Epilogue:

It had been a year, Stoick mused as he killed the engine and stared through the windshield, but it still seemed like yesterday. He took a shuddering breath as he opened the door and clambered out of the car. He had driven himself because on the Anniversary, he wanted to be alone with his son and the woman he had loved. The weather was cold but bright, the cool winter sun brilliant against the icy blue sky. Stoick pulled his huge camel coat tight around his enormous shape and grasped the keys before walking through the quiet space.

There were a few shapes distantly wandering through the gravestones as he walked to the two stones side by side and identical:

ASTRID FREJA HOFFERSON

HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK III

Stoick slowly lowered himself onto the small bench he had sited by the graves and stared at the cream stones. The words were incised precisely and inlaid with gold, detailing the couple's names and dates. Each stone had the same image of the couple snuggled together, with Toothless hugged to their middle, their smiles radiant and very much showing that they were in love. Stoick had one final word added to the memorials:

REUNITED.

The man stared at the stones and a small smile lifted his lips, recalling the last moments, the sight of their ghosts happy together and then…leaving. It wasn't something he had shared with anyone-not Mala and Throk, Eret-or even Gobber. Only Ruffnut Thorston had witnessed their departure-and she, for very good reasons, wasn't talking. She had left very rapidly after speaking to the cops as soon as they had arrived and taken Heather away. Stoick had summoned her to his office a week after the funeral and had stared very thoughtfully at the lanky shape-accompanied, as ever, by her brother.

"Miss Thorston-I owe you an apology," he had said gruffly, his eyes deeply shadowed. "You were telling the truth." The female twin folded her arms and cast him an unimpressed glare.

"No shit," she replied with typical directness. She wasn't intimidated by the big financier-because she felt sorry for him, losing his son and Astrid and because, after everything she had seen, she had a new perspective. The apology she had received from the Berk Police Department had also been something to treasure and she had framed the letter and it was hanging on the wall of the front office, behind Tuff's desk. Stoick had cleared his throat.

"You do understand my qualms?" he had checked pointedly. Huffing, she had grudgingly nodded.

"I'm sorry about Hiccup," she had conceded. "He was a nice guy-and he really loved Astrid. You know, weird as it is, I find myself thinking of her as a friend because-well, we shared so much together. Even though her singing sounded like a cat being put through a mincer. She didn't deserve what happened-and he had a horrible time after she died. And I know thinking I was lying didn't help-but she was desperate to speak to him, to warn him..but I think in the end, it was better. They were together."

Stoick had been silent for a long period of time and then he had nodded.

"You only get one soulmate," he admitted. "Mine died years ago, leaving me her son. Hiccup wasn't coping without his. He always threw his entire heart into whatever he did-his work, his relationship, his grief…at least Astrid will be with him."

"And Toothless," Ruff sighed. "That will make things complicated. Now people will be asking me for their pets as well as their recently departed. And I can't imagine what animal ghosts will get up to in my parlour. Is there a ghostly pooper scooper? Bleurgh!" Stoick stared at her and his eyes focussed again.

"You have a remarkable talent," he noted quietly. "And I have to admit, I was unaware that it was even possible…so it seems shameful that you exploit it to defraud desperate bereaved woman for cash…"

"Yeah-I get almost killed and it's still my fault," she huffed. He shook his head, his eyes thoughtful.

"Miss Thorston, I am aware of your legal issues-as well as your substantial debts," he said. "Yet on Astrid's prompting, you handed over an enormous sum of money to a charity to thwart Heather." Ruff slumped back in her seat.

"So what?" she grumped.

"The money was embezzled," Stoick reminded her and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh great-now I'm being set up for that? That's thanks for you…" she protested but Stoick raised a finger.

"I have ensured the money has been repaid to the investors via the compensation scheme and the charity is not disadvantaged either," he revealed. "I propose to pay off your debts in full…if you promise to conduct your business…in a more ethical way."

Tuff choked and almost fell of his chair. "Ethical?" he coughed. "Where's the fun in that?" Stoick smiled.

"If you had credibility, if you only dealt honestly with people, then you would be trusted and more would be able to access you without suspecting they were being scammed…" he told her. "More people believe in spirituality than you realise. People want to hope. So if you are honest…if their relative isn't there and you tell them that fact honestly…then your reputation will grow and more people will use you. Richer people who pay better. And more ghosts, I guess. Does that sound like something you would prefer to your current hand-to-mouth existence?"

"I guess…" Ruff managed, trying not to jump up and down with excitement. "I mean…it's cool, Mr Hotshot Financier Haddock…" Stoick smiled and offered her his hand.

"Any friend of Astrid's is a friend of mine…and I will watch your progress with interest," he promised.

"It's been a year, son, Astrid-and I'm still here," the big man said, his vision returning to the memorial stones once more. "I miss you both every day but I know you are together. I'm sure you would be interested to know that Ruffnut has made remarkable progress. She and her brother run a…an ethical business, contacting the dead. She even sends people away when there is no ghost to contact. And contacts people when their dearly departed loved ones call on her. She's still Ruffnut…but she's responsible as well. I-I think you would be proud. Astrid…your actions set her on the right path." He swallowed and scuffed his feet.

"Speaking of the right path-Snotlout is training to take over the company," he added. "I mean-he hasn't got half the brain you had, son-or a hundredth of your financial smarts and instincts, Astrid-but he has a good heart and while the company won't take over the world, I think he'll be a good steward and he knows how I want the company to be run. And your other friend, Fishlegs, has joined to help him…and he really is pretty talented. I think between them, the company will be in good hands."

A bird flapped overhead and he leaned back, staring up into the cool, cloudless sky.

"Heather's Trial concluded last week," he murmured. "I mean, her attorney keep stalling and demanding psychological reports and every tactic she could use to try to worm her way out of responsibility for what she had done. She knew her brother was a murderous psychopath-he killed their parents, for Thor's sake!-and yet she set him on you, Astrid, steal your purse. That was never going to end well…especially since Eret has found out that he is wanted for murders all over the Archipelago region. He was wanted for several kidnappings for the Grimborns and though the ransoms were paid, he never returned a victim alive. Death was really too good for him.

But Heather…"

The Trial had been front page news, the leading story on BerkNews Channel 17 as the woman who had been Astrid's best friend and who set her up, embezzled the company funds before and after her death before finally killing her boyfriend was submitted for Trial before a jury of ornery and unsympathetic Berkian citizens. Heather had hired the best attorney she could afford-not a very impressive one, considering she had spent all her money in helping her brother. But she fought tooth and nail against the charges and spent the time trying to paint herself as a victim, rather than the manipulative, untrustworthy and cruel woman she was.

Stoick had attended every day of the Trial, from opening statements to sentencing, because his son had been the victim whose death was being dealt with while Astrid, who was as much a victim, had no one to sit and speak for her. Stoick accepted both roles and determinedly made sure that no matter what Heather tried, the focus swung inexorably back to the victims, not the murderess.

The detectives had reported regarding Astrid's murder, how a witness had tied Dagur to the death and how he had intercepted Hiccup when he was in the park…when Toothless saved his life. They produced phone records from HOFFERSON INVESTMENTS to Dagur's cell-found on his corpse-just before Hiccup was attacked, showing Heather had warned her brother and set him on Hiccup. Ruffnut testified that Dagur had been the 'mugger' who attacked Astrid and recognised him from the final confrontation at the house when he tried to kill her and Hiccup. And though Heather's attorney had tried to discredit the spiritualist, the fact that she had warned the police about Dagur who subsequently attacked Hiccup and then again with Heather had proved that her testimony was entirely truthful.

Stoick's investigations through Eret and his second-in-command, Spitelout Jorgensen, Snotlout's Dad, had demonstrated Dagur's debts and that Heather had previously stolen over a hundred thousand dollars from Astrid before the fatal attack to try to settle her brother's gambling debts…and the theft of $318 000 after her boss's murder when she was entrusted with the running of the company had caused the jury and audience to all murmur and several to mutter 'death's too good for her'. Stoick's testimony about his son's death had sealed the deal.

But Heather had one last card to play: the sympathy vote. So she had asked to be put on the stand and made a direct plea.

"I admit I have done some terrible things," she had pleaded in a calm voice, "but you don't know what it's like. I lost my parents to a horrible tragedy and the only family I had left was my brother. And though he was crazy and violent, he was mine and I loved him. And what sister wouldn't want to help her brother, when he was being threatened? So I told him to get Astrid's bag and told him where she would be…and it broke my heart when he killed her. And when…when the money wasn't enough, I knew I had to help him and I knew Hiccup was worth enough to get it. I just wanted him to be ransomed safely so I could pay off Viggo and save Dagur. But that bitch Thorston screwed it up and Astrid helped her and then she visited me and threatened me…" She paused, realising there were widened eyes and pitying looks…along with disgusted expressions at her final blatant attempt to try an insanity defence. The court had already seen the evidence from five psychiatrists and declared Heather sane. "So I went to try to get the cash. And when Dagur died, I wanted to kill him…but I didn't…then I wanted to die and he tried to stop me killing himself and I ended up fatally stabbing him. But I didn't mean to kill him."

Stoick rose and glared at her, before whispering in the prosecutor's ear. The man nodded.

"May I speak?" the financier asked shortly and the judge motioned him to give a final remark. Never self-conscious, Stoick strode forward.

"You betrayed your best friend, the woman who would have helped you to her last penny, had you explained," he told Heather brutally. "And you play on your 'tragedy'-but your parents were killed by your brother, who you shielded from justice. Astrid lost her parents to an accident and she never used it as an excuse. Your friend, who you set up to be killed by your murderous brother, was a decent, kind, loving, brilliant woman who I would have loved as my daughter-in-law…had she not been killed. You set up my son to be kidnapped and murdered instead of asking for help. And you tried to kill Hiccup. That you finally succeeded is a tragedy. And claiming you didn't mean it when second earlier, you had been trying to drive a knife into his heart, makes no sense. You are a murderess, a thief and a traitor. You deserve to spend the rest of your life in jail!"

The jury had taken half an hour to come to a verdict-Not Guilty of First Degree Murder but Guilty of First Degree Manslaughter. Stoick had been furious that she had only been sentenced to forty years in jail for the Manslaughter and embezzlement but in the end, it was finished. Justice had been done.

"She has been writing to me every week since she was imprisoned and daily since the Trial, begging me to help her," he said quietly, staring at the image of the couple on the memorials. "I don't reply. I can't. I just hope at some point, she will realise what she's done and makes some effort to become a better person. And after she was out of the picture, I decided to merge HOFFERSON INVESTMENTS with HADDOCKCORP to form a new subsidiary with a new mission." He smiled and stared across the cemetery. "I've taken your company and done what I know you would have done-helped build dreams and supported the underdog…because you loved my son and you would have ended up believing what he did, even though you are like me as well." He smiled. "The new subsidiary company formed from yours and mine will specialise in ethical investments, micro loans for small businesses, a developing economy section to support hardworking would-be businessmen in low income countries. And a series of bursaries to support new artists as they learn their craft."

He lifted an object from his pocket: a smaller ceramic version of Stormfly, a big thumb stroking over the smooth surface. He smiled.

"And that's the other thing, son," Stoick said with pride. "When we went through your house, your friends persuaded me to let some experts from Dragon Ceramics look at your work with a view to producing some of them commercially. The small dragons were amazing and they guaranteed to produce the lot. This was the first…the Deadly Nadder. And this is the first off the production line…so I brought her to you. You're a success, son. There are already orders worldwide and I'm organising an exhibition of all your works, I have art critics phoning daly to ask when they can see your work, buy your work…so you are going to be famous, Hiccup. And I just wish you had been here to see it. I always knew you had talent, son. I just wish you knew how proud I am of you."

He rose and walked forward, gently nestling the little ceramic dragon between the two memorial stones. "She deserves to be with you both," he murmured as a shape shuffled to a halt by the bench. The slightly-crumpled old man smiled as he saw the huge shape straighten up, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his cardigan.

"She looks very fine," he commented kindly. "Your son?" Stoick nodded. "I knew Astrid," the old man continued. "She was a fine young woman, smart and determined and devoted to your boy. She was devastated when she was separated from him and I could see he was heartbroken when she died…so I know she will be happy to be back with him. They look happy. They deserved it." Stoick nodded absently and then reran the words in his head. He looked around suddenly…but there was no one there. Shaking his head, he turned back to the bench and saw a couple of vehicles pulling up by his car. He sighed and rolled his eyes as they pulled up and Snotlout, Fishlegs and Gobber got out of Snotlout's truck, followed by the twins leaping out of their battered Jeep and walking forward, smiling.

"I knew we'd find yer here," Gobber said, smiling at his old friend. "I know yer wanted ter be alone, Stoick…but it's the anniversary of Hiccup and we all wanted to remember them as well." Ruffnut paused, staring with narrowed eyes across the cemetery and giving a brief nod to an unseen shape, then walked forward.

"We all know they're together and at peace," she reminded him as Snotlout handed round paper cups and popped open a Magnum of champagne.

"And we should be celebrating as well," he reminded his uncle, handing him a cup of champagne. "We know they are together-and look at their legacy. Hiccup's dragons are the must-have item for this Snoggletog, the previews for his exhibition are amazing and yours and Astrid's new company is already starting to make its first investments. Look at all the lives they are touching and improving even now!"

"And will continue to do so for years to come," Fishlegs added. "It's an amazing legacy."

"Have yer sorted out a name for the company?" Gobber asked as Stoick sat back down, sipping the liquid and smiling as he focussed on the image of his son and his girlfriend once more. The weak winter sun suddenly filled his shape with liquid warmth and he could almost hear the sounds of laughter-Hiccup and Astrid happy and carefree and in love-and the sounds of a dog barking. He nodded.

"Hiccstrid."

The End.

A/N: Thanks to all of your for reading this story. This has been a real departure for me as I never kill off my main characters-and my first time writing someone else's plot. But Ghost is one of my favourite films (I always cry at the end where Sam says his final goodbye to Molly and departs) and when BrawlerGamer approached me with this outline, I thought long and hard but I felt it was really too good to turn down. I really hope I have done justice to the story and the familiar HTTYD characters. And of course, there was serious Hiccstrid which salved my conscience. For those of you who hoped for Astrid to come back to life…sorry, I couldn't manage that. But Hiccup and Astrid are together-with Toothless-and happy. And the people responsible for Astrid's death got what they deserved.

So HUGE Kudos and thanks to BrawlerGamer for writing such an excellent adapted plot! Great work!

I hope you enjoyed the story and I will be continuing with my other fictions! Best wishes to you all-harrypanther.