Hiccup's POV

There was a cold sensation on my forehead as I slowly gained consciousness. The last thing I could remember from when Toothless and I had journeyed back home was yet another terrible storm which had sent the two of us plummeting from the skies, right into a sea stack on which I had managed to knock myself out cold.

I blinked as I attempted to adjust my eyes to the brightness of the room around me. Blinded by the light, I could not see a thing, but was able to feel a warm presence at my side, pressing what I presumed to be a cold cloth to my head, which had suddenly began aching.

As my eyes had finally adjusted to the light, I was able to see the room around me. Somehow, I had managed to end up back in my bedroom, Toothless sleeping on the side of my bed as a blonde goddess pressed a cold cloth to my forehead.

I whipped my head over to the female at my bedside and felt my heart stop for a few seconds. I rubbed my eyes, refusing to believe that the person sitting right in front of me was really there.

I reached out for her soft cheek and felt a shock of electricity shoot up my arm as cold fingers met a warm cheek. She smiled, her glittering, ocean blue eyes lighting up as she removed the cloth from my forehead. "I'm glad to see you're doing alright."

Gods in Valhalla, she seemed so real. Her voice clear as day, and her smile bright as ever. But it couldn't be her, no, this was just another cruel dream, another figment of my imagination that was soon going to force me to relive the worst moment of my entire existence.

"Astrid?" My voice was barely a whisper as she held my hand in hers, rubbing her thumb over the back of it. Gods, it had never seemed so real.

"That's my name." She chuckled as she got up from her chair and picked up a bucket of water that had been beside her.

"Wait! Don't go ... please, stay a little longer." I pleaded with her, desperate to come in contact with the warmth of her body one more time before the nightmare set in.

"Wow, someone's gotten a little clingy! You really must've hit your head hard, babe." She laughed, a laughter that had my heart leaping with joy as I fought to keep the tears back. Gods, why did it have to feel so real?

But regardless, she put down the bucket and sat down on the side of the bed. And before I could even register my own actions, my arms were wrapped around her, tighter than they had ever been before as I desperately clung to my light in the eternal darkness.

"Hiccup.I.can't.breathe." Astrid gasped, and I let go of her immediately, terrified that it would trigger the nightmare scenario that was undoubtedly right around the corner.

"Gods Hiccup, you're acting like I just came back from the dead." She chuckled, but my expression remained cold and unchanged as I took in every moment with her. "Hiccup, are you alright?"

"Why do you have to seem so real?" I asked her, a tinge of sadness gnawing at my words.

"What's gotten into you, Hiccup? You're acting so strange." Astrid furrowed her brows at me as she slowly rose from the bed.

"I saw you die, you're dead, and this is all just a cruel dream to inflict me even more pain than the ones before." I said, gesticulating wildly as my eyes remained glued to her.

"It's clear, you hit your head way too hard, mister." Astrid said, crossing her arms as she eyed me rather suspiciously.

"I didn't hit my head, you died because I couldn't save you, and I have suffered ever since." I admitted, a sob building in the back of my throat as I feared the scene would change at any moment. I buried my fingers in my hair as I shook my head slowly.

Astrid shook her head at me as she let out an audible sigh. "You're the biggest muttonhead I've ever met Hiccup, and I have been forced to spend time with the Thorston twins and Snotlout."

I glanced up at her, eyes wet with tears as I furrowed my brows at her confusing response. And before I even had the chance to open my mouth, her fist met my shoulder, which sent a rippling pain through my arm, snapping me out of my daze and helping me realize that Astrid was real, she wasn't a dream, and she was very much alive. If I could write my younger self a 'thank you' letter, the gods knew I would.

"You're real, you're actually real!" I exclaimed as I jumped out of bed and to my feet. I grabbed her face with both my hands, braiding my fingers into her long, soft, hair as a grin spread across my face. "You're alive."

Before she even had a chance to come with a witty comeback, I pressed my lips to hers and melted into the familiar feeling of her for the first time in forever. Gods, how I had missed it, how I had missed her.

As we eventually parted, I found a soft smile pulling at her lips. "Who knew that all it took for you to go back to normal was a good old punch to the shoulder?"

I smiled back at her for a second, just watching her in blissful silence before a loud snore snapped us out of our bubble and back to reality. I glanced over at Toothless, who was sleeping soundly beside my bed. I chuckled as I once again shook my head.

Suddenly, the sensation of something rather lumpy gnawed at my leg from where it rested in my pocket. I stuck my hand into my pocket and pulled out a silver locket, which had probably been in my pocket for a good amount of time, seeing as I had completely forgotten about it's existence.

"What's that?" Astrid asked, tilting her head as she attempted to get a better look at the locket I held in my palm.

I untangled the chain of the locket, holding it up for Astrid to see as the round locket reflected the sunlight that shone in through the window, giving Astrid the perfect view of the crossed axe and sword that had been engraved onto the locket. "A gift I made for you before ... well, everything."

I lowered the locket into her palm as I watched her open it, revealing our engraved silhouettes, which were facing one another. She let her fingers run across the metallic silhouettes on the inside of the locket, a wide grin on her face. "It's gorgeous, Hiccup, but there is absolutely no reason for you to give me anything, especially when there aren't any special days coming up anytime soon!"

"Every day with you is a special one, and besides, can't a man bring a gift to the woman he loves every once in a while?" I smiled at her as I plucked the locket from her palm and brought the chain down over her head, letting the locket hang from her neck as she smiled down at it.

Astrid's smile widened as she studied the locket. "You're too sweet, thank you so much, babe. I'll never take it off."