Owen felt a litte uncomforable coming back to Chicago with the "Immortal Thief" stuff going on. According to Susan more and more immortals have been coming in trying to silence this idiot. And if his stop off last time was any indication not all of them were caring if they were challenging the right guy or not. And that something that's happened at least twice so far to Susan when he talked to her last. If it wasn't for the fact that there where a lot of immortals still around and he wasn't feeling particularly drawn in he would have sworn the Gathering was finally happening. Not to mention a smart immortal would be avoiding this little witch hunt like the plauge until somebody got him.

Then again not a whole lot of smart immortals had a mortal friend they held near and dear to their heart. And he couldn't exactly say no when the Father called saying he wanted to meet up for coffee over the weekend. Actually part of him was afraid the Father would look a little older again. That was the only sad a part of being friends with a regular mortal, especialy if they knew what you really were, you'd watch them grow old over the years while you still looked the same. Like he would have done with Himiko if he was able too...

"Owen," The Father called out from across the street lifting him from his dark thoughts. He smiled and waved in return as he made sure it was clear before crossing. The Father took his hand as he greeted him, "It is good to see you again my boy," it was always a little weird for him when the Father called him boy considering he was way older than the man. But he took it in stride as always, it was one of the quirks that made his friend who he was.

"It's good to see you too Father," Owen told him turning that handshake into a quick hug. "How have you been?"

"As well as can be expected I supppose," he answered as they started walking down the street. "Before I forget should I be calling you 'Henry' while we're out in public? Just in case." A joke based on the smile he was giving him. He did everytime he moved on to a new identity.

"No we can go with the real names," he smiled. "How are things with the church?"

"As well as can be expected. Although I'm having a devil of a time coming up with tomorrow's sermon. Last few drafts I written fell like I'm starting to repeat myself a bit. I may have to wing it again."

"Does this involve closing your eyes, opening to a radom bible page and pointing your finger on something?", he joked.

"Only when I am really desperate," he joked back. "Although it's not why I originally called you down for coffee I am hoping I can get some sort of inspiration while we do."

"It might be better if you just wing it." They shared a small laugh.

"Have you heard from Natalya recently?", the Father asked.

"A couple of days ago. I don't think I told you she picked up a new student not that long ago. Her name is Evelyn. A very nice girl according to her, if not a little shy." He didn't say it outloud but sometimes shy could be a disadvantage if you're an immortal especially if you run into somebody with a more dominate and agressive personality. But if there was anybody who could break people out of their shell it was Natalya, kicking and screaming in most cases. "Apparently she hates it when Natalya calls her Eve. Which is why she does it."

"She's in Malaysia righty now correct?", the Father asked. Owen nodded for an answer. "A nice name, if not a little strange for that part of the world. As far as I understand it that is, of course."

"It's not as uncommon as you think," Owen told him.

"I suppose you're right. I suppose I'm a little too old and set in my particular mindset."

"Preaching to the choir Father," Owen told him with a wry look.

"Is your new teaching job going well?"

"It's going pretty well, I'm still a little afraid one of the kids is going to spot an old picture of me in the history book we're using. I have a couple of problem students I have to keep an eye on, but other than that it's going good."

"Any particularly bright students you're keeping an eye on," he asked. "I can only assume that with a few bad apples there has to be a few there to even things out."

"There is this one girl in one of my classes," Owen told him. "Her name's Janet, she doesnt talk much about herself or her family but she is as smart as a whip. But I think she moves around a lot."

"What makes you think that?"

"She's not really going out of her way to make any friends that I've seen. It's almost like she's afraid to."

"Like a child who has moved around alot," the Father added. "Yes I've seen that from time to time to. It's sad when you think about it really."

"I try to give her a cheery word or two here and there since I've been in that situation more than once. Well not often enough that romurs are going to start about me and her. God that would be mortifing after starting a new job. But..."

"But what Owen?"

"Just something that happened the other day that caught my notice. A couple of the foreign language teachers got this group session going during one of the breaks. Basically to try and help their students learn it a little better by having them talk with others trying to learn. Maybe see if the students would be interested in a different langauge than the one they're taking. They invited everybody in the school who could speak a different language or wanted to start learning, teacher and student alike. You didn't even have to be part of the class."

"And naturally since you know more than a few languages you voluntered." They paused their conversation for a moment as they reached a coffee shop and ordered a couple of cups and headed back outside.

Sitting down on a nearby bench Owen continued, "I'm a teacher I'm supposed to help right. And Janet's there too. Like I said she doesn't talk much about her home life but I swear she either spent some time in Germany or has some sort of German realitive because she spoke damn near perfect German."

"Why would you assume that?", the Father asked. "She could have learned it at another school."

To be honest that was the first thought that crossed his mind too. Unfortunately experience won out, "I've talked to people who have and you can always hear it in their voice, that high school accent as they call it. There was no accent with her. It was like they flown someone in from Germany and had them start talking. Even the German teacher was surprised at how fluent she was."

"She sounds like a quick learner then," the Fther told him. "But I don't see why that would catch your attention."

"Because I asked her how many languages did she know in German," he told his friend. "She answered 'Vier', four. That normally wouldn't have set anything off but she started acting different, like she was suddenly self consious and nervous about something. She made up an excuse and quickly left the group."

"Why would she do that?"

"I'm not sure," Owen told him. "I felt like I chased her off so I apologized the next time I saw her. She said not to worry about it and acted like nothing happened for the rest of the day. Although she did say she'd volunteer again if they got the group back together."

"An interesting concept if I do say so myself," the Father said while taking a sip. "Do you think that a situation like that is actually that helpful?"

"Well like I told Keith the best way to learn a different language is to spend some time in the culture. SInce I don't think any of these kids are planning a trip to the their respective countries anytime soon this is probably the next best thing. Besides," he said with a knowing grin, "you never know what kind of magic moment will pop up."

~1764~

He had been in Japan for a few months now and the weather just now seemed to warm up. While he did appreciate the hut Naoto allowed him to sleep in it really didn't do much to keep out the cold. There were times he felt like he chopped down most of the surrounding forest in order to keep warm. But the trees surronding him said he didn't down as amny of them as he thought, and the hut's wall did keep the wind off of him so it wasn't all that bad.

Unsurpisenly being a monk, Naoto and his sister HImiko, actually a girl he took in as a small child after she was attacked, lived on holy ground. The moment he agreed to take him in the older immortal decided his lessons would be two fold: practcing his sword fighting and try to pick up his special technique, and try to learn the native language. The former he had no problem with, it was why he was here after all. He had already picked up a few different sword fighting techniques so learning a new one wasn't a bad a idea. And he would never say this outloud but he marveled at the way Naoto handled his choosen weapon and realized he could stay here for years before he was even as half as good.

As for the latter... Well considering his first day here it couldn't hurt. FInlay and Susan both warned him that different parts of the globe spoke differently than the other. Even though it bored him he knew he had to learn.

And Naoto made him practice speaking the language almost as hard as he trained him with the sword. Fortuneatly the only witness those first couple of weeks were him and Himiko. She almost silently laughed as much at his mistakes there as when he made some during sword practice. It was annoying at first but he soon found it a little enduring for some reason. And she was such a sweet girl, it was hard to stay annoyed with her.

Before long he was fluent enough that he could hold a decent conversation with her without Naoto translating. Not that Himiko didn't know English she just didn't have an oppertunity to practice it that much. After awhile Naoto let her take over the Japanese lessons, especially now since it was warmer. And to repay the kindness they had showed him Owen agreed to let Himko practice her English with him. Although he found he had a hard time returning the silent laugh at her mistakes like she did him. After awhile it turned into a little game between the two of them. One of them would point at something and the other would have to say what it was in the other language. Not something Naoto generally approved of, but he looked the other way when they did. Actually he looked happy they were so close. Once cryptically saying, "It seems a little less dark in here," as he walked by them.

Then one day some happened he didn't plan or saw coming. It was just the two in the middle of a small field in the woods sitting across from each other playing their little game. Owen pointed at the object he was looking at, she located it and said, "Boulder."

Nodding with approval he told her, "I was expecting you to say rock."

"And there is a difference between a rock and a boulder," she told him plainly.

"Alright then lass, it's your turn."

"Hmm," she looked around trying to find something, proably something hard. With a finger out her hand went out and circled around until it pointed back at her. She smiled as she waited for his reponse.

Several possibilities crossed him mind: girl, woman, smile, her name itself. But without thinking, without realizing it he spoke in english and said one word, "Beautiful."

She turned her head to the left slightly to hide the scar that marred her features. Looking upset she said, "You are making fun of me."

"No," he said as she got up to leave. He quickly got to his feet and stopped her. "I would never make fun of you."

"Then why did you say I was beautiful?," she still had her head turned to hid the scar.

Gently he made her look at him, instantly regreting the pain he was seeing in her eyes. "Because you are to me," he admitted to her. He wanted to hold this woman close, try to comfort her in some way. but he stopped himself, he was a guest here. It wouldn't be proper for him to do such a thing, no matter how much he wanted to. But then she stepped a little closer to him and his arm wrapped around her involuentarily.

"You think I am beautiful?"

"I do," he told her. He started to lean in to kiss her, despite his head telling him to stop. He did when he felt the buzz and quickly let go of Himiko, got in front of her and gripped his sword. He relaxed a bit when Naoto came into view.

"How is today's lesson going?" he asked.

Owen answered for them, "Very well. I... think we surprised each other a little bit this time around."

"Yes," Himiko quickly agreed. "It was very," she looked him, "surprising."

"Well then," the older Immortal said looking satisfied, "I would say now is a fine as time as any to end today's lesson." He turned to leave but stopped, "We apparently have extra food for dinner tonight. As I would hate for it to got to waste perhaps, Little Immortal, you would like to join us."

"It would be my honor," Owen said with a slight bow, somethng he picked up and was hoping he was using correctly.

Naoto returned it, "The honor would be ours. Come Himiko let us get the house ready for our guest."

"Yes brother," she said as she followed him out of the feild. Although she did look back and smiled at him. Owen smiled back, feeling thngs he hadn't felt since Deborah.

~Now~

"I've seen that look enough to know you're thinking about either Deborah or Himiko," the Father told him, breaking him out of the memory.

"You know me a little too well," he said a little shagrinned.

"Decades of experience my friend," the other man chuckled. "What langauge were you speaking during this group thing?"

"French," he answred.

"Ah, Natlaya's native tongue I see."

"I had to pick something," he told him. "Besides there were more Frech speaking students in the group than anything else. And old habits made me blend in. Of course now I have the Principal and a few others asking why I didn't mention I knew French and German when I hired in. So that was a bit of a mistake on my part."

"Well live and learn as they say."

Owen was about to answer but a siren cut him off. Despite how it looked Owen put an arm up to keep the Father back as a car sped down the street with a couple of police cars right behind it. Still Owen stood up and watched them leave. For a brief second he thought he felt another... No it couldn't have been.. He went by too fast for him to possible register another... "God please let it be one of the cops," he muttered.

"Owen," the Father said walking up to him, "are you alright? You look like you usually do when you," he looked around at the other people watching the scene with them and said a little lower, "when you 'see' somebody you know."

While part of him was grateful that he was trying to protect his secret he couldn't let that faint, and very fast, sensation he just felt go. "There's no way the Thief just passed by me. There's no way."