A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! I hope you all continue to enjoy this story! Please continue to review, it's very encouraging to hear that I am doing well. Also, if any of you have any ideas for OCs that you would like me to maybe use, let me know and I'll try to find a way to work them in!

HIRO NAKAMURA

HOLDING CELL - KYOTO, JAPAN

The date had been set. The execution orders penned. Hiro Nakamura was to be executed at sunset, for purposefully interfering with the emperor's plans. He would be executed through beheading.

Hiro ran his verdict over and over in his mind as he sat dolefully on the cement floor of his cell. As far as he could see, without his powers in working order, this was to be his last night alive, because tomorrow at sunset he would be beheaded and he could think of no way to escape the emperor's decision.

He found himself on the verge of tears when the door to his cell creaked open and a sliver of light streaked across the floor. It was barely enough light to make out the shadow of the figure in the doorway, but Hiro could tell that the person was small, short and slender. Hiro sat up a bit, hoping that this wasn't going to lead to him being further interrogated by the emperor and his brutal guards. Something about the intruder's entrance though intrigued him. Other than the slight creak of the door, there was silence, not even the slight indication of footsteps or breathing.

"Who's there?" Hiro finally spoke up, unable to bear the strange silence any longer.

"Shh!" The hissing reply stunned him into silence again. The voice was gentle and as the figure moved closer, Hiro realized that it wasn't a guard at all, but a woman. "You must be quiet!" She whispered softly as she knelt beside him.

"Who are you?" He replied, also in a whisper, feeling that this was the appropriate tone for him to use.

"I am here to take you away." She replied, speaking so quietly that he had to lean forward just to hear her properly. Her kimono rustled slightly as she pulled a ring of keys out from where she had tucked them into her sash. "The guard is gone for a moment, but he will return sooner than I like. We must hurry."

Hiro was watching her in shock and confusion. "Who are you?"

"I have no time to explain now, but you must trust me and you also must forgive me from being so forward with you. I know it is not proper of me, but I have no choice in the situation." She used the keys to unfasten his shackles, then tucked the keys back into her sash and motioned for him to stand. "Please come with me now, and move quietly."

Hiro felt instinctively that this was a woman he should trust. Also, if she was lying to him, he couldn't imagine that his fate would be any worse than it was already destined to be the next day. He followed her from the cell, walking as quietly as he physically could muster. She led him up the stairs that he was led up a few days ago by the guard, but instead of leading him toward the meeting hall, she took him through a small door and down a cramped corridor that felt as though it were not meant for frequent use. At the end of the corridor they came to another door that took them outside. It was dark outside. A few lanterns were hung, but they were all extinguished and Hiro had a suspicion that she was responsible for the darkness.

They walked in silence through the gardens and finally crossed past the boundary of the emperor's property. They made it into a barren field and the woman crouched low, motioning for him to do the same, which he did quickly. She started to move quickly, nearly running, but always crouched low as though trying to hide in the tall grass. Hiro found it difficult to run in that position, but did so as well as he could. It felt as though they had been moving for over a half an hour before she stopped. They had traveled over a low hill and had reached the gully. She knelt below a boulder and he did the same.

"We will rest here. Catch our breath before we move again."

"Can you tell me who you are now? And where we are going?"

"I am taking you to a man who wants to meet you." She explained simply. "He saw you in the field the day that my brother took you…"

"Your brother? The emperor is your brother?"

"He is."

"Then you must be a princess or something…"

"I am the Princess Kaori." She responded casually. "But I am not proud of being his sister, which is why I have saved you. The man that my brother was trying to kill the day you interrupted…" He could see her face only slightly in the moonlight, but he could tell that she was smiling. "He is the man that I love. He is a good man and he is a fighter for the people."

"What does he want with me?"

"I don't know, but you saved his life and for that we are both grateful." She touched his hand briefly, but pulled away with a sharp gasp.

"Is something wrong?" Hiro asked quickly.

"You…" Her eyes were wide. "You are not from here."

"Yes I am. I was born here."

"Here yes, but not now. You are in the wrong time." She placed both of her hands on his arm and shut her eyes tightly. When she opened them again her mouth was gaping. "You traveled through time and space to come here now."

"Yes, I did." Hiro was confused about how she knew this, but relieved that someone finally understood him. "How…how do you see that?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I just can. When I touch people I can see things about them…"

"You have a gift." He decided.

"I'm not sure I could call it a gift."

"Yes, you do. It is a gift. I have a gift too. I can move through time and space, as you have seen. I come from the future." Hiro explained.

She smiled slightly. "Why did you come here?"

"I didn't mean to. I'm not sure how I got here actually."

She leaned back and reached back to fix her hair. She pulled out a hairpin and placed it between her lips as she tried to twist her hair back again. Hiro glanced at the carved pearl hairpin. His eyes stretched excitedly and he took it from her, analyzing the design more closely.

"Godsend." Hiro murmured.

"Yes." She confirmed. "That's what it means. My love gave me this hairpin."

"Our gifts, they are a godsend." Hiro told her. "This symbol represents that. I believe that we have them for a reason. A purpose that is a part of our destiny, and somehow all of us with gifts are linked."

"All? You mean there are more?"

"Yes. Where I come from there are many." Hiro told her. "Do you know anymore here?"

"Perhaps him." She considered it.

"Him who? Your love?"

"Yes, my love. His name is Takezo Kensei."

NOAH BENNETT

ODESSA, TEXAS

Making the decision to leave his daughter in New York, alone, and with no certainty that she would be alive the next time he saw her, if and when she ever came back home, was the most difficult thing Noah Bennett had ever done. When he had woken up alone in the hotel, Mr. Bennett had felt instinctively that she had runaway with no intention of returning. When he spotted the note on the table, his suspicions were confirmed. His first reaction was to chase her and force her to return with him, but if the past fifteen years had taught him anything it was that his daughter was a very smart and determined young woman. If she believed that this was something that she needed to do and alone, then he felt certain she wouldn't let him get in her way.

Hating himself all the way to the airport, Mr. Bennett resolutely refused to give up on helping his precious Claire any way he could, even if he wouldn't physically be with her every step of the way. He scoured through his dozens of computer files that he had been compiling or the past many years, on Claire and other targets of the Company he had regretfully dedicated so much of his life to. If he was going to help his daughter figure out her life, he needed to understand the complex mysteries of the Company, as well as how Linderman's organization and everyone else with special abilities tied in together. Before he was able to concentrate enough to begin his research, however, Mr. Bennett needed to make one last attempt to care for his daughter's safety. The only way he knew how was to make sure that she wasn't going to be utterly alone.

Having already talked to Dr. Suresh, Mr. Bennett knew that Claire had at least found somebody who could begin to give her answers, but he also knew that as well meaning as Mohinder was, he would be unable to provide for Claire fully. And since he was unable to provide for her himself, Mr. Bennett knew he had to find a temporary replacement, even if it was the last person on earth that he wanted to turn to for this problem.

"Hello?"

"Yes, umm, is this Nathan Petrelli?" Mr. Bennett asked resentfully as the politician answered the phone.

"Yes it is, who is this?" Nathan's rehearsed voice questioned calmly.

"This is Mr. Bennett, Claire's father." He paused, waiting for the effect of these words to sink in.

"Oh…umm…how did you get this number?"

"I have my connections." Mr. Bennett told him plainly.

"Of course you do." Nathan paused. "So, why are you calling me?"

"Well, first of all to see if you survived your brother's explosion last night, which I see you have, so that's good." Mr. Bennett cleared his throat. "Secondly I am calling to tell you that my daughter…our daughter…is in New York right now, and I am heading back to Texas, at her request."

"I see." Now it was Nathan's turn to pause and clear his throat. "I'm not sure what this has to do with me."

"Look, I realize that you have just won your election, congratulations, and this probably isn't the best time for you to have an illegitimate daughter show up in your life, but she's just a child. She isn't good at admitting it, but she is only a child and she is not capable of taking care of herself."

"I understand your concern for her, it's touching really, but still…"

"I need you to take responsibility for her." Mr. Bennett cut him off. "These past few weeks have been unbelievably difficult for her. No child should ever have to experience the things she has been through, and now she is alone in a strange city, trying to be an independent woman. I have left the city as she has requested, but I can't continue the research I need to do unless I am certain that she's not really going to be alone."

"Mr. Bennett, Claire is a very bright girl. I'm sure she is more than capable of looking after herself."

"She might be in normal circumstances, but you know as well as I do that these are not normal circumstances and she is not a normal girl." Mr. Bennett hoped he was coming across as serious as he intended to be. "You need to look after her. You need to be there for her."

"She's not my daughter." Nathan snapped suddenly. "I mean she is, biologically, but I didn't even know she was alive! I thought she died almost fifteen years ago! And now, all of a sudden, with everything that's going on, she just shows up and what? I'm supposed to play daddy? I'm sorry, but I can't be that guy. I don't know how to be that guy!"

"You're a father, right? Claire mentioned that you have sons. Two of them, right?"

"Yes, I have two sons."

"Then you do know how to be that guy, so don't pretend that you don't. You're scared. I understand that. You are afraid of what you could lose if you admit to having a daughter that nobody knows about. I'm sorry that I can't offer you a simple, stress-free solution, but sometimes we just have to face reality, despite how difficult it is." Mr. Bennett's temper was rising. He needed Nathan Petrelli to accept the responsibility that he himself could not at the moment. "Right now the reality is that there is a serial killer running around this city with Claire as one of his top priority targets, last night she had to watch one of the most important people in her life explode in the air, and my baby girl is more or less alone in the world at this moment. You have the ability to be the man, no the father, she needs her to be. I need you to step up and take responsibility."

Nathan was momentarily stunned into silence by Mr. Bennett's long lecture. When he finally did find his voice again, Nathan realized that he had no response. "I really must go now, Mr. Bennett."

"No, wait…"

"Goodbye."

Nathan hung up without another word and Mr. Bennett was left staring at the dead phone angrily. I suppose I'll just have to count on Dr. Suresh to take care of her for me.