Thank you all for reading this story. This is the final chapter. I hope you enjoy the ending.

Dear Hiccup,

You're taking it far too seriously, Hiccup. I was joking about most of it, and I have no intention of burning the letter. You'll want to show it to your grandchildren one day when they get their wisdom teeth out or something so you can enjoy the horror that grows on their faces when they realize how much mental control they're going to lose.

I like my earthen cookware just fine. If Toothless breaks any, he can spend the night sleeping outside. THE CACTUS STAYS, HICCUP.

My yaknog does not cause indigestion, stomach aches, and rashes, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and if you know what's good for you, you'll take your cowardly words back!

I told your dad what you said.

I'm never done tormenting you.

Sincerely,

Astrid Hofferson.

…

Dear Hiccup,

I know a week is not a long time to wait for someone to reply to a letter, but…

If anything I said about grandchildren was weird or offended you, I'm sorry. I didn't think it was that harsh or weird. It's just grandchildren. People say stuff like that all the time.

I won't throw Toothless outside.

Also, I put the cactus outside. Because it needed the sunshine.

But the yaknog is fine, Hiccup.

Sincerely,

Astrid Hofferson.

…

Dear Hiccup,

Are you still mad?

Fine, I'll admit it, the yaknog does cause indigestion, stomach aches, rashes, and stomach ulcers.

There.

Now will you write me back?

Sincerely,

Astrid Hofferson.

…

Dear Hiccup,

If you don't write me back, I'm going to send all of my little Bruce Lees after you.

Sincerely,

Astrid Hofferson

…

Dear Hiccup,

Why did you send your father a letter and not me? Are you still mad?

Do I need to apologize or something? Punch you on the arm? Would that make you feel better? I didn't mean anything.

Sincerely,

Astrid Hofferson

…

Dear Hiccup,

I'm going to kill you.

Sincerely,

Astrid Hofferson.

…

With agitation, Astrid checked her stack of mail for what had to be the fifteenth time that day.

No letter from Hiccup.

Nothing.

Nada.

He had all the nerve.

What kind of person just cut off communication for three weeks over a stupid letter? It wasn't as though she'd said anything really angering in it. At least, she thought. She had tried to pry an answer out of Stoick, but he had laughed her off and said something about her being a fine warrior and to not press Hiccup too much because he was coming along fine.

Whatever that meant.

For the sixteenth time, she went through each of her letters, but the search yielded the same result.

She pounded her fist on the desk in her office in frustration. Her karate classes started in fifteen minutes. It was going to be a long day.

Without a letter from Hiccup.

Why was she complaining about a lack of a letter anyway? It wasn't as though her whole life depended on whether or not some stupid, overgrown-

The bell atop her door jingled.

"I'll be out in a minute!" she hollered. "Classes don't start for another ten minutes, so you might as well stretch and get ahead of the class."

There was no answer. That was fine. In the summer, some kids on Berk didn't appreciate her early morning class and weren't that talkative.

She went back to going through her stack of letters for the seventeenth time. Although none of them were touched, she didn't really feel like opening them. What was she going to find, bills?

Certainly not a letter from a redheaded, stubborn-

"Well, is that a way to greet someone you haven't seen in months?"

Astrid slammed her fist down on her desk and jumped to her feet at the same time. "HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK THE THIRD!" she roared.

"That poor desk." Hiccup scratched the back of his head. "So, you're probably wondering why I haven't written you in a couple of weeks-"

"A couple of weeks? A COUPLE OF WEEKS?!"

"Yeah, so there was this incident with a llama and - umph!"

Awkwardly, Astrid released him from the impromptu hug and jabbed a finger at his chest. "After my classes are done, you have a lot of explaining to do, Hiccup." And she would sit and listen to Hiccup talk for the first time in what felt like years.

"Come on, Astrid," Hiccup complained in his familiar nasally tone. "I was stuck in a hospital, for Thor's sake. You could have a little pity on a one-legged Viking, you know."

Then, Astrid did something she had been waiting a long time to do.

She punched him in the arm.