Astrid's POV
I shot up in a sitting position, panting heavily as I tried to piece together what had happened. And then it hit me, I had died.
I rubbed my forehead as I filled my lungs with the heavy, humid air around me, which stung in the slightest, probably due to the smoke from the fire. Fire. I removed my hand from my forehead and studied my arms, which I had expected to be red and blistered, but to my surprise, they looked completely normal.
My hand quickly ran up to my hair as I lifted my braid, examining it, only to be surprised by seeing that it had only been slightly singed at the tips. I raised a brow, finding this extremely odd considering the inferno I had been through, but decided not to think much of it, considering my skin looked normal as well.
For the first time, I took a look around at my surroundings, and was again surprised to find myself in the middle of what seemed to be a dark cave. I looked down at what I had been laying upon and recognized it as a stone pedestal. I jumped down from the pedestal, my bare feet landing gently on the cold, stone ground as I realized I was not in the same outfit I had been in before.
Goosebumps rose up my arms and legs as I studied my outfit, which was a loose fitting, long-sleeved, brown dress. In my opinion, the dress wasn't very flattering on me, at all.
Again, I took a look around the dark room, now having decided that I no longer wished to stay in this humid, cold room any longer. I noticed an entrance and quickly made my way over to it. In some miraculous way, I managed to find my way out of the cave, discovering the slim exit faster than I thought. I slipped outside and breathed in the fresh air.
Gods, it felt much better to breathe in that light air than the heavy, humid air inside the cave. Though my lungs may have burned a little, I brushed it off as I was busy enjoying being alive.
As soon as I had gotten over the rush of being back from the dead, I realized it was time for me to go home, the question was only how. I had recognized the place I was as Berk, we had flown on this side of the island several times before, but that didn't mean I knew exactly where to go, so I did the most logical thing that came to mind.
I raised my fingers to my mouth and blew, a sharp noice emitting me as I called for my beloved dragon to come to my rescue. And to my surprise, not even five minutes later, the Deadly Nadder came flapping towards me at top speed, her split tongue hanging out of her mouth as she screeched happily at the sight of me.
"Stormfly!" I exclaimed as I ran up to her and wrapped my arms around her neck. "I've missed you, girl"
Once again, Stormfly screeched happily as she nuzzled up against me, obviously having missed me as well.
After having reunited with my beloved dragon, I quickly got my mind back on track, it was time to go home. I climbed up on the dragon, nearly flashing my entire butt to every woodland creature that wanted to watch, before we were soaring through the skies.
I couldn't help but grin as that familiar gust of wind hit my face and I raised my arms to touch the clouds. Freedom was once again mine, I was alive.
It didn't take long for the two of us to fly over to the village. It was clear to me that it was very late at night, seeing as I hadn't seen any of my friends out on any midnight flights and the entire village was devoid of light, except for the large, lit torches that were scattered around the village.
We landed outside the Haddock residence, which had become my home before I had managed to fall off Stormfly and lost my memory. I slid of the dragon, giving her one last hug before letting her fly back to the stables she slept in.
I slowly made my way up the stone steps leading up to the house, which was looking more intimidating than ever as not a single source of light could be seen from inside. I took a deep breath before stepping up to the front door, staring blankly at it.
What if he despises me for what I did? What if he doesn't care? What if he has already replaced me?
Paranoid thoughts crept out from the corners of my mind as I raised my hand to knock on the door. Should I really do this? I quickly tried to shake away all my negative thoughts as I built up enough confidence to make my knuckles tap against the hard, wooden door.
I waited for a few minutes, uncertain if Hiccup had heard me at all, and as I was about to knock again, I heard someone slowly making their way down the stairs, followed by some muffled mumbling I couldn't make out.
I took a step back from the door as I realized Hiccup would open it in a matter of seconds. I took a shaky breath, preparing to speak to him again for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.
The door slowly creaked open, revealing a Hiccup looking like he had just rolled out of bed —which he probably had. His hair was all over the place, and he could barely keep his eyes open as he squinted at me, obviously trying to make out whoever was standing in front of him as his night fury yawned beside him.
I bit myself in the lip as I dug my nails into the palms of my hands, waiting for him to recognize me and present me with his reaction, no matter how bad it may be.
Hiccup furrowed his brows as he leaned slightly forwards, as if he was trying to get an even better look at me than before, which it seemed like he got, seeing as his eyes shot open and widened to the size of a training shield. Toothless on the other hand, had stumbled over to the hearth and fallen asleep beside it.
Hiccup stared blankly at me for a second, mouth slightly agape as he looked like he was about to say something, but was unable to get it out.
After a few seconds of silence and Hiccup being frozen in place, he finally spoke.
"A-Astrid?"
"Hey" I breathed, unable to tear my gaze away from him as I feared it would leave me crumbling to the ground.
Hiccup blinked a few times before furrowing his brows and scrunching his nose, looking me up and down. "Is that really you?"
I smiled, letting out a breath I didn't know I had been holding as I took a cautious step towards him. "Who else could it be?"
Hesitantly, he reached out his hand for my face and after hovering his hand beside my cheek for a brief moment, he gently cupped my cheek, with a wide grin plastered on his face. His other hand quickly followed as he cupped both my cheeks, letting out a shaky laugh as his eyes began to water and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close.
"It is you" He buried his nose in the crook of my neck, pulling me even closer to him. "Gods, you have no idea how much I've missed you, Astrid"
I tightened my grip around his upper body as I made myself comfortable in the arms I had longed to be in for what felt like ages. "If it's anything near how much I've missed you, then I think I have a slight clue"
After a long embrace, Hiccup pulled away, his hands still gripping my shoulders as if he thought I was going to slip away if he dared let go. Our eyes met, and never before had those striking eyes of his sparkled like they did in that moment.
"Why?" His voice broke as his eyes searched mine. "Why did you push me out of the way?"
"Because I wouldn't be able to live in a world without you in it" I smiled up at him as I grabbed a hold of his hand and brought it up to my cheek once again.
A tear rolled down his cheek as he cupped my cheeks with both hands. "I thought you were dead, you had me worried sick"
I wiped his tears away with my thumbs as I brought his face closer to mine. "I know"
Hiccup's lips met mine in a deep, desperate and passionate kiss that rendered me with wobbly knees as I desperately clasped my hands around his neck to support myself. His fingers braided themselves into my hair as I dug my nails into the back of his neck, pulling him even closer so that I could deepen the kiss even more.
As things were on the verge of going a little too far, we both pulled away, panting heavily as we leaned our foreheads against one another, filling our deprived lungs with fresh air once again.
Hiccup's eyes immediately locked with mine as we were unable to tear our gazes away from each other. His eyes shone brighter than ever before as a sigh escaped the small smile that had formed on his mouth. "I love you, Astrid Hofferson, more than you'll ever know"