar. It was an off-white coloured dress, with a strip of cream-coloured fabric running from the chest to the floor and completed by a long, floor-length fur cape that hovered an inch or two from the ground. A final accessory to the ensemble, that Ruffnut had managed to find for her to become her 'something borrowed', was a simple cloth belt that was inscribed with runic script and sparkled under the lights of the makeshift dressing room.

Adjusting her hair, Astrid felt unusually strange to have her hair down without any restraint, being so used to her hair often being tied up or braided over her shoulder. Although, her mother had donned her head with a floral crown, which was apparently reminiscent of their family traditions carried through generations.

Perhaps it was a memory of that Viking blood that Hiccup had told her about.

With a happy sigh, Astrid felt a jitter of gleeful nerves chitter throughout her body, and she couldn't erase the beaming smile from her face as she grabbed her bouquet. Turning to Ruffnut, she smiled excitedly and her friend returned the same smile.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Astrid sighed, mustering up the courage to get this show on the road.

It had been a few months since Astrid's return, and in that time Astrid and Hiccup's relationship had truly grown and blossomed. They had healed whatever rifts had erupted in their three-year feud, and now the couple couldn't bear to be apart.

Astrid had been the one to tell her parents that they were going to give their marriage a go, trying to make it as real as they wanted it to be, which naturally led to the discussion about a makeup ceremony.

Both Hiccup and Astrid had been somewhat hesitant and reluctant over the whole idea, not really wanting to parade their marriage around. Especially after it had been the result of a stupid drunken mistake in Vegas. Just because they were trying to make their relationship work, didn't mean that they wanted to be married to one another just yet.

It all seemed too soon, and too fast.

However, by her mother's insistence, Astrid was forced to accept the fact that her family wanted a wedding, whether Hiccup and Astrid were willing or not.

That was how Astrid came to be standing in the back storeroom area of Hiccup's hardware store, in a makeshift dressing room, dressed to the nines in the most beautiful wedding dress that Astrid had ever laid her eyes upon. Now that she was on good terms with her family, and dating a man that her mother and father actually approved of, they were more than willing to throw themselves - and their money - and anything that Astrid asked for.

Which mainly was just the dress. The rest of the ceremony was their creation.

Ruffnut opened the door of the hardware store, and out to the street, leading Astrid towards the steps down to the beach. They concealed themselves beneath a loosely constructed marquee and told one of the wedding organisers that they were ready, and both Ruffnut and Astrid waited for their cue to begin their walk down the aisle.

Soon, Astrid heard the music playing, and her parents rushed over to join Astrid at the stairs to walk her down the aisle. They beamed at her with excited, gleeful faces, and couldn't have looked prouder to be doing this for her.

For the first time in her life, Astrid felt as though she was finally doing something right, and she wasn't afraid of herself for doing it. She was beginning her journey towards her forever, with Hiccup, and she wasn't the least bit frightened.

Knowing Hiccup would be with her was all the motivation she needed.

Taking her parent's arms, Astrid was led down the aisle with them on either side of her and felt the entire town's eyes turn to her. Because of her family's fortune, and therefore their wide connections, her mother had somehow managed to invite every resident of Berk to this wedding, and Astrid felt rather exposed seeing so many people looking at her.

However, when she looked up and saw Hiccup staring at her, the rest of the world seemed to melt away. A small, breathless smile pulled at his lips, as though the mere sight of her had the wind knocked out of him as his eyes took in one of the most beautiful sights of his life. Astrid felt her heart flutter in her chest, rippling a sense of belonging and happiness throughout her body that she had never felt before.

Hiccup was looking at her as though she were the most perfect and beautiful creature he had ever seen in existence, and it made Astrid feel like the most special, and radiant woman in the world. He made her feel loved, and it was all Astrid had ever wanted.

Coming to the end of the aisle, Astrid kissed her parents in gratitude and stepped up to Hiccup. She stood before him with a beaming smile and gave an apologetic nod to the crowd of people watching their performative ceremony.

But Hiccup didn't seem to care.

"Seems like I'm getting my wish after all," Hiccup whispered to her, stepping closer to her as they waited for the priest to begin the ceremony.

"What are you talking about?" Astrid asked in confusion, bewildered by this sudden revelation about his secrets.

Hiccup just smiled, and leaned closer. "My birthday wish. I wished to stay married to you, forever."

He leaned back and watched as Astrid looked down at the ground and laughed quietly to herself, amused and flustered by Hiccup's words. Looking back at him, she saw him smiling at her in the way she had always dreamed.

"Well then, Hiccup. Your wish is my command." They smiled and laughed at one another, before turning to the priest and nodding for him to begin the ceremony.

But this was no ending for the two of them, Astrid was certain of that. Instead, this was just a new beginning, where they had always meant to be. Exchanging smiles, Astrid was certain that this was the only decision in her life that she would get right.

The End...