Lukas woke the next morning feeling better than he remembered feeling since he had woken up for the first time in this room. He smiled as he saw the sunshine streaming through the window and the snow on the ground. It was Christmas day, and he felt as if a miracle had happened. Though he couldn't imagine what kind of miracle it was, he felt as if something good was going to happen that day.

About ten minutes later, Elizaveta opened the door and peeked in. "Oh! You're awake! Good morning, Lukas!" she greeted with a smile. "Happy Christmas!"

"Happy Christmas to you as well," he said with a nod. He stretched his arms and smiled a little. "I just feel like today will be one of my better days," he confided to her.

"I'm very glad to hear that," she said, beaming to him. "Everyone else is awake right now. Would you like to join us for breakfast?"

Lukas nodded. "I think that sounds rather wonderful. Thank you."

"Let me go get Roderich," she said. "We got you a gift that should help you get around easier so you're not all cooped up in here all day anymore." She disappeared from the room for a few moments and returned with not only Roderich, but Gilbert as well. "Happy Christmas, Lukas!"

Roderich presented Lukas with a wooden crutch that was just his size. "We had this specially made for you so you can get around easier," he told Lukas. "We hope you like it and can use it to your advantage around the house. Happy Christmas, Lukas."

Lukas was speechless as he held the crutch in his hands. Here, these people were supposed to be his enemies, but they went out and got him a Christmas present to benefit his recovery. They saved him from the people who were trying to kill him. They wanted him to get better so he could return to his family and the man whom he loved.

Tears filled Lukas's eyes and quickly began to spill out. "Tack!" he said before realizing his blunder and switching back to English. "Thank you! You're such wonderful people! I will never forget your kindness to me! I appreciate this so much! You have no idea!" He sat there for a few moments and cried, holding the crutch.

Elizaveta wanted to hug him and comfort him, but Roderich just held her hand, silently telling her to stay back. She immediately understood that he really needed to be "alone" at that moment to process it, alone but with people who cared. Her heart went out to her Norwegian friend. Seeing his tears showed her just how touched he really was by their acts of kindness and was enough to make her whole year. She smiled up at Roderich and leaned her head on her husband's shoulder, sighing out happily.

Lukas looked up at them after a moment. "I'm so sorry that I've lost my bearings in front of you," he apologized. "It's just that no one who's known me for such a short amount of time has ever done something so kind for me. I greatly appreciate this."

"It's no problem at all," Elizaveta said, smiling. "We can see just how much you truly appreciate it, and that's enough for us right there."

"We're just happy to see you this jubilant," Roderich said. "Honestly we haven't seen you this happy before. It's a nice thing to see."

"It is, isn't it?" Lukas asked, smiling to himself. He honestly felt lighter than air. "How about I test this crutch out then?" He placed it on the floor and pulled himself up, putting his full weight on it. His feet shuffled as he used the crutch to maneuver his way over to them. "Look, I'm walking!" he excitedly said. "I'm walking by myself!" He never thought he would be so excited to be able to walk alone, but here he was. "I can do it!"

Elizaveta, overcome by emotion, hugged Lukas as she began crying tears of joy. "You did it, Lukas! You really did it! You walked all by yourself today!"

"Elizaveta, let him breathe," Roderich said after a moment, struggling to pry her off of Lukas. He managed to get her to let go after a few moments. "I'd assume he's just as excited as you are. Now, let's let him walk to breakfast with us, all by himself."

Gilbert smiled at Lukas. "Good job, Lukas. You're one step closer to seeing him again."

Lukas smiled at Gilbert. "I read the note. He's very kind, isn't he?"

"He only thinks of you," Gilbert said. "And only talks of you as well. Get back to him before I see him again, will ya? He gets on my nerves after awhile. Then again, after meeting you, I can see why he never shuts up about you."

"You can?" Lukas asked.

"You're just as remarkable as he says you are. Maybe even more than he lets on."

.

Lukas found that he could get around the house easily with that crutch, a lot more easily than he originally thought he would. Now he had access to all kinds of books, though he had to be careful with the ones he chose. Some were in German, and some even in Hungarian, Elizaveta's native language. A lot of them were in English, though, which made him happy. He was glad that he had chosen to learn English somewhere in those six years that he had lost.

There was nothing he loved more than sitting on the couch in the living room in the afternoons and reading a good book in the sunshine that came through the window. Roderich was usually off at Gilbert's new house, helping him with interior decorating or something like that while Elizaveta was usually baking or cooking or sometimes even sitting around and reading just like Lukas was. Lukas's favorite days were the days when Elizaveta and him would have nice, long, meaningful conversations in the afternoons when it was just the two of them in the house.

"Lukas, how are you doing today?" Elizaveta asked one afternoon as she sat in a nearby armchair with her book. It was her usual procedure before the two of them talked the afternoon away about something.

"I'm doing well," Lukas answered, memorizing the page number that he was on and closing the book, setting it in his blanket-covered lap. "How are you today?"

Elizaveta beamed at him. "I am doing simply wonderful," she told him. "Tell me, Lukas, what do you know about your Mathias?"

"I honestly only know what Gilbert has told me," Lukas admitted, blushing. "And that's that Mathias is really tall, blond, and has spiky hair. He also talks about me constantly." He thought for a moment. "Gilbert also brought me a note from him that triggered a different kind of memory for me."

"What do you mean by that?" Elizaveta asked.

"It wasn't a visual memory," Lukas told her. "It was the memory of a feeling I've had before. I'm certain you've felt it before."

"What feeling was it?" she asked, tilting her head to the side with curiosity.

Lukas blushed slightly. "Since we're not exactly strangers here," he began, "it was the feeling just after making love." He closed his eyes as the memory of the feeling came back to him. "When you're so in love and you just feel so satisfied and complete. There's nothing in the world quite like it."

Elizaveta giggled and sighed out happily. "There really isn't," she agreed. "I remember exactly what that felt like for me and Roderich. Unfortunately it's been a very long time since I've felt that…" She frowned and clasped her hands in her lap. "I miss that feeling, a lot."

"He is your husband, though," Lukas said, confused. "Shouldn't you two be doing that often?" His eyes widened. "Is it because I'm here?" he asked in horror.

"No, not at all," she quickly assured. "We stopped all of that long before you crashed into our lives. About two years before, actually. We haven't made love since our wedding night." Her lips contorted into a frown that Lukas didn't think suited her pretty face.

"Have you tried talking to him about all of this?" Lukas asked her. "Maybe he would understand and try to, you know, more often if you just talked to him about it." He thought about what he was saying. "I mean, it's worth a shot."

"It is, but I doubt he would listen to me," she sighed. "You know how Roderich is. He doesn't like vulgar talk."

"But talking about things like love-making isn't vulgar," Lukas told her. "It's something beautiful that can only be done when the two people are truly in love. Trust me on this. Sex is vulgar, but making love is not. There is a huge difference between the two."

Elizaveta was quiet for a moment as she thought about what Lukas was saying. "You're right," she finally said. "You're absolutely right. I'll talk to him about it later when it's just me and him."

"Then perhaps I should 'go to bed early'?" Lukas suggested with a wink.

"Oh, you are just the best, Luke," Elizaveta said, giggling. "What would I do without you?"

"You'll just have to find out once I get better," he said, smiling widely. "Because I'm going to return to my Mathias, and we are going to be happy together, just like you and Roderich are."

Elizaveta smiled at him and was hesitant before saying, "Yes, Lukas. You will be."

.

Lukas woke late the next morning and found Elizaveta in the living room. He didn't want to be the one to bring it up, so he just went to the couch and sat down with the blanket in his lap and opened the book with a quick, "Good morning, Elizaveta."

"It didn't work," she softly said, looking depressed. "He didn't care, Lukas. Does he even still love me?"

"What do you mean?" Lukas asked, closing the book and looking at her. "Of course he does. Have you seen the way he looks at you? You are his queen."

"I don't feel like it," she admitted. "A true king wants heirs. A true king desires a prince or princess within the first couple years of their marriage. Here, there are no heirs yet, no will there be any time soon." She sighed and looked at her hands, which were tightly folded in her lap. "I've always wanted children, Lukas. Since I was a child myself I've wanted to be a mother."

"I understand that," Lukas said. "Did you tell him everything you're telling me?"

"What's the point?" Elizaveta asked, moving over to the couch with Lukas. "It will just go in one ear and right out the other. It always does." She sighed. "Why can't all men be as easy to talk to as you?"

Suddenly Lukas remembered something. It was cold outside, and he was walking with someone. He wasn't feeling well at all, feeling as if he had been sick for days. All he heard was an unfamiliar voice asking if they needed help and then a familiar voice saying, "He'll bite your head off if you offer it to him." Then he felt hurt and betrayed, as if he had been slapped by words. He couldn't explain how that one sentence had hurt him so badly, but it did.

And then just as quickly as the memory came, it left again. Lukas frowned a looked up at Elizaveta. "I'm not as easy to talk to as you would think," he sighed. "I'm actually not that approachable of a person when I can remember who I am."

"What do you mean?" Elizaveta asked. "I'm sure you're a nice person. You would have to be."

"The twenty-three-year-old me must have really hardened his heart," Lukas softly said. "Here I am with the innocence of the seventeen-year-old me, but I can't even begin to imagine what the twenty-three-year-old me went through to make him like that."

"Like what?" Elizaveta asked.

"I had another memory," Lukas said. "I just remember someone said something negative about me not being a nice person. I don't remember exactly what he said or what it pertained to, but I all I can feel now is how terrible I felt after hearing him say that. It made me feel awful. And the worst part is, I think it was Mathias who said it."

"Why would Mathias say a bad thing about you right in front of you?" Elizaveta asked him curiously. "I don't understand."

"You know," Lukas softly began, "I don't think the me who crash-landed here was that nice of a person." He frowned, thinking about it. "I don't think he was very happy either."

"That doesn't mean that you have to be like him," Elizaveta reminded him.

"But that's the Lukas that Mathias is waiting for," Lukas softly said. "What if he's disappointed to have me instead? What do I do then?"

"I don't think he'd be disappointed to have you," Elizaveta said, grabbing his hand. "Anyone would be lucky to have a man like you in their life, trust me. And I know that there will always be one person who will be extremely glad to see you, now matter what."

"Who?" Lukas asked.

"Your mother," Elizaveta said. "There is never a love quite as strong as a mother's love for her child."

"That's true," Lukas agreed with a nod. "You're right. My mother will always be glad to see me." He smiled at her. "Thank you, Elizaveta. Oh, and I have a little brother now, too. So he'll probably be glad to see me as well."

"Of course he will," Elizaveta said, grinning. "Little brothers always look up to their big brothers for support and guidance. That is a fact, Lukas."

"So he'll always be looking up to me?" Lukas asked.

Elizaveta nodded, smiling. "Always," she assured.

"Then I had better set the best example that I can," he said, grinning. "This is all so exciting. It's like I've been given a new lease on life. I should've died, but somehow you and Roderich were able to save my life and help me recover. Let's hope that one day I'll be able to keep those memories that flicker into my mind for moments at a time. Maybe one day I'll remember everything. And I know one thing. I'll never forget the two of you."

"Even if you do," Elizaveta began, "I know we'll never forget you, Lukas."

.

Early January, 1944, Small Austrian Town

Lukas sat back in his bed as he read one morning. There had been some tension between Roderich and Elizaveta that morning, and he wanted no part of it, so he hid out in his room. He didn't like when tensions were high. It reminded him of when he was younger and his parents would fight.

Elizaveta walked into Lukas's room a while later. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked. "I saw you retreat into here, you know. You really are like a kid, aren't you?"

"I still have the mentality of a seventeen-year-old," he reminded, tapping his temple. He sighed. "What's going on with you two this morning anyway? Though neither of you said a word, I could still feel high tensions and it worried me."

"There's not need to be worried," Elizaveta told him, patting his head. "Roderich and I were just having a discussion in our bedroom this morning that got a little heated is all. The mood from it must have carried out into the house is all." She looked over at the crutch beside the bed. "How is your plan of walking by yourself without the crutch coming along?"

"Can't do it," Lukas simply answered. "I tried this morning and wobbled a little before falling onto my bed."

"Don't expect to move mountains so soon," Elizaveta said, smiling at him. "I get that you want to get home and all, but don't expect miracles to happen so quickly. It will take time and energy, and maybe even some pain to get there. Do you think you can do it?"

Lukas nodded. "I know I can do it."

"That's what I like to hear," she told him, smiling. "Now, we should probably get some exercise in for your damaged leg."

"Do we have to right now?" Lukas asked, frowning. "I really don't want to." He pouted at Elizaveta. "It's going to hurt."

"You just said you can handle the pain," Elizaveta reminded him. "Think of the emotional pain that your mom, brother, and lover are in right now because they currently think you're dead,."

Lukas gulped and threw the blankets off of his leg. It was scarred terribly from burns from the crash. "Let's do this, Liz," he said.

"That's what I like to hear, Luke," she said, grinning at him. "First, I want you to take your foot, and press the heel of it against the palm of my hand as hard as you can."

Lukas lifted his leg with great difficulty and pushed against her palm, wincing in pain. He could feel the muscles that were hardly used crying out in pain as they were awakened. His leg felt about ready to give when she finally told him to stop. "Liz, it hurts," he panted to her.

"But you didn't give up, did you?" she asked him, smiling. "Even when I could see that you were in pain, I wanted to see how long you could go. You didn't fail me. I know for a fact that your leg will recover from this. This pain shall pass."

He smiled at her. "If you're sure about that, then I'll believe you."

She giggled. "Of course I'm sure."

Lukas smiled. "Mathias will be glad to see me, won't he?"

"What kind of a question is that, Luke? Of course he'll be glad to see you! I think he'll be overjoyed is more like it!" Elizaveta said with a giggle. "If he's as wonderful as Gil told you, then I'll bet he doesn't believe for a moment that you're actually dead. I'll bet he's waiting for you right now. I'll bet he's waiting for you to come home as we speak."

.

That Same Night, London, England

Mathias sat on his bunk in the base barracks with Alfred. "Look, all I'm saying is that I don't believe he's really dead," he softly said.

"Mat, no one found a body," Alfred softly responded. "They didn't find a body, and his plane was exploded. He had to have died."

"But they said there was a small house nearby," Mathias said. "What if those people in that house took him in and nursed him back to health? What if that happened, Alfred?"

"The chances of that happening are highly unlikely," Alfred said. "The people in that country are our enemies. They probably killed him, Mathias."

"Please don't say that," Mathias said. "Gilbert is from there, and he wasn't a bad person."

"Speaking of Gil, have you heard from him?" Alfred asked.

Mathias shook his head. "All radio silence from his end," he sighed. "But as they say, 'No news is good news,' right?"

"I guess so," Alfred sighed. He bit his lip. "Look, I just don't want you to get your hopes up and then just have them dashed by finding out he's actually dead, okay?"

"But he's not dead," Mathias said.

"How do you even know that?" Alfred asked him. "How would you even know if he's dead or not? You don't."

"But you don't know of he's actually dead," Mathias countered.

"Look, the Germans are some scary people," Alfred said. "My brother encountered two boys who had a run-in with them. They're both traumatized. Both of the boys were Jewish and barely escaped with their lives. Lukas got shot down by the fucking Germans, Mathias. He's not alive."

"Well I have a feeling that he is, Alfred," Mathias said. "It's just a feeling, but I'm pretty sure that he's still with us." He looked up at the moon through the window. "Somewhere, probably even from that tiny house near where his plane crashed, he's looking up at the same moon as me." He stared up at the moon for a moment before muttering, "Goodnight, Lukas, wherever you are. I love you."

.

That Same Night, Small Austrian Town

Lukas found himself looking up at the moon from his bedroom window as he laid in bed that night. Something about it seemed warm and familiar to him. For the first time in awhile, he felt a connection to someone distant and far-off. He didn't know who it was, but he felt that connection. "Goodnight, Mathias," he whispered to the connection. "I know it's you. I want you to know that I love you too."