"I think we just have to face the facts. There's nothing I can get Hiccup Haddock that he doesn't have, doesn't want, or doesn't need."

Astrid groaned a she put her head against her shelf. That phrase repeated itself in her mind over and over again. How could getting a gift for a boyfriend be this hard? Astrid remembered when she said this. This was back when they were on Dragon's Edge six months after they were betrothed. As per Viking tradition, they were supposed to exchange betrothal gifts. Problem was: she hadn't the slightest idea what to get. She tried to stall but to no avail. She ended up doing the exchange completely empty handed. But, he was ok with it. It was so Hiccup of him, saying that she was the only gift he needed.

That may have satisfied Hiccup. But not her.

Hiccup, on the other hand, was an amazing gift giver. When it came to gifts, he went to find things that held meaning for the people he was giving them to. For his betrothal gift, he didn't give her a random jewel or shiny rock she would have no use for. He gave her a family heirloom, the same betrothal gift his father gave to his mother, a symbol that she was a part of his family.

The war with the Dragon Hunters was over and they were all back from the Edge. But, Astrid faced an even greater challenge. Hiccup's birthday was in a week...and she was going to get him a gift. But not just any gift. In the past she got away with giving him some food or drink that he conveniently never ate in front of her. But she wasn't settling for mediocre this time. For this birthday, she was giving Hiccup something truly special.

But history was repeating itself as she was left staring at a wall full of weapons, wondering what to give him. She couldn't believe it. She's faced Outcasts, Berserkers, Dragon Hunters, wild dragons, you would think gift giving would fall like any other opponent. Yet here she was, facing her toughest opponent yet. And this time, she didn't know if she could win.

"Astrid!" a familiar voice called out from outside her house.

History really was repeating itself. Even Fishlegs had shown up at nearly the exact same time.

Astrid made her way to the front door and opened it.

"Fishlegs, what is it?" she asked tiredly. The last thing she needed was a distraction. She had to come up with an idea and the rather plump Viking was known for rambling.

Fishlegs immediately held out a small gift, a rectangle wrapped in green wrapping with a red ribbon topping it all off. Astrid stared at the thing for a moment. At first she thought she was looking at a book. But it was way too thin.

"Fishlegs," she said. "Are you giving Hiccup…paper?"

"No!" Fishlegs exclaimed. He was so jittery that he was practically leaping back and forth on his feet. "It's ten more pages for the book of dragons! Hiccup's been busy since we got back from the Edge so I filled out more pages of some of the dragons we discovered! What are you getting him?"

Astrid would swear the gods were making fun of her. That was the only explanation for all of this. Fishlegs asking that one question. History repeating itself. And if history continues repeating itself, then the answer was: nothing. Giving him a platter of fried yak legs or a jug of yak nog could only last so long. She needed something more.

Fishlegs suddenly laughed and dramatically slapped himself upside the head.

"Silly me," he said. "I forgot. You don't have to give him anything."

"Don't have to," she repeated, walking back into the house but leaving the front door open so Fishlegs could follow her in. "But I'm going to."

Fishlegs followed Astrid as she walked back into her living room, staring at her wall of weapons.

"Astrid, you know Hiccup doesn't need a present from you," he reminded. "He's perfectly happy with you just being there."

"He might be," she said, taking a battle axe off the wall. "But I'm not. What sort of girlfriend would I be if every time something rolls around, I don't at least try getting him something special simply because he says I'm enough? I didn't settle for subpar on the battlefield, and I'm certainly not going to settle for subpar for this. Once, at least once, I'm going to get something special for Hiccup Horrendous Haddock."

She walked up the stairs, leading Fishlegs to her bedroom, where she began rummaging through her drawers. And if this had been done to the drawers of other Viking girls it would be clothes spilling out. And while some of Astrid's shirts and skirts did come flying out, so did her knives, hand axes, and short swords that she kept with her clothes.

"Hey!" Fishlegs suddenly said enthusiastically. "Hiccup gave you a family heirloom. Maybe you can give him one."

Astrid sighed as she closed the drawers. She reached into her shirt and pulled out the necklace that hung around her neck. She never dared to wear it on Dragon's Edge because of all the missions they went on and she was afraid to lose it. Now she was back on Berk, she was a lot more comfortable with it on. And Fishlegs was right. Giving Hiccup a family heirloom of her own was a good idea. But, she had already considered that option last month.

"Few problems, Fishlegs," she said. "The only family heirloom I have is my mother's axe. And it was destroyed in our last battle. And even if I did still have it, Hiccup prefers swords. And even if he did like axes, Hiccup's a genius and a blacksmith. He could make an axe better than anything I could give him. He probably already has an axe that can shoot lightning by now!"

Fishlegs paused at this.

"You do have quite the conundrum," he remarked.

"What's quite the conundrum?" a voice called out. Astrid went stiff at this. She recognized that voice and there was only one person she could think of disrespectful enough to just barge into her house.

"Snotlout!" Astrid snapped as the Viking at her bedroom door. "What are you doing here?!"

"I heard you talking from outside," he remarked, gesturing toward the ground floor. "Thought you could use some help from the Snot. Besides, your door was open."

"So, you just let yourself in?"

"Why wouldn't you let me into your house."

"It might have something to do with you not knowing the concept of personal space."

Astrid scoffed, putting her hand to her face in disbelief. Had this been a few years back, she would have hurled him out the window. But she had been more forgiving about his transgressions lately. She doubted he could be of any help but, by this point, did she have anything to lose?

"So, you think you can help?" she asked. "Alright, what did you get Hiccup for his birthday?"

Snotlout snorted, swatting the air as if that was the dumbest question in the world.

"Just the greatest gift ever," he said. "I got him a copy of the Jorgenson Handbook on how to be a Manly Viking."

Fishlegs rolled his eyes at this.

"Well, hopefully it does more for Hiccup than it did for you," Astrid remarked with a scoff. Snotlout eyed the thin package in Fishleg's hand.

"Fish-face," Snotlout said. "You know birthday cards don't count as birthday gifts."

"This isn't a birthday card!" Fishlegs said indignantly.

By this point, Astrid had lost count how many times her hand has met her face. It may have been a week away but she knew she was going to need as much time as possible and Snotlout was clearly the last thing she needed.

"Hey, maybe you'll get some inspiration if you spend time with him," Fishlegs suggested. Astrid was beginning to think this really was hopeless.

"Now why didn't I think of that?" she asked sardonically. "Maybe it's because I spend more time with him than anyone else. I'm supposed to meet him south of here in a few hours. And I still don't know what to get him."

"Have any of you thought that maybe you're over thinking this?" Snotlout asked. "I mean, if you want to give him something special, just give him something that he really likes."

"Wow, Snotlout," Astrid remarked with feigned amazement. "Get Hiccup something that he likes. How do you ever come up with these amazing ideas?"

"Hey, no one needs your attitude, so shut up, Astrid," Snotlout argued. "Besides, you're supposed to be our local Hiccup expert. I mean, what does he love most in this world?"

"Toothless," Astrid listed.

"Her," Fishlegs said.

They both looked at Snoutlout. It was his idea. They wanted to see what he had to say.

"Hey, I'm just saying," he said so he wouldn't have to answer. "You watch him fly on Toothless or make his little doohickeys, you should know what the guy likes."

Snotlout was a mutton-head but, he did occasionally come up with something good. And this was one of those occasions. Her face lit up as an idea flooded her brain.

"That's it!" she shouted excitedly. She quickly made a list of things that she would need to get to set her plan into motion. Going over the list, she actually didn't have anything that she needed, but she knew where to get them. "I have an idea!" she exclaimed excitedly, grabbing her shoulder guards from the desk and strapping them on.

"Oh, no!" Snotlout exclaimed. "Last time you had an idea, you blew up half the village."

"Well, this is different," Astrid said, finishing the strappings. She led the duo downstairs, explaining everything along the way. "The one other thing that Hiccup loves doing: inventing things. Maybe I can make something for him."

"No, no, no," Snotlout said, following her out of the house. "I can already see this crashing harder than Hookfang on dragon nip. The guy always almost kills himself with his own inventions. And he actually knows what he's doing!"

"I hate to agree with Snotlout," Fishlegs remarked. "But, your specialty doesn't lie in making things. More like breaking things. Do you even know what to make him?"

Astrid signaled for Stormfly. Her nadder came swooping from her rooftop and landed right in front of her, dropping the saddle from her beak. Astrid lovingly stroked her dragon's snout.

"Not yet," she said, picking up the saddle and putting it on Stormfly's back. "But, this is further than I got last time. I'm sure I'll come up with something. Maybe some time with Hiccup will give me some inspiration. Besides, I want it to be a surprise."

"What does it being a surprise have anything to do with us?" Snotlout asked.

"Well, it won't be much of a surprise if any mutton-heads decide to tell him."

"That still doesn't explain why you won't tell us," Snotlout called out after her. "Or why you looked at me when you said that."

Astrid gave Stormfly a final stroke before the two of them took to the skies, Fishlegs and Snotlout covering their faces from the dustup.

"Hey!" Snotlout called out to the retreating figure. "When you die, can I have Stormfly?"

-.-

South of Berk wasn't very specific. But Astrid knew Hiccup well enough that she could guess where he went.

"Come on, Stormfly," she said, encouraging her friend to fly faster. "There's an island at the edge of the map. Hiccup probably set up a camp there or something."

Nadders were among the fastest dragons in existence, so she easily streaked through the skies, winds rippling through her hair. She leaned forward to make herself more aerodynamic, the beating of Stormfly's wings causing a steady pulse beneath her.

It wasn't long before they came across a small island directly below them. With a nice dense cluster of trees on one side and a clear beach on the other, Astrid knew this would be a spot Hiccup would set up camp.

She directed Stormfly to the ground, gently touching down on the beach. Astrid dismounted and landed gingerly on the ground, taking a few steps across the sand. She knelt down, her finger tracing the outline of some very obvious and fresh footprints. Astrid recognized Toothless's footprints. And if that wasn't enough, set of human footprints with a gimpy left foot was a dead giveaway.

"Alright, Hiccup," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "You really leave without me?"

She paused, her eyes scanning the horizon. Hiccup may not have been here, but she was not alone. She could hear the crunch of sand behind her. Her hand drifted to the hand axe attached to her back. Her movements were slow, calculated, making sure she didn't give off the impression she knew that they were there.

It was only when she felt something brush her ear did she finally move. She gripped her axe and whipped around, weapon in the air and ready to cut down whoever was sneaking up on her.

She froze in surprise when she found herself staring at a twig in her face. Looking past the tree branch, she saw one Hiccup Haddock standing a good five feet away from her, the tree branch in his hand. Behind him was Toothless, looking at them curiously.

"Seriously, Hiccup?" she sighed, putting the axe away as Stormfly went to greet her black-scaled friend.

"Hey, I remember what happened last time I scared you," Hiccup said, dropping the tree branch. "I think I've regrown the hair you sliced off," he added, brushing his hand gently over the top of his head.

"Maybe that'll teach you not to scare me," she said.

"Hey, the first time, it was an accident," Hiccup argued, placing an arm around her.

"Sure, it was," she said dismissively, putting her head on his chest. The two of them walked to the edge of the beach, staring out across the horizon. The sun had begun to set, turning the sky a brilliant violet, its radiance reflected on the ocean's rippling surface. "So, any lands out here?"

"You have no idea," Hiccup said excitedly, taking a folded piece of paper out of his sack and placing it on the sand. Astrid knelt down to see what he was up to. She thought it was just a map of Berk and its nearby islands. But as it unfolded in the sand, she could see several other pieces of paper attached. The papers near the top had Dragon's Edge and the other islands they discovered drawn on them. And Hiccup seemed to have been adding more papers at the bottom.

"Hey," Astrid spoke up. "What's holding those papers together?"

"You don't want to know," was Hiccup's reply as took out a pencil from his belt and began drawing a shape on the bottom sheet of paper. Astrid looked at the map curiously. Hiccup put down the pencil and shook his hand. She imagined spending half of his day at the forge and the other half drawing tiny sketches would mean a lot of hand cramps.

She reached over and picked up the pencil. She could see the island he was drawing in the distance. She began drawing the coast and cliffsides that she could see, letting her boyfriend rest his hand.

Astrid could feel her entire body relaxing. She wasn't a fearless Hofferson warrior. She wasn't the pinnacle of the perfect Viking. She wasn't the tough warrior girl everyone expected her to be. And it was all because she didn't have to be. With Hiccup, she could be whoever and whatever she wanted to be. She didn't need to defend her pride nor establish her dominance as a warrior. Least of all with Hiccup.

She could relax.

She could be at peace.

"You know," Astrid said, holding the pencil between her fingers as she looked around. "If we set up a storehouse here, we could use this as a beachhead to explore south of Berk."

"That's one idea I had," Hiccup said, taking the pencil back from Astrid. "Won't be Dragon's Edge, but it'll work."

"One idea?" Astrid repeated.

"Well, I was thinking," Hiccup explained, sitting back in the sand. "We could always put the storehouse on a different island and save this one for us."

Astrid looked at him in confusion for a moment before she understood what he was saying.

"Are you suggesting…"

"Why not?" Hiccup asked. "It'd be a nice place to get away. Plenty of room for Toothless and Stormfly. And where else would you get a view like this?"

"And it would be nice to have a place that would let us get away from the twins," Astrid added. The more she thought about it, the more she liked it.

"So, what should we do first?" Hiccup asked, adding more islands to the map. "Should we look for another island for the storehouse? Or should we start building our little vacation spot?"

Astrid shrugged at this question.

"Let's go searching for another place to put the storehouse," she suggested. "We'll build our little vacation home another day. Maybe a day we could take off together."

They had already used up most of their time together for the day. It just made sense to her to dedicate the rest of it doing something else, then take the entirety of that time for themselves on another day.

"Sounds good to me," Hiccup said. "Saw a few islands west of here. Wanna check them out?"

"You already know my answer to that, Hiccup.".

A/N: Hey guys. This look familiar to anyone? So, some of you may have read this before. That is because I have decided to start a new account dedicated to the HTTYD stuff and shall begin by transferring all old material here starting with this one. The materials will move on a weekly basis then I'll start deleting the originals. Still, I would love to see some new faces. For those of you who haven't seen this before, please review let me know what you think. And enjoy.

Funny thing is, I read this in order to revise it and ended up getting caught up in my own story. All things considered, I'm surprised Astrid's betrothal gift isn't a more popular fanfic plot. Sandbusted is still one of my favorite episodes. When I first watched it I was sure Astrid was going to try to make something for Hiccup. Since this took place between movies 1&2 I was sure that this was how his new metal leg came to be. When it didn't go that way, this story was born. Anyways, please review and let me know what you think.