Chapter 20

"Ezio." I whispered as I took in his familiar scent while squeezing him tightly against me. I leaned back and looked up to Ezio, noticing that he had gotten a little taller than me. At first, I didn't really like it but as he looked back down at me - I had a flutter go through my stomach because I could his face perfectly now despite the hood. I let my eyes trace over his face that I had dreamt of. His golden eyes still sparkled in amusement as they always had and his full lips were pulling the small scar on them. "I had expected you to come soon but not this soon!" I gave him a small smile, which he returned with a wide grin.

"I could not stay away from you for too long, bambino."

I scrunched my nose up at the nickname and raised a brow at him. "Bambino? Really, Ezio?"

"I was trying out new nicknames for you. You don't like that one, bambino?" He asked as he let it run off his tongue smoothly and I laughed and shook my head, causing him to pout. It was easy to fall back into our normal routine of teasing and bantering back and forth. Ezio smiled as he kissed my lips softly before whispering, "I'll figure out something, dolcezza."

I laughed as I pulled out of his grasp and eyed him. "How is mio padre, Maria and Claudia?" We walked outside of the Thieves Guild to stand in the courtyard just before the entrance.

"They are all doing quite well. Zio Mario is training his men as he always does and sends you his love." I nodded, smiling at the mention of my father. I wasn't sure when I would see him again but I hoped it was soon. "Mio madre is beginning to act normal again - she has actually been participating in conversations now."

"That's wonderful to hear." I replied sincerely and Ezio nodded with a genuine smile on his face.

"And Claudia…" Ezio gave a bit of a laugh after saying her name. "Claudia still hates the bookkeeping that you left for her to do."

I smiled - she had complained so much before I had left about the bookkeeping but someone had to do it. Mario wasn't much on mathematics and did not like to waste his time on such things, Maria didn't need any work with her mind damaged as it was and I knew Ezio would never do it, even though he had the most experience from working alongside his father.

"And how have you been?" I asked as we sat on the edge of the well in the courtyard.

"I have been counting down the days until I could see il tuo dolce viso again."

"You haven't changed a bit." I said with a laugh and Ezio studied me for a long moment, making me feel a little uncomfortable with him watching me.

"You have changed, though, Aria."

"It's because I have missed you so." I replied, without hesitation and throwing his flirting right back to him. I wasn't really sure where that had come from until the bow pulsed against me. You lack confidence with this man near you - I simply made you feel more carefree. I did not question it's words and smiled as I let a finger trace over the golden symbols lining the bow.

Ezio smirked at my playful tone before outright laughing. He ignored what I said and spoke, "That bow - I've never seen anything like it before."

I looked down at it before taking it off my shoulder and showing him the entire thing. "This is Epirus." I introduced the bow and Ezio looked a little confused and we met eyes as I said, "It is a Piece of Eden." His eyes widened as he stopped leaning against the well.

"Truly?" Ezio asked, staring at the bow with a light in his golden eyes. "I had not expected to ever find one and not have Templars on il mio culo at all times for it."

"It was lost to all but it called for me to find it."

"Why you?" Ezio asked curiously as his eyes ran over the long bow. I was a little surprised that he had not asked how I had known it called for me.

"I don't know." I whispered back and looked down at the weapon.

"It's your destiny." A voice came from behind Ezio and I. Ezio whipped around to see who it was but I already knew. I gestured for the man to come forward and Nico stepped forward into the light.

"Nico. I hadn't expected to see you again tonight." I said and Nico smiled awkwardly as he noticed Ezio's unwavering stare. I noticed this as well and stepped in to intervene - Ezio had no reason to be like this to Nico, who I had never seen give a woman an interested look, especially me. "Ezio," He looked at me sharply but his gaze softened as it fell onto me. "This is Nico - Dante's little brother and a member of the I'Protettori."

"Good to meet you." Ezio said as he shook Nicos hand - I noticed that he glanced at their hands clasped with a curious expression. "I'Protettori?"He asked both of us.

"Aye, it is good to meet you as well, Ezio." Nico replied politely. "I'Protettoriis a brotherhood of defenders - we learn to protect but not to kill." He continued before retracting his hand and turning to me.

"I was watching to make sure you and Dante made it home safely. When I saw him leave - I wasn't sure what to do so I decided to stay here with you and Epirus."

"Aria is well protected with me by her side." Ezio said to Nico hotly, because to him - it seemed obvious that his manliness was in question. I rolled my eyes as Nico floundered for a come back to Ezios harsh words.

"In realta, posso proteggere." Both the men looked to me with looks on their face like they wanted to argue but by the time they both looked at me, I had Epirus drawn and the bowstring taut - complete with materialized arrow. Ezio was not worried by the arrow aimed at his heart. Instead, he studied the arrow and it's see-through quality arrow with an amazed expression on his face. Nico only started to laugh before Ezio joined him. I lowered my bow, letting the string drop slowly so it wouldn't shoot at our feet and joined the two men in laughing.

"So, why does it seem like you think of this bow as a person?" Ezio asked carefully, not knowing if this was a touchy subject with me or not.

"It talks to me." I said lowly and Ezio blinked, looking over me as if to see if I had any wounds that were making me delirious. I laughed at his doubtful expression. "I am fine, Ezio. No head trauma or anything of that nature." I turned back to Nico and said, "I will be fine with Ezio, tonight. You should get some rest." Nico seemed hesitant and looked over Ezio as if to assess him. Ezio stared back at him before Nico nodded at him and bowed his head to me before leaving.

Ezio seemed to relax after Nico was gone and he turned back to me as I put Epirus back over my shoulders. He still seemed a little tense so I asked - trying to clear the mood, "Why have you come to Venezia now?"

"I had not meant to come to Venezia so early but Leonardo was traveling this way and I figured why not."

"Leo's here?" I asked, genuinely happy to see the young artist again. I had not spent too much time with him but he was a good person and always a pleasure to be around. Ezio nodded.

"He wanted me to ask if you'd like to come over for dinner tomorrow night. That is, of course, if you can get away from your husband."

"I will be able to come. My husband is actually out of town, at the moment."

Ezio, who had been looking up at the night sky, turned toward me slowly, with a smirk building on his face. I crossed my arms over my chest, put all my weight on one foot and looked at him as he smirked. He pulled me over to him and let his lips linger over my own as he whispered, "Mia cara, I should think your bed is cold without him there to warm it. Why don't I come over and fix that for you?"

I licked my lips as I stared at his, which were drawing me in. I truly wanted to but Dante was there and that would be awkward for us all. I needed to talk to him before he truly met Ezio. "Not tonight, Ezio." Ezio looked disappointed but did not seemed surprised as he pulled away from me - distancing himself from me. "My entire household and Dante is there…"

"I understand, miele." Ezio said as he looked toward me with a light smile on his face.

"Bene." I said back to him, ignoring another of his ridiculous nicknames. "Where will you be staying at tonight?"

Ezio replied quickly, he obviously had already thought about this beforehand. "Leonardo has offered to let me stay with him for a while."

"Would you like to spend some time together before I go home?"

"Certo." He said with a slight smirk and I rolled my eyes as I gestured for him to follow me. I took off to the roof - using this time to show off my new moves I had learned from Rosa. I could feel Ezios eyes on my back and I knew what he was thinking - I could never make it this way. When I got to the gap, I looked down at Ezio and smirked before taking a deep breath and launching myself upwards. I heard Ezio take in a sharp breath when I was flying upwards and sigh as I grabbed the handhold I was aiming for - I looked down before laughing at his expression and finishing my assent.

I waited for him patiently, proud of my new skill and happy that Rosa decided to teach me. He came from the ladder and made his way over to me quickly, "That was amazing, Aria. I had thought for sure you were going to fall. Where did you learn to climb like that?

"Un po 'rosa taught me." I replied with a grin as I looked back towards the Guild headquarters. Ezio caught on and smiled at me.

"Do you think I could learn how?"

"Si, but you have to practice at it." I said, remembering how hard it was to teach him. He hated to practice the moves that I had shown him.

"I've gotten much better, you know."

"I could still beat you." I retorted with a carefree smile on my face and Ezio looked at me, a little surprised before smirking and gesturing at me to come at him. I rolled my eyes at him before taking off to another rooftop. He stood at the side of his and I laughed at him, "Catch me if you can, tesoro." I blew a kiss to him before running off, leaping over rooftops and balancing my way over to harder to reach places. I could hear Ezio laughing at some points behind me. It filled my heart up and my thoughts drifted to his laugh as I ran mindlessly.

Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared over my body and I threw myself to the left - dodging away from the shadow. A flash of white confirmed what I had thought - Ezio almost jumped on me but I didn't look back as I pulled myself up and kept running. I could sense Ezio nearby but when I looked back, he was not in sight.

I smiled victoriously as my usual bale of hay came into view from the rooftop. As I neared the side of the building and prepared myself for the jump, something hit me from the side - tackling me off of the roof and straight into the bale of hay below.

When I opened my eyes again all I could see was hay before Ezios face came into focus. He was grinning before he nuzzled my neck and I laughed, rolling over in the hay to get away from him. Ezio just rolled with me and I found myself with his whole body pressed against my own - I smiled up at him as he picked a piece of hay out of my hair. He looked at me intensely and I knew what he wanted - what I wanted, but a bale of hay was not exactly my chosen spot for that kind of activity.

I arched my back, pushing my chest into his own chest and kissed him like I wanted. No holding back or worries that Dante was watching. I pushed against my lips against his roughly and he groaned against my lips - wanting more than I could give considering our current location. I flipped him over in the hay and sat on top of him before grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him forward for his lips to meet mine once more. His hands went to my lower back before he fully sat up and hugged my smaller frame to his.

We stopped kissing after a few long minutes so we could both catch our breath. He smirked at me as I watched him with a small smile on my own flushed face. "You really have changed."

"The distance between us gave me some time to think about some things."

"Davvero?" He asked, looking at me curiously as his hands rubbed my back slowly. He kissed my jaw before whispering in my ear, "Like what, Nemesis?" I rolled my eyes at that nickname and Ezio laughed against me. "No, perhaps something else then."

I leaned down to his ear to speak to him - I let my breath flow over his skin and watched him shiver slightly before saying, "I let you know eventually, Ranuncolo."

Ezio cursed but still smiled at me, "That was a good one."

"I know." I said with a smile as I stood from the Ezio and the hay and brushed myself off. I yawned without meaning to, the night was really wearing me down. Ezio wrapped an arm around my waist and we began to walk back towards where we had come.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" Ezio asked when I laid my head against his shoulder while we walked.

"I have to be a nice, boring noblewoman until night and then we can have dinner with Leo and go to see Antonio and Rosa." I winked up at him and he smiled.

"It's a little strange to see you acting like this." He said, obviously meaning my more up-beat attitude. Was it so hard to believe that I was happy?

"I am not always so cold-hearted, Ezio." I said in a low tone to him as I lifted my head from his shoulder to look the opposite way.

"But usually…"

"Do not continue." I warned and he smiled, glad that he can still piss me off somehow.

"All I'm saying is that you seem happier now. Why is that?"

I looked down at the cobbled streets before smiling back up him. "I feel more complete than I've ever had. I came back into contact with someone I consider a brother, the bow Epirus came into my hands and now you are here. Everything is slowly falling into place." I looked over at him and admitted honestly, "It's mostly because you are here, though."

Ezio squeezed me closer to him before placing a kiss against the side of my forehead sweetly. "If I didn't know you, Aria - I would say that you're starting to feel something for me."

"There is no denying how I feel about you, Ezio." I said quietly and he stopped walking before looking at me with doubtful yet… somehow, hopeful eyes.

"And just how do you feel about me?" Ezio asked as he took his arm from my waist and looked at me with expectant eyes.

"I -" I started but was rudely interrupted,

"Aria!" I turned to see Dante stalking towards me in his protectors robes. I raised a brow at him before looking at Ezio with an apologetic expression. "You never came back to the palazzo. I was worried!" He stopped and looked over our hay covered robes before his face turned a reddish color. I blushed because I knew what he was thinking - what it looked like we had been doing. "We should get home. It's almost morning."

"I was on my way home." I replied tartly, looking at Dante with hardened eyes. He did not flinch at my look but I could see the hurt flash through his eyes at me. "By the way - Ezio, this is Dante."

"Ah, Dante. Someone that knew Aria before she became an Assassin - tell me, is she much different now?" Ezio could feel the tenseness between Dante and I and was obviously trying to lighten the mood. He held a hand out for Dante to shake but Dante ignored it rudely.

"She is completely changed." His usually warm blue eyes met mine in an icy glance. "We should go."

"I'll be there in a moment."

"I'll just wait." Dante replied and crossed his arms across his chest in a show that he was not moving on without me. I sighed and turned to Ezio with an exasperated look on my face. He smiled and brushed a strand of hair out of my face before kissing me lightly on the lips. I was not so dense to miss the way Dante met his eyes and they glared at one another.

"I will see you tomorrow night, bella."

"Sweet dreams." I answered as Dante whirled away and began to walk home quickly - not bothering to wait on me. I hurried after him, smiling back at Ezio until he was out of sight before turning my gaze on Dantes back. His shoulders were tensed up and I could tell he was upset. Once we made it inside my home, he began to stalk away to his room.

"Dante, you and I need to have a word." I said with authority in my tone - something I had learned from training so many of my padres men. He froze in his steps but sighed and turned back to me.

"Yes?" He asked coldly, not looking me in the eyes but above my head like I wasn't good enough for him to acknowledge. I grabbed his robes and pulled him down to eye level with me; he looked surprised for a moment before I could see the rage start pooling in his blue eyes.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" I said in a deadly low voice. Dante sneered back at me, obviously pissed as he ripped my hands from his robes and straightened up to his full height to intimidate me. I straightened as well, pulling myself into a defensive stance that wasn't very noticeable. I took off my bag that held the armor from the tunnels and let my hands hang limply by my sides. "Why are you acting like this?"

"What am I acting like, Ria?" Dante said as his face contorted before returning to the impassive mask. His fists clenched by his sides and I prepared myself for the hit.

"A spoiled brat!" I yelled and that's when he lashed out at me. I leaned back, letting his fist miss my face by inches before I lunged forward and began an attack of my own. He blocked all my moves - he really was an expert at defense and I could find no ways past his barriers. We both took a few steps back before studying each other thoroughly. This fight was different than our first one. Now we both knew the truth and neither of us were willing to hold back now. I knew that I would have to wait for the attack and judging by the fury in his eyes; it was coming soon. He drew his sword as he pulled his shield from his back and though I was surprised by this, I drew my own two swords from my sides.

He ran towards me, hitting me with his shield and pushed me back as he lashed out at me with his long sword. Our swords met in a clang as my shorter sword hit his shield hard. The force of my blow made him step back to steady himself as I continued trying to break past his guard.

I could feel the anger in me grow into a raging inferno as he blocked all my attacks and I could feel the bow pulsating against me urgently. A large pulse went all the way through the bow to my body and I suddenly roared in anger as I changed my stance to an aggressive one that I had never done before - I didn't even know where I had picked up the stance. I was pushing the protector back before I knocked away his shield and his sword from his hands. I could see the fear in Dantes eyes as I approached but I could not stop myself as I kicked him to the ground and pinned him there by my foot on his chest.

By the time Dante had gotten his eyes open from hitting the ground, I had the Epirus bow pointing at his face - an arrow already there and waiting. My chest was heaving in anger that I could not get rid of. He watched me in silence, not daring to say a word as I struggled to regain control over myself. I heard something drop at the top of the stairs and looked up sharply to see a maid quietly gasp and disappear back around the corner, leaving her metal pans behind.

I looked back at Dante in confusion. I figured we would just fight it out until we tired and then we could talk about feelings. I had not expected this to happen and neither did Dante, considering the look of fear on his face as he watched the bow. I slowly lowered the bow until the arrow was gone before throwing it away from me and I watched it slid against the floor.

I felt a wave of relief come over my body as I lost all anger inside of me. I stepped away and held a hand out for Dante - he refused but I understood. I would have refused as well after that strange display.

"I failed." Dante whispered as he kneeled on the ground in front of me.

"What?" I asked tiredly, still eying the bow that was glittering on the ground.

Dante didn't look at me and instead looked at the ground, ashamed in himself. "You were under bows influence."

"How could you tell?" I asked with a mild fear in my voice. I didn't want anything like that to happen again - it was like being trapped inside my own body.

"Your eyes… They were green and then turned to a strange golden hue."

"I think the Epirus bow intensifies my emotions." I said quietly, remembering how the bow said it was making me feel more relaxed and carefree with Ezio.

"It doesn't matter what it does - it matters that I failed you! You made me promise that I would stop you and I couldn't!" Dante said as he stood and turned away from me, making towards the door of the home.

"Dante!" I said but he didn't look back or stop. "Fratello!" I cried desperately; using what I use to call him when we were children. I had truly thought he was my brother then. He stopped and his head lowered before he turned back to me - not bothering to hide the hatred for himself and his fear of me. I grew so weak at that moment that I fell to my knees in front of him. "Please don't leave me alone. I cannot survive it." I looked at the bow, afraid to touch it again.

Dante walked over and kneeled before me, so we came eye to eye. "I was very jealous of Ezio when I had first saw him. I thought he'd come to steal you away from me but… I realized - you cannot steal something that is already yours." He tripped a tablecloth from a table and wrapped it around the bow and pushed it toward me carefully. "You will never be alone while I am alive, sorella."

He wrapped an arm around me in a brotherly fashion and listen as I cried about the types of feelings the bow was given me. After I was calmer and Dante was sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees, I looked over at him, ready to tell him what he needed to hear.

"I think I love him, Dante." I was very quiet and Dante did not look my way or make any indication that he had heard me but I knew he had so I stayed quiet and stared at the wrapped up outline of the Epirus bow.

"Capisco." Dante whispered back as he looked at me with a real, genuine smile. "I told you before. All I want is for you to be happy and I can tell that he makes you happy."

"Grazie." I said and gave him a timid smile of my own. "Let's get to bed." I stood slowly, picking up the Epirus bow, afraid to touch it but knowing that I had to one day. I took it to my office and left it in there at the back of a dresser. When I walked back to my room - I noticed that a single rose was laying on my bed beside it, a small slip of paper.

It was good to see you, again, bellezza.

I smiled at the sweet note and smelled the rose before laying down on the bed with it in my hands. At least one good thing happened tonight, I thought to myself as I looked up at the ceiling - Ezio was really here.

A/N: This is pretty much a filler chapter for all of those who missed Ezio. Next chapter will have a lot of content and be longer than this one. You all may be wondering what's going on with Aria. The bow is messing with her and she hasn't learned how to control it and not let it control her yet. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I must say that I missed writing Ezio :) He's great. Please review! I love to hear your opinions and it helps me with brainstorming ideas for the story! R&R 3

Translations:

bambino - baby.

dolcezza - sweetness.

il tuo dolce viso - your sweet face.

I'Protettori - The Protectors.

il mio culo - my ass.

miele - honey.

In realta, posso proteggere - Actually, I can protect myself.

Certo - Of course.

Un po 'rosa - A little rose.

Davvero? - Really?

Ranuncolo - Buttercup.

Fratello! - Brother!

Sorella - sister.

Capisco - I understand.

Bellezza - beauty.

Thanks for all that favorited, alerted and a special thanks to the one that did review:

Guest - I missed him, too!