Wooh! New chapter! I've had a bit of trouble deciding where I should set the story from now on, and who Ayame should be and so on...but I think I have it somewhat figured out now. Oh well, I hope it works out.

Florence, Italy

What is this horrible feeling? Why does it hurt so much?

Something in her chest was…aching. No, it wasn't aching, it was…beating. A beating heart. She hadn't had one of those in a very long time. In fact, it had been five-hundred years since she'd felt the burden of a beating heart. Her mind laughed only slightly. The spell had worked.

The only thing that concerned her at the moment was where she was. Her whole body was warm, quite comfortably so. She could not move as of yet, or open her eyes, but she could sense a lot of things. She could feel the breath of…something. Something quite big, as well as a second, louder heartbeat. Could it be…?

Ah, her mind said. So this is the beginning of life. This is where it all starts.

She deepened into her thinking and waited out the long days and months which it would take for her to experience birth for a second time.

"How is her health?" The woman sitting on the bed said. She leaned against the bed-rest, supported by big, fluffy pillows. She looked strained and tired, but stern all the same. "I do not wish to lose any more children, doctor. Now tell me, what is her health like?"

"She seems quite healthy," the doctor, who held the newborn child in his arms, said. "I doubt there is any danger of her death as of yet, milady."

"Give her to me," Clarice said. The doctor hurried over, laying the young child in her mother's arms. Clarice cradled her there and smiled at the little baby. "She is a pretty one. Inform Lorenzo that his daughter was born."

"Would you like to set a date for the baptism?" the doctor asked.

"Within the week would be good. I would like her to be christened soon, in case another death should occur."

"Very well, milady." The doctor left the room quickly, leaving Clarice alone with her ladies. They cleaned up around her. Clarice looked at her child for a few minutes, singing to it softly. The child slept peacefully in her arms. Clarice was surprised, of course. Every single one of her previous children had been almost impossible to control, always screaming and crying and kicking up a fuss. But this new baby slept as if there were nothing to cry about, and the world was peaceful and quiet.

Lorenzo de Medici entered the room, closing the doors behind him. "A girl?"

"She has your eyes," Clarice, replied. "Are you pleased?"

"Certainly," Lorenzo replied, picking up the child. "She will be taught as her sisters. I can already tell that she'll be quite the artist."

"A woman's place is not with art," Clarice said, although somewhat more weakly than her usual stern and biting temper. "She will be taught the word of the Lord, just as her sisters."

"Of course," Lorenzo said, rolling his eyes. "What else is there to be taught?"

Clarice sighed. "I am tired. You may send for a wet nurse if she gets hungry."

Lorenzo nodded, still holding the child. One of the ladies offered to take it, but he refused. "I wish to spend some time with my new daughter."

He carried her out, walking quietly through the halls of the Medici house. The child opened her eyes and looked up at the man who held her small frame. He smiled at her when he looked down.

How interesting…she thought. Looking into his mind, she could see that he was quite powerful. A ruler of the Florentine Republic, which, she was sure, she would learn more about later. So this is my new father. Lorenzo de Medici. And his wife, Clarice Orsini, my new mother. What a strange language…

"Come now, my child," Lorenzo said to the unassuming, or so he thought, new-born child. "You must learn of art before it is sucked out by those who call themselves holy."

The child only blinked at him, but right away decided that she liked this man. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad after all…

He carried the child to a large room filled with paintings and sculptures. "I am a great advocate of the arts, you see," he said, holding her up to see a great painting depicting some sort of holy scene. In it, a woman of fair hair was being crowned by two angels, while she held a small child in her arms. Five red-headed youths were also portrayed in the picture, one of whom the child recognized as the man who now held her, although his hair was really black. "Without art there is only destruction. Better to have chaotic art than chaos in politics."

The small child seemed to smile as he spoke. She reached her hand out as if to touch the painting, but the man held her back. "No, no, small child. Art is for looking, not touching."

"…servant of God, Beatrice Claudina de Medici, is baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." The archbishop finished baptizing the new born child and handed her back to the awaiting parents. Clarice took the child in her arms and followed her husband out into the carriage with her three other children.

"Why a name like Beatrice?" Clarice asked, devoting most of her attention to making sure that Lucrezia and Piero didn't start to fight, and that Maria wasn't about to fall off the seat.

"I've always wanted a child named Beatrice," Lorenzo replied, grabbing Maria and placing her on his lap. As the carriage bounced, so did the child, making her laugh enthusiastically.

"Quiet now, child," Clarice said. "If you do not stop, Beatrice might start to cry."

"Please, she's hardly made a sound since she was born." Lorenzo replied, hugging his year-old daughter closer to him. "Let your children have a bit of fun. Don't you remember being a child, dear wife?"

"Quite hardly," the woman said, with one of her famous eye-rolls.

I've always loved the Renaissance. It was a horrible time to be a woman, but regardless, it was a beautiful moment for artists and scientists. I chose the Medici family because there was a child born to them named Beatrice, but she died shortly after her birth. I figured that kind of fit the timeline, so I'm changing history :D