Well, this took a little longer than I thought it would, but here you go.

A/N: I do not own anything except my OCs.

Chapter One:

March 25, 1784

Bart regained his composure first and approached the two soldiers, a hand extended. They had their heads down and their hats pulled low over their eyes. One was taller, broader and darker skinned than the other and obviously younger while the older was shorter and stouter. "Good evenin', gentlemen! How can I help you?"

"It seems you can...that woman is wanted for questioning," the older of the soldiers said, indicating Katherine. He had an accent that she recognized, but couldn't place.

She smiled wryly, squaring off to the soldiers. "Perhaps we should take this outside; Bart here might not want to have his tables broken," she said softly, in a voice much like an admonishing mother. The soldiers backed away and Katherine followed, her fingers ready to flick her blades out if need be. "Now, what was it you wanted?"

"Is your name Katherine Almena Kenway? Formerly HIckey?" the older soldier asked. There was something else about his voice that Katherine recognized; the sardonic way he lilted her last name or the soft chuckle her emitted before continuing. "Or perhaps you prefer the name, 'The Queen?'"

"Who are you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

The man swept off his hat and bowed to Katherine, but not before she saw his face and it registered immediately in her mind. "Stephane Chapheau, at your service, your Majesty."

"Why are you in England?"

"It seems my friend had some business here and asked me to do some snooping into the Assassins here. Imagine my surprise when his wife's name came up in conversation at a meeting last night. Based on his grief, I'm going to guess he doesn't know she's here?"

"Connor's here?" she asked, her eyes widening and her voice drifting up an octave. Something akin to fear flooded her; she felt like she had been caught doing something she shouldn't.

"Strange...I never said Connor, did I?" he asked his companion who looked up slowly.

"No, you didn't," the younger man growled, taking his hat off, revealing Connor's face. Katherine took a step back, her eyes widening. Connor opened his mouth, but Katherine took off down the winding, crowded street before he could say a word. She knew these streets well, almost better she had known the streets of Boston. She just had to get to the woods, she could hide there; Connor didn't know these woods at all, so her limited knowledge would be an advantage

She was starting to climb up a tree when a hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back to the ground and pinned her to the tree. She gasped as she looked up into Connor's eyes, her breath catching in her throat. "Connor, please, don't..." she whispered, swallowing hard. "I wanted to tell you, but you would only be in danger and I couldn-"

Connor silenced her with a kiss, his hands going to her hair. "You let me grieve you...left me with six children to care for...all because you didn't want to put me in danger? What about the danger you put yourself in?" His voice was low and gravelly, a sound that, after two years of absence, made her thoughts foggy and disjointed.

Her mind was foggy still from the kiss. "I didn't think-" Another kiss.

"Of course you didn't think, you fool," he growled, her mind even foggier from the last kiss. "You think you have to do everything on your own."

Katherine stared up at him, shock and bliss blocking all thought from her head. "I love you," she whispered softly in his native tongue. "I love you so much I was willing to leave to keep you safe."

"Don't. Don't use that against me, Kitty, don't you dare," he whispered, his eyes searching hers. "You think you can just look at me with those big eyes and whisper things in my language and you'll get away with what you've done."

"I only did what was okay for you to do."

Connor released her, taking a step back and wiping his hands on his breeches as though he had touched something dirty. "I never once let you believe I was dead."

"Lies! The year Emmy and Eddy were born, or don't you remember your reception after your 'execution'? You didn't come back to the homestead after you killed my father, you just let me believe you were dead."

"Two weeks, woman! I let you believe that for two weeks, not two years! There is a rather large difference!"

Katherine ground her teeth together; how unfair he was being! He had been allowed to disappear for weeks, even months at a time, but what she had done was some great crime against him. "You're just angry because I outsmarted you!"

Anger flared brightly in his eyes and he raised a hand as though to strike her, then immediately lowered it. "Don't push it, Kitty."

"Tch, me push it? I was about to come home and beg your forgiveness, but now...now I don't think you want an apology, you just want to be angry," she hissed, circling him. "You've given me countless reasons to be angry, to distrust you, to want to leave, but I always forgave you, believed you when you said it would never happen again."

"So you were punishing me? Is that it?"

Katherine made a frustrated noise, clenching her fists. "How many times do I have to tell you? I left to complete a mission I couldn't tell anyone about at the time and didn't want to put you or our children in danger. How many times did you leave without a word because it was 'too dangerous' for me to know everything?"

Connor sighed, looking away. "I don't want to fight with you, Ki-"

"Yes, you do. If you hadn't wanted to fight, we wouldn't still be standing here, I would be in the pub and you would be on your way home."

"I had to know if you were really here," he whispered. "And when I saw you...you looked so guilty. I thought you and that barkeep..."

"You thought I was having an affair with Bart?" she asked, scoffing softly. "I married you, then lowered my standards to some balding pub owner? You must not think very highly of me."

Connor stared at her. "You didn't even leave the pub last night, I-"

"So you were waiting for me outside the pub?"

Connor nodded slowly, a line appearing between his brows.

"I left on the roof because I knew someone would be waiting for me if I left through the front door."

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Just come home with me, Kitty," he murmured resignedly.

Katherine wet her lips, her eyes narrowed. "Why? So you can yell at me in the safety of your home?" she accused.

"So you can see your children, or don't you care about them anymore?"

Katherine flinched slightly and bowed her head. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have said that," she whispered, clasping her hands in front of her. His feet shifted, then turned as though he were about to walk away. "I...I've missed you."

She closed her eyes and felt his hand under her chin. "I've missed you, too, Kitty," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple. "But you have a lot of work to do."

"Yes, sir..." she murmured, swallowing hard as she watched him turn and walk away. She turned and climbed into the trees, running deeper into the forest than she had before, not stopping until her lungs and legs burned from the effort. She slid down into the fork of the tree she stood in and buried her face in her hands, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. This hadn't been anywhere near the way she wanted him to find out.

**The Next Day**

Katherine stood on the docks, watching Connor's crew load her chest onto the ship. It was the first time in two years that she had worn a dress and even this work dress she was wearing felt restricting to her. She looked up at the sky, watching the seagulls swoop and dive overhead. She had always known she would go home one day, but she had never imagined she would be on her husband's ship or that, despite her arguments, she would be sharing a cabin with him during the whole trip.

She had argued that living together for three months on a ship, where there was nowhere to run, when there was so much to work out between the two could be ultimately detrimental to their marriage. He had replied that living together would force them to face the problems they needed to talk about. His was sound logic while Katherine's had been cowardice at having to face problems she had caused.

"We're about to cast off, Mistress Kenway," one of the crewman called to her.

Katherine shook herself mentally and stepped onto the gangplank, right foot, as always, and walked to the Captain's Cabin. The small room was dominated by an oak desk and carved oak chair behind it, but a bed stood in one corner. Despite the fact that Katherine knew Connor was very rarely in his cabin, everything was messy and strewn about; the bed was unmade, papers and quills littered the desk, and his clothes lay abandoned in different places around the room. She knew the mess didn't bother him, but she had to clean it up or she would be driven crazy.

"Are you cleaning?" Connor asked from the doorway.

Katherine spun around and stared at him; she had forgotten what he looked like in his ship clothes. There was nothing spectacular about the clothes themselves, but the way Connor held himself when he wore them woke something up deep in Katherine's being.

"Kitty? Are you okay?" the subject of her thoughts asked her, taking a step toward her. "You are flushed...are you sick?"

His question only made Katherine's cheeks heat further. "I-I'm fine...I was just thinking," she muttered, looking down and moving further away from him to pick up a pair of his breeches and folding them.

"What were you think-...oh," understanding dawned on him which only humiliated Katherine further. A knowing smirk appeared on his usually passive features

"Your cabin was exceptionally messy," she said in an attempt to change the subject and wipe away the smirk. "Surely you know how to pick up your own clothes."

Connor looked around at the tidy cabin, his smirk turning into a frown. "I got used to you-"

"Cleaning up after you?" she asked, putting the breeches away, her back to him

She heard him cross the room to her and felt his hands on her shoulders as he turned her to face him. "You are a frustrating woman," he growled, kissing her before she could retort.

The kiss set her head to spinning and when they came up for air, she pulled him back to her quickly, wanting to keep him close to her. His hands slid down to her hips while she cupped his cheeks. Until this moment, she hadn't known how much she had craved his touch, but the heat of his hands on her hips only made her move closer to him.

When he finally broke the kiss, the absence of his lips on hers was almost unbearable. "Kitty...we can't do this."

"Ratonhnhakéton..." she whispered, crooning his name. He groaned softly, leaning his forehead against hers. He sighed out and scooped her up, carrying her to his bed. They fell into each other as though no time had passed between them.

"I love you, Kitty..." Connor murmured, stroking her hair gently. "But we need to talk about you leaving."

"I know..." she murmured, listening to his heartbeat. "I don't want you to think I left because of you."

"Then why did you leave?"

"I got a letter while you were following Pitcairn asking me to come to England and help train assassins to send to the colonies, but I ignored it. That night, the night the twins were born, I...decided I needed to do my duty to the Brotherhood like you had."

"They needed you for two years?"

"By the time I had gotten here, they had filled the job, so, they put me on a different mission."

"What did you do?"

"I overthrew the Templar Order that had started in Germany. It was easy because I knew all their secrets and I only had to mention Haytham and they were fawning over me."

Connor nodded, looking up at the ceiling. "How did you get the scar?"

"I'm not perfect, Connor; I make mistakes, including trusting people I shouldn't," she murmured, sitting up and pulling on her shift.

"I did not mean to upset you, Kitty."

"I'm not a girl anymore, Connor, call me Katherine," she whispered, picking up her corset and turning so her back was to him as she held it up to her body.

He started lacing up her corset tightly, his fingertips grazing her skin. "No matter how old you are, you will always be Kitty to me," he whispered, kissing her shoulder as he finished tying off her corset.

She blushed darkly and turned and kissed him gently. "I love you..." she whispered against his lips.

"I love you, too...I never stopped and I never will."

Well? What do y'all think? Please R&R...it makes me happy to see what y'all think.

You are all so, so amazing and I hope you enjoy the chapters to come.