Finding you

Chapter 27: Begging

Hiccup's POV

"Astrid, listen, I was angry and I definitely said some things I shouldn't have and I know how much I hurt you. I-I just want to apologize for being such an ass to you and I hope you can forgive me." I explained myself as I looked hopefully into those ocean blue eyes, which had now become a storm of rage.

Astrid narrowed her eyes at me. "You do realize how much shit that just poured out of that mouth of yours, right?"

"I do, and I sincerely apologize for that. Listen, Astrid, I ... I was wrong. If you just give me another chance — a chance to make it up to you, I know I can prove that I deserve your forgiveness." I pleaded with her as I desperately tried to make eye contact, but to no avail. She turned her gaze away from me, a crease forming on her forehead as she seemed to be mulling over my words.

Then she finally faced me, her usually warm, ocean blue eyes now stone cold as they buried themselves into me like ice picks in a glacier. "What proof do I have that you can change, Hiccup? What proof do I have that this won't happen over and over again until we hate each other so much we can barely stand the sight of one another? I don't want that! I can't handle that! I'm sorry, Hiccup, but I think you should go."

She had buried her ice pick in me alright, and it had officially pierced my heart. With every word, it was like she was shoving the ice pick further and further in. "Astrid—"

"No! No, Hiccup, I'm done with your excuses! I'm done with all of this and I'm done with you, leave me alone!" Astrid snapped before she turned on her heel and marched towards the cave in which she had been taking refuge for as long as she had been on the island. My heart shattered into a thousand pieces inside of my chest, leaving small pieces of it lodged into my other organs as my insides ached painfully.

A coo broke through the deafening silence that had filled my ears, followed by the familiar sensation of a snout nudging my thigh. My gaze fell down upon the night fury that was looking curiously up at me, his luminescent green eyes sparkling in the morning sun as his large, reptilian head tilted to the side. I rested a hand atop his head, gently patting it as I suddenly felt like all energy had been drained from my body.

"Toothless! I told you to —" Zephyr paused at the sight of me. "Sorry! He ran off ... where's mom?"

I slowly shook my head as I kept my gaze on my best friend. "She ... she didn't forgive me, she told me to leave."

For a moment, Zephyr remained silent, as if she was busy processing the information. Then, she finally spoke: "Yeah, we're not leaving without, mom, so you better go patch things up."

A sigh escaped me as I realized how hard it had suddenly become to breathe. "I tried everything, but she refused. She said she was scared that we would keep on doing this little dance of ours until we couldn't stand the sight of one another."

"But ... but you're meant to be together! You were supposed to live happily ever after! Isn't that how all the stories you told me when I was little ended, with the lovers reuniting and living out the rest of their days in bliss?" Zephyr hyperventilated as she rambled, her body shaking ever so slightly as a frantic look passed over her eyes.

"Zeph?" I pushed aside my own sorrow as the concern for my daughter grew. "Zephyr?"

"I-I—" Her face turned a light shade of blue as her knees began to buckle and her eyes rolled into her head. I leapt forwards, catching Zephyr before she had the chance to hit the ground.

"Zephyr!" I cried out as I gently shook her, trying to get a reaction out of her. "Zephyr! Come on, sweetie, please wake up."

My cries must've been louder than I thought, or maybe it was just the mother's instinct kicking in, but out of the corner of my eye I spotted Astrid sprinting towards the two of us, a look of panic on her face as she fell down to her knees beside us, hands running all over Zephyr's face as she attempted to find out what was wrong. "What happened?"

"She was rambling on about the stories I used to tell her when she was little, then she started hyperventilating and—"

"She passed out. Lay her down on the grass while I hold her legs." Astrid instructed me as she picked up Zephyr's legs and raised them so that her heels were resting below Astrid's collarbone.

Not very interested in staring another fight, I followed all her commands without question, even though I had absolutely no idea why she insisted on keeping Zephyr's legs up.

Then, Zephyr's eyes began to slowly blink open and I felt myself let out a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods."

"W-what happened?" Zephyr stuttered as she attempted to sit up, but quickly found her mother pushing her back down again as she slowly put down Zephyr's feet.

"Just keep laying down, alright? You passed out, but you're alright now. We're here, mommy and daddy are here." Astrid soothed our daughter as a warm smile lit up her face, directed at our daughter. I noted how she had mentioned me in her sentence.

***

On orders from Healer Astrid, we remained on the island with her for the rest of the day, just so she could monitor Zephyr, who constantly had to reassure her mother that she was fine and well.

Dinnertime eventually rolled around and while the dragons were outside playing and enjoying their own dinner, we humans found ourselves sat around a fire inside the rather cozy cave as we munched on some fish Astrid had caught in the stream two hours earlier. Zephyr did most of the talking, seeing as tensions between me and Astrid were still high after our little altercation that same morning.

Unfortunately for us, Zephyr decided to go to sleep early, which left the two of us sitting in awkward, tension-filled silence around the raging fire. I was the first one to speak.

"Thanks for coming to Zephyr's rescue earlier, I don't know what we would've done without you." I took another bite out of my fish, making sure to keep my gaze on the dinner as I feared crossing Astrid's boundaries.

It took a while before Astrid's response finally came. "She's my daughter too, I couldn't just let her suffer, now could I?"

I shrugged as I threw a fishbone into the fire. "I suppose that wouldn't be the most appropriate thing for a parent to do."

I glanced over at Astrid and found her to be staring rather intensely at the now charred fishbone, a look of sorrow on her face. "Astrid, are you alright?"

"Fishbone." She spoke and I couldn't help but raise a brow at her.

"What?" I asked, a look of confusion etched into my face.

Astrid's eyes met mine, longing, desperation and sadness battling for dominance over those beautiful oceans as she seemed torn between two things. Suddenly, a whisper escaped her. "My fishbone."

That was when it finally hit me. Those two, simple words. Flashes of our younger selves both appeared and disappeared in my mind as a wave of emotions washed over me. How could I forget?

Then, Astrid cleared her throat and the moment was over. It took another good while before she once again decided to speak: "I ... I'm coming back with the two of you, but don't think for even a second that you're forgiven for all of those horrible things you said to me."

I could've sworn my heart skipped a beat as I felt like I was about to burst with joy, but I chose to hide my excitement out of fear I would lose her once more. "Of course not, I was pretty cruel."

Astrid nodded. "It's settled then, we leave at dawn."