How Is It Done? Chapter 7

Afterward, as they lay drowsily in each other's arms, Hiccup kissed her on the forehead. "All this, and friends too," he murmured.

"I will give you those strong sons, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III," she whispered back. "And if they aren't so strong, then they'll be like you, and that will be good, too."

"How about some beautiful daughters, while we're at it?" he asked softly.

"Deal," she agreed sleepily.

When they awoke the next morning, they found themselves surrounded. Their dragons had lay down on either side of them during the night, to help keep their people warm. Toothless seemed very pleased with the whole situation; he was almost purring as he looked back and forth from Hiccup to Astrid.

"I'm glad you approve, bud." Hiccup turned and gazed happily at his new wife beside him. "I don't know about you, but I'm glad Ruffnut and Tuffnut were wrong."

"Mmmm," Astrid nodded contentedly, rolling over so she could rest her head on his shoulder. "What happens next?"

"We ought to get home before our friends start looking for us," Hiccup answered, brushing her hair out of her face with a finger. "They'll search with their dragons, and if they see Toothless and Stormfly here, not only will they bother us, they'll also find out where our special place is."

"What will we tell everyone when we get home? They'll wonder where we went, and what we..."

Hiccup gently tipped her head up so he could kiss her lightly. "We'll tell them we did it our way. We're going to do this whole marriage our way. We won't meet anyone's expectations except our own. That's what happens when nobody gives us guidance, right? We'll become responsible adults, and we'll do our duty to the village, and we'll also slurp our honey and race our dragons. And we'll teach our strong sons and our beautiful daughters to do the same thing."

She kissed him back happily. "You still taste like honey," she smiled.

THE END