Disclaimer: I do not own "How to Train Your Dragon."

She could be a stubborn one sometimes, especially when it came down to her word versus another's. He had seen her destroy entire stone pillars in fits of rage, put the fear of Odin into marauders three times her size, but never had he ever seen her, this angry. And it was directed at him.

The twenty year old Viking had just completed a race around the island and had lost by a fraction of an instant. But that's not what set her off. It was what he said, "Almost." He did not understand what was so wrong with that one word but it still put a fiery red mark across his cheek.

He caressed the stinging mark that had just been applied, not so lightly, by the Viking girl. The initial impact had been so forceful that even Toothless winced.

He watched her storm out of the arena, axe sloppily poised on her back as she made her exit. His natural tendency for perfection told him to inform her of this, but he knew that that would probably be the greatest mistake of his life. So he let it slide, his mind more concerned with why she was so angry. There had to be more behind it than his simple statement.

He looked to his friend for help. The dragon just stared at him with innocent eyes. Hiccup sighed, "Well, we've got to find out. I don't want her mad at me!"

Toothless glanced at the girl that was already gone, then back to him. The eager expression making him restless. "What do you want me to do," He demanded, "Go get myself killed?"

The Night Fury darted over to him and prodded his hand forcefully. "Bud, please, you're making me nervous!" But the dragon persisted eventually launching him onto the saddle and taking off.

Knowing it was futile, Hiccup latched in his prosthetic and prepared for flight. I hope he knows what he's doing.

They flew toward the Great Hall, Astrid storming toward it as well. Hiccup shook his head, "How's this gonna solve anything?" He asked the dragon.

Toothless answered, but not the way he wanted: A violent twist down, and flew toward her.

"You lunatic don't kill her!" He yelled, seeing the girl's figure approaching ever so quickly. "Astrid, look out!" He cried.

She turned at the voice only to have her arm grabbed by the Night Fury and then taken into the sky.

At the unexpected turn of events, Hiccup covered his face in embarrassment, "Toothless, what are doing?" He asked. This was not what he wanted. Now she was going to hate him!

The blonde haired Viking Squirmed in the dragon's grasp, roaring furiously and spewing out threats that would frighten even an outcast's heart. Toothless thought it wise to keep her there, for fear that if close enough, she would kill his rider.

Hiccup didn't know what to do; he was so embarrassed that he didn't think he could ever see her face again. So he sat there and pretended to not notice her.

Like all his other plans, it failed. She spoke, "Hiccup? Oh Hiccup?" Her voice carried such suppressed fury in it that it sent a chill down his spine. "You have three seconds to let me go before I knock your teeth out!"

He forced himself to speak, "Astrid," He began cautiously, "Now I know that this might seem—"

"Hiccup!"

"Ah, okay, okay! I know what you're thinking but this was Toothless's idea, not mine!"

She didn't buy it, "You control him with your leg!"

She had him there. All this time he could have prevented the dragon from ever swooping down. He was just so used to riding with him that he subconsciously followed his lead. But how could he explain this to her? She would only think of him as being condescending. The gods knew he did not need that.

"Got nothing to say, huh?" She remarked, but waited in a moment of silence for him to respond. When he could not find the words she released a breath of disbelief.

This was it. It was now or never, "Listen, Astrid, I'm just gonna ask—why are you so upset?" he felt the pressure weigh on his head, nervously anticipating the answer she would give.

"Why do you think? I'm about a mountain's height above the ocean, being carried away unwillingly, by a dragon!"

Okay he knew to expect that. He needed to clarify, "No, I mean back in the village—in the arena—you stormed off in anger. Why?"

She laughed bitterly, "You kidnapped me; brought me way up here to ask me that?"

"I want to know. If you're upset, I can help—"

"You cannot help me!" She snapped. "Don't even try."

"Why? What is it that I've done to make you so miserable?"

She just laughed, shaking her head. She drew in a breath as if to speak, but was cut off by sudden sensation of plummeting.

It had happened in the blink of an eye; something had caught Toothless's artificial wing and had destroyed it.

Hiccup shouted at the dragon, trying to regain stability. He then glanced back to the tail when Astrid shouted at it. A great fear overcame him as a tiny island spiraled toward them. "Keep her safe!" He shouted as the dragon extended his wings to full mass in an attempt to slow their movement. He soon realized that it was not going to work, so he braced for impact.

It was a quick force, but he blacked out as soon as it happened.

Toothless lay on the ground, groaning from the brunt of the landing his side took. He then felt the movement of the girl from within his enfolded wings, unraveled them to see her slowly awakening, a small laceration just above her brow.

He smiled at her, happy to see that she was all right, until her face contorted in pain.

Trying to stand, Astrid felt the stiffness of pain envelop her, twisting to rid herself of it. She then looked around in a daze, "Wh—what?" She questioned. It was not until she looked at Toothless that her memory returned. She still had questions though: Where was she? How could she have survive that impact?

She then turned to the dragon that watched her, still lying on the ground. She approached him, "Toothless," She began, her voice was raspy and weak. "Are you okay?"

The Night Fury cooed and sent her a small smile.

"Thanks for saving me." She said, putting a hand on his head. Her eyes then fell on the empty saddle on his back and trembled in a gasp, "Hiccup!"

The boy lay unconscious not too far from them. His face was in the dirt, arms lying lifelessly above his head.

The dragon narrowed his pupils as the name, scrambling frantically to get to his feet. Where was his companion? Why didn't I save him?

Astrid mustered up all the strength she had to limp her way over to him, kneeling and quickly flipping his limp form over as she did so. "Hiccup? Hiccup! Please wake up. No, please be all right, please!

The Night Fury zoomed past her and sniffed his rider's face, cooing in pleas for him to awaken and say, 'hey, bud!' He began prodding his face in small nudges, staring, wide eyed, waiting.

She grasped his hand tightly, "Please Hiccup, c'mon!"

She felt the hand twitch, looked up hopefully at his face.

Slowly his eyes of jade green revealed themselves and in a gasp she hugged him. "Oh, Hiccup, I thought I had lost you! Oh gods!" She nuzzled her head into his. In this moment, she felt as though she had been given back something that she had lost for years.

The dragon barked in joy at the awakening of his friend and gave him a big lick across the cheek.

Still slightly dazed Hiccup weakly extended a hand to pat him on the head. Smiling warmly as the dragon lovingly rubbed his head against him, shaking Astrid from him.

The girl looked at him, "What is wrong with you? Why would you not have your dragon save you?"

He smiled weakly, "Because… he would've had to drop you to do it." he said through pain.

"But you could've died!"

He looked at her for a moment, "You're life's the priority. I couldn't let you die just to save my own life."

She shook her head in disbelief, only this time it was out of happiness. He was willing to sacrifice his life to save me. She had to fight to will away the tears stinging her eyes. She felt guilty that she ever had any anger for him. How could she be mad at a person willing to sacrifice everything for her happiness?

Hiccup saw her guilt and frowned, "I'm sorry I did this to you."

Why is he sorry? "No, I'm sorry for being mad at you. I was just having a bad day; I had no right to take it out on you."

"It's okay." He said, but the source of the matter still needed to be exposed, "What I want to know is why you were so upset."

She hesitated, feeling a sudden constriction in her throat. No, she had to tell him, it was only fair. Swallowing she began, "I… I was afraid… afraid... to love you."

Hiccup's eyes widened, the unexpected answer taking him by surprise. She loved him? …She loved him! He then realized that it was the cause of her actions lately; the distancing, the cruel threats, even the physical pain she had brought unto him; it was out of love.

He looked up to her, saw the downward curve of shame on her features, gently placed a hand on her dirtied cheek. "It's okay, love scares me too. I just react to fear differently."

She looked up at him, "How?"

"Well, for one, I get this awkward stiffness in my body and I stutter and spew out utter nonsense." She then laughed at a motion he made with his tongue. He laughed as well, but it ending in coughing and a painful contortion of his face.

Toothless looked at him in concern as Astrid took a moment to analyze him. She observed his upper torso, feeling for any deviations in bone pattern. When her hand touched his rib cage, he stiffened and shouted in pain.

Both the girl and dragon recoiled, Toothless eyeing her for bringing such pain to his rider.

Hiccup breathed sharply through his nostrils, trying to calm the pain. Astrid nodded fearfully, "Broken ribs."

"Of course, had to achieve something from such a fall!" He joked. He then noticed the caution his dragon exerted toward the girl, "It's okay, bud. She's helping."

The dragon looked unconvinced, but trusted him.

"All right," she began, "Let's get you up." In a mighty heave she, with as much care as she could possibly muster, lifted him.

He cried out at the sharp pain that stabbed his sides, gripped her tightly.

Toothless shrieked at the girl, convinced that she was the source of his pain. He was not going to let his best friend be hurt by anyone!

Hiccup tried to assure him that it was all right, but the pain prevented him.

By the time she had got him to his feet, the dragon forcefully pushed her away with his head, knocking her to the ground.

He quickly steadied himself on a boulder. Knowing that it needed to be stopped, he forced the words, "Toothless… Stop!"

The dragon heeled, looking back to him, wide eyed as he leaned on the rock.

"She's—she's not hurting me. It's okay."

The Night Fury looked at the girl, daring not to move, then back to him.

"Trust me," he said staring into his large loving eyes.

Toothless then looked at the girl and cooed apologetically. She understood why he was doing this, but still could not override the instinctive apprehension.

Toothless slowly approached her, gave her a small apology lick on the cheek. Her tension eased up at the gesture and she slowly placed her hand on his head. They were friends again.

Hiccup sighed in relief. One problem had been solved, now another one formed. He looked out toward Berk, "How're we gonna get back?"

She stood and made her way over to him, "I don't know. I can't fly Toothless back. And we can't wait for you to heal." She sighed in defeat. She was so exhausted that all she wanted was to sleep. But at that moment her eyes caught a blue glow from Toothless's back.

She watched him as he walked up to the end of the isle and roared into the sky.

Hiccup looked at her, "He's calling the dragons!" A laugh of amazement passed his lips.

Astrid was so overjoyed in that moment that she grabbed him by the cheeks and kissed him deeply on the lips. He pushed past the initial shock and kissed back. The passion those two had in their embrace caused the dragons, landing around them to stare.

Toothless turned his head at them, a smile tugging at his mouth as he realized that the two had finally settled their dispute and were friends again… even more so than before.