Lesson Learned

"Ezio!" I screamed.

Surprisingly, the Borgia guards holding me were pretty strong. And they weren't even Brutes. It was starting to get pointless to struggle, so I wanted this to end. I thrust my elbow into one of their stomachs. His grip lessened, and I squirmed free, slashing both Borgia guards in the throat. Their blood splashed onto my dark blue outfit, but I didn't care. I started to run, but Ezio was gone.
I skidded to a stop in the dim alley, empty alley. The adrenaline was still rushing through my body, tingling my skin. I panted heavily as I searched desperately for my teacher, but Ezio wasn't there.

"Hey! You, stop!" A voice yelled behind me.

Yeah, right. Not in the fighting mood, oddly, I jumped onto the scaffolding next to the building and climbed up. A group of Borgia crowded under me, attempting to follow. I pulled myself on top of the roof. I sprinted and soared across to another rooftop.

"Ezio!" I cried again as Roma flashed by me.

Finally, I made it to our Tiber Island hideout. There were many entrances to our hideout, but since I was on the roof, I burst through the door on top of our building. I flew down the steps when I finally made it to the main room. With a sigh, I only ended up finding Claudia, Ezio's sister, with one of the new recruits.

"Arianna-?" Claudia started, rising from her chair.

"Where is he?" I demanded, cutting her off. "Where is Ezio?"

"Ezio? He's missing?"

"We were infiltrating the Castello, scaling it, actually, when a crossbow bolt caught him in the shoulder. He...he fell. I jumped down after him, but I was grabbed by the Borgia. Ezio stumbled down an alley, and I lost him." I explained quickly. "He-"

The main door opened, and we all snapped our heads to the doorway. My jaw dropped as Ezio walked down the steps with a woman in his arms. She had blazing red hair and a worn dress on: Caterina. He nodded at Claudia before placing Caterina gently in a chair.

"What?" I yelled as he started to turn away. "Where were you?"

Ezio looked back at me, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his hood. He raised his hand and gestured me to follow. I stomped after him as he went into an adjoining room. He closed the door softly with a click.

"Well?" I insisted, flicking his hood down with my finger.

His dark brown eyes widened in surprise, but he ignored it otherwise. Ezio rubbed his right arm, unlatching his hidden blade and gauntlet in the process.

"I had things to do." He finally said, placing the weapon on a table.

"And that included abandoning your student?"

"You learned, did you not?" He countered.

"I learned that my mentor leaves me for a-!" I stopped, catching myself before I said something regrettable.

Ezio's face got hard, waiting for me to finish. Instead, I glanced down in defeat.

"I learned that you were testing me, to see how I'd do on my own."

"Hmm...that works." Ezio muttered as he massaged his neck.

"What do you mean? That wasn't the lesson?" I yelled, exasperated.

Ezio sighed, sitting down. He leaned down to place his forearms on his thighs. His hand came together in one, tight fist. My anger started to melt away as his face looked up into mine. With another defeated feeling, I threw my hands in the air.

"You're not fair. You're making me look like the bad guy!" I grumbled, kneeling in front of my master.

"I'm sorry, child." He said sincerely, putting a hand on my head. "It was wrong of me to leave you like that, but you did survive."

He gave me a smirk, and I couldn't help but smile back at him. It's hard to stay mad at a man like Ezio. Unconsciously, my fingers reached up and touched his scar. He had a small, rectangular scar right above his lip on the right side of his face. He never told me how he got it, and I doubt he ever will. It was funny how his beard didn't grow there, leaving a little space of bare skin. I giggled as I withdrew my hand. Ezio was staring at me, his smirk gone. I dropped my face and quickly thought of a change of subject. My mind wandered back to the woman sitting in the room behind us.

"That's why we went to the Castello?" I asked, pointing backwards at the door. "Wasn't it?"

Ezio's smirk reappeared, and he shrugged.

"Not the whole reason." He answered, stroking his chin.

But his smirk disappeared once more. His hand dropped, and he looked away. I frowned, placing my hand on his knee.

"What is it?" I asked softly.

He didn't answer at first, only stood up. Ezio pulled me up and held me at arm's length, staring intently into my eyes.

"Assassins' shouldn't love." He whispered.

I gave him a quizzical look, but Ezio released me and left the room, leaving the door open.

"Make sure she is looked after." He told Niccolo, who must've came in while we were in the room.

Ezio threw his hood back up and ran out the main door. Everyone glanced at me expectantly. Instead, I pulled my hood tighter around my face, and I dashed after Ezio.
***