The blackness was warm. It held her for a long time, rocked her back and forth, as if gliding across the sky, hugging her close. When it shattered, it shattered hard. Light leaked in, trying to disperse the blackness slowly, but the whole cocoon broke and the light came streaming in. It brought pain and cold and fear.

"Uh, Gothi? She's awake!"

Astrid struggled to make sense of the words. They were spoken by a familiar voice. A familiar earthy scent hung in the air, cloaking Astrid's foggy mind like a heavy fur.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The voice came again, accompanied by a sharp pain in her head, then it was gone, and the blackness returned. Astrid melted into it, rejoicing in its comforting warmth.

*****HOW ASTRID TRAINS YOUR DRAGON*****

The blackness coughed Astrid up once more. Rudely, it spat her out into the bright world, like a great wave from the sea washing ashore countless grains of sand, it returned Astrid to the land.

She blinked in the immense brightness, greeted by a familiar warble.

"Wha…?" She garbled, her mind struggling to clear the fog and make sense of the world.

Her vision focused, and there he was. Her Toothless, her Nightfury, her best friend. He perched on the side of her bed, vibrant green eyes round as the moon, staring intently at her face.

"Toothless?" She spoke, rubbing at her eyes. "Toothless!" She realized, trying to push herself upright in bed. "Uh, does Dad know you're here? You need to go!" Her left leg ached at the movement, but that wasn't her focus at the moment.

The Nightfury seemed thrilled that she was awake. He warbled and darted around the room, knocking over her desk chair and spilling a cup of quills.

"Woah! Take it easy!" Astrid heard her hoarse voice this time, and it all came rushing back. The dragons. The battle. Toothless diving after her. The flames. She was certain that she was dead!

"Are you okay bud?" She breathed, reaching out to him. He purred gently and plopped his big head in her lap. She noticed a wrapping on the end of his tail and briefly wondered who put it there.

She was distracted from the thought, however, by a piercing pain in her leg.

"Ouch." Astrid hissed, pushing back the pelt she had been covered with as her face contorted in pain.

She stared at what she saw, not processing it for a long moment.

There was an artfully crafted metal peg leg where her left foot and lower calf should be.

Her mind was blank as she traced her fingers over it, the cold metal feeling foreign in a place that had been flesh last time Astrid saw it. It was undoubtedly Gobber's handywork. No one else in the village was capable of such precision and detail in metal work.

It had a leather and cloth top, which was attached to Astrid's leg, or what remained of it, and a shaft that interlocked into a larger piece with a spring inside, obviously meant to achieve the same sensation at walking on a ankle. An ankle that could bend and flex and move.

A pang at what she'd lost hit Astrid then, as she rolled her leg back and forth, examining the new appendage. In that moment, she felt as if she had lost her freedom. She had lost her mobility and independence. Then, with a startling jolt, she realized what Toothless must have felt losing his tail.

Astrid looked up at her friend, his vivid eyes watching her intently, ears perked and head slightly tilted to the side, as if gauging Astrid's reaction. He purred when she looked up, stepping towards her and nuzzling her gently.

Astrid smiled sadly, scratching him absentmindedly. She couldn't remember anything after her fall from the sky. She wondered how much time had passed, and if everyone else was alright.

It took Astrid a long time to build up the courage to stand up. She sat on the edge of the bed, her foot and her prosthetic set lightly on the floor, staring at them. Toothless sat back and waited for her.

"Okay." Astrid breathed, placing her hands flat on the bed beside her, ready to push herself up. Toothless purred encouragingly. Astrid pinched the tip of her tongue between her teeth, her brow set in a determined expression.

Then she was standing. The prosthetic hurt where it met her leg, but Astrid passed it off as the wound underneath wasn't fully healed. Shifting her weight from her right foot to her fake foot, Astrid's confidence built.

"This isn't so bad. Is it bud?" Astrid tore her gaze from her feet and looked at Toothless. He gave her a gummy smile and swished his tail.

The Astrid took her first step.

"Woah!" She yelped as the smooth metal base of the prosthetic slid across the floor, sweeping Astrid's other foot with it. Toothless caught her with his broad head.

"Thanks!" She smiled at him, supporting herself on him as they walked to the front door. She grew steadier on her feet in even that short distance.

Pulling the handle of the front door, Astrid felt a brief wave of fear at what her father might say. He must know Toothless was in the house right now, but that didn't mean he approved.

A bright afternoon sun streamed through the door, Astrid flinched raising a hand to her eyes. Blinking the yellow light, a Monstrous Nightmare flashed across her porch.

"Ahh!" Astrid screamed and slammed shut the door.

"Astrid! Come out! It's only Hookfang!"

Astrid opened the door a crack and peaked out. Sure enough, Hookfang's red snout was right there, non threatening and laid back as per his usual. Astrid sighed and pulled the door open the rest of the way, bringing Snotlout, Ruff and Tuff, and Fishlegs into view.

Toothless nudged past Astrid as a familiar Zippleback made his way up the path. The Nightfury growled playfully and chased him around. Astrid laughed and took a few wobbly steps outside without Toothless to support her.

The gathered group was quiet for a few uncomfortable seconds, watching with guilt and sorrow as the maimed girl joined them.

"How's it been?" Astrid asked uncertainty, breaking the tension with a small smile.

"Oh my Thor Astrid! There has been so much going on. You should have seen the ship that I rebuilt on the Nest Island! You would have been so impressed!" Snotlout spouted off. Astrid smirked at him, shifting her weight back and forth as he talked. Then the twins joined in, bickering about who did more work.

Fishlegs cut them off after a moment, holding up a hand.

"How long have you been waiting out here for me?" Astrid asked, slightly embambarressed.

"Like, I dunno, 10 minutes." Tuffnut saided, slicing at a branch with a small blade, sending shavings of wood to the ground in delicate curls.

FIshlegs scoffed. "Not long. Gothi said that you'd be up some time today. Hiccup had been sitting out here all morning."

Astrid heart thumped at the mention of the boy's name.

"Oh, uh, where is he now?" Astrid asked, trying to sound casual.

"Gobber called him down to grab something." Snotlout muttered. "I don't know why Gobber would ask Hiccup when I am clearly so much stronger." He flexed his bicep, raising his eyebrow at Astrid as he did so. She gave him a tight lipped smile and looked away quickly.

"Okay. I think I'll head down. Is my father there too?"

"Yeah. He was livin' it up at the Great Hall." Ruffnut said.

"What?" Astrid laughed, letting Snotlout grab her arm as she almost tripped down the front steps.

"Yeah. You should see him."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, since the Nest got destroyed, and everyone got back okay, he's been celebrating." Snotlout explains, reluctantly releasing Astrid's arm when she wrenched it away from him.

"He's livin' as much as you would expect Stoick the Vast to live." Fishlegs muttered.

"Huh. I was starting to think he was the one who'd hit his head." Astrid said.

"You are so funny!" Snotlout laughed obnoxiously. "Isn't Astrid just hilarious?" He elbowed Ruffnut, which earned him a punch in the ribs from the girl. Astrid mouthed a thank you to the blond haired Viking. Ruff flashed two thumbs up, kneeing the doubled over Snotlout for good measure.

"Not funny!" He wheezed. The others had a good chuckle as their dragons followed them down the cobblestone street.

"How many days was I out?" Astrid asked.

"Six days."

"Six days?!" Astrid cried. "That is so long!"

"Well, you need time to recover. Your body underwent some serious trauma, Astrid. Your epidermis was damaged by the fire, and you are lucky that you didn't suffer more severe injuries than a severed appendage with the fall that-"

"Okay! Enough geek talk!" Tuffnut yelled, walking backwards in front of the group so he could face Astrid while he spoke. "Gothi gave you some good stuff." He nodded with raised eyebrows.

"And Hiccup hit you upside the head with a pot." Ruffnut laughed.

"What?" Astrid was smiling at the twins' expressions though.

"Yeah! You woke up when Gothi was sawing through your leg bone! So he whacked you with that pot!" She cried, reenacting the scene with her brother, smacking Tuff on the head with her helmet.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Snotlout whimpered.

"What? Sawing through bones isn't your deal?" Ruffnut taunted, leading the boy to dry heave, clutching his stomach. She absolved in laughter as Astrid just dismissed the situation with a good natured head shake, making a mental note to ask Hiccup about the whole pot situation.

As they arrived in the town's square, boisterous voices could be heard spilling from the open doors of the Great Hall. Astrid could smells Mrs. Haddock's cod stew from all the way up the road, bringing back memories of the night when Hiccup had tried to make the recipe for her. It felt like a lifetime ago, although hardly a week had passed since.

"There she be!" Gobber hollered, banging open the door to the Smithy, clutching something in his arms. He hobbled over to Astrid, dropping is bundle on the ground, then crouching to examine her new leg.

"Pretty ain't it? Some of my best work there lass!" He chuckled and smothered Astrid in a hug.

"Yes! It is-" She started, but had the air squeezed from her lungs as her sore back cracked in several vertebrae. "Thank you Gobber." Astrid finished when the man released her.

"Aw, it's the least I could do for you." He clapped her shoulder, stooping to pick up the craft he had just dropped. "Got somethin' else here too." He groaned slightly as he retrieved the item and let if flopped open to its full size.

Astrid gasped and ran her hand along the leather. It was a new saddle, stitched with red thread and padding along the shoulder piece for Toothless, and long straps, perfectly measured and punched, and polished silver buckles.

"Gobber, it's… wow." Astrid said. Never had she received such a wonderful gift.

"And you haven't even seen the best part yet!" Gobber was grinning ear to ear, looking as excited, if not more, as Astrid felt.

"Hiccup! Get out here boyo!" Gobber hollered. A few seconds, Hiccup, accompanied by Stormfly, came jogging up the slope. Astrid beamed at him. He was clutching a large red object with more leather straps hanging from it. His eyes lit up when he saw Astrid, picking up his pace.

He open up the object as he reached her, revealing a new prosthetic tail piece for Toothless. It was made from the same res sail cloth as the last one, but it had a white skull and crossbones etched on it. It also looked to be made sturdier than the last, with the same stitching as the saddle.

"Oh Gobber. You shouldn't have." Astrid sighed, taking the tail from Hiccup. Toothless, who had been greeting Stormfly, came over and nosed it expectantly, dancing around when he realized what it was.

"I really shouldn't have. We had a helluva time getting that overgrown lizard of yers to sit still to measure him." Gobber picked at his ear.

"Astrid! Good to see you're up!" Astrid could hear Stoick calling from down the road. Soon, half of the village it seemed had poured out of the Great Hall after Stoick and had surrounded them on the street.

"Hi Dad." Astrid smiled, feeling shy now with everyone around.

"Come here!" He opened his arms to her, wrapping her up in a huge hug. His breath smelled of one cup of mead to many, but Astrid didn't mind. He obviously didn't seem to have a problem with the dragons, although not the same could be said for some of the other Berkians. The stood around warily, eyeing the Nightfury and the Nadder. Shooting glances to the Nightmare and the Gronkle and the Zippleback.

"How is everything?" Astrid asked once Stoick let her back to the ground.

"How is it? It's wonderful! All thanks to you, Astrid!" He boomed, widening his arms out to everyone gathered around. Astrid fidgeted with her hands and felt her face heat up as people began to cheer, sloshing mugs of mead and whacking one another on the helmet.

"And you!" he started again once he cheer ebbed. "You're okay thanks to this young man right here! Flew you all the way back to Berk on the back of that there Nadder! Got you all fixed up with Gothi!" He shook Hiccup by the shoulders and the boy ducked his head, smiling at the praise.

Everyone cheered again as Astrid turned to Hiccup. She hadn't know that! Hiccup had been the one to bring her all the way back. He had held her unconscious body across the entire sea as they flew back to Berk.

Hiccup's eyes found hers through the comotion and he flashed his lopsided grin. The grin that could make Astrid's heart melt in an instant.

"I didn't know that!" Astrid exclaimed. Walking up to Hiccup, who shrugged mildly, still smiling, his cheeks flushing for the first time Astrid could remember.

"Hiccup!" Astrid said loudly, seemingly at a loss for words. Someone bumped her from behind, knocking the unstable Astrid off of her new feet, straight into Hiccup. He caught her easily, his arms fitting automatically under Astrid's and pulling her to his chest. Astrid wrapped her hands around his neck, raising her chin to set it on his shoulder.

"I've got you, Astrid." He spoke only to her, his breath warm on her ear. "Again."

Astrid pulled back to see his smirking face. "Oh you little-" Astrid started, but was cut off when he pressed his lips to hers. In front of everyone! Astrid was mortified, but only briefly. Hiccup held her tight to him, cupping her face with one hand and keeping the other on the small of her back.

Astrid pulled away, redder than the new tailpiece, to a chorus of oohs and aahs from the gathered group.

Stoick gave a hearty laugh. "I always knew that would happen." He said, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "I'm proud of you, Astrid. I really am proud to call you my daughter."

Astrid smiled at her father, warmed by his words and his acceptance.

The he turned to Hiccup. "And you! Now it's your job to keep her from ever doing something that reckless again!"

AN_ (I know it's long, feel free to skip)

There we are! The end of How Astrid Trains Your Dragon!

I cannot thank everyone enough for the reviews and favorites and follows! I never imagined I could write something that so many people would be interested in. I want to say a special thanks to CajunBear73 for all of the wonderful and thoughtful reviews they left. :)

Also, last chapter, I received more than one comment about Astrid and her new leg. I agree that it is a better look on Hiccup, but I set out to write a story in which Hiccup and Astrid switched roles in the story, and to me, the leg is a huge part of Hiccup's story, so leaving that out for Astrid takes away some of the effectiveness for me. I do agree with you though, but this is simply the way I choose to write the story.

And then that brings me to the matter that today, the day I posted this chapter on, is Thursday. For that, I am sorry. I promised this update on Wednesday, but somethings didn't quite work out. First of all, yesterday was my birthday! I was super busy and the matter of this chapter just slipped from my mind. I don't feel particularly inclined to share how old I turned, but I had a great day if you were wondering. Lots of fun with friends and family, good food, and nice weather.

As a slight apology and birthday gift from me to you, I will leave my future plans for writing in this fandom here, today, instead of making a separate chapter for them.

1. Take a Leap of Faith. This is an AU story set in Astrid's POV. She lives with her parents on a farm in the midwest. One day, her mother's old friend turns up with some news and someone. In a startling turn if events, Hiccup winds up living with Astrid on their family farm, uncovering the mystery of the black stallion that turned up around the same time as Hiccup.

All of the dragons appear as horses, so that's sort of fun...?

I don't really know about this fic. It isn't quite turning out the way I imagined so I don't think it would be something I will post. I have about 30,000 words into it and I am not currently working on it.

2. Unnamed Fic. This story is set between the first a second movies. Written between Hiccup's POV and an OC named Ayla. It follows Ayla's story as she makes he way in the world as she searches for answers in the form of another Nightfury. Hiccup struggles through his older teen years, juggling his responsibilities with his father, Gobber, his exploration streak, Astrid, and this new Nightfury rider. They both discover things they never knew existed and that the world is a lot wider than it may appear.

Sort of magic I suppose, Hiccstrid, romance, adventure, coming of age in a way.

I am quite excited about this fic, so I will more than likely post it, although I don't know when. I don't like to start posting until I have things mostly written. Also, if you have name suggestion based on that very lame description I provided, feel free to leave that!

Please let me know what you think of either of these ideas!

Thanks once again!

-Birch66724