Humans weren't fully knowledgeable on how the natural world worked yet, they knew a lot sure, but there were parts of it that wouldn't be fully understood until technology advanced enough to study it. But you didn't have to understand something to admire it, and on the coast just outside the city bounds during the warmer months, something happened every year that never failed to leave you mystified. It was the perfect place to have a private conversation, and perfect place to show someone who loved to learn and see the world.

So when the sun set, and you'd wrapped up your conversations with the general about further information exchange on dragon training, you took Hiccup out of the barracks, through the streets across the cobbled roads toward the coast. The locals were wrapping things up for the night, kids being tucked into bed and adults closing up shop for the night. Valka offered to watch over the dragons as they slept, just in case some local had particularly strong opinions on dragons. That left you and Hiccup, alone.

Sand was kind of annoying for Hiccup, because his prosthetic leg would sink into it and get stuck, but luckily for him this beach was mostly pebbles, easier to walk on. He followed you up the beach, and through some of the bigger boulders that had gaps just big enough to squeeze though to get to the next part of the beach, further away from the city lights.

"Not that I'm complaining about a pretty beach walk, but where exactly are you taking me?" He spoke up.

"You'll see" you replied.

"Ominous"

You snickered, he had a very dry and sarcastic sense of humour that he made work with his knack for delivery. The tone and way he responded to things always made you laugh.

"You'll like it" you assured.

"I'm sure I will, I like most things you've shown me" he replied.

"Because I'm an expert on cool stuff"

"I won't argue with that, you are. Although I would argue stopping to look at a dead bird is cool, more gross"

"It was a skeleton! It's only gross when it's still decomposing, bones are cool"

Well... he did like finding dragon teeth which are technically bones... maybe you both had a slightly morbid side to your interests. Dragon teeth made good blades, and the duller ones made good necklace charms.

"Just through here" you said, ducking under a gap in the rocks, tucking your wings in to fit through it.

Taller than you, Hiccup had to crouch down to fully duck under it, but that only made the reveal all the more breathtaking. When he stood up and lifted his head, he was met with the sight of glowing waves washing on the pebbled shore. The tide was gentle tonight, and with each draw in and out of the water, it pulled specks of a bright blue glow across the rocks. He simply stared for a moment, it reminded him a little of the lights in the sky that occasionally formed over Berk, the way they'd dance in waves. Aurora borealis it'd come to be called in later years. But the way the speckled blue glow flowed in the waves was more akin to a sea of stars.

Later on in the future, this would come to be known as bioluminescent algae. Growing seasonally and washing ashore, any animals swimming in or eating it would look to be glowing to. But the locals here called it 'Aphrodite's glow'.

"Legend says this was where the goddess of love rose from the sea when she was born of the sea foam. And every year the waves glow to commemorate the day she stepped onto land for the first time" you explained.

Venus to the Roman's, Aphrodite to the Greeks, was born in the sea. Forming from sea foam, she lived in the water for a while until finally stepping onto land to make her way to mount Olympus. Hence why she wasn't just associated with love and beauty, but the sea. Shells and pearls were her symbols, mermaids and nereids  her loyal followers, and people would come to the ocean to bathe in the same foam she was born from to become blessed with her beauty.

"Woah..." was all Hiccup could mutter, mesmerised by the push and pull of the glowing waves.

Like the impulsive man he was, his first thought was to touch it. Reaching down to let a wave run over his hand, when he pulled it out, it glowed blue. The algae sticking to the water on his hand and making it seem like he's dipped it into the night sky of stars itself.

"Of course you touch it" you snicker.

"It's not dangerous is it?" He asked.

"No, it's harmless. Not very tasty to humans though, fish food"

Shaking his hand off, the glow sprayed off into the air and left his hand dim again. He almost wanted to jump in completely just to see himself glow all over. But then he'd have to walk back wet, and that didn't sound very comfortable.

"You know of so many pretty little places don't you?" He smiled.

"I've been around" you replied, sitting on the rocks watching the waves come in and out.

Hiccup sat beside you, lifting your tail out of the way to not squish it, and placing it in his lap. He was warm... your tail fin was often pretty cold since it was so close to the ground away from the warmth of your body. But it felt nice and warm in Hiccup's lap.

"I know I've said it a million times already... but thank you for saving me that day..." you began.

"(Y/n), it's fine. I wasn't just going to leave you there to die, even if you didn't have wings, I'd still have picked you up" Hiccup assured.

"You're a better person than I am, rescuing strangers and trying to talk things out with foes rather than jumping to violence..."

"You've been nothing but kind to me, to my friends and family. You're just as good"

Sometimes you didn't feel that way... sure you'd never spilled blood or anything, but you'd had a habit of running away. Leaving things behind when they got too complicated and scary. That's why you'd been travelling alone for so long, you had nothing to loose and no one to impress. So when things got complicated... you left. You were a coward... at least that's how you felt sometimes.

"I don't deserve you. You're too kind for your own good, you've done everything you could for me, you didn't have to. I was a complete stranger, but you still helped" you said.

"You're easily the most fascinating person I've ever met (y/n), and the most patient... before I tamed Toothless, I was the punching bag of the tribe even as the son of the chief... but if you'd have met me then... I doing doubt you'd have treated me the same as you do now. With patience" Hiccup replied.

Looking at each other through the darkness, only illuminated by the moons rays and the nearby glow of the sea, you still couldn't help but notice his eyes. Bright green, almost glowing like the bioluminescence around him. But most notably... loving. He was a gentle eyed person, his gaze sincere. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and Hiccup had the most gentle soul. He'd been told he had the soul of a dragon, but that didn't necessarily mean he was vicious, because he wasn't. He was protective, and every protective dragon had a gentle side towards those who they loved. Like Toothless, who turned into a giant puppy for Hiccup, despite being the species known for being fierce.

You may have the wings of a dragon, but he had the soul of one. In way... you weren't so different.

"I'm glad you came with me... I'd be lonely without you" you smiled.

"I couldn't just let you risk it all alone. Surely by now the hunters would have passed by Berk, surely by the time we're home it'll be safe again. But if I'd stayed behind I'd be worrying about you every day... plus... you know how I crave adventure" he replied, chuckling through the last part.

"You love it, so do I" you snickered.

"That's why we make such a good pair"

A pair huh? You were a pair. Ever since you woke up in his house by the fire and he fed your dying self that delicious soup. But pair wasn't enough for you anymore, you wanted a partnership. A relationship. And you know what? You'd been dancing around the subject waiting for someone to say something long enough.

"I love you, you know that?" You stated.

Hiccup was silent a moment, processing. If you could see him better in the darkness, you'd be teasing him for how much he was blushing right now.

"Like... l-love, love?" He replied, unsure if you meant it in a found family, friendship or lover way.

"Yes, love-love" you clarified.

"I..."

Again, he processed that. He'd known about his own feelings a while now, ever since his mum called him out on it. But he wasn't expecting a confession so straight forward and abruptly. He'd been holding off saying anything until he was absolutely sure his feeling were retuned. And well... he certainly knew they were now.

"I... love you too... I just didn't say anything because... I don't know I guess I wanted to be sure you'd not turn me down and leave me..." he replied.

"Like I'd ever do that. Even if things were different, we'd still be friends" you assured.

A smile broke across his lips, and he couldn't help but notice this felt very different to his past relationship. That one felt very flash and bang, like a firework. It was pretty and explosive, but also over very quickly and resulted in a fond memory of something meant to be short and sweet. But this... it felt like a slowly burning ember that gradually got hotter and hotter until someone finally pored zipper back gas into the flame and it erupted in a long lasting, warm and bright fire.

"I was hoping Aphrodite would help me out here, on her beach. Give me the confidence to say it all out loud. Looks like she's blessed us" you said.

"Who am I to argue with your goddess of love? I'm sure mine would do the same thing for me" he replied.

You weren't sure who initially leaned in, but it felt automatic. The moment you did, so did the other. And quickly, you'd met in the middle. Your lips to his, the summer sea breeze, Aphrodite's glow, and the Roman coast. Like living a myth, a great love story told for centuries before, and centuries to come.