I was right about getting no sleep. My brain kept me up all night. I had enough to think about with Giovanni's recent warnings, but now I had the problem of trusting Pietro. I wish I could just trust him, but I don't like being put at someone's mercy like that.

These things were still stirring in my head as I stared out the window at the river, brushing my hair.

My house was the first building on the right of the Ponte Vecchio facing the Arno River, if you were coming from the San Giovanni district. I actually didn't really own it. When I first came to Firenze, I had no money, no possessions, no anything. If I needed to eat I would just steal things from the market...

Flashback

It was my second week in Firenze, I was 14, and my father had just died. I was trying to use all the skills he had taught me to survive, mostly to eat. The first day I had spent here I had spent starving, not a bite of food, so I had to resort to stealing. When I arrived, I had planned to find my friend Pietro and get help from him, but he was no where to be found.

There was one stall that I had found paticularly easy to take food from, it was so busy all the time, I could sneak in and out like I was supposed to be stealing.

But one day, I showed up later than I usually did, so the crowd was a little sparce. I still needed to eat though, so I tried to be sneakier about it than I usually did. Following a group of people up to the stand, I barely managed an apple, but I got greedy and went for another one, when someone grabbed my wrist. I tried to pull away, but failed.

I looked up to see who was keeping me from escape, and realized it was the man who owned and ran the stall. He was tall and lanky, obviously not very old, and had dull black hair and wide green eyes.

"So, you're the one who's been stealing from my stall all this time?" He said in a smooth, deep voice.

My eyes widened. He knew it'd been me the whole time. He was going to turn me in.

The big group I'd followed in left, so it was just him, a woman that usually helped him with the stall, and me.

The woman came up and said, "Now dearie, don't be worried. We won't take you to the guards as long as you promise not to take anything else."

I probably looked younger than I was, being as frail and dirty as I was, that was probably why she was going easy on me. I replied, "But... I... can't..."

Her eyebrows pulled together. "Why not?"

"I-I.." I looked down. "I don't have any other way to get food..."

The couple looked at each other, then back at me. "Well, where are your parents?" She continued.

I hesitated. "Um... they're..." I choked up.

"Ohhh..." The lady trailed off, then whispered something in the man's ear.

He turned to me. "Are you on your own?"

I nodded.

"Hmm... Maybe we can work something out." He continued. "How opposed to having a job are you?"

I shrugged. "I've never had a real job before, but I don't have anything else to do."

END FLASHBACK

For a while, that's all I did. I worked until I payed off the food I'd stolen, then I began to get paid when my debt was gone. It took a few more weeks until they figured out I had no place to stay, so they told me if I worked a little longer each day, instead of paying me, they would pay for a house for me and let me eat food from their stall.

I never understood why they were so kind to me, but it helped keep me alive. Even when I decided not to work anymore, they didn't sell the house. They said it was next to nothing to keep it up, and even now, if I was having food trouble, they'd give me some food without charge now and again.

Not wanting to waste the day, I put down my brush and headed out the door with my hood down, which rarely didn't conceal my face.

I jogged a few houses down, still on the side facing the river, until I reached a building that was easy to climb because of to the way the windows and bricks were set. To be honest, I wasn't very big on running around in the streets. Too crowded. It was very slow going most of the time.

I headed across the rooftops towards a tower closest to the river at I could get, and climbed as high as I could go to look out over the city. Usually, I came up here so I could get some peace and quiet and utilized that spare time to think. Today, though, I wanted to think of nothing. I just wanted to find a distraction.

When I looked out over the San Giovanni district, my friend Leonardo Da Vinci's workshop caught my eye. If I wanted a distraction, Leonardo's happy attitude was sure to take my mind off of things.

I took a deep breath, focused, then lept into the air, landing in the hay-wagon that was waiting near the base of the tower. Brushing myself off, I headed towards the San Giovanni district across the River Arno. Leonardo's workshop sat at the northeastern edge of it.

When I approached the door, I knocked, then let myself in, albeit reluctantly, without waiting for someone to answer the door. Normally, I would wait until someone invited me in, but Leo insisted that I needn't do that, that I was as welcome here as he was. Even so, I still felt like I was intruding sometimes.

"Arianna!" Leonardo exclaimed when I came through the door. "It's been a while! Come va (How are things)?"

"Bene, grazie (Good/Fine, thank you)." I laughed at his enthusiasm.

"Well, avanti (come in)! Don't stand over there, looking out of place!"

I walked down the few steps from the landing in front of his door and over to where he was working, a big cluttered work table with plans and sketches all over the place.

"So, have you been working on anything exciting recently?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Mm, not really. I've been-" There was a knock at the door. "Ah, that must be Maria."

I smiled involuntarily. "Really? I didn't expect to see her today!" Maria was like a mother figure to me, as close to one as I had.

I skipped along behind Leonardo as he went to open the door (he picked up a box full of paintings on the way) and pushed aside him once I could get through.

"Ciao (Hello), Arianna! I didn't expect to see you here!" Maria enthused as I hugged her.

"I said the same thing." I laughed.

"Oh, Arianna, Leonardo, this is mio figlio (my son), Ezio."

I smiled (maybe a little too knowingly) at him. "Piacere di fare la sua conoscenza (Pleased to meet you)."

I reached out my hand, expecting him to shake it, but instead, he grabbed my hand and kissed the top of it.

I blushed and pulled my hand away as soon as I could, looking down as I did.

Maria laughed, but Leonardo was looking at me funny, probably thinking the same thing as me. My reaction was kind of strange... For me, anyway.

Maria spoke after a couple of moments, which felt like a lifetime to me. "Ezio, would you carry that for me?"

She pointed at the box Leonardo had set down.

"Si, Madre." He walked over and lifted it easily.

"Back to the house, then?" Leonardo started walking with Maria back to the palazzo, and Ezio followed. He wiggled his eyebrows at me as he passed, and I tried to put on my best poker face, but I couldn't help but crack a grin, barely stifling the laugh that threatened to burst through my lips. I was already acting weird, though, and that would make everyone think I had gone crazy, and I wasn't so sure that I hadn't myself.

I didn't pay attention when we were walking to the Palazzo Auditore, I wasn't too interested in their conversation, since they were talking about future plans, and considering I didn't seem to have any...

We arrived at the palazzo quickly; it was just around a few courners. When we entered the courtyard, Ezio set the box in front of the door.

"Thank you for help, son. Don't let me keep you from your other duties." Maria told him.

"It was nice to meet you, Ezio." Leonardo said, "I hope our paths cross again someday."

Ezio nodded politely, winked at me, then went into the house.

I sighed. I guess I'll have to talk to Giovanni later... I thought.

"I should be off." I told Maria. "Arrivederci." I waved as I left.

Instead of heading off somewhere else, I took an immediate left around the courner of the building and began climbing the wall of the palazzo.

"What is she doing?" I heard someone say. "That's no way to act."

I ignored them, as I always did. I didn't have time to worry about what others said about me.

Though it seems that people have a problem judging when someone is out of earshot. I thought to myself.

When I pulled myself up onto the roof, I heard a window open, and Ferderico yelled, "Hey, get off our roof!" from the top story window. I decided to just ignore him, I wasn't much in a joking mood, but I heard Claudia say, "What if it wasn't Arianna? That'd be a little awkward."

I stopped and listened, my prankster mind going to work. Federico's apparently did too. He replied in an ominous voice, "Especially if it was someone dangerous, maybe being chased by the whole city guard."

"Shut up," Claudia said, a little shakily.

I strolled back to the edge of the roof and swung down into the window (almost flying straight into Federico), and screamed as loud as I could.

The reaction was better than I'd hoped for. Federico jumped a little, but Claudia screamed louder than me.

I was barely able to talk through my laughter, "I got you so good!"

Light-hearted Federico joined in my laughter, pushing my shoulder lightly, but Claudia stubbornly replied, "I wasn't that scared."

"Are you kidding?" Federico stole my exact response. "I wish I had a painting of the look on your face!"

I had been able to work my laughter to a giggle, but when he said that, I was laughing so hard I was almost crying. "That'd be so great!"

A red-faced Claudia stomped out of the room, leaving Federico and I to finish laughing alone.

"You set that up perfectly." I told him, heading back out the window.

"I was hoping you'd play off of it." He chuckled. "Didn't think you would at first."

"I wasn't going to, but I changed my mind."

"Lucky me."

"Lucky you." I laughed, disappearing out the window.

I climbed back up to the roof and walked over to the side facing the gate leading into the courtyard of the palazzo. Leonardo had already left, and I couldn't see Maria either. I sank to the floor, sitting cross-legged on the warm roof and prepared to wait for Ezio to leave, still chuckling about the look on Claudia's face.

I was about to lean back, ready to ponder on my strange reactions to Ezio's behavior earlier, when I heard the door open. I was on my feet in an instant, just in time to watch Ezio take off down the street.

"Arianna, you can come down now."

I froze and looked down. Giovanni was standing in the doorway looking up at me. I smiled and chuckled.

How does he always do that? I wondered as I dropped off the roof.

Once there was stable ground beneath my feet, I walked over and gave Giovanni a hug.

"Salve (Hi/ Hello), Giovanni. Come sta (How are you)?" I greeted respectfully.

"Non importa (It doesn't matter/ Not important)." He waved his hand at me. "Avanti (Come in)."

I followed Giovanni into the house. This was the behavior that was worrying me.

"Is Petruccio upstairs?" I wondered aloud, trying to make a little conversation.

"Of course." He replied simply. His eyes were trained intensely on something on his desk.

"Oh." I looked around awkwardly.

After a few moments he sighed. "Arianna... You've had to suffer through my rants lately, so you know something is wrong, corretta (correct)?" He was pacing now.

"Si (Yes.)"

He paused, then continued pacing. "Only you, Maria, and now Federico know that my family comes from a long line of Assassini (Assassins)." He continued. I started. He never talked openly about the Assassins like this. Ever. " "I need you to know that... if something happens to me, I want you to teach Ezio of his lineage. Since you come from a long line of Assassins as well, I want you to teach him of the Creed and the proper way to follow it." He spoke as if he knew something was going to happen, and soon. Soon enough that he wouldn't have time to teach Ezio. A shiver ran down my spine.

"How... How am I supposed to teach him anything?" I exclaimed. "Almost everything I know is self-taught!"

"You've been taught well." He joked half-heartedly.

"B-but he's the same age as me!" I sputtered. "Plus, I'm a girl... Why would he take advice from me...?" I trailed off. I'd always been looked down on simply because I was female.

"But you're strong. That'll make all the difference."

The moment he stopped talking, I heard some faint noise. Giovanni must've heard it too, because he froze as I did. It sounded like many footsteps, getting closer and closer.

The door burst open suddenly and an uncountable number of guards came rushing through the door. I was quickly disoriented, couldn't tell which way the door was or where Giovanni was standing, and it was so loud. One of the guards shoved me aside harshly, making me stumble backwards and smack my head against a wall. I was unconscious before I felt the floor.

Coming back into awareness was a very slow process. There was a soft buzzing noise that eventually developed into a voice.

"Arianna! Merda, svegliarsi (Shit, wake up)!" Claudia was yelling at me.

I shook my head to clear the confusion, then looked up at her as my eyes focused. "Claudia? Wh...What happened?" I blinked once and bolted upright. "Where's Giovanni?" I realized how wrong everything seemed, and looked around.

The book case to my left was tipped over, and book were strewn across the room. All the paintings on the walls were soiled, most were on the floor. The papers that Giovanni had been studying were scattered across the floor as well, and some of the candles that had been lit were knocked over. It's a wonder the house didn't burn down.

"The guards came and took my father and brothers to prison!" She cried.

My thoughts immediately went to Federico, who I'd just talked to before I spoke to Giovanni. How long ago was that?

They then flicked to Ezio. He hadn't even been in the house... Was he taken too?

I open my mouth to reply, but I heard the door knob begin to turn.

I jumped and practically tackled Claudia into the courner where whoever it was wouldn't see us, and where Maria was sitting in a chair.

The door opened then, whoever was entering was moving slowly, cautiously. Claudia started to breath heavily, so I covered her mouth with my hand.

"Father? Federico?" The voice was vaguely familiar to me, but Claudia tried to get up, but I pulled her back.

The moment of silence was deafening, until it was broken by a thud of something hitting the wall, and Annetta, the live-in maid, gasping sharply.

"Oh, Ser Ezio, thank God!" She exclaimed.

"What happened? Where is everyone?" He recovered quickly.

I released Claudia.

"They took your father and brothers to the Palazzo della Signoria - to prison!"

"My mother? My sister?"

Claudia had paused to check on Maria, who was unresponsive, and now ran out to meet Ezio.

I scooted closer to Maria and shook her shoulder very lightly. She didn't do anything, just stared ahead blankly. I stood up so I could see her face better. She didn't even acknowledge that I was there.

"She's in shock..." I heard Claudia say.

I closed my eyes and looked down. How could I have let this happen? How could I have been so weak?

But you're strong. That'll make all the difference. Giovanni's words echoed in my head. I felt an anger growing deep in my chest. I had to fix this. I had to do something, because I could've helped stop this from happening.

I looked up at Claudia and Ezio.

"Is there someplace safe you can take them?" Ezio asked Annetta.

"Yes...? Yes! To my sister's!" She exclaimed.

"Good. Do that." Ezio directed. "I'll go to see my father."

"Be careful, Ezio. The guards were looking for you too..." Claudia warned gently.

He nodded and turned to go out the door.

I stood up then. "I'll see you soon." I told Claudia, meaning it. I'd decided that if I could do anything, I could protect Claudia and Maria, and make sure they were safe.

"What? Where are you going? You're just going to leave?"

"I need to talk to someone. He might be able to help." I hugged her, looked back at Maria, and left.

But he might not...

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEHOOO! I got all kinds of chapters up! I hope you guys like this, if you don't, sorry. Umm... Typos, if you see em, tell me in a review or PM me, and same goes for if I had any bad translation moments. Please review! I'd REALLY appreciate it. Seriously. Thanks!