I got this idea while playing football with my dad before he had to go do some work stuff. Technically, all of these drabbles will simply be about the characters spending time with their parents. It could be anybody at all. Newkirk, Alek, Deryn… even Count Volger! Oh, and it will also have any kind of genre... depends on my mood. This first one will be a little sappy and short, but there will be humorous(and longer) ones in the future. Have any characters/ideas that you want me to write, and just ask in a review.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Deryn trailed her fingers along the words etched into the weather-worn headstone.

"Hey, da." she whispered, smiling sadly as she placed the bouquet of daisies in front of it. "How have you been?"

Deryn waited a few seconds before continuing.

"It's been difficult without you. Ma has been trying to stuff me into corsets and even fancier dresses. She says that 'It's because you're married to a prince'." Deryn laughed. "She seems to keep on forgetting that Alek is a commoner now. But a barking rich one, at that."

Deryn sighed, and rested her chin on her knees. "I know you've been watching me, da. It's like…those guardian angels you told me about. When I was little, I mean. It's like you are my guardian angel. Remember when the Huxley carried me off, and I ended up drifting all the way to the Leviathan? I-" At this, Deryn's voice choked off. "I think I saw you. Just briefly. I was so close to the sky, it was like the Huxley was bringing me to you. And, even though I got a sore bum after it, I think…I think that it was worth it. Because I was closer to you than I had been for years."

"And you know when I saved Newkirk from burning? When we were going back up, I slipped once. It scared me. But it also made me wonder…what if I let go? Unclipped myself from the safety line? I could have gotten away from all of that war madness, and be with you. But then I saw you. And it motivated me to keep climbing."

Deryn wiped a tear away from her eye. "It's always been like that, ever since you died. I keep wondering, 'what if'? What if I 'accidently' slip? What if my safety line mysteriously snapped? What if I 'accidently' got shot? So many 'what ifs', that I felt like I myself was burning, just like you."

"And, da, then I fell in love. And…I was rescued from the flames. I felt happiness again. True happiness. So, now, I'm thankful for you always being there for me. Because, without you, I never would have met my prince."