"Where are we going, dad?" I asked my father as we drove through the town of Berk in the new car his insurance had bought him after I managed to send his old one off a bridge.

"You'll see" He smiled slightly as he pulled up in front of the local mechanic.

I furrowed my brows at him as I stared at the grey, metallic garage door in front of us in confusion. "Why are we here?"

As if on cue, the garage door creaked open, revealing a man I knew a little too well.

Out of the garage stepped a large, rather muscular man who was cleaning his fingers off on a rag in his hand. A huge smile spread across his face as he saw us, lifting his long, blond braided mustache up towards his nose. "If it isn't my favorite goddaughter, up and running once again!"

The man tucked the rag into his back pocket before spreading out his arms, revealing his prosthetic left arm. He wrapped his arms around me before lifting me off the ground and giving me a tight squeeze that left me with black spots dancing around my vision.

He gently placed me back down on the ground again, an audible click! coming from his prosthetic right leg. He let out a frustrated sigh before bending down and tightening the screws in the prosthetic.

"By the gods, this damn leg is going to be the death of me!" He grumbled as he slowly rose up again to face us.

I felt a smile grow on my face. "It's nice to see you too, Gobber"

We took a moment to catch up, before being cut off by my father audibly clearing his throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt the two of you, but how about we go inside?"

A look of confusion washed over Gobber's face as he stared at my father. Then, all of a sudden, it was like someone had turned on a switch inside his head and he quickly hurried us inside. Once inside, Gobber led us to a large object covered by a white sheet.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my father and Gobber exchanging some agreeing looks. I narrowed my eyes at the duo.

"Astrid, we know that this is something you've been wanting really bad and something that you've worked very hard for, therefore the second we heard that you passed the test, we couldn't help but buy this baby and fix her up for you" I furrowed my brows in confusion before Gobber pulled off the white sheet, revealing the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.

I felt my jaw physically drop.

"We were originally planning on giving it to you on your birthday, but as soon as we learned you could walk again and that you had gotten a little... hurt the other day, we came to the conclusion that we'd give this to you a little earlier"

I exchanged looks between my father and Gobber. I couldn't believe what was ahead of me, and I had no clue what to say.

Before me stood a long, elegant motorcycle with a turquoise blue color and yellow detailing in various places, reminding me a lot of my best friend, Stormfly. It was a two-seater, so there was a possibility for me to bring my friends along, but if my suspicions were correct, that second seat also doubled as a place where I could store my bag.

"Is... is this really for me?" I turned to my father, looking absolutely dumbfounded.

"Of course it is, sweetie! Hopefully you can handle a motorcycle better than you can handle a car" My father chuckled as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, a wide grin spread across his face.

"But—"

"Hold up, lass! I can't believe we almost forgot..." Gobber quickly wobbled over to the back where he scrambled around for a few seconds before returning with a small black bag in his hands. "We wouldn't want you ending up in the hospital again, would we?"

I opened the bag Gobber handed me and pulled out a blue helmet that matched my motorcycle perfectly, it even had the yellow detailing! I turned it around and couldn't help but smile at what had been written on the back of it.

"Hofferson" I beamed at the helmet in front of me before bringing it to my chest. It was perfect. "I... I have no words"

"A thank you would be nice..." Gobber grumbled, receiving a friendly punch in the side from my dad.

I beamed at the both of them as I pulled them into a big hug, pouring every droplet of my gratitude into it.

As I pulled away, another thought seeped into my mind. "What will mom say about this?"

My dad placed his hand on my shoulder. "Mom is okay with it, seeing as you've passed all your tests and exams"

Oh yeah, that was something I did. You see, I commenced my driving lessons back in August of last year and the day of my accident I took my last exam to see if I was eligible to drive a motorcycle. I passed.

"So I can just...?" I sent my dad a hopeful look.

"Yes, take that trip you've always dreamt of, we won't stop you as long as you come back to us safe and sound" My father beamed at me.

"I... thank you, dad" I wrapped my arms around his waist as I buried my face in his chest, memories of my childhood filling my head.

***

"You ready?" Mom asked me from where she and dad stood on the path that led from our driveway to our porch.

I nodded, a smile spreading across my face as Stormfly squawked from my dad's shoulder.

I turned to my motorcycle, checking to make sure that my bag was locked safely in the small luggage compartment in my motorcycle, which it was.

I brushed a stray hair off my black leather jacket before adjusting the helmet my dad and Gobber had gotten me. I pulled my leather pants up a little higher, before adjusting some of the protection that had been installed into my jacket and pants.

"Yeah, I think so" I stretched my arms in the outfit, 'warming' it up so it would be easier for me to move later.

"Don't forget to call us! And make sure to say 'hi' to grandma for us when you stop by her" My mother said, clearly working hard to keep the tears from rolling.

"I will, just promise me that you'll take good care of Stormfly while I'm gone" As if on cue, Stormfly flew over from my father's shoulder onto mine. She attempted to snuggle with my cheek, but was instead met by the hard plastic of my helmet.

"We promise" My dad told me as he wrapped an arm around my mother, the two of them smiling warmly at me.

I took off my helmet and placed it on my seat so that I could give Stormfly a proper goodbye.

The bird snuggled against my cheek happily as I scratched her underneath her chin. After telling her goodbye, I handed her over to my dad, a sad squeak escaping her throat as my dad helped her onto his shoulder.

I wrapped my arms around both my parents, pulling them into a big hug, which they gladly reciprocated. "I'll miss you too, mom and dad"

I pulled away with a smile before making my way over to the motorcycle. I got on, put on my helmet, and just as I was about to turn the key in the ignition and get going, I was interrupted by the loud yelling of a group of familiar voices.

"Astrid, wait up!" My group of friends were shouting as they came running up towards us. When they finally reached the driveway, they all stopped, panting heavily.

"What are you doing here?" I asked them, raising my brow as I pulled off my helmet.

I quickly let my eyes wander over the crowd and felt my shoulders sink as I realized that Hiccup was nowhere to be found.

"Your parents told us that you would be going away for a long time, so we came to say goodbye" Fishlegs said as he sent me a warm smile.

"So you're not here to convince me to stay?" I asked, a little surprised that they were taking my departure so lightly.

"Nope, we talked it over and figured that if this is something you wanted to do, we would support you" Ruffnut stated.

"Since we're your friends and all" Tuffnut added.

"Wow," I began. "Thanks, I guess?"

Heather took a step ahead of the crowd, a smile on her face as our eyes met. "And when you eventually come back, we will all welcome you with open arms"

"And kisses from me. The Snotman will be waiting, babe" Snotlout winked at me.

I felt my whole body shudder and my stomach growing queasy at the thought of kissing Snotlout.

"Thanks for all your kind words, but I've got to get going" I smiled as I was surrounded by my friends and pulled into a big group hug. "Yeah, Yeah, I'll miss you too. Bye now"

My friends eventually let me go, allowing me to climb back onto my motorcycle as they positioned themselves beside my parents. I was about to put my helmet back on, when I heard my name being called, once again.

"Astrid, wait!" Another familiar voice called out, causing everyone to turn their attention towards the origin of the sound.

Lo and behold, it was Hiccup Haddock himself, running towards us at full speed.

I dismounted the bike as I watched him, anticipation building in my chest as I readied myself for his apology for the other day.

I crossed my arms as he stopped in front of me, but I couldn't stop the butterflies in my stomach from fluttering as our eyes met.

He took a second to pant before talking. "Please, don't go"

My brows drew closer as a pleading look washed over his face.

I discreetly took a deep breath before furrowing my brows and attempting to stand tall. "Sorry, but I'm going to do just that"

Hiccup stood up straight and set his focus on my eyes, his intense glare turning my legs a bit wobbly.

"What? Is this because of our fight?" Hiccup asked, brows furrowed.

I glanced over at my friends and parents and found them with confusion etched into their faces. They had no clue what was going on.

I scoffed. "You really think that I would run away because I had a small fight with you?

Hiccup shrugged, his eyes never leaving mine. "I don't know how dramatic you can be"

I felt anger boil inside me again as I narrowed my eyes dangerously at him. "I'll have you know that I've had this trip planned since long before you"

Hiccup went silent as he turned his gaze onto the ground beneath us.

"So you're serious about this? You're really leaving?" He asked after a while.

I nodded as an annoyed look spread across my face. "Yeah!"

That's when he did something that surprised me and everyone around us;

He kissed me.

I was instantly brought back to the amazing kiss we had shared before our big argument.

Fluttering butterflies filled my stomach, my heart was pounding against my rib cage, and a warmth spread across my chest as my legs felt like they were about to give in. All those feelings I usually felt whenever he was around, but multiplied by a thousand.

But the thing that separated this kiss from the other was that this time, I wanted to push him off me and scream at him for even daring to touch me. But I didn't do anything.

I didn't even kiss him back, something I ended up regretting terribly later.

After a while he pulled away and seemed to be searching my eyes for something, but a disappointed look eventually fell upon his face as it became clear that he hadn't found it.

Again I found myself glancing over at my parents and friends, who were staring at the two of us, mouths agape. That was something they hadn't expected.

I shook my head slowly as I reminded myself why I was really there in the first place. I made my way over to my motorcycle, mounted it and put my helmet on.

Hiccup followed me, positioning himself right beside the front so that I wouldn't be able to move without hitting him. "Astrid, these past few months... they've really been some of the best I've ever had, and that's all because I got to spend so much time with you"

Hiccup took one of my hands in his as he desperately tried to find my eyes through the darkness of my face shield. "And now that you're leaving... well, I figured that I should confess my feelings for you. I figured I should tell you that I've really fallen for you over these past months, fallen hard, and I simply can't imagine not seeing your beautiful face every day"

Hiccup moved over to me and lifted off my helmet. "So I beg you, please stay"

I swallowed a lump that had gathered in the back of my throat before taking a deep breath.

Gods, I felt the exact same way he did. I wanted to scream it from the rooftops, I wanted to whisper it in his ear, but the thing was... I just couldn't bring myself to admit it out loud yet.

I felt my face freeze in a stern expression. "Thanks for all that you've done for me, Hiccup, but I can't say I feel the same"

It broke my heart in two just uttering those words, but my mind stayed focused, convincing me that this was the right thing to do, seeing as I wasn't ready to admit my feelings just yet.

But what hurt the most was the look on his face. Gods, the look on his face. How it just fell, like I had killed the love of his life in front of him. His eyes, turning darker and losing their shine. It felt like I had just shoved a dagger through his heart, like I had killed him.

Gods I hated myself. I hated that I had done that. I wanted nothing more than to take it back and beg him to forgive me. But I didn't, instead I just watched as he probably thought that I didn't care for him in any way, shape or form, even after we had shared that magnificent kiss just the other day.

It didn't take long for a stern look to spread across his face. When his eyes finally met mine, they were colder than a winter night in Antarctica. He straightened up before sending me a sharp nod, which felt like he had just hit me across the face with a bat.

I swallowed another lump that had gathered in my throat as he took a step back.

I tore my gaze away from him as I once again put on my helmet, so that I could shield my expression as I turned and waved towards the others.

I caught myself glancing at him one last time before I stuck the keys in the ignition, turned it and revved the engine of the motorcycle before speeding off into the distance.

Not the greatest start to my 6 months of freedom.