Disclaimer: I am not the creator of Inkheart or any such thing. This is simply something that I thought of.

Authors Note: Although I dearly love Farid and Meggie as a couple because they are so cute together, there seem to be so many Farid/Meggie shippers that I wanted to write this. This story takes place when Meggie is eighteen, which I guess would be five years after Inkspell and they are still in the Inkworld. Where Meggie's eyes blue, I can't remember?

Summary: Five years have passed since Dustfinger passed, yet he has not found his way back and as Brianna is getting married, Meggie wants to bring him back at any cost. Dustfinger/Meggie.

Sacrificing Your Heart For Love

"It would have been nice, to have at least one of them for my wedding day." Brianna's words had been running through Meggie's mind recently. She couldn't get it out of her head. She'd convinced herself, that it was because she felt sorry for Brianna because she'd recently lost her mother three years earlier, and because she'd lost her father long before he'd even passed. But the more reasonable side of her, the side that wasn't lying to herself for the past five years, knew that she didn't want to bring Dustfinger back for Brianna.

At one point in time she'd hated Brianna with all her heart. She'd been so in love with Farid and it hadn't been foolish of her to think so, but it had made her blind to see that she was in love with someone else. Maybe a part of her knew that love to be impossible and settled for the one that had the smallest age difference. She'd allowed herself to believe that Farid would be her only love, but Brianna ruined that and Meggie had loathed her for it. However, her mother told her that in life, there is more then one love.

That made Meggie realize where her relationship had truly failed with Farid. They had one thing in common that did no suit their relationship, they both loved Dustfinger in their own way and they blamed each other for his death. Neither one of them ever said it aloud, but they both thought it. It doomed the relationship from the start. Especially when he started to get frustrated about the fact that neither she nor Orpheus could bring Dustfinger back, he stopped treating her as well as he did in the beginning, and actually even came to believe that she was jealous of his love for Dustfinger and didn't really want to bring him back.

In reality that couldn't have been farther from the truth. For one reason or other, the reasonable side of Meggie realized that she'd fallen in love with Dustfinger from the very first night she'd laid her eyes upon his scarred face. It was the reason why she'd been so bewitched when watching him perform that night in Elinor's garden, and why'd she'd felt so hurt by his betrayal. It was the reason that she'd dreamt of him so often, and why her heart panged when he died and why it felt itself whither at the thought that she still had not managed to bring him back.

The unreasonable side to Meggie, absolutely refused to believe or acknowledge any of this. She didn't want to be in love with Dustfinger, who never had seen her as nothing more then her mother's daughter. She didn't want to be another person to share his heart. He already had his wife, even though she'd passed, her own mother, his daughter and even Farid; she didn't want to be just another one of his many admirers, many whom he didn't even show any affection to. She merely told herself that she wanted to bring back Dustfinger for Brianna, and Farid as well as they were now getting married.

She remembered quite well how that all went down. She'd started dating Farid when she was still thirteen, and they were still dating when she was fourteen, but by then they had so many problems about Dustfinger, that he'd spent a lot of time with Brianna, someone he thought that he could relate to about his pain about loosing Dustfinger. Meggie had thought nothing of it at the time, and the truth was that she was getting quite obsessed with writing and trying to bring Dustfinger back that she hadn't cared about her relationship.

When Roxane passed, Farid was the one there for Brianna. Meggie merely locked herself up. She thought that she'd failed for she hadn't managed to bring back Dustfinger back to Roxane. She even gave up on bringing him back, for she thought that he wouldn't want to come back to his world without her in it. Her locking herself up and refusing to see anyone was what pushed Farid into Brianna's arms and heart, and she realized now that it was the reason why she'd lost him at the age of fifteen.

They'd been dating now for nearly three years and were getting married. Meggie had been very hurt and sore about their relationship for about a year and she'd loathed Brianna. She couldn't look at them without glaring or saying something unpleasant, but after having a very heartfelt talk with her father and then with her mother, she started to get over it, eventually.

"Meggie sweetie, what are you doing up at this hour?" Resa asked on the other side of her bedroom door. Meggie turned her head to look over at the door and tucked the piece of paper she'd been holding in her hand as she paced in her room up her sleeve and walked over to the door, parting and allowing her mother to walk in. "Have you been up writing? It's nearly midnight and the wedding is tomorrow, you should get your rest!"

"I need to go see him," Meggie said as she looked up at her mother's eyes. Resa stared at her daughter, who only years ago was a pretty twelve year old and was now a lovely young woman of eighteen years. She looked at her daughter with concern, for her obsession with bringing Dustfinger back had become unhealthy. She hadn't slept well, eaten or even left her room in days. All she would do was write, and everyone believed that she was sick with love for Farid, but Resa knew better. However, she didn't understand why she was suddenly so obsessed with bringing him back anymore.

"Meggie, maybe it's best that you don't bring him back. He's with Roxane now," her mother said as she looked at Meggie. Meggie looked down at her blue skirt that reached down to about half an inch of the floor and stared at the words that she wrote.

"If this works," Meggie said, bringing up the pieces of paper to her chest, which had grown quite a bit since she was twelve, she'd also grown quite a bit taller. "He won't have to stay long if he doesn't want to, just until Brianna and Farid have married."

"Do you really want to bring him back for them?" her mother said as she stared at her. Meggie merely nodded as she stared into her mother's eyes.

"All right, but don't let your father see you there. He doesn't like how obsessed you've become with bringing back Dustfinger," her mother said. Meggie walked over and grabbed a black cloak and placed it on her shoulders and put up the hood before walking out. "Be careful," was that last thing she heard her mother say as she snuck out of the house.

Meggie put down the hood of her cloak as she stood in the cavern next to the stone slab on which Dustfinger's body lay, just as it had been the day that he gave his life for Farid. Thanks to Meggie and her magic words, she'd been able to keep his body from ever changing. Meggie stared down at the empty face and its infamous scars. She walked close and lightly ran her finger over his face as reached down for the piece of paper.

"There was once, a very brave hero, who gave his life to the White Women, in exchange for one he cared dearly for, leaving behind an infinite amount of broken hearts with his parting. He wasn't a typical hero in anyway. He wasn't a knight, or a fallen soldier, but a Fire-eater, a famous fire-eater known for his face was marked by three white scars made by a blade.

"One night, a young woman came to his final resting place, where his body lay, untouched by the years and as still as a statue. For weeks, she'd come many nights, wishing to bring him back as her heart ached with pain from the permanent sleep he was to forever remained in. But this night was different, she couldn't take it much longer, she felt her heart slowly giving out. So she made with the White Women a deal their non-existent hearts could not refuse. They came to her slowly, drawn by her failing heart

"Her dying heartbeat brought them near, to hear the sad tale that only her heart could truly tell. She made a deal with the White Women to have the hero, restored to his life, for twenty-four hours. And should he find any reason to live, the White Women would allow him to continue to live, in exchange for the girl should her heart continue to fail, and she'd give her heart to the White Women, so they'd all know and share, something they've never before felt; heartbreak, which was better then the nothing they were used to.

"The White Women, considering the deal, saw no way that they could lose. Should the fire-eater find no reason to live, they'd still know the delights of fires warmth. Should he find a reason to live, they'd know what it was to feel. Never thinking that there was one way that they could lose all, they agreed and restored the Fire-eater for a full day."

As Meggie finished reading, she crumbled up the piece of paper and turned her sparkling eyes to Dustfinger, hoping that she'd succeeded. But the moments went by slowly and he did not move. Meggie placed a hand to her mouth as the tears started to roll down her face and she shook with the pain of her failure. She shut her eyes tight and fell to her knees in grief.

Dustfinger sat up slowly and looked at his surroundings, wondering why the White Women had brought him there, why they'd brought him back to life. He stared at the cavern, which seemed very unfamiliar to him and soon heard what sounded like sobbing and turned his head to look down at the woman on her knees, her head bent and her loose blonde hair covering her face as she cried. "Resa," he said, his voice sounded very raw and he wondered how long he'd been with the White Women.

Meggie looked up with wide eyes at the sound of his voice and as she stared into his eyes she immediately got to her feet and through her arms around him, but she couldn't stop crying. She accidentally dropped the crumbled piece of paper with the writing, something neither one noticed. "It worked! I've tried so hard Dustfinger! I'm so sorry I couldn't bring you back until now," Meggie cried as she held onto him.

Dustfinger froze in the woman's grasp. She looked a lot like Resa, but the face was different, just as beautiful, or perhaps even more beautiful, but not the same face. But the blonde hair was the same. "Meggie?" he asked, thinking about the words she said and knowing that she was probably the only one that could bring him back. He pulled away and looked into the girls face and gasped to see that it was Meggie and to see that she'd grown into quite the beautiful woman.

"I'm so sorry it took me so long Dustfinger," she said as she looked into his eyes and allowed her eyes to roam his face, every feature had been brought back to life.

"Meggie, how old are you?" he asked as he stared at her in wonderment.

"Eighteen," she responded as she wiped off her tears.

"I've been dead for five years?" he asked as he stared at her. She looked down at her feet.

"I truly tried so hard Dustfinger, but after what happened to Roxane I thought that you wouldn't want to be brought back," Meggie said as she continued to stare down at her feet. He stared into her face with a furrowed brow.

"What are you talking about?" he asked as he looked down into her face. He found it so strange to be staring into her face and see the eighteen year old women she'd become, when the last time he'd seen her she was thirteen and torn apart by the loss of her love. Her face, though it had become more beautiful with the years, seemed more serious and sad then he remembered. However, her eyes had not changed. They were still the same blue that he'd missed so much over all the time he was with the White Women.

Meggie looked up with wide eyes that were suddenly filled with so much pain and a little bit of confusion. "My mother said that she was with you," Meggie said as she looked into his eyes, seeing them filled with sadness, yet he remained very calm. Meggie could see that he wanted to know more. "It happened nearly three years ago. She didn't suffer. The last thing she said was your name."

"Why did you call me back? What happened to the Adderhead? To your parents, Farid, the Black Prince and the Strolling Players?" he asked as he stared at her. Meggie tried to smile as she stared at him, but could see that nothing would make him stop feeling what he felt; the loss of so many years.

"The Adderhead is dead, killed by my father in a great battle. The Black Prince is king now, ruling over both Argenta and Lombrica. It's been a peaceful four years. The Strolling Players are the same as ever, but of course treated well and protected by the Black Prince. My parents are fine, my father is doing bookbinding here, he's very happy here. And Farid and Brianna are the reason that you're back," Meggie said as she stared into his eyes.

"Are they all right?" he asked. She smiled.

"They are perfect. You see, they are getting married," she said as she looked down at her hands, which she'd started to ring together. "Brianna told me that she wished that at least one of her parents to be around for it and I know Farid would love to see you again," she said as she stared up into his eyes. "But it's only for twenty-four hours. I mean, I wasn't sure whether you would want to continue to live once you'd found out about Roxane, but if you find a reason to live, you will continue to live."

Dustfinger stared at Meggie in thought. He didn't want to go back to the White Women, even though he did love Roxane, but there were so many things about her that infuriated him. He stared at Meggie and still couldn't believe how much she'd grown. "So I gave my life, to bring back Farid for you and he's marrying my daughter? Are you okay?" he asked as he stared down at her. He'd loved her so much, it was the whole reason that he gave his life away, so that she could be happy. Meggie turned away with a sad expression on her face, which tugged at his heart.

"It just wasn't meant to be," she said as she looked away. "But I'm happy for him and Brianna. That's why I brought you back. So they can see you one more time, and if you wished to stay, I wanted to give you back a life," she said as she looked up into his eyes and tried to smile at him.

"But how did you do it? How did you get the White Women to allow me to come back with the chance that I might not return?" he asked as he stared at her. She smiled an enigmatic smile at him, even though she could feel her heart weakening, telling her that all her words wrung true.

"I wrote and read the right words," she replied.

TBC…

A/N: Please leave a review. Oh and the next part is the conclusion of this story. Tune in to find out who is taken by the White Women