Efflorescent Feelings
Chapter 10

Malik yawned, rolling over, using his hand to search for Altaïr as he moved his arm up and down the bed. When he was no where to be felt, he shot up and looked around, almost to desperately, for the assassin. Was last night just one of his many fantasies that were happening lately? As he saw up fully to sit on the edge of the bed his sore behind confirmed that what happened last night really did happen, making him flush and rub his neck in embarrassment. He had to push his thoughts back as the image of the taller man moaning popped into his head. The Dai sat up, and made his way over to his clothes laying on the floor, and slowly collected them before going to wash up.

After he made sure he was clean, and dressed, trying his best to hide the marks on his neck and failing, he climbed up the wall of the bureau to look around for Altaïr. He walked to the edge of the building, and smiled as he looked down, conversing with someone he couldn't see. He stood and watched him for a moment, his eyes not daring to look away from him as he studied his back. It was something Malik use to do from afar, but now that the two had shown their feelings to one another, he did not feel ashamed.

It was odd that the other man had his hood down, but he didn't take a notice of that as he froze noticing that he was talking to a woman. He seemed to be smiling, something he rarely did with strangers. What shocked him more, was when a small boy, from what he guessed was about three years old and looked almost exactly like Altaïr, ran up to the two, and hopped up and down trying to get the assassin's attention.

Malik's heart fell. He didn't know what to do at this point. Was he being played? He shook his head, not willing to let his tears fall as he rushed back to the bureau to sit and angrily draw a messy map. Maybe he was overreacting? He didn't know.

An Hour Earlier

Maria Thorpe sighed, holding her and Altaïr's son at her waist as she dodged people in Jerusalem. She didn't like the idea of seeing her son's father, but she knew she had to. The Ex-Templar had heard that the assassin had finished his mission, despite her dismay of the idea, and had to leave their son with him while she went overseas. She didn't like the idea of leaving Maj with his father, but had no other choice. She hoisted him upward, allowing him to climb up the rest of the wall, then followed him upward, and headed into the bureau.

As she made her way inside, looking around curiously, she was shocked to find the assassin and the Dai asleep in the same bed. She pushed Maj away from the door, telling him to sit on the cushions in the other room. She wasn't judging him in the slightest, despite what she was being screamed at by her "common sense" and walked over, lightly shaking him.

Altaïr groaned in protest, and opened an eye, looking up at her, and sat up blinking. "Maria?" he whispered, confused.

She dryly smiled, then gestured with her finger than he should follow, and left the room, Maj calling out that he was hungry. The assassin smiled at the sound of his son, and quickly got dressed in his clothes, leaving his hood off as he rushed out the door, carefully closing it so not to disturb Malik.

"Baba!" Maj shouted, rushing over to Altaïr and tackling him, as he hugged his son closely.

"Care to share?" Maria asked, moving her hand to point to Malik's door, raising her brow curiously. Altaïr coughed and looked away, wishing he could avoid the subject with his ex-lover. "After all we've been through, you think I'm going to condemn you to hell for your actions, don't you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No, of course not. Just a longer story then I'd like to tell," he said softly, looking down at his son who was snuggled up to him perfectly content with being in his father's arms.

"So, that's Malik I assume?"

"Your memory is as good as ever," he commented, making her smile and nod her head in response, "What do I owe the pleasure of your early appearance?"

Maria shrugged and absentmindedly played with the end of her shirt, "I know we agreed that you and I would meet up in Masyaf, but I must go to Spain... I am needed there as soon as possible. There is no problem with this... correct?" she asked, clutching the shirt in her hand.

"Of course not," Altaïr lied, as he knew that Maj would probably get in the way of his and Malik's plans for the future for the Brotherhood. He watched as she smiled, and headed to the wall.

"Shall we go to out to converse?" she asked, turning to look back at him. He nodded and stepped forward, swinging Maj to cling to his back, the boy giggling all the while as he climbed up after her.

They sat on the roof, Maj climbing in his father's lap as Maria and Altaïr stared at each other a moment. "Are you happy?" she asked after a moment of silence.

He sat there a moment, then slowly nodded his head, "I am."

"He makes you happy?" she asked, meaning Malik.

"He does," he answered without hesitation.

"Altaïr... I might not come back..." she whispered after a moment.

"What about Maj?"

"I have talked to him... he knows. He knows he is to stay with you. There's nothing left for me here. You have your life, and I have mine. I cannot continue to chase your shadow watching over our son with nothing more to look forward to in my life. It was a lot to ask for our three year old, but he is smart, he knows what forever means, and he knows that this means we might never cross paths again...

"But this is something I need to do. I have been selfless for the last three years, I carried him while you chased the future, and the dreams of the Assassin's Creed. Maj wants to be like his father. This means that he cannot go with me. He cannot follow his fathers footsteps if I take him to Spain with me..."

Altaïr listened to her carefully. He nodded his head, keeping his arms around Maj, who watched his mother speak. "This is what you want?" the assassin asked his son, who looked up and nodded his head quickly. "It's a dangerous life, you know that?"

"I want to be just like you! I want to beat the bad guys!"

Altaïr and Maria chuckled at his innocence, and smiled. Maria stood and headed to the side of the building, carefully climbing down as Altaïr followed, Maj once again on his back. This was going to be hard to explain to Malik. He was meaning to tell him about Maj, and that would mean telling him of the past seven years, something he was dreading. But he loved Malik. He had to be honest with him. What he didn't know, was while he was saying goodbye to Maria, Malik was watching them, unaware of what was really going on.

After they said their goodbyes, Altaïr climbed back up the wall, going to search for an apple for Maj to have. He hopped down, into the bureau, and set down his son on a cushion, blinking as he saw Malik drawing, looking annoyed. "I need to talk to you," the Dai sneered as the assassin passed him to the store room.

"I intend to. Just give me a moment," he requested, walking into the room, finding the small stack of apples he was looking for, then taking one and walking back over to his son and handing it to him.

Malik walked over to his room, Altaïr following as he told Maj to stay put, and slowly closed the door, keeping it open a small crack to listen for his son. "Just who exactly is that? Please tell me that that's your nephew and that woman you were with was your long lost sister!"

Altaïr grimaced, "Ah, well... No..." Malik looked enraged, turning his back to the assassin, trying hard not to attempt to strangle him with one hand. "But listen to me, I need you to hear me out! I love you, Malik. I wasn't lying yesterday. I thought, five years ago that I was in love with another... a woman, named Maria... She use to be a Templar-"

"Oh that's great," Malik half sneered, looking back at Altaïr with hateful eyes.

The taller man sighed softly and slumped his shoulders in defeat. "If you aren't going to hear me out-"

"Just continue," the Dai demanded, keeping his glaring eyes focused on the assassin.

"She use to be a Templar, but betrayed them and sought me out, followed me until I unwillingly put my trust in her, and allowed her to help me assassinate a man named Robert de Sable... you remember him?" Malik nodded grimly, looking down as he recalled the man sentencing his brother Kadar to death. "We killed him, and she continued to follow me, assist me in killing many more terrible men in both Acre and Damascus. I misread my trust in her as love, and she bore me two children. Maj and Victor. Victor died a year after Maj was born from an infection that he received. After Victor died, I found myself sick of myself. I couldn't figure out why. I admitted openly, that I did not think I loved Maria, and she openly admitted that she was recently feeling the same. We agreed to part our ways, me returning to the brotherhood, and her to raise Maj in Acre.

"It was after I returned, that I realized the mistake I had made, that the feeling of love that I was feeling was only the feeling of trust that I felt with her, the feeling of friendship. I followed Al Mualim, and did as I was told, only stopping to see her and Maj every few months. I was going to tell you about him, and about Maria, I wasn't expecting her to come and tell me that she was leaving for Spain, that Maj wanted to be with me, and become an assassin. All I can really ask of you, is please, if you are mad at me, take it out on me. Just don't let my son see it."

During this explanation, Malik's expression was softened. He stared at him with hard eyes, but Altaïr couldn't tell exactly what he was thinking. The Dai looked to the ground, not saying a word as he passed him and walked out of the room. Altaïr followed him, and watched as he sat next to Maj, who was still munching happily on the red fruit.

"You admire your father?" he asked him, softly. Maj looked up, and shook his head up and down vigorously, the juice from the apple running down his chin in a wet mess. Malik reached out with his sleeve and carefully wiped up the juice before looking over to Altaïr.

"We'll have to trek for Masyaf soon," Malik stated, looking to Altaïr who nodded his head. The Dai stood, walking to the exit of the bureau, and climbing out. The assassin climbed up after him, wrapping his arms around his waist, despite his groans of protest.

"I apologize for not telling you sooner," he said softly, resting his chin against the other's shoulder pouting his lip out doing his best impression of a puppy dog.

The Dai glared at him, and rolled his eyes looking up at the sky, "It's in the past, we can only move forward from here," he whispered. The taller man smiled, and nuzzled his face in his shoulder humming a soft 'mhm'.

"Well, come on then, we need to pack our things and head out," he stated, trying to turn, but unable to due to Altaïr's arms holding him in place. "Altaïr..."

"Just let me hold you for a little while longer," he whispered in return, his voice sounding pained. Malik wanted to question it, but stayed silent as he looked at the top of the assassin's head concerned. He slowly lowered his head, looking down to the ground, hoping and wondering if their future was going to be better than the past.

Review Responses:

Tom Riddle III: Lol! Glad you were satisfied xD. But we shall see~ Not revealing anything :P

xxxAREESHAxxx: I'm actually not use to writing that sort of thing, so I am very pleased to hear that you enjoyed it :3 as for your challenge, I hope you enjoy it :D

Stylet-Rouge: Yeaa, it was the only thing I could really think would work after a few hours of debating over what to do, and I'm glad it turned out like it did xD. I accept your challenge, you shall see your request in the next chapter~

191026: I really love the drawing you did. It isn't rubbish at all, much, MUCH better than my first attempt at drawing Malik. * nudges terrible drawing under my bed to hide it * As for the last chapter, I am glad to hear you enjoyed it :D

ChaosGarden: You flatter me to much! Thank you so much for your kind review. I am really glad to hear that you are enjoying the story so much, and I hope you continue to do so :)

Song Of The Midnight Wolf: I'm really happy that you like it :D~

Note:
Wow, I'm so overwhelmed with how much you guys liked the last chapter, and the whole story so far as a whole. I really didn't expect it to kick off with so many people adding it to their favorites and alerts, but I can honestly say I'm thrilled about it. I'm really enjoying all the things you all have to say, and I thank you all for making my day a little brighter with each review I read. Thank you, you guys!

Also, I apologize for taking longer than normal, and still not uploading the FedericoxDoctor one shot. I've gotten very busy lately and have been trying my best to get in some writing, but have found it hard to do so D:

Short 'N Fluffy:
Remember! If you want to see a pairing for a Short 'N Fluffy mini story just list the two characters, and what the setting will be (or an idea of what you want to see) and I'll work from there. Simply leave me a comment on DA, my email, or in a review!

Featuring: Ezio and Kadar

Requested by: xxxAREESHAxxx

Note: This was extremely hard to do. I don't know why. So If it didn't come out that great, I really apologize x_x;

Ezio was always fond of the taste of sweets, so while he was visiting the city of Jerusalem before his trek to Masyaf. He found a stall filled with all the sweet things he had been craving, buying up as many as he could afford. The master assassin knew that he shouldn't be eating such things, but the fact that he was able to right now comforted him.

Exiting the town with his sweets in hand, he headed to the town of Masyaf. It was a long trek, yet, but it might be what he needed. He wasn't going to some place where he knew he had friends to back him up. He was headed to a town his ancestor once lived in, a town that he knew nothing about other than the things that he had seen in his visions of Altaïr.

Ezio patted the side of his horse, nibbling on one of his sweets from underneath his hood. His eyes flashed to the right as he saw a ghost like vision of his ancestor and a smaller man running behind him, calling out for him to wait for him. He halted his horse, staring at the smaller man as he disappeared along with Altaïr. He shook his head, the image of the man's face embedded in his mind.

The sky was darkening, and he was beginning to regret his choice of trekking out of Jerusalem at so late during the day. He halted his horse, dismounting it, then lead it into the trees off to the side, where he would camp out. He made a fire, before sitting against a rock, munching on the rest of his sweets, ignoring the images of figures running all around him.

The boy stopped and sat next to him, making Ezio jump, and look to him confused. It was obvious he wasn't real, least not anymore, but the fact that it was next to him scared him slightly. The figure removed his assassin hood, leaning back against the rock as well, making it seem really real. He reached out to touch it, but his hand went through it. He didn't know if he was expecting anything out of it, but he was half hoping he'd be able to touch him.

"I've always liked candies," the figure spoke, looking off to the side at Altaïr's figure.

"You're still young, Kadar. You might change your mind later on," he said softly in return.

"Never! I love them, so sweet," he shivered, giggling to himself as he hugged his arms around himself.

Ezio tilted his head to the side, placing a sweet in front of Kadar as if he could actually pick it up, then continued to eat his own, watching the figure. "So your name is Kadar. You are obviously a friend of my ancestors..." he stated out loud. "Wonder what happened to you and your ancestors," he wondered, looking up at the sky, listening to the sounds of the images conversing until he fell asleep.

Upon waking up, he discovered the the images were gone, making him almost sad. As bad at it was, he was enjoying the company of the figures. Perhaps he was just going insane, but it really didn't matter to him. He was getting older anyway, he'd probably blame it on that in the long run.

As he mounted his horse, and looked to the side, he could have sworn he saw the figure of the boy, hiding behind a tree. It wasn't faded, like a whole person. He rubbed his eyes, before setting off to Masyaf. His sudden interest in this Kadar, was really getting to him...