Another chapter on it's way.

To explain really fast, this one and maybe another one or two chapter is about the two years spent after the death of Vieri de' Pazzi. Which means it's from somewhere between 1476-1478. So it's normal if there's nothing coming from the actual game. I want to develop the relationship between Ezio and Aryana a lot more. And some details about her past.

So here it goes! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Assassin's Creed belongs to Ubisoft Montreal. I'm only borrowing it.

Chapter OO6 - Behind the hate

Monteriggioni - 1477

The sun was coming down, hot and burning, on the skin of the two eighteen years old young adult sparing. Sweat coming down their foreheads, both exhausted from hours of training. A year had passed already since all this conspiracy had been discovered and yet they hadn't returned to Firenze. Mario believed that for them to leave for a certain and undecided amount of time, they would need a certain amount of training, together. Mario suggested that they worked as a team. A year had gone by and the trust they had in each other grew greatly. But there was still something Ezio couldn't understand...

Ezio was about to throw the final blow as Aryana stumbled back from his last attack, but as he did she stopped him easily, holding his forearm with her right hand, kicking the sword out of his other hand. She lifted her head a bit, so she had eye contact with Ezio. She grinned.

'' I think we've had enough for today.'' she stated.

'' Agreed.'' he says as she released his hand and they walked back to the villa. Walking to the small kitchen, both exhausted.

In the kitchen they met Claudia who was eating dinner brought in by a maid. She looked at Aryana and her brother, both tired, coming into the kitchen. Aryana took a bowl of fruit, bread and some cheese and sat at the table. She started to eat right away.

'' Well, well, look who's eating now ?'' Claudia asked, teasing Aryana, who was upset lately and hadn't eaten anything in the last week.

'' My stomach couldn't handle the emptiness anymore.'' Aryana says, eating a grape.

Ezio sat next to his sister, a bowl of the same thing Aryana took, beside him.

'' How is your leg? Giving you any pain ?'' asked Claudia.

Aryana shrugged, '' It seems fine to me. The pain only comes when I put too much pressure on it.'' she finished.

'' You still stumble when the hit is too hard.'' Ezio states.

She looks at him, '' I know. I may need to practice that.''

He only looked at her and smirked. She rolled her eyes but kept eating. Suddenly, Mario came in, looking around, setting his eyes on Aryana.

'' Aryana, I need you to retrieve documents from someone. Marciano Lombardi.'' Mario says as Aryana pushes away her bowl.

'' That name took my appetite with it.''

'' You know him ?''

'' Sadly, yes.''

She ignored Ezio's arched eyebrows and started to make her way out of the room.

'' I'll wash up and leave.'' she says, her figure now out of everyone's eyesight.

'' I don't understand her.'' Ezio says.

'' Women are hard to understand, nipote. '' Mario says. Claudia threw him a look.

'' I don't understand why she's not comfortable with men.'' he says getting up, walking around the kitchen.

Mario and Claudia both arched their eyebrows, not really understanding what he meant. To them she seemed comfortable enough with anyone.

'' There's this...hate in her eyes even if she's being polite or nice with either me or mercenaries or anyone.''

'' Does it bother you, Ezio ?'' asked Mario.

'' No! What bothers me is...if we are going to be able to work together.''

'' Why don't you ask her ?'' Claudia says.

'' Like she would tell me if I asked her...'' Ezio says, a loud sigh coming out from his mouth.

'' Sometimes girls like when men pay attention to small details.'' Claudia tells her brother, '' Oh, I know why you're having a hard time with her!'' Claudia claps her hands together.

He crossed his arms over his chest, '' Oh really ? Why ?''

'' Because she's the first girl who is not at your feet after one of your said 'charming' smiles and compliments. Your courting is not working with her.'' she states as a matter of fact a small smirk on her lips.

Ezio broke eye contact for a second, '' It's...no, That's not it. Alright, there WAS that but there's something else.'' he stuttered. Claudia and even Mario smirked as Ezio simply walked away.

As he walked out of the kitchen, he saw Aryana. Her hair, wet, falling on her shoulders. She looked at him, '' Are you alright ?''

'' Yes.''

'' I was wondering if you would want to come with me ?'' she asked him, avoiding eye contact. Ezio could notice that this was not something she was used to asking often.

'' Sì. When are you leaving ?''

'' I'm putting my tunic on and I'm ready.''

He nodded, '' I'll be at the entrance.''

She, too, nodded and walked to her room. She took a good look in the mirror and watched herself. She lifted her shirt up, enough to see her stomach, scars running along the white skin. Her fingers traced the few scars that were on her stomach but in the corner of her eyes, she saw her tunic. She let her shirt fall down and walked towards the tunic, it was getting smaller. She had grown a lot since the first time she wore it. She sighed but slowly put on her tunic and weapons, checking herself one last time, pulling her hood on her head and walked out the door. Walking in the hallways of the big villa, she slowly made her way towards the entrance where Ezio waited for her. The past year had been very...long. She and Ezio trained most of the timeor did little missions here and there. They worked on trust and working together. Trusting him. All of that reminded her of that time when her father...

There stood a small girl, holding onto her father's hand tightly. Walking in the busy streets of the bella walked for an hour, she did not recognize that part of the city in her seven years of living here. Arriving in a small corner, her father knelt in front of her, his bright blue eyes piercing into his daughter's eyes.

'' Take this. Hold onto it ? Capito ?'' Franco told his daughter.

'' Sì!''

'' Papa will be back. Do not move at all!'' he said, looking around, nervously.

'' Sì! I will do as you ask!''

'' Promise me Aryana! Promise.'' he said, taking his daughter's shoulder and shaking her lightly.

'' I promise!''

'' Good now. '' He said as he left his daughter in the small corner.

The little girl sat on the ground, making sure her beautiful dress was not going to get dirty. Hours and hours passed, until that one little girl, who happened to be mature beyond her years, had realized that...

Her father had abandoned her. Since then, her trust towards men or women, even, was never big. She had trust issues. She went out of the villa, putting those thoughts away, and saw Ezio standing there, looking around. She arrived behind him, laying her hand on his shoulder as he turned around and looked down slightly to look directly into her eyes.

'' Ready ?'' she asked him.

He nodded as they both started sprinting towards the stables outside the city. They both go on their horses. And started making their way to meet Marciano.

'' Do you know where he is ? '' Ezio asked her.

'' He's usually in San Gimignano. Not the actual city, the countryside mostly.''

'' How do you know him ?''

'' Again with questions ?'' she teased, '' Ever since I started to do what I do now, he's been an associate of ours for years now. And...he's been courting, even though it was mostly to tease , me ever since I was 15.'' she said.

Arched eyebrows, Ezio asked, '' Courting you ? Is it working ?''

She threw a look at Ezio, '' I'd think you would know.''

'' I'll take that as a no.'' he said.

She laughed a good hearted laugh and Ezio, surprised, turned his face to her. She looked at him.

'' What ?''

'' I've known you for a year and I never heard you laugh. You were always serious. And if you laughed, it was with sarcasm.'' he said.

'' I guess I'm opening up a bit.''

'' Why weren't you open in the first place ?'' he tried asking.

'' I knew that talk would come.''

'' How come?'' he asked.

'' It's obvious. I see your wondering why I'm acting a certain way, especially when it comes to-''

'' Trust.''

'' Yes.''

He sighed, '' Then...?''

'' I was born in Venezia. I lived with assassins since the age of seven.''

'' Your parents let you be an assassin ?''

'' No, of course not. My father, one day, came into my room with a bag. He told me we were going to take a walk and eat. I believed him...and then, arriving where he wanted us to stop. He gave me the bag that was packed with food, clothes and water. He told me not to move and stay there until he came back. I promised. He left and...never came back. Two weeks later, I was with Assassin's. And lived on with my life.'' was all she said, looking in front of her, avoiding Ezio's gaze.

'' Mi dispiace-''

'' Don't. You didn't know. Now you do.''

'' Thank you for telling me.'' he said, unsure of what to say.

'' No pro-''

'' Aryana D'Angelo, mia cara! Already a year without seeing you.'' said a voice that made her shiver.

'' A year without seeing you and there I was happy, now...I'm sad. Give me the documents stronzo. '' she asked him while Ezio laughed very silently. She smiled at Ezio, as she heard his laugh.

'' You don't even want to say hello. Your words hurt me,'' Marciano said as he laughed before noticing Ezio, '' And who the hell are you ?''

'' He's with me, Marciano. Please show some respect.'' she said with a deep tone, an angry one. Ezio was surprised that it had made her angry, the tone he had taken with him, but made him somewhat happy.

But Marciano, didn't like him, '' If you say so.''

'' Now the documents.'' she said while extending her hand towards him. But his hand stayed behind his back, that was weird.

'' I'm sorry, it seems I have them.'' said a guard, an agile one, '' Kill him.'' he said while other guards came from behind a small house next to them came out and one of them took his sword and slit Marciano's throat. Marciano's body fell, limp, on the ground.

'' NO!'' she screamed as she took out a throwing knife, killing the guard immediately. Ezio drew his sword out, ready for an attack.

'' We do not want to fight you. If miss, here,'' pointing gently at Aryana, '' Agrees to come with us. No harm will be done.''

Aryana threw a dark glare at them, '' Harm as already been done.'' she says as she jumps from her horse, killing another guard, in the background she could hear sword being drawn out of their sheath. Ezio fought with one of the guard, still on his horse and killed him easily. They both stopped and looked at the agile guard, who stood there, surprised that two young adults got rid of three guards in a matter of seconds. He thought it would have been an easy task. He looked around and started running. Aryana did the same.

'' Aryana! Wait!'' Ezio yelled behind her.

She kept running and running, not wanting to stop until her blade found its place in the guard's skull. The guard suddenly stopped and turned around, hitting Aryana straight in the face, shocking her. She stumble but gained her composure very fast and blocked his next attack, while taking out her sword from its sheath. She attacked with a hard blow on his left side, while he counter attacked at her immediately after but she dodged to her right where she could see, from the corner of her eyes, that Ezio hadn't followed her. The guard then ran towards her but she dodged and as his back was now facing her, she dropped her sword and activated the mechanism of her hidden blade and killed him.

'' Requiescat in pace, bastardi! '' she said as she searched the body for the documents, which she found very easily. She got back up and walked slowly towards Ezio and Marciano's dead body.

She arrived and Ezio was waiting patiently beside the dead body. He looked at her. She looked down at the body and knelt beside it, whispering, '' Requiescat in pace. '' she closed his eyes.

She looked at Ezio and handed him the documents, '' Here.''

'' Grazie. Are you al-''

'' No, not really. But I'll be fine.'' she said as she got on her horse and started to make way towards Monterigionni. She knew Ezio followed closely behind, as to give her some privacy.

Monteriggioni

She walked very fast to get to the villa, wanting to go and get the blood off of her. Ezio almost running behind her, to catch up with her. She got into the villa and went straight to Mario's office, where the said man was standing looking at the wall of codex pages.

'' Ah! You've returned- Aryana, are you injured ?'' he asked, suddenly curious as to why she was covered in blood.

'' Marciano's dead. It was a trap. Guards had caught him. They wanted me to go with them and they slit his throat.'' she said, '' But we have the documents.'' she said as Ezio took them out and gave them to his uncle.

'' Now if you'll excuse me. I'll get the blood out of my hair.'' she just left.

She walked up the stairs and went into her room immediately, a few minutes later, a maid had come in with towels and a bucket of water. She took off her weapons, throwing them on her bed, the tunic came off afterwards, throwing it on top of the weapons. She stood in her white blouse and pants, she had just realized that she hadn't tied her hair like she usually did. Her curled hair fell on her shoulders. She went to the mirror and placed it in front of the bed, where she went to sit, putting the bucket of water on a small desk she had dragged with her, and she started to clean her hair. The water soon became red and she was not even halfway through washing it.

There was a soft knock on the door.

'' Come in.''

The door opened to reveal Ezio, '' Aryana, are you alright ? '' he asked.

'' Sì.''

'' Then why are you crying ?'' she looked up at him when he said that and looked at herself in the mirror, noticing some wet streak going down her face. She had been crying this whole time.

'' I hadn't realized that...Pezzo di merda, why did he have to die?''

'' I thought you didn't like him.''

'' He may have been a stronzo but he was definitely a good man, still. He became an informant after his wife and children were killed by templars. He got the job done and could be tolerable from time to time.'' she said as she washed the tip of her hair angrily.

'' Then...why are you mad at yourself ?'' he asked as he closed the door and approached her.

'' Because I should have known when he asked you who the 'hell' you were. He never is like that. It's like things weren't going according to plan and he is not a man with a plan, never. I wondered but then I refused to go with them and he was already-'' she stopped as more tears threatened to fall.

'' They tied him up so he wouldn't move. He couldn't do nothing!'' she stopped talking afterwards. She had just realized that she had cared about that man, even though he kept teasing her. She heard steps coming closer and felt the bed sink in under the pressure of a body, Ezio.

'' It's not your fault. Do not blame youself. You killed the bastards and sadly, there's nothing we couldn't do. ''

She looked at him, seeing him up close, '' You're right. I guess there was not much to do.''

She saw Ezio move his hand up to her hair, grabbing the tip of it, while with his other hand he grabbed a towel, dipped it into the water and brought it up to Aryana's hair, cleaning the blood there was. He then took the same towel and dipped it once more in the water, this time though, with his right hand he grabbed her face delicately and brought the towel up and cleaned the blood and dirt off her face. She shivered under his gentle touch, looking only at him. Minutes later, he had finished and had put all the towels in a basket the maid would later pick up to clean, along with the now dirty water.

'' You should go to sleep. Take some time to rest.'' he tells her as he was walking out of her room.

'' Ezio ?''

He turned around, '' Sì ?''

'' Thank you.'' she said as her sleepy eyes fluttered to sleep.

He slightly smiled and closed the door, leaving Aryana to her sleep. He went to his room and sat on his bed, thinking. He too, somehow, felt guilty for Marciano's death but he knew not to feel guilty over it. He suddenly heard steps and someone coming up and he saw his uncle.

'' Still trying to understand her ?'' Mario asked.

Ezio sighed, '' No. Not anymore really.''

'' So you understand her?''

'' I don't but...I can imagine.''

'' Diner will be downstairs. I don't know if she'll come down...?'' Mario asked.

'' I don't think so. I will bring it to her.'' Ezio said, passing a hand through his bangs.

'' Grazie nipote. ''

Ezio only nodded as he removed the tunic to be left in simple clothes, although he kept the hidden blade on him. He got up and went down to get himself some food. He stayed in the kitchen for almost two hours, talking with his uncle about what was to come next. When everyone had left, he grabbed some food and went to Aryana's room.

He opened the door and entered the room, closing back the door behind him. He put the plate of food on the small desk close to her bed. He sat on the bed and gently shook her, wakening her in a matter of seconds. It took her a few seconds to realized that Ezio was the one waking her up and she looked up at him.

'' Hmm?''

'' I brought some food for you.''

'' What time is it ?'' she asked sitting up in the bed.

'' You've been asleep for almost two hours.'' he told her as she finally realized that only two hours had passed.

'' It seemed like it was longer.''

Ezio smiled, '' Here.'' he said as he gave her the food.

'' Thank you.''

Monteriggioni - December 17 1477

'' We will go back to Firenze. We leave in 13 days and we will return when time permits.'' Ezio told his uncle, Aryana leaning on the wall behind him.

'' Bene. I will stay here. If you need anything, you know where I will be.'' Mario said, happy that his nephew would leave to finish what Giovanni had started.

'' Thank you uncle. For everything.'' Ezio said.

'' My pleasure, nipote. '' Mario said as he left his office.

Ezio turned towards Aryana, '' Ready to leave ?''

'' Sì! By the way tomorrow, I will be in hiding.'' she told him as they both left the office, walking beside each other.

'' Why?''

'' You will know tomorrow.'' she said as she left to go on the roof. It became her favourite spot to relax after a long day.

Ezio simply shrugged and left to the training grounds.

Authors note:

So this is another chapter. I would have finished before but I was playing Assassin's Creed Brotherhood! Which is AWESOME. Already finished it and I'm starting to write the sequel to this story..^^ But yeah, the next chapter will come maybe this weekend.

R&R ! Appreciated. Constructive ones please! ^^ No bashing.

Hope you enjoyed!