"Fortuneteller"
A fortuneteller once told him when he was very young, that a giant bird will come take his heart away. He had been frightened at first, as any child would be if told so, imagining a bird of that magnitude that will come and tear his heart away from his chest. He had cried to his father then but his father merely laughed and told him that it was nonsense and that he shouldn't believe in such things. Fortunetellers are not always right and that there was no bird in all of Italia that would be big enough to carry him much less snatch his heart away.
Leonardo believed his father of course and told the fortuneteller so the next day.
The fortuneteller only smiled her enigmatic smile and told him that, one day he shall see it.
Curious, he started looking about him and observed the birds to see if there was one like so. He tried to imagine it, with its massive wings and sharp talons and it would be twice or even thrice as large as any man could ever be! He imagined that whenever it beat its great wings, houses would fall from the weight of the wind! It would be the only bird of its kind. and it would be magnifico! But he paused and thought, if there was only one of it, then maybe it was lonely. Maybe it would like a companion that's why it would come down to snatch his heart. Soon enough, he didn't mind the thought of it coming down at him. He thought that maybe if he could fly, it wouldn't mind him so much and maybe they could be friends. Other birds fly in flocks after all. Maybe the Great Bird wouldn't mind it if he could stay with him. And maybe then, he wouldn't have his heart taken.
Soon, the fright disappeared turned into great fascination and maybe just a little bit of obsession. When he learned how to draw, he sketched the birds around him with great detail and with a bit of hope the Great Bird (as he started to call it) come to take his heart away, he would be able to see it and sketch it.
Of course that would not be possible if his heart was snatched away but still, one can only hope.
He even decided that he would no longer eat meat, afraid that the Great Bird would be killed for its meat (because it would be a large bird indeed and could probably feed the whole of Vinci! He imagined.) before he could see it. And it would be a great pity indeed not to see it.
Maestro Verrocchio once asked him what was it with his fascination with birds. And he answered that it was preparation for the day the Great Bird to come and swoop down and take his heart! Maestro Verrocchio looked at him strangely at first and then laughed and laughed and laughed as if he knew something that Leonardo did not. (And he did, it was just that, he would not tell him the direct answer if he asked.) The Maestro patted his blond head with a smile and told him that should a bird take his heart away, then he will devote himself solely to it.
Leonardo did not understand the words his teacher meant. It was so like what the fortuneteller had told him long ago.
As the years flew by the fortuneteller's words slowly disappeared from his mind though his fascination for birds still flamed his fascination with flight and the whole freedom it seemed to give. And so, with great and utter shock one day, he found himself in the realization that the Great Bird had finally come (and had been with him for quite some time now)…
…And had inadvertently snatched away his heart!
Leonardo opened his eyes and let out a quiet chuckle at the thought as arms tightened about his waist.
"Is something funny?" Ezio asked, cheerfully sleepy.
Their exertions the night before had left them both exhausted and they slept comfortably in his small cot in his room in the workshop. The day had grown late it seemed and though Leonardo should get up, he found he did not want to. Safely tucked into the arms of the assassin, the fortuneteller's words came to mind.
"Leonardo?" Ezio called.
"Si?"
"Is something funny?" He asked once again.
Instead of answering, he just snuggled closer, smiling when he felt lips on top of his head.
"Did you know, mi amore, that your name is derived from the Greek word for eagle?" He asked, cheerfully.
A fortuneteller once told him when he was very young, that a giant bird will come take his heart away. He had been frightened at first, as any child would be if told so, imagining a bird of that magnitude that will come and snatch his heart away from his chest…
In that moment though, safely tucked in Ezio's warm arms, he found he didn't mind it so much at all.
End
Thank you for reading. :)