A/N ~ Again thank you so much for the fav, alerts and reviews! =D They make me so happy. I will do my best not letting you guys down. Please let me know what you think. Also sorry that the chapter is a day late, but my internet died last night. Hope you will enjoy it. See you next week/TheYukiii

Malik looked surprised at the British woman as her charming smile got bigger and he could suddenly read her like an open book. "You… want to go running with the novices and Altaïr?" he asked and she nodded. Malik widened his eyes, hoping that Elizabeth was joking however he realized that she was deeply serious. "You couldn't possibly keep up with them…"

"Try me…" Elizabeth said ironically and placed her hands on her hips. "The only reason I haven't done any kind of that exercise is because of that stupid thigh."

"But Elizabeth, they are trained to run."

"Malik… I was a… how to translate… a fitness instructor doing my student time. It was an easy way to stay in good shape and a little extra money every month."

"A what…?"

"Doesn't matter, but can you help me with the uniform?" she asked, placing her palms together in a kind of praying looking mode and Malik walked over to her. He gazed out of the opening in the wall and saw Altaïr warming up.

"You want the standard uniform?"

"Yes?"

"You know, that is where you have the hood on right? Altaïr wouldn't be able to recognize you." Malik explained and the smirk on Elizabeth's lips became bigger.

"Even better." She whispered as Malik shocked his head realizing that there was nothing he could do other than help her.

"Are you and Altaïr in some kind of fight?" he asked as the watched the Grand Master walking around in the courtyard.

"No… Why would you think that?" she answered as they turned away from the window.

"Since you are so eager to run with him today." He pointed out as they walked out of the map office.

"Let's just say that I think that I can get some bloody good satisfaction out of this." Malik had never seen a fire like that in her eyes like that as they walked into the stockroom.

"And you are sure of this?" he asked for a final time and she nodded. He took a look at her body, which was hard due to the oversize dress she was wearing. He went over to a man and asked for the smallest size uniform had they had. A couple of moments later the man came back with a uniform and handed it to Malik. "Thank you."

"Do you think that I can fit this?" she asked and bit her under lip.

"There is only one way to find out." Malik said and gave Elizabeth the uniform. It was a tunic, a hood and some kind of under shirt with long sleeves. The uniform was off-white, made in some kind of thigh cotton and very plain.

"Yes! Pants!" she cried to Malik's big surprise. There was a pair of grey pants, a red slash to tie around the waist and a pair of boots. All the clothes was very light, but the boots. "My god! I already hate these boots." She laughed with a big smile on her lips as she tried to put them on. She made some grimace as she struggled to put the boots on as Malik was having cramps of laughter about the scene she was making. The uniform itself was on in a moment (with the help of one of the dressing woman) and Elizabeth walked away from the trying screen. At first glaze Malik saw her he made a pout as the uniform was clearly too big for the little woman. Malik didn't think that Elizabeth's body build wasn't muscular enough however when the dressing lady lifted up in the uniform Malik could see that she had clearly had signs of stomach muscles. They weren't very clear like either his or Altaïr's but they were there. She looked up at him. "Something wrong Malik?"

"I didn't know that you trained…" he answered, pointing at her stomach.

"Yeah... It's not common for a woman in the twelfth century to work out I guess… But since my leg couldn't run I had to think of other ways to train." She explained as she took the grey hood over her head. "You realized that I can't see a God damn thing with this on right?" Malik stood in complete silence as Elizabeth took a few steps and walked into the walk. "Ow…!" she cried for a split second. The hood of course was also too big for her and she sighed. "Malik… This isn't working."

"Hmm…" Malik mumbled. Elizabeth was tall for a woman in the twelfth century but still lower then Malik and Altaïr.

"Do you have any ideas?" she asked as she tried to find her way out of the hood.

"Maybe…" He answered pulled the hood a little bit back, asked for a needle with a thread and sewed the back of the hood to the edge of the fabric on her back. "There you go."

"Perfect!" she said in joy about the fact that she could see again.

"Come on, if you still want to make it." Malik rushed her.

"Oh shot…!" she said with stress in her voice and together Malik and Elizabeth ran down to the courtyard and they were lucky. The warm up with the novices had just started and Altaïr wasn't there.

"Abba!" Malik called and a man with beard and grey clothes came over to them. "I have an extra novice for you today."

"An extra you say?" Abba frowned as he came towards them.

"Yes. Fa'iz here will run with you today however don't tell Altaïr." Elizabeth felt good since Malik called her Fa'iz which in Arabic meant winner.

"I see… Well don't just stand there, get in line…!" Abba demanded and Elizabeth ran over to the others and started to warm up. "If the Grand Master finds out…"

"He won't unless you tell him." Malik said with a smile.

"But Malik… Even I can see that she is a woman and I'm almost blind."

"Blind with women or just in general?" Malik asked and Abba looked angry at him. "Just let her run. Hopefully she comes home tired and willing to work." After saying that Malik went back into the fortress and a couple of moments later Altaïr came out. Elizabeth warmed up with a young boy about the same height as her which was perfect.

"We are ready when you are Altaïr." Abba told the Grand Master and Altaïr nodded.

"Good, let's go before the sun becomes stronger." Altaïr said and the novices gathered around Abba.

"We will fry like a chicken in a pan…" Elizabeth mumbled ironic to herself, already hating her boots. They were about 12 of them in total minus Altaïr and the one called Abba. All men of course. Abba started running and the novices ran after him, steady and started in a slow pace. Altaïr ran as the last one so he could supervise the ones that weren't strong at running. Elizabeth had ran two marathons in her life which are 42,195 km long, but with those boots she felt like she couldn't even keep up the pace.

"We need to run faster!" yelled Abba to the novices and Elizabeth sighed, trying to forget the weight of the boots. They were like anchor around her legs and they were of course too big, just the rest of the uniform. They ran on a wild track, very narrowed and on huge rocks. The mountains surrounded them and the wild life around them looked at them. Elizabeth would have giving big money to know what the animals were thinking. After the first half they stopped at a water steam to take a break and if Elizabeth had counted right she would say that they had ran about 10 km. She took of her boots and placed her feet in the water to cool them down and it seemed to work. With her feet in the cold water Abba came over to her.

"I'm surprised that you can keep up with us."

"Thank you. If I didn't have to wear these boots I would be able to run faster. Believe me, I'm tired, but it feels good." She smiled to the man he nodded. Elizabeth looked at the heavy part of boots. "Ow shot..!"

"What is it?"

"My boot is broken…" Elizabeth said and showed him the broken sole. "Uups…"

"You are lucky. We will mostly be running in low grass on the way home, however there will be mountains and hills."

"So I can run with bare-foot?" she asked and he nodded. "Yes…!" Elizabeth had learned to run long distances from Robert when they had started going out. She wasn't a sprinter and wasn't built for it but in slow and long distances was she a master. She took the boots under her arms as they prepared to run again. However two novices had to walk home since they had strained their ankles and one of them offered to take Elizabeth's boots and she accepted his offer. She felt like she had lost 2 kilos around her ankles and the others started running again. She felt like she could jump to the moon.

The sun was truly evil on their way back home and the novices were dead tired however always in front on her bare-feet was Elizabeth having the time of her life. She looked around, loving the atmosphere of the nature. She looked down: 'another ditch in the road… just keep moving. The others are slowing down… another stop sign…. you keep moving Elizabeth.' She thought as she closed her mind down with every step she took. At one point she was about a 100 meters in front of the others and she stopped up to look at the view from one of the hills. It was an incredible view of the river, the highlands and the animals around her made her feel a life, if only just for a moment. She started running again after a moment of rest and once again took the front. Compared to the men was Elizabeth style of running of a different kind. She focused on her breathing, lifted her legs different, clenched her fists and closed the world around her so she could focus on her technic. Almost back in Masyaf Abba and Altaïr switched places and suddenly Altaïr and Elizabeth ran side by side.

"Where is your boots novice?" Altaïr asked as the sweat dripped down of his cheeks. Elizabeth grinned as she took her hood down and showed her face to Altaïr whose jaw lost its power to gravity. "Elizabeth? What are you doing?"

"I'm running!" She answered as she started slowing to raise her pace.

"I can see that! But why?"

"I just wanted to!"

"How did you get that uniform?"

"Malik is my partner I crime." She yelled back as they ran through the gates to the marketplace.

"Of course…!" Altaïr yelled back furious.

"Hey Altaïr…?" she yelled and looked back.

"What…!"

"See if you can catch me!" Elizabeth said with a smirk and started to run fast up the hills.

"What!" he yelled back as Elizabeth started sprinting up. The both ran side by side up through the streets, people jumping away so they won't get caught up in the race and as they finally reaching the gates to the fortress both of them gave everything they had left. They had however forgotten one thing: a judge. As they both pasted the gates none of them knew who came first inside. It resulted in a careless mistake from both parts as Elizabeth feel down to ground exhausted and Altaïr right behind her. They both lay on the ground struggling for air as if it was an article in short supply. Even after the novices and Abba returned they still lay on the ground as wounded warriors, lost souls and feeling dead to the world. Altaïr was the first one to stand up and he reached his hand to Elizabeth. She took it and he pulled her up.

"I guess it was a tie?" Altaïr panted but had a lot more control over his breathing then Elizabeth had.

"No… It wasn't a tie." Elizabeth panted.

"What do you mean?" he looked confused at her as Malik came down in the courtyard.

"Are you two alright?" asked Malik who had seen their sprint from the map office.

"You won…" she panted, ignoring Malik for a moment.

"How can I win since we came in at the same time?" Altaïr asked confused.

"If I still had the boots on…. They are weighing a ton Altaïr… I can't compete with that. I wouldn't have had a chance with those boots on, so you win." She gave him a pat on his shoulder. "Thank you for a good run. I appreciate it." Both Altaïr and Malik looked stunt at her and with those words she went back into the fortress leaving Malik and Altaïr behind.

"Was she good?" Malik asked and Altaïr nodded.

"Yes… She was better than any of our novices."

"Really? I guess I underestimated her."

"Yes, she told me that you were her partner in crime."

"I can't deny that, however Altaïr… Have you seen her happier then she was just now?"

"No… I haven't." Altaïr admitted.

"And with a little more training she would be fit to run better. I suggest that you take her on some more trips."

"And why would you suggest that?"

"Because, my guess is that she just saw a side of you that I think she likes." Malik answered and walked up to the castle. Altaïr stayed behind and thought about what Malik had said.

Elizabeth went to her room, poured some water in an oval bowl, stripped herself from the uniform and started to wash herself with a wet piece of fabric. To be able to cool her skin down was truly a relief as she stroked the wet piece of fabric up and down her arms and legs. She looked at the scar on her thigh and touched it a little as a tear fell down her cheek. A knock sounded on the door. "Who is it?"

"Altaïr." He answered short.

"What is it?"

"I... just wanted to talk with you." He sounded uncertain. Elizabeth bit her under lip.

"Can it wait a little while? I'm just cleaning myself... I will find you when I'm done. I promise."

"Thank you." He said and his voice faded as well as his footsteps.

"I wonder what he wants…" Elizabeth mumbled to herself. Her body was tired, but her mind as clear as an eagle. She took a light beige dress on and a pair of flip flops and breaded her hair so it fell down her shoulder. Another knock fell on the door. "Yes? Who is it?" she asked and a voice sounded.

"Siraj al Din."

To be cautiously continued

A/N – Summer holiday! More time to write fan fiction ;)