Hiccup's POV

Two weeks had gone by since our baby had passed. We had held a small funeral for her, burying her remains far up in the mountains so she could get a taste of the freedom her mother and I loved so.

Astrid on the other hand, hadn't said a word to anyone since Ingrid's funeral. She had spent every day locked in our room, curled up in the bed as she stared blankly down at the sheets. I tried to get her to eat, but she would always shake her head and softly push it away before going back to her routine of just laying in bed. I recalled one day I came home a little earlier than usual and I heard sobs coming from the room. I had sneaked up the stairs to our room and found her with tears streaming down her face as she cradled her slowly deflating stomach. Never in my life had I seen anything even close to what she was going through.

I wrote on a stone tablet at the academy, trying to get my mind off Astrid's situation as I prepared for my next class. The twins, Snotlout and Fishlegs had joined me alongside their dragons, but they were unusually quiet as they just watched me do my work.

"How's Astrid, Hiccup?" Ruffnut asked after a while, brows furrowed in concern.

I stopped writing on the stone tablet and let my hand fall to my side. "I-, well, she hasn't gotten any better if that's what you're wondering."

"Still laid up in bed refusing to talk to everyone?" Snotlout asked, worry etched into his features.

I nodded as I plopped down on one of the benches that surrounded us. "Yeah, and I can barely get her to eat."

Tuffnut held his head in his hands for a second before it shot up, revealing a large grin as he beamed with confidence. "Guys, I think we should try to cheer Astrid up!"

I raised a brow at his idea. "How? She only leaves the house to go to the outhouse."

Tuffnut strode around the academy, gesticulating wildly as he spoke: "Well, that's why we've got to lure her out with the prospect of doing something she likes!"

Snotlout crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall. "And what do you suggest we do, Tuffnut?"

"Oh my gods, I've got it!" Ruffnut jumped up from her seat. "Fall Fest!"

We all raised a brow at Ruffnut in unison. "Fall Fest?"

"Yes!" Ruffnut exclaimed. "Astrid and I were talking about it when she was feeling sick at the start of the pregnancy! Delicious food, impressive weapons and axe throwing? Astrid is going to be over the moon!"

I took a second to taste Ruffnut's words, and the more I thought about her idea, the better it seemed. "You know what, Ruffnut? You're absolutely right! Fall fest is exactly what she needs right now! I'm going to go speak with the committee about not cancelling it after all, and then I'll be back to meet you all, alright?"

My friends gave me a thumbs up as I whistled for my dragon and climbed atop him. "And while I'm gone, please go find the decorations."

***

Some days later, everything was ready for the slightly delayed Fall Fest. Red, orange and yellow leaves had been hung all over the Great Hall and around the village, accompanied by hanging lanterns which gave the entire island an incredibly cozy feel.

Rows and rows of delicious foods had been scattered around three large tables, and just as we put the final touches on the decorations, the villagers began entering, all in awe at how good the Great Hall looked.

I placed my hands on my hips with a smile of satisfaction as my eyes wandered around the hall, which was looking better than it had any Fall Fest before. Astrid was going to love it.

I turned to the gang with a sigh of relief. "Alright everyone, if you could just go and inform the villagers of what's happening, I'll go and convince Astrid to come over here with me, alright?"

My friends all nodded in agreement as they scattered around the Great Hall to spread the word about Astrid's little surprise. I patted Toothless' head as a coo escaped his mouth. I shot him a smile. "Let's do this then, shall we?"

Astrid's POV

"Astrid?" A familiar voice spoke softly as the door to the dark room opened. I knew instantly that it was Hiccup, but I just couldn't bring myself to answer him, I was just so exhausted.

Two weeks had passed since the most painful, but at the same time the most giving experience of my life had happened. I had given birth to my daughter, and shortly after she had passed away.

She hadn't been alive for much longer than an hour. She had spent 8 months growing and becoming a little person inside my womb just to die an hour after her birth. At the beginning of my pregnancy, I had been a little skeptical of her, yes, but had I known how much I would grow to love the little baby inside of me ... I would've never had any second thoughts. Every wave of nausea, all the swollen feet, the pimples, everything! It had all been worth it just to be able to one day meet my little baby.

The birth had been nothing short of horrible. I had been in so much pain I had faded in and out of consciousness, at least that's what Valka had told me once Gothi had gone to clean my little baby up. But there was no moment I could remember more clearly than the moment I first held my baby daughter in my arms. Before she had been handed to me, every limb in my body was aching as sweat coated every inch of my skin and I was sat in a puddle of my own blood. But as soon as I held her ... it all went away. All the pain, the uncomfortableness, everything. It was all worth it just to see her precious little face.

In a second, I had managed to fall completely in love with the small child in my arms. Before I had her, I had thought I had my entire life figured out, I thought everything was in place, but I did not realize what I was missing. Nothing had truly made sense before her, and I felt as if my entire life had lead up to that moment. Don't get me wrong, Hiccup was still my soulmate, but Ingrid was the greatest love of my life.

Never before had I felt that way about another human being, never before had I felt that I would do absolutely anything to keep her out of harms way. She was my everything, she was my all, and I never wanted to let her go.

And then she died.

My heart ached painfully in my chest as my lungs refused to take in air. I wrapped my arms around my deflating stomach, tears flowing down my cheeks as the image of the greatest love I had ever experienced flashed before my eyes. Gods, the things I would've done to see her just one more time.

"Astrid?" Hiccup's soft voice snapped me out of my daze as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "I have something to show you, will you please join me?"

I glanced up at him. Hiccup was my person, my other half, my soulmate, and the thought of living without him was almost as bad as living without my baby. He was the reason my heart was still beating in my chest, he was the reason I had been introduced to my precious little baby. Gods, I couldn't begin imagine living without that man, the man who would walk through fire and carry the world on his shoulders, all for me. I did not deserve him in the slightest, and yet he still believed I deserved even more than all of his love.

She reminded me so much of him, I just couldn't bear to look at him without seeing my daughter, so I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, Astrid, but I'm doing this for your best." Hiccup sighed as he wrapped his arms around my chest and pulled me up and out of bed. He left me standing in the middle of the room as he flew around, gathering clothes for me. Unable to process what was actually happening, I just stood there in silence as my husband dressed me, brushed my hair and all around made me look as if I hadn't just been laying in bed for the past two weeks.

After he was done, he laced his fingers with mine and placed a kiss on the back of my hand. "Now follow me and I'll show you something you'll love."

I followed Hiccup out into the night and up the stairs to the Great Hall. As we neared the Hall, the heavy doors opened and revealed the Great Hall, decorated beautifully for what I presumed to be Fall Fest as the people of Berk greeted us with a big, loud: "SURPRISE!"

I couldn't help but look around in wonder at the beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow that stood out from the thick wooden beams of the Great Hall. Inside I found there to be more than just people and decorations, there had also been set out delicious-smelling food in one corner, as well as an axe-throwing booth in another corner.

I turned to Hiccup with pure amazement filling my eyes. "You did all of this ... for me?"

Hiccup gazed at me with that mesmerizing smile of his, and I could help but feel a smile of my own tugging at the corners of my lips. "Of course I did, I'd do anything just to see you smile."

"Thank you, Hiccup." I shot him a halfhearted smile as I gave his hand a squeeze. But it was as I observed my surroundings and took in the wonderful ambiance of the Fall Fest that I heard it, the cry of a baby. I immediately froze, my eyes searching for the source of the high-pitched sound, and then they landed on it. A small baby swaddled in a blanket of fur, resting in its mother's arms.

It felt like my heart had been ripped straight out of my chest and torn into pieces right in front of me. Why didn't my baby get to live past her own birthday?

Hiccup hadn't seemed to notice my strange behavior, so when he turned to me with a wide grin on his face and found me to be staring intensely at the baby in its mother's arms, his smile immediately faded.

And before he had any chance to react, I let go of Hiccup's hand and ran out into the dark night. I could hear my name being called out repeatedly from behind me, but I just couldn't stop running. So I just kept on going, until my body could not take it any longer.