Short oneshot of Meggie and Doria. Everything seemed to be Meggie/Farid or Meggie/Dustfinger which is great but I really liked Meggie and Doria as a couple so decided to write this :) Set towards the end of Inkdeath

Meggie sat, concealed by the branches and leaves that now surrounded her. She perched on a large, broad branch. It was large enough that she could sit on it without fear of falling off. She liked to come here when things got on top of her...Mo...She had been thinking about her father lot. Was he okay? Was he hurt? What did the Adderhead plan to do with him, and where was Resa? Things weren't looking that great here either. The giant she had read to save them from the Milksop's men had just carried off Fenoglio and the Black Prince. It seemed everything that could go wrong was! A tear silently slid down her cheek and she wiped it away roughly.

The branches around her started shaking, probably one of the children playing hide and seek looking for a good spot. Meggie was surprised to see Doria's face appear in front of her, when he saw she had been crying she could see the pity in his eyes. It wasn't the patronizing kind, Doria wasn't like that, he seemed to genuinely care for her although Meggie couldn't quite understand why.

"Hey" He said softly, "You okay?"

Meggie nodded and smiled weakly.

"I'm fine" she replied although her voice was barely a whisper.

Doria looked at her, she could see in his eyes that he too was bothered by something. Of course, his brother had gone with Resa, wherever they now where...If they were still alive. The thought made Meggie's heart race in fear. Doria grabbed her hand.

"They'll be alright you know" He said, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

Meggie closed her eyes, she would have liked to believe that, if only for a second. She rested her head on Doria's shoulder and he wrapped his arms tightly around her. He had such strong arms, she felt so safe in them. She sat back and stared into his eyes.

"What?" he smirked

"I'm just wondering why you're so nice to me" She replied "most people around here think I'm a witch, they're scared of me, I can see it."

"I don't think you're a witch" He whispered, leaning in a little closer "and I'm definitely not scared of you."

"But what if I was?" Meggie said, never taking her eyes off his

"I wouldn't care" Doria grinned, he leaned in ever closer until their foreheads touched. Meggie felt her heart beating faster at the touch of his lips on hers. Doria's lips were so different to Farid's, softer, gentler. With Farid she had often felt as if he were just kissing her for the sake of it, but with Doria she felt that he meant it, and that was special.

The rustling of leaves made them break apart, Farid's head appeared through the branches just as their lips pulled apart. Doria's hand were still around Meggie's waist and her hands were placed on his chest. Farid looked at both of them and then at the ground, he went a little red and quickly descended without saying a word.

"...I should see what he wanted" Meggie finally said, but she didn't move.

"Yes" Doria mumbled, but he was already leaning in again and at least for the moment the touch of his lips made her forget all of her problems.