As was customary, the family of those killed or punished that day were given time to recover from the shock of it by our ever-so benevolent government.

This meant that Luther was excused from his duties as an Archivist for a month at the most.  By extension, as no one else wanted to even temporarily mentor me, I was also given leave from my duties.

Honestly, I wasn't shocked when I received a summons for interrogation.  After all, I had had a lot of association with Luke's family, and they were bound to wonder exactly how well I had known him.

That night, I heard from Matthew, who requested that I meet with him immediately.  I assumed that he had heard about the interrogation and had several requests for me.

Before I went to the Igniters' new meeting place (since the other could have been compromised), I decided to make another stop.

Luke's room.

The place where I had stuffed all my memories of him, so that I could walk around, pretending like I wasn't struggling not to cry.

It made me numb.

It was time to face the memories and see all that they had taken away from me when they had dragged Luke away.  It was time to see if they had found my dress, the notes, and countless other miscellaneous things that had been his and mine and would never be theirs.

As had been my habit while Luke was alive, I knocked gently on the wall.  Knock-knock-tap-knock.

It took a minute of waiting for an answer to remember that he was no longer there to swing open the secret door to greet me with a smile and a lingering kiss.

Tears starting to blur my vision, I pushed open the door and stepped into a room that felt like a tomb.  A tomb that had been robbed and the memory of the person contained in it stomped on multiple times.

Every inch of the room had been torn apart in a whirlwind.  Someone had clearly been looking for something, and I felt my palms start to sweat.

Did they find the box that Luke and I had hidden together, the incriminating evidence of all we were to each other?

Not ready to face the truth if they had, I looked under the bed, hoping that my mother's dress still lingered beneath it.

Nothing except dust and a forgotten sock.

"No," I whispered, scrambling to my feet and flinging open the closet door.  "It can't be gone."

All that hung on the rack was a row of gray clothes.  I choked on my breath and knelt to pull up the carpet.  The box had to be here.

I managed to regain some of my composure when I found it exactly where we had left it.  Lifting it out of its home with trembling hands, I opened the lid to find a note lying on top of the other contents.

Lane,
If I happen to be caught in the near future, take this box to Widow Anna.  She is able to hide it, and she is one of the only people I dare trust anymore.

I need not tell you that it would not be wise to trust M. with all of our secrets.  Make sure you keep enough as leverage if you ever need it.

I love you, Lane.  Don't ever forget that, and don't ever let them convince you what we had was wrong.  I have no regrets, and I know that you don't have any either.

Luke

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying not to cry and stain these last words from my love, my husband.  I set the page aside and lifted out the other foreign object.

The teddy bear that Luke had shown me.  I cradled its body in my hands, made much heavier by the secret it held.  This was likely what he didn't want me telling Matthew.

Carefully, I repacked the box and wrapped my coat around it.  There was no way that I was going to leave it here, and there was nothing left for me in this empty forgotten room at the time.

Making sure the coast was clear, though very rarely was someone wandering at this time of night, I slipped away from Luke's home.  I had to find this Widow Anna before I was due to meet with Matthew and see if she would indeed take care of the box for me.

Her house was located toward the outskirts of the settlement, nearly as far away as possible from where I lived.  As I stood outside that small home, I wondered how she had met Luke, or rather, how he had met her.

Tucking the box underneath my arm even more, I knocked on the door lightly, hoping that the widow wasn't deaf.

"Hello there," the woman said, her smile a beacon in the night.  "What bring a young one like you to my door?"

I studied her for a moment.  She had to be about fifty with thick graying hair coiled atop her head.  Her pleasure at seeing me had to be genuine as the smile extended all the way to her sparkling cerulean eyes.

"I'm Ilania," I said at last, satisfied with my assessment.  "A friend sent me here.  He said that you could take care of some possessions for me."

I hadn't thought it possible, but her grin became even brighter, revealing a fine set of teeth.

Widow Anna swung open the door, beckoning me in.  "My dear girl, I was wondering how long it would be until you appeared on my doorstep like your young man."

I followed the older woman into a nicely arranged living area and took the seat she indicated.  "How did you meet Luke exactly, Widow Anna?  He didn't mention it in his note."

She settled herself into her own chair.  "Oh, don't call me Widow Anna.  Anna works just fine, though Luke insisted upon that name.  Now, about the two of us, he was sent over to do some repairs, and I came to quite enjoy his company."

I unwrapped the box and settled it in my lap.  "Then I suppose that he told you about us, seeing how you knew who I was once I told you my name."

"Indeed, Ilania, you were the topic once Luke met you.  That boy won't stop talking about you for a minute, and I finally asked him why he wouldn't just marry you and spare my old ears," she confirmed.  "That's when he told me about your little problem, as we shall call it.  You do realize that in my prime, I was part of the original Igniters.  I gave it up soon after the founders were killed."

"Did Luke tell you that he followed your advice?" I asked, gently steering her back on topic.

She laughed.  "He sure did.  A few days after, he came in here grinning like a fool, and I asked him what was going on in that pretty head of his.  I managed to wrangle the events from him.  That's when I told him that I expected some babies to coddle on once this silly affair was over."

I blushed slightly and held out the box to her.  "I can't stay much longer, but Luke wanted me to leave this with you."

Widow Anna took it carefully, and I felt a slight emptiness as it left my fingers.  "Does this contain..."

Nodding, I opened the lid to reveal the contents to her.  She smiled sadly at me.

"I'll keep it safe for you, dear girl, along with anything else you see fit to bring to me," the older woman reassured me.  "Even if it isn't as easy to hide as this box."

Trust already forming in my heart, I hugged her as close as I could.  "Thank you so much, Widow Anna.  I see why Luke trusted you like he did."

She scowled playfully at the fact that I called her Widow Anna but patted my cheek gently.  "You're very welcome, Ilania.  I only wish that Luke could have brought you himself.  Now, skedaddle before you're late for whatever you're running off to."

Snatching my coat from the chair, I stopped only long enough to press a kiss to her wrinkling cheek before dashing out the door.

Whether Luke had realized it or not, he had given me the perfect ally to help keep my secret.

Now, all I had to do was make it through this meeting with Matthew and reveal no information to the Enforcers who would interrogate me tomorrow.