Hiccup's POV

Astrid's heart was nearly beating out of her chest as she wrapped her arms around my waist and clung on to me for dear life. She hadn't said a word to me since Zephyr and I rescued her, she had merely just pressed her face to my back and taken some heavy breaths.

"Astrid, you're safe now, he's never going to hurt us again." I attempted to reassure her as the image of Dagur the Deranged laying sprawled out on the floor of his Great Hall in a pool of his own blood flashed through my mind. I quickly shook off the memory and made a mental note to myself to check up on Zephyr once we got home.

Astrid took a deep, shaky breath before answering. "I ... I can't believe you came to rescue me."

I shrugged as I kept my gaze locked on the horizon, unable to look at my wife once again dressed up as a bride, but this time to marry another man. "Of course I did. I couldn't very well let my wife marry another man, now could I?"

A soft chuckle escaped Astrid, but she remained silent after that. My forehead creased with worry as the severity of the situation truly hit me and I realized how terrified Astrid must've been.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." I apologized to her as I turned back to face her, those ocean blue eyes brimming with what I assumed to be tears.

Astrid shut her eyes and slowly shook her head. "No ... it's alright. I'm just happy you were there in time."

I brought my hand up to stroke her cheek, in an attempt to help her combat whatever was going on inside that beautiful mind of hers. "What happened?"

Judging by the pain that momentarily flashed before her eyes, she knew exactly what I was inquiring about. Half-expecting her to drop the whole question, I turned back to faze the horizon and the beautiful full moon that was shining brightly not too far above it. "He threatened you, threatened Zephyr. Said that if I didn't agree to marry him ... he would do terrible things to the both of you. I couldn't allow that to happen, I couldn't allow him to hurt you."

I glanced over at my daughter, who was flying a little ahead of us on her dragon, whistling a cheerful tune as if she wasn't carrying the weapons that had killed the chief of the Berserkers. "So you would rather subject yourself to a lifetime of torture and unhappiness than to see any of us suffer?"

Astrid sighed as she rested her head against my back. "Don't act like you wouldn't do the exact same, Hiccup. We all know that you're the king of self-sacrificing."

I shrugged, not completely in disagreement with her as I retorted with a witty comment. "I don't know, I feel like you've really been trying to come after my crown lately."

A snort escaped Astrid as I could almost feel her rolling her eyes behind my back. "You're lucky we're stuck on a dragon together, or else your arm would've been hurting very bad at this point."

A laugh escaped me at Astrid's comment and the mood between us immediately lightened. Now was certainly not the time to bring up the whole almost-marriage to Dagur, so I decided to put it on ice for the time being.

After an exhaustingly long flight, the island we all called our home finally showed up in the distance. A wave of nostalgia washed over me as dawn broke and the first rays of the sun shone over and lit up the island of Berk.

Soft snoring came from behind me and it didn't take me long to realize that Astrid had fallen asleep. As we passed the two statues that marked the start of our waters, I gently nudged Astrid in an attempt to wake her. "Astrid, wake up, we're home."

With a low yawn, Astrid slowly woke and soon after stretched her limbs before readying herself to once again greet the people, who had somehow figured out when we would be home and were all standing patiently outside our house, waiting for us to land.

Zephyr was the first to land and before the rest of us had even managed to touch down, she had already thrown herself into the arms of Syver Jorgenson, who had been waiting at the very front of the crowd for our return.

As Astrid and I both slid off Toothless, we shared a look of confusion at what was happening before us and judging by the faces of all the people who had gathered around us as well, this was news to them too.

"I told you I'd be careful." A smirk pulled at Zephyr's features as she pulled out of the hug with the son of Snotlout but kept her arms locked around his neck.

"You have no idea how worried I was." Before any of the people that had gathered to greet us (which included us) had gotten the chance to process what was happening between the two teens, — who had never shown this type of affection for each other before — the pair kissed and I felt my head grow light as my vision slowly began to blur.

My daughter, kissing a boy? I was heaving for air as Astrid caught me by the arms before I fell over. It was at that moment I remembered the day Zephyr had asked me about how to ask a boy out and I felt my entire world shatter around me. My little baby was all grown up and she was kissing a boy. I was certain right then and there that I was going to have a heart attack.

"Hiccup, stop being so dramatic!" Astrid hissed into my ear as I struggled to keep myself standing.

My daughter and Syver eventually parted, which is when they realized that they had just kissed before the entire village and had nearly sent me into cardiac arrest. Both Zephyr and Syver turned a deep shade of red as they took a step away from each other, being extra careful not to make eye contact with their gaping friends or any of their parents.

"That's my boy!" Snotlout Jorgenson cheered as he threw an arm around his considerably taller son, who looked like he wished for the ground the swallow him whole. "And you said that a Hofferson would never end up with a Jorgenson!"

A huff escaped Astrid as she steadied me by throwing one of my arms over her shoulder. "She's half-Hofferson, half-Haddock, so don't even start, Snotlout."

"A JORGENSON!" I cried out as I needed to support myself on my dragon as well and both Toothless and Astrid shook their heads in disappointment at me. I noticed Zephyr's blush growing even deeper as she made a point of not wanting to be noticed by anyone.

"Is Hiccup, alright? He looks a little out of it." Tuffnut pointed out from where he stood in between his twins, who had already forgotten all about Zephyr and Syver and were busy trying to fight one another through their father. "Also, why are you wearing a bloodied wedding dress? Did you guys get married again?"

I felt Astrid glance down at me and shake her head in what I assumed to be disappointment yet again. "No, we didn't get married again and Hiccup's just a little overdramatic and thinks that his daughter kissing a boy is the end of the world. And the dress ... it's a long story."

"Someone, please, get Gothi!" I moaned as my heart constricted painfully in my chest.

A sigh escaped Astrid as she and Toothless began moving toward the entrance of the house. "No one get Gothi, Hiccup is completely fine other than being an overprotective and overdramatic father."

The crowd dispersed as Astrid and Toothless helped me inside, dumped me in my chair and let me slump down in it as I felt like death was hiding right around the corner. "I don't know how much more of this my poor heart can take!"

Astrid rolled her eyes as the door swung open, revealing a bright red Zephyr who refused to meet any of our eyes. "Gods, dad, you're so embarrassing!"

And with that, she stormed up to her room as I imagined she hoped the skies would open and take her away from all the embarrassment she had been through. Astrid sat down in the chair next to me and slowly shook her head. "Honestly Hiccup, don't you think that was a little too much, even for you?"

"No! She's my little girl and I don't want her kissing any boys or girls! Especially not if they come from Snotlout." I stated as my mind slowly went back to normal.

"She'll always be your little girl, but little girls eventually have to find their own way in life, which is often away from their parents." Astrid attempted to reason with me, but I refused to accept it.

"Nope. No way, no boys until she's at least thirty. I'm putting my foot down." I stated loudly and clearly, only to receive a snort and an arched brow from my wife.

"You do remember how unsuccessful you tend to be whenever you decide to put your foot down, right?" Astrid reminded me as I cursed myself for my lack of backbone in my teens.

"But now it's different, this time I actually have a backbone!" I informed my wife as she smiled at me before resting her cheek on her knuckle.

"Sure thing, Hiccup. Sure thing."