Note:The first six chapters were written following Httyd 2 and this chapter(and any following chapters if I write them) will be written post Hidden World.

What Comes Next

Hiccup rolled over and promptly fell to the ground with a thud. He groaned and pushed himself into a sitting position as he looked around his tent. Sunlight was peeking in through the small gap at his temporary home. It hit him that the sunlight meant that he'd overslept. "Why'd you let me sleep in, bud?" Hiccup asked, searching the tent for his night fury partner. He froze as he was hit with the reality that Toothless was gone, off to live his life in the hidden world with the other dragons, safe from those that would harm them. The small tent suddenly felt big without the dragon's presence. Hiccup took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he started his day.

The Chief of Berk exited his tent, looking around at the Vikings moving around New Berk. There was still a weight as people moved about starting to build their huts and make a life on the new island. It was clearly a lot slower going without dragons to help with construction, but they built buildings before they made peace with the dragons and they would manage it now. Hiccup greeted his people as he made his way through the collections of tents and frames that made up the hybrid camp-village. He helped a man stack a few stones in a cart, was nearly hit in the head as a pair of villagers carried a log down toward their build site, caught a young boy as he stumbled while carrying tools, and held a board on place for a resident to nail into place. It felt good to be productive, at least a little. These were his people, he had lead them here, and he'd help them make a new happy life on the island.

"Hiccup," a voice called, catching the chief's attention. He spotted his mother, Valka, waving to him beside a couple crates full of tools. "Can you help me with these?" she asked as he approached her.

"Sure," Hiccup answered as he moved to pick up one of the crates. "Why do you have so many tools?" There were multiple of every kind of tool and he couldn't imagine why she'd need more than one.

"I gathered up all the loose tools and was going to put them over by your workshop so that people could find them easier," Valka explained. "It's where everyone has been going to look for tools anyway."

"Good thinking," Hiccup admitted as he started toward his work area. "I can take some time to sort them out, make sure that it's as easy as possible for people to find exactly what they need."

"Or…"Valka said in a tone that Hiccup had learned meant she had a different idea she thought was better. "You could start planning your hut."

"I'll get around to that after I sort the tools," Hiccup assured her as they neared his workspace. "I have my tent until then."

"Hiccup," Valka began hesitantly.

"I'll get to it, Mom," Hiccup repeated in an attempt to let the subject go.

"I know it can be hard to move on, and that it means accepting that Toothless isn't coming back, but a chief needs a home," Valka persisted. "It's time to start looking to what comes next."

"I have it handled," Hiccup asserted as he placed the crate down on his work table. "But, if it will make you happy, I'll make a draft layout of a hut."

"Finally gonna get to planning?" Astrid's voice startled Hiccup as she approached behind him. "Lucky for you I already staked a claim for you on the best spot on the island."

"What?" Hiccup furrowed his brow at the new information. "Where?"

"There," Astrid said and Hiccup turned to look at a spot of land that overlooked the village. He could faintly make out a small black flag fluttering in the wind which he was fairly certain had a night fury image on it. "From up there you can retire every night after looking over all of Berk."

Hiccup had to admit that he liked the idea of being able to see Berk from above every night and every morning. He remembered the first time he'd taken his father on a flight with Toothless it had been the sight of Berk from above that had cemented his change of heart about having dragons around. It was something he hadn't understood until he had found himself chief. "I appreciate that, Astrid. It's perfect." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before he started rummaging through the crate of tools.

"Is there any doubt it wouldn't be?" Astrid asked with a confident smile. She moved past the work table and grabbed a piece of parchment. "So now you can make a layout." She rolled out the paper and went looking for a charcoal stick for him to use.

"You're ganging up on me," Hiccup said as he moved toward the worktable. He lowered his voice slightly and put on a false hurt look. "You're supposed to be on my side."

"Hiccup, I am always on your side," Astrid asserted as she held the charcoal stick she'd found out to him. "Just make a simple outline."

"Fine," Hiccup relented, taking the offered utensil. He turned his attention to the parchment and quickly drew a rectangle with a couple small rectangles inside and then set the stylus down. "There," he said with a motion toward the page.

Astrid looked at the drawing for a moment and then frowned. "Where's the rest of it? You need more than just a bedroom."

"That is all of it," Hiccup corrected her. "This is the bed," he said as he motioned to one of the smaller rectangles. "And this is the table, a chair, and a fireplace for cooking." He pointed to a rectangle with each thing he listed off. He looked to Astrid and could see that she wasn't happy with him.

His mother must have seen something more in the young Viking's disapproval and slowly backed away. "I'll leave the two of you to sort it out." Hiccup envied her ability to just walk away and not suffer consequences for doing so. If he brushed off Astrid's clear annoyance it would come back to bite him.

"That is too small," Astrid finally said, grabbing the parchment and flipping it over to a clean side.

"Astrid, I'm just one person," Hiccup argued. He really didn't want a complex house and he didn't need much space. Astrid held out her hand and Hiccup passed her the charcoal. She started to draw a much larger floor plan separated into two rooms. "That's too much space," Hiccup told her.

Astrid finished her layout and looked Hiccup dead in the eye. "I am not living in a house smaller than a Terrible Terror could live in," she informed him. Hiccup was stunned but she ignored it. "This will be the bedroom." She motioned to the smaller of the two rooms and started to point to each of the rectangles inside. "This will be the bed, a dresser, and a workbench so you have somewhere to draw or write." She then turned to the larger of the rooms and started to list off what was inside. "The table needs enough room for at least maybe six people, and a sitting area that has a little extra space. A nice fireplace for the cold nights, and I promise not to cook anything in it."

Hiccup reached out and set his hand on Astrid's arm, stopping her. She fell silent and it hung there for a moment. "You want to live with me we'd have to get-"

"Married," Astrid finished for him. "Well I figure you'll get around to it eventually. Did you think there wasn't a reason I wasn't designing a hut myself?"

"Get around to it?" Hiccup asked, a bit upset. "You said we weren't ready for marriage."

"We weren't, now we are," Astrid answered as though it was simple. "I mean I figure we'll have to wait until after everything gets settled and built so we have a space and some stability for it but there's no reason we shouldn't plan for the eventuality."

"How can you be sure I want to marry you back?" Hiccup asked, teasingly.

"Because you're Hiccup," Astrid answered and he didn't have a particularly good comeback. "So we can negotiate on the details but I'm not backing down on the size. And it needs two floors."

"I've only got one suggestion," Hiccup said, taking the charcoal back from the woman. He drew a line between the shape she'd indicated was the work table and the rest of the bedroom. "Work should be kept separate from rest." Astrid smiled in approval and nodded. "What's the second floor for?" He suspected she had a weapon collection she wanted to store or she wanted a training area.

"Well we can use it for storage to start with," Astrid began. Her voice was hesitant and cautious, something that was odd coming from his warrior queen. "And later it can be used for a bedroom…for our kids."

Hiccup was surprised by how much she seemed to be looking ahead, and how much her view seemed to have changed since the dragons had left. Hiccup set the charcoal down and gently took her hand in his. "That sounds perfect. There's just one thing missing."

"What?" Astrid asked, her eyes moving to the layout, searching for what detail was missing.

"Not there," Hiccup said as he set his other hand on top of the one he was holding. "Astrid Hofferson, will you marry me?"

"Of course," Astrid answered as she placed her free hand on top of his. "When things settle down and we have a public space for it."

"When things settle down and we have space," Hiccup echoed back before leaning in for a lingering kiss. When he pulled away he felt a new rush of hope for the future. Toothless and the dragons may have left for good but as long as he had Astrid he'd be ready to face whatever came next.