For Milady

TWO: Staying on the Edge

"Stupid Hiccup," he had growled and stomped away as the one-legged Viking had flinched. He looked at the others. "You understand?" he had asked but the twins had shrugged.

"We have our sale to complete-and then we're good to go, H," Tuff commented and walked after his sister. Quietly, Astrid walked up to take his hand, her fingers sliding between his and he looked up with a pained smile.

"I know you're right," he murmured. "It's just...I know when I get back, Dad will have me training to be the Chief. I'll barely get to spend any time with you or Toothless and I'll be stuck in meetings and planning and...and it will be absolute torment! Gods, if here was a better way to kill me off, I can't think of it. I would much rather be chased by a dozen bounty hunters or Changewings or Speed Stingers or even the Submaripper rather than try to argue through who owes who what in a disagreement over sheep grazing rights!" Gently, she leaned over and ghosted a small kiss onto his cheek.

"Whatever you do, babe-I'm there with you," she promised. "I'm not letting you face that all on your own." He smiled a little more genuinely.

"There's no one else I want at my side," he assured her and kissed her gently. "I need to speak to Fishlegs to see if we can come up with something better than Gronckle iron to seal over the cracks and stop the eruptions..."

"My brilliant dragon boy," she murmured as he walked away, his stride still confident and positive. Since they had come to the Edge and he had effectively become their Chief, he had grown in confidence and his body language had mirrored that. As he walked, his shoulders were back, he was more upright and his strides more purposeful: to Astrid, it was actually pretty hot...along with the other changes that time had wrought on the skinny one-legged Viking. There were still moments when he echoed the boy who had been consistently bullied by the village, outcast and finally redeemed at the cost of his leg but most of the time, he was more confident, stronger and more decisive. And honestly, she was proud of how he had developed and knew whatever happened, he would continue to become stronger. But the base was his command and she knew leaving it would be a wrench. And then she sighed again. She would have loved Heather to talk to-but she was back with Dagur, living on Berserk and searching for their lost father, Oswald. They exchanged Terror Mails but Astrid wasn't a great writer and she ached for her friend to talk to and joke with: Ruff was't even half a substitute.

Maybe there would be a positive in going back to Berk...

oOo

Hiccup and Fishlegs had come up with a plan to mix Deathsong amber with Gronckle iron to create and even stronger and more heat-stable mixture that could seal the volcano and Hiccup had volunteered to take Astrid to Deathsong Island to fetch the amber. Since their relationship ceased to be a secret, there had been less moaning about Hiccup usually pairing himself with Astrid in missions...though Snotlout had complained vociferously about having to accompany the twins to Dark Deep to fetch some Gronckles and she could see that Hiccup had almost relented...but not quite. Spending an entire mission with Snotlout would be intolerable.

Hiccup had been thoughtful and hadn't talked much during the flight but Astrid had been lost in thought as well. Back on Berk, she had joined the Berk Guard and if they returned, would she resume her service? That would be the most logical thing-but it would take her away from the village more and more and restricted the chances to be with Hiccup even more. And he was right about being put into training, making his free time limited and very precious. Would going back to Berk ruin their relationship...or would it force them to make it official?

She smiled. They had already taken the most definitive step in their relationship, broken the Hooligan taboo and she knew that though they hadn't repeated the transgression, they had indulged in some pretty hot making out and she knew that the others were talking among themselves about what they had imagined they had overheard. She made a mental note to tell them to shut up when they returned home-because it could be a disaster for them both if Stoick-and her father-found out from anyone other than the two young people themselves.