Well, thanks for the one review. Just in case you wanted to know, I'm a vampire! I live off of your reviews! …Not. It would be cool if I was one, though. For you Ezio fans, yes, actually, he does come in at this chapter. Oh, and I forgot to say this in the last chapter, but I don't own anything… except for Adelina.

Just keep walking.

Those three words keep echoing through my head as I walk through the poor district of Firenze. Beggars, some of who were nearly entirely naked, lined up on the sidewalks, mournful and sad, begging for money, hoping that someone who actually had a heart could- no, would give them a new life, a new start.

In other words, I really regretted not bringing my purse.

The cries of the poor, the stench of the food they were eating (which didn't even resemble food) the way they were living on barely nothing was almost too much for me to take. Breaking out into a sprint, I ran. I didn't really care where I was running, I just ran. I didn't even realize that I had ran into the noble district and didn't even realize I had past Donata's house until I was at least five blocks away.

The only thing that actually stopped me was that I had me colliding with a young man. He was probably the only man I would dare to call handsome. "Oh! Sorry, signore."

Without even waiting for a response I turned around and hurried back, trying to get his face out of my mind. But I couldn't. It's as though the second I saw him, his face was burned into my mind. And the more I tried to get him out of my mind, the more I thought about him.

"Come on, Alba. I want you to meet him!" Donata pleaded with me, trying to get me to go with her to meet her new boyfriend. I sighed, contemplated ways I could escape, then nodded. She squealed and took my hand, practically dragging me away from the market stand where we were buying food.

As I was dragged along, I perfected my plan of escape. I really hated it whenever Donata showed me her boyfriends or her best friends or her new puppy, mainly because I just get bored out of my mind and have to follow her around all day. The only reason I go is because she's really the only person I can honestly call a friend. Donata was perfect. Blond hair, blue eyes, tall, perfect body, she looked like a model. She even dressed like one: long, flowing strapless pink dress. At first glance, one might think that I was a boy following his sister.

We eventually reached the northern side of Firenze. Donata dragged me to a building that looked like a library. She finally let go of me and then told me to go around to the other side of the pillar and wait. "How long are you going to take?" I asked.

"Just a few minutes. Now hurry!" Donata cried, pushing me behind the pillar. Sighing, I pulled out an apple from one of my pockets, cleaned it with my shirt, and started chomping on it. I could hear Donata sighing at my boyish behavior but before she could say anything I heard a voice: "Donata! So you came, then." The voice had a sparkling nature to it, like everything that the person said was funny and joyful. I liked it.

"Of course I did." Donata replied, doing what I assumed was a courtesy. "Ah, I would like you to meet my friend, -"

"Call me Alba." I interrupted, still eating my apple. I leaned against the pillar, not even bothering to look at them. I could hear Donata sigh again and whoever-he-was chuckle. "I apologize for my friend's childish behavior." Donata said, and I could almost feel the glare she shot at me, "She doesn't know what manners mean."

I snorted. Oh, the irony. My mother yelled at me every day about my manners. I remember a day when I was playing with the horses in the barn. I tripped and landed in, sadly, the pig pen, where, as you can imagine, I made a mess. My mother was so angry at me, I could've sworn she- "So, how are you this fine morning?" Donata's courter put his hand around my shoulders. I glanced at him, and let out a little gasp. He was the same man I had crashed into earlier. I turned slightly suddenly so he couldn't see my face, and pulled myself out of his grasp.

"I'm fine, no thanks to you." He smiled at my comeback and replied, "Are you sure? You seemed to like it when you crashed into me earlier…"

I cursed silently. He had recognized me. At least he hadn't recognized me yet. Luckily, Donata saved me. "Um, I believe I haven't introduced you yet. Alba, this is Ezio Auditore. Ezio Auditore, you already know Alba, I assume." She gave me a weird look, and I knew I would have to explain it to her. But I was already in shock. First, the person who I get a crush on after years of rejected guys happens to be my best friend's boyfriend. Second, it has to be one of the Auditores. I had heard of the Auditore brothers, how they were nothing but trouble. They were often found in either a women's bed, or somewhere strange during the night. I even heard a rumor that one of them had run across the entire city with nothing but a scrap of cloth to cover his…

I saw something behind Donata. A little boy was being dragged off of the street by a merchant, followed by a crowd and a couple of guards. I was too far to hear what they were saying, but I guessed it wasn't anything good. Not even listening to either Ezio or Donata anymore, I started walking over there. By this time, a guard had grabbed the kid's hand and shouted something like, "Justice must be done! We shall cut off this thief's hands so he will never steal again!" With that, he drew his sword.

"HEY!" Everyone froze. Then stared at me. I sneered at the guard. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" The guard, temporarily distracted, glanced between me and the boy, who was beginning to cry. Then he roughly threw him away and turned towards me with the other guard. "Well, well, what do we have here? A pretty puttana for us to play with, hmm?"

I snarled, mainly just for the act. I watched the kid run away into an alleyway before turning my attention back to the guard. I smiled, just for a second. Then I kicked him as hard as I could in the sensitive area, spat on him, and ran away. For a few seconds, the crowd was stunned. Then all chaos broke loose. I headed for a big crowded road, because then it was easy to disappear, but it was still quite far away, and I didn't exactly run for pleasure. I was more better in the shadows. I could hear the panting of the guard right behind me, I could smell the stench of his pits (which did not smell good) and I could almost see him gaining on me. That was, until Ezio tackled him, yelling, "Run!"

I stopped. "What are you doing, you idiota? This is my fight!" Ezio got up and punched the guard across the face, saying, "Not anymore it isn't. Now get going!"

I laughed. "With this," I kicked the guard, who was now on his back. "Stronzo still here? Fat chance." With that, I began tormenting the guard, kicking him, punching him, yelling at him. "You think you can just call me a whore and get away with it? Do you even know who I am, you figlio di una cagna? I'll make you wish you were never alive! I'll-"

The guard, the one that I had forgotten about, tackled from me behind, landing on top of my hips. "Well," he sneered. "Looks like we have a pretty cagna over here." Before I could even snarl, Ezio had grabbed the guard and thrown him into a nearby wall, headfirst. Then he tossed me over his shoulder and ran.

Ezio didn't put me down until we were far away from the scene. I quickly put up my hood again; it had fallen off during the "ride." "Grazie, Ezio."

"Anytime." He grinned. "Of course, for my help, you do owe me a favor now…" I groaned. Oh, god, please no. I was planning to be a virgin for the rest of my life, but with Ezio in my way, that goal was going to be hard. "Very well. I owe you, but it will not be anything that Donata does not approve." I smiled. Donata barely approved of anything.

Again, Ezio grinned. "Of course… but perhaps I should, um, talk to her first." I stiffened. Wait, was Ezio really going to-

A siren went off. The only time this happened was when something bad was happening, such as a fire… a fire!

Bleh. Bad ending, my apologies. I still have writers block, even though it's only the second chapter. Hopefully this chapter satisfies you, and although I'm going to be tweaking the game a lot, it's still going to follow the main plot line, and may continue into Brotherhood. R&R!