Will it be forever?

Chapter 10: Tunics and Dresses

Hiccup's POV

"Oh gods, my head" I groaned as I slowly sat up in bed, cradling my pounding head. How I regretted the decision to down those last mugs of Meade the night before.

Light snoring filled the room, drawing my attention to its source, which turned out to be none other than my dear dragon himself, Toothless, who had been given the honor to drag my drunk self home by my good leg.

I rolled out of bed and slumped down the stairs, looking like I had just risen from the dead with the heavy bags under my eyes, my bad posture and my hair standing out on all sides.

I rubbed my forehead as I found some of the herbs my mother had left for me, crushing them with a stone mortar as the strong scent of dewy grass rose up to my nose. I dumped the crushed herbs into a mug of yak milk, shuddering as I mixed the two ingredients together, creating a lumpy mixture in the mug, which I was certain to throw out afterwards.

I scrunched my nose at the strong scent the mixture emitted as I brought it closer to my mouth. I took a quick second to remind myself that it wouldn't be very popular with the people of Berk —or my soon-to-be wife for that matter— if I showed up drunk to my own wedding, so I forced down the liquid, trying my best not to gag it up again.

I sat down, waiting for my stomach to calm down when I was hit with the idea of the century. As my stomach seemed to have sizzled down for a minute, I forced myself to my feet before stumbling over to the kitchen and whipping up some breakfast. To my great surprise, the breakfast went down much smoother than expected, and after I had finished doing the dishes, it was like I hadn't drunk a single drop of Meade in my life.

Feeling much more refreshed than before, I went outside to pick up Toothless' breakfast before waking him up by calling him downstairs. The dragon wasted no time in coming down, and was already waiting patiently by the stairs as I put down his basket of fish.

Toothless threw himself over his breakfast and I couldn't help but chuckle at his cat-like behavior.

As I glanced out the open front door and at the steps leading up to the Meade Hall, a wave of realization hit me as I remembered that it was my wedding day. I quickly sped up the stairs before I turned to the outfit that had been laid across my workbench. I made a note in my head to thank him for that later as I picked it up and studied it.

I had only seen the outfit once before, which was during the fitting. Two of the most renowned seamstresses in the archipelago had made their way over to Berk just to create the outfits Astrid and I would be wearing later that day.

I pulled the white tunic over my head, tracing the gold detailing and markings around the collar and the end of the sleeves. I slipped into my matching white pants and boots, noticing the small golden details that lined their edges.

As I was busy smoothing out the wrinkles of my outfit, heavy footsteps made their way up the stairs before Toothless' head poked in, tilted slightly as his green eyes glowed with curiosity.

"Today's the day, bud" I took a deep breath as I tried to make my hair look less ... messy. "How do I look?"

Toothless narrowed his eyes at me before walking around me in a circle, examining every nook and cranny of my outfit. The dragon sniffed it before taking a step back and flashing me his signature gummy smile followed by a soft coo, indicating that he liked it.

"Why, thank you, kind sir!" I chuckled at the night fury as he walked up beside me, nuzzling up against me. "Today I get to marry the girl I've been in love with for as long as I can remember, there aren't many people who get to do that."

Toothless let out another coo.

I took a deep breath as I straightened the collar of my tunic. "I'm one lucky guy."

Astrid's POV

I let out a heavy sigh as I sat up in bed, pulling my knees to my chest as I rested my chin on them. At that point, I had been awake for quite some time, but I just hadn't found the will to actually get out of bed. This was the big day, I was getting married.

Following Berk tradition, I hadn't seen Hiccup since the day before, and I wasn't allowed to see him until the ceremony. I had spent the night over at Valka's house, where I had ended up sleeping in the surprisingly comforting guest bedroom, which I needed more than words could express.

As thoughts of marriage swiveled around my head, I couldn't help but think about my parents, who I prayed to Freya were watching me on that day.

I shut my eyes and projected the image of the two of them, wrapped in each other's arms and smiling at me in Valhalla inside my mind.

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs snapped me out of my train of thoughts as I fixated my gaze upon the door. Not even a moment later, the door slowly creaked open, revealing Valka and Ruffnut, who were both curiously poking their heads in.

"Astrid, you're awake! How fitting, now we won't have to wake you." Valka's features warmed up with a smile as she and Ruffnut slithered into the room.

"We brought you breakfast!" Ruffnut chirped as she held out the tray she was carrying for me to see.

I raised my brows. "Wow, I don't really know what to say. Thank you?"

A chuckle escaped Valka as she sat down on the bed beside me. "No problem, my dear. Now eat up, we've got a long day ahead of us!"

My breakfast went down far quicker than I had initially thought, and before I knew it, Valka and Ruffnut had already cleared away my breakfast and replaced it with my wedding dress and a scroll.

"Astrid, today is a very big day which means that we want everything to go as smoothly as possible, correct?" Ruffnut asked as she rolled up the scroll and held it in front of herself. I nodded in response. "This is why we've made a planner for the day. We start by getting you dressed, which will be followed by the braiding of your hair, which will then be followed by the adding of accessories and footwear before we leave for the Meade Hall. Are you following so far?"

Again, I replied with a nod before I glanced up at Valka, who seemed just as dedicated to the whole ordeal as Ruffnut was.

Ruffnut cleared her throat before continuing. "You will receive the bouquet outside the Meade Hall right before we let you in, where you will walk down the aisle until you reach Hiccup, who will lead you to the altar where the two of you will get married. After the ceremony, the reception starts. We will fill you in on the reception later. Now, did you get all that?"

"Um, yeah. I think so." I blurted out as I nodded at er once again.

"Perfect, now, get dressed! Valka and I are right outside if you need any help." Ruffnut informed me as the two of them stepped outside, leaving me alone in the room.

As soon as I had gotten dressed, I called the two back in again before being instructed to sit down and let Valka braid my hair, which she did a fantastic job of, in my opinion. I ran my hand gently over my hair as I felt the braids under my fingers, I shot Valka a smile as Ruffnut placed a colorful flower crown on top of my head, which was much lighter than I had expected it to be.

I slipped on my flat, white shoes before getting up from the bed I had been sitting on and performing a spin for my little audience. "So, what do you think?"

Ruffnut crossed her eyes, giving me a firm nod as a look of Pride washed over her face. I glanced over at Valka, who had placed her hands firmly over her heart as her eyes watered.

"You look absolutely stunning, my dear" Valka gushed as she seemed unable to tear her eyes off me. Ruffnut nodded in agreement as she looked me up and down, still beaming with pride.

I performed another spin for the two, this time a wide, genuine smile spread across my face. "Why, thank you!"