I set my eyes upon him as we stood on the upper deck of the Aquila; I ignored the side glances from the first mate, Robert Faulkner, as he was clearly apprehensive of my presence. I focused only on the Captain, my son, surely Church was days ahead of us now, but at this moment, that really didn't matter. Seeing Connor out of his Assassin robes was quite foreign to my eyes, but I liked it, it grew on me, and so did his title. Of course, that, however took me by surprise; I never thought for one moment that the boy could sail a ship, let alone how to captain one, I guessed to myself Connor did not profess to have an overabundance of knowledge when it came to sailing, but I suppose surviving this far out at sea was enough for me to conclude that he wasn't entirely incompetent.
Even to this day I get overwhelmed with the similarities that we both share, we clash and banter over the minor problems instead of discussing what needs to be solved; Washington, why he favours him, his nonsense talk of 'freedom'. Time was, the Assassins professed a far more sensible goal, that of peace. I tried to tell him this once, but his response still lingers, "freedom is peace" how could I ever reinforce the fact that his ideal new beginning is an invitation to chaos? I stopped myself from thinking about our discussion on the rooftop in order to calm myself down. But yet, after everything, I'm proud of him in a way, he's shown great conviction, strength, courage, all noble qualities. This makes me more determined to make sure he sees the error of his way, to make him realise that Achilles' words are filled with nothing but inaccuracy. If only this was to be successful, I can only imagine what it would be like to have Connor standing by my side as we conquer the mess that George Washington had yet to accomplish; the man is wracked with uncertainty and insecurity. Connor, a Templar, my son, we require no creed, no indoctrination by desperate old men – all we need, is that the world be as it is, and this is why the Templars will never be destroyed…
"Father?" I recovered almost instantly from my mental outburst of what should be as I turned to face Connor, "Any trouble?" I asked, "No, I am only inquiring as to why you look so irritated" he said as he again set his upon the seas, I marvelled his curiosity in so many ways, and I found it rather hard at times to hide the slight smirk under my hat when we engaged in conversations. "Church is surely days ahead of us now, how is it you captain a ship of this magnitude giving the way you sail?" I said rather heatedly, "we're closer than you think, father." He said irately.
We stayed quiet after that, Faulkner left Connor's side to return to his quarter's lower deck, and then I was alone with Connor – I took advantage to at least have a civil father and son conversation; "you inherit many things from me, son, but not my wit it seems", "I see no resemblances between us" he said defensively. I grew tired of his childish attitude, but I didn't let myself get too infuriated with his words, "have you looked at yourself, Connor? You may you're your mother's eyes but the rest of you are undeniably Kenway," I trailed off to search the response in his eyes, I continued, "you inherit all of your skill and qualities from me, dear boy, yet you do not use them for your full potential…" He interrupted, "I only use what I can to help others in need, for example my people and village, or are you forgetting the fact that they and their land are at stake?" He answered furiously, I attempted to keep our discussion at a low profile, hoping not to gain any more glances from the other crew members below. "I did not mean it in a way you find insulting, only to encourage you to accomplish more than working alongside Washington, the man is wretched leader who has nearly lost every single battle in which he has taken part – only look at Valley Forge to know my words are true. Perhaps one day you'll realise what you see isn't good enough for the people you oh so desperately wish to be free." He didn't respond, but his face softened, maybe my words were getting to him after all.
"Captain Connor!" one of the crew members yelled, I looked at the man in confusion, 'Captain Connor?' I thought to myself, not knowing how to reply but to simply watch. "Yes my man," Connor said, whilst edging his head towards a piece of paper that was proposed to him, the man spoke quietly in his ear, obviously not wanting me to overhear what they were saying, why would they? I was a Templar on board their ship I suppose; it was obvious that they were careful with their words… "Thank you for that." Connor said as he gestured the man away as he stepped back to the wheel, "what was that?" I said rather curiously, "what was what?" he said, "that, 'Captain Connor', shouldn't he have said Kenway?" He hesitated when I said this; "I do not have last name, father." I gaped at him, "what in god's name do you mean; you have been introducing yourself all these years as just Connor?" My words grew sharp, I didn't hold this one in this time, and whether or not we were enemies in arms he was still my son. "Yes" he said quietly, I heard a somewhat sigh in his response. I took a breath, but said nothing. Then he spoke; "I thought, knowing you for what you are, the Templar Grand Master, you'd be ashamed of me using your name…" he paused, "as an assassin, I thought all together you wouldn't have even gave a thought about me, yet, you remain." He slowly glanced over, "I'm sorry." He said, looking down after he confessed.
I sighed, and gave him a look of reassurance. I sidled next to him and carefully placed my hat on top of his head, "It's quite sunny for you to be standing out here all day without a hat, you're the captain after all, you hold many responsibilities." I left the upper deck to return to my quarters, I smiled to myself thinking about the way Connor reacted when I confronted him about his name. God, he was such a child.