It was a week until her Wedding. Astrid's wedding. She would be the chieftess of Berk, after a few years of betrothal to Hiccup, known throughout the Archipelago as the Dragon Master.

Drago's defeat had taken place three months earlier, and Berk had finally been rebuilt with the help of all the new dragons. She had hardly seen Hiccup aside from their morning flights, since he had been so busy training all the new dragons and, you know, the whole chief thing. She had helped a lot as well; she and the rest of the gang were at the front of the training and rebuilding efforts. They all seemed so busy though. Fishlegs was busy categorizing and studying all the new dragons, and pretty much rewrote the book of dragons in the process. Snotlout had been, well, you know, Snotlout, and the twins needed no help finding trouble all on their own.

For her, though, things were different. She had been fighting for so long first against and now for dragons. She was independent and free. Ever since the betrothal, she had slowly let Hiccup into her bubble, as her non-violent self began to show, but now with time to herself before the wedding, she had trouble preparing herself to give everything up to truly be Hiccup's. Would she stay the fierce warrior? Would she even want to?

It wasn't like she doubted her love for him or even that they should get married; after the chief's death and Drago's attack, she had found herself longing for the commitment they shared to finally become permanent. She was simply nervous, which is normal for anyone about to get married.

This evening Astrid was atop Stormfly as they glided over the water headed back for Berk. As they approached, the evening mist began to clear and she once again took in the view of Berk, her island. She had grown up here. It had changed a lot, but it was her home. She would give anything to keep it safe, to keep the ones she loved safe. She had proven it time and time again.

Once she landed on Berk, she had to duck to avoid several terrible terrors flying by quickly. Children ran through the street chasing them as she went. Several Nadders took off after saying hello to Stormfly in their own dragon way. At the docks, more ships came to dock. Yep, this isn't the Berk she was born to. It was much better.

Vikings from all over the Archipelago were coming to see the Dragon Master. Many were here for the wedding, and a good many had never set foot on Berk before. Ever since the news of Drago and his defeat spread, Hiccup Valka and Astrid had explored all the lands they could. They had come across many strange places and people. In the past, Hiccup and Valka had explored these lands in the past, but as the people ran for cover they never bothered to introduce themselves. Now, the three would land and Hiccup would meet the chief of each village as the Dragon Master before flying off again. The whole point was to spread the peace between Vikings and dragons. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but by all accounts Hiccup was the wisest in the Archipelago, or at least was held as so by all who came to Berk seeking his guidance. If he had wanted to, he could have declared himself ruler of all the islands and no one would put up a fuss. I know that seems crazy being Vikings and all, but let's just say things had changed, for better or for worse.

The way Berkians dressed too had changed. Dragon scales replaced fur, just like gronkle iron had replaced wood in the newer buildings. Hiccup had even changed the design of Astrid's outfit, giving her more armor and a mask so she wouldn't stand too far apart from him and Valka on expeditions. When she did not wear it, she was covered in war paint, as were most other Berkians regardless of the occasion. Bright colors lined everything, as though the entire island were itself made of a rainbow of dragons. After all, it was usually covered in one.

All over guests were coming in for the feast the chief was holding in honor of their wedding. Astrid headed straight for the great hall, the only spot on Berk that stayed virtually unchanged despite years of attacks and fires. The commotion inside was surprisingly less than the chaos outside. Hiccup sat on his throne at one end, his face all a painted as he stood up to greet her.

"Astrid, there you are! I was wondering how long you would take to get back. Everyone wants to meet you!" He hurried her to several other chieftains from other islands whom he had met as a child. Toothless stayed near the throne, on a spot he had burned for himself on the ground. He hardly ever left Hiccup's side, so he must have been tired.

On the other end of the Great Hall, Snotlout was talking with the twins over jugs of mead. "I bet the two love birds will stay in Hiccup's house. It was hardly damaged, so there was no need to rebuild it."

"Well," said Ruffnut. "The other day I was walking by his house when I saw Gobber carrying several packages of supplies in and out."

"Sounds suspicious to me…" agreed her twin brother Tuffnut.

"You're just making too much out of this. Of course he probably wants to renovate, clear the old chief's stuff out, stuff like that," said Snotlout.

"Of course, Astrid might just stay in her own house," said Ruff.

"That's stupid. Why would she want to stay with her parents?"

"I don't know, but wasn't it your great uncle who stayed with his parents instead of moving in with his wife?" said Tuff.

"No, it was your great aunt," his sister corrected

"Yes of course, except in that case it was my great aunt who wouldn't leave her house to live with her husband, not her wife because even she wasn't that weird."

"Wait," said Snotlout. "Didn't your great uncle have leprosy?"

"Actually it was just a really bad case of blackheads," said Ruff.

"He won the record for the largest squirt," said Tuff.

"Okay, gross," said a woman's voice from behind them. They turned around to see that it was Heather with her brother.

"Where is my little brother?" asked Dagur. I have to congratulate him!"

Snotlout pointed to the other end of the room. "He's over there."

"Yeah," said Tuffnut. "As soon as your friend finds a girl you go out with the garbage."

"Didn't you want to sit over here instead of over there where he invited you to sit?" his sister asked.

"Only because I couldn't stand him doting over Astrid."

"She wasn't even here yet!"

"Better safe than sorry."

"Brother!" Dagur called out to Hiccup before giving him a bear hug. Then the chief Hiccup had just finished introducing Astrid to got angry at Dagur for attacking him in the past, back when he was known as Dagur the Deranged. It took Hiccup several minutes to calm things back down again.

The feasting went on long after the introductions had ended, and there was such a turnout that even though the great hall had in the past held the gatherings of many Viking chiefs and warriors, the celebration was extended to just outside the great hall where Vikings feasted by dragon light. It was late in the evening, or I suppose early in the morning, when Astrid finally retired. Her parents followed her home as they were exhausted as well as drunk. "I am so proud of you," her father said before she headed upstairs. "My little girl is all grown up."

She was so tired that when she got to her bed she simply collapsed.