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.*･｡CHAPTER THIRTEEN.*･｡

——

Vega thought she had been hallucinating when she saw the boy himself be scooped under his father's arm, more than a thousand cheers echoing throughout Berk. She watched the boy with glimmering eyes and a full heart. Astrid punched her shoulder with a snicker, making her glare.

"Alright!" Tuffnut pointed towards him, "Horrendous Hiccup fought a dragon and lived!"

Memories rolled back into Vega's mind at his words, remembering when Hiccup had been attacked by a dragon and saved by his father, quickly announcing that he had knocked down a Night Fury over Ravens Point. No one had believed him, not a single person had thought that Hiccup could have ever managed to shoot down a dragon, but they had all been incredibly wrong. He had knocked down a Night Fury, and he had become a hero, but for a different reason. He had united humans and dragons.

Hiccup had changed Berk.

Rolling her eyes when Ruffnut sent her brother a fist and told him that she had always believed he could do it and that he was her soulmate dragon tamer, Vega pushed past the two with a firm shove, smiling tightly when the girl complained and whined. Astrid rose a brow and scoffed a laugh, letting the brunette take lead of the group as they made their way to the crowd forming at the top of the hill.

"So, what do you think?" Stoick raised an arm out to the village they had renovated while he was out, drawing even more attention to them.

"Hey, look!" A villager called out, "It's Hiccup!"

A collective cheer of the boys name echoed across Berk, his cheeks blushing a deep red. Vega smiled at this and looked back at the teenagers behind her, all of them holding the exact same look.

"Turns out all we needed was a little more of-" Hiccup frowned when his father signalled to his frame, an usual turn of events. "-this."

"Uh- dad?" He furrowed his brows and took a step back, his metal leg tapping upon the rock. His father nodded for him to continue, a strong smile upon his face that Hiccup hadn't seen since he was young. It was full of pride. "You just gestured to all of me."

Stoick nodded as Gobber pushed past, shrugging his shoulders jokingly. He pointed down to his leg, "Well, most of you. That bit's my handiwork with a little Hiccup flair thrown in. You think it'll do?"

Hiccup took a moment to peer down at it, twisting his leg back and forth and shrugging his shoulders. It was then that the group had finally reached the crowd, each pushing past the Vikings that surrounded them until they were at the very front. Vega rose a brow as Hiccup pursed his lips and looked back up at Gobber with a smile, "I might make a few tweaks."

As the crowd laughed, the girl found herself stumbling forward when Astrid gave her a push, now in the centre of the crowd and right behind the boy she had grown to like. She sent the blonde a venomous glare as the other teens laughed, frowning as she figured what she should do next.

Acting casual, Vega took in a breath before punching Hiccup's shoulder, causing him to groan. He whirled around and frowned at her, holding the limb.

"That's for scaring me." She spoke the familiar words and jabbed him in the stomach, trying to fight the smile off of her face. He hunched foreword and sighed, "That was for nearly dying."

"What? Is it always going to be this way?" Hiccup cried out in confusion, throwing his arms around wildly as he stood up straight, "Cause-"

Then, with a surge of confidence, Vega stepped forward and grabbed the collar of his shirt, bringing her lips to his.

   The world around her span as Hiccup responded, getting over the shock and holding his hands up to her warm and blazing cheeks. The village seemed to coo at the action and this made her turn even more pink, despite the fact that it was very un-Vega. It seemed that she was losing control of her old self, the statuesque person almost completely and utterly gone, leaving behind a girl with stars in her eyes and love in her heart. She never thought that she would blush because of Hiccup Haddock, but there she was.

   Then again, she never thought that she'd kiss him either, let alone fall for him. It was incredible how much had seemed to change, all because of him.

   They soon pulled away, hearts racing and full of life. It had been a short kiss; short but sweet. Appropriate for two fifteen year olds expressing their like towards one another. He let out a sheepish laugh and scratched the back of his neck, staring into her eyes with a warmth that he had never quite felt. Vega had never let anyone close enough to see the constellations that danced within her eyes, but now Hiccup had seen them twice. They left him just as speechless as the first time.

    "-I could get used to it." He smiled awkwardly, finally finishing his sentence. Vega crossed her arms and nodded, a sly grin upon her lips. She took a step back when Gobber came through with a pile of metal in his arms and looked to Astrid, who was watching her with raised brows.

What was it she had said about not liking him?

   When Snotlout let out a cry of misery having seen his first love with someone else, he clung onto Astrid and told her that he would never let her go. She sent her a look asking for help.

   Vega scoffed playfully and turned away.

   Gobber placed the item into Hiccup's arms and watched as the boy stumbled ever so slightly, "Welcome home."

   Hiccup grinned, looking down at the object happily. His gut twisted with excitement as he realised what it was, eyes wide and hopeful — he knew that it was new tail wing for Toothless. He just knew.

    "Vega drew out the design for it," Gobber explained, all attention falling upon the brunette. Hiccup's eyes fell upon her, staring in amazement as she brushed it off as though it were nothing, calm and collected as ever. "We found your designs and made a few advancements. She's got an eye for art, that one. She'll give you a run for your money!"

    "Night Fury!"

    "Get down!"

   Hiccup turned to watch Toothless bounced upon the shoulder of several Vikings, tongue out as he grinned. They all joked around, falling to the ground and shouting for everyone to protect themselves as he pounced happily towards his human. He let out a satisfied growl and sat on his back legs, waiting patiently. Vega couldn't help but laugh, and Hiccup loved the sound. He had never really had the chance to hear her laugh, before. No one had. He liked it.

   As the crowd began to disperse, the teenager dragon riders drew forward and helped Hiccup attach the new and improved part to Toothless' tail, each smiling in satisfaction when the dragon ran around in several circles.

    "Atlas!" Vega called out and the dragon came trotting, nudging her affectionately and doing the same to the son of the chief.

    "I thought she didn't like me?" He muttered to himself, pleasantly surprised at the way that the purple dragon crooned. She let out a light growl and jumped on top of him, licking his face a few times before backing away and running off with Toothless. Vega walked over to the boy and gave him a hand up, shrugging her shoulders once as she began to walk away.

    "She must know that I like you." She quickly hopped up onto her dragon and rose a brow, "You coming?"

   Quickly brushing off his dazed trance, the boy nodded his head eagerly and clambered onto Toothless as though they had been separated for years. And truly, it felt like they had.

   Once he was situated and rating to go, Vega patted Atlas' head in signal for her to rise. The dragon moaned in joy and did as asked, flapping her wings happily as they lifted off of the ground and into the air. Vega peered down at Hiccup and smiled.

    "You ready?"

• • •

"So, you designed Toothless' new tail wing?"

Vega turned to look at the boy with a small smile. She continued to walk through the village, ever so slightly further ahead than he was, and shrugged.

"It wasn't too hard," she told him, waving at a round of Vikings that passed them by. Vega frowned when Atlas nudged her forward, as though to tell her not to lie, and she quickly shooed the animal away. "Just a few sketches here and there, not much else to it."

Nodding slowly, Hiccup took in her comment and smiled, knowing it wasn't going to have been that easy. He let her pretend it was, however, and laughed when Atlas gave her another shove. Vega scowled and rose a brow at the pet, the two having a silent conversation with their eyes. It was amusing to watch and Hiccup found himself entranced by the action, a snicker tumbling from his lip.

"She treats you like she's your mother," he grinned. Atlas strode towards him and nodded happily, "It's sweet."

"Dang dragon acts like my mother." Vega muttered lowly, rolling her eyes when the dragon snorted at the comment. She scoffed at the response and threw her arms into the air in a style Hiccup had never seen on her, "What? It's true! Get off my case."

Hiccup peered down at the Gnasher and furrowed his brows as he caught sight of her eyes, the orbs glistening in the sun in a way he had only seen on one person before. He blinked, staring gormlessly into the several constellations and finding himself stuck within them, shocked and a little amazed. Hiccup slowly began piecing it together, glancing away from the dragon and to Vega, then back to the dragon, and then to Vega again. The girl watched with uncertainty, her stomach shifting as she took in his newfound silence. It was weird, the way he was looking at and then at Atlas.

Had Hiccup finally lost it?

"You two have the same eyes." He eventually noted, snapping out of his dreamlike state and looking at the girl in front of him. He patted the dragon's head, "Did you know that?"

Vega frowned. No, as a matter of fact, she hadn't known that. In fact, Vega was shocked at the prospect. Was it even possible to have the same eyes as a dragon?

The only person that Vega had ever been told she had the same eyes as, was her mother.

Suddenly, Vega felt faint.

    "Hey, you okay?" Hiccup reached a hand out to the girl cautiously, worried about her sudden change in demeanour. She nodded her head a few times too many and span on her heel, turning away and moving on. He quickly followed, almost running to catch up with her long strides, "Vega? You look pale, are you sure you're-"

    "I'm fine." She told him bluntly, weaving in and out of the crowds. It was more herself that she was trying to convince than Hiccup, she knew that deep down, but it was a good excuse nonetheless.

   Vega knew the idea floating around her pretty little head was preposterous, impossible, ridiculous. There was no way that it could've been true. Of course, her mother had believed that she would one day be reborn in a different living entity, that she would reincarnate and become a different being, but they were just beliefs. They weren't true — when you died, you went to Valhalla. When you were dead, you were dead. You didn't come back to Earth as something else. You couldn't. It was insane.

   There was no way that her mother had come back to earth as her dragon. Same eyes, or not. It was impossible. She couldn't be.

   Not a chance.

    "Did I do something?" Hiccup asked with his voice much stronger this time than the last. He chased after her and breathed heavily as she slowed, his face contorted with confusion, "Say something to upset you? I'm sorry-"

    "It wasn't you." Vega cut him off quickly, eventually spinning on her heel and looking at him once again. "It's just me and my head, and you know-" she swayed back and forth awkwardly, which was weird. Vega was rarely ever awkward, "-life."

    "Life?" He echoed.

   She nodded. "Life. Just this whole dragon thing is crazy, right? I mean, we always hated them and now they're our friends. All of it is wild-"

   Hiccup blinked.

    "So wild." She continued, "What you said was wild. How could I have the same eyes as a dragon? Is that even possible? I don't think it is-"

    "Vega."

   Her words rolled to a halt, and it was only then that Vega took a breath. She let the air exhale out of her lungs and cringed, unable to believe how much she had said all within the space of a minute. It was unlike her to ramble, considering she rarely even spoke. She felt like a fool.

     "It's not that crazy." Hiccup shook his head with a gentle smile, "So, what? You have the same eyes?"

    "It's not that." She sighed. He urged her to go on, "I've only been told that I have the same eyes as one person, before. It just took me off guard, I guess."

   Hiccup nodded slowly, "Who was it?"

   She pursed her lips.

    "My mom."

   He quickly understood. Letting out a low breath, the boy shuffled on his feet sheepishly, wondering what was fitting to say next. He couldn't have exactly told her that it wasn't at all weird, because it was and they both knew it, but he didn't want to tell her that it was weird, either. Neither answer seemed to be right.

    "It's crazy-" Vega shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut, "-absolutely insane. But, I recognised those eyes, Hiccup. When she had me pinned down in the arena, all I could do was stare. They looked so familiar to me."

   The boy stayed silent, letting her speak. It would have been a lie to have said that he hadn't noticed their original connecting during their penultimate challenge. He had always thought that the dragon acted as if she knew Vega somehow, though he could never quite figure out why this was. And apparently, neither could she.

    "My mom used to believe in reincarnation." Vega smiled sadly at the memories, perching herself onto the rocks that surrounded Hiccups home.

   The village was quieter now, no one around other than the pair of dragon's that played idly in the grass.

    "She used to tell me so many stories, about another life and another place. She liked to say that when she died, her soul would be carried until it found the right being to live through, next." The teenager recited, heart aching as the thought of her mother. "Dad used to tell her that it was all rubbish, but she never listened. She really believed it, Hiccup."

   She slowly turned to him, face so soft that it could have melted. He gulped as she pursed her pink lips, her heart more on the line now than it had ever been before.

   Vega never spoke about her parents.

    "What if she is in Atlas?" Her words were hardly above a whisper, as though it would make them true. "What if it's all true, Hiccup? What if my mom's spirit-"

    "-is now a dragon." He finished simply.

   The girl heaved a breath, nodding dazedly. Both of the teenagers were silent for a while, only the sound of the wind and their dragon's to be heard, watching the purple animal as she moved. Hiccup bit the inside of his cheek and turned back to her.

"I've heard crazier things, lately." He told her, shrugging his shoulders, "It'd be wrong of me, not to believe it."

Vega hummed under her breath, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. He was right. Crazier things had been happening lately, especially to them, and it didn't seem as unbelievable as she felt it was. She had wondered why she had felt so right around her dragon, and why her dragon had felt so right around her, and perhaps this was the answer. A bizarre, unrealistic, but very incredible answer. It would be absurd to believe it, but it has also been absurd to believe that dragons were good hearted, only a matter of days before. Really, this wasn't so bad.

"I wonder what my mom would say to me," Hiccup spoke again, looking down at his hands and pursing his lips in thought. "Maybe she'd be disappointed. I wasn't the viking that she'd probably hoped for."

The brunette shook her head, "She'd be proud of you, Hiccup, just like your father is." Vega paused, turning to look at him again, "Like I am."

He smiled softly, cheeks red and warm.

"Your parents would be proud too, y'know." Hiccup allowed his line of sight to travel down to her hand, where it laid on the rock empty and almost waiting to be held. He looked back up at her, and then out to the skyline just as she had done. "Really proud."

"Maybe," She nodded, "Who knows?"

Hiccup allowed his eyes to travel to her again, back to the sky, then down to her hand, and back again. He slowly edged his hand towards hers, sucking in a deep breath as he gently clasped it within his own. When she didn't pull it away or punch him, Hiccup interlocked their fingers and sighed in relief. She peered at him, but he didn't falter.

"I'm proud of you."

The comment made her heart blossom. She was sure that her skin had ignited with stars.

They lingered in a comfortable silence, occasionally taking it in turns to peer at each other and blush if they were caught, thought it was mostly Hiccup going that. It made her smile, much bigger than she ever had.

   After a short while of watching the two dragons play, Hiccup furrowed his brows and turned to Vega, "What was your mother's name?"

   Vega smiled softly.

    "Atlas."

——