The riders were all gathered around a campfire on WingMaiden island as the sun began to descend. Hiccup was feeling a lot more comfortable now that Toothless was by his side. Though he and Astrid we a few yards away from the rest of the group.
"Hiccup, please. You have to try and remember." Astrid fought the tears behind her eyes. "You won dragon training. I followed you to the cove and found you with Toothless. You kidnapped me and dumped me in a tree until I agreed to go for a flight. Hiccup, that flight was the most incredible thing that's ever happened to me. You have to remember!"
"I'm sorry, Astrid. I just can't. It's hard to believe any of this. You're Astrid and I'm Hiccup. We're not compatible. You're a fearless warrior and I'm just Stoick's little disappointment. That's the way it's always been." Hiccup explained.
"Ugh!" Astrid growled grabbing Hiccup by the shoulders and shaking him a little more violently than she had intended. "Hiccup, snap out of it!"
"Perhaps there is a nicer approach?" Atali thought as she ventured over with two mugs of water for the young Vikings.
"I wholeheartedly agree," Hiccup added as his surrounding slowly stopped spinning.
"Perhaps a break will help. The stew is ready." Atali led Hiccup over towards the rest of the group, while Astrid followed close behind.
The riders all tucked into their dinner.
"Any progress?" Heather asked her friend whose eyes were fixated on Hiccup and Atali giggling on the other side of the fire.
"Not even a little." Astrid sighed. "He thinks I hate him."
"Well, that's the last thing he remembers," Heather explained. "You have to prove that you love him just as much as he loves you."
"Heather, he doesn't remember the last four years of his life. He doesn't know he loves me yet." The blonde told her.
"Astrid, he's always loved you." Heather glared. "You were just too blind to see it. When I first came to Berk, Hiccup and I talked a lot."
"I remember." Astrid scowled.
"He talked about you," Heather admitted. "A lot. And I could see it in his eyes when you got upset with him. It's the same look he had yesterday. He was broken. Astrid, he loved you then, and he loves you now. You just have to make him remember why."
Astrid took a deep breath before glancing back towards her boyfriend. Atali attempted to stand before Hiccup halted her.
"I'll take that, Milady." Hiccup took the empty mug from the redhead and took it to the other empty mugs.
Milady? Astrid's hand instinctively flew to the handle of her axe and gripped tightly.
"Astrid, let go of the axe." Heather suggested at a whisper. Astrid just growled, not once losing eye contact with Atali. "You have got to get this jealousy thing under control."
"I'm not jealous! Why would I be jealous?" Astrid quipped. "Because the love of my life just gave my nickname to some other woman? Because said woman is a tall, slim, perfect dragon-loving, goddess whose done nothing but help him when the last thing he remembers about me is basically calling him a useless Viking. Why would that make me jealous?"
"Astrid..." Heather's eyes were filled with nothing but sympathy.
"Forget it." Astrid snapped. "I need some air." She announced to the group, excusing her.
"We're outside." Fishlegs reminded.
"I don't want your air!" She whistled to her dragon who swooped in a scooped her up before flying towards the nearest sea stack.
"Okay?" Fishlegs wondered. "What was all that about? I've never seen Astrid so-" Fishlegs noticed the sorrowful look in Heather's eyes and ceased talking. "Oh. Should we go after her?"
"No." Heather declined. "Hiccup should."
"What? Why me?" He thought. Heather came over and grabbed him by the shoulders.
"Look, Hiccup. You may not remember me, but I remember you. And the one thing that all of us can agree on, is that you have loved Astrid for as long as we can remember."
"What? I don't- I mean..."
"Hiccup, you love her and she loves you. And this is tearing her apart." Heather explained. "Go and find her. She'll be at the second closest seastack."
"How do you know that?" Fishlegs wondered.
"Because it's where I would go." Hiccup chimed in.
***
"Astrid?" Hiccup called as he landed behind her. Well, it was a sort of landing. He was still figuring out his prosthetic and toothless' tail. She was sitting at the edge of the seas stack with her knees tucked up to her chest. Her Nadder was curled around her. She wiped her eyes but refused to turn around, though all she wanted to do was jump into his arms and never let go. "Uh, c-can I sit?" She nodded. "Look, Astrid. I'm trying to remember. Believe me. My life sounds so much better than what I remember. And I'm sure you're a big part of that. It's just... Well, you can see why it's a little hard to believe. I never meant to hurt you, Astrid."
"I know you didn't." She sighed, still avoiding eye contact. "It's just... when I lost my sight, you said that we'd been through everything together and that we could get through that too. And we did. But, what if this time we can't? What if you never get your memories back?"
"Then we'll make new memories." Hiccup smiled. "I may not remember saying it but Astrid, I love you. I always have. And I always will. And whether I get my memories back or not, the one thing I will never forget is that there will always be a Hiccup and Astrid."
The blonde spun around faster than she could blink. Her eyes streaming with tears. This was a new sight to Hiccup. At least to the fifteen-year-old Hiccup. But, being the gentleman he was, he wasn't going to bring it up and make her uncomfortable. Instead, he settled for newfound confidence, gently wiping her tears away with his thumb as he cupped her cheek in his hand.
"Hey..." He spoke softly. "Shhh, it's okay." She threw her arms around him and clung tightly. Hiccup was a little surprised for a moment but soon returned her embrace. "I have an idea." He hopped off the ground and offered her a hand up. "Stormfly. Can you meet us back at the camp?" Hiccup placed a gentle hand on the Nadder's snout. She squawked in agreement before taking off towards Wingmaiden island.
"Wait? Stormfly?" Astrid thought. "How did you know her name? You didn't introduce me to her until..."
"The Red Death." Hiccup smiled. "Yeah, I remember. You named her the second I introduced you. Now, about my idea." Hiccup hopped onto his dragon's back and offered Astrid a hand.
"What are you doing?" She wondered.
"You said your first flight on Toothless was the most incredible thing that's ever happened to you. I want to remember."
Astrid rolled her eyes and slapped his hand away before mounting behind him.
"Ow. Okay, that was familiar." Astrid wrapped her arms and legs tightly around Hiccup's middle. "Uh, Astrid. What are you doing?"
"You may not remember, but Toothless does." The Night Fury practically smirked at her comment before bolting into the air at lightning speed.
***
