So here is the next chapter! I know I mentioned in an earlier chapter that this fic was going to be long, but I think I may just wrap this one up and make a sequel. Don't know yet though. (Feel free to give me your opinions..?) Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Connor POV

I make my way down the hill, pretending I have no destination in mind. It is clear where I want to go though, and when I reach Doctor White's house I have to quit pretending that I wasn't headed here the whole time. Father woke up nearly two weeks ago, and I haven't visited him since. I want to check on him, but a part of me is worried he won't be glad to see me. He seemed quite bitter when I was there before, and while I can't completely blame him, it still hurts. I miss him.

I extend my arm to knock on the door, then pause. I don't want to see him, I tell myself. He'll just want to argue or will in some way anger me. Besides, he hasn't asked for me, so I would be unwelcome. I sigh, then turn to go. I hear the door open behind me.

"Connor, wait," Doctor White calls. I stop and face him.

"Yes?" I ask.

"Why don't you come in? He's getting pretty lonely."

"He does not wish to see me."

"He's been asking for you." I raise my eyebrows. That is a surprise.

"He… has?"

"He has. He'll ask me to fetch you, but then changes his mind because he doesn't think you want to see him. He believes you hate him, or you'd have been back."

"Did he say that?"

"Many times." I sigh and go inside.

"Hey." Father looks up from a book, surprise on his face.

"Connor? What brings you?" I pull a chair by his bedside and sit.

"You." Father sets the book aside and sits up.

"What's on your mind, son?"

"I just… wanted to see you."

"Is there something wrong with me that the doctor isn't telling me?"

"No, why?"

"Well, in case you hadn't noticed, it's been two weeks since I woke up. He said you were in here constantly waiting for me to. So I figured the only reason you would be here was if you had cause to worry, not that I understand why you would."

"I… I was afraid to return…"

"Why? Am I gonna jump out of bed and attack you in my condition?"

"No! Do you understand anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"I was afraid of being right."

"Will you make sense boy? Right about what?"

"About you wanting me dead! About you using my stupidity and softness and… naïveté… to just hurt me and kill me. About you… about you hating me as much as I think you do."

"Connor, the only reason I fought you—"

"Was to protect Lee. Him and your stupid Order. You would have killed me without a hint of hesitation. Yet here you are, alive only because I was scared of losing you." I sigh. "I should have left you to die. I should have known better than to think you'll ever be more than my sworn enemy." With that, I leave, my heart heavy.

Haytham POV

I watch Connor go, feeling miserable. I really have done wrong by him, and now he'll never forgive me. I'm so confused and hurt.

I sit up slowly, holding my shoulder. I push myself to my feet. I know I can't be up for long, but I wish to talk to Achilles. Perhaps a fatal choice, but what does it matter if it is? It's not like I'm enjoying life much anyway. I take a deep breath and head out the door. After a short walk, I reach the mansion. I hesitate momentarily before knocking on the door.

I await an answer for a couple moments before Achilles opens the door. Oddly enough, I take pity on the old man. He looks worse than Connor let on. It will quite frankly be a shock if he lives much longer.

"Haytham," Achilles says.

"Achilles," I reply, hoping there's some warmth in my voice.

"Connor isn't here."

"I'm not surprised. It's actually you I came to see."

"Well you wasted your time. I do not wish to speak to you. You're lucky I let you stay on my land at all."

"Please, I just want a word with you." He sighs.

"Fine, come in. I have no desire to argue."

"Thank you." I enter the house and close the door behind me. I follow the old man into the kitchen, and he sits down.

"Have a seat, Kenway." I comply, relieved for some rest. I won't pretend the trip here didn't tire me out. "So, why is it you're here?"

"I wanted to…" I pinch the bridge of my nose. Since I met Connor, there was much I wanted to say to Achilles. How good a job he did raising the boy. What a good fighter he is. Even questions about who Connor is. I've been dying to talk to him about these subjects, but that's not why I came today.

"Spit it out, don't be shy all of a sudden."

"Why am I here?"

"I don't think I understand."

"I mean, on the homestead. Why am I here?"

"Connor brought you, the doctor here has served us well."

"I know that. But why? Why spare me?"

"Because he is a fool, and at the end of the day still has much growing up to do. He let his emotional attachment cloud his judgment."

"Except he hates me." Achilles just laughs. "I'm sorry, I fail to see the humor."

"He doesn't hate you, you fool. You've hurt him numerous times. And he is bitter, there's no denying that. He wants to convince me, you, himself, and everyone else that he hates you. But if you honestly believe he does, you aren't as smart as I thought you were."

"You really think he doesn't hate me?"

"He should, he has every right to, the way you treat him. But he cares so much about you. You didn't see him here when you two formally met, or any time throughout the course of your truce, but he was so happy to even get the chance to know you. He struggled so much with the fear of having to kill you."

"You're not serious."

"I am, the boy looks up to you. All I have to say is, you'd better treat him right. He deserves to be loved."

"You love him."

"Yes, but in case you couldn't tell, my days are numbered. When I die, I don't know if he has anyone else. I don't like you, Haytham, I never have. But I'm asking you to be a good father to him. Don't hurt him anymore."

"I don't want to hurt him, Achilles, but how can I choose between him and the Templar Order? I've been loyal to it my whole life, I can't abandon it because of him."

"That is not my place to tell you how to live your life. But if you choose the Templars over your son, then don't be surprised if he truly does come to hate you." I sigh.

"I wish there was an easy choice."

"It seems there never is in life."

As he finishes that comment, the front door opens and closes. Achilles sighs and leans back in his chair. Connor enters the kitchen frowning. I try and ignore the fact that he's wearing a scarf around his neck, and this is the only time that I ever have seen him wear one. He's covering the bruises, though surely by now they're nearly healed.

"Okay, first of all you both should be in bed resting. Secondly, what is going on here? You two hate each other," Connor says.

"Oh, you worry too much," Achilles says.

"I have reason to worry."

"Your father and I were just having a friendly chat. Right, Haytham?"

"Yes, nothing of concern, son," I say.

"Well that's just lovely, but perhaps you should both be a bit more focused on getting better before you have a friendly chat, hm?" Connor says.

"Fine, I'm going to bed," Achilles says, and Connor helps him. They leave the kitchen, and I hear them talk briefly before Connor returns.

"Come on, Father. Let's get you back to Doc's place."

"Fine, fine," I say. I get up and walk to the front door. While Connor doesn't touch me, I feel him hovering right behind me in case I need help.

Which it turns out I do. The moment I step outside, I get really dizzy. I stumble and nearly fall down the steps, but Connor catches me.

"Hey, easy, Father. Take it easy," he says. I lean on him for just a moment, holding my head. "You okay? Can you walk?"

"I'm fine, Connor. I'm okay," I insist before continuing. But Connor keeps ahold of my arm the rest of the way.

"Haytham, there you are!" Doctor White says as Connor and I enter.

"I just wanted to stretch my legs a bit." I sit back down. Connor's hand lingers on my arm for a few moments before he moves it back to his side.

"At least Connor was with you."

"Only long enough to drag him back here," Connor says.

"Yet I made it back in one piece," I say.

"You aren't strong enough to walk around, especially not by yourself," the doctor says.

"I'm sick of just laying here. My shoulder is the problem, not my legs."

"But you are going to hurt yourself if you keep walking around before you're well," Connor says.

"What do you care? I thought you said you should have left me to die."

"And why do you think I didn't, hm? I care about you, you idiot."

"You know, I have some things to take care of. When I return, you better be here, Haytham," Doctor White says.

"I will," I reply. The doctor leaves, and Connor sighs.

"He's right," he says.

"What?"

"He wants us to talk, and clearly we need to."

"About what?"

"Father, we cannot go on like this."

"I don't even know where to begin." Connor sits down next to me.

"You know I do not hate you, right?"

"No, I don't think I do know that. Achilles is convinced you don't, but I can't help thinking you do."

"Why would I have gone to the trouble of saving you if I hated you?"

"I don't know, probably your weird version of mercy."

"Honestly, if I hated you I would have gotten rid of you on my ship and been done with it. Did you not think of that?"

"I did, which is why I'm confused." He sighs.

"Father, I have no wish to see you dead. Even if you do not care about me at all, I could not bear losing you."

"Son, I do care about you. I know I'm not the best at showing it—"

"You've tried to kill me countless times!"

"None of which without cause."

"What if I hadn't stabbed you the other night? Would I be dead?" I look at the scarf around his neck, then down at my hands.

"Probably."

"You don't even have anything to say for yourself?"

"If I had killed you that night, it would have been your own fault. I tried, Connor. YOU pushed me away, in case you don't recall. I saw to it you were unharmed the whole time we worked together. Hell, we only worked together in the first place because I wanted to give you a chance, in hopes you'd give me one as well. And you pushed me away."

"Only because you lied to me and kept secrets! I told you about my mother's death, and you had the guts to act surprised to hear about it. But you knew it happened, and you knew it was Washington. For all I know, you knew about his plan to attack my village."

"I absolutely did not! I would have told you right away."

"So you say, yet you should have told me right away that Washington was responsible for my mother's death. Why should I believe the two cases are different to you?"

"Because if I had known about Washington's plans prior, we could have put an end to it before it ever began. The fire was a done thing, irrevocable. However, I would like to mention that I did not originally know your mother was dead. I knew of the fire and its cause, but upon meeting you I assumed you two escaped together. I only put the pieces together after you told me."

"So you should have told me what happened instead of insisting that Charles Lee was innocent without any explanation or proof. You should have told me what happened because I had the right to know!"

"Please, you idolized Washington. You looked up to him and respected him more than anyone I knew of and despised me. You would have just thought it was a lie."

"Another lie, you mean. And still, you should have at least tried to tell me. Maybe I wouldn't have believed you, but it would have made me think. I would have questioned Washington about it or researched it another way. Maybe the whole situation could have been avoided in the first place, and my friend would be alive. My people would still be here, safe and happy as they should be."

"Look, I know I handled it wrong, but my actions were not without cause. Still, after everything, you'd just push me away? Why then should I have held back when we were fighting for what we believe?"

"Charles Lee is a monster. And he deserves death."

"Oh, and am I a monster as well? After all, you said that all he does he does by my command. So I'm just as guilty?"

"You know what? No, we are not arguing about Charles Lee. He is not important." I sigh.

"Connor. Listen, I am willing to put the past behind us, but you have to decide if that's what you want. You cannot be pointing fingers at me one minute and the next tell me that I hate you. I cannot not simultaneously be in your life and stay away from you. Make up your mind son."

"Well, maybe I did overreact…"

"And I truly am sorry about not telling you sooner."

"I forgive you." I smile.

"And you know, Connor, I do love you." Connor closes his eyes tightly. I know he's been needing to hear those words from me, maybe he's been dying to hear them since he was a child. He opens his eyes and looks at me, and a lone tear escapes. My poor boy, I've done wrong by him not saying that sooner.

"I… I should go check on Achilles." Connor gets up and heads to the door. I know that he's worried about crying in front of me. But I'm not giving up on this moment. I get up and catch his arm, and he faces me. I wipe away the tear that had trailed down his cheek.

"Just once, is it okay if we both are vulnerable?" I ask in a whisper.

"Well… maybe just this once." Connor outstretches his arms, and I accept the hug.

"I want to try harder, son. Saying those words shouldn't make you cry. They should be something you already know for fact."

"I love you too, Father," Connor whispers. I only hold him tighter.