Bittersweet Memories

Chapter 5

The next morning Astrid woke up with butterflies in her stomach. Of all the questions he could have asked, why did he have to go and pick that one? She lay on her bed, her mind playing back all the events of the last week.

So much had changed. They had gone from a few days short of being knot-tied, Hiccup having an accident and at the brink of death, to him not even remembering her. Then he had to go and ruin whatever little they had left by asking her that stupid question!

She didn't know how to cope with it all. It was too much. She needed to get out. She needed air, and Stormfly needed her morning flight anyway, so she decided to get up and find her dragon.

Hiccup slept right through to midmorning. He had pushed himself hard and had thoroughly exhausted himself, but he didn't regret it in the slightest. He could talk. True. Maybe very little right now, but so what? He still could.

And he'd got some answers. This wasn't home. Home was somewhere else. Berk, wherever that was. He had had an accident. A nasty one, apparently, which had cost him his whole sense of self. And he knew more about the girl. It made sense – they having been a couple: the amount of kindness she showed him; the way she cared for him; worried about him. None of the healers at the centre who stayed with him until she came every morning gave him half the attention she did. They were more concerned about the clinical side to his recovery – that his head wound wasn't becoming infected; that his pulse was steady; that his pupils weren't dilated. Astrid listened to him, had fed him when he hadn't been able to feed himself, was patient with him, was concerned for him, read to him.

But knowing all this new information also sparked more questions and feelings. He didn't know her. Not now. Whatever she felt for him he couldn't reciprocate. What did she want from him? Did she expect him to like her back? Did she expect them to get back together?

All of a sudden he felt nervous and uncomfortable. Had it been the best question to have asked? Yesterday he had been so adamant that he had to know. Now, he wasn't so sure. He could have asked anything else but he had to put his foot in it and ask that one. Now he was uneasy at the mere thought of when she would come in through the door, relieve the healer who was sitting silently next to the bed, to read to him. He lay back on his pillow and fretfully waited.

Astrid and Stormfly came in to land a couple of hours later. Taking her to the feeding grounds, Astrid knew she should get Toothless for his flight now before visiting Hiccup, but her stomach squirmed into tight knots again and her heart leapt into her throat. She just couldn't face seeing him. What did he want from her? How did he feel about her? What would he say? She just didn't know what to make of it all.

She stood facing the healing centre for a long time, lost in her thoughts. Then, from behind, someone approached her.

"Miss Astrid. Good morning." It was Queen Mala again.

"Oh, good morning, Queen Mala," replied Astrid quietly.

"How are you this morning?" Mala asked.

"Fine."

"Are you quite sure? You seem somewhat ill at ease. Is there anything you wish to disclose?"

Astrid sighed. She didn't really want to talk but she also didn't want to appear impolite.

"Hiccup has started to speak," she said.

"Oh, I am thrilled to hear that," Mala sighed with relief.

"He has also begun to ask questions," Astrid went on. Mala could see there was more.

"But this is good news is it not? He is making excellent progress."