Declaimer: As you can guess this is a FANfic; so of course I own nothing except for the storyline, the idea, and my own characters.

"Brave" & "Tangled" and all related characters © Disney
"How To Train Your Dragon" & "Rise of the Guardians" © DreamWorks

A/N: Italic = past/1000 years ago

Normal = present, modern time

"A Thousand Years Can't Change My Heart"

"Hiccup please, no… Hiccup! Can you hear me? Hiccup…!"

Her cries were answered with silence.
It was heart breaking to see the once brave hero of their village like this, his skin now cold as the winter snow that fell upon them, his eyes closed as if he was simply sleeping. His dragon lost, nowhere to be found, and not even a labored breath came from the fallen rider.

"Hiccup… Please… You can't…oh gods no."

Arianne continued to cry, hoping, praying to whatever god they believed in to bring back her fallen brother.

Astrid cupped his cheek lovingly; her tear-filled, sapphire-blue gaze firmly set on him.

Her chest tightened, "Hiccup…"

Every Viking as well as every dragon present lowered their head, mourning the loss of another great chief.

Astrid held Arianne as she wept; Stormfly and Starshot nuzzled their respective riders in comfort.
Amalia turned away from the sight of her fallen comrade, allowing her tears to fall freely in secret. Her dragon, Bertram, nuzzling her in comfort as her cries grew less and less silent.
Snotlout sniffled here and there, but held back his tears. His pride stopping him from crying over his cousin, but his heart ached at the site nonetheless. Hookfang was by side as always, offering a look of concern towards his rider.
Fishlegs held Meatlug as he cried; of course he was never the one to hide his emotions, the situation at hand only added to his grief.
Tuffnut held his sister, normally this kind of situation (the danger and chaos) would excite them, but they were still human. And the loss of their leader took its toll on the two; cries were heard from Ruff while sniffling was heard from Tuff.
Eret turned away, eyes filled with pain and sorrow. But simply he refused to cry, he had promised Hiccup that he would always be strong for the others. He wasn't about to break that promise.

~o0o~

"Ready to go?" a young girl with dark ginger hair called out as she sauntered downstairs to meet her brother, "Hiccup?"

"Yeah, Arianne I'm comin'!" the brunette answered from the kitchen, he had just finished adjusting Toothless' new collar. "There we go, let's get going bud."

The black stray barked happily in reply, it wasn't too long ago that Hiccup had found the soot-black pup when they had moved into the neighborhood. The little guy was in pretty bad shape and wasn't easy to deal with, but with his patience and perseverance; Hiccup won him over, and now the two were inseparable.

"Any time today, you two…?" Arianne teased, walking into the kitchen with her pale yellow kitten, Starshot, in tow.

Hiccup chuckled before making his way towards his sister, Toothless following closely behind.

"Do you always have to be so impatient…?" Hiccup asked, "The pound isn't going anywhere… And I'm sure Mom wouldn't mind if we're a bit late."

"A lady should always be on time, same goes for a gentleman." Arianne replied, "Time is precious, you never know what tomorrow may bring."

~o0o~

The news soon reached the kingdoms of Corona and DunBroch…

Rapunzel wept as Eugene held her, the parchment she held on to not too long ago lay forgotten at her feet. Tear-stained and crumpled from the shock the Guardian of Spring had received from the contents of the letter.

"No…!" she called out, her cries of grief echoed throughout the castle.

Jack stood there, frozen in place.

He was with Rapunzel when the messenger had arrived, happy to finally hear from the Chief of Berk, their comrade, their friend, after so long.

Those four words echoed in his mind, shattering his heart with the reality set before them.

'The chief has fallen.'

~o0o~

Arriving at the pound, the two siblings were greeted with a grinning Jack & a very concerned-looking Rapunzel.

"And where have you two been?" the white-haired boy questioned, holding back his laughter to the best of his ability. "You two look like something the cat dragged in."

Starshot hissed and clawed at Jack for the comment, causing him to back away slowly from the pale golden feline and her owner.

"Hiccup here decided to take a little 'short cut'…" Arianne answered for the two, carefully pulling out the twigs and leaves in her hair. "Long story short, Toothless found a squirrel, the end."

"Hey don't blame this all on me; you were the one who wanted to get here faster. I was only trying to help." Hiccup replied chuckling, dusting the dirt off of his own clothes.

"Now, now, now, it doesn't matter whose fault it is… The important thing is you two got here with only a few scratches, and your heads still attached." Rapunzel reasoned, helping Arianne remove the last bit of dirt and leaves from her clothes.

"I still blame you, though." Arianne joked, giving her brother a friendly push before making her way inside the pound.

"Some things never change." Hiccup replied, sharing a laugh with his sister and their two friends before following Arianne's lead.

"I wish things could always stay like this." Rapunzel whispered, sighing.

"Punzie…?" Jack called out to her.

"I'm coming!" taking his hand in hers, the two hurried to catch up with the Haddock siblings.

~o0o~

The snow fell slowly as did the tears, today was the day they all said farewell.

To another great chief, a compassionate leader, a loving son and brother, a kind soul, a hero, a great friend…

"May you find your place among the gods in Valhalla, may they bless you with eternal peace and happiness."

Gobber's words felt empty, broken even. Everyone still found it hard to accept the reality even with the truth right in front of them. Today, there were no strong and tough Vikings… Only family and friends who are mourning the loss of a loved-one.

Jack Frost lessened the snowfall to the best of his ability, biting his bottom lip while doing so in an effort to hold back the tears threatening to betray him.

"Arrows…" the pain in Valka's tone gave it away, she wasn't ready to let go. "Ready… Aim…"

"Fire…" Astrid shot her arrow first, soon followed by the grief-stricken Valka.

One by one, the dragon riders shot their arrows at the small boat containing their beloved leader.

Astrid dropped to her knees as she watched the flames grow; her cries grew louder and louder as the ashes sunk to the bottom of the sea. Arianne and Valka approached the young girl, embracing her in comfort as they too allowed their cries to be heard.

He was gone.

Hiccup was gone.

~o0o~

"About time you two—what in the name of Thor happened to both of you?!"

Valka quickly ran over to her two children, examining the damage.

"Long story…" Hiccup answered before his sister could get a word out, "But hey, at least we got here in one piece!"

"Barely." Another voice retorted, "Why do you always go looking for trouble?"

"I don't always go lookingfor trouble… Astrid, trouble always finds me!" Hiccup replied, receiving a bark of agreement from Toothless.

"We should totally hang out more, then." Tuffnut suggested, receiving a nod of agreement from his sister.

"I think two troublemakers are enough for one town, thank you." Leaning against the wall, a girl with raven black hair spoke up.

"Alia!"

"Hiccup get you two into trouble again, princess?"

"No, I didn't."

"How'd you guess?"

~o0o~

In a far off distance, a hooded figure watched in silence as the events unfolded before her.
Fresh tears were trickling down her face as she felt her heart ache; oh how she hoped this day would never come.

But the truth burned her, forcing her to accept reality at its cruelest.

Bow in hand (with a small parchment tied to the arrow) she, though reluctantly, shot her arrow in the direction of the funeral fire.

She pulled back her hood, allowing the cold winter air to play with her wild orange locks, before sorrow-filled blue eyes took in the sight before her once more.

"Fate is ah cruel thing, it is…"

~o0o~

"Why is the world against me today?"

"We aren't against you, brother dear." Arianne retorted, "Okay, fine we are. But only for today, since you got mud on my favorite dress."

"So I beat the strays to it." Arianne shot him a glare, "Hey you were going to get muddy later from giving them a bath anyway!"

Everyone, including Arianne and Valka, shared a hearty laugh.

That is, until they heard the bell from the entranceway chime.

~o0o~

A grave was placed in the cove where Hiccup and Toothless first met, though it was not the place where neither was buried, the place itself held great importance to both. Therefore, it was only fitting that it be made a place where their loved ones could pay their respects to the two heroes that had made Berk a much safer and peaceful place to live.

The Dragon Riders, the villagers, Valka, and Gobber would stop by from time to time, to rekindle happier times with the brunet and the Night Fury. But, even they knew that Hiccup wouldn't want them living like this. So, in honor of his memory, they tried to move on and live life to the fullest. It wasn't easy, and it took a while, but they managed.

Corona was good distance away from Berk, but even Rapunzel was no stranger to a visit or two whenever she finds the time or rest from her duties.

Jack was the more frequent of the three Guardians when it came to visiting their old friend's grave, dropping in with a gift or two from the North every now and again. He shared stories of the different experiences and new discoveries he's come by, leaving with a soft smile and a pat on the slab of stone. Assuring Hiccup that he will stop by again soon.

Merida barely visited at all, and if she did… It had gone unnoticed by the villagers.

This worried the Guardians of Spring and Winter. But even they couldn't break the wall the Guardian of Summer had put up. Her heart, now guarded, unable to love as she had once did.

~o0o~

Hiccup smiled as wild orange hair came into view, walking over to the new arrival; he wrapped his arms around her. Resting his cheek idly against her fiery mane, grinning as he felt her hug him back.

Astrid rolled her eyes with a grin, "About time, Mer. Your boyfriend here was starting to think that the world was against him… We needed you here to prove that was true."

Hearty laughter resonated inside the small building, which was soon put to a stop by Valka's clapping. Everyone turned to face her, earning them a fond smile from the older woman.

"Alright, enough of that… We have some animals to take care of! Let's get started, shall we?"

Everyone chuckled before parting ways to do their assigned task. Leaving only Valka, Hiccup, and Merida to remain in the small room.

Valka gave her son a small smirk, "I know you're happy to see each other, but try to get something done today, alright?"

The brunet chuckled, "We will… That's what we came here for after all."

The older woman smiled before picking up Toothless and leaving the two alone.

Merida pinched his cheek, "Quite the affectionate one, aren't ya' lad?"

Hiccup laughed before pulling her hand away, "Welcome back, so how was the trip?" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading them out.

"Ah, it was fione… Made me realize something dou."

"And that is…?"

She leaned in a kissed his cheek, "Ah don't want ta be apart from ye fo dat long again."

A/N: anyone notice anything? Merida barely talks? Yeah, that was intentional. I have forgotten how to write Scottish speak. /cries/
This story has been in my documents for a while now, and I just finished it now! (And still not satisfied with how I ended it… But I had this mindset that I simply had to finish it.)

I haven't written/typed anything for a long while now, so forgive me if it's a tad (or it is) crappy…

Anyways, I wrote this story for my friend Alex (who is a huge Merricup shipper, love ya Lex~)
So I hope she likes it, this goes out to all you fellow Merricup shippers out there too!