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The days that followed the dragons leaving Berk were long and tiresome. The people of the island felt the emptiness that the lack of Dragons brought. It was especially hard on the island's leader, Hiccup Haddock and the other dragon riders. They had spent years of their lives learning about the dragons, what they liked and most importantly, what they didn’t like. All of that ceased just a number of days ago.
"Hiccup you can't stay in here forever, Toothless will be living life as king of the dragon, you need to live life too," Astrid spoke to him from the opening of the tent. Hiccup sat on his makeshift bed looking down at the haul of sketches that he took of Toothless and the saddle that he used to use daily, the one his best bud used to wear. Hiccup looked up still with his back to Astrid. "I can't just move on Astrid, we've been through so much together, I can't just forget him like that," Hiccup replied, his voice breaking.
"No one is asking you to forget him, you never will," Astrid took a pause, her emotions almost over took her realising the loss she also had. "We will never forget them, the whole of Berk is with you. I'm just saying that we need to get building preparations underway if this is going to be our new home," Astrid continued, her voice heavy but confident. She had a special bond with her dragon, Stormfly but that was nothing compared to Hiccup and Toothless.
"I'll be out, just give me a minute..." Astrid knew these words were a lie. He had said that the day before. She too missed her dragon, Stormfly and knew that she was missing her. But she also knew the people of Berk needed her help and they needed Hiccups help too.
Astrid walked over to where Hiccup was sitting. She sat down next to him moving a few sketches out of the way. She put her arms around his back and hugged him. "We're with you Hiccup, we always will be, I love you," Astrid kissed him gently on the check and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I need to tell you something Astrid," Astrid sat up and looked at him
"Yes, anything."
"Just before my father entered Valhalla, I promised him something."
"What was it?"
"I told him I would protect the dragons and his family."
"You are protecting them Hiccup."
"It's just- I always assumed I would always be with Toothless."
"You are together from afar, like with your father."
"There's something else..."
"Yes"
"You're going to think this is dorky but,” Hiccup sighed, “I write letters."
"That's not dorky, that's normal Hiccup, everyone does that"
"I write them to my father."
It took Astrid a second to process what he told her. "What do you write to him about?" Astrid asked, trying to sound like she understood. She didn't, she had never lost a parent and couldn't imagine what it would feel like.
"Anything and everything. I write the letter and then I burn it to send it to Valhalla for him to read. I hope that he gets them all, but I know it could be a waste of time," Hiccup explained.
"I'm sure he gets them, I'm sure he reads every single one multiple times, He loves you Hiccup." Astrid made him feel better. It wasn't the deepest secret he had ever kept, but it was nice for someone else, especially Astrid, to know about it.
"Here's my latest one, I've just finished reading it over, It needs to be perfect:
Dear Dad,
A lot of things have happened lately. First of all we had to move from the original Berk to one we're calling New Berk. It's nice here and about half a day away by dragon from Old Berk. We were running away from more hunters and to the hidden world. The one you used to tell me about in your stories when I was a kid, remember? Anyway the hunters, they just don't quit. We won, by the way, against Grimmel the Grisly more of that later. I thought for a while we wouldn't, but it didn't come without a cost.
We found the hidden world, it's such a special and sacred place for dragons of all kinds, living in harmony. I've never seen anything like it. We thought it would be best to send the dragons there. That was the cost. I had to say goodbye to Toothless and all the other dragons. It was and still is heartbreaking. I miss every single one of them everyday. I thought it would get easier, but it hasn't and I don't think it ever will. I miss the smile on Toothless' face. I miss him speaking to me. I miss riding all the dragons into the sunset, without a care, without a responsibility. It felt so good and I felt so free. I know we will cross paths again. But when who knows. It can't be soon. The dragon hunters will know that they come and visit and might follow them back. We can't risk that. We need to be apart for a while. I have Astrid and she is all I need, as long as I have her I know we can survive.
Love your son
Hiccup
P.S. Did you know Toothless has a girlfriend. She's a light fury, and she's beautiful.
"That beautiful Hiccup" She had a tear in her eye whilst reading. "You should send it to him."
"Can you come with me?"
Astrid nodded, the two got up and walked in silence towards the cliff edge. Astrid rubbed two sticks together until she created fire. ‘ This would be so much easier with Stormfly’ , she thought. She two missed her Dragon but she needed to be strong, for Hiccup.
"Thor, Odin, whoever is listening, please deliver this to my father, Stoick the Vast. Thank You." With that Astrid gave him the stick that was lit and the letter was burnt. It didn't take very long for the whole of it to burn up. A few specks of ash fell to Hiccup's feet as he looked up to the sky hoping that maybe he could catch a glimpse of either Toothless or his father. He didn't see either of them.
Hiccup could handle the world without Toothless before because he had his father, and could handle the loss of his father because he had Toothless, but now... He felt like he had no one at that moment. Astrid saw the upset look on his face, she could tell he was fighting back tears. She put her arms around him, to try and make him feel at least able to get to the next day. Hiccup remembered that he did have someone, he had Astrid. She was always there for him and always will be.
***
It was the morning. Hiccup and Astrid still on the mountain top hours later. Now sat on the floor. Hiccup had fallen asleep on Astrid's shoulder but she couldn't bring herself to move him or herself to give him his much needed rest. The night was long for her but watching Hiccup sleeping helped her get through. She was always "The strong one", she rarely cried but when she did it was often alone or she managed to hide it somehow. But that night, she felt alone. She knew Hiccup had his own struggles but she had hers.
She had spent the past 7 years with Stormfly. She wasn't only her dragon, but she became a best friend. When she couldn't talk to anyone else about something, she knew the dragon would listen to her and make her feel better in a heartbeat. But she could no longer talk to her, she no longer had the breeze racing through her hair as she flew at top speeds on Stromfly's back. She no longer could go and hear her voice or the sound of her small feet transporting her over sized body. She knew Stormfly was in the best possible place for her safety but she missed her. She knew it was selfish but she would put Stormfly and herself in danger in order to have her back because she knew they both would get through it, after all they had done it for 7 years already and neither of them had died, yet. But she also knew that their enemies were getting smarter and more determined and that's why they had to say goodbye.
The grass around Astrid had become moist with the fresh morning dew, Hiccup began to stir awake. He groaned as he was confused for a few seconds, but then he realized where he was. He looked up and saw Astrid, her face red and puffy from a mixture of lack of sleep and being alone with her thoughts for the night. Astrid saw him wake up and looked away and quickly swiped her face, hoping Hiccup wouldn't notice. But he had. "Are you alright, Honey?" Much to Astrid's attempts, she had failed to hide her feelings. She couldn't speak, the tears of the night were a much needed release of years of emotions being bottled up. Her lips trembled and her eyes watered, she didn't want Hiccup to see her like this, after all she was the strong one.
Astrid leaned her head into Hiccup's chest, if she wasn't going to hide it, she wanted him to help her get through it. Astrid sobbed into him, Hiccup held her tight and wasn't going to let her go. Hiccup had the sudden realization, Astrid had been feeling like this for some time and he had failed to notice. He had failed to notice that her heart had been constantly breaking more and more as the days went by. Who knew that one species could make such an impact in someone's life, Astrid certainly didn't. It wasn't just the late night, early mornings being able to escape and get some air at the drop of a hat. No, It was the fact that she made an emotional connection with every dragon that she made. Without her dragon, she would have never learnt to trust Hiccup (even though it was kind of a forced trust) and she wouldn't be where she was today.
Hiccup buried his head deep into Astrid's shoulder, just the same as she did to him. A single tear dripped from his eye and rolled down his face and on to Astrid's back. Astrid could sense this, after all they were soul mates she hugged him tight. They stayed like that, silent, waiting for the sun to rise. This was an all too familiar sight, they had both raced off first thing in the morning to watch the sunrise before, but now they were doing it just the two of them. They had each other and the dragon’s from afar, and that’s all they needed.