Let me Live

Let me Live - Epilogue

Hiccup breathed in deeply, as he stared down past the rows and rows of friends and family members, to gaze at Astrid. She clutched tight at Ivan's arm, as she walked towards Hiccup, shining white. Her dress sparkled in the sun, blinding, and dazzling all the guests watching her stride. In the endless quiet, her shoes echoed with clacks as she danced closer and closer to Hiccup; ready to become eternally tied together.

Her dress was exquisite, her veil simple but beautiful, with adornments of golden leaves circling her curled hair, like a halo. Hiccup couldn't take his eyes off of her, eager for her to get closer, so their hands could become intertwined. Gobber stood to Hiccup's left, and waiting to stand beside Astrid, Valka stood by her right.

As the Best Man, and Maid of Honour.

After Dagur's attack, Hiccup had reunited Valka and Stoick, and everyone returned to Berk. That doesn't mean that everything immediately went back to 'normal' - or that even now, at their wedding, that things are normal. Because where their life now has gone back to everyday, life itself has adapted to new situations.

In truth, nothing could ever be what it was before Hiccup became shunned in the first place.

After a year in Berk, Hiccup and the others moved to Dragon's Edge, met Heather, forgave Dagur, and defeated Trader Yohan and Drago... at least for now. Yes, Hiccup has forgiven everyone that hurt him - but that doesn't mean he's forgotten.

Anytime Dagur brandishes a dagger in close proximity to Hiccup, he flinches and sometimes yells, before immediately falling into a panic attack - which led Dagur to usually use a club or a bow and arrows as his main weapon. Whenever Hiccup feels unincluded or ignored or mentally hurt in anyway and Astrid isn't there to help him, he can again spiral into panic attacks. And that's all ignoring the nightmares he has at night...

But that's something that he and Astrid are working on - together.

Speaking of Astrid...

Hiccup tore his thoughts away from the past, and focused back on Astrid, who at that point was releasing her grip on Ivan, and tightly grasping Hiccup's hand. Gobber was already in floods of tears, and the groomsmen - Fishlegs, Snotlout, Tuffnut and Dagur were very obviously trying to hide their happy tears.

On the other side, Heather, Ruffnut, Mala... and Chicken (forced upon them by Tuffnut), were 'ooh'ing at the sight of them together. The bridesmaids were all wearing pale pink knee length dresses - to help Astrid's blue accessories against her white dress stand out. Valka had lent her some dangly blue earrings that neatly framed her face.

As Stoick proclaimed to the world that Hiccup and Astrid were now one, Hiccup's mind drifted back again, to how he used to be treated by Stoick, and the other Vikings. Even though he now trusts them, he still can't get the thought out of his head...

... what if this happens again?

"Hiccup? Are you okay?" Astrid whispered to him, her hand gripping his tighter.

"A - Astrid..." Hiccup muttered.

Then he smiled.

"Yes, I'll be fine - as long as I have you."

Hi guys! The epilogue - and story - are now finished! Thank you all for your support and kindness, and now it's finally time for me to move onto something new.

About that!

The results of the vote mean that my next fanfiction will be about...

MY HERO ACADEMIA!

Yay! I'm super excited to write. I have a plotline already drafted, but I won't be publishing anything for a while - as I want to write several chapters before I start publishing any.

I can't wait to see you guys over there! And again - thank you guys for everything.

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊