For Better or Worse:

"Blergh!"

Hiccup slowly opened his eyes at the sound. It came again and he sighed as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Strapping on his prosthetic, he walked over to where his wife was hurling into a bucket in the corner of their hut at Dragon's Edge.

She'd been sick a lot lately, but given the circumstances lately, that wasn't surprising, given the current circumstances. Hiccup set his hand on her back and rubbing small circles. He sighed as she continued to throw up. He wished there was something he could do to take away her stress. Astrid finally stopped emptying her guts into the bucket.

"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked as he stroked her hair.

Astrid nodded and wiped her mouth off on the back of her hand. Hiccup took the bucket from his wife's hand and stepped outside to dump it. The biting wind chilled him to the bone, snow blinding him as he threw the contents out. He stepped back inside the hut and shook off the snow stuck on his clothes and hair.

"I want to go see her," Astrid said as Hiccup entered back into the hut.

Hiccup held back a groan. "Astrid, it's the middle of the night, the storm is still going, in fact I think it's gotten stronger since this afternoon."

"I want to see her," Astrid insisted.

Hiccup sighed, he knew this wasn't a good idea, but he didn't want to argue with her. He opened a chest near the door and took out his and Astrid's coats. As Astrid put on her boots, Hiccup set her coat over her shoulders and then put on his own. He watched her fasten her buttons. Her face was emotionless, empty. Hiccup felt his heart tighten.

She'd been through a lot lately, and it was taking its toll on her. In the back of his mind he knew she'd be okay, this was Astrid, after all. But he couldn't help but worry. Hiccup had only seen Astrid this sullen once before, when her mother died. It hadn't taken her as long to snap out of it then though, which concerned him even further.

Hiccup put his arm around her shoulders and pushed the door open. The flurry of snow burst into the room, biting at what small areas of their skin were exposed. Hiccup struggled to close the door behind him, and then picked up the rope that led to the stables. With Astrid's hands on his shoulders, he followed the rope, hand over hand, squinting to see as far ahead as he could in the snow, which was only about five feet. He shivered viciously. He really wished he could go back to bed with Astrid, and cuddle up under the warm blankets, and sleep, but he needed to keep Astrid stable.

After what seemed like forever, the looming shape of the stables stand out from the white depths. Dropping the rope, Hiccup pulled the door open, ushered Astrid inside, then closed the door behind him. The inside of the stables were not much warmer than the outside, but at least the wind wasn't biting at every inch of his body. Astrid immediately ran to Stormfly's stall, and threw her arms around the Nadder's neck. The light from the torches on the walls threw gloomy shadows on the floor, as Astrid whispered in a lowly voice to her dragon.

Hiccup watched his wife, though she seemed a bit happier than before, her shoulders were still slumped, and her head slightly hung. Though concerned, he decided to give his wife some privacy, and walked to Toothless' stall. He surprised to find the Night Fury wasn't asleep, but was wide awake with his nose facing in the direction of Berk. Hiccup patted Toothless' nose.

"Yeah, I know, bud," Hiccup patted the dragon's head. "I'm worried about Berk, too."

Toothless grumbled sadly and rubbed against his rider.

"As soon as this storm lets up we'll head back home, I promise," Hiccup assured his friend.

"If the Dragon Hunter's don't ambush and kill us," Astrid called from the neighboring stall.

Toothless let out a concerned moan, and Hiccup sighed.

"That's not gonna happen," Hiccup assured her as he stepped out of his stall and walked over to Stormfly's. "Last time we saw them that were in a boat. Little boats, giant blizzard, it's not gonna end well for them."

Astrid didn't reply, but continued to stroke her dragon's head, barely acknowledging her husband's presence. Hiccup frowned, but didn't push her to talk. Instead, he moved to check Stormfly's wing. A long line of stiches patched up a long gash from a hunter's spear. He gently ran his fingers over the stitching.

"She's healing up well," Hiccup assured Astrid. "She'll be able to fly again in a few days, given that the storm lets up."

"You're sure?" Astrid asked in a whisper, not turning to look him.

"Yes," Hiccup replied.

"Good," Astrid nodded. An uncomfortable silence fell over the pair. Hiccup moved to set a hand on her shoulder. Astrid's only response was to nod again.

"Good. The last thing I need is to mess something else up."

"Astrid," Hiccup put a hand on either of her shoulders and turned her to face him. "None of this is your fault. How could you know there was a trap waiting for you and Stormfly?"

Astrid shrugged, "I dunno. But…"

"Astrid-"

"It took us long enough to find out who it was. I should have known from the beginning who it was. I don't know why-"

"Because it's been almost a decade since there's been any dragon hunter activity. Astrid," Hiccup pushed his wife's hair out of her face with one hand, and cradled her cheek with the other. "Why would you suspect it was them?"

"Because we've dealt with them before, I should have recognized-"

"Astrid," Hiccup removed his hand from her hair, and wrapped his arm around her waist, while keeping his other hand on her face. Astrid stared up at him, her usually vibrant blue eyes, dull with emotional numbness. It broke his heart, and he leaned his forehead against hers.

"None of this is your fault. The hunters coming back isn't your fault, Stormfly getting hurt during the escape isn't your fault, getting trapped by this snow storm on Dragon's Edge isn't your fault…" he paused for a moment, gently stroking Astrid's cheek with his thumb, hesitating on voicing the last part, the part that he knew was hurting her the most. "And it's not your fault we lost the baby."

Astrid hung her head, tears brimming her eyes, her hand hovering over her flat stomach. Hiccup pulled her closer and kissed her forehead, his own throat tightening as he remembered finding his wife unconscious in the woods. Cuts crisscrossing over her skinned, and spotted in bruises, inflicted by her tumble from the sky after Stormfly had been captured. He didn't even land Toothless, he just jumped from the dragon's back to his wife side, and pulled her in his arms, to reveal a puddle of blood forming underneath her legs.

Anger broiled in him as he snapped back to the present, his wife trembling in his arms as he ran his hand over her hair. Hiccup considered himself a decently nice person. He'd usually never admit to hating anyone, but the Dragon Hunters were different. Not only did they kill people and dragons without any consideration, but they had killed his baby.

Hiccup stood there, rocking his wife back and forth as she quietly sobbed. A few tears ran down his face, his heart aching for the child he'd never meet, but he knew he had to be strong for Astrid. After a while, Astrid's sobs grew quieter, and quieter, and slower. Hiccup pulled her back for a little while, and gently wiped away the remainder of her tears.

"There, now," Hiccup kissed her forehead. "It's gonna get better," he set his chin on top her head, and rub small circles on her back. "We'll make it."

They stood there like that a while longer, just rocking back and forth, clinging tightly to one another, keeping one another strong.

"C'mon," Hiccup finally said, releasing his wife from his embrace and gripping her hands. "Let's get back to bed."

Astrid nodded, her tear-stained face shining in the torch light. They braved the storm again, Astrid with her hands on Hiccup's shoulders, and him following the rope, hand over hand. The wind bit at Hiccup's skin, even through his clothes. He shuddered, barring his head down to keep the wind from stinging his eyes.

"Ah!"

The presence of Astrid's hands all of a sudden disappeared from Hiccup's shoulder. Panicked, Hiccup dropped the rope and turned to see Astrid had slipped on a patch of ice, and laid crumpled on the ground.

"Astrid!" Hiccup dropped the rope and kneeled to his wife's side. He grabbed Astrid and pulled her into a sitting position. Astrid had a grimace of pain and disgust on her face.

"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked.

"I think so…" Astrid replied as Hiccup helped her back on her feet.

"Are you sure?"

Astrid nodded.

"Okay," Hiccup nodded in response. "Okay, let's get back."

They resumed their trek through the howling, white beast until they made it back to Hiccup's old hut. Hiccup took his and Astrid's coats and hung them over the trunk to dry. He then walked over to the fireplace and stoked up the embers and add heat to the room. He finally joined his wife in bed, and snuggled under the covers with her. Astrid laid to her head on his chest. Hiccup ran his hand over her hair comfortingly.

"We'll make it," he assured her once again. "We'll make it."