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Every time she walks by, his eyes always follow her.
Since he can remember Hiccup Haddock always admires Astrid Hofferson. She is everything he wants to be. Brave, strong, clever, fierce she has it all with her amazing axe throwing skill paired with valkyries while he is just this toothpick boy who can’t even throw a bola.
His obvious crush on her might play a little role in that too but that’s off topic.
So he can’t help but look and notice a thing or two along the way. One of them is her smile.
Astrid rarely smiled. She has this series face on her feature by default. And when those occasions she smiled, it lasted only for a second before it disappeared.
Hiccup feels like she didn’t allow herself to smile, to show her emotions, for a reason only she knows. She became a quiet one among loud voices in the village. That stillness became a barrier separating her from others even when she was standing in the crowd.
He wishes she would smile more. Moreover, he dares to wish to be the reason for her rare smile but he knows it is just an impossible wish. They hardly talk on a daily basis and there’s no reason for her to acknowledge him, except when he fixes her axe.
So it surprised him when she smiled during a flight on Toothless. A smile brightened her face, softened the edges she held up against the world, when she spread her arm to touch clouds above their heads, light of joy and wonder dancing in those blue orbs made them look more like beautiful glass from the mainland than a pair of cold shade of ice it usually resembles.
Not only does her smile last longer than usual, she also laughs, crystal clear against Hiccup hearing. Those carefree sounds that escape from her lips tickle his ears and make his heart do silly dance in his chest.
That moment he knew he would do anything to see her smile again.
Anything.
…
For Astrid, Hiccup is someone she saw but never knew.
She saw him walk around the village, smith in the forge, and eat in the great hall. More often than not, he pops up in random places he shouldn’t be and leaves disaster along the way.
Seriously, like how did he end up in Mildew’s garden after a raid and managed to destroy half of the old man’s crops. Astrid swears she saw him in the forge minutes ago and it’s literally the opposite side of the village.
All in all, from years living on the same island, she did notice something about Hiccup other than his tendency to screw things up.
He smiled, a lot actually, but they didn't truly reach his eyes. It is either those sarcasm smirk or an awkward smile that can barely be seen among other big vikings. Sometimes he laughs too, a ha-ha-ha humorless laugh, which somehow feels forced and more like a shield than any response should be.
She notices but never thought about it. He is just another viking around her age after all.
Then the kidnap-flight on Toothless happened and when he turned to look at her, she saw his smile.
His true smile.
It’s soft and warm. Like amber light from the sunset that surrounds them. It reaches his forest green eyes make them more like a pair of crescent moon and spark them with emotion so sincere she can’t name, almost making her forget a cold from the wind that wipes past her.
Up in the sky without other judgment's eyes he let himself be seen.
Or more likely, it is the first time she pays attention to look at him and see him, actually see him.
That realization hit her harder than the dip in any freezing ocean.
How can these past fifteen years she always see but never see him before.
Guilt builds up in her but it was put in the back of her mind when something happened with Toothless and leads them towards the nest.
Then the kiss on the cheek happens, the fight with the Nightmares happens, the chaos that happens after that fight happens, the adults' departure to the nest happens, the let’s-train-these-dragon-and-ride-them-to-the-nest happens.
A lot of things happen.
Before Astrid knew it she was the one who brought Hiccup back to Berk. Standing in Gothi hut, covered in ash and bruises watching whatever the elderly woman does to help Hiccup after amputating the thing that used to be his leg.
Astrid standing there watching and responded when Gothi ordered her around. She know what is happening but was too shocked to process anything.
Too many things happen.
A day pass and now she is sitting in Haddock’s house beside his cot. Toothless lie nearby, his green eyes never left the sleeping boy.
Watching his still body on the cot so contrary to that boy who had a soft smile during the dragon ride guilt crawling back to her. This time it didn’t hit hard, it slowly seeped in her bone, making her want to turn back time and redo everything.
But she can’t do that so she promised to herself she would do anything to protect him and make him smile like that day again.
As if hearing her secret self declaration, a black scaled head turns to her, looking at her with a pair of his big green eyes.
Astrid looked back, something clicked in her head, from an idea.
She thinks she knows where to start her promise.
A crazy one, with Hiccup flare, seems to be a good start.
…
A lot of things change after the fight with the Red Death but the biggest change is living with dragons.
There’s no more raids, no more bloodshed, true peace gain in an unconventional way that seven generations ago wouldn’t have imagined.
Hiccup loves it.
He can’t imagine a better outcome than this. Despite problems that come with adapting new ways of life and all dragon related responsibilities on his shoulders, it is easier to breathe than before. Maybe this is how it is supposed to feel when other people, and surprisingly dragons, treat him as one of their own.
At first he just assumed they had nowhere to go and decided to settle down on the nearest island to the nest and was too stubborn to find a new home but one day during his evening with his dad, he told Hiccup it was Astrid's idea. For a month while he was in his coma, she is the one who persuades the villager to accept dragons and let them stay in Berk. Run around the island to mediate any dragons related conflict and suggest building a feeding station.
That information makes him speechless.
He doesn’t know what made her decide to do that, he doesn’t dare ask. At that time Astrid had known dragons for less than two days which means she had almost zero knowledge about what she should do with them. He had no idea how she would run around, manage all those dragon things until he woke up, punched him, kissed him and walked away like it was just another typical Thorsday while he felt like it was the best, most confused day of his life.
And after that, since he woke up months ago, aside from Toothless, Astrid is the one who always stays near him to support his idea and help him navigate through this new normal. He is just happy to have her company. Being her friend is more than he could hope.
But knowing this he doesn’t know what he should do. How can he let her know he acknowledged her actions and appreciate them?
He worries about it for a week until Astrid corners him at the cove, asking what he is hiding from her with her newly sharpened axe and piercing blue eyes.
Unable to lie to her. He told her everything.
Hiccup closed his eyes, too embarrassed to make eye contact after his confession.
Gods, his cheeks feel like they’re burning.
“Hiccup look at me”
Shaking his head, covering his face, eyes fix on the ground like it is the most interesting thing in this place.
A light tap on his back hand makes him dare to lower his hand. With his head bowed, Hiccup expects to see the ground but what greeted him are those blue eyes.
The most beautiful blue eyes.
Astrid sitting in front of him forces them to make eye contact.
“You don’t have to do anything”
“But the thing you did Astrid, its-I-I just want to thank you”
She stared at him for a moment. He almost say he heard a cog ticking in her head.
Then after the longest second in his life, she told him.
“Can you smile? That’s all I want”
He blinked. Very confused. A question escaped his lips before he could properly process it.
“What? That’s it? Just a smile?”
Her eyes sparkled with something he can’t name. The corner of her lips lifted up a little to form the most gorgeous smile.
“I would do anything for your ‘just a smile’ Hiccup”
His heart is doing this silly dance again. Beating fast in his chest echo loudly in his ears.
Thump Thump Thump Thump.
oh
Oh
For some reason, Hiccup fell in love with that smile and he thinks he would do anything for that smile.
Anything.