Astrid's POV
It was today. Gods. I was so nervous and excited. I marrying Hiccup today!
"Astrid?" Ruffnut asked as she walked in.
"What do you think?" I asked her as I spun around in the white gown I was wearing.
I loved it. It was a beautiful dress. I had threaded some of Stormfly's scales through my hair.
"Hiccup's going to drop dead at the sight of you. He already thinks you're beautiful, but with that outfit..."
The wedding had taken a year of planning and preparing. But, Hiccup and I... We were more in love than ever.
We were waiting for Valka to come and walk me down the aisle when Toothless barged in.
"We have a code 1925!" He shouted.
"Toothless! We went over this! We have no idea what your code numbers mean!" I shouted back at him. He just glared at me.
"You would if you had paid any attention while I debriefing them!" He replied.
"Toothless..." I said warningly. "Toothless! If you don't tell me right now I swear I will make you regret it!" I growled at him. Ruffnut was just looking between the two of us trying to figure out what was going wrong.
"Fine. It means the ice sculpture Fishlegs made has melted." Relief flooded through me.
"That's it? Well, I don't care it's one decoration."
"Don't tell Fishlegs that."
"Ya. Ya. Now shoo!"
"What happened?"
"Code 1925," I replied.
"He's still using those?"
"Ya. I thought Hiccup ran away when he came in all urgent. But, nooooo it was just that the ice sculpture melted." Ruffnut smiled. "Seriously, Toothless needs to lighten up."
"He really does."
Toothless's POV
I was freaking out.
The ice sculpture had been a cover story, of sorts. I had melted the ice sculpture. But, it had been on purpose when I had realized the real problem. Fishlegs had yelled at me. Then I had explained the situation and I had to make everyone just focus on the fact that the ice sculpture had melted.
"This is bad," Fishlegs told me.
"I know."
"How many people know?"
"Just you and me."
"Oh, Gods."
"You're telling me."
"What do we do?"
"I have to stay here. If I disappear everyone will freak out and right now that is the last thing we need."
"I agree. So I'll go."
"Good. Meet back here in ten minutes. It's not a lot of time but..."
"I know."
"Good luck."
I watched as he called Meatlug and flew off.
Hiccup's POV
I didn't know what I was doing, but I knew one thing. I couldn't go through with this wedding. Not for a thousand different reasons.
So here I was. Flying full speed to Berk.
I hated myself honestly. I had left without an explanation. Without a warning and that made me hesitate.
No. I had to do this. Even if she might hate me forever. I had been selfish. So incredibly selfish. Not telling her. Not telling anyone. Not leaving sooner.
I landed. What do I do?
I shifted before pacing. Astrid. The love of my life. The only one I will ever love. But she wasn't mine and I wasn't hers because I left her.
I sat down and cried. I hoped that I hadn't hurt her as much as I was hurt. I had hated the saying my father had once told me. Even now I hated it, but I had to do what was best for her. And that wasn't me. I had to let her go because I love her.
As I decided what I would do I shifted and stretched my wings.
"Hiccup! What on Earth do you think you're doing!" I winced. As I turned I saw Toothless staring at me.
Great. Just great.
"I'm leaving." I looked back at the open ocean.
"Why? Hiccup. Astrid doesn't even know you're gone, yet. Come back." He was begging me and I felt myself wanting to.
I shook my head. I couldn't. I just couldn't. "I can't. Astrid deserves someone better than me. I should never have come back."
"Hiccup what are you talking about?" He asked me.
"Nothing," I replied and I knew he could see right through the lie.
"Why won't you just tell me? I know something's been eating away at you for months. I can help you." How? How could anyone help with this?
"You can't. No-one can." I still refused to meet his eyes.
"How do you know, Hiccup?"
"Because you wouldn't understand. There is no-one who would understand."
"Well, I'm not letting you go anywhere until you explain why you would even consider leaving your soulmate." He sat down and I knew he meant it and maybe I owed Astrid that much. Even if I was doing this so my heart wouldn't be crushed.
"I'm a selfish jerk," I replied. And every word was true. I was. I had been selfish hoping for some sort of future with Astrid.
"Explain, please."
"There was never going to be a future for me and Astrid and I've known for too long." My head drooped.
"Hiccup-"
"I love her so much. But I should've let her go. I should've been a person who wasn't selfish. Who didn't want to make as many memories with her as possible so I could-" I stopped short. How could I make him understand this? How could I make him realize that Astrid and I were doomed from the minute I had made that stupid deal?
"Hiccup? What happened?"
I looked anywhere but at him. Unable to see the disappointment that would surely come from what I would say. No. Just distract a little longer. Maybe he'll drop it if I play around it for long enough. I knew he wouldn't. I knew he'd want to know everything.
"The day's beautiful, isn't it?" I asked him. It was the lousiest attempt at changing the subject ever, but...
"Hiccup..." He said warningly.
"I mean look at those clouds..."
"Hiccup?" Now he was worried. I dared a glance at him and saw that he was looking down and maybe it was the way he looked or how he'd come all this way to find me or the weight of my secret or because he deserved the truth. I didn't know what was prompting me to tell him. It could be the Gods for all I knew. For all, I cared. The same Gods that had made me choose this.
I looked at the sky and prayed I wasn't making a mistake.
"It all started the day I took those arrows for you..."
YOU ARE READING
The Rise of Light (Book 3: Together Forever)
Fanfiction"I-I'll leave. I was just trying to find my way home these past five years and my family." Hiccup has returned home to the Hidden World. However, nothing is as he expected. He finds that his dad died. That Delta is Chieftess, has a mate and four ch...
