Hiccup paced back and forth across the small ledge on the side of the stone cliff. He'd found this spot some time ago while he was exploring further away from Berk, and it was one of his favorites. The cliffs in this area had vegetation that produced beautiful blue flowers, the color of the ocean below. Toothless lay nearby, ignoring his friend's worrying as he stretched out in the sun and just enjoyed the peace and quiet. Hiccup ignored the dragon as well, continuing to pace as he went through the plan over and over, wanting to be sure nothing went wrong.

Hiccup's gaze turned to the sky as he heard a familiar sound and he spotted the Deadly Nadder that was gliding toward them. He took a deep breath as the rider on the Nadder came into view. The woman on the dragon's back waved back as she neared, and Hiccup just smiled as she approached. He watched her golden-blond hair sway in the breeze and the fur of her hood flutter. Hiccup may have been the best dragonrider on Berk, but Astrid seemed to make riding look like a real art form. As Stormfly descended Astrid leaned back so she remained upright even as the dragon jerked forward at the force of her landing. The Nadder's arrival got Toothless' attention and he sat up, letting out an excited noise as Astrid dismounted.

"So, why did you need me to come all the way out here?" Astrid asked, patting Stormfly's side as the dragons moved to greet each other. "You should be back on Berk, doing all your chiefly stuff; but here you are, still looking out at the open sky like you want to run off and explore all of it."

Hiccup moved over to meet her and smiled at her teasing. "I'm not looking at the sky," he said with a lop-sided smile.

"You're still using that old line?" Astrid rolled her eyes and laughed at him. "So why did you want to meet me here anyway?" She moved toward one of the bushes and knelt down, taking a deep breath and smelling the flowers. "I always loved this spot."

"I needed a break from the village and all the people needing my time. I also wanted some time where it could be just you and me, so we can talk." Hiccup moved over to join her, trying to sound causal; but he must have given something away because she looked at him and narrowed her gaze just a bit. Hiccup grabbed one of the flowers and broke it off at the stem. He then slipped the blossom into the braid along the left side of Astrid's head.

"The pressure of being chief getting to you?" Astrid asked, smiling at the gesture. "I thought you were getting the hang of it. You seem less tired at the end of the day, and you've been doing night flights with Toothless sometimes so I thought you were handling it."

"I'm not doing too badly," Hiccup assured her. "Sure, I still hit stubborn situations...but I'm learning to worry less, or to get people to just do as I say. How have things been at the academy? I heard my mother was helping you out with today's class."

"She showed up, but she exactly didn't help today," Astrid began. "I think she just wanted to get an idea of how I run things, as I want to bring her in on more lessons because she knows so much." Astrid paused for a moment and then grinned. "Oh, and I forgot to tell you - I rode on Cloudjumper today."

"My mother let you ride him?" Hiccup asked, surprised. It wasn't that he thought his mother wouldn't trust Astrid on her dragon, but Cloudjumper was little particular. "He let you ride him?"

"Don't sound so shocked," Astrid said as she crossed her arms. "I believe I've ridden more dragons than you have."

"You've ridden Stormfly and Cloudjumper," Hiccup said. "I've ridden Stormfly and Toothless."

"You didn't ride Stormfly solo," Astrid countered. "I've ridden Stormfly, Toothless, Cloudjumper, and Hookfang. I'd ride Meatlug too, but she's practically glued to Fishlegs."

"I forced you to ride Hookfang, and to be honest that was a favor to Hookfang to get him away from Snotlout." Hiccup felt stupid for forgetting about when they had been younger and he'd tried to stop the fighting between Astrid and the bull-headed male Viking. "What, haven't flown Barf or Belch?" Hiccup teased as he moved over and set his hands on her elbows.

"Give me some time and I'll be riding them both at the same time." Astrid uncrossed her arms and he slid his hands down to hold her hands. "Almost as though they were the same dragon."

"Now you're just talking crazy," hiccup joked, squeezing Astrid's hands lightly. Astrid laughed and returned the gesture. "I'm glad Cloudjumper let you ride him. He really is picky, so that just shows even he can't deny how amazing you are."

"Wow, you're really laying on the honey. Why don't you just give me the hatchet?" Astrid tried to make it seem like she was joking, but he could tell she was bracing for bad news.

"No hatchet," Hiccup quickly assured her, not wanting Astrid to worry. "Just pots and pots of honey."

Astrid smiled slightly, but she still seemed worried. "Then why did you want me to come out here?"

Hiccup took a deep breath and decided he couldn't put it off any longer. He dropped Astrid's hands and motioned toward his Night Fury. "Toothless! Come on, Bud." The black dragon turned to them and quickly bounded over, stopping behind Hiccup.

"Where are we going?" Astrid asked, motioning to Stormfly to come over as well.

"Somewhere big," Hiccup answered, reaching out and taking Astrid's hands again. "But you don't need Stormfly to get there." The female Viking furrowed her brow in confusion at his statement. Hiccup turned back to Toothless and nodded. The dragon then began to sing; or more appropriately, make sounds in a pattern that resembled a song - something which Hiccup had taught him with great frustration and difficulty. Hiccup took a deep breath and waited for the song to reach its loop before he began.

"I'll soar and sail on savage skies, with ne'er a fear of falling." Hiccup had practiced the song over and over but he was careful to try to stay on key as he sang. "And gladly ride the winds of life, if you will marry me." Hiccup could feel his hands sweating but Astrid appeared to ignore it. "No scorching sun, nor freezing cold, will stop me on my journey." Hiccup took a step forward and let his forehead rest against hers. "If you will promise me your heart, and love me for eternity."

Hiccup took a breath to continue, but was cut off by Astrid picking up where he left off. "My dearest one my darling dear, your mighty words astound me." Hiccup was surprised that she knew the words, but all the more by her voice. He'd heard her sing group songs in the mead hall, but those were loud and raucous while her voice right now was soft and quiet. "But I've no need of mighty deeds, when I feel your arms around me." Hiccup released her hands and she stepped forward, allowing him to wrap his arms around her.

"But I would bring you rings of gold, I'd even sing you poetry." Hiccup remembered how his parents had sped up the song at this point, but with toothless keeping the beat Hiccup had to keep melody steady. He didn't mind at all, he didn't really want to rush himself. "And I would keep you from all harm, if you would stay beside me." He moved a hand to brush the bangs from her face so he could see her eyes before gently touching her cheek.

"I have no use for rings of gold, I care not for your poetry." Astrid raised a hand and held his hand on her cheek and Hiccup moved his hand so they could intertwine their fingers. "I only want your hand to hold, I only want you near me."

Astrid shifted to place her head on his shoulder. "To love to kiss to sweetly hold, for the dancing and the dreaming," they sang together. Hiccup placed a light kiss on her head and squeezed her hand. "Through all life's sorrow and delights, I'll keep your love beside me."

Hiccup took a step back suddenly and motioned behind him. Astrid looked at him confused as Toothless stopped making noise. Hiccup smiled and knew it was now or never. "I'll soar and sail on savage skies, with ne'er a fear of falling." Hiccup reached out and took one of her hands in his. "And gladly ride the winds of life..." Hiccup dropped down to one knee and stopped singing. "If you'll marry me, Astrid."

Astrid smiled down at him and placed her other hand on his. "You changed up the lyrics a little."

"Well we don't do much sailing these days, but we do a lot of flying. Seemed the words needed to be updated." Hiccup smiled and stood up, and shrugged. "I didn't know you knew the words to that song."

"Your mother sang it for me," Astrid explained. "I had her teach it to me because I thought it was so beautiful." She paused for a moment and laughed to herself. "Should have figured you'd use your parents' song."

"I have my reasons," Hiccup tried to defend. "The first time I heard that song it was right after my parents had met up again. My father started singing it to my mother, and they worked themselves into laughter and big smiles. I'd never seen my dad be that kind of happy, like everything was right in the world and there weren't any fears or worries. It made me realize that with a woman you love you can find peace no matter what. And you've always had my back, given me strength when I faltered. When I'm with you I feel that way, like all the bad things in the world just go away because I have you." Hiccup glanced toward the ground and then back to her. "So what do you say?"

"Oh, were you actually asking?" Astrid asked with a grin.

"No, I'm just messing around," Hiccup said with heavy sarcasm. "I certainly didn't fight with Toothless for five days to teach him that song, scout out and choose the best spot, and practice singing until I could go through the whole thing without making a single mistake for anything other than a joke." Hiccup laughed to himself for a moment. "Yes, I'm asking you to marry me."

"I thought you were just doing that as a formality. I mean, you know my answer already," Astrid said in her normal confident way that Hiccup couldn't help but smile at.

"I'll take that as Astrid for 'yes'," Hiccup said, feeling some relief.

Astrid struck out and hit the controls on his waist, causing the fin on his back to spring open. "Duh."

Hiccup sighed at the action but still smiled. "Are you ever going to get tired of that joke?"

"I will when it isn't funny," Astrid retorted.

"I think it stopped being funny a while ago," Hiccup argued.

"Not to me," Astrid shot back.

Hiccup reached out, quickly grabbing her wrist and tugging her toward him. "Come here," he said before he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her against him. He kissed her firmly as he hugged his fiancé tight.

Astrid let her head rest on his shoulder again and a hand moved up to play with the braids she'd made in his hair. "I've been ready for a while. I was just waiting on you."

"Sorry I took so long," Hiccup said with a light chuckle. They stood together until the sun started to set and Toothless disturbed them, requesting a night flight. "Come on, Buddy, you're ruining the moment."

Astrid stepped away from him and a mischievous smirk crossed her face. "I don't know, a little flight seems like a good idea to me." Stormfly appeared beside her and before Hiccup could protest she'd mounted the dragon. "Last one to the cove is Yak-Nog!"

Hiccup smiled at the challenge as the Astrid and her Nadder took off and soared away. "Well we can't be Yak-Nogs," Hiccup said before climbing aboard Toothless, opening the artificial tail, and taking off after the others.