Sum: A one-shot musing based on the book. After Cesare had been imprisoned, Ezio finds some free time and can't seem to keep his thoughts from traveling to that which he desired most; Caterina Sfortza.
Disclaimer:I do not own Assassin's Creed Brotherhood or any of it affiliates, and the book itself is copyright Oliver Bowden. READ IT.
A/N: I honestly wasn't satisfied at how inhuman Ezio seemed in the video game. And I never noticed until I read the book, how much story the video game was missing! It lacked that emotional element that helps relate. Or, if it did, it was cut short, thinking it wouldn't hold the mass' attention. (Especially the fight between Ezio and Claudia. Ezio was kicking himself so hard for doubting her.) Regardless, this is my take, based mostly upon what I've read in the book. Caterina was a bitch.
Love
It felt like the first day in ages that the sun shone so brilliantly over the ruins of Rome. Even the breeze seemed to celebrate, gently blowing the light pink petals from carts and letting them dance in the air, caressing passersby cheeks as they continued to laugh and celebrate. Ever the artist, Leonardo da Vinci could appreciate this sight as he strolled down the district, observing the people dancing and drinking. Cesare Borgia was by no means dead, but he had finally been chased out of Rome. And it seemed that the news had spread quickly enough. He knew better himself than to celebrate just yet, but he could certainly congratulate his closest friend on a job well done.
Ezio Auditore. Ah, the years they had known each other. He could write a book, but it would be far too many pages what with Leo's never still mind. Regardless, he was ever glad of the day they had met.
He squeezed his way around a corner through a group of people, a women's lacy sleeve brushing his shoulder. He paid it no mind, more focused on finding this supposed hideout on the Tiber. A hollowed arch caught his attention, and through it he saw the door. Perfect! Right where the Apple had shown him. Leo smiled to himself. Ezio would certainly be surprised, but not in a bad way at least. A celebration was at hand after all.
He twisted the handle on the door, unsurprised to find it locked. He produced a key from his pocket and slid it in gently. He nonchalantly looked over his shoulder one last time to make sure he hadn't been followed before slipping through the doorway and quickly closing it behind him. He layed a hand on the door before turning around. He froze, a sight he never thought he'd see before his eyes.
"Leonardo, il mio amico! Have a seat, have a drink!" Ezio rose, voice badly slurred, wobbling in place before his balance left him and he fell backward over the bench he had been previously sitting on. He laughed as Leonardo approached him, concerned.
"Ezio! What happened to you?" Leo lent him a hand to help him up, but was almost pulled down himself.
"Happened?" He repeated, face scrunched in confusion as if he actually didn't understand what was wrong with the current situation. Leo looked a little helplessly around the base and noticed that no one else was home. He offered his hand to Ezio again, bracing himself better this time and managed to pull him up. Ezio remained standing this time, waving a vase half full of wine. Amazingly, he hadn't spilled a drop.
Leo gently guided him to a couch by the fireplace in the other room. Ezio sat heavily upon it, his arm dangerously waving the alcohol. Leonardo took it from his grasp surprisingly without a fight. Perhaps he was a little more aware than he was letting on. Regardless, he set the pottery on the floor, before sitting in a chair across from Ezio.
"Where is everyone?" Ezio looked to him, still smiling, but he could now see a hint of sadness behind it.
"Gone. Off on various missions… elsewhere." Leo nodded. Most likely to crush whatever remaining influence the Borgia had.
"Shouldn't you be helping?"
"Finished early."
"So you're celebrating?" Ezio couldn't meet his eyes at this. "Ezio, you've never been a heavy drinker. At least not as long as I've known you."
"Ah Leonardo, can't I hide anything from you?" Leonardo spared him a small smile at this.
"What is the real problem then?" Ezio's eyes went to the floor. Leo wasn't sure, but Ezio seemed to look embarrassed. "Did something go wrong on your mission?"
"It's not about the mission. It's more of a 'who'." Ezio couldn't help skirting around the subject. He'd been bottling his feelings for months and it just didn't feel right to let them out.
"Caterina Sfortza, si?" Leonardo's confirmation was a small grimace flashing across the assassin's face. "Oh Ezio, I would say I told you so…" Ezio reached for the beaker on the floor, but was met with Leonardo moving it next to the other leg of his chair.
"Leo, I dare say you don't understand." Leonardo stilled, almost offended, but willed him to continue. "I am alone, bound by a creed, leader of the Brotherhood. I have been a long time, and yet…" Ezio paused, folding his hands in his lap.
"Go on." Leo urged gently. He knew Ezio could tell him anything, but it was never easy for the assassin to speak. Even when he was young, he skipped over touchy subjects to talk of other things. Leonardo still had yet to hear about his parents.
"… I felt so empty. Like a part of me was missing. And then… Caterina was there." Ezio could almost feel a spark within him at the very mention of her name. He cursed himself for still harboring any feelings. He had loved her for so long, it was hard to let go.
"She came to Monteriggioni, to speak with me… about lending some condottieri to help chase off the Borgia troops from Forli. Of course, I agreed. She was a powerful ally after all."
"But that wasn't all she was, was it?" Ezio shook his head, smiling sadly.
"We had a meeting and afterwards she met me in the bedroom." Ezio shook his hand, skipping over the details of their lovemaking, but describing his feelings during that time. Ecstatic was a wondrous word to describe it. Passionate would be another. So many feelings, but all good and an experience he would never trade, even to this day.
"Something that just tugged at your heartstrings. I could say I understand where your coming from, but definitely not in the same manner. It's beautiful, but tragic at the same time." Ezio looked to Leonardo and saw that he knew exactly what he meant and felt a little more comfortable talking, not that the alcohol hadn't helped at all of course.
"It was… overwhelming, to say the very least. But regardless, I knew right then, I had found what I was missing. The very thing I had longed for in life." Ezio sighed, the feelings inside him stirring uncomfortably. It was beginning to hurt inside, like it was happening all over again. He layed a hand on his heart, willing his body to calm. Leo saw he was going to stop. Now would be a bad place for him to end.
"You're lonely, aren't you Ezio?"
"Leo, I was bound to a life I never knew existed. Drawn in by revenge. I sacrificed my youth for petty vengeance that I couldn't even complete!" Ezio shouted angrily. Leo didn't flinch, knowing better than to think that he was angry with him. "All these days spent protecting the people, for what? So that they could be sucked into yet another scheme of the church? Maybe another Cesare Borgia will come along and goad them back into being the pathetic blind sheep that they truly are!"
"You don't mean that." Leo said calmly, almost matter-of-factly. Ezio looked at him enraged, fists clenching at his sides, before realizing it put him in no better position to yell at his closest friend. His shoulders slumped and he put his hands over his face, resting his head until he was again calm.
"You were talking about Catherina." Leo reminded him, nudging him in the right direction. Ezio let his head slip until his palms were over his eyes, freeing his mouth.
"Indeed I was." He exhaled and sat upright again, a look of apology on his face. Leonardo smiled, showing him that no harm was caused and allowed him to continue. "We were attacked shortly after. We lost Monteriggioni, my uncle, and Cesare captured Caterina." Ezio felt a pang in his heart for his lost uncle. He had mourned some time ago when he was alone, but it still hurt like a never closing would.
"I'm so sorry, Ezio." Leonardo apologized, seeing the distant look on his long friend's face. Ezio nodded, accepting it with a quiet thanks. "You felt you needed to swoop in and rescue her, didn't you?"
"I certainly couldn't leave her with Lucrezia. That wretched…" The curse died on his tongue. She had redeemed herself in the end, revealing where the Apple was. Leonardo again nodded in understanding. He had dealt with her on a couple of occasions while he was forcibly in Cesare's employ. After all, the mad man could not keep tabs on him all the time.
"But, when I did…" Ezio closed his eyes tightly and rested his head in his right palm. He couldn't say it. It was almost like admitting it was a lie; a joke.
"What did she do?"
"She admitted she had used me. Toyed with my emotions until she was sure she had me wrapped around her little finger. She said she had to 'ensure my alliance'. Said it was nothing more than politics…" Ezio couldn't help the feeling of despair that now tried to choke him. He kept his eyes closed, unable to look at Leonardo.
"Ezio…" Leo said, pity heavy in his voice. He had never felt the want of companionship, will probably never know of that form of love and loss. However now, never wanting to know, seeing how much it affected people. "You fear you'll never see her again?"
"I fear I will remain alone for the rest of my years. No one to come home to. No one to love and protect. She was my best chance, Leo. My only one… You must think me such a fool." Ezio sighed into his lap, feeling no better, but looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Leonardo was standing a little to his left, his hand resting lightly on his shoulder in a manner meant to reassure.
"You shouldn't talk like that. You still have many years ahead of you, as do I. A day will come when you will meet the woman of your very dreams and your duty will be a thing of the past. It may not be the countess, but I'm sure you will find someone far beyond your expectations. Just stay vigilant, my friend, and she will yet appear." Ezio sighed and, after seeing Leonardo's wide hopeful grin, couldn't help smiling himself.
"Perhaps you are right." He relented, his grey eyes softening.
"That is not the first time I've heard that." Leonardo joked.
"And you definitely did not come here to listen to my worries, did you?"
"I've always been here for you, my friend." Leonardo replied with a couple of pats to Ezio's shoulder. "I did come here, however, to congratulate you on the liberation of Roma."
"Ah, yes. Cause for a celebration then!" Ezio stood up, his head instantly swimming. He clutched it in pain.
"Yes, but I don't think you need anymore wine." Leo laughed at Ezio's expense. Ezio looked at him with a pained smile.
"Chiudi la bocca." Ezio chuckled. "You're welcome to it, but I think I need to rest."
"Agreed. Do you need help?" Ezio held him off for a second to take a few test steps forward. After almost stumbling, he agreed. Leo pulled his left arm over his shoulder, and helped lead him to a place he could rest without disturbance with a little verbal guidance from Ezio.
"Grazie, for everything, cher ami." Ezio smiled up a him warmly from his position on the bed.
"Nessun problema, and congratulations once more. All are in your debt, including me." Leonardo smiled.
"You have just repayed your debt. Stai liberi." Leonardo laughed at this.
"I will never be able to repay you fully. Though, if you ever have need of my services, or, for once, just drop by for a visit, you know exactly where to find me."
"That I do. Buon giorno, my friend."
"Bouna sera." Leonardo corrected, chuckling a bit at the expression on Ezio's face. He had drunk his way through the morning and not even known it.
"Bouna sera it is then." Ezio replied embarrassedly, before wincing again as his head pounded.
"Get some sleep my friend. I guaruntee you'll feel better." Ezio nodded painfully and turned to his side, his back to Leonardo. Leo walked out of the room, but turned back into the one by the fire. He poured himself a small watered down glass of wine, and sat down, allowing his mind to run.
No one was as invincible as they appeared to be, and Ezio Auditore da Firenze was no exception. Everyone believed their hero to be superhuman, but he was no more godlike than Leonardo himself was. And, as such, not immune to love and it's tendencies. But, as even Leonardo himself sometimes had troubling remembering, it was, after all, the very essence of being human. And that's all anyone could ever hope for.
You see that button on the bottom? You know you do. It's calling your name. Go on, click it. Gasp! Now you have to type, don't you? Well, since it's already there… leave me a review! Give me your feedback and tell me what I did right, or, (hopefully not) what I did wrong. I gotta know people. Help me, help you.
Ciao, Xangabell
Translations:
Il Mio Amico: My Friend
Condottieri: Mercenaries
Chiudi la bocca: Shut your mouth
Cher Ami: Dear friend
Nessun Problema: Not a problem
Stai Liberi: Be free
Buon Giorno: Good Morning
Buona Sera: Good Evening