Chapter 53

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"Untitled #8 – ( )"

"You don't have to come all the way here from Brunei, RJ." The black haired man shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Well you sent the invitation. My bank account is now filled with dust but I wouldn't want to miss this. You still owe me the flight months ago." Amanda laughs softly.

"I'll pay you as soon as possible."

"Emphasis on soon there, Missy. I'm not planning on staying long. Or else my wife would whine all day."

"I'll pay extra, along with your return home."

"That's not necessary but I'll take it."

.

"Congratulation, Hiccup. You're now a married man."

"Who knew the runt of the litter is the first one to be married."

"I'm an only child, you know." Henry yelps when Trevor suddenly pulls him closer.

"Don't worry, H. You can let it all out to me." Trevor then proceeds to push Henry's face right into his braided hair. "Cry into my manly beard. It will be your last chance to do so before A snatches you away."

"Tuffnut, let… Go!" Henry pushes Trevor away from him and tries desperately to straighten the wrinkles on his clothes.

"How many Hiccstrid babies do you think will pop out?" Sean asks the group, leaning back in his chair as comfortable as possible. "I bet five."

"Four."

"Three."

"Two."

"We're not planning to have kids anytime soon, so don't keep your hopes up," Henry comments but they ignore him and continue on betting. He huffs tiredly; he doesn't know why he expects his friends to behave on his greatest day. It's more of a contrary, to be frank.

He scans the crowd, the people who attend his – and Amanda's – ceremony. It is quite a large party; most of them are Amanda's relatives. They are very enthusiastic that Amanda is tying the knot.

And speaking about Amanda, she is currently standing right in the middle of the floor, donned in her white gown. She looks like an angel, even the sun is shining down at her. Despite her serene look, Henry knows she is not as composed as to what is happening to her mind.

Amanda had recently lost a very meaningful person. The said person had requested to be cremated and spread his ash on a field somewhere deep in the forest. Henry hopes that tying the knot will help Amanda to move on. She had been grieving for so long now.

He suddenly frowns, noticing the look on her face and the fact that her lips are moving even though she is not talking to anyone.

"Astrid's looking a little lonely. I'll talk to her." Heather walks past him and he quickly reaches out and grasps her wrist. Heather gives him a questioning look, puzzled. He firmly shakes his head.

He releases her wrist. Heather looks back Amanda before giving him a confused look. Then, she walks away. He returns his gaze to Amanda. She tilts her head back to look up at something.

Her sapphire blue eyes are glassy and she has an expression on her face. Henry knows that look, and there is only one person in the entire universe who ever received that look.

.

"Even when I'm dead, you're still a pain in the ass, Fawn."

Amanda couldn't help but laughs softly.

"What? Can't a little sister call her beloved older brother to come to see her married?"

"Yes, because I'm dead. And we're not even related."

Amanda sighs softly. She had told him that he had become a close family member but didn't state specifically.

"No, but you've became my older brother."

"Is there some faulty wiring in your brain or something to consider me that close to you? I'm pretty sure there are."

"Oh wow, you're even meaner when you have your voice." Amanda gives him a mock-angry glare.

"You seem softer the last time I met you. Does marriage really affect someone that much?"

Amanda drops her glare and laughs softly for the second time, almost heartbreakingly. Slowly she places one of her silky gloved hands over her- no, HIS strongly beating heart.

"Have I told you how much I love you?"

"Even if you did I wouldn't know what the words meant back then. Even if it only meant between... what's the word, siblings?"

He is standing there, see-through, transparent. His posture is strong, like it always has. His arms are crossed over his chest, like they always are. His entire clothes are white, like they always are.

She must've gone crazy, but she doesn't care. He's here, that's all she cares.

"I love you enough to sacrifice my heart to save you," Amanda murmurs softly.

Her gift of the silky green scarf is there around his neck, like it always has, usually partially covering his face. Now it didn't, loose around his neck, revealing his face.

His handsome face.

There is no single scar on his face. There is no Glasgow smile on his face; his cheeks are scarless. His right ear is fully healed; no bullet wound. Both of his eyes are the same dark brown color behind his narrow glasses. He even have a full clean beard, not quite thick but not quite thin.

He smiles a bit, for the first time, and closes his brown eyes, making his feature even more handsome.

"Coincidentally enough, it was when I sacrifice my heart to save you for me to realize that I finally know the meaning of "I love you"."

His heart inside her chest skipped a beat at his words. Amanda fists her hand over her heart as tears threaten to fall.

"Is this goodbye?" she asks with trembling voice.

"This is goodbye," he affirms while nodding slightly. "But this not farewell. One day, one day, we'll meet again." He smiles for the second time. At the thought of a reunion, Amanda smiles.

"I can't wait," she whispers as a lone tear streaks down her face. She quickly wipes it away. "You know, we had made a gift for you."

"I saw." He looks to the side, to where the figurine stands alone on a pedestal. "I love it."

"He's meant to be with you. Now he's a bit lonely without you."

"Don't worry. As time goes on he won't be. Just keep an eye on him when he's around the kids. Hm?" Rem looks behind him and quiets down. Then, he sighs and his face falls.

"What is it?" Amanda asks as Rem turns back to her.

"It's time for me to go."

"Already?"

"Yes, Fawn." He and Amanda share a sad smile with the latter has another wave of tears threaten to fall.

"I guess this is the final goodbye?" Amanda whispers mournfully. Rem unexpectedly steps forward and envelops her in an embrace.

She couldn't feel him physically but she instantly feels warm hugging her. The dam broke and tears streak down her face. She stays still and closes her eyes, basking in his final embrace.

"See you soon, Amanda "Astrid" Hofferson."

Then, it's suddenly gone. She opens her eyes slowly. Rem is no longer with her. She looks up through the window, up to the sky, through the clouds.

If she looks hard enough, she could see Rem's disappearing back. His words hurt more than just sticks and stones. He is to go where no one goes. But they'll be together from afar.

"Astrid?" she hears Henry calling out. She turns to him as he puts a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "Are you okay?" he asks in concern. Amanda quickly wipes away the tears from her cheeks before giving him a warm smile.

"I'm okay now," she tells him earnestly. He doesn't say anything for a moment, looking deep into her eyes. Then, seemingly satisfied, he smiles back.

"I guess you finally said your goodbye?" he asks, and Amanda could hear the hesitance in his tone, trying to not sound crazy out of his mind. She giggles and leans into him.

"Yeah, I guess I did."

As she cuddles inside Henry (her husband!) she begins to thought about children, and what name would suit them.

"If I find out that you have named your son "Hnýtur" or your daughter "Rembihnút" I will hunt you down and haunt you for the rest of your life."

"Amanda? Milady, is something wrong?" Henry asks when his wife suddenly laughs softly.

"Oh nothing; just heard something funny."

Okay then. So what's next?"

"Our future."

Fin

That is all folks. Thank you for reading this two years worth of work.

A little insight from the author about this fanfiction. The reason on why this story is born is that I want a significant character to die. I was planning to kill of Hiccup but many people wouldn't stop whining in my inbox and I feel like that would be a little too much. So I ended up with an OC since they are expandable. The reason I made this story so long is so because I want the OC to have an emotional attach to a character, this being Astrid.

It is a big risk on making an OC as the main character, it does not do well in the HTTYD fandom. I am pretty okay with it in the end.

A special thank you to CajunBear73 for staying with me entire through it and kind enough to leave a review on ever single chapter since day one. You am is MVP.

For now, take care

-Uncle RJ Kitten