-This Chapter kicked my ass in a very hard-core way. :I Stupid hard chapters.
-I was BRIBED to finish this chapter...Ah, but it was SO worth it! :DDDD
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And I'd give up forever to touch you,
'cause I know that you'd feel me somehow.
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be.
And I don't want to go home right now...
And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming.
All the moments of truth in your lies...
Yeah, you bleed just to know you're alive.
– "Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls
Chapter 20: Venice Elements:Water and Air
Upon the tall tower in the northern-most part of Venice, under the pasty yet bright moon, the shimmers reflecting off of the dipping waters, Ezio knelt to the edge and reached down to me, pulling me up onto the pointed tipped top. The wind was biting and harp against my face as Ezio helped me stand upon the slanted roof, allowing the cool fingers to twist the hair away form my face, the smell of the salty water pressed into the breeze.
I let out a sigh, taking note that the moon was hanging more to the western sky now. The tour had been awe-striking, of course, but it had defiantly been a long time since I had ran across city rooftops for an extended amount of time.
"So?" Ezio hummed to me, totally unaffected by the rooftops adventure. I could see in my peripheral that he was staring down upon me from under his hood. "What do you think about lovely Venezia bathed in moonlight?"
"Breathtaking," I responded, looking out over the vast sea. I felt my nose wrinkle. "But I'll just say that the smell of the sea up here is much more pleasant of that of the streets."
Ezio laughed under his breath. " I said much of the very same thing."
Venice was indeed yet a whole other wonder in the light and shadows of the night. It was as if the moonlight revealed sights that daylight blurred away. I reveled in the height that I was above the city, for I was never able to appreciate the large, beautifully mastered city that seemingly floated upon the shimmer waves of the Mediterranean, the tall building's reached up into the untouchable heavens. We stood in a silence, the wind brushing lightly against our faces, bathed in the moonlight. I ended up sighing and lowering myself to sit on the edge of the roof, dangling my feet over the edge. Ezio's hand ended up on my head, patting me like I was a small puppy.
I frowned, and as if he could hear my unspoken question, he answered, "You seem restless lately—especially this past day." I kept my mouth shut, not really wanting to answer him. When I didn't say anything, Ezio lifted his hand from my head and placed himself next to me, allowing his long legs to drape over the edge of the roof as well. "Is there something going on?" he wondered.
I kept my gaze on the distant, dark mountains and the shimmering waves down below. I sighed. "Nothing that you should be worried about," I responded quietly, folding my hands in my lap.
It was almost as if I could feel the waves of disapproving roll off of Ezio. "Well, now I want to know."
Slowly, I shook my head and then looked up at him. "Look, I'll tell you after things settle down. It's something that you don't need to hold it's burden." I smiled at him when he frowned down upon me. "I'll tell you after the meeting, alright?" Three days...I wasn't sure if that was enough time for me to gather up my courage to tell him. And moreover, I realized that I only had three days to live like we always had—I knew the confession would change something somehow, whether it be for the better or for the worst.
A pout graced Ezio's face, greatly visible even from under his hood. "I want to know now."
"Well," I retorted, lifting my chin at him, and raising my brows at him. "You don't always get what you want in life, do you Ezio?"
His eyes tightened for a moment, but then they were warmed along with the creepy smirk that blanched out across his face. I felt my face drop into a shocked confusion as I realized that he was suddenly too close to me, his face only a few inches away from mine. Leaning slightly away from him, I tried to move out from under his gaze that made my cheeks flush so warmly. But it was inevitable. When I moved away, he moved along with me. When I tried to turn my head away to look back down at the waters, my chin was suddenly caught in his fist, making my head incline further up towards his own. There was a certain slyness in the set of his golden eyes.
"You're wrong," he whispered darkly, his breath flowing over my face, caressing my cheeks. "Prendo che voglio, (I get whatever I want)." Oh, how his words made my heart thud loudly in my chest, my blood race and my breath catch itself in my throat. I was caught by surprise when the shadow of his hood overcast my face from the moonlight, his forehead pressed against mine while the hand at my chin loosened and ran along my jaw line.
But then...I pulled away, finding myself laughing lightly under my breath while leaning away from his touch. "You're such an idiot," I giggled. "Charming, but an idiot." When he looked down upon me, I could see all the confusion and all the questions within. I had never denied him a kiss—at least, not in a long time. I smiled softly at him. "I'll tell you after the scheduled meeting. No sooner."
Finally, Ezio grunted in defeat and leaned away from me, frowning out at the sea. "You know, I'll be assuming all the worse things if you're not going to tell me."
My smile faded. "I didn't say it was bad news." Then I stopped to think about it. Perhaps it would be bad news in Ezio's eyes—his closest ally falling in love with him, becoming not his greatest asset, but his biggest weakness. And also, what if he didn't reciprocate? Everything that had been carefully built between us for all these years would be torn down, wouldn't they?
Ezio's face lightened a bit. "So, it's good, then?"
I stayed silent for a moment. Then sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."
Ezio frowned again, but there wasn't any mischievousness in it this time. He reached out and put an arm around my shoulders, pulling me towards him so that I was snuggled into his side. "Well, I'll be here for you in any case, I guess."
"Yeah." I allowed myself to relax into him. "I know that." I sighed again, then felt my brow furrow as I thought, I guess when you're in love, you sigh a lot.
When Ezio's hold was no longer helpful against the cold breeze brushing across my face, I pulled away from him and pushed myself up onto my feet. "We should get going," I said, reaching down and tugging at the nape of Ezio's cape. "If we stay in once place for too long, the guards will find us. Let's not forget that you just killed a man."
Ezio understood my logic and stood as well. I followed him down off the rooftops, back onto the dirty and rocky streets of Venice. Although the street too were dangerous, it seemed like a more civil way to walk around on ground level rather than upper roofs. Besides, I had grown tired through out the night despite my sleep earlier in the day. It must have been a few hours after midnight, judging on the moons position and also by the way the streets seemed to be cleared. However approaching summer quickly, the nights were still biting cold, and I felt myself shudder under the crisp air, raising my arms up around me as if to shield me from the cold. I could just imagine myself with a cold and a runny nose and I frowned at the image. It had been years since my last cold—it was due time for another, and I didn't want it what-so-ever.
I jumped when something wrapped around my shoulder, pulling me to the side. There was a light flush of embarrassment as I realized Ezio had noticed me contemplating the cold night and he had pulled me against his side again. "Mi dicpace," he murmured under his breath. "If I would have known this night to be freezing, I wouldn't have dragged you along." Even though my heart thudded so uncomfortably, I allowed his arm to sit upon my frame, his heat radiating through his assassin robes. I let my shoulder fit into the crook under his arm, allowing my head to lightly lean back against his arm. There wasn't even a second thought when I reached up and took a hold of Ezio's hand that hung over my shoulder.
I blushed when I could feel his questioning gaze upon the top of my head. "Y-your hands are warm," I mumbled. There was a moment of silence, and then suddenly Ezio was chuckling, pulling me even tighter against him.
"If you're so cold," he said softly down to me, "just say something. I've got enough warmth for the two of us."
I smiled, the odd twist in my stomach tightening again. "Are you trying to be charming, or are you being perverted again?" I turned my head and looked up into his hood, gazing into his honey eyes.
He smirked back down at me, showing off his bright, straight row of teeth. "Depends on which one you favor more."
Laughing, I rolled my eyes and looked away from him, but gripped onto his hand tighter. "Why are you so...so stupid?" I laughed out loud again.
Ezio chuckled with me for a moment before asking, "Are you going back to Leonardo's tonight, or are you coming back to the Thieves Guild with me?"
I gave him a 'are you serious' look with a half smile. "I need to go back to Leonardo's. Sorry—no play time tonight, Ezio."
"When have we ever had 'playtime?'" Ezio asked lowly, and I could feel his hold tighten ever so slightly.
"Never." I pursed my lips. "Let's keep it that way for a while."
By now, we had made it to the large plaza that was the street for Leonardo's shop, and Ezio huffed loudly under his breath. "I'll have you someday, Narina."
He took me to the door of the shop before letting go of me, standing in the small archway entrance to wait for me to go into the building. I shrugged, innocently widening my eyes. "Well, I never said that you wouldn't." Ah, the small but extravagant smile he gave me sent my heart a flutter, and I couldn't help but smile back softly. "So, swimming lessons tomorrow, hm?"
Ezio shifted on his feet, his robes shuffling together around his legs, and he folded his arms across his chest. "Meet me down by the Guild and we'll have the lesson's there."
I tapped the side of my head. "I'm a slow learner, just to warn you."
"You forget that I'm the one who taught you how to climb buildings." He smirked. "Trust me, Narina, I know how you tick. See you tomorrow morning, at sun rise." With that, he turned and walked out into the streets in the familiar direction of I knew to be the Thieves Guild area. I watched after Ezio with a small smile, then turned to walk into the workshop before he turned around and caught me gazing upon him. I'd have to hold back the feelings for a just a while longer.
Leonardo woke me up way early in the morning by yelling out in excitement. I seriously considered just rolling over onto my stomach and falling back asleep, (I had actually only gotten about five hours of sleep), but with a rough rub to my eyes, a mental reminder that Ezio wanted me to go over early and a deep groan, I rolled out of bed and stumbled my way out of the room.
After I was tended to, presentable, and fed from the food items in the kitchen, I greeted Leonardo out in the shop. He was hovering over a large, spread out piece of paper with equations and sketches all about it. When I asked him what he was doing, he only responded in what sounded like fast gibberish, so I pretended to understand with a small 'oh, okay' before I excused myself from the building.
Early morning Venice was better than any other time of the day. The air smelled a little bit cleaner, if any, and the air was crisp and awakening. And freezing. I frowned at the thought that I would be swimming around in the already cold water in this freezing air. A sigh escaped my lips. Ezio sure knew how to torture me.
The streets were somewhat empty in the morning, but still more busy than Monteriggioni's had ever been. I made my way through the crowds to the north-southern docks, taking my sweet time as if the thudding of my steps were like a lullaby to me. Perhaps I should have quickened my pace, for when I entered into the guild courtyard, I was faced with a arm folded Ezio, a deep frown on his face of which was shadowed by his familiar hood. I was taken aback, for I couldn't tell if he was truly upset with me or not.
"You're late," he stated sharply.
"I..." I swallowed, my eyes widening. "I didn't know that...I..."
Of course, Ezio did one of his trademark, charming grins. "You can be forgiven if you prove yourself a great student today." He pointed back out the entrance of the courtyard. "Now out into the water."
My normal annoyance with Ezio settled in. Even affection couldn't filter that one out. "Well, okay, but I'll just drown. I can't swim."
Ezio raised his brow and gave me a sly, crooked smile. "Yet." Another point of his finger. "Go."
I sighed. I had forgotten how bossy Ezio became when he was a teacher.
We walked out to the open sea that was next to the guild entrance. Ezio looked down at me, reaching up and pulling down his hood. "Well, take off your vest," he ordered as if I didn't know what I was doing.
I automatically folded my arms over my chest. "Why?"
There was an insincere grin that I knew all too well. "The extra weight will weigh you down. It's best to learn easy and then gradually put on the normal weight."
"Yeah right," I retorted. What, was he stupid? How much did he think I thought a vest weighed?
The professional look overcame Ezio's face again. "Seriously—that vest is made out of a material that will weigh you down when it's soaked with water."
I frowned, letting my fingers at my side fiddle with the end of the vest resting upon my upper thighs. "You're not playing games, are you?"
"Does it matter?" He reached out to me and took a hold of the sash that I hand tied loosely upon my hips, untying it and pulling it away from me, pouches and all. "Take it off." I took a good note that Ezio could still swim with all of his armor and things on, but...well, he could swim better than I could anyways.
Even though I did have one of Ezio's old dress shirts on underneath, I still felt as though I was about to expose myself. But slowly, starting by tugging up on my shoulders to let my arms slip inside so I could lift the clothing up over my head. Ezio invited himself to help me, much to my burning cheeks and throbbing heart's dismay, letting his fingers brush against me as he lifted the material. Once the vest was off, I folded my arms timidly over my chest and brushed the hair out of my face. Ezio placed my clothes and pouches among a nearby crate.
He smiled softly as he arranged the items, and it grew more dominate upon his face as he turned to me. "Ready?"
Maybe I should just back out now, I thought staring up at Ezio, who smile was becoming more and more of a smirk. Probably save me a lot of embarrassment. I sighed. "Yeah. Ready as ever."
"Good." He stood straighter. "Now before we begin...let's see what you know."
I was suddenly falling back, my arms flailing and my screams ringing from my mouth. I had enough sense in my head to know that Ezio had pushed me backwards into the water, and in the split moment of falling I was able to catch a big gulp of air in my mouth before I was engulfed. Yes, engulfed in the icy waters of the Mediterranean, and I was surprised that the breath I had taken wasn't ripped straight out of me. The water was so cold that the sudden temperature change made my lungs contract and feel like they were about to be crushed. I was so cold that I found myself not even able to move.
Luckily, my hands stretched out in front of me found the stone edge of the street way and I was able to use that to drag myself back up to the surface. I gasped as I breached the waters surface, one of my hands gripping up onto the edge of the edge while the other was flailing about, hoping to have any contact with Ezio, which it didn't. I only heard his laughs and then my chattering teeth overtook my hearing.
"Y-y-y-y-you f-f-f-f-fucking ja-c-ckass," I spat out, blinking out the water from my eyes.
He was hunched over, smiling down upon me with an elated smile. "Well, you know how to not drown. That's a start. At least Ugo got something accomplished."
God, I needed to get out of the water. I could already feel my legs going numb. I sucked in a deep and stuttered breath, weaved with chattering teeth and Ezio chuckled under his breath again. "Is the water cold?"
"What the f-f-fuck do you th-th-think?" I snarled, gripping onto the edge of the the edge of the walkway, shakily hoisting myself upon it.
Ezio's laughs stopped suddenly. "You want to stay in the water," he said in a soft tone.
"Yeah, fuck that!"
"Narina." I stopped and looked up at Ezio distastefully, but I found he wasn't even looking at me, but rather down past my face to my torso, one of his eyebrows raised and an almost crazed smile upon his lips. I followed his gaze down to my chest, and I was appalled that, due to the thin, wet fabric and the cold freezing water and air, my nipples and chest was almost nearly completely exposed through the wet shirt.
I screamed and allowed myself to drop low enough down to be able to hide my chest. "Asino!" I yelled up at Ezio, my cheeks burning and my blood pounding loudly through my veins. "Why the hell did you make me take off my vest?" I threw him an accusing and embarrassed glare. "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you!"
Ezio's face blanched out into his sexy smirk. "Well, you're staying in the water, right?"
I huffed loudly. "You have a very sick way of teaching, Ezio."
He chuckled. "The teacher has to have some fun too, hm?" I couldn't respond to him, nothing came to mind, so I kept my gaze away from him and tried to get my heart to slow down. I wasn't sure if it was because of the fact I was getting used to the water or if it was the fact that my blood now raced through out my body quickly, but the water was a little bit more bearable now. In any case, I was glad to see Ezio take a step and fall into the water, splashing me lightly with a few drops. When he popped back out above the surface, letting out a shaky breath, I commented in a mocking tone "What? Is the water cold?"
After letting out another shaky breath, he smirked at me. "You've mocked the teacher. I'll make things ten times harder for you now."
"What?" I gave him a scared look, clinging tightly onto the edge. "No, wait, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."
"Can't go back on it now, Narina." Ezio lifted his hand up towards me, the thin material of his shirt clinging to his arms, allowing me to see the thick muscle stretched along his forearm. His hand took a hold of my shoulder, and I reacted with a slight struggle and lifting my legs up under the water so that I could kick at him. If he was going to be a dick about this, I was going to be a hardcore rebel about it.
However, I had just given myself a disadvantage, for Ezio's hand left my shoulder and caught me around one of my ankles before I could kick him. "Good," he mused, the amusement in his voice. "I guess we will start of with learning how to kick, hm?"
"I know how to already," I spat. "Get a little closer and I'll show you!"
Ezio clicked his tongue at me in a disapproving manor. "Now you're threatening the Teacher. I might as well start whipping you right now."
I huffed and pouted, giving Ezio a small glare. No, I wasn't going to apologize this time. We bickered for a few more moments before I finally gave in and let Ezio's hands lead my legs into soft kicking motions. It wasn't as bad as I would have first thought. Ezio's hands would either pull on my heel for me to kick out, or maybe go under water to cup around my knee to make me bend them. He guided me with gentle and informing words, telling me that flailing was no way to swim—you had to plan out your movements and go from there. We took a few moments so that I could try out a few different leg patterns before Ezio stopped helping me and allowed me to try on my own. Although I was getting the hang of it, I was still a little sloppy and unsteady. The morning sun had climbed up into the sky a little bit more, and it's warm rays heated up the top of my head, and that made me warmer in a sense, and I was finally able to start enjoying the swimming lessons.
"Here, keep your knee straight," Ezio told me, holding onto the edge as well so that he didn't have to waste his energy by swimming in one spot. With a low breath, he dropped into the water and swam back around to my legs. He reached down under the water and his hand (somehow still warm even though it had been in the water too) pressed into my knee, making my leg straighten. And then, his hands were on the back of my thighs, resting casually in the spot right just below my rear-end.
"Hey, knock it off." I snapped, throwing a look over my hunched shoulder due to me clinging onto the edge.
Ezio raised his brow evenly. "What?"
"Don't try to act innocent. Teaching me how to swim doesn't require you touching my ass, okay?" I retorted against his action, but was I really such a bad person to have actually enjoyed his touch? When I thought back on it, I always had like Ezio's flirting touches. Ah, but what a pushover I would be if I actually let him know that.
"On the contrary, Narina, your ass has a lot of variables in swimming."
I frowned, not sure if he were telling the truth or not. "Maybe so, but that still doesn't mean you have to grope it."
"I'm noteven touching it," Ezio complained. "If I was, trust me, you'd be able to tell."
"Well, don't even plan to, or else I'll show you just how good I can kick. And I think your crotch would be my prime target."
There was a deep chuckle. "I'm glad you would even regard such an area."
"That's not what I..." I stopped and sighed. "Never mind."
"I'm glad we're on the same level." Before I could respond, he continued talking. "Okay, let's go on to lesson two. Let's learn how to actually float now." He pried me from the edge and pulled me out into the open water, holding me by my upper arms.
I panicked for a moment, and I struggled around in Ezio's hold until I was clinging to him, my arms around his neck and my cheek pressed against his. We both fell silent and stopped moving momentarily, then Ezio chuckled. "Narina, I've got a hold of you. You don't have to be scared. It's not like I'm going to let you drown."
Letting out my breath, I took no comfort in his words and clung onto him tighter. He was so warm—it wasn't fair that he could be in the water and not freeze like I was! I was all too aware that I was pressing my chest against his, his warmth giving some nice comfort in that sense, the way his breath fell against my neck, the way his rough cheek dragged so pleasantly against mine. The water created an odd loss of friction between us, which was, strangely, just as enticing as the straining friction could be. With a feeling stirring in the pit of my stomach, I suddenly didn't want to be learning how to swim anymore.
Ezio, for once, had other ideas, and pushed me away. "Lay back on the water," he told me, "and hold your breath. You should float." I made sure my chest was covered with my hands before I let Ezio guide be back onto my back upon the water, his hands branched out along side my back to hold me up and keep me from sinking. I looked up at him, keeping my hands firmly on my chest, and in return, he offered a warm smile. "Take a deep breath," he murmured, "and you'll float."
I swallowed. "You're not going to let me go, are you?"
Another smug smirk. "We'll see if you can even hold your breath first. Come on, show me."
I held in a deep breath and then Ezio's hands left my back. It was my first instinct to start flailing around, so of course, I did, even though Ezio told me flailing around isn't the way to swim. And, of course, I sunk, but only for a split moment, Ezio reaching out and grabbing me before I could be completely engulfed.
"When I said hold your breath," he said with a teasing tone, "I meant that you'd have to hold your breath when actually floating too."
"Sh-shut up!" I stuttered. "You should know that water scares the living shit out of me."
Ezio rolled his eyes dramatically. "Although there's no reason as to why it scares you."
"It nearly took my life away!" I exclaimed. "Me plus water equals 'end of Narina's life'." Ezio stared down at me for a moment as he took in what I had just said.
"Fine, fine," Ezio allowed. "Just make sure that you keep your breath held."
We spent a good hour practicing floating, doing a mixture of the kicking and the floating and then finally trying to swim normally. Ezio kept at least a hand on me the whole time as if to reassure me that he wasn't going to let me drop. However, the lesson ended soon after and Ezio, handing me my dark vest while I was in the water so that I could hold it against myself, pulled me out of the water and even turned away so that I could dress myself more modestly. Ugo dropped by at that point and told Ezio that there was scouting to be done for the day. The sun was at high noon, so even though I was drenched with cold, smelly Venice water, the sun warmed me up sufficiently. Ezio told me that I was getting pretty damn good at swimming, told me to keep practicing, before he scaled the buildings with Ugo, disappearing out of my sight. After brushing my twisted wet hair away from my face, I made my way back to the workshop so that I could change into another set of clothes so I wasn't so cold and smelly. Ezio came back to the workshop later that night after apparently scouting was done. He sat and chatted with Leonardo for a while before giving both of us a goodnight and reminding me of swimming lessons tomorrow morning as he left. I went to bed early, wanting to catch up on the hours of sleep I had missed the night before.
But of course, even that was disturbed.
It was probably around midnight when I was lightly shaken awake, my name whispered along with the rhythm of the shakes. As I blinked away the sleep from my eyes rapidly, I could barely make out Ezio's face in the dim moonlight that streamed through my window, his golden eyes seemingly glowing in the dark. At first, I was at a loss as to why he was in my room, over me on my bed and I only stared up at him in confusion. He was fully armed and clothed, not like he usually is when he's just hanging out with me at which point he would shed a little bit of his armor and leave a few weapons back at the Guild. We stared at each other in a silence for a moment, myself slowly realizing the way that Ezio was sitting upon the edge of my bed, his left arm reaching out over me to touch my shoulder gently.
"What is it?" I finally whispered to him, reached up out from under the covers to that I could rub my eyes.
He smiled at my sleepy voice. "Antonio has ordered for Ugo, some of his men and I to secure the perimeter of the city. We're leaving right now to get started." He paused.
"And?" I yawned. "You have to wake me up to tell me this, why?
"There's no need for you to wake up early—there will be no swimming lessons this morning."
I finally understood, and I was actually sort of glad that I didn't have to get into the cold water in the cold air again.
"Oh, okay." I sat up in my bed, letting the covers crumple up around my waist. "Thanks for telling me." Ezio was suddenly chuckling, the hand that had reach out to shake me awake now covering his mouth as if he were hiding the laughs. I frowned. "What?"
He shook his head and removed his hand from his mouth, revealing his wide, attractive grin. "You're hair is a mess," he chuckled. "Look like you wrestled with screaming hellions if you ask me."
My hands immediately went to my hair, and sure enough, there was so many tangles and my hair was sticking up in odd angels (probably from the filth of the water). "Hey, be quiet!" I snapped, pressing my hair against my head. "You can't just walk into a woman's room in the middle of the night and expect her to be godly beautiful!"
Ezio's smirk softened into a more endearing one. "Narina, I never said that you weren't beautiful." I paused and looked back up at him, my hands still pressed against my head. I registered his words slowly and they finally made a light blush warm my cheeks.
"Whatever," I mumbled, looking down at the blanket at my waist.
His hand was touching my cheek suddenly, cupping around my face, holding my face at such and angle that I had to look up into my assassin's golden eyes, so that I had to face his soft and heart-melting smile. "Even with hell-hair, you could still pull off being an angel."
I was the one to laugh this time. "Nice try, but your charming words don't work on me as well as they do your other women." I snorted. "Besides, an angel can't have 'hell-hair'. That's like a contradiction!"
Ezio shrugged, but was still smiling softly. "At least I tried." He turned to me fully, resting one of his legs upon the bed so that he could turn to face me, and took a hold of my face with both of his hands. He didn't give me much of a warning, either, but he was suddenly kissing me, pressing his lips into mine softly. I was all too aware that we were kissing in a bed, and I flushed at the thought of where this could go. But his kiss held no strain, and it ended all too soon. He broke the kiss, gave me another small peck, before letting me go and standing straight off of the bed. "I probably won't see you at all today," he told me. "Don't get into too much trouble." He turned to leave the room, stopped and turned back to look at me. "Oh, and don't try to swim by yourself either just yet, unless you convince Rosa to teach you."
I slightly nodded, my head still spinning softly from the kiss. I wasn't even planning on swimming, anyways. The water was too damn cold and it smelled way too bad. "Hey, be safe, you hear me? If you get hurt, I'll make it so you wish you would have died."
Ezio grinned widely at me, his white smile seeming to radiate in the dim moonlight in my room. "Don't worry. I won't." His smile once again fell softer. "Buonanotte, Narina."
I smiled softly back, laying back down on my pillows. "Buonanotte e buona fortuna."
It took me a few moments after he left to calm my heart down enough so that I could go to sleep again.
Ezio had been right. I didn't see him at all the next day. I spent the entire day with Rosa, and even then we didn't do much. We just sat upon the roof of the guild, staring out over the cities tall roofs. We talked a lot. We got to know each other very well. She had apparently joined the guild not too long after Ugo had, and due to them being newcomers at nearly the same time, they had grown very close to each other. I smiled and suggested that it was like Ezio's relationship with me—we were best friends. Rosa just smiled at me knowingly and said "Yes, but I don't love Ugo."
I frowned. Ugo had told her about it all. I had looked away from her and replied "yes, well, consider it a blessing." It was hard to explain, but falling in love with your best friend was a lot easier than it sounded.
She then reluctantly went on to explain that Ugo and her had made a promise to each other a long time ago that they couldn't fall in love. I commented that it was a stupid promise—that you can't stop yourself from falling in love with someone. Rosa only smiled at that, and then the subject was dropped. I suspected that she wasn't telling me something about this so called promise with her and Ugo, but I didn't press on it.
Once the sun was sitting on the western horizon, I made my way back to the workshop. Leonardo then asked me to sit in a chair so that he could stare at me for a moment, which I thought was very, very weird. He even pressed his finger up against my cheek as if to measure the distance from the corner of my mouth to my eye. When I asked him what it was all for, he created an innocent smile and said, "It's a secret."
Oddly enough, I dreamed of Petruccio that night.
I didn't see Ezio the next day either. At least, not for the first half of it. I had gone to the Guild early in the morning hoping to catch the assassin before he started to run about the city, but, according to Ugo, I had just missed him. Ezio had gone to attend the so-called meeting of the templars, and they all waited for his return now. For the moment, though, the thieves were planning on moving into the Palazzo Dela Seta. Bigger base. More room. Besides, it wasn't like there was anyone there anyways. I helped them move a few things to the building, but they were waiting for the large movement for later days, when things weren't so hectic. It was probably around noon when Ezio walked into the courtyard of the Seta. Since I was busy helping Ugo organize some things, Rosa was the first to notice and acknowledge him. I turned soon enough to watch and un-hooded Ezio give her a one armed hug, saying something to her before Rosa called out to the walkways above, "Antonio! Ezio's here!"
By this time, I had walked over to both of them, questioning with my eyes of Ezio's serious look. "Hey," I greeted casually. "What's up?"
Ezio's brow furrowed and his frown deepened. "I messed up, Narina. I've made a mess of things."
A mixture of shock and confusion swept over me. "Wait, what? What do you mean?"
Antonio came down the stairs towards Ezio, who ignored my question and kept his gaze upon the master thief. "What is it, Ezio?" Antonio asked, clearly concerned. "Is everything alright?"
Ezio's face darkened. "Carlo Grimaldi, including the Babarigo's, are in league with the one they call 'The Spaniard'. They plan to murder the Doge and replace him with one of their own." Ezio huffed deeply. "They'll have everything in their hands—all of Venezia, the entire fleet, in their grasp!"
Antonio scoffed in disgust. "And they call me a criminal?"
"So, you will help me?"
"I am on your side, brother. All my men will give you their support."
Rosa threw an arm around me, holding me to her side. "Don't forget the women—we're here too." Ezio finally smiled lightly at the two of us, opened his mouth to say something, but Antonio interrupted him.
"But Ezio, I must warn you that the Palazzo Ducale is the most heavily guarded building in entire Venezia. It will not be so easy this time."
"Where there's a will," I started to say.
"There's a way." Ezio finished for me, passing me a grin.
"Bene." Antonio replied with a knowing smile. "Let us go search out the building then. We will come up with a plan."
After a small argument with Ezio, it was finally decided that I was going to help scout out the area as well. Rosa wanted to go too, but she remembered that she had something else to do and left it at that. So, the three of us walked over to the Palazzo Ducale, keeping low of the guards. When we arrived, I was once again amazed (like I had been from other visits to the place) by how large the plaza before the building was. It was indeed grand, as should the Doge's building's plaza be. Town events obviously occurred there too, for there were many stalls about the edges and there was also a large platform in the middle, not unlike the one that was in Florence, but much larger and more decorated with silk covers.
Antonio devised a plan for us to execute. There were buildings behind and to the side of the Ducale, and we planned to see if they offered us of any help. If not, we'd scout the ground level to find if there was any way up the side of the building. I knew the reason that Ezio didn't want me to follow was because of the fact he didn't want me to get hurt OR to lengthen their mission, so I made sure that I was always just a simple step behind either Ezio, or Antonio. The first two stops were a failure—there was no way to get into the fucking Ducale! Antonio had been right—it wasn't going to be easy.
We did find a spot, however, that allowed us to scale up the walls, thanks to some crates and carts next to the building. But even then, upon the rooftops, it was impossible to get into the courtyard of the Ducale—there was a fence the lined the inner perimeter of the rooftop, and there was no hope of scaling that. Before we could draw too much attention to ourselves, we climbed back down the building and gazed up at the wondrous building, tired, panting and sweating.
"Impossibile!" Antonio exclaimed, throwing a hand at the building in disgust. "There's no way to breach it! The only way in is if...is if..."-he kicked at a flock of nearby birds- "a man sprouted wings and could fly!"
I put a hand on Antonio's arm to calm him. Having rage against a building would do us no good. Ezio was silent for a moment before he murmured "Yes...yes, if a man could fly!" He turned on his heel, an excited spring in his step.
"Where are you going?" Antonio and I asked at the same time.
Ezio threw a grin back at us from under his hood. "To go visit my friend, Leonardo."
My mind clicked in the pieces, and I knew exactly what Ezio had in mind. Then, I too became quite excited and followed after Ezio quickly. But there was indeed a damper on my excitement.
"Ezio, I know what you have in mind," I said to him as we walked down the streets. "But I don't think Leonardo has it finished yet—he has it hanging in the workshop as if he is still working on it."
Ezio shrugged. "We'll have to try it out—it's the only thing we have now."
I raised my eyebrow at him. "And you scoffed at it at first. How ironic."
For once, I was the one to barge rudely into Leonardo's shop. But the shop had become more of a home for me as well, so I didn't let it bother me that much. Ezio followed in closely behind me, reaching up to take off his hood, as if Leonardo's shop was too hot for him to wear it.
"Leonardo! I need your help." Ezio exclaimed, walking towards the man, who was at his shelves, looking up at the many books. The young painter looked back at us over his shoulder. Ezio adjusted his gaze to the large contraption in the corner on the room, hanging by strings and hooks. "Does it work?"
Leonardo was taken by surprised. "What? What are you asking?"
Ezio gestured to the glider. ".Work Leonardo? Can it actually fly?"
Leonardo's eyes landed on the glider too and then the whole room went silent for a moment. "I don't know," Leonardo finally whispered. "It's just an idea. A prototype...In any case, it isn't ready."
"Have you tested it out?"
"No!" Leonardo responded as if in shock. "Doing that would require jumping off of a building! Only a mad-man would be crazy enough to do so!" He walked off in a brainstorming session, stroking at his bearded chin.
Ezio and I exchanged a look before both grinning widely. "Leonardo," Ezio started, folding his arms, "I think you just found your mad man."
It took us a good while to hoist the machine up the tall tower Ezio was to jump off of. Probably a good hour, too. When we were finally upon the tower, the glider in position, Ezio huffed and turned to Leonardo.
"So, how does it work?"
Leonardo went over to the machine and ran his fingers against the wings. "Have you ever watched a bird in flight, Ezio? It's not about being lighter than the air around you, it's about balance and grace. You have to use your own weight to determine your elevation and direction! This glider helps you achieve this balance."
I felt like I had an input on the subject, although I couldn't quite grasp onto the words. Leonardo slapped a hand onto Ezio's back. "Good luck, Ezio."
When Ezio turned to me, I smiled and said, "Yes, good luck. Don't get yourself killed now."
He replied with a charming grin, a touch to my nose before he climbed up into the workings of the contraption. He lifted it up into his hold, testing out it's weight, adjusting is evenly before he took a running start and jumped off of the platform. I prick of fear bolted through me and I ran to the edge to watch Ezio plunge down before catching onto the wind, blowing up into the air for one glorious moment that made both Leonardo and I gasp with happiness, and then he did a nosedive into the building's rooftop next door.
I busted up laughing once I saw Ezio jump up out of the crashed glider and start swearing loudly. Leonardo seemed breathless beside me, so amazed that his idea and creation had actually worked—even if it only had for a moment. I hopped over to the other roof after I was done laughing at Ezio and helped drag the glider back to Leonardo's workshop.
Leonardo was ecstatic. "I can't believed it worked! You actually flew Ezio! You flew!"
Ezio, on the other hand, was very disgruntled. "Si, but not very far!"
"Well, of course not," Leonardo explained. "The machine wasn't built for distance." I was thrown into another fit of giggles, and Ezio threw a dark look at me. "Okay, okay," Leonardo amended, walking back over the construction plans of the glider. "Let me look over the plans and see if there isn't a way to extend the flight duration."
"Ezio!" We all turned to the sound of the voice. Antonio had ran into the shop. "Ezio, my men tell me that Grimaldi has the poison. We must hurry."
"Antonio, this is Leonardo, grand master inventor of this..." He threw an angry gesture to the glider. "This pezzo di merda!"
I reached over and slapped Ezio's arm, glaring at him and telling him that was no way to behave. Besides, he had no idea how much heart and soul Leonardo had put into the machine, and it would probably hurt the sensitive artist to hear such a thing. He gave me a 'not know, Narina' look.
"Hey!" Leonardo retorted from his desk. "It's not the machines fault!" Leonardo walked around the table. "It's mine." He looked back down to the paper on his desk. "I've checked and recheck my blueprints..."He suddenly took a hold of the paper and crumpled it up into a ball. "It's just impossible! There's no way to extend the flight... Ah, che idea del cazzo! (crazy fucking idea!)" He exalted, throwing the ball into the flames of hearth warming his shop then fell back into the chair in front of the fire.
Ezio and I exchanged a look, knowing that it was a rare sight indeed to see Leonardo so worked up and upset about something. He usually was a happy-go-lucky sort of guy. We'd have to find yet another way in—but we didn't have the time to. We were practically screwed. Then, as soon as Ezio and I looked at each other, Leonardo suddenly clasped his hands together. "Ah, Eureka!" He exclaimed. "Of course! Genius!" He sprang up from the seat and walked back over the the table, looking over a map.
"What's going on?" Antonio asked Ezio, who shrugged in response.
"Fire is the key!" Leonardo said in an excited but hushed tone. "We need fire for this." I saw Ezio's brow raise up in confusion.
But my brain clicked. "Because heat rises!" I exclaimed, getting exactly what Leonardo had come up with.
"Exactly! Now, if we could get heat under the wings, the heated air will lift the machine and be able to carry you farther into the city—it'll be able to carry you all the way to the Ducale!"
Ezio threw his hands up in exasperation. "Leonardo, what good is one little fire going to do?"
Leonardo looked up from the map he was looking at to Ezio. "Not one fire Ezio, but a dozen! Spread out all across the city! Just enough to carry you as far as you need."
I nodded up to Ezio with a smile, encouraging him that this was going to work. "But how..." Antonio trailed off. "Ah! Of course! My men will be able to lay the fires across the city." He paused. "But what about the guards?"
Ezio took a step towards the desk. "I can take care of that part. Don't worry about it."
Now getting into the plan, Antonio looked down at the map along with Leonardo. "I'll give my men the order to follow in after you, to hold the locations." He grinned like a small boy would. "They'll light the spots with fire once the sun goes down on Venezia."
"Then we must make haste," I put in. "We've not much time."
Ezio set out to clear the appointed areas immediately while Antonio went to talk to his men at the Seta building. In the meanwhile, I helped Leonardo drag the glider back up to the tower, this time taking even longer without the help of Ezio's well built arms and legs. However, when we did get it back on the tower, we still had about an hour left until the sun would go down. Leonardo took the time to fix up the glider from Ezio's last fail and just to improve it over all. I watched in silence, gazing out over the vast town of Venice, able to see a string of Antonio's men amongst the rooftops throughout the city, gathering up materials to start a fire. I took a deep breath, and was surprised to feel a bit of fear in the deepest pit of my stomach.
The sun finally set over Venice, and when it did, a whole new glow erupted from the city. The fires were lit and they were like twinkling stars across the rooftops. It felt almost magical and surreal, but the biting night cold reminded me otherwise that this was serious business.
We waited only a few more minutes until Antonio joined us upon the roof, and then another set of minutes until Ezio popped up over the edge. While Leonardo and Antonio talked about the machine for a moment, Ezio came and stood by me at the edge of the building.
We sat in a silence for a moment. "It's really pretty," I whispered, keeping my eyes on the flames. "I only wish we could have seen something like this for another reason."
Ezio nodded in agreement, and then his hand wrapped around mine at my side, entrapping my fingers in his hold. I looked up at him, expecting him to say something, but he just kept his gaze out over the city, his hand gripping tighter.
"Ezio." We both turned to look back at Leonardo, letting go of each others hands. "You'll want to fly from fire to fire across the city. The heat of each fire should lift you back up into the air again."
"Got it." Ezio nodded.
"Be careful, though," Antonio put in. "There's archers on the roofs tonight. Avoid their arrows, or else it'll be a short trip."
Ezio frowned. "I wish there were some way I could use my sword with this thing..." He put a hand on the glider softly.
Leonardo chuckled. "Well, you're legs will be free. If you can get close enough without getting an arrow to the head, perhaps you could kick them off the roof."
"Nice," Ezio said with a smile.
"It's now or never, my friend," Antonio said quietly, reminding us again that there was a time limit.
"Bene."
The fear that had been in my stomach suddenly doubled...no, tripled and I found myself blindly reaching out to grab onto Ezio's sleeve. He turned to look back at me, and I felt an odd wave of tears in my eyes.
"You come back safe and sound, you hear?"
Ezio's eyes softened as he faced me fully. The gold orbs bore into mine and I couldn't help but fling myself upon him, letting my hands go into his hood and press against his warm, broad neck. Pressing my lips against his rough jaw line, I whispered "Please be careful." I knew I had laughed at Ezio earlier when he crashed...but something about this whole idea made me feel uneasy.
Ezio wasn't going to settle for the cheek kiss. He took a hold of my face and gave me a quick, but hard and full kiss.
"I promise I'll be okay," he whispered softly against my lips.
"Ezio," Antonio said again, and I suddenly remembered that Ezio and I weren't alone. "We don't have time for this."
I let go of Ezio, and, pressing my lips together, nodded at him and held back the tears from forming in my eyes. Without another word, Ezio climbed up into the contraption, steadied himself as he had before, then gave me another reassuring look with a small smile and a charming wink before he ran off the edge of the platform.
It was amazing to watch him—a human being—fly across the city as such! Leonardo had been right—the flames heats rose him higher above the city, his dark figure looking as a giant demon in the sky. But as awe-striking it was, I found myself nauseated with worry. Even when Antonio had declared that he was upon the Ducale now, I felt a foreboding dread overcome me.
Something bad was going to happen, and I knew it.
Dun dun duunn! :3 Something bad indeed! OH! Oh yes. :3 I got some wonderful Fanart for this story, and I absolutly adore it! :3 Take a look!
Seriously, I want to thank Dragon's-Maidens for pushing me for this chapter... I actually enjoyed writing it! :3
rooster-crow(.)deviantart(.)com/#/d315sag (Get rid of the Bracketts)
Thanks for reading, and please review! :D