Thank you all for your lovely reviews. I'm glad you like this. Truth is, I've only seen about four episodes of Highlander myself, so forgive me if something doesn't sit with the Highlander continuum. Actually, consider this a Highlander AU. As for Jubes knowing all the famous old guys…well she may have met them, but considering that in this chapter I've already shown she's met heaps of legends, I think I should keep it at a minimum. I'm sorry if this story is a bit confusing but as it came from my subconscious I really can't help it. I can barely understand most of it myself. -_-'

Chapter 3

With in half an hour, they were on the outskirts of the city, driving down Sentinel Lane. A small shiver came over the both of them as Methos drove her BMW over the invisible line that indicated Holy Ground. A few seconds later, they were standing by the giant piece of marble some unknown king of France had erected to let the English know that past that point anyone with an English accent and allegiance would be executed. This place held memories for a lot of Immortals. Most of them had been drawn in to the war between the British and the Franc. Any Immortal who had been down this area would have fled toward the Holy Ground around the marble obelisk, as it became all too well known that Caspian, Kronos and Silas were head hunting through southern France. It was the reason young Dorian Jenkas had set up the small restaurant when he had died a hundred and thirteen years earlier. He was one of Connor's students and was very well known to the Immortals who resided in Paris on a yearly basis. He was also very peaceful and had only ever taken two heads during his life. Even in the middle of World War's I and II he had remained on Holy Ground as much as possible.

Jubilee made a gesture at the Sentinel, flickering the lightening symbol of the Immortal over it. A sound like thunder rumbled beneath her feet and she knew that the Powers were happy that someone remembered the lives lost. Methos bowed his head in reverence and then they both turned and walked into the little building that was half hidden in the trees. They didn't even get half way in before Dorian came bustling up to them, smiling like a Cheshire.

"Julie, Alex, in town for the Gathering?"

"What else little brother? Who else is in town besides the Macleod branch?" Jubilee pecked him on the cheek and watched in amusement as he blushed.

"Well Tilal and Terry came in for lunch this afternoon. They said that they had seen Fathers Tomas and Joseph. Jendaro, of the country that is currently called Rwanda, has been here for two days and staying in a little chateau up on the hills of Nira. We've been getting reports around here that Lord and Lady Wessex have been staying in a manor in the country, but no one had seen them." He had led them to a table in the corner while talking to them. Around the room, only three other Immortals were sitting there. Everyone else was mortal. Most of them tourists, most likely come to see the Stone.

Two of the Immortals were sitting together, one of them over in the back corner. The two sitting by the window were obvious lovers and well known to Jubilee. Jason Smith, a hundred and twenty years old, formerly of Boston, and Kera Johnson, only fifty, from northern Australia. The one in the corner wasn't known at all by her, but Methos nodded pleasantly to him and pulled out a chair for his date.

"Do you recognise the two?"

"Kera and Jason. Jas is one of Father Joseph's boys, and Kera is Chendaro's latest Student. They're about as peaceful as could be, young, but well trained. Kera is also a mutant. Has the ability to talk to animals. Who's the boy in the corner?"

"That's Timothy. He doesn't have a last name, as far as I know. Mac had his training about two hundred ago, and recently Amanda's been teaching him to steal, much to Duncan's dismay. It's actually rather funny getting all three of them together. Mac doesn't know whether to be outraged, jealous or proud. Tim has fun flirting with Amanda and Sandra, if she's around. Amanda makes a point of telling him some more tricks of the trade, as long as she's in Mac's hearing range." Dorian and Jubilee were giggling. Jubilee shook her head at the irony of Macleod the Heartbreaker training someone like him, only the second one has a personality and a sense of humour.

"What would you like to eat then, elders? I still know how to make a good T'kara Nirri. Even if it has gone out of style in the last fifty years." They all sighed as they remembered the things that were now out of style. For Dorian, there were only a few things that he really missed, but for someone of a few millennia, there were so many things to be missed. By the time Jubilee and Methos realised that they were reminiscing, Dorian had already brought the wine himself, and had sent orders to the kitchen. Then he bowed politely to his elders and left to join Tim. Methos looked at his 'date' with an air of curiosity.

"So what was it?" Jubilee's eyes refocussed on him and she looked confused.

"What?"

"The thing you miss most?" Jubilee sipped her wine, studied the table settings and her nails and then finally looked back up at her former mentor. He was being more patient then he really felt. Jubilee growled as a hint of thought slipped through his shields.

You're not going to let her leave Paris until you find out her history, Meth. She's known you for so many years, centuries, and she knows your history. Don't let her get away…

With another sigh she gulped down the rest of her glass.

"You could just ask me, you know." He blinked at her. "Empath with telepathic abilities, remember. Part of knowing magik is knowing what's around you, including other people. If you want to know about me, ask me. We're both to old to be subtle about asking something this personal."

Methos gave her a small glare.

"When did we meet?" He took a large gulp of his own wine and topped hers back up.

"You pulled me out of the Pool of Xianti, my First Death." His eyes opened wide.

'I was the one to find her? First Death…we've known each other…'

"When was that, and what is a Pool of Xianti? It sounds familiar…but you know what my head is like."

"You don't even know how old I am?"

"Somewhere over the three thousand mark. I remember you teaching a few things to Cassandra, but that's it."

Jubilee eyed him, wondering if that was really all.

"Try four thousand and thirty-seven. The Pool of Xianti was a place to sacrifice young maidens to the goddess Tiandra Xian. They were layered down with gold and silver chains, gemstones, and other precious metals…it was said that all that stuff was to pay the way of the sacrifice to the lands of light. But really it was just to make sure that the sacrifice would drown properly. Plus it was really all the expensive stuff that was the sacrifice and the girl was just the messenger…"

"Basic sacrifice by drowning. They did that a lot among the ancient African's, and more recently the Indians-"

"My parents, the Prince of southern China, and his Chief Concubine, sold me to the Rajah of the country that is now Pakistan. The Prince's father, the Emperor, had found out that I was not the blood daughter of his son. But because my eyes were blue, and I was a fire-dancer 'Spirit', what they called pyrotechnic mutants back then, they sold me as a concubine slave to the Rajah instead of killing me outright."

"Back then mutants were highly valued as witches and sorcerers. How'd you become a sacrifice?"

"Famine struck all over Tja-Min-Ori, the capital city. It was one of the main agricultural areas of pre-Pakistan. The country started to starve and the priests and priestesses of all the deities were worried. At every temple they sacrificed three young unblemished virgins, but at the temple of Xianti, the goddess of Death, they figured that the Goddess was hungry to use her powers. They thought that if they sacrificed a powerful 'Spirit', one that was highly valued by the highest authority, then the Goddess would be sated. Obviously I was the Rajah's most powerful mutant, and he was the highest authority. They wrapped me up in family heirlooms, placed the Eye of Kiraet, the equal of the English Crown Jewels, around my throat and pushed me into that Darkness Dammed Pool."

"How'd I find you? The jewellery would have weighed you down far to much to float."

"The Powers took exception to one of their favourites being killed for the sake of a silly famine, and as I understand it, they had been working hard to cultivate mutants among the people of the city. Every single mutant got sacrificed, and no one even realised it. The Powers created an earthquake, the quake ripped open the side of a mountain, and the lava swept into the city and killed everyone. You were in the city at the time and had to dig your way out of a thick crust of magma. You were close to dying from thirst again, and because the powers didn't want to trap me in that pool forever, they had diverted the lava away from the temple. You saw the fresh water, and at the same time I 'woke up'. You saw the air bubbles, felt the buzz and came to the proper conclusion." Jubilee stopped talking as the waiter brought their food. She played with it a bit before she started again.

"You jumped into the water and followed the bubbles down to were I was screaming, and when I ran out of air, you followed the 'paffs' I let off. One of the golden belts I wore had snagged against the rocks, so I was only thirty feet down instead of the hundred that it was supposed to be. I was dead again by the time you reached me, but you managed to un-snag me and pull me up to the surface, all the jewellery intact, before you passed out. When we both woke up, it was night time and I was freaking out. I killed you quite a few times with my powers before I came to my senses." She contemplated him for a second, then started to eat her food. He joined her in silence, not wanting to do anything but eat and think. Half an hour, and a large chocolate gateau later, they were both stuffed full.

"The deities."

"What?"

"You asked me what I missed most. The Deities. Now days, if you aren't Catholic, Hindu or Buddist, you're a pagan. And the pagan's have the deities so mixed up! And even if you do have the right one, they won't listen to you any more. I used to have lengthy conversations with gods and demi-gods. Light's Mercy, Hercules was one of my best friends. Have you seen what they've done to all the legends? Xena, Sinbad, Hercules. They have the goddess of information and the goddess of intelligence combined as the same thing. Athena was not the goddess of war either, she was the goddess of death, Artimis was the goddess of war, and Diana, who was a Greek god, not Roman, was the goddess of the hunt." Methos smiled at her as she ranted, and then laughed at the righteous indignation during the end of her rant.

"Spent a lot of time in Greece didn't you?"

"You made me get out on my own because I wouldn't stop annoying you. So while you went to Rome for a hundred years, I spent my time in Greece, bugging Artimis and Aphrodite. Then I decided to follow Xeana, Xena, around for a while." Methos mouth dropped open.

"Gabrielle?" Jubilee nodded, looked behind her to where Dorian was talking to one of his waiters, gestured that he should book the food to her tab and then stood up to leave. Methos held an arm out for her and they walked out linked together.

"You've been watching that TV show? I have to tell ya, Meth, if Aphrodite ever went on a trip over America's way and got a good look at the actor who is playing her, she would crack open the Halls of Death and order her brother Ares to destroy the world. They don't look anything alike and the actor isn't even half as pretty as Aphie. Anyway, I tagged along with Xeana, because she's a better swords woman then any Immortal I know. That was when I was only a few hundred years old." He opened the door of her car for her, and then walked around to get in it himself.

"So…I was your Teacher then?" They started driving back in to town before she answered.

"One of three. You, Xeana, and Cleo." He raised an eyebrow. "Let me clarify that. Cleopatra, Queen of Eygpt. You taught me the basics, of how to read and to write; though of course, that was just a few years after I died. There are no historical records of the writing at that time, but it was sort of a cross between Eygption hieroglyphs and Babylonian writing. And you taught me a few other languages. Xeana taught me some sword fighting and other weapons. Cleo, she taught me how the laws of every land work, about politics, religions. She taught me how to manipulate others…"

"Of which you are very cleaver at doing."

"Necessary."

"True." The car made a sharp turn and she nearly fell into his lap. "I'm not so bad at it myself."

"You just like getting physical about it." Silence suddenly over came them. Methos glanced at her and saw the tight-lipped expression.

"Jubilee…?"

"Yes?" She gave him a look that was just short of a glare. His strength of will gave out and he asked a different question.

"Did I give you that name?" Her frown deepened before she suddenly smiled.

"I was named Celebration, well actually I was named Chi-ciri. Ancient Chinese for celebration. Ever since then I've been called all the different translations for celebration, happiness or party that even exist. My favourite was Alegria, joy."

"So…what did I name you? I know I must have taught you the naming ceremony that you used on those kids the other day. No one else had done that since three thousand ago."

"Yeah, you taught me…you named me Twilight. And I really do mean Twilight. The English language was still being developed at the time, but some words were common use already." They passed the Eiffle Tower before he asked another question.

"Why Twilight?" She laughed so suddenly that he nearly drove off the road.

"Hey! You wreak my car and your head is mine!" He flinched back and she grinned again. "Member how I told you, I kept killing you when you first found me? Well I did that with my mutation. It took you half an hour to an hour to wake up each time. And to stop me doing it, you broke two of my ribs and then pushed a large piece of dried up magma through my lungs. When I woke up I killed you again, but since I didn't really do much damage, not during any of the kills I made on you, you healed faster then with a normal kill. So you woke up an hour later. I was sitting around waiting for you to get up, because now I was in shock. You backed off from me as fast as you could and waited till my shock wore off. When I was finally ready to listen to you, I wouldn't stop asking questions.

"So one of the questions I asked was why I kept waking up in darkness. I died, the light that the wise ones said would be there was not there, I came back and I was in pitch darkness, I died again, came back it's still dark, though this time I could see the stars. Each time we killed each other, I woke up in darkness. That time you shoved the rock through my chest, it took me all day to fix. And when I woke up, it was just past sunset. You hadn't had a chance to build a fire.

"When you realised I was terrified that I'd die again, because I couldn't see any light; there were clouds covering the stars and it was a moonless night, you tried to start a fire. The only wood that wasn't burnt to a crisp was wet, because it had fallen in the pool. So I finally had to step in and paff the stuff. You said I was like a contradiction, though not in those exact words."

"A demon-angel." Methos was lost in a world of his own, and Jubilee didn't want to disturb him while he was remembering. She kept talking in a monotone, and using her powers to make sure that he didn't run them into another car.

"You said that I was a spirit of the light, but a child of the dark. My powers were the ability to generate light and fire, but my saving grace was the darkness that forbids me from dying for real. You explained that the only time an Immortal would ever see the light when they died was when the Quickening left them and hit the other person. The light would go out of us and we would cease to exist." He didn't respond.

"So I could generate light to save my life, or generate darkness to save my life. I was the in between. Twilight. We're here." Methos looked up at her and realised she must have made him stop the car, because they were in the parking lot nearest to Le Blues Bar.

"So…does that mean I am allowed to call you Twi? Or just Light?"

"Teacher or not, one of these days your head is mine. And my name is Jubilee. Even Cassandra and Amanda don't know what my Immortal name is. Connor tried to guess once. I think he had just finished reading Rumplestiltskin, you know the fairy tale? He spent three days trying to guess, and had offered to give me my pick of the antiques in his attic at the time if he didn't manage to guess. Got a real nice Japanese kimono from him, as well as a beautiful set of silver and onyx daggers." Methos laughed at that. Sounded just like the Jubilee he had gotten to know again. But still, with the sudden memory of calling her a demon-angel excluded, all he could remember of her was meeting her again, one and a half thousand ago, in the company of Cassandra. She had kept Cassie from killing him.

He shook his head to clear some space in his mind and then held his arm out for Jubilee again. She linked her arm with him in comfort, and he realised that she had been nicer to him this night then she had been for over a thousand years.