An: Lo and behold my laptop is back and working better than ever. Unfortunately my fears were correct and I lost all my data from before it crashed but I'm not upset (Other than the 300 pages of my Underworld novel that got lost... That was a blow...) So here is the new and improved version of my Assassins Creed story. I'm kinda upset about the lack of Rosa in Brotherhood and Thus this story was born. Note that all the Italian in this is thanks to Google Translator. I can't help that the only language available for me to learn is French... Otherwise I would know Italian by now... So bear with the google italian and I will post translations at the bottom of the page...
Ezio watched the citizens of Venezia moving through the streets in hurried attempts to finish the days chores and shopping. He had been here for all of an hour hoping for some rest and relaxation before the next Templar threat made itself known. It had taken moments for that to happen. Within half an hour of being in the city he discovered Borgia scouts all over recording various aspects of the city. Wall thickness, population, weapons and anything else that could hinder a takeover. So with a sigh and an annoyed eye roll he and his assassins set out to rid the city of all Borgia fanatics.
So that was how he ended up here. Blending in with the crowds and slowly getting closer to his intended target. He was a scout disguised as a thief who had managed to get information on the thieves guild. That made this kind of personal. He hadn't seen Rosa in a long time and though part of him knew she had probably moved on, another part was desperately hoping that she hadn't. After what happened with Caterina he realized that out of all of the woman he had been with (Christina excluded) Rosa was the one he was truly happy with. Upon this realization he found himself longing to see Venezia again. Even if she had moved on it would be good to see her. His target moved towards a group of men and Ezio ducked into a nearby alleyway.
"The assassins are here amico. We will find another city to invade or wait because as long as he is here our operations will not succeed." The other men were obviously scouts.
"Fine. We will continue our work once he has left." The leader said.
"It's too late for that Ser. They already know of us. Several of our men have been killed and more are being hunted down each passing moment."
"Cazzo. Alright we'll leave... For now."
Ezio whistled and six assassins dropped from the roof above the men. Four of the seven scouts that had been present were dropped immediately while the others choked on smoke and were dealt with quickly.
"Not bad" Ezio said when the six gathered in front of him in the alleyway. "Next time try taking all of them out from the air. Its faster and causes less of a commotion than a smoke bomb does."
"Yes Il Mentore" Was the response from all the assassini but one. Roberto never really liked addressing him formally. Being cousins this came as no surprise. He was Mario's illegitimate child though Mario had treated him as he would treat a legitimate son. They had crossed paths often as younger men. Roberto was at least ten years younger than Ezio. He had been in Spain at the time of Mario's death and for years before that he had been staying with friends in France. He knew many languages and acted as a translator for the other five as none of them spoke much of anything but English.
"I want you to search the city. Kill any other scouts you find. Split into groups and work together." Ezio was still thinking about when to find Rosa and any time the assassins weren't around would be ideal.
"What of your original mission?" Roberto asked. The boy resembled his father in some ways. Black hair and the same eyes but he was much slimmer than Mario, he looked like he was starving or something but if you had ever seen him eat you would never even think that. He was very agile and could nearly match Ezio in speed. He wasn't very strong and used a weapon that none of the other assassins did: a bow. He had been an archer in the military before leaving home. Poison tipped arrows had become his favorite way of dealing with the Borgia and the fanatics that still supported them.
"Let me worry about that. I'll think of a way to see it through." Roberto was the only assassin that knew his motives for coming here. They had sort of bonded after Roberto had tracked him down demanding to know why his fathers home was in ruins. He hid very little from Roberto now. "Now go. Before they flee to their masters."
With a nod they split into three groups and ran off. Ezio watched them run off energetically talking and bragging about their skills. Roberto had, as usual, paired up with Lucina Lahance. The first woman to be recruited into the guild and by far the prettiest. She was ruthless though and anyone who didn't know her would say she was heartless. Not true. She was just very cautious and had a... unique way of looking at life. He was pretty sure Roberto was try to charm her. It must be a family thing. He was not unlike Ezio when he had been younger.
When they were out of sight Ezio decided that now was the time to look for Rosa. Little did he know that you don't find the queen of thieves... She finds you.
Rosa had know he was here the second he entered the city. The thieves were her eyes and ears and for quite awhile now they reported to her and she reported to Antonio. They had known of the scouts for weeks now. They were still trying to work out how to get rid of all of them. The second one of the newer thieves reported seeing seven white robed figures get off a boat at the docks she knew. They had heard the rumors of Ezio building a guild of assassins but she had never thought of Ezio as the kind to teach others his skills. Then again he was getting older... So was she though. Perhaps the years had been less kind to him then they had to her. She wasn't slowing down any.
She followed them for a better part of the day after telling the thief to keep the information of the assassins to himself for now. Realizing that at the rate the scouts were going down there would be none left by the end of the day Rosa decided that there was no need to mention this to Antonio... At least not right away. She needed to speak with Ezio. She didn't expect him to show up and she wanted to know why he was here. It certainly wasn't the scouts as she had overheard a conversation that proved that. It wasn't Carnavale unless his attitude about that celebration had changed. It certainly couldn't be her... could it?
She in all honesty hoped that he had not moved on after he left. Though she would never tell him as much she had fallen for him while he was here. Their relationship had been kind of hazy and in all honesty it had confused her for awhile. She had thought she was beyond falling in love with anyone but thanks to Ezio she wasn't so sure. Only problem was... She knew him well enough to know he wasn't likely to feel the same. Yes he was apparently attracted to her but that meant very little.
She was thinking about this now staring down at him from the roof. Now that his assassini were gone she could speak with him. She smiled as an idea popped into her head. She leaped off the roof like Ezio had shown her a long time ago. He had been try to show her a few assassination techniques and she had practiced them secretly ever since.
"Hey! Assasino!" She shouted as she fell towards him. He turned around and let out a whistle just before she landed on his stomach and knocked him to the ground.
"Rosa?" He wheezed as she had clearly knocked the breath out of him.
"Do you see any other thief brave enough to tackle an assassin anywhere?" She said smiling down at him. His hood had fallen off in her assault. He was still as handsome as ever although less boyish than she remembered. She had crossed her legs and was sitting on his stomach.
"You've gotten good" He said smiling back at her.
"And you... Have been gone for a long time."
"Mi dispiace. I had things to deal with in Roma."
"Roma?" Now she was curious. She'd heard about some big things happening there. Borgia towers being blow up, captains being killed and half of the city being rebuilt. She should have known it would be all his doing.
"Sî. It's not in the best shape right now. I plan to rebuild it completely once I'm done here." He tried to sit up but she pushed him back down. "Can I please get up?"
She smirked. "Hmm I don't know... I think I like you better down there." The look on his face told her exactly where his mind had gone with that.
"Is that so? Still?"
"Vaffanculo."
"I take that as a yes."
She rolled her eyes but didn't stop a smile. "Think what you will. What bussiness do you have in my city?"
"I wasn't aware thief had the money to buy cities." He said earning himself another eye roll. "I..."
She raised an eyebrow at his pause. He seemed to be trying to think carefully about what he was going to say. "Sputa il rospo"
"I wanted to see you" He said breaking eye contact.
She looked away for a minute "Why?"
"Because for some reason the only really happy time in my life was when I was with you."
Rosa tried to say something but couldn't find the words. Then, in a flash, She had six weapons aimed at her head. Right he had managed to whistle just before she had gotten to him.
"Get up. Slowly." a feminine voice demanded. Rosa whipped her head up to look the girl in the eyes.
"No." Was all she said then she looked back to Ezio. "I think, Ezio, you should introduce me to your friends."
"Ah si certo. Students this is my... friend Rosa. Rosa these are my students." He managed to sit up causing Rosa to land in the dirt.
"Che cazzo un avviso piccolo bastardo prossima volta" She said angrily standing up and dusting herself off.
"No Lucina she did not just say anything nice" One of the assasins said. "I don't really feel like translating that..."
"Do it." A blonde woman demended.
"Fine. Basically she said 'What the fuck' and called Il Mentore a bastard." He said.
"And this is how she treats friends then?" Lucina asked.
"No. Usually my friends don't get assaulted by me unless they give me a reason to. Your Il Mentore was on the receiving end of that quite a few times."
"That was a long time ago." He said and then mumbled "All I wanted was one little kiss but no. She had to give me a black eye first."
Roberto caught it and started laughing earning him strange looks from the other assasins.
"Beh, evidentemente non ha funzionato lo ha fatto? Tu eri un bastardo persistente." Rosa said standing up and dusting herself off. Ezio followed suit.
"ah so this is the one then cousin?"Roberto said not translating despite the murderous looks the one named Lucina was giving him.
"Cousin? Should have known. So tell me... Are all Auditore charmers like Ezio here has led me to believe?" Rosa asked now satisfied with her dusting off.
"Dipende da chi si chiede" Roberto said with a pointed look at Lucina.
"What did you say?" She asked giving him an angry look.
"Nothing... Perhaps you should attempt to learn Italian if you wish so badly to know what I say." Roberto's words caused her to let out a 'huff' and look away. "Ama totalmente me no? Anche se, può essere così fottutamente fastidioso a volte."
Rosa laughed. "Do they remind you of people we know Ezio?"
"Si. Now that I think about it they do in some ways although I believe they were a little less... well..."
"Angry?" Rosa said helpfully.
"Si and the woman in that relationship already knew Italian."
"But not French...Un giorno, assassino farò sapere quello che hai detto." Rosa said using Italian more now that she realized none of them could understand her.
"I know french." Roberto said. "Se vi ricordate quello che ha detto che si tradurrà"
"Maybe some other time. I will try to remember till then" Rosa said with a smirk in Ezio's direction. "Mind if I borrow your leader for awhile. We have... much to talk about."
"He's all yours. Have fun cousin." Roberto said and started to push the other assassins away. "Do we not have Borgia to kill? Let's get to work."
When the slightly stunned and confused assassins were out of sight Rosa gently grabbed Ezio's arm. "Come."
He nodded and followed her up to the roof of the nearest building. She looked around for a shaded spot. It was hot out for Venezia. There was a shady sot in the roof of a church and she led Ezio there. When they were both safely on the roof she sat down in the shade with Ezio not far behind. They were silent, neither of them really knew what to say.
"How many?" Rosa finally said.
"What?" He asked confused.
"How many women since me"
"One. I thought I had feelings for her but... She used me."
That was... Unexpected. She had expected a much higher number. He had feelings for her? "When?"
"Long enough ago for me to get over it." He said simply.
She could forgive that. "You really came all the way to Venezia just to find me?"
"I... I don't really know. This place has many happy memories and now that Cesare is dead I want to relax for awhile. It just so happens almost all of my happy memories involve you in some way." He said and sighed. "I understand if you-"
She put a finger to his lips. "Shh..." She didn't want to hear what he had to say and it just so happened that she heard guards approaching. He heard them to and smiled.
"Bet you can't snatch their coin purses."
She raised an eyebrow "Really? What do I get if I win?"
"Anything you want, bella. What do I get if you loose?"
She thought for a moment "A chance for more happy memories?"
"Rosa..."
"Quiet." she said putting a finger to his lips again before peeking around the tower of the church. The archers were on the roof of a house that she could easily get to without being seen. She flashed Ezio a confident smile before leaping towards the house and grabbing onto a window frame. She quietly made her way up the building and peered up over the roof. The closest archer had his back to her and the other was to far away to see her.
With stealth that could match an assassins she crept up to the guard and cut his coin purse from his belt. It was like taking candy from a baby. She managed to sneak around him and make her way over to the other one without being seen. Just as she was about to cut the other archers purse a flock of birds flew away from behind her causing the man to turn around.
"Cazzo" She hissed and quickly cut his purse before taking off across the rooftops. Arrows whizzed by her head and she dropped down onto a balcony. Right beside Ezio. "Merda" She gasped " You startled me"
"So. I win no? What exactly did you mean by 'A chance at more happy memories?'"
"No. Actually I win, see" She held up the two coin purses. Now... What to ask of him as her prize?
"Alright, bella you win. What do you want?"
"Hmm... I want..." A totally cheesy idea popped into her head "All I want... Is you."
He seemed slightly dumbstruck. "Huh?"
"You Ezio." She said smiling "The happy memories you have of me? They were happy times for me too. The Borgia have been making moments like that miserably scarce."
"So. What does 'you' entitle?"
"Just being with you is enough for me bello... If you don't like that idea then I can think of a new one"
He was about to say something when the archers voices could be heard.
"He went that way"
"Perhaps we should escape these guards before you answer" Rosa said grabbing his arm and pushing him into a pile of hay before jumping in after him. She landed on top of him causing both of them to let out complaining noises.
"This again" Ezio said spitting out hay.
"Shh." She said.
"Why am I always the one you choose to attack?"
"Ezio. Shut up."
"No. I won't. It is degrading to be pushed around by a woman." She could tell at this point he was just trying to get under her skin.
"Shh. Or i'll make you be quiet."
"Oh? Try it. What could you possibly-"
He asked for it. They were lying face to face at the moment and she remembered all the other times they had been in similar situations. Kissing him had seemed the best option at the moment. It worked at least. Neither of them were talking now.
She was unsure when her lips met his. Perhaps he didn't feel the way she thought he did but he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back with something akin to relief. She pulled back for air an looked at him slightly uncertain still.
The guards had apparently given up their search and strangely enough she didn't want to leave the pile of hay just yet.
"So tell me Ezio, do you agree with what I want as my prize?"
"Hmm..." He said in mock contemplation. "I think it's acceptable."
"Bene." She said and poked her head out of the hay pile "All clear" She got up and started brushing the hay off of herself.
"So what now my little thief?" He had some how managed being hay free the second he got out of the pile.
"Hmm... That can be your decision Assassin."
"Hmm... Come" He said taking off towards the canal.
"What are you doing?" She asked as he took off his assassin robes.
"Swimming."
"In the canals?"
"Si. You are too."
"You're crazy."
"Why not? It's so hot out here and I would like to cool down."
He had a point. They were both sweating. Deciding that she would much rather go for a swim with Ezio than roast in the sun she got rid of her shoes and hat. She was going to say something when she was tackled into the water by and now shirtless Ezio.
She gasped for breath upon reaching the surface. "A little warning next time, bastardo."
"Mi dispiace, bella."He said smirking at her. "Consider it payback for earlier."
She just laughed. The water was surprisingly cold compared to how warm it was outside. She couldn't help but shiver slightly. Ezio smiled and swarm over to her. He wrapped his arm around her.
"Better bella?"
She giggled "Si." She wrapped her arms around his neck leaving his arm free to tread water. "How have you been Ezio?"
"Life could be better but it could also be a lot worse. My uncle Mario was killed by the Borgia. The villa is in ruins but Roma is free from them now and I have avenged the deaths of my family."
"I'm sorry Ezio. He sounded like a great man."
"Yes. I wish he could have met you. I think he would have liked you."
"Oh really?"
"Yes. You both have the same sense of humor."
She didn't smile though. "Your cousin is his son then?"
"Illegitimate son. Though Mario never treated him any different then he would treat a legitimate son."
"I can see the family resemblance between you two. He's a lot like you when you were younger isn't he?"
"Si. A little less patient when it comes to women perhaps but I think Lucina is worth the wait in his mind."
"They remind me of us in someways, though you were much more of a gentleman than your cousin"
"Roberto gets like that sometimes. He just likes to annoy her by saying stuff about her in languages that she can't understand."
"Also reminds me of you." She said. "Will you tell me what you said now?"
"On the roof of the church that night?" He appeared to be thinking back "Vous êtes la plus belle femme que j'aie jamais aimé."
"What does it mean?"
"It translates to 'You are the most beautiful woman I've ever loved'."
"Really?"
"Si. It is true in any language that can be spoken."
"So you love me... Or did at any rate."
He smiled and rested his forehead against hers "Si. I still do Rosa. I have since the second time I crawled through your window."
She smiled "Ti amo."
"Ti amo" He said. "Now we should probably get out of with water. My students will be looking for me soon."
She nodded and let go of him. "I need to report to Antonio anyways. I'm already late. He'll be worried."
"How is Antonio anyways?" He climbed out of the canal and offered her a hand
"Getting old but that's to be expected. It's why all of the thieves report to either me or Ugo now." She took his and and was pulled out of the canal. "Explaining why i'm drenched is going to be tough."
"Why not just tell him I'm here?"
"I will eventually. Don't think I'm done with you for today yet. Meet in the usual place later?" The 'usual place' was an abandoned guard tower that was high above the city. It hadn't been used for decades and was in a poor state or repair but many times Ezio and Rosa had met there and usually they didn't leave for many hours after wards.
"Va bene." He said pulling on his shirt and assassin robes. "I'll give my students the night off. Carnivale starts tonight no?"
"Si. They will have fun. As will you if you are not late this time."
He chuckled and tossed her her hat and shoes while pulling his boots on. Rosa pulled her hat on over her soaking wet hair and quickly pulled her shoes on. As she was about to leave Ezio caught her arm and twirled her around so that his arm was wrapped around her and she was looking up at him. She had almost forgotten how much taller he was.
"What bella? No kiss goodbye."
"Culo" She said but wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned up and kiss him anyways. "Now I really do need to go" She said pulling away.
"Va bene. Goodbye" He said kissing her forehead before taking off around the corner. She shook her head to as if to clear her thoughts.
What was going to happen now? Ezio certainly wasn't going to stay in Venezia forever, not even for her. Perhaps he would take her to Roma with him? Antonio needed her help with the guild still... Someone else could easily take her place but Antonio was her father in all but blood. She couldn't just leave him.
She sighed and headed off towards home.
An/ Longer than I expected it to be but I kind of like it :P Now the tricky part... Translations.
Che cazzo un avviso piccolo bastardo prossima volta(Roughly 'What the fuck a little warning next time bastard)
Beh, evidentemente non ha funzionato lo ha fatto? Tu eri un bastardo persistente.-Well, obviously it did not work did it? You were a persistent bastard
Dipende da chi si chiede - (Roughly) Depends who you ask
Ama totalmente me no? Anche se, può essere così fottutamente fastidioso a volte.(Roughly) She loves me no? Though she can be so fucking annoying at times.
Un giorno, assassino farò sapere quello che hai detto.(roughly) One day assassin I will know what you said.
Se vi ricordate quello che ha detto che si tradurrà(Roughly) If you remember what he said I can translate.
Ti amo – I love you
Va bene- Okay
Bene – good
Culo- Ass
Err... I think I got most of it :P I went google translator happy with this so most of its probably not all that correct. Sorry Italy I killed your language.(Actually Google did 0_0)
Anyways. RnR.
