*Author's note: Translations for the Italian words are at the bottom! Enjoy!
Ezio walked down the street slowly. He knew the three men that walked behind him were not his friends, so he tried his best to remain calm and blend in. He was a fugitive in Florence, but he'd returned to show his friend Leonardo some interesting scripts, so his friend could, hopefully, improve his hidden blade.
"That hood…" he heard on of the three say, and he knew he was busted. So he broke into a run.
"He's returned! After him!" He heard the guards cry, and knew that the three would quickly multiply if he didn't run, and fast. He hopped up some stacked grates and made daring leaps from lampposts and store signs. He made it to the roof and broke into a sprint, dodging behind an unfinished wall to avoid being caught by another guard patrolling the rooftop. Confident the guards were too far behind to see him, he dove into a small rooftop garden. He waited about five minutes, then cautiously peeked over the edge of the walled in garden. Finding nobody there, Ezio jumped out, slid off the roof and dropped gracefully into and empty alleyway, from which he stepped into the streets into the crowds of the Italian marketplace.
Throngs of people, merchants, animals, and artists crowded the streets. The familiarity of it all made Ezio's heart ache with the familiar pain he carried in his heart since the day his two brothers and his father were all framed and killed. It was the revenge he took that had made him a fugitive in his own city; his old home was constantly crawling with security, wanted posters with rough sketches of his face hung about. He had escaped to Monteriggioni with his mother and sister, and they now lived with his uncle, Mario, in the Auditore family Villa. Although Monteriggioni was great, Ezio had missed the hustle of Florence, the sound of the merchants and criers.
He made his way through the crowd and toward Leonardo's workshop. Arriving at the door, he knocked several times and waited. He had sent a letter a few days ago, telling his friend he'd be here, but Leo was so disorganized, and he doubted that it had even been read at all. He knocked again.
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Tieni duro!" Ezio was relieved to hear his friend's voice, and smiled when Leonardo opened the door. He stepped in quickly and waited for Leonardo to lock the door before greeting him.
"Ciao, Leonardo. I have some more papers for you. You can decipher them, si?"
"Ezio, benvenuto! Naturalmente, I'll take care of those right away!" He took the papers from Ezio and rolled them out on his desk after moving all kinds of inks, pens and little devices out of his way. "Ah! This shouldn't take me too long…" Ezio let out a laugh.
"Liar. That's what you always say, yet last time I waited from dusk 'till dawn to wait for you!" Leonardo laughed.
"I do get caught up in my work. Per favore, sit anywhere. My home is yours." He replied, gesturing to a couch halfway covered in blueprints and drawings.
"No, I'm going to pay una visita to Christina, va bene? I have missed her since I left Florence."
"Va bene. Just be back when I am done with this!" he called as Ezio stepped back out into the street, throwing up the hood of his assassin's robes.
*Author's note:
Tieni duro = hold on
Ciao = hello
Si = yes
Benvenuto = welcome
Naturalmente = of course
Per favore = please
Una visita = a visit
Va bene = alright