Thirty Three.

The village of Berk appeared below them as they circled and Astrid looked across at Hiccup. The boy was very pale, his face tight with anxiety but also determination. He knew the welcome he could expect but he also knew why they had returned.

"Ready?" Astrid called and he nodded.

"Are you?" he called back. "I seriously doubt your Dad will be happy with you being away with me for so long." He face tightened and she took a deep breath.

"You know why I had to stay, babe," she told him firmly. "Now let's land. They need to know." With a sigh, Hiccup nodded and they circled once more and landed by the growing crowd, directly in front of the stern shape of Stoick the Vast. Hiccup swung his leg over the dragon and landed on the grass of his home. He heard the thump as Astrid leapt off Stormfly and he lifted his head to stare into his father's face. It was completely silent otherwise.

"Hi, Dad," he said quietly. Stoick stared at him for a long moment-then took a step forward and flung his arms around the skinny boy, wrapping him in an enormous embrace.

"Son," he said in a gruff, emotional voice. "Welcome home!" Hiccup waved a hand desperately.

"Dad," he gasped, "AIR!" The big Chief immediately released the pressure, allowing his son to take a well-needed breath.

"My boy," the Chief said softly. "Let me look at you..." And he held Hiccup by the shoulders at arm's length, inspecting the uncomfortable shape. Hiccup was a little less skinny and his bruises had faded. He was still wary looking and fidgety but a little of the shame had lifted from his bright forest green eyes. His auburn hair was wild from the flight and the boy ran his fingers through it self-consciously. He shuffled his feet-flesh and metal-and stared at the ground, feeling really self-conscious. Then he shrugged.

"Um...yeah...raw Vikingness abounds," he muttered sarcastically. Stoick quirked a small smile.

"Glad to have you back, son," he said and looked up at the villagers. Every other face-apart from Gobber's-was unfriendly despite the Chief's obvious welcome and approval of his prodigal son and Ulf Hofferson was looking positively furious. He moved towards his daughter angrily and grabbed her arm roughly.

"Where have you been?" he shouted. "How dare you leave without my permission and spend so long away with this-this slave!" Astrid stared at him: he was raging like a Berserker and wondered why he had taken such a fierce dislike to Hiccup, whom he had apparently liked and admired before... And she stopped. It was exactly as he had said, exactly as he had warned. Nothing bad is ever forgotten-and no good deed ever lasts. Gods, he had known. She stole a look at his face and saw him stiffen, his shoulders slump at the hate-filled tone. No matter that they had been dodging Dagur's bounty hunters and dragon trappers, the reality of Berk was like a slap in the face.

"I swore I would find him, Dad," she said shortly. "He is my friend and he was alone and needed help."

"I forbade you to go." Her father's voice was angry.

"He is my friend," she insisted.

"And why were you away so long?" Hofferson snarled. "You have been gone for months! You could have returned a long time ago!"

"I chose to stay with Hiccup," Astrid said and her mother blanched. Her father turned scarlet with rage, his blue eyes glittering with implacable fury.

"Have you no idea what you have done?" he roared. "You are ruined! No decent man would take you after this!" His expression was disgusted. "I doubt even an examination would convince a potential husband of your virtue. You are soiled goods, girl. And no use to me!"

She stared at him in shock. Her father had always been hard to please, a stern taskmaster always demanding the very best and intolerant of any signs of weakness or failure. She had practiced until her arms had ached, until her hands had bled to please him and meet his exacting standards-all to make her the best warrior she could be: a shield maiden, dedicated to battle. But she had never realised that his ambition had extended to her future marriage. Astrid had precisely one thought in that direction and he stood still and anxious a couple of yards away.

"Dad!" she said, her voice shocked. "Please, I...we..." He swooped forward and grabbed her shoulders, leaning forward to glare into her shocked eyes.

"Did you sleep with him?" he demanded. She swallowed and Hiccup turned his head to look at her. His eyes warned her not to say anything. But Astrid was furious, at the implication and the lack of trust. Her fists balled, knuckles white against her skin.

"We shared a bed ," she hissed at him, "but..."

"WHORE!" Hofferson snarled, a thick finger stabbing at the slim shape standing in front of him. "SLUT! How dare you come home and shame your family and your tribe! You should have stayed away with your dishonour! You are not my daughter. As of this moment, you are not a Hofferson!"

Astrid gaped, her face white and shocked. She had expected her father to be angry and disappointed at her headstrong actions but never in her wildest dreams had she imagined...this. Her mouth worked soundlessly and she stared around wildly but she saw her mother weeping uncontrollably, her brothers looking shocked and she knew...she knew this was as serious as it could be. She stared over at the Chief, his brows folded in a scowl and at Hiccup. His face was as white and shocked as hers but there was another emotion there as well: guilt.

"D-Dad...I...we didn't..." she began but he turned his back on her, shunning her. With a sob, her mother and brothers did the same. She looked around wildly. "Please..." she begged. "I love you..." She stared around the rest of the village and saw accusing and disgusted expressions. Her father was respected and his words had damaged his admired and respected daughter hideously. She turned around, seeing formerly friendly faces turn cold and she began to tremble...and then a hand gently took hers, the grip warm and comforting. Hiccup stood at her side, his face determined.

"This is wrong!" he announced sternly, his voice steady. "What is it about this gods-damned tribe that you can jump to such disastrously wrong conclusions so quickly?" They stared at him, their sneering expressions unchanged. "Astrid has done nothing to deserve this. She is exactly the person she was before." He turned to the Chief. "Dad...surely you..." And then he stopped. Stoick's expression was cold and remote. Hiccup sagged. "Not you too," he sighed. Stoick stared at his son and folded his arms.

"This is a matter for Ulf Hofferson to decide," he said.

"And he's made the wrong decision!" Hiccup argued, his grip on Astrid's hand firm. "Dad...this is Astrid we're talking about! The best Viking on Berk! The absolute total and utterly perfect Viking warrior and..."

"Dishonoured and disowned," a voice shouted from the crowd. Astrid squeezed her eyes closed and Hiccup turned to glare at the direction the voice came from.

"Yeah, you said that about me as well," he muttered.

"Slave!"

"Traitor!"

"Slut!"

He winced and squeezed Astrid's hand. "Looks like I didn't stay away long enough," he sighed, confirming the worries he had expressed while they had been away. Then he turned to his father. "Dad-what happens now?" Stoick looked uncomfortable.

"She has to leave the village-unless she is adopted by another family..." he said quietly. Astrid stiffened and he could feel her trembling. The boy scanned the crowd but no one would meet his eyes. So he turned to his father.

"Dad..." he said softly but Stoick shook his head.

"I'm sorry, son, but that would be impossible," he said. Hiccup turned like a shot, his face twisting with anger.

"What?" he hissed. "Why?" The Chief looked uncomfortable.

"Because she is dishonoured," he said quietly. "Son, you have to understand..."

"So am I," Hiccup replied through his teeth. "Or have you forgotten? I am shamed, dishonoured, utterly ruined...yet you welcomed me back. Astrid is my best friend and the reason why you rescinded my exile in the first place-even though the sentence was wrong anyway. And she has saved my life on our travels as well. If she is not welcome, how can I be?"

"You are my son," Stoick said. Hiccup paused.

"Then make her your daughter," he said quietly. "I can marry her."

There was a stunned silence. Stoick's jaw actually dropped and Hofferson spun to glare hatefully at the two teens.

"No," he said. "I forbid it!" Hiccup stared at him and took a bold pace forward.

"As I understand it, you lost all say over Astrid's fate when you publicly disowned her!" Hiccup told him determinedly. "The Chief is the only one now who can sanction a marriage for her." Then he turned to Astrid, who was staring at him in shock. He swallowed. "I'm so sorry, Astrid," he said gently. "This is all my fault. You shouldn't have come after me because I knew I would taint you..." She managed a wan smile, her cheeks still wet with tears.

"You shouldn't have run off, you mutton-head!" she said in a shaky voice. He shrugged.

"There. Told you it was my fault," he said wryly. "I-I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want...but the offer is genuine. I love you...I have for years...and I can't let you be hurt like this when you have done nothing wrong."

"Son, we need to talk!" Stoick said sternly. Hiccup turned on him.

"No," he said quietly. "I know what you have to say. I know you are going to tell me I should wait and you will arrange an advantageous match with some girl I have never met and who hopefully hasn't heard what happened to me. And you will spend a fortune buying her for my wife because it may be to the benefit of the Tribe and because no decent woman would want me for a husband anyway-even if I hadn't been raped by Dagur. But I don't want to marry anyone but Astrid. I never have. And, frankly, no one would want to marry me. Hel, Astrid may not want to marry me..." He hung his head and bit his lip worriedly. "But if she says yes, then this will happen, Dad. You owe me for believing that I would try to kill you and exiling me to Outcast Island to die when I was wholly innocent." The unspoken accusation was plain-ultimately, this is YOUR fault.

Stoick stared at the boy and sighed. Hiccup was his son and they shared the same stubbornness, the same strong will and a very similar knowledge of the law. Hiccup had listened to all those times his father had told him about Tribal issues, no matter than the Chief had despised his son for his weakness and despaired of him ever becoming a proper Viking, and the boy had learned. His argument was factually correct in every aspect.

"Astrid, I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with," Hiccup said slowly, "but the offer is genuine. I meant what I said. I do love you. I don't want to marry anyone else. And I never sought this...but if you do become my wife, I will love you forever."

She blinked and her eyes shone. She palmed tears off her cheek and swallowed.

"You know I love you," she murmured. "I told you in the Port, in that forge after I found you. I said that you had never let me down and that you had done nothing wrong. I said...I said I deserved you and only you..." Then she took a dry sob. "But-but I don't deserve you any more. I'm...I'm not good enough." Hiccup took her hands in his and offered her a very shy smile.

"Hmm...we've both been disowned and dishonoured," he said quietly. " I kinda guess that means we actually really truly deserve each other...if you'll have...this..." And he shrugged self-consciously. She looked up and her mouth moved into the vaguest semblance of a smile.

"All that 'raw Vikingness'," she smiled and tightened her hands around his. "How can I resist?" She paused. "Yes," she said.

Hiccup dared not breathe in case he woke up. He stared at her carefully. "Really?" he asked her incredulously. "You're not joking?" She frowned.

"What? Would I joke about something like this? Now if this was the twins you were talking to..."

"Hey!" came a call from the crowd-Tuffnut. "That's not fair!"

"Yeah, Astrid. Like we'd joke about that either!" Ruffnut added.

"Like anyone's gonna ask you, sis?"

"They will before you!"

"Only if they're blind!"

"Only if they're a yak!"

"There's nothing wrong with a yak..."

"And my point is proven," Astrid sighed. "This is not a joke or a prank or anything like that. I AM SERIOUS. Do you want me to punch you?"

"Er...no...I thought we'd established that," Hiccup said nervously.

"Then shut up and kiss me!" Astrid told him and he carefully eased her close and very tentatively kissed her on the lips. She sighed. "No, like this!" she told him, grabbed his tunic and pulled him close, pressing a very firm and very sweet kiss on his lips. He scarcely dared breathe, his eyes closing and warmth exploding in his chest. When she pulled away, he was smiling dazedly.

"You win," he murmured. Stoick cleared his throat and the two teens looked up at his stern face. Hiccup blinked and pulled himself together. "Dad..." He warned and the Chief scowled.

"Look, I'm not about to..l" he began but Hiccup tightened his grasp in Astrid's hand and stared up at him.

"There was a reason why we returned to Berk now," he told the Chief seriously. "Berk is in danger. I must speak to the Elders now."