So…I'm not going to lie I totally forgot about Gran. I blame my over-stretched mind trying to keep too many stories alive at once. This bit is unedited and a bit raw but I don't care. I thought this story was done. And let's all be honest, who doesn't like more Hiccstrid loveliness?

X

-Epilogue -

Astrid stood up without pain for the first time in months. She took a deep breath, amazed at the lack of tightness that had accompanied her lungs, and released it slowly.

"How are you feeling?" Hiccup asked.

"Good." Astrid nodded as she lifted her chin into the breeze. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds and the entire bluff was bathed in warm light. "I feel good."

Hiccup sighed and she glanced over her shoulder at him. He was standing a short step away from the edge and was smiling as he looked over the stream below. Toothless and Stormfly were playing over a tree trunk on the other side. He blinked and looked back at her.

"Hm?" He raised a brow.

"Nothing,"

Hiccup smiled and closed the space between them and gently ran his hand along her arm as he walked passed. His fingers grazed her back as he stood on her other side. His brow was soft but his eyes were focusing on something unseen.

"Hiccup?" Astrid shifted her feet to face him. She laid a hand on his shoulder, "What is it?"

He took a deep breath, but kept his eyes on that which she couldn't see, "You never told me what happened."

"What do you mean?"

She saw the gentle motion of his throat as he swallowed. He looked at her, "With Dagur."

Astrid shrugged, "There's not a lot to tell."

"Astrid," Hiccup let his hand fall from her back. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it. That's fine. But…did he…do anything to you?"

Astrid didn't answer immediately. She had spent so much time trying to forget it all.

"I know something happened," Hiccup said before she could deny it. He struggled with words, "We haven't…you know…since then."

Astrid reached for his hand and squeezed it. His fingers closed around hers. She could see the worry in his eyes. She hadn't said any more than she needed to about her time spent with Dagur, to anyone. In the months since, Hiccup had kissed her, but she hadn't allowed any to go any further. She didn't understand it. When he touched her a sudden shaken panic would surge her limbs and she would pull away.

"Hiccup, I was stabbed twice." Astrid reminded him.

"I know, but…" Hiccup said. "It's just…it's like you don't want to. Tell me, Astrid, did he touch you?"

Hiccup slid his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer. She didn't return his embrace. She placed her hands on his chest but didn't push him away. She nestled her forehead against his cheek and watched the blood pulse through his throat. She didn't want to look at when she told him. She would tell him, because she knew that she had to. She needed to explain herself.

"Astrid?" Hiccup asked, his breath warm on her face.

"Yes." Astrid said into the leather armor that covered his chest.

"What?"

"He…did." Astrid whispered. She really didn't want to talk about it but Hiccup needed to know.

He didn't say anything.

"But it wasn't…I mean…you interrupted." Astrid said, feeling his heart beat faster. His hands moved and he pulled her away by the shoulders. She didn't want to see the look on his face but she did. He was searching her face, mouth slightly parted and eyes wide, waiting for the rest.

"What?" Hiccup asked.

"Nothing really happened…I just…" Astrid swallowed. The words tightened in her throat. She looked down at his chest. She didn't want to see the look in his eyes. "He held me down, I-I couldn't do anything,"

"He did?" Hiccup's voice was barely a whisper. "He raped you?"

"Not…entirely." Astrid shrugged.

"What? Astrid, either he did or he didn't." Hiccup said.

"I don't know…what qualifies as rape?" Astrid sighed. Hiccup furrowed his brows at her. "I don't know if he did or not."

"How do you not know?"

Astrid fought with her words, "He was…on top of me, and he…uh…it was inside me. But he didn't get any further than that. You interrupted."

Hiccup was quiet. She looked up at him. His face had softened but his eyes were disheartened.

"Astrid," he said.

"I thought I could ignore it,"

"It's okay," Hiccup pulled her back into his embrace.

"I'm sorry," Astrid said as she buried herself in his chest.

"You don't have to apologize." Hiccup said into her hair. "I can wait until you're ready."

Astrid sighed into the leather. It smelt like him. In a sudden shift of determination, she pulled away from him.

"Right now, I'm ready." She nodded at him.

"What?"

"Come on, right now." Astrid grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the open bluff and into the shade of the wood.

"What? Wait, Astrid,"

"What? Are you afraid of being caught?" Astrid smiled. She loved to poke him about taking risks. An adorable awkward blush would come across his cheeks and it tugged on the bubble of excitement in her chest.

"No, but,"

"Then come on,"

Astrid pulled him underneath the shade of the canopy and behind a boulder. She pushed him against the stone and crushed her lips onto his. He kissed her back but without his usual gusto.

"Astrid," Hiccup managed to say between kisses, "Wait, wait,"

"What?" Astrid asked as she leaned away. Her fingers were busy with the buckles that held his armor together.

"Are you sure?" Hiccup asked. "We can stop,"

"If I want you to stop, I'll tell you." Astrid said. She looked fearlessly into his apprehension.

"Okay," Hiccup nodded.

She took the lead. She unbuckled the armor that covered is chest and he helped her remove it from his arms. She left his shirt, it was too cold to be that bare. She shucked the weight from her shoulders and reached for the ties of his pants. His arousal wasn't completely erect but she helped him the rest of the way. She loosened her skirt enough to pull her leggings out from underneath it.

She pulled him to the grassy ground and straddled his groin. He slid his hands along her bare thighs. A jittering panic nagged at her chest.

There was nothing to be worried about. She wanted this. She wanted him. It was Hiccup. She loved him. He loved her. She wanted his touch.

"Astrid, you don't have to,"

"I want to," Astrid said quickly. "I want to be with you, Hiccup, I do, just…bare with me."

Hiccup nodded. She pressed her hips down onto his and felt him slide inside of her. She gasped with the fullness but it was pitiful next to the moan that eased out of Hiccup's lips. His head rolled back onto the grass. He moaned as she began to pump, easing herself off and back on, taking each breath as it came, reminding herself that this was Hiccup. She loved Hiccup. He loved her. She wanted this. She wanted him.

"Astrid?"

She'd stopped. Hiccup sat up and wrapped his arms around her. "You don't have to."

"No, I want-"

"Do you want to switch?"

Maybe that would be better. Nodding, she gripped his shoulder as they moved, together, and the soft grass met her back. It was still warm from Hiccup. He supported himself and pushed himself back inside of her. Thrust after thrust, Astrid focused on his breaths that kissed her skin. He let out a final sigh of ecstasy and pulled himself out.

"I love you," Astrid said as she sat up. She hadn't reached her end but her panic had subsided.

"I love you, too," Hiccup said. He crawled over to her and kissed her, running his hand along her waist. "Do you want me to try and finish it? For you, I mean?"

"No," Astrid shook her head. "Not today."

"Later, then?"

"Yeah," Astrid nodded as she picked up her discarding clothes. It wasn't back to the way it way. It might never be. But it was a start.

X

So I wrote this and at the end I realized that I had once again forgotten all about Gran. Let's just say that because the Berserker empire has fallen into chaos he has decided to stay on Berk for a while. Maybe one day he'll venture out and find some new place to live, maybe a pirate town or something, but for now he's content with having food and shelter. Yeah, that's what happened to him.