La Bella da Firenze

1: The Auditore Affair

1489 - Venice

Ezio Auditore sat perched on a wall. A wall towering seventy feet off the ground, mind you. His icy blue eyes scanned the busy Venician street below him, filled with merchants, minstrels, peasants and officials. The odd platoon of guards passed by, and archers patrolled the building. He was waiting. For five men. His targets, a group of Templar extremists, had deep history with him. They were friends once, on the Auditore family's good side before his father and brothers' execution. Ezio closed his eyes and remembered that day...

1476 - Florence

The lever was pulled, and the life drained from the Auditore boys' faces. Giovanni, Petruccio and Federico all dropped lifelessly to the floor. "FATHER!" screamed Ezio, tears in his eyes. Two guards grabbed him, holding him back from Uberto. "I'LL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" he sobbed.

Nothing could have been done. Then he remembered his best friend. The girl he strived so hard to please. Rachele. She was his female counterpart, from the clothes they wore to their senses of humour and style. He could still see her standing there, the first and only time they were intimate.

1476 - Florence

Her long golden hair swayed from side to side as the duo sprinted on the rooftops of Florence.

"YOU'RE DEAD, AUDITORE!" came the shouts of the Pazzi mob chasing them. Rachele was faster than Ezio, something he couldn't comprehend. How could a girl be faster than him? The two kept running, when Rachele slipped. She smashed into the tiled roof and rolled off, hanging onto the gutter. "NON LASCIARE ANDARE!" he cried out to her, dropping to a prone position and sliding down to her. He noticed a haystack below them.

"Take my hand!" he yelled. She complied and wrapped herself around him.

He let go, falling gracefully into the box filled with hay. They lay there, pressed against eachother, just waiting for the Pazzi to pass them. She opened her mouth to speak, when Ezio kissed her. The tender moment seemed to last forever, their hands wandering over eachother's bodies. When the mob of youths ran past them, she pulled away. Ezio frowned.

"Did you just...porca troia... Ezio!" she gasped. He grinned, and sat up. She smiled at him, pulling him out of the hay and on to the cobbled pavement. The two walked home together, having to climb up the wall to her bedroom. After all, her parents would want to know why they were covered in dirt (in Ezio's case, blood) and home so late! As he stared into her deep blue eyes, she began to undress slowly. The tomboy had changed. As her golden hair rested on her shoulders, she whispered into his ear. He was in love... and he was one mad bastard.

"Fare l'amore con me..."

Ezio's eyes jolted open. It was painful to think of her. Andreotto had taken her from him. He pretended to be happy for her, but in reality, his heart was broken. He sighed, then gasped when he caught sight of the group exiting the same building he was sitting on. He recognised all of them. Andreotto, Andreana, Stefano, Juliano and Aaroni. His friends turned enemies. Of course, leaving the Auditore to support the Pazzi was a dumb move.

Ezio clambered off the side of the building, grasping onto the bricks and wood panels. He dropped quietly onto the balcony above the men, as he listened carefully.

"We meet underneath Santa Maria del Frari, yes? That way, no one will hear our plan," Aaroni, the smallest member of the group whispered.

Ezio could recognize all of them by their characteristics alone.

Andreana was vaguely Asian and had an annoyingly high pitched voice.

Juliano had messy unkempt hair and had sexual relations with his father.

Stefano stank, and was constantly depressed. Had a habit of saying "Meh." to questions.

Aaroni was a dwarf.

And Andreotto... was just an asshole. He had ruined Rachele's life... and led her to her death.

1483

"You're a whore. You aren't worth a second look, you spoiled little bitch." Andreotto glared at her, spitting on Rachele as he spoke. Ezio was watching, sitting on a bench. The assassin's knife stirred nervously under his robes. Andreotto pulled Rachele close, and slapped her. Ezio stood up and sprinted to Andreotto, tackling him to the ground. As he punched and kicked the man on the ground, Rachele leapt on his shoulders to pull him off.

"Stop it, stop it you freak!" she cried, spinning Ezio around. Their eyes locked as she remembered him. "Ezio?" she gasped. He slammed Andreotto's head into the ground, until eventually he begged for mercy. Ezio stopped, and kicked him once again for good measure. As the rest of the former friends arrived with a near army of guards, Ezio fleed into the night.

The men had all gone, except for Julio. Ezio leapt off the balcony, landing behind Julio. He kicked the back of his shins and brought him to his knees. "Julio, it's been too long. Where are the other boys off to?" Ezio smirked.

"I thought you, of all people, would have known... Auditore." he scowled as he pronounced Ezio's last name. Ezio pushed him against the marble wall, squeezing his neck. "Now tell me. What are you up to?"

"Fuck you, Auditore. You don't need to know anything!" Julio struggled against the assassin, but to no avail. Ezio smiled. "Bene. You won't tell me anything... so you won't say anything ever again," Ezio's Hidden Blade flew out from underneath his wrist and into Julio's neck. He gasped, spitting blood onto Ezio's face. "Requiescat in Pace." Ezio sighed, closing Julio's eyes.