Chapter 9 guys! Last Chapter!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! (ahem, I mean… happy snoggletog!)

Hiccup steadily grew stronger. In only two days he was up and walking around, albeit using Toothless as a crutch. Even if he hadn't been progressing as fast as he'd been doing, he would have been up and moving around. Hiccup could never stay in one spot for long.

But Crionna told him to stay on the island for at least another week before trying to fly back home. The others all thought this was a smart idea, although Hiccup definitely disagreed. But this gave him and Malla time to write up a peace treaty, which would definitely be beneficial to both Dragon's Edge, Berk and the island of the Great Protector.

One week went by fairly quickly, Astrid and the other Dragon riders enjoying their vacation time. Soon they were on their way back to the edge, soaring over the ocean. All though it was sad leaving Malla and the others behind, they promised to visit soon.

Hiccup and Toothless landed on the landing pad in front of the Dragon stables. Hiccup jumped off, and began to unstrap Toothless's saddle. It was a bit difficult since he still had one arm in a sling, but he wasn't one to give up easily.

The others landed around them, and they all began to take off their saddles to give their dragon's some freedom from all the straps. Astrid was finished first, then she set the saddle on the ground and marched over to Hiccup and Toothless.

Toothless had the largest and most complicated saddle out of all the dragons, thanks to his missing tailfin. So Hiccup so far only had one side of the saddle done, and was now moving down to unstrap the strings from Toothless's prosthetic tailfin.

Astrid shook her head as she watched Hiccup struggle. "Hiccup, why don't you just ask for some help?"

Hiccup glanced over at her, "Because I don't need it." He suddenly yelped and stepped back as he pinched his finger on an uncooperative buckle. He shook out his wounded hand, then turned to Astrid. "Okay maybe I need a little bit of help."

Astrid laughed and came forward, listening to Hiccup's instructions at taking apart the confusing saddle. It boggled her how Hiccup could invent such a complicated device, and not only that, but be able to take it off every day. The contraption had her confused in merely three seconds.

Finally, after some help from the others, they had the saddle off completely. Toothless bounded off, running around in circles, glad to be free. He then hurried back beside Hiccup, and nudged his riders hand. The dragon was so loyal, it was heartwarming to see the two friends interact with each other. It was like Hiccup could read Toothless's mind, and Toothless could read Hiccups. It was a bond that definitely would never be broken.

Toothless followed Hiccup to his hut, while Astrid still stood on the platform watching the two go. Stormfly nudged her from behind, and Astrid turned around smiling.

"Night girl. We'll go flying in the morning." Astrid patted the dragon's snout and then turned down the wooden platform. Everyone else had already left to their huts, so she was alone. The sun was just setting on the horizon, and the sky was colored brightly in red's and orange.

"Astrid!" Astrid stopped as she heard her voice called. She turned around to see Hiccup hurrying towards her. He skidded to a stop in front of her, breathing heavily.

He suddenly turned into that awkward Hiccup, where he had something to say but was to nervous/shy to say it. Astrid tapped her boot as she watched him.

"Uh, hi Astrid. Uh… I…um…" he scratched his neck, then reached down into his pocket, pulling something from within it.

He glanced up at her, as though afraid at what he'd see. Astrid cocked her head curiously, wondering what he had clutched in his hand.

"Well… you know… now that we've sorta… well… becomeacouplesortof." He rambled quickly. "I just wanted to give you this… as sort of a token of…" he paused and looked up at her, his green eyes shining brightly. "my love for you." He finished quietly. He opened his hand, holding up a thin chain that had a blue scale attached at the end. Astrid gasped as she saw it. The thing was small and dainty, the chain links so small she almost couldn't see them. Where had Hiccup gotten such a delicate creation?

"Hiccup." She breathed, reaching her hand forward to let her fingers graze the chain. "Where on earth did you get this?" she asked in awe. The thing still had her marveling over it. Hiccup let the necklace slip into her palm, and she brought it close to her, still staring at it. She realized that the scale that was attached to it was a Nadder scale- a beautiful blue scale tinted with green.

Hiccup gestured with his hand, a sign that he was either excited or nervous. Perhaps both. "Actually… I've been working on it for a while now. I just wanted to wait for the right time… to give it to you."

Astrid was dumbstruck. She couldn't believe Hiccup had actually made such a beautiful creation… it must have taken him months to make all those dainty metal loops that formed the chain. And he had done it for her.

She looked up at him. He was watching her carefully, a slight smile on his lips. Astrid glanced back down at the necklace in her hands then back up at Hiccup. "It's beautiful, Hiccup. I-I've never seen anything like it before. I love it." She pulled the chain up and unclasped the little hook. Then she pulled it around her neck and quickly hooked it on. She pulled her braid out from under the thin chain then let her hand come down to finger the dragon's scale.

Hiccup sighed. "Man… I was worried you wouldn't like it because… well you've never been one to like those kind of things… or at least I thought so. But I'm glad-" Astrid cut him off from his rambling as she kissed him softly, thanking him silently for the wonderful gift.

She pulled away and laughed at the silly smirk he wore. "Thank you, Hiccup. I'll never take it off."

Hiccup laughed shakily and he reached his hand up to rub his neck again. "I'm glad you like it." He said simply.

There was an awkward pause, then Hiccup laughed again, and began to back up. "Well, I'll see you in the morning, Astrid. Morning flight tomorrow with me and Toothless?" he asked grinning.

Astrid laughed, "Count on it, Dragon Boy." She called as he strode away back towards his hut. She moved toward her door, her heart feeling light. She closed the door behind her, and brought her hand up to finger the scale. She had meant what she'd said. She'd never ever take it off.

Then she thought about Viggo. She had heard he was dead… and oh, she hoped he was. Because if he had still been alive and breathing, she would not rest until he was dead. He had hurt not only her, but Hiccup as well.

She smiled again. Because she knew that even if he wasn't dead, Hiccup was there. And he would protect her from whatever Viggo might try to do. They had each other, and they would protect each other, no matter the cost.

…

"Sire?" the soldier said quietly from behind Ryker.

"Yes?"

"Is he alive? The men are wondering… not me of course, the others… and they're all a bit down and I want to give them the news as soon as I can…"

Ryker turned around laughing hoarsely. "A little water isn't enough to get rid of Viggo." He said, "He's alive and well. As soon as he's up and able to move easier, we're going to find he dragon riders."

"Yes, dear brother." Said a deep voice from behind both of them. Both men turned around to face Viggo as he walked shakily out into the hall. "Hiccup thinks I'm dead-"

"If he's alive to think at all." Ryker put in.

Viggo turned to look at his brother, "Hiccup lives." He said simply, darkly. "But I am going to change that…"

Okay guys! It is done! So this actually ended shorter then what I thought it would… but I really didn't have a whole lot more to put into this. So, drop me a review, let me know what you think of it. Now I'm going to try and finish up my other story – Anything for Milady- and I've also got another fanfic up sleeve that I'm going to start working on real soon! ;)

Thanks everyone... talk to you later!

-FanWriter02