The Glass Dragon

I slid off of the saddle, my feet touching the ground, and looked up at Hiccup. He was still sitting on top of Toothless. I was all grins. Like the idiot that I was turning into.

Hiccup and Toothless had dropped me off right in front of my lodge, before they headed back to the chief’s lodge for the night.

“Sure you’re not up for one more ride?” he asked me with a cheeky grin.

I smacked his leg, which is about all I could reach when he was still sitting in the saddle. “It’s dawn in a few hours. I want some sleep tonight.”

“Wasn’t it worth it to see me though?” He was still wearing that stupid, smug, lopsided grin that I loved.

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t let it go to your head, Oh Great Hero of Berk,” I teased.

“Aye, Ma’am,” he chuckled, saluting me.

I just shook my head at him with a small smiled and turned to head back indoors. I only got a few steps away before I felt him snatch up my hand and a yank, pulling me back. I stumbled a few steps and looked up at him, confused.

He leaned down and kissed me softly. “I had to say goodnight,” he said matter-of-factly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Night,” I breathed as he let go, and Toothless took to the dark sky once again, the pair heading home.

I -floated- walked back to my lodge, closing the door behind me and leaning on it, eyes closed, a giddy, girlish grin on my face. I bit on my lower lip some.

“Out with that boy again, were you?”

I gasped and spun on the spot a bit, my eyes snapping open. “Mom!” She sat, grinning at me, from the fireside. “Wh-why are you still awake?” I asked as I moved through the lodge, towards the fire pit.

She merely chuckled at me, running the sharpening stone along the edges of the blade of her sword. “Dinner?” she asked casually.

My stomach growled, as if on cue, and I nodded. I moved to sit at our table. My mother placed the broadsword on the ledge around the fire pit and went to get my dinner.

I felt bad, instantly. It dawned on me as to why she was still awake. She’d been waiting on me to get back to eat. Every night, since my father had died, my mom and I sat down and ate together, whether it was at home or in the mead hall.

She came back and placed a large bowl of stew in front of me before putting one at her spot, and heading back into our small, modest kitchen. She was only gone for a moment, emerging this time with a large loaf of bread. She placed it on the table, between us and took her seat. When I looked up at her, she was smiling at me.

I gave a small, guilty smile in return. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t think-“

“Astrid,” she said, holding up a hand, still smiling softly at me. “Really, I don’t mind.”

“But I do!” I insisted, breaking off a piece of the bread and dipping it into my stew. “I shouldn’t be letting a boy be getting into the way, and especially not Hiccup Horrendous Haddock!”

My mom laughed. “Astrid, give that a rest. You’ve been in love with that boy since you were five years old, and you stole his toy dragon, then punched him when he cried about it.”

I flushed crimson at the memory. Not a finer moment of mine. “He shouldn’t have been such a little whimp about it,” I muttered, making my mother laugh more.

“Regardless,” she said, swallowing her own bite of fish stew bread. “I am not going to stand in the way of your future.”

Now it was my turn to laugh. “A future? With Hiccup? Please…”

“Astrid, need I remind you that you kissed him in front of the entire village. You can’t tell any of us that you don’t like that boy.” She gave me a stern look.

“I never said that I didn’t,” I muttered, swirling a piece of bread around in the broth, my cheek resting in my palm.

I knew she was watching me, and I was purposefully avoiding looking at her. I knew that she was waiting for me to continue on, to explain my answer, but I didn’t want to. Even after this whole evening with Hiccup, the flying, the sweet shared kisses-Reality was starting to set back in. Hiccup would never be mine. He would always belong to Berk and the dragons.

I finally looked up at my mother. “He will never have time for me.”

“He had the time for you tonight,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, tonight. One night.” My eyes prickled some at the thought. “Have you seen the girls that surround him when he’s in town? Have you seen what some of them look like? Baking for him, making him things, bringing him things...”

“Astrid,” came my mother’s shocked voice. “Since when have you, of all Vikings, had self-issues?”

“I…don’t…” I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. “But have you? Have you seen them?” I looked up at her, my eyes shining with desperation for her to understand what I was up against here.

She gave me another one of her motherly, soft smiles. “There is not one Viking girl on Berk that compares to you, Astrid Hofferson.”

“You have to say that,” I grumbled. “You’re my mother.” I popped another piece of stew-bread into my mouth. That made her laugh, but I continued on. “I mean it. Hiccup could have any girl that he wants, on Berk, our neighboring tribes, under all of Odin! He’s a hero. Everyone loves him. Everyone wants him.”

She moved to sit next to me, wrapping one of her strong arms around my shoulders. “And Hiccup Haddock has only ever had eyes for you, dear heart.”

I sighed and leaned into her. “He used to… What if he doesn’t anymore? He’s…popular now. He could have anyone. What if he realizes that it’s not me that he wants?”

My mom chuckled. “I saw that grin when you came in here. I know that that isn’t the case,” she assured me, kissing my head.

“I just worry that I’m losing him. My Hiccup, the one that would have done anything to save Toothless, the one that avoids the spot light and breaks everything. The one that…” I heaved a small sigh and looked down at my bowl. “The one that I fell for.”

Mom took the strap out of my hair and combed through it, loosening the knots of my braid. “I know that it’s hard, love. I know. But, I have known Hiccup Haddock for 17 years. And there is one thing that I know for certain about that boy. He would never ever let fame get to him. He probably doesn’t have a clue how to handle it, so he’s trying to see everyone and make everyone happy. Not to mention that father of his putting all of that pressure on him.”

I nodded slowly. I know she had a point. Hiccup had admitted to it himself. And he had always been the type to try and make everyone happy.

She kissed my head again and hugged me. “You’ll just have to make that boy see. He’ll come back around.”

I gripped her tightly. “Thanks, Mom,” I said gently. She always brought out the best in me, really. I could be the person I never was around her. There would come a day when I would miss her advice, her fish stew, her bread… I didn’t want to think about that day too much. I had already lost my father. I couldn’t bare it if I lost my mother too. She was everything that a Berkian woman should be. Fierce, loyal, strong, caring… I wanted to be just like her.

She moved back to her own bowl of stew and we ate in a comfortable silence, the warm glow and crackle from the fire pit the only light in our small lodge. It was small, yes, but this was home. And this is what home was supposed to feel like.

Oddly enough though, wrapped in Hiccup’s arms, nestled against Toothless’s side tonight… That had felt a lot like home too.

Thor’s hammer, Hiccup Haddock. You’ll be the death of me yet.