Recap:

With one threat gone, she synchronized and took a leap of faith into the pond below, catching an arrow in her right shoulder blade.

"Gah!" She yelped and her dive was disrupted by a sudden jerk of her muscles, sending her into a spiral. She hit the water with a less than graceful splash. She opened her eyes underwater and started swimming up to get a breath, only to be hit with another arrow, this time in her left hip. As she yelped again, flooding her lungs with dark water. She coughed, resulting in more water in her lungs. After only a moment, she stopped struggling and drifted down.

She heard a splash, and everything went black.

Mission Four: Injury

Instead of taking a leap of faith and leaving the Cathedral, Ezio climbed down the side of the massive church, finding the secret entrance again to see how Alessa was doing. He ducked his way through an archway into a cavernous crypt, pausing a moment to look around the giant space.

He heard Alessa scream and a big splash in the next room and Ezio took off running to the sound.

He found two guards, one dead, one shooting arrows into the water. His heart dropped, turning cold when he realized that Alessa was the one in the water, and was probably injured.

He ran at the remaining guard; who turned to him and started shooting, and ducked out of the way of three arrows. The guard dropped his bow and drew his sword striking at Ezio and missing so narrowly that he cut open the fabric of his hood.

Ezio jumped back, eyes wide and heart pounding at the near tragic experience, but momentarily shook it off, glaring darkly at the guard, who inched toward him in a defensive position.

"Chi era vicino." He mumbled, throwing his shoulders back and ejecting his hidden blade, "Dai facciamo questa veloce!" He roared, closing the distance between the two men. He knocked the sword away and sliced the guards arm, immediately thrusting the sword at the guard, being blocked before it could do damage. After three more missed hits, Ezio sighed and kicked the guard between the legs, catching his shoulder as he doubled over and shoving his hidden blade through the vulnerable man's throat.

Ezio laid the guard down and retracted his blade, then continued to dive into the pond, swimming down to find Alessa; who had hit the bottom. He grabbed the layers of clothing on her shoulder, tugging her upwards. He prayed inside his head, hoping he wasn't too late to get her.

They surfaced and he almost threw her onto the cold hard stone floor. He saw two arrows, one in her right shoulder blade, and the other in her left hip. He bit his lip, breathing heavily as he climbed out of the water.

He collapsed on his knees next to her, "Alessa!" He shook her shoulder and tapped her cheek. He got no reply and her head fell to the side. He took a shaky breath and caressed her face in his gloved hand, "Alessa, per favore! Please wake up!" he put his ear to her mouth, listening for a breath and placed his free hand on her chest to feel for a heartbeat.

As he was about to move his hand to shake the woman again, he felt a slight thump under his fingertips. His heart skipped a beat as he swallowed and took a breath, "Alessa!" He exclaimed, knowing she couldn't hear him right now. His heart raced, as he noticed the severe bleeding from her side where the arrow had punctured and pierced through the skin directly under her ribcage.

He pushed on her chest, trying to clear some of the water out of her lungs, but stopped when he realized it was pushing the arrow in her shoulder deeper into the flesh. Ezio tightened his jaw, searching his mind for anything that would work quickly. He couldn't let her die, and he wasn't about to let her.

He wiped excess water from her mouth, as well as his own, and leaned over her, "Spiacenti, Alessa." He apologized hastily before putting his lips to hers, giving her a breath from his own lungs. When the first try didn't succeed, he gave her another breath. He felt her body shake and she coughed like she couldn't get a full breath.

Ezio laughed, relieved that she had come back.

Alessa opened her eyes, coughing more before sitting up and pushing him to the side as she vomited water. Finally taking a full breath in her sore lungs, she noticed the pain from the two arrows protruding from her body. She winced and wanted to lie back, but decided against it with the arrow sticking out of the back of her shoulder.

She looked up at Ezio, "Hello." She offered a small smile, "I missed you." She admitted, "I thought I was dead, for sure."

He shook his head, "Not while I'm around, signora." He smiled back. "You don't look so good, though."

She shrugged, wincing as she remembered the arrows again, "It may have ruined my day." She chuckled, looking down.

He moved forward on his knees, "Can I break them off?"

"What? No, absolutely not!" She yelled suddenly, and he put a finger over her lips.

"So we don't attract attention. We have to take them out eventually. I can carry you back to your villa, and fetch a doctor. I know they can help!" He said. She thought about it, and eventually nodded, though she didn't want to be considered vulnerable by allowing him to carry her like a bride through the city. He grabbed a hold of the arrow in her hip, "Are you ready, Alessa?" He asked, adjusting his position for better hold.

She shook her head no and he took a breath, "…Alright." In one fluid motion he broke the arrow and twisted it away from the arrowhead imbedded in her hip. She cried out, clenching her fists. Tears streamed down her face as she clenched and ground her teeth. Ezio looked up at her, tossing the broken arrow away and pulling the remainder of the broken arrow out of the other side. "Just one more, signora." He said quietly.

She shook her head as she cried, begging him not to break the other one, even though she knew he had to.

It pained him to see Alessa injured like this and he didn't want to break the arrow in her shoulder as much as she didn't want to feel that pain again. He tore off a portion of his cape, tying it around her waist to help the bleeding, and then helped her roll over onto her stomach so he could grip the other arrow. He knelt at her side and she gripped the greave closest to her. He paused for a second, almost unwilling to break off this second arrow. He took a breath and closed his eyes, breaking and twisting the thin wood easily. Alessa cried again, inhaling sharply as Ezio turned her over again.

"Let's get you out of here." He cooed, picking her up as gently as he could. She wrapped her arms around his neck, the pain in her body keeping tears in her eyes. The throbbing was almost too much for her to take.

"Can we not find a doctor right now?" She asked through her teeth as they made their way through the bowels of the Cathedral.

"I'm not sure that would be a good idea," He replied, "We may have to cut your clothes away so we don't irritate the wounds."

"I'm not sure they can get more irritated than they already are." She retorted, stroking the exposed skin on his neck.

"I still think it's best to get you home, Alessa." He sounded stern and she huffed. She didn't want to argue against him anymore.

Ezio glanced down at her every so often on their way to Alessa's villa and by the time they arrived, she had fallen asleep. He walked inside with her and laid her down on the couch, taking off his vest and placing it under her to keep blood from staining the rich copper fabric. He knelt again and brushed black hair out of her face, then wasted no time running outside and towards the city to find a doctor.

Inside the city wall, he found a doctor right away and ran up to him, "Please, signore, I have someone, a woman, and she has been injured by arrows. Per favore, signore. Please come with me and help her."

The doctor nodded, "Dare l'esempio, signore." He replied, and Ezio took him back to the villa.

Alessa awoke to smelling salts, and sat up coughing, only to clench her teeth and wince at the throbbing in her back and side.

"Oh, this is very bad." The doctor stated at the sight of all the blood. "May I remove your shirt, signora? This may be a serious wound that needs to be treated immediately."

She nodded through her pain and Ezio helped her out of her many layers. The doctor allowed her to cover her chest with her shirt, as long as he was able to tend to the wound on her shoulder and hip. "We need to take the arrowhead out of your shoulder, signora. I know this is a lot of pain, but if we remove it, your body can heal itself much faster."

She nodded without thinking. She was finished being stubborn and only wanted the pain to go away. The doctor tended to her hip first, motioning to Ezio to hold her legs, in case she thrashed. Once she was secured with her fingers gripping the edge of her couch and a knotted cloth in her mouth, the doctor poured alcohol on the wound, causing it to sting and burn much like it was on fire. It was much more painful than simply breaking and removing the arrow. She constantly cried out, screaming when the sting would worsen. Finally, the doctor dabbed the cleaned wound, soaking the alcohol from the crater of the bloody puncture, and Alessa finally took a breath. She felt as though she had just given birth, but there was no child there to reward her pain.

"There we are, signora. One wound cleaned: one arrowhead to go." He took a moment to bandage the wound and retrieve anesthetic from his bag.

Ezio walked around the working doctor to Alessa, kneeling beside her.

He stroked her face, "Are you okay so far?" He asked sincerely. She noticed he looked like he wanted to cry. She ran her fingers through the hair hanging over his face.

"I'll be fine." She said simply, "I'm sure it's not something you haven't seen." She blinked away tears from the sting of her hip, "It'll be over soon anyway."

Ezio shrugged, looking up at her through his eyelashes, "That doesn't mean I've seen it happen to you, signora." He admitted as the doctor looked up from his work.

"Are we ready to extract the arrowhead?" He asked, unknowingly breaking apart the two's eye contact. Alessa nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. She winced as Ezio helped her turn over, putting a pillow under her chest to keep her elevated. Ezio stroked her hair before returning to her legs to hold her down. "Here we go." The doctor stated, before starting in on the near-surgery extraction of the weapon head.

Alessa gasped at how much more this metal tip hurt when it slid out of the muscle. Tears had streamed down her face from the start, so she barely noticed the new fountain that her eyes had become.

Though it hurt worse, it didn't take as long to pull out the head and treat and bandage the wound. Before she knew it, Ezio had carried her to her bed and lit an oil lamp at her bedside.

"The doctor told me to give you this," He held out a silver vial, "He said it would ease the pain and help you sleep." Upon seeing her skeptical face, he smiled reassuringly, "It works, signora. Trust me."

Alessa took the vial from Ezio's outstretched hand and unscrewed the lid, smelling the liquid inside and making a very unpleased face. She looked back up at him, as if to ask if she really had to swallow it all.

"Yes, Alessa. It won't work if you don't take it all. It helps if you hold your nose."

She attempted to lift her arm, but a sharp pain shot through her body, almost giving her a bad chill, and she rested her arm again. She shot him a patronizing look.

"Do you want me to help then?" He asked, hinting at a smile. He found her vulnerable state amusing and adorable. She sighed, rolling her eyes as she nodded slightly. Ezio chuckled, and reached over to pinch Alessa's nose shut as she tilted her head up and downed the medicine in one motion.

She swallowed hard, scrunching up her face in distaste and looked up at Ezio, who chuckled again, "See? Not that bad, signora." He smiled. She punched him weakly with her good arm and leaned her head back, never taking her eyes off of him.

"Why would you save me if I've done you no such kindness?" She asked, honestly curious as to why he cared so much.

"Consider it a gentleman's act." He smirked the same way he had when he said that for the first time, yesterday afternoon. She smiled tiredly, feeling the effects of the medicine take hold of her.

"I knew you would say that." She said, bitter sweetly. "Why do you care for me so much?"

He hesitated to answer, unsure of what to say. He honestly had no idea what about her had caught his eye…mostly because she nearly killed him when they first met. He liked that she was independent, and could care for herself and do a good job at it. He liked that she wouldn't take his nonsense, and could pinpoint when he was telling a lie. While she hadn't caught him in a lie, he knew she could do it.

By the time he had though of an answer, Alessa had fallen into a semi-deep sleep. He picked her up, adjusting her to lie down instead of being propped up. Covering her, he brushed ebony strands out of her face before softly kissing the soft flesh of her neck gently.

"Buona notte, Alessa." He whispered, stroking her cheek before standing, snuffing out the lamp, and walking into the main room.

The doctor had long gone, and Ezio had the house to himself until Alessa awoke again. Standing in the doorway of the main room, he looked around. Stucco walls painted a rich red-orange, the copper couch; made luxuriously plush and adorned with red and brown pillows, the detailed hand-carved dining table, an exquisite area rug with ornamental detail, much like a tapestry one would hang on the wall. She had a quilt hung above the mantle of the dark stone fireplace with the pattern of light blues and yellow and pink. It must have been hers as a child.

On the wall over the dining table hung a painting of who he guessed was her family. A long haired, younger Alessa sat on the floor with her dolls, while her mother and grandmother were seated, and her father stood centered behind the two women. All three looked stoic and secretive, and Alessa played away, caught in a child's world.

Ezio sighed and shrugged off his cape and unbuckled his chest guard, slipping it off like a coat. He knelt to unbuckle his greaves as well, pulling them off and setting them by the couch alongside the rest of his armor and blades. He dressed down until he was left in his brown pants and aged white shirt; unbuttoned to about his bellybutton.

He sat on the couch, moving a few pillows to acquire the right amount of space, and stoked up the fire, and afterwards kicked off his boots, deciding whether or not he wanted a glass of wine. He had built up an appetite over the days events and also pondered on if he wanted to find the bread and cheese they had enjoyed last night.

Deciding no on both things, Ezio reclined and rested his face in the palm of his hand. From the bedroom, he heard Alessa snore softly. He smiled to himself; the medicine must have lived up to its reputation, for she hadn't snored at all when he had slept beside her.

He felt his eyes grow heavy as he watched the fire. His head bobbed every now and then, jerking him back to a more awake state, though it didn't last long at all.

To rid himself of the tired feeling, he stood again and walked back into the bedroom, leaning against the doorway to watch Alessa sleep for a moment. When his eyes became heavy, he walked slowly to the bed, sitting on the side he slept on the night before. He watched her sleep painlessly, watched her chest rise and fall slowly, watched her skin glow in the lamplight.

He thought about what she kept saying, about why he would do all of these things for her though she had never granted him such favors. He admired every curve of her body and thought about why he was so drawn to her. Her independence, her personality, the way she looked at him, though she most likely didn't notice, he thought about her eyes and her soft lips that he longed to taste again. He thought about her skin and her smile.

Ezio lay back against the headboard, and looked around the room; yellowish walls, a lower ceiling, a painting of Bendetta as a foal above the dark wood wardrobe. He noticed the blanket under his weight and covering Alessa's legs. It was the same colors as the quilt above the fireplace, and looked as though it had the same patterns, only larger and fit for a full grown woman's bed. On the end table were a small book and a pen, most likely her journal. The rest of the room was spotless, aside from the armor, leather, and weapons strewn about the room.

He laid his head back, adjusting to lie next to her. He pulled up the blankets on her legs before resting his head on the pillow, brushing his fingertips lightly over the flesh of her arm. His eyelids grew heavy again and he didn't bother fighting it.

In moments, he had fallen asleep.