This particulary story has been broiling in me since I first read the spoilers for the season finale and next season's openers. It was set into motion after watching 'Sand and Water' again. Be warned...it's very emotional... and not the way most of us would like to see the current story played out.

Abby's fingers closed around the small wooden box in her lap even as she slept. It was the box that had held the compass he'd given her on that Christmas Eve when she'd given him the news about being pregnant. Some how it seemed a fitting carrier for the precious ashes inside. Luka settled his head on the pillow of the airplane's seat and watched her sleep. She had been through so much. The trauma in the ER, her surgeries, weeks of watching their son struggle to survive in the NICU...and finally the moment when they had looked at one another and knew that it was time to let him go. They had held each other then...held him until the fragile life had slipped away. The aftermath of that moment had almost been a relief...almost. Each tiny breath that Josip had taken since the moment of his birth had been a struggle. Every step forward seemed to bring them two steps back. It was worse in that they were both doctors. The knew just how much could be done, how much care was taken and how far they could go. So now they were on their way to Croatia...to place their son alongside Danijela, Jasna and Marko. Luka looked up as the landing announcement came over the speaker and the seatbelt light came on.

"Abby," he whispered in her ear and then jostled her gently. "We're preparing to land." Abby's eyes opened and she shook her head a bit. She looked at him and smiled softly. Luka grinned and she reached up to pat his cheek as she kissed him. He helped her with the seat belt and his fingers brushed the box in her lap. She watched out the window as the plane circled and then landed in the city of Reijeka. They were the last to disembark, the last to go through customs. Luka had handled their paperwork and passports. He slipped so easily into his native tongue. She had taken it all in, wide eyed, surrounded by words and phrases that she was only beginning to understand. They were ushered through the customs gate to a waiting area. Luka had shifted their carry on bags to his shoulders and gently pressed her forward with his hand in the small of her back.

She should have known that she would recognize him instantly. Luka's father was sitting on a hard bench and stood up when he saw them. He was as tall as Luka. His hair was just as dark and flecked with gray. It was the Luka of a few more years down the road. He wore a dark sweater and held a leather jacket over his arm. He smiled and waved a bit. Luka propelled her forward and then dropped the bags to the floor as he embraced his father. The two men stood for a long time holding one another.

"Dobrodošli na home, moj sin," Laurentis said as he kissed Luka's cheeks. His eyes shifted to Abby and he reached for her hand.

"Hvala vam za donijeti njemu home," he said. "Thank you...for bringing...him...home." Abby wasn't sure who he meant, Luka or the ashes she held, but she took a deep breath and blinked back tears that suddenly stung her eyes. Laurentis gathered her into his arms and held her as she began to cry softly.

"Moj kcerka..." he said softly. My daughter. Luka closed his eyes and then felt himself being drawn into his father's embrace again, with Abby cuddled safely between them.

Laurentis lived in a spacious apartment overlooking the city and out over the bay on the Adriatic Sea. He gave Abby and Luka his bedroom and had moved himself into the room he used for his studio. The furnishings throughout were sparse and tasteful. There was art everywhere. Abby wandered through and cocked an eyebrow at Luka.

"I didn't grow up here," he laughed. "He was a train conductor, remember?" Laurentis watched her quizzically and Luka explained her confusion to him. His father chuckled and nodded. He spoke and Luka laughed.

"He said, it's the Art. People pay too much for so very little." Abby smiled and nodded. Luka carried their bags to the bedroom. She reached out a finger to touch a small bronze sculpture of a water lily in a bowl that sat on an end table. Laurentis smiled.

"Moj supruga ljubimac cvijet," he said. He frowned a bit.

"My wife...best...flower?" He tipped his head to see if he'd said it right. Abby nodded in understanding.

"'It's beautiful," she said. "Lijep..." Larentis smiled broadly and nodded his approval. Abby looked around and yawned. She shook her head as she tried to keep her eyes open. Luka walked through from the bedroom and Laurentis nodded toward Abby. Luka smiled and crossed the room to her side.

"Jet lag?" Abby nodded. Luka picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. She didn't protest as he stood her next to the high bed and pulled back the covers. He opened her bag and pulled out a pair of pajama pants. He helped her with the buttons on the shirt she wore over a soft cami and tossed it on the chair in the corner of the room. Abby slipped out of her slacks and into her pajama pants.

"There's only one bathroom and it's out there," he said. "Sorry." Abby shook her head and yawned again. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged. Luka kissed the top of her head and helped her into bed.

"I'm going to talk to my father for a little while," he said. Abby nodded and snuggled under the coverlet he pulled over her. Luka kissed her again and then switched off the bedside lamp. The room wasn't dark as it was still early evening. She smiled softly when she saw the small wooden box Luka had placed on the table next to her. She kissed the tips of her fingers and touched the warm wood before she closed her eyes.

Luka took her everywhere in Reijika. They walked the streets and shopped. They rode bicycles to the beach and wandered hand in hand along the cold waters on the sandy shoreline. They spent time with his brothers, Andro and Zoran, and their families. Surprisingly, they were a loud and affectionate family. Laurentis sat back, observing with great pleasure, the relationship of his three sons together. And his eye was always on Abby, the tiny mite of a thing that was the center of his eldest son's world. She was, indeed, beautiful, as Luka had been telling him all these years. And she was strong...but haunted. Even when she smiled there was a cloud in her brown eyes, as if she were waiting for something to crashing down. Maybe it was just the artist in him that saw that. He had always been a keen observer into people's very souls. Abby had caught him watching her on more than one occasion. He'd just smile and would smother her with a kiss if he was close enough...to make her laugh again.

The three of them visited the cemetary near the church together one day. Abby had been dreading it. She really didn't want to see where they would be burying her son. Not yet. Luka had said they wouldn't do anything until she was ready. Laurentis and Luka were on either side of her as they wandered slowly amongst the head stones. Not until they stood before the simple marker with the names of Danijela, Jasna and Marko. And several spaces away, the stone that marked the grave of Luka's mother. Laurentis moved off to pick away the dried blossoms from the flowers that grew there, to clear away some fallen leaves. Luka knelt before the other with his head bowed and his eyes closed. Abby had folded her arms across her chest and looked up into the blue, blue sky. She could hear birds in the tree nearby, and the far away sound of traffic in the streets intermingling with the sounds of children playing on the grounds of the parish school nearby. She was relieved. This was a good place. She looked at Luka as he crossed himself and then lifted his eyes to her. She was able to smile at him. She sighed and he reached for her hand and clung to it.

She'd said she was ready. She felt she was ready. But inside, she was flooded with panic as they all gathered in the cemetary. Andro and Valerija and their sons, who'd come home from their schools to be with them...Zoran and Jelena with their daughter...Laurentis...and Luka. Abby felt so...loved. The box that held Josip's ashes was passed carefully from one hand to the other...kissed, caressed with affection...until it was in her hands again. Her eyes filled with tears as she held the box to her cheek for a moment, traced the edges with her finger tips one last time and then handed it carefully to Luka. His eyes held hers for a long moment as he cradled the box in his big hands. He nodded and sighed and then handed it to the attendant who stood next to the priest. Luka wrapped an arm around Abby and held her close as the little box was placed in the deep hole in front of the marker that held his family's names. They were both lost in their thoughts as the priest's blessing droned on and dirt covered the little box.

Luka reached over and came awake as his arm stretched across and empty bed. He lifted his head and looked around the bedroom. She was gone. A slight breeze ruffled the curtains that covered the balcony doors. He pushed the bedcovers aside and sat up. He slipped his feet into the warm slippers beside the bed and padded toward the curtained doors.

She was swallowed up in a thick white terry robe that belonged to his father and sat in a chair on the balcony. Her bare toes were wrapped around the bottom of the wrought iron railing and she hugged herself as she watched the sun rise over the horizon. Luka watched her for a long moment and then reached out to touch her shoulder. She didn't look at him.

"We need time to heal, Abby," he said quietly as he gently caressed her jaw with his thumb. Her eyes widened a bit as she blinked away the glittering tears on her lashes.

"Do you really think that's possible?" she asked, still not looking at him.

"I know it is," Luka sighed. He straightened and folded his arms across his chest as he, too, watched the spreading rays from the rising sun. It was a long moment before he spoke again. He was wondering if it was the right moment.

"I want to go to Darfur for a little while," he said finally. "I've been thinking about it." Abby's eyes closed tightly and she took a breath to still the panic that had leaped into her throat.

"I want you to come with me...as my wife." Abby shook her head slowly and tried to stifle the sob that threatened to choke her. Luka squatted next to her chair and took her hand in his. He kissed her fingers gently as he studied her profile.

"Please, Abby." Luka's hand reached over to cup her cheek in his palm. He turned her face toward him and waited until she opened her eyes.

"Please?" he said again. Tears spilled over her eyelids and slid down her cheeks as she gazed into his eyes. There were tears on Luka's cheeks as well. But it was his green eyes that held her. The eyes that were filled the incredible pain that she shared...and such love. She took a deep breath and reached up to take his hand in her's. Abby leaned forward and began to kiss away the tears.

"Yes," she said softly. "I'll go with you...and as your wife." Luka let out a deep, relieved sigh and wrapped his hands around her face as he drew her into a kiss.

They were married a week later, in a small Catholic church ceremony surrounded again by his family. Luka felt as if he had been handed a gift the first time they kissed each other as husband and wife. It was if all they had been through over the years had brought them to that single moment...that very instant. His family had celebrated for them. Only Laurentis was saddened. He, alone, knew that they would be gone again...and soon.

Abby was sorting through the clothing she had brought with her as she contemplated what she would need in the desert. Luka had said they would buy anything else they needed in Sudan before they went on to Darfur. With winter coming in Croatia, they wouldn't be able to find much desert wear in Reijeka. She looked up and smiled when Laurentis knocked on the bedroom door.

"Halo, Tata," she said and he poked his head in the room. Laurentis came inside and indicated the open suitcase on the bed. Abby nodded.

"Yes, I am trying to pack." He smiled and held out a box he'd been holding behind his back. Abby looked up at him and then took the box from him. She opened the top and her eyes widened. He had packed the little bronze water lily sculpture inside. She knew how much it meant to him. It was a memory of Luka's mother.

"I can't take this," she said. "It's too special to you." Laurentis placed a finger on her lips.

"Ti si ostavljajuci tvoj srce zaslu eno," he said. "JA htijenje poslati mi srce sa vašim." Abby frowned in confusion. It was too many words too fast. Laurentis looked up thoughtfully and then tried again.

"Abby...," he said slowly. "You leave your...heart...with me to care for...and I will...uh... send...my heart...with you. Eh?" Tears welled up in her eyes and Abby sighed. She stood on tip toe to press a kiss to his cheek. Laurentis smiled and hugged her.

They stopped by the cemetary on their way to the airport. Someone had already been there, had raked the grass smooth and covered the small square patch of dirt with seed. They would sprout before long. Abby looked up and her eyes met those of her father in law, who waited for them by the car. He smiled and tipped his hat toward her. She took a deep breath and looked up at Luka.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked. She leaned against him and nodded. He took her hand in his and they walked back toward the waiting car.

Hot. It was so hot. And dusty. The jeep they were in broiled out dust behind them as it sped down the bumpy road toward the refugee camp. They'd been stopped at several check points and searched. Everything had been removed from the jeep and needed to be repacked. It had taken them longer than expected to arrive. The jeep pulled to a stop in front of the medical center that had been created in the center of the camp. Luka jumped out of the back of the jeep and held his hand out to help her. He turned and grinned as he heard a familiar voice coming from the man backing out of the door. He was speaking angrily in French.

John Carter turned around and found himself unexpectedly face to face with his friend.

"'Luka?" He exclaimed as he threw his arms around him.

"You needed help?" Luka laughed.

"We were told to expect two doctors...a husband and wife team," John said. "No one could tell me who..." He stopped as his eyes met Abby's.

"Abby?" He was incredulous. She smiled.

"Hello, John," she said softly. Carter stepped forward and drew her into a hug. He held her hands as he stepped back to look at her.

"Nice hat." She chuckled as her eyes traveled up to the wide brim of the bucket hat Luka had insisted that she would need. Carter looked down at her hands and noticed the gold wedding band she wore.

"Congratulations," he said. Abby smiled and pulled her hands carefully from his.

"'Doctor John! Doctor John!" They all looked in the direction of a boy who was racing toward them.

"The cook stove blew up! " the boy cried as he tried to catch his breath. "...at the school."

"Aw...damn," Carter cried. He barked an order in French and Luka jumped back into the jeep and started tossing out their bags and the medical supplies they had brought with them. He helped load a large medical kit in the back. People scurried as CArter barked order after order. Luka reached down to help Abby climb into the back seat as Carter slid into the front passenger seat of the jeep. She dropped beside Luka and held the hat on her head as the jeep sped toward the school.