-I am getting sick. Which sucks. Sore throats can all go to hell! :I
-I started replaying ACII. It's been pretty fun. :3

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Chapter 10

Shadows of The Past

There were many wounded from the battle. Several were dead. Still, Mario and the remaining collected those who had fallen and actually performed a service for them before burning the bodies. Some of the fallen had been so young—it was a shame that they had to die so early in their lives. We left the flames to burn high in the sky, not letting the memory of them die as easily. The glow was still visible far down the road, but as we turned around a bend and went through a small grove of trees, the light disappeared and we were all left in the dark.

I kept to the back of the group, not finding it in myself to be as excited as the others about our victory. Something deep inside was disturbing me, causing my thoughts to try and pry into the darkness that filled the majority of my mind. I was trying so very hard to remember something, but I couldn't quite make it out.

So lost in thought was I that I didn't even notice when one of the horses from ahead dropped back to walk beside me.

"Salute."

The voice did register, but I didn't want to acknowledge it. Keeping my gaze firmly forward, I prodded my legs into the side of my horse, making it walk faster.

"Come now, Narina," Ezio insisted, moving up next to me again. "You should be happy. Vieri is gone."

I should have been. But I wasn't. Gritting my teeth, I continued to prod my horse into going faster. "Leave me alone," I finally spat. "Just like you were planning on doing before."

He sighed. "I wasn't planning on leaving you alone, Narina. I was just..."

"Going to go to Spain without even telling me that you were leaving!" I finished angrily for him, snapping a glare back at him. "What was I supposed to do? Just wake up one morning and find you all gone? Take all of the responsibility of this Creed that your father meant for you? I was just your replacement, wasn't I?" Fed up, I turned around and snapped the reigns, making the horse break out into a gallop as I intended to ride back into the middle of the group.

"Narina, I just—!" He never got the rest out. After a loud 'smack' I was suddenly being tossed backwards, off the back of my horse as I tumbled down into the dirt, scraping up my arm and probably bruising in a few spots. When I gathered my bearings, I looked up, seeing my horse dancing nervously up the road a bit, obviously in discomfort.

Ezio was kneeling beside me, sitting me up. "Are you okay?" He asked, touching at my arm that was bleeding in a few places.

I frowned, ripping away from him. "You are such an asshole!" I snapped, standing up on my own as I brushed off the dirt from my bottom. "Why'd you scare my horse? I could have been killed! God, it's just one thing after another with you, isn't it?"

Ezio, who had stayed calm all before, turned angry, his dark brows pulling together. "Say what you really want to say, Narina, so we can stop all of this bullshit."

Bristling, I jabbed my finger right into his chest, through his hard, leather armor. "You think you're so much better than everyone else," I yelled at him, the anger coursing through me again. "All you care about is your well-being and how your life needs to be perfect! And I'm done with it! Run off to Spain, for all I care! I just wish you would have had the decency to say it right to my face instead of leaving me in the dust." I finished by spitting at his boot. "And I thought we were friends." With that, I turned and directed for my horse, the group far up the road.

"God, Narina, we are friends! Just—wait." His hand was around my upper arm, tugging me to a halt. I didn't want to talk anymore. I didn't want to face him, not with tears filling in my eyes. I was too scared to be abandoned again. But I didn't want to be comforted. I wanted to be mad. Trying to rip from his hold, I realized that he wasn't about to let go.

Helpless, I growled in frustration as I turned and faced him, the tears streaming down my face. "Let go," I demanded.

"No." He was pulling me towards him, closer and closer. I struggled hard, but I soon found myself nestled against his chest, holding me tightly to him. I made a few futile attempts to push at him, but it was no use. In the end, I actually ended up burying my face in the robes peeking out of his armor and dried my eyes, leaning into him.

"You and I will always be friends," he told me in a soft voice. "I knew if I were to tell you that I was going to Spain, you would have followed. Which I'm fine with, I promise. But I can't have you leave this great protection here—Mario is able to guard you from your enemies. I was just trying to keep you safe."

For Federico's sake, then. But I hardly think the brother would have approved of Ezio's methods. I finally pushed away, gently, but firmly enough that I broke free from his hold. "You're stuck here just as much as I am," I pointed out to him, my voice finally lowered. "Mario needs you. I need you. And besides, I think Maria and Claudia would prefer to stay in Italia."

He nodded. "I know. I've decided that I'm going to stay—at least a little longer."

Relief washed through me. "Well, then good."

I went for my horse which was making its way back over to us, and once I was safely mounted, Ezio began to lead the way, the others mere dark spots down the road. We didn't speak, but I didn't feel like we had to.

When we got back to Monteriggioni, the night was nearly gone. As we dismounted our horses at the stables, I realized that I had missed out on meeting Claudia's friend. Some other time. Ezio helped me take off the saddle and walked with me up to the villa. Before we entered through the main door, Ezio grabbed my arm and tugged me to a stop.

"Narina," he muttered, making me look up at him.

"What is it?" I wanted to go to bed. I was so tired.

Ezio hesitated. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

My brows raised. "Oh." He let go of me. "It...it's okay. I know I was angry before, but... I don't know." I let a small smile appear. I jabbed my finger into his chest. "Just don't let it happen again."

Ezio smiled back. "Deal."

"If it does, I won't let you off so easily."

"Fine."

We walked into the front hall and there Mario was standing, talking with the master trainer. He turned at our entry. "Nipote! Narina! You are finally here!" Despite it being very early in the morning, Mario's voice was still very boisterous. "It's a great thing you came when you did, Ezio!"

"Si. I am sorry that I did not see my duties before, Uncle. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Of course, Ezio!" Mario waved us to follow him. "Come, come—I must show you something that your father and I started many years ago." I wanted to go to sleep, but I was also very curious about what Mario was talking about. I battled with myself before I decided to follow them through the villa to Mario's office. Inside the small room, Mario gestured up to the giant wall, a few papers pinned up on the wall. "See this, Ezio? This is the answer to all of our questions."

Ezio looked up at it incredulously. "A wall holds our answers?"

"Not yet, but it will!" Mario took a hold of Ezio's shoulders, drawing him closer. "You see, my boy, we have to find these pages. Once we have them all, our goal will be finished!"

"What is our goal, Uncle?"

Mario stepped away, approaching his bookshelf. "To find the truth, Ezio, like our brothers before us. The Creed has been around for many more years than we. Come." Mario moved a few books from the shelf, revealing a small square block hiding behind the shelf. He reached forward and pressed it into the wall. A sudden rumble shook the ground beneath me, and then the wall beside the bookshelf suddenly started to shift, moving aside as the stone scraped loudly against itself. The wall moved aside to reveal a small hallway that dropped down into the darkness. With a candle in hand, Mario led us down the stone hallway that dipped lower and lower. Ezio and I cast each other a short look as we descended down into the dark, feeling some sort of eery foreboding appearing.

After slowly making our way down a maze of stairs, a light beckoned us. The large opening revealed a large, circular room. We walked up to the small balcony over the room, staring around with curious eyes. There were a total of seven statues lipping the edge of the room. The one in the middle, directly in front of us, as blocked off by a cage.

"What is this?" Ezio whispered in awe.

"This," Mario said with a great grin, "is the sanctuary! It was built by my great-grandfather, Domenico Auditore, to honor the Assassin's order and to protect its secrets."

"What kind of secrets?" I asked, leaning over the low wall to gaze upon the statues.

"I'm not sure." Mario waved for us to follow him again, and he led us down into the room where we stood in the middle of the room. The statues were giant, all forms of men and women. Mario went into detail of who each statue was, telling us of their master assassin status and what they had done to help save humanity. The last statue, the one in the middle behind the cage, was a broad man, his left hand held out as a hidden blade was extracted.

I leaned against the cage, my fingers falling through the bars as I stared up at the stone face.

"This is Altair," Mario explained. "He was the one who created the creed that we live by today. He was the grandmaster back in the Holy Land many years ago. With his knowledge and his persistence, he has carved a path for all of us to live by."

"Altair," I murmured, squinting my eyes at the statue as if to see something hidden beneath the stone.

"Why is it caged?" Ezio asked, grabbing onto the bars like I was.

Mario hummed under his breath. "I do not know. Perhaps there is something hidden within. In any case, the way to open them is to find the six tomes." Mario had approached the side of the cage and patted the pictures carved into the stone. "These tomes are all scattered across Italia, hidden away in tombs that Domenico also went through the trouble of constructing and hiding. Giovanni and I looked for them once when we were younger, but...alas, the years have not been so kind."

"Want us to look for them?" Ezio offered, letting go of the cage and turning to his uncle.

"Not so fast, Nipote," Mario quickly said, reaching out and taking a hold of Ezio's shoulder. "As great as that is, there are much more important things on our hands. Vieri was only the beginning." Mario led Ezio back across the sanctuary. I gave the Altair statue one more look before I turned and quickly followed after them. "There are more allies that are behind him. Corrupt days are not far, my boy, and we need to stop it as best as we can."

"But how, Uncle?" Ezio sounded lost.

"It will not be easy," Mario admitted as we walked back into his office, "but we will find a way. We must, for the sake of humanity."

I found myself thinking about how long it would take to save humanity from destroying itself. Thousands of years? They could only survive for so long. Suddenly feeling uneasy, I pushed the thoughts aside and watched as Mario was digging around in his desk.

"I need you to take a look at this codex, to see if you cannot break the cipher." The man held out a page to his nephew, who took the scroll and held it in his fist.

"Actually, I have a friend who could probably crack the code with no trouble," Ezio explained. "He deciphered one for me two years ago."

"So you have a page? Well, bring it here!" Mario was excited, and Ezio went up to his room to get the page. Mario took the page, looked it over, and then pinned it up on the wall. "Magnifico!" He exalted, grinning broadly. "One more down. Ezio, if you would, go to Firenze and get this one decoded, I would be very pleased."

"Of course."

"And while you are there, you can go after our next target on my list: Francesco De Pazzi."

I glanced up. Vieri's father? I guess it wasn't that surprising, considering that the last time that I had heard of him, he was imprisoned for murder. And seeing what kind of trouble that his son had been in, it wasn't any surprise to see that Francesco was a part of it all as well.

"Be careful, Ezio." Mario reached out to grip his nephew's shoulder. "You are now a man, and you have many trials to come. It will be dangerous. You must keep yourself safe."

"I will." Ezio then turned to me, a sense of determinacy coming over the two of us. "Narina, we leave for Florence in two days."

Although I did want to go see Leonardo and the city again, I found enough gall in me to fold my arms and cock a brow at Ezio. "Oh, so now you want me to follow you?"

His face fell. "Narina, I though we—."

"I was kidding," I interrupted. "I don't want to argue—I'm exhausted. We'll fight tomorrow."

A small smile appeared on his face. "Okay. Goodnight, then."

"Narina." Mario was grabbing my shoulder, beaming down at me. "You did very well tonight. Thank you for your assistance."

I nodded happily back, raising a finger to poke it into his chest. "I may not have the name or the blood to prove it, but I'm as much Auditore as you two. I'll fight for whatever you need me to."

Mario laughed, patting my shoulder. "Never has it been better said!"

The next day consisted of spending some time with Claudia as she worked the books in the office. She asked me what it was like outside of Monteriggioni, like she had been imprisoned for many years. I laughed and told her that it was much the same—she wasn't missing much. She didn't like the fact that Ezio and I were going to Florence without her, but she understood that there was business to be done there as well as in the villa. It wasn't a vacation. She had grown up considerably from the two years prior, much like Ezio and I. I guess when your life changed so suddenly, you learned to take responsibility to try and keep everything around.

Ezio was gone that entire day, either training in the ring or helping Mario down in the town. I didn't get to have my argument with him, but when I thought about it, there was nothing to really fight about. And in any case, I was more sad than I was mad.

Finally, I woke up early the next day to strap into my light armor and meet Ezio down at the stables. He wore the normal white and red robes, saddling up the horses with packs and supplies. He glanced up at me as I walked into the stalls. "Up for a long day of riding?" He asked, tightening a strap.

"Yeah." I handed him my pack to which he moved to the other horse to strap on. "How long do you think we'll be in Florence?"

"I don't know." Ezio finished with the buckle and nodded to me. "Ready to go?"

I dipped my head in response. "Yes."

Swinging myself up onto the horse, Ezio followed in suite. With a run over of our supplies, Ezio concluded that we were ready to go. In a cloud of dust, we left Monteriggioni and headed for the city of gold.

The ride was quite uneventful, full of silence and the pounding of the hooves below. The sun slowly rose into the sky, a spring breeze rushing through the air. It was a nice day. Upon our mounts, it only took us about half the time to get to the city, the grand, red roofs appearing as we rode in around high noon. As we tied our horses just outside the stables, I looked over at Ezio from under the steeds large neck.

"Can we visit your family's grave?" I asked.

He glanced back at me. "If you really want to."

"I do." I felt like I needed to say something to them, although I knew well enough that my words could never reach them.

We finished up with the horses, and, much to my surprise, Ezio started to head away from the entrance to the city, walking along the edge of the city walls.

"What are you doing?" I asked, quickly falling into step with him.

"We're going to their graves," he responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Out here?" I was so confused.

"Narina." Ezio stopped, making me nearly run into him. "Think about it—my family was considered traitorous. The city wasn't going to bury them."

My breath hitched. "Then what happened to them?"

"I put their bodies on a boat that night before the city disposed of them," Ezio explained, his eyes hidden under the shadow of his hood. "I cast the boat off into the Arno, lighting it on fire." My heart seemed to stop at his words. "That way, they wouldn't be confined to some shit hole in the dark," Ezio murmured. "Instead, they'll be drifting on the currents of the water, heading out for a new adventure, even if it's in a small way. I think they would have preferred it that way."

He was right. Giovanni and his sons were much too ambitious to rot in a dirt pile, even in death. They were for excitement, for wonder and secrets. Dancing along the currents of the rivers, the seas, the oceans...I think they would have preferred that, as well. I tilted my chin up. "Can you take me to were you sent them off, then?"

He turned to me and nodded. With that, he continued leading the way around the city walls, wrapping around it until the Arno blocked us from advancing any further. Ezio dropped down the bank, standing near the water's edge. I quickly followed him, finding the spring mud sticking unpleasantly to my boots.

"Here?"

"Here," he confirmed with a nod.

I squatted down, letting my fingers drape into the water, watching how the current made the water bubble up around my intruding digits. I frowned. They were long gone now—far off on the current. Still, I felt some sort of weird connection at that moment, and I bowed my head to think of what I wanted to say to them. I mentally promised Petruccio that I would always look on the bright side just as he had, told Giovanni that he had no worries about Ezio and the creed, and I thought to Federico, while gripping onto the metal necklace, that I always thought about him, and missed him terribly, although I had accepted that he was no longer with me. With that, I stood straight and stared at the water, mesmerized by the bright reflections of light bouncing off of the surface.

Ezio gripped at my elbow. "Let's go."

We were able to get into the city with no trouble at all. It was strange, really—the last that we had seen of Florence, Ezio had been notorious, eyes always on the watch for him. But now, we could walk in plain sight without even raising any suspicion. It was nice, but it somehow made things more...intimidating. It was only a matter of time before hell would break loose.

"Do we want to stop by any other place before we go to Leonardo's?" I wondered to Ezio. "Maybe we should visit Paola, too."

"If we're here for a target," Ezio pointed out, "then we'll probably run into her sooner or later. We'll just go to Leonardo's for now."

I deflated. I had been excited to explore the city again, but I guess going straight to the Art workshop would have to do. Besides, there was only time for business—no time for idle fancies.

We were fast approaching the main area of Leonardo's workshop before something shifted in the air, making me stiffen and stop. Something wasn't right.

Without even a second thought, my eyes glanced up and over the crowd, searching. They landed on a man wearing a long robe, almost like a monk's. But the word of God was nowhere in those dark eyes of his. My gut clenched. It was one of those men.

I reached out and grabbed onto Ezio's sleeve. "What?" He asked, looking back at me.

"We have to go," I whispered, afraid the man might hear me. But his black eyes were already trained on me.

"What?"

The man started to move forward, making his way straight for me.

"Run!" I cried out as fear ripped through me, causing me to turn and bolt. Ezio was right behind me, although I could hear his confusion. I was so scared that I scaled the wall of a building and began to travel on the high ground, hoping to lose my pursuer more quickly.

"Narina, what are you harping about? Stop!" Ezio was very upset that I was making him run full speed, but I wasn't about to take any chances. I ran across a few more rooftops before I skidded to a halt, nearing toppling over when Ezio bashed into the back of me. "Are you crazy?" He demanded.

But I wasn't. In front of us, on the rooftop across the street, stood three men, holding weapons and seemingly waiting for us. A trap.

"Merda," I muttered, backing up further into Ezio, glancing around my ally. Behind us was the man in the robes, his deadly eyes still trained on me.

Seeing the new danger, Ezio shifted so that I was behind him from both sides. "Who the hell are these people?" He asked, words grinding out between his teeth.

"It's those men that were trying to capture me before all those years ago."

"Now?" Ezio's face was marred by a frown. "Just our luck."

None of the men even said anything, but they all moved simultaneously, their steps in synch with each other as the made running starts to jump onto our rooftop. Ezio had drawn his blade, poising it in front of him as he prepared to fight. I would have, too, but the fear had struck me so deep that I couldn't even move. Although I had no idea what these men would do to me if they caught me, I knew that it wasn't good.

One of them attacked, a small dagger in his hand, to which Ezio deflected with ease. However, when Ezio tried to swing back, the man gracefully dodged and stopped a distance away, a smile on his face. That was never a good sign. A few more attacked, Ezio dodging or deflecting each attack, but he was soon running out of energy, something strange to see since he had spent years perfecting his fighting.

"We have to go,"I urged him, gripping onto his arm. "They are too skilled—we'll never win."

Ezio shot a glance at me, the gold in his eyes filled with concern as he realized that I was right. Ezio may have spent years on his form, but these men had probably spent decades with blades in their hands. Then the assassin tucked me under his arm as he bolted, using his blade to clear a path for him as he dropped down to the ground, landing with a terrible thud that sent us both rolling to the ground. But we were up in a flash, forgetting about our scratched skin and ran with each other. Our enemies followed behind us, but at a more leisure pace that made me realize that no matter how far we ran, they would always find us.

As we weaved between the buildings and made several loops, the men behind us were no longer in sight. We stooped down the shadows of some crates by an outdoor market and waited for a long moment, holding our breath. Ezio held me tighter to him.

"I think we lost them," I whispered.

He nodded in hesitation. "Si. Still, we should be careful."

As we stood from our crates, Ezio gazed around to get an idea of where we were. "I had forgotten about those men," I whispered, my eyes locked on the rooftops. "Why do they suddenly show up now?"

"There's no way of telling." Ezio tilted his head. "Come. Let's hurry to Leonardo before we run into them again."

As we walked through the streets, blending in with the crowds to avoid any unwanted attention, Ezio suddenly stopped in front of a house, staring up at it as his eyes peered up from the shadows.

"What is it?"

He looked away. "Nothing."

Turning my head, I gazed at the building, trying to remember what it was from Federico's small tours. The realization hit me, and I couldn't help but feel so sad for Ezio. "Cristina's?"

For a long moment, he didn't say anything. But he finally sighed and shrugged. "Yeah."

"Do you want to say hi?" I asked, knowing that he must have missed his lover over the past few years.

"We don't have time," he argued.

"Oh, please," I scoffed. "Just go say hi to her—we can spare a few minutes of our time. Leonardo isn't even expecting us anyway."

He hesitated. Why was he so scared to go see her? "Fine," he murmured, turning on his heel. He walked back into the alleyway that wound around the house, and I followed behind at a distance. Ezio knelt to pick up a small pebble, which he rolled around in the palm of his hand as he studied it. Then, gripping it between two fingers, he flung it at the high window, a loud 'tink' echoing throughout the narrow path.

"Cristina!" Ezio called out.

After a few seconds, the lock on the window resonated out and then the glass panes swung open. "Ezio!"

Despite Ezio being hesitant before, he actually smiled up at her, reaching up and taking off his hood. "Salute."

"Give me a moment—I will be right down." The windows shut again, and I realized that I didn't want Cristina to see me, lest that give her the wrong idea. I gave Ezio a nod and climbed up onto the building nearby. Right as I clamored over the top, Cristina came running out into the alleyway, her arms spread wide as her dress swayed around her legs. Ezio caught her in a hug and they both sat there for a long moment, lost in the embrace.

"What are you doing here?" Cristina finally asked, backing away from him and staring up at him with wide eyes. "I thought you dead—I haven't seen you for years!"

"I'm sorry," he whispered, shaking his head. "I've been busy. I could not find the time to come back and visit you."

"Oh Ezio." She hugged him again, tears streaming down her face. But I noticed that they weren't happy tears. She looked completely devastated.

"What is the matter?" Ezio asked, obviously sensing that the girl was troubled.

She shook her head into his chest before she looked up at him. "Ezio, my father... he... I am to be married very soon."

Ezio stiffened. "What?"

"An arranged marriage," she explained. "As soon as your family was gone, he began making all of these arrangements. I am going to be married to a man named Manfreo in a very short time." Ezio pulled her into a hug again, laying his head down on hers. I felt so sad for him. He must have been torn between duty and desire.

He pulled away to hold her face between his strong hands, pressing his mouth to her's as she clung to him. Something about the whole thing made me feel unsettled, and I felt the need to look away.

"Live a good life, Cristina," he muttered into her lips before he swooped away.

Cristina looked utterly lost, her mouth hanging open while her hand hung in the air. "Ezio!" She called out. He didn't listen and strode off into the plazas. I didn't stick around long enough to watch Cristina collapse0, but I heard her sobbing, devastated and alone. I wanted to comfort her, but I knew no way of doing so.

Ezio's strides were long and dutiful—I wondered what the hell he was doing. I followed him from the rooftops. He had forgotten about me.

I'm not sure how he knew, but he strode up to a man standing in a large crowd, grabbed him by his collar, and dragged him to the shadow of a building. I was close enough to hear Ezio growl under his breath.

"Do you love her?" He demanded, shaking the man.

"Who? What's going on?"

"Cristina! Do you love her!" Ezio sounded frantic, almost desperate. The man must have been Manfreo.

"Yes! I do!" Manfreo responded back quickly.

"You will treat her well and protect her," Ezio demanded, letting go of the man but holding up a threatening finger. "Or else I will kill you—do you understand?"

"Yes, Signore!" The man bowed his head. "You have my word!"

"Good!" Ezio gave the man a long stare before he swooped away, trudging down the streets again, leaving Manfreo to sigh in relief and watch after the white hood. I dropped down to the ground and followed after Ezio on foot, running to catch up with him in his tirade of emotions.

"Ezio. Ezio!" I reached out and grabbed onto his arm, ceasing his advance. "Wait!"

He did indeed stop, but he didn't look down at me, his golden eyes pinned on the wall of a far building. I caught my breath, pushing Ezio so that we were standing off to the side of the street.

"Are you sure about this?" I wondered, looking up at him. When he didn't respond, I continued. "If you want to be with her, Ezio, then go get her. You don't have to sacrifice everything for this creed."

Ezio shook his head. "I can't drag her into this," he whispered. "She deserves a perfect life, a family, living in safety and love. I can't drag her into this mess."

"I'm sure she would be fine," I pointed out. "You don't get it, do you? She loves you—she'd probably go to the end of the world with you, as long as you were there for her."

"I don't want her to have to make that sacrifice for me," Ezio argued, his eyes flashing down to mine in anger and desperation. "I don't want for her life to be spent just so that I can continue this duty." His jaw clenched. "That's why I wanted to leave you."

I shook my head. "What do you mean?"

"When I was going to go to Spain. I didn't want to go with me because I felt like you need to go out and live your life too, Narina. You're a beautiful, young woman. You need to be getting married and having a family of your own. I can't stand the thought that I'm dragging you into this chaos."

"Dragging me?" I shook my head, spreading out my arms. "Ezio, I'm following you into all of this chaos! You're not forcing me to do anything! You're trying to make life decisions for others, which is not how it should be. Cristina wants to be with you! I'm certain of it."

"She'll be happier this way," he muttered, looking away.

Sighing, I dropped my hands. "You don't know that."

"I do." Ezio shook his head. "She's too delicate for this life of hatred and murder, blood and loss. She deserves all the joys in life. Joys that I can't give her."

At that moment, I realized he was right. Ezio could never devote himself to just one person, could he? His whole life was now the foundation for millions of others. Cristina was too delicate to chase after him, to follow him wherever he went. I felt like I needed to teach her how, but then again, that wouldn't be enough for her. She would want a life with him. She would want kids. A family. Love. Forever in their hold. Forever was something that Ezio could never give. Not now.

And I understood that. Which was why I was able to follow him.

"If you think this best," I whispered, reaching out and holding onto his arm. I wasn't stupid enough to think that Ezio didn't want it too. I'm sure that he would have loved to settle down with Cristina and have a family with her someday. But the assassin part of him knew that it was a reward that he didn't deserve. "But know that you aren't alone, Ezio. We fight together."

He glanced up at me, finally calmed. Then, with a small, thankful smile, he reached out and took a hold of my shoulder. "I know. And I thank you for it, friend."

I nodded, dropping my arm, and smiling in return. "Then let's go."

So I've decided that there are going to be changes in this story. BIG changes. Nothing that'll change the main plot, but yes. Changes.

What kind of changes? Changes that are going to RIP OUT YOUR SOUL. What other kind of changes are there, really? :3

But seriously. All of you must know by now that I am an extremely sadistic person. If I want to tear your heart out, stomp on it, and shove it back in your chest, I'm going to do it. Ohhh the drama! :D I'm pretty excited about it all!

In other news, you are ALL going to have a biiig surprise next chapter. :3 For most of you, it will be a good thing. And I'm super excited about it too! :D Changes are fun!

Thanks for reading and do please review!