Amelia and Hiro had just arrived at Amelia's tent after a less than perfect dinner.
"Let's keep ourselves busy, shall we?" Amelia purposes.
"Okay...what do you want to do?" Hiro asks.
"Hm...well let's see, we could play war. Kerishma just gave me a deck of cards for my birthday two weeks ago."
"Happy birthday!" Hiro says excitedly.
"Thank you!" Amelia smiles. "Oh no, I know! We'll clean out my treasure chest!" she says and walks over to a trunk. She takes a necklace with a key attached off her nck and uses it to open the trunk. "It sounds dreadfully boring, I know, but I enjpy doing it. I collect something from every place I go, bought or stolen. Every so often the treasure chest gets rather stuffed, as you can see. So I sort out what I want and of what I decide was either bought in some sort of odd fit and what had best be forgotten, with which I should throw away or give as a gifts." Amelia says.
"Have you gone many place?" Hiro asks.
"Yes. The company travels a great deal. In fact, we'll be off to Austria in just a week and half!" We never stay in one place for long, but we're talking an extended stay here in Britain because just about everyone has family who misses them here." Amelia says.
"Do you?" Hiro asks.
"No. No I don't. They...are not here." Amelia says. Hiro assumes this is an euphemism to their all being dead. She was obviously upset by the subject, a sad orphan?
"You know, my family and I are from Japan!" Hiro says trying to cheer her up.
"Really?" Amelia says. "What is it like there? I've not been outside of Europe to date, but I would love to see other places."
"Japan is very wonderful. You would like it there." Hiro says. Just then, Kerishma waltzes into the tent.
"Amelia, love!" she calls. "Is it true what I've heard?" Amelia stands up and takes her hands.
"Well, that depends, what ever did you here?" Amelia asks.
"That Lady Adaline will be coming by tonight to speak with you about switching times with the acrobats!"
"What?" Amelia says very excited.
"It is what I've heard!" Kerishma exclaims. They giggle in excitement A tall, slender man comes into the tent next.
"Amelia, is what I've heard true?" he asks.
"Well, Sebastian, you're the second to approach me me about it, so I suppose it must be!" Amelia smiles.
"So...yes?" he asks looking quite confused. Amelia nods. "Well! Congratulations!" he says with a quick bow, then turns to Hiro. "And congratulations to you too of course. And welcome to our family!" He says shaking Hiro's hand.
"Thank you?" Hiro says puzzled.
"Hang on, Sebastian," Amelia says "What was it you heard?"
"Why, that you were pregnant and a small Asian man was the father." He replied.
"Oh! Well that's not true at all! From who did you hear that?" She asks.
"From Percival and Kitty, they were telling everyone during dinner."
"Tell everyone the truth, please, Sebastian."
"Yes, of course." Sebastian says. He turns to Kerishma. "I was wondering if you would like me to walk you back to your own tent, Kerishma?"
"Yes, thank you, Sebastian." And they leave.
"Percival and Kitty are acrobats. The acrobats are always try to sabotage me." Amelia explains to Hiro. "It's terribly cruel of them. Jealous is a terrible thing. Love, however is beautiful, isn't it, Hiro?" She says, turning her head. Hiro is a little afraid by the look on her face. The acrobats' rumors might have put the wrong idea in her head, he thought.
Another visitor enters the tent. She is tall and pretty, wearing a very costume-y though very elegant dress.
"Lady Adaline!" Amelia says. "It is a please and an honor to have you."
"Thank you, child." Lady Adaline says lightly. "I've come to you on no whim, though. I have come seeking your aid. As you know, the acrobats are hardly the grand finale I had originally wished for my shows to be closed with. No one ever stays to seem them, in fact many will leave after intermission, or after seeing you. Which is why I have decided that from now on, you will close the show and the acrobats will open it." Amelia smiles largely. "But mind, you will have to start in four days time. Please be ready." Lady Adaline finishes, and glides back out of the tent. Amelia turns around to Hiro.
"It's all true, Hiro! I am now closing the show! The Grand Finale!" Amelia wraps her arms around Hiro and kisses him right on the mouth. "Sorry" Amelia says, blushing. He laughs a little. To change the subject, she says: "You know what, Hiro? I have this fantastic dress I bought in Paris last month. This seems to be the perfect moment I'd been waiting to arise to wear it! It is in my treasure chest somewhere..."Amelia walks back over to where she was sitting earlier in front of the trunk. "Ah! Here it is!" She holds it in front of herself so Hiro can see what it would look like on her.
"I like it!" Hiro smiles. They share a quick laugh and Amelia folds it back into the trunk for safe keeping. She pulls out a small journal and examines it.
"Hiro, I would like to tell you something I've never felt I could confide in anyone else. But I know that I can trust you," she says. She stands up and walks over to him. "In this book is a copy of a first hand account of the war 1500 years ago. My ancestors have been copying it over and over since my grandfather of numerous greats wrote it during the time it happened. The task has been given to every generation of sons to accomplish. It is a tradition as well as of historical importance seeing as all other accounts have been destroyed."
"If every son in your family copies the journal, why do you have to do it?" Hiro asks
"Oh, well...because my family had just daughters and since I am the eldest, it is my duty." She explains quickly.
"I see."
"Yes...That too is something I have never told anyone. I never talk about my family, and I have to tell you it is burning a hole in my chest. Do you mind listening?"
"No, not at all." He says.
"Well, about a year ago from next month, I ran away from my family. No, they're not dead." Amelia says reading Hiro's thoughts through the expression on his face. "Is that what you thought? I do try to make it seem that way so that no one will ask me about them. They did not understand me, did not accept me for who I was. So I left. I left them behind and did not look back. I'm not British at all, really. I'm Russian." She explains. Hiro is surprised to hear sounded so British, her accent was so strong. Could she really be Russian? There was a hole in her story, he suspected, or perhaps it was all made up.
Claire and Rosemary have just returned to the apartment. Rosemary has just finished telling Claire about what Mrs. Petrelli told her before they left her house. Despite the fact that it predicts imminent doom, laire is all but frightened.
"I can't believe this! Peter was always my friend! I wonder what's going on with him?" Claire speculates. She looks at Rosemary who looks worried and pale. Claire decides it best to change the subject. "So, uh, how is it that you know the Petrellis?" she asks curiously.
"I don't really know them that well, Claire." Rosemary says quietly, and sits on the sofa.
"Oh really?" Claire says. "You know your way around their house, you went to Nathan's funeral, you obviously know Peter, and Grandma kept calling you 'Rosie'! How do you know them? Are you actually my aunt or something? Separated from them at young age and only recently reunited?" Claire asks, and realizes she is no good at subtly.
"Something like that." Rosemary says. She pats the spot next to her on the couch and pulls a photo album out from underneath the couch. Claire takes the invitation and sits on the couch.
"I first met the Pertellis when I got a job as Nathan's secretary, about eleven months ago" She opens the book and finds a picture of herself and Nathan shaking hands. "Peter would come to see him quite a bit so, when Nathan wasn't around, Peter would just hang around the office waiting, and we'd just chat. Soon enough, he even asked me out. We got pretty close." Rosemary said as her finger tapped a picture of a Petrelli family brunch that she was also at. "Once Nathan heard, he said he'd fire me if I broke his brother's heart. He always said it as a joke, but I knew he'd probably do it anyway." Rosemary flips a few pages. On this page, there were pictures of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and other Italian sites. Rosemary's finger is on one of herself and Peter on mo-peds. "we went on a trip to Italy together" she told Claire "And, about of a month and a half later, he called me really excited and told me to get my coat and pack a bag.
- - - - - -
There was a knock on the door, but Rosemary knew it was Peter.
"Are you ready?" he asked. "Come on, let's go" he said and started off down the hall.
"Wait! Where are we going? And how long will be gone?" Rosemary asked. She had packed a couple of outfits, but what if they were going to Alaska? And what if they were never coming back?
"We won't be gone long." He says, walking backwards.
"Wait! Come on! Tell me where we're going." She says. Peter walks a back over to the doorway and tells her:
"I want to marry you, Rosemary." he says "And I want to go tonight." and she was taken over by spontaneity. They ran down the hall to the elevator, and pushed the button to summon it.
"Wait" Rosemary says.
"What is it? You forget something?" Peter asked.
No that's not it...I have to show you something. I've been hiding it for about two weeks now, I haven't had the guts to tell you, I know I probably should have, but I barely understand it myself..." She was rambling. She lifted her hand and summoned her power. "Take my hand." Peter was confused, but did it nonetheless. As his hand inched closer to her's he was blocked by some sort of invisible barrier, that one could only catch a sight of in the most certain slant of light. He was only more bewildered by this. He stared at her as if she were some sort of freak.
"What's wrong with you?" he muttered harshly.
"Nothing. I mean, I don't know, I just..." she started by Peter interrupted her.
"You're...you're...just stay away from me." he said terror stricken, and stepped into the elevator. The door closed and he disappeared.
- - - - - -
"After that, everything happened really quickly." Rosemary said to Claire. "Nathan didn't fire me, but he never treated me the same after that. Eventually, I quit. Later, Nathan called me to ask if I knew anything about Peter's 'banter' about having a power. I didn't know what to say, so I just said no. I didn't think anyone else had odd powers like me." Rosemary said. "Nathan, being the gentleman, tried to apologize to me and told me I should call Peter because apparently he regretted what he'd said, but I never had the guts. The next time I would see him was Nathan's funeral..." Claire stared at her in shock and wonder.
"I can't believe it..." Claire muttered.
"Yes, well I've got something else to tell you." Rosemary says. She had to tell Claire. "I saw Peter again today. At Grandma's house. I never went to the bathroom, I saw Peter down one of the halls and went to talk to him. He said he needed my help, but wouldn't say why. And...I told him about you, Claire. He knows." Rosemary said. And Claire began to grow a bit pale herself, scared for herself. Would Peter really try to hurt her? At the thought of how powerful he was, the color washed away from her face and she began to resemble one of Rosemary's paintings of a ghost with a shovel.