No spoilers. Here's the story. Modern oneshot. Get ready, cause this is a looooooooooong one.

Astrid never thought it was possible to ever feel this sad. 'How could this have happened?' She asked herself. 'How could he do this to me?' She looked at a picture of them on their wedding day.

She turned it over and on the back werd their names and ages.

Astrid Raila Hofferson Haddock: 19 & Hiccup Horrendous Haddodck: 23

That picture was almost 5 years old now. She still couldn't believe it.

Several weeks after their wedding, Hiccup was drafted. He left only week after, leaving Astrid a broken mess. 5 whole years later, and he still hadn't come home. That wasn't the worst part.

"Mommy." She heard a little voice behind her.

Astrid looked down to see her 4 year old daughter. Her eyes glittered like the trees on a beautiful summers day. And her hair, thick and wild, was like dark chocolate that you could just bury nose in.

She looked exactly like Hiccup. But she got her rosy lips from her mother. Her adventurous spirit, curiosity, genius mind, sarcastic nature, and passion for art, definitly all came from him though. Then she also got a bit of roughness out of her mom.

Astrid was actually happy that her daughter was more like Hiccup than her. It gave her something of Hiccup to hold onto. But all in all, she was a perfect mixture of them both. But that still wasn't the worst part.

Hiccup didn't even know that he had a daughter. Astrid found out she was pregnant about a month after he left.
There were so many times that she wanted to tell him, but she decided that he needed to be here. But once again, that wasn't the worst part.

The worst part, was that he'd NEVER know his daughter.

About a week ago, Astrid had received a letter from the army saying that Hiccup had been taken to their hospital but hadn't made it. If him leaving had broken her enough, this most certainly did.

Astrid, now 24 years old, was left alone with no one to help her. Her parents had died about 7 years ago in a car accident and Hiccup had no other living relatives. All of their friends had moved away and started lives of their own. So now it was just her and her daughter against the world.

While she was lost in thought, she had completely forgotton that her daughter was trying to get her attention. Only when she felt a tug on her pant leg, did she finally snap out of it.

"Uh. Oh um...yes Hera?" She asked her daughter.

"I have what I want for Christmas." She said holding out a piece of paper. For a 4 year old, she had impeccable writing. It was almost to good.

Astrid took the note and the words written on it broke her heart even futher.

                     I want a daddy

Astrid's eyes filled with tears as she looked down at the carefully written words. She wiped her eyes quickly in hopes that Hera wouldn't see her tears.

"Come here baby." Astrid gestured for Hera to follow her to the couch.

They say down and Astrid pulled Hera into her lap.

"Sweetheart. The love your father would've felt for you is unexplainable. But, honey, daddy's not gonna come home. Ever." Astrid struggled to get the words out without her voice cracking.

The words brought tears to the brim of the young girls eyes. She would never get to meet her daddy. She'd have to watch on the sidelines for the rest of her life as other little girls got to hug their daddy's. It just wasn't fair.

"B-but-," Hera didn't finish before she burst into tears. She flung herself into her mothers arms and just cried.

'Why did this happen? And three days before Christmas.' Astrid yelled in her mind.

She didn't think it was fair. How could it be?

She had her husband taken from her just a month after marrige. She never told him about Hera, which she would always regret. She had to go through the pain of her love leaving her on her own. She had to go through pregnancy on her own. She had to go through losing the house because of bills on her own. She had to go through birth on her own. She had to name THEIR daughter on her own. She had to raise their daughter on her own. She had to celebrate their daughters birthday's on her own. She had to see her go off for her first day of kindergarten on her own. She had to tell their daughter that she would never get to meet her father on her own.

None of that was fair. It wasn't fair to her. And it most certainly wasn't fair to Hera. They both had to suffer because of this. And it wouldn't go away anytime soon.

Mother and daughter said nothing. They just sat huddled in each other's arms. Crying in sorrow.

*****************

Three days passed long and slow. It seemed like the closer it got to Christmas, the slower it went.

Astrid didn't really want to celebrate Christmas this year. It seemed almost to painful knowing that Hiccup had died so close to this holiday. But she decided to pull through and celebrats it anyway. For her daughter.

She went to the store and got some presents that were within her budget while she had a babysitter watch Hera. It wasn't going to be anything special. It never was. But Astrid always found a way to make it memorable. And though this year was sad, she would do her best to make this year memorable as well. She would do whatever she could to make her daughter happy.

*****************

Christmas day finally came about. Astrid was just sleeping peacefully in her bed until.......

"Mommy mommy mommy!!!!!! It's Christmas it's Christmas it's Christmas it's Christmas!!!!!! Get up mommy, you can't stay in bed all day!!!!!" Hera shouted jubilantly as she pounded on Astrid's door.

Astrid reluctantly got up out of bed. She went over to the mirrior and brushed her hair. Then she went to the closet and got out a long sleeveless golden coral dress. It fell to the floor and hugged her figure perfectly.

She put it on and and then put on some nice white flats.

She let her long curly blonde hair with light blue ends cascade down her shoulders like a waterfall.

She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. She looked wondeful, she just wished Hiccup could be there with her and their daughter.

She went to the living room, where Hera was, and sat down on the couch. Hera ran up to her and gave her a big hug.

"Merry Christmas, mommy." She said sweetly.

"Merry Christmas, baby. Do you wanna open presents now?" Astrid asked.

The little girl nodded vigorously while Astrid just laughed softly. (Ha that rhymed!)

Astrid took a present out from under the tree and handed it to Hera, who tore it open excitedly.

"Oh I love it mommy. It's so pretty!" Hera said, holding up a flower necklace.

"I'm glad you like it sweetheart. You're welcome." Astrid barely finished her scentence before the doorbell rang.

"Can I go see who it is, mommy?" Hera asked.

Astrid hesitated before nodding cautiously. "You may. Just be careful, ok baby?!" She didn't think Hera heard the last part because she had bouded out of the room as soon as she said yes.

She heard voices for a couple of seconds before footsteps sounded through the large apartment. But they weren't jist a little girls footsteps. There were the footsteps of a grown man to. He sounded like he was stumbling.

"Mommy mommy! Santa said he brought presents!" The little girl said as she dragged in a man dressed in a Santa hat and beard. But his outfut was a slightly dirty army suit and he carried a duffle bag with him.

Usually Astrid would've been upset at Hera for bringing a stranger into the house. But seeing her daughter smile brought her happiness.

She looked up at the man and saw that there was a look of shock on his face. He kept looking from Astrid to Hera.

"I'm sorry. She can be a little.....outgoing. Can I by any chance get you anything?" Astrid asked.

The man snapped out of his daze and focused on her again.

"Actually, there is something you could probably help me with." The man said.

"Of coarse. What is it?"

"Do you think that my wife might still want me?" He asked almost desperatly.

Astrid looked shocked. This man asked her if his wife, who she probably didn't even know, still wanted him. She composed herself quickly before speaking.

"I'm sure that no matter what you might have done your wife would still want you. Even if you did something wrong. If she loved you then she would still want you." Astrid said sincerely.

"But do YOU still want ME, Astrid?"

Astrid looked confused. How did this man know her name?

The man took off the fake beard slowly and lifted his face for Astrid to see.

When she saw his face, she gasped. "H-h-hiccup. I-is that really you?" She asked in a barely audible voice.

He just smiled his signature smile. He set down the duffle and spread out his arms.

Before Astrid even knew it, she had run into his arms and was kissing him passionatly before she was crushed tightly in his arms. All that mattered right now was that Hiccup was in her arms.

She held onto him tightly and started crying softly. She feared that if she let up, he would disappear. And she wasn't willing to loose him. Not now and not ever again.

"God how I missed you. I missed you so much Astrid. I'll never leave you again. I promise." Hiccup whispered in her her ear as he kissed her neck softly. He held her tightly, refusing to let go of his beautiful wife that he hadn't seen in 5 years.

When they pulled out of the hug, Astrid looked at him curiously.

"T-they said you were dead, though. How did yo-,"

"I asked them to tell you that I was dead. I wanted me coming home to be a big surprise. But when I went to the house I found a different family living there. Then I'd heard that you were living in one of these appartments so I figured I'd put on a Santa hat and beard and make it a bigger surprise. I'm home Astrid. And I'm never leaving again." He said the last part softly while stroking her cheek gently.

Astrid smiled and leaned into the touch. And once again she was pulled into his strong arms.

He hesitated for a second before asking. "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant, Astrid?" He asked softly.

Astrid just cried more onto his shoulder. "I-i'm s-sorry Hiccup. I wanted you to be here in person. I'm sorry for not telling you. So so sorry." She sobbed.

"Shh. Shhhhh. It's ok. It's ok Astrid. I understand. Shhhhh. It's ok." He soothed her while running his hand down the back of her head soothingly. His other hand holding her waist tightly and stroking her sides.

He let her go and looked her in the eyes. "D-do you think I could meet my daughter?" He said so quietly Astrid had to strain her ears to hear.

She smiled brightly and turned around to face Hera. "Hera. Hera, come here sweetie." Astrid beckoned.

Slowly the child came forward, suddenly shy of the man, she hid behind her mother. She wanted to know why the man kissed her mommy.

Astrid bent down so she was eyelevel with her daughter.

"Honey, do you remember how 3 days ago you said you wanted a daddy for Christmas?" She asked gently.

The girl nodded with confusion on her face.

Astrid picked her up and turned her so she faced Hiccup. "This, is your daddy sweetheart." She said softly. She made a motion for Hiccup to take her.

Carefully, Hiccup took the small child into his muscular arms. He held her on one hip with one arm and hand under her. The other hand went up and stroked her face lovingly. Tears came to his eyes.

"She looks like me." He stangled out. He continued looking at the child. HIS child. "You're so beautiful. You have no idea how happy it makes me to meet you." He said softly.

"Daddy." Hera cracked and threw her small arms around his neck. He put both of his arms around her and held her to him tightly.

"I promise I'll never let you go." He whispered in her ear. He opened his eyes and saw Astrid looking at them with a happy teary eyed smile. He held out one of his arms for her while still holding on to his daughter with one.

Astrid walked into his arms and wrapped her own around him and Hera.

Hiccup had his arms wrapped tightly around both of his girls. "I love both. So so much. And I promise never EVER to let you go again. Either of you." He said as tears of joy rolled down his cheeks and into their soft hair.

Hiccup and Astrid pulled away but still had Hera inbetween them. They looked at eachother and kissed deeply.

Hera just sat in their arms watching them with a happy smile. When they broke away, she looked from one parent to another.

"Can we open presents now?!" She asked.

Her parents just laughed through their tears and nodded. They set her down and she ran to the tree.

They followed her over and sat down on the couch. Astrid sat inbetween Hiccup's legs and he wrapped his arms securely around the front of her shoulders and arms. She held onto his arms with her hands tightly. Both parents watched their daughter open presents.

"I come home and not only do I have the most beautiful and amazing wife in the world, I also have the most beautiful and amazing daughter in the world. Thank you Astrid." He said as he kissed her hair again. He pulled back and looked at it. "Blue huh?" He asked with a smirk.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah. Don't look so smug. Besides, it brings back the teen years." She said with mock annoyance.

"It looks great on you. I love it." He said while nuzzling his nose into her hair.

Astrid just sighed. She looked up at Hiccup and he looked down at her. He pecked her lips gently then turned and watched their daughter happily. She too watched Hera and felt a peace come over her.

"What an awsome Christmas." Hiccup whispered. He looked down at her once again and smiled. "Merry Christmas, m'lady."

Astrid smiled back gently. "Merry Christmas, babe."

They leaned in and shared the most passionate kiss they ever had. Yep, this Christmas would be one to never forget. For broken hearts were mended and a broken family, was reunited.

So what did you guys think? I know I probably should've made it 2 parts but I figured that it'd be mean to leave you at a cliffhanger on this one. Hey I warned you guys that this was a long one.

Anyway, please comment and vote. I love you guys! You're amazing! Until the next time my beautiful Night Furies!

Don't forget that you can make suggestions for this as well!!!!