It wasn't quite light out yet when I woke up. Noise occurred somewhere outside the bedroom door. I slowly opened the door and stepped carefully out to the kitchen. In front of me was a sight I couldn't believe. Twilight was at the stove scrambling eggs while Anya sat at the table eagerly waiting. Upon my entrance she turned her head toward me. I focused my thoughts into a message for her.

'I'm sure you know my secret. Which means you know that I know yours. Don't worry, kiddo. I won't tell him. I won't tell anyone. Just please don't tell my secret for me, okay?'

She smiled and nodded before saying loudly "good morning!"

Twilight turned around and took me in. I could still see the unease written on his face as he regarded my slightly less dirty figure. His eyes scanned me up and down. I knew what he saw because I'd seen it myself in the mirror last night. Just a scrawny girl with frail, prominent features due to a lack of healthy body fat. His clothes hung even more loosely than mine had. The t-shirt was long and baggy, which I supposed was a good thing since the sweatpants weren't really holding themselves up all that well either. The pants bunched around my ankles due to my significantly shorter legs.

Twilight looked away as he scooped eggs onto three plates. He set the first two down at the table, then sat down with the third. "Good morning," he said as he began to eat.

I tentatively sat down. That little nagging thought had been right last night when Twilight brought me in. This wasn't a coma dream. This was real. I had died, and been reincarnated into a fictional world. And I had to make myself exist here. In Cold War Germany. No internet. No cell phone. None of my favorite music or books or poetry. What was Ostania's native language? Was it still German? I knew a little bit of German. I could say good day and good night in German. I could also say a few vulgaritues, although I had a suspicion I should not use those. These thoughts mulled over in my brain as I quietly and slowly ate. Anya stared at me, no doubt questioning all the thoughts going on inside my head. 'Welcome to the mind of an ADHD kid from the future,' I thought, not entirely directing it at her, but knowing that was where it was going anyways.

Twilight broke the silence. "Do you have a name?"

I fidgeted with the hem of my borrowed shirt. "I..." I started, but couldn't finish. He'd have W.I.S.E. look into any name I provided. It was better to remain a refugee afraid of being found through her original identity.

Twilight looked up from his plate with a face of concern, seemingly buying into it. "It's okay. You're safe here. You can be anyone you want to be. Is there a name you'd like to have?"

I closed my eyes in relief, my shoulders dropping the tension I hadn't realized they held. "Dez," I said softly. "I'd like to be Dez." It seemed silly and simple, but the name held meaning. A lot of meaning. Meaning that Anya probably now knew. But that was okay. She could know about him. My best friend. My soulmate. Who now existed in a completely different universe from me. The one whose name I took. I lost him. But I wasn't going to forget him.

"Dez," Twilight said, turning the name over and over. "It's nice to meet you, Dez. My name is Loid and this is Anya. Welcome to the Forger family."

Holy.

Fish.

Nuggets.

Welcome to the Forger family.

Just like that.

Now it was really time to be careful. All of us had stopped breathing at this point. I don't think any of us realized it. Tears welled up in my eyes. I was speechless.

"YAY ANYA HAVE A MAMA!" Anya shouted, making both Twilight and me jump.

"Oh, Anya, honey I don't think-" I began as Twilight interrupted me.

"Only if Dez is okay with it, Anya."

Which I would have been more than happy to, but there was one little issue. Yor. The wife Loid Forger was supposed to have. Not me. But I was here, not her. Could I be Anya's mother? A spy, a telepath, and an isekai-ed death escapee. It had a nice ring to it. I nodded slowly, accepting the role. Why not?

Anya cheered and Twilight smiled. I was his wife now. Which meant it was imperative for me to not fall in love with him. I sure had my work cut out for me.

"Thank you, Loid, Anya. Thank you so much. I won't let you guys down. I'll help Anya with school as best as I can. I'll clean the house. I'll get a job. I'll-" Twilight cut me off again.

"Helping take care of Anya is good. Don't worry about getting a job. I'll support us." His eyes held a look of sincerity in them. Deep down, behind all that spy, his heart was still kind. And I was so screwed.

I smiled at him, finishing my breakfast and collecting the plates. I washed my hands in the kitchen sink before washing the dishes. I hated doing the dishes. But I did kinda just appear out of nowhere claiming to be a refugee and Twilight let me live here. Dishes was probably an acceptable form of rent. Twilight walked Anya out to the bus while I finished up. As soon as he came back in I had him show me where everything went. Not that I'd remember until my 237th time of putting them away. Afterwards he asked me to sit with him in the living room.

I joined him on the couch, piecing together a backstory as if I was just creating another DND character. Did DND even exist during the Cold War? It didn't matter. Just another piece of the life that I would never have back.

"I won't make you share anything you're not comfortable with," he started. "But I'd like to know the person I just invited under my roof. How old are you?" Okay, that was an easy one.

"Twenty-four."

"What are some of the things you like?"

Relief should have met me, but instead I only felt suspicion. Was he going to lead me in by asking about my personality, then jump to offense? Either way, I answered him. "I like reading and writing. I like drawing. I like seafood and my favorite vegetable is carrot. I'm good at math but I don't like it. I like teaching kids. Helping people. I like dogs and cats. I really like cats. Actually, I love cats."

A smile played across his lips at that last part. God he was good looking, especially when he smiled. Self-restraint-to-avoid-getting-my-feelings-hurt-when-he-leaves who? We don't know her.

"I think you and Anya will get along just fine. Speaking of, do you have any family?" He casted his gaze over me, no doubt hoping to reveal something about me through that.

I paused for a moment, contemplating my next approach.

"Loid, do you believe in heaven?" I asked.

He was taken aback by my returning question. I pulled the arrowhead out from where it rested just under my shirt collar. "All I have left is this. A bit of my grandpa's ashes. I like to think that there's a heaven up there. That he watches me. That one day I could become someone he was proud of. But..." I looked Twilight in the eyes, full sincerity in what I said next. "It's incredible how one accident can change so many lives."

Twilight took a sharp breath in, unable to hold eye contact. I wrapped my fist around the arrowhead, holding it to my chest. "I had a mother and a father. And I almost had a brother."

"Almost?" Twilight asked.

"He was the first child my parents conceived. It ended up being a miscarriage. My mother always blamed me for it. She'd hit me for taking her son away from her. My father left when I was two. Said he was going fishing and never came back." Was that entirely true? No. But was it believable? I'd make it.

I could see the sorrow in his eyes. I felt a bit guilty taking advantage of his emotions, but the fear of being found out was greater. I'd written many characters. I'd daydreamed many events and scenarios. It was time for me to use that to my advantage.

"What did you do?" His voice was small, like a child giving in to a teenager baiting him with a scary story.

"I left home when I was seventeen. I became good friends with someone. We had a good life together. But he's gone now too." I blinked back tears. That part hadn't been a lie. Dez had been practically everything to me. And now I had nothing of him. How long until I forgot the sound of his voice? The shape of his smile? The softness of his hair and how it took on a blond tint in the summertime?

Twilight moved his hand in circles over my back. He leaned in and whispered to me. "You're safe now." And I believed him. "You need a shower. Let me get you some fresh clothes and towels. You can use my shampoo and soap."