It was the kind of moment where your heart was in your stomach. It was only a moment, but it was enough for my cheeks to flush red, and when his hands left my waist, there was this horrid disappointment that I knew would probably stay with me a while. I remember clearly the thoughts that floated around in my head once we

The following morning as I ate breakfast, Ezio informed me that I'd be learning something extra today. I didn't take the slightest hint until I followed him to Mario, standing outside the villa, leaning against the training rink. I think I could've slapped him for the smug grin he had on his face in that moment, and I actually did later on, when Ezio was testing me on what he'd just taught me. Mario and Ezio sort of tag-teamed with teaching me things. Just little tricks, or how to parry quickly, or the quickest way to stop a man's heart.

I took to it with a certain level of unease, however it was like imagining a breakup compared to the real-life equivalent; there was the imagination, where you could take everything with a pinch of salt, and then there was real life, where one would want to break down, or cry, or scream, or all of the above at once. It wasn't something you could take lightly, to be honest.

While I was fighting Ezio, I saw the same face of pure concentration and almost distance, from what he was doing. Mario had to tell him to concentrate a few times, which was surprising, as he was so good. It was almost making me feel bad about myself, however i was reminded a fair few times that i'd just started to learn this. It wasn't quite fencing, but it was very close. We weren't aiming simply to hit them.

I was never any good, and besides, it was only a matter of days before Ezio disappeared again. Mario and Ezio made a collective decision that I'd stay behind to be trained in swordplay, while Ezio went out and used the skills they were teaching me, to fight for his life. Well, they say that I make it more dramatic than it is, but it was the truth. I don't think anyone but Claudia were sure he'd come home, but then again, she'd known him all her life. Surely she'd know.

Again, the days swelled on and stuck together, and for a few days at a time, I was just bored. I guess my life was kind of bland when he left. I couldn't wait until he-WHAT. Why was I think about him like that? What the hell's wrong with me? He was a friend, a comrade, pretty much family. Wait a minute, did I have a crush? Really? I mentally slapped myself when I considered that for a moment, I did. I couldn't afford to screw this up, and just by a tiny schoolyard crush. Goddamn it, Abs.

I'm not gonna lie, I tried damn hard to be easy to live with, and over time, it was a few weeks, I think I discovered that this was home. Yeah, once every couple months I'd curl up in my bed and cry and get out my phone and just play with the buttons, but time made this easier. The nights I did this grew farther and farther apart, little did I realize.

I got along well with Claudia; she was left in charge of running the estate, as apparently Mario was too busy to do all the little things, so he left it to her. At first she took it on begrudgingly, but I think over time she accept it, hell, maybe even enjoy it. But if she did enjoy it, she never admitted it to me. She often sent me out to deliver messages. I got to go to Florence, and all those little villages inbetween.

Of course, unless it was urgent, and it required no stopping, someone would accompany me. I'd forged friendships among the military ranks, and before I knew it, another year passed. I woke up, staring at the ceiling, and today, was a very special day. I'd done an amount of training to lead to this, to this day, where I can't say I'd gotten much thinner, but I'd gotten far more fit. My range of survival skills doubled, maybe even twice over. I'd changed immensely, where I was still born at the close of the 20th century and raised until I was 15 in Australia, the last couple years have shaped my existence as much as the last ten before that.

No one really put much investigation into how I'd appeared in the streets of Florence a good 500 years before my time, but really, they had no records, did they? No Deaths, Births and Marriages like on Collins. People must get lost and others found all the time, so surely my case wasn't too unique. The language barrier was, though. And that I was fairly educated, too. That was an oddity in itself. All this, and I'd never really considered about what's happening back at home, "down under".

Well, I was under the belief I'd been pulled out of my time slot and placed here. Why here, I don't know, but I didn't think it was reversible. Obviously this was something the scientists of the world would have thrived over in their struggle to figure it out. If I'd been here for just over two years, then surely people would have given up looking for me at home. I didn't know how to feel about that, but okay. I didn't dwell much.

I don't know how long I stayed in bed, but I did find myself pondering exactly how different this would have played out in my alternative life course, thing. Parties, alcohol, presents, the lot. But here, they didn't really care if I drank wine, so it lost alot of its appeal, naturally. I wasn't expecting alot, I viewed myself as a slight intruder on their lives. But I decided I'd be happy with whatever I got, no matter how little. Old habits, even the most materialistic, die hard.

When I finally found the dining room, there was a rather spectacular sight. Plate, upon plate upon plate of food. I froze in the door way, for half a moment thinking I'd got the wrong room, until Claudia encouraged me to move out of the way.

"Happy birthday my dear!" she said, pulling up a chair next to my normal place. Pulling my eyes away from the table, I looked at her disapprovingly. She had a smug grin from ear to ear, and it occurred to me that she was just like her brother. I took a seat, and began to look around. When I reached for a plate of fruit, she slapped my hands away.

"But you just said—"

"It's not for breakfast, stupid!" she laughed at me. With a rolling of my eyes I managed to swoop up a peach. Brunch it is.

"And which of you fine ladies would be using such vile language in my presence?" Shooting upright in my chair, I stole a glance at the doorway. I instantly gave up trying not to smile at the sight I saw; Ezio, in normal clothes, for once, and smiling over at Claudia and I, with an expression I don't think I'd ever seen before. I'd forgotten what this feeling was like; it was like I was home again, having a sleepover with my three favourite girls, and all was well in the world. It was happiness.

I ended up pinching a few more pieces of fruit, and Claudia didn't seem to mind this time, because both of us were too enraptured by his stories. He told us all about San Gimignano, and the towers. He mentioned having to climb to the top of one, and by that point I was completely engrossed. I think there might have been a lot more he wasn't saying, assumedly because it was gory, but I really didn't mind him leaving out those details.

Mario, and a few of the mercenaries I'd grown fond of over the past while, entered the room in a line, just as Ezio finished up about a farmer who thought Ezio had stolen his horse. My stomach grumbled, and I'm pretty sure everyone in the room looked at me. Of course, my cheeks immediately got hot.

"Perhaps it's time to eat?" Mario said, quirking an eyebrow at me.

I think we were around the table for a fair few hours, and it was… fun. I got to watch Ezio play around with his sister, and everyone was laughing, and it was wonderful. That's the best way I could sum it up. I was chewing on what I thought was prosciutto when a boy, almost Ezio's height but very slight, appeared hesitantly in the doorway, requesting to see Mario immediately. I wasn't happy that he had to leave so soon, but I suppose the real world doesn't stop for birthdays.

The light started to turn a deep yellow colour as the sun touched the hills, and slowly, everyone said their goodbyes; I even received a couple bonne nuit's. Ezio and Claudia remained, and I helped clean up, regardless of how many times they asked me to sit down. Afterwards, I said goodnight to the two of them, and decided to go for a wander. It was still warm here, the air seemed to cling to my skin, even though it was very near complete darkness. The one thing I enjoyed about this place was the stars, how when you look on the horizon, there's no light. It's all a sheet of black, with white dots spread from east to west.

I think though, there was something that this hemisphere didn't offer me, and it was the Southern Cross. Whenever I was outside at night, no matter where I was, I could always see it, and now I couldn't. It was a loss. I think I was outside for maybe fifteen minutes, before everything began to cool, and I followed the pathway around past the statues to a back door, that was closer to my room. Well, it was closer to the stairs at least.

I was humming a song under my breath, until the sound of voices broke me out of my daze. I froze, before closely pressing myself to the wall.

"I think it's best that you leave tonight. The sooner you can get there, the better."

"But Uncle, what about Abigail? You said next time-"

"Do you honestly believe that's the best thing for her after her presence in Florence?"

"That was a year ago; she's better now, I can tell. The nightmares are getting more infrequent." Unsettling images were brought to mind, and I decided to buck up and just walk past. This obviously wasn't a conversation I was meant to be hearing.

"I just think she can handle it. And I can help. I was the same age when..." he trailed off.

"Do what you believe is best. Only, look after her."

And at that moment, I clenched my hands into fists and walked past, cringing because I knew they would have noticed me. I climbed the staircase, only reaching the top stair before Ezio stopped me. He invited me to come with him, right at this very second, on a trip to San Gimignano. Apparently there were things he needed to do... And he'd wanted to take me with him for my birthday. Not that it was a great present exactly, but at that moment, I would have been happy to do almost anything that involved getting out of town. It wasn't quite desperation, per se, but I was interested, and willing. With a weary smile, I agreed.

I didn't really have all too much to pack, and Ezio had already packed everything he needed, so we set off fairly quickly. I got to ride my own horse, one I may aswell have adopted, that was utterly gorgeous when I was riding her, but like all horses, a tiny bit scary when you stood beside them. We rode fairly quickly, stopping only once for a midnight snack. The moon cast a beautiful white haze on the countryside as we rode through it, and now that the moon was almost in the center of the sky, I could see almost as well as during the day, save for the occasional really dark shadow.

We arrived there well before sunrise, and oh my god, even at night, the city was gorgeous. There were only a few gas lamps turned on inside the city, but I could clearly see the outlines of the towers against the sky. We dismounted and Ezio led me through a winding blur of streets, myself basically dead on my feet, but Ezio was still alert, and was close to dragging me along, as it was. I barely registered when we pulled up at a doorway, and a thin line of yellow light splashed out onto the paved road. Ezio spoke a few hushed words, probably in an attempt to avoid breaking the quiet of the night, and we were granted access. Until I stepped inside, I hadn't even noticed how cold I was; my fingers could barely move.

Inside, there were a few women walking around, lounging on rich furniture, and none of them wearing a dress that covered every aspect of their body. There was a thin line between cleavage and cleavage, that I wasn't sure these women were aware of. The furniture was lush, in rich shades of blue, red, and purple. But particularly red. I saw them eying Ezio; as if it wasn't obvious, and a small pang of jealousy nestled itself a new home inside me.

But Ezio didn't seem to notice. It was unusual for me to see him like this; back in Florence, when he wasn't dead-set focused on his 'work', he was happy with checking out the local ladies, maybe chatting up a couple and disappearing for the night. I always forced myself not to care; it was a stupid thing to care about, anyway. But now, he was different. He led me up a set of stairs, holding on to my arm so tight I thought he was expecting me to fall over. And I almost did, twice.

He led me through a long corridor, with so many doors I quickly lost count, until we reached a door at the very far end. Opening the door, I had to lean against the door frame, scared my legs would give out as it was. I barely registered what the room looked like, only that where was a big, comfortable-looking bed in the centre of the room. It was a fight in itself just to get over to the bed, but I can't remember if I made it there or not.