Although it was not longer necessary for the two to hold hands, Ezio said nothing of it as him and Leonardo found a place to sit in a small rooftop garden. It was a truly beautiful and inspirational place, with marble pillars overgrown with vines and dappled with blossoms. There was even a small fountain, with water pouring from the mouth of a majestic stone lion. An overhang of branches protected them from prying eyes, while the height of the garden gave them a marvellous view of the party beneath them. Indeed, the setting was perfect! Ezio could not have dreamed of a better place to put his plan into action. As the sleepy coos of nesting birds fell silent, the music and laughter from the streets drifted upwards as the festivities began.

Leonardo seemed to be enjoying their surroundings, observing their hiding place with eyes brighter than the stars above them. Glancing down, he noticed he and Ezio were still holding hands. Turning a pale shade of red, he stammered something unintelligible, expecting Ezio to drop his hand, before looking up, confused when Ezio tightened his grip. The music below seemed to grow louder.

"May I have this dance, Leonardo?"

Desmond paced his room, frustrated, with music from his ipod at full blast. He figured everyone could probably hear it from the rooms over. Not fair! How come today's animus session had to leave him on such a cliffhanger? How the hell was he supposed to sleep tonight when he didn't know the outcome of Ezio's evening? So not fair! Shaun walked in, yawning.

"Desmond, you're still awake? Is there a problem or something?"

Desmond never considered himself to be a particularly impulsive perfect. His (incredibly logical, might he add) excuse for drawing Shaun into a flurry of mad dancing was that he needed to "practice", when Shaun gave him a look that said he was "out of his bloody mind". Later, he remembered that practicing dancing in the real world would so not help Ezio back in Venice, hundreds of years ago, but it had seemed really, really, logical at the time.

Then again, it had also seemed totally logical when he so accidentally smashed his mouth against Shaun's in, once again, a mad flurry. Mad flurry- that word seemed applicable to pretty much everything. Desmond's thoughts, for example. How Shaun had left his room after what Desmond could probably say was the best make out session he'd ever had. How the awkwardness of the situation had hit him. Yup, everything certainly seemed to be in some sort of mad flurry.

Everything sucked. A lot.

Desmond needed a way to fix it. A lot.

He figured he may as well talk to the girls. They seemed to always know what to do. Curling up in his bed, Desmond drifted into a light and uncomfortable sleep, head swirling with thoughts and ideas.

Leonardo tilted his head, Ezio with a quizzical look.

"Well?" Ezio pleaded. He extended his other hand, heart pounding. Leonardo accepted, saying nothing. Why did masks have to make it so hard to read expressions? Ezio had no clue what Leo could be thinking! Ezio stumbled through his steps, feeling giddy. Nothing was going right! What was he going to do? Hearing a stream of pleasant laughter, he looked up to find Leonardo smiling at him.

"Amico mio, do you need help with your steps?"

Ezio felt heat rise to his cheeks as Leonardo gently led him through the movements, humming along to the music.

"Even an acrobat like yourself can get confused sometimes, si?" Leonardo teased.

"N-not true! I'm just… nervous…?" Ezio stuttered. Leonardo quirked an eyebrow.

"Nervous? About what?"

Ezio wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to respond to that. There was always the whole "tell the truth" option, but that seemed really, really, illogical.

"Oh, you know… guards and stuff…" He muttered.

Leonardo looked entirely crestfallen, and Ezio felt like he could hear the artist's heart crack. He also swore he could hear Rosa in the back of his mind calling "Idioto!" and giving him a good smack from the inside of his skull. He took a deep breath.

"I lied. That's not why I'm… uh… nervous." He swallowed and averted his eyes. Whatever happened to being smooth? Whatever happened to charming smiles? Whatever happened to not screwing everything up?

"Then what is it, Ezio?" Leonardo touched his chin, moving his focus away from the ground. Ezio gulped. He was pretty sure this was one of those "now or never moments" He leaned in.

"Leonardo…"

"Ezio, look! Fireworks!" Leonardo moved to go watch the bright displays of colour and light.

Ezio groaned, exasperated. Reaching out, he grabbed the artist by the waist.

"Oh no you don't!"

"Wha-"

And then Ezio did it. He may not have seen the real fireworks behind him, but he sure as hell saw some pretty brilliant ones in Leonardo's eyes as they kissed. Some felt like they were going off in his head, too.

Must have had something to do with the fact Leonardo was kissing back.

a/n: Whooo! Two chapters within two days of each other? No way! Enjoy :)

In other news, I received a scholarship to an EA games media arts program for 2d animation! Sweet deal! Unfortunately, I'll be probably too busy to write this weekend, as the head of the arts department at my school has requested I do a piece for the upcoming gallery show!

NINS OUT!