Day 5

Oh my gosh, I want to work on Dead of Night and I Knew You Were Trouble, not this.

It starts off with just not having time for her.

Hiccup doesn't truly realize he's doing it, that he's pushing her away. He has chief duties, he needs time for Toothless, he wants to spend time with his mom. He just seems to get generally upset when she's there, but that's only the beginning.

He starts keeping her from things. Astrid is his general, but he orders her to stay out of battle. A small voice in his head says she could mess this up as much as she messed up the battle where he lost his dad.

Astrid seems to accept it at first, as though agreeing with him. That she deserved some form of punishment. She does nothing but glare at him when he orders her to another task during battle. She doesn't like it, but she does it. She punishes herself. They both subconsciously think that she is the one who is responsible for Stoick's death.

It's all tense, but it explodes one day when the chief orders someone else to take Stormfly out into battle while Astrid stays back. Pirates are attacking.

She asks him quietly, then. She says that the man doesn't know how to fly Stormfly like she does. She says the man could die. She says Stormfly could die. She pleads gently, but he doesn't listen.

She is proven right.

"I still don't completely understand," Hiccup said, a little nervously, "why you agreed to do this."

He was talking to Eret, son of Eret. In other words, someone who had not known him and Astrid since childhood. Hiccup was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt - he had doubted Snotlout and the twins, but they had come through for him.

And he and Astrid had kissed yesterday. Not a small, short kiss either. It was more forceful on both their parts, as though they were to somehow make up for all the time they had missed in that one kiss.

It had been silent, Astrid had left when Toothless landed. It was still progress.

Eret shrugged. "Like I said, you two are my friends. I - I owe a lot to you and Astrid."

"You don't owe us anything." Hiccup shrugged. "You changed sides. If anything, we owe you."

Eret frowned. "Did you never know exactly how I changed sides?"

At this, Hiccup frowned. Now that he thought about it, he really didn't. No one had told him the exact circumstances - he just knew that Eret was riding on Stormfly and he had changed sometime while he himself had been reuniting with his mom.

"Astrid and the others kidnapped me, to make me take them to Drago." He chuckled. "I was terrified. Stormfly had me suspended in the air. Anyway, Drago had ordered for my head, but that Nadder saved me. And after I helped them escape, we bonded."

"You were close to Stormfly too," Hiccup murmured, a familiar feeling of crushing guilt entering his stomach, "you -"

Eret put a hand up. "Don't apologize to me, please. I was still nowhere near as attached as Astrid was."

There was the barest hint in there, and Hiccup felt himself back away slightly from the older man. He had clearly heard a lot from Astrid.

"Maybe..." Eret continued, a bit hesitantly, "maybe you two should talk about it."

Hiccup ran a hand through his hair. "You're right, a-and I would. But we're on a time crunch. I can't risk possibly messing things up."

He shrugged. "You said you kissed yesterday, right? And it was because you commemorated some big moment in your relationship. Maybe - maybe just spend time talking about those days. At least then she'll remember what it was like."

"That's -" Hiccup gaped. "That's actually a good idea."

"Let me guess. For the first time since this all started?"

"Exactly."

"Not now." Astrid held up a hand. "I have a class."

Hiccup paused, staring at her. "I didn't -"

She stepped closer. "You want to talk about yesterday. Or do something together. I know. You want to be friends. But I have a class to teach."

"Can I watch?" he tried.

Astrid looked conflicted, but then sighed and said, "I don't see why not," before walking into the arena. Hiccup followed, seeing a bunch of little kids sitting on a log.

"Alright!" the general said loudly. "You're all here to learn! Not to sit there, or to talk to each other, or have fun! Now grab an axe from the box!"

They were small weapons, thank Thor, although even then a few kids struggled to pick them. Hiccup stepped forward to help, but Astrid's arm was in front of him in a second. "Don't. Let them do it."

The smallest child eventually got it, putting an axe over his shoulder and giving a wide smile to the chief, who smiled back.

Remembering Eret's advice, Hiccup asked, "You're not going to ask them to drop and give you twenty, are you?"

Astrid's lips quirked in a smile.

"Not this particular bunch, no."

"Ah, right, because none of these kids are related to Snotlout."

"Exactly."

They both laughed, before Astrid picked up her own axe and stood a few feet from the target, narrowing her eyes at it. She aimed - crack. The weapon met it's wooden target.

"Your turn." She turned to the kids, pointing out each respective target. They were all a good distance away from each other.

Hiccup watched as all the kids failed because they were trying too hard to get it dead center like Astrid had. She walked around, directing kids on their grip.

"Can the chief do it?" one of the little girls asked, sneaking a glance at Hiccup.

"No," Astrid said right away.

Hiccup gaped. "Hey! I could do it! In case you've forgotten…" He leaned in. "I've beaten you, Hofferson."

She scoffed as the kids tittered, placing her hands on her hips. "Oh, please. You only used the sneak attack. You cheater."

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"Oh, there's no need for that -" Hiccup began, holding up his hands.

"Why not?" Astrid challenged, raising a brow. "Scared of me?"

More like terrified, but not exactly of her sparring skills. He could take her, right? Right?

He took a deep breath and said, "You're on."

The kids cheered, clearing the targets and little axes lying around. They pressed to the side as Hiccup took out Inferno from it's compartment on his leg. He and Astrid circled each other.

"Call it a draw?"

"He needs a flaming sword to back him up," Astrid taunted before running forward and charging. Hiccup sidestepped and that was how they went, with her on the attack and him on the defense.

"Not on your life!"

Hiccup did make a few jabs at her. She dove under him and knocked him down and before he could complain that he taught her that move, she had her axe to his throat.

"I win," Astrid said, satisfied.

Hiccup made a big show of surrendering and the kids giggled as she rolled her eyes, helping him up. The kids were dismissed.

"Astrid," he began, trying to steer the conversation back to them. "We should -"

She put a finger on his lips. "No. I don't want to talk about yesterday. Not another word. Not yet."

"But -"

"Not another word."

Hiccup fumbled for something to say even as she narrowed her eyes, before finally giving up and crossing his arms. "You really are impossible."

"I know. But you're the one trying to be my friend." She shot him a grin, kissing his cheek and running out of the arena.