Here's a bit of history: This chapter was originally a Love on the Battlefield one-shot but then the idea became too detailed and interesting to keep it in the confines of that story. So I decided that this had to be its own story. This is in the Love on the Battlefield canon, as you'll discover in later chapters. Since most of you are following that story as well, I'm glad I can clarify details in this story without having to do a bunch of flashbacks.

This story is definitely not your typical Hiccstrid pregnancy fic. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

~KateMarie999

Chapter One: Stormy Weather

The subsequent months after Hiccup and Astrid's nuptials had been relatively uninteresting. As far as the village was concerned, nothing had changed. Even before their wedding, it had become a running joke in the village that you weren't a true resident of Berk unless you caught the couple fiercely kissing in a bizarre public location at least once. Gobber held the record at having caught them a total of eight times. It was becoming so frequent that the newlyweds would blush scarlet every time they encountered him.

Life had returned to normal for Hiccup and Astrid as well. They had stayed confined to their new residence, which was just a tad outside the hustle and bustle of the village. They had picked it specifically because they were less likely to be intruded upon and, though neither of them would say it outright, because it had an extra bedroom that would transition perfectly into a nursery. At that time, they were using it for their wedding gifts, which lay forgotten for quite a long time thanks to the distraction of each other.

At long last, the two emerged and got on with their business as though they hadn't been absent at all. Astrid in particular was beginning to grow tired of the older women in the village casting sideways glances at her thankfully flat stomach. She could occasionally hear them whispering about when she would give birth to the next chief. The idea was making her very uncomfortable but the telltale signs of nausea and weight gain had not overcome her so she was reasonably sure it would be a while before children were even a consideration. Of course, both of them wanted children but it was far too early now. They had to focus on their new lives together before adding another new life to the mix.

Toothless and Stormfly had been rather annoyed at the antics of their humans. They loved the new house because the master bedroom had plenty of room for them both to comfortably fit with their owners. Most nights, especially after the wedding, Hiccup and Astrid wouldn't allow the dragons access to their room, instead instructing them to sleep in the sizeable pen next to the house. The dragons didn't mind it at first but the unpredictability was beginning to get slightly annoying. Their owners, for some reason, seemed to be especially friendly with them after the nights they didn't allow them into their room, though the dragons suspected there was an unrelated reason for this sudden affection. The way their owners grinned at each other while they fed them made them wonder what on earth they were doing that was so important.

Two days after they had emerged from their house (for longer than half an hour) and reopened the academy, Hiccup and Astrid had decided that it was time to attempt to find out what their friends had remembered in the last two months that they hadn't been studying.

The day before they emerged, Ruffnut and Snotlout had begun a publicized and very affectionate relationship. Having finally decided that Astrid was off the table the day he had walked in on them kissing at the academy, he decided to pursue Ruffnut, who didn't mind being second choice. In fact, she had displayed a surprising amount of cleverness when it came to allowing him to chase her. Hiccup and Astrid didn't know she was capable of subtlety but she had proven them wrong. Now that the two were together, they weren't paying attention to a word either Hiccup or Astrid said. For completely understandable reasons, Tuffnut was also a bit preoccupied with his sister's new boyfriend. Fully expecting his words to fall on deaf ears, Hiccup plowed through his speech anyway.

"All right, everyone. As you know, there have been a few… distractions…" he looked over at Astrid, who winked at him. "But I wanted to see how much you all remember."

"I remember catching you and Astrid making out in the tool shed two months ago." Tuffnut said, scratching his head.

"Not about that!" Hiccup exclaimed, his cheeks turning slightly pink. That incident had been particularly embarrassing because he was halfway through taking off his shirt when Tuffnut had barged in.

"Oh yeah, and I caught you two behind the Great Hall!" Ruffnut piped up, apparently oblivious to Hiccup's discomfort.

"He meant about dragons!" Astrid shouted, attempting to restore calm.

"Yeah, I think I caught them in that tool shed too, come to think of it." Fishlegs chimed in.

"Yeah and I walked in on them in Gobber's office, that was weird." Snotlout added, laughing at the couple.

"If we could just shift our attention to the dragons…" Hiccup continued, his face now reddening even more.

But apparently, Snotlout and Ruffnut had instead decided to shift their attention to each other's lips. Tuffnut looked disgusted and began to make very loud gagging noises. Ruffnut, without even looking up, punched him in the face, sending him flying backward. Hiccup smacked his face with his palm. It was clear he was not going to be able to get any of them to pay attention. Even Fishlegs seemed distracted by the sight of Ruffnut and Snotlout kissing, though no one knew exactly why.

After a few minutes of attempting to restore the peace, Hiccup and Astrid decided that it was a lost cause.

"Fine, just get yourselves killed if we ever get attacked." Astrid said, not bothering to raise her voice over Tuffnut's loud complaints over his sister's public displays of affection.

The newlyweds walked away with their dragons. Hiccup slid his hand into Astrid's, glancing over at her and grinning. The wind was blowing in her face, pushing her bangs out from in front of her eyes and making them seem to light up, like two small pieces of the clear sky. He felt his heart skip a beat at the radiance of his wife and allowed himself to bask in her beauty, wondering how he had gotten so lucky as to win her heart.

At long last, they found themselves at the edge of a cliff. They stood there, silently holding hands and staring into the horizon. Had they turned around and looked up at the sky, they would have noticed the looming dark clouds approaching rapidly but they were too caught up in how much they loved each other to notice something that mundane.

"Let's go for a ride." Hiccup said at last, squeezing Astrid's hand before letting go.

"I'll race you!" Astrid said with a mischievous grin.

Hiccup laughed. "Oh you're on!"

They quickly mounted their dragons and hurtled toward the sky. Hiccup was winning by the tiniest of margins but Astrid was catching up to him little by little. In their years as dragon trainers, they had started to match each other in skill. He still had a way with his dragon that no one else could aspire to replicate but she was beginning to figure out what exactly it was and, much to his irritation, she was starting to give him a run for his money.

Laughing with glee, the couple flew at a breakneck speed farther and farther away from Berk until it had become a speck in the distance. Their dragons began to grow tired and at long last, Hiccup finally conceded that it had been a tie.

"Yes!" Astrid shouted, pumping her fist in the air. "It took long enough but I knew this would happen!"

"Or maybe I just let you think it did." Hiccup said, the corners of his mouth tugging upward slightly.

Astrid suddenly looked crestfallen. "You didn't…"

He finally laughed out loud. "You're right, I didn't. But you should have seen your face!"

Astrid immediately flew Stormfly close enough to punch him in the shoulder. This only made him laugh harder. He had come to view the ever present bruise on his arm as a badge of honor. Quick as a flash, he grabbed the front of her shirt and brought her in for a very passionate kiss. When they broke apart, Astrid narrowed her eyes.

"You've certainly changed a lot." she said, smiling seductively.

"I know." He replied, returning her seductive smile. "You like it."

"Was it that obvious?" she asked him, biting her lip.

He leaned in for a very gentle kiss. She felt as though her insides were on fire. Kissing on the backs of their dragons was, admittedly, a little bit difficult but definitely worth it. She had to stop herself from wondering what else they could do from atop a dragon…

She slipped her arms underneath Hiccup's shirt, feeling the smooth skin of his stomach. For a moment, she was tempted to tickle him but she thought that if he fell off his dragon, the moment would be ruined so she restrained herself. She dearly wanted to rip his shirt right off but it was a bit too cold for that so high in the sky.

Just as the two of them were getting caught up in their affection, they suddenly noticed the sky darkening considerably. Without any warning, rain began to pour down on top of them, soaking them completely.

"That doesn't sound good. We need to get back to Berk." Hiccup said, letting go of his wife and immediately directing his dragon forward through the sudden raging storm.

Their ears rang with the claps of thunder. Twice, Hiccup and Toothless were nearly struck.

Then it happened.

Hiccup heard a scream from a point far behind him. He turned around just in time to see a bolt of lightening come so close to Astrid and Stormfly, they had to roll over in midair to avoid it. His heart seemed to freeze when he saw his wife, his beautiful wife, thrown off her dragon and begin to plummet toward the ground.

For a moment, he couldn't react. And then he couldn't stop himself. He shot forward, flying faster than he would normally have flown in such inclement weather but he couldn't find her falling form. The rain was too thick. A moment later, he knew it was too late. He would never catch her in time.