Chapter 7 is here! Sorry it took so long, forgive me for the wait T.T I rewrote it all as if from scratch and made sure it's the best it can be!

! AC3 Ending Spoiler Alert ! Disclaimer: All characters (except Annora and Marie) belong to Ubisoft, as do the cover images.

Deciding to break the silence, Haytham appears before Annora, who questions the distance between them, finally realising that the paradise Haytham gave her will soon be over.

Enjoy! ^^

VII

'And we should live forever on castles in the sky!'

A week later...

Silence.

An occasional greeting, a smile, maybe a wondering glance.

And then silence.

Something wasn't right, Ann sensed it since the episode with Charles occurred over a week before. Haytham wasn't the same man, he didn't even pry, ask for reasons, ask for the key to her past. He didn't expect an explanation, which for such a man was in a way a normal yet still unsettling occurrence. Did she say something that upset him, hurt his pride? Maybe he was disappointed with her lack of experience as any sort of lover. She scoffed while holding a cup of tea in her hand while sitting on a small bench in the back garden. Lover?

Supposedly she wasn't even romantically involved with him yet there she was thinking about him and the last few moments of close contact they shared. During the little, unpredictable, time she spent with him so many things happened. It went by all too fast for her liking. It felt so uncanny to be protected, especially by someone like Haytham himself. Despite their arguments, at the end of the day, when she was hurt, lonely and in a dire situation, he was there. He held her, he promised to protect her and stay with her and-

Yet he wouldn't say a word about it all. She supposed he felt rejected, maybe even hated. The feeling was mutual, to a degree.

She didn't hate him though, how could she, he was the man she wept for when his health was seeming to deteriorate. He was the one who was there and showed her true respect and honest kindness. She wasn't ready to call those feelings love though. No. It was too early.

But then, did she even know what love was like, what it was like to feel it. She took Charles' 'love' for granted and was betrayed ever so easily. That wasn't love was it? Was there ever anything between them that held any meaning for him? Maybe it was just all one-sided. She knew it all along, despite hating to admit it. She was so young, he was like a brother as well. He stabbed her through the back though, violating her. There was no denying he was a beast.

She felt a bit teary, the cup slipping from her grip only to be saved by Haytham, all of a sudden his shadow blocking the sunshine. He towered above her, an emotionless mask over his face but still with the same gleaming eyes of a predator and a saviour.

"I know what you're thinking."

She looked away, never once meeting those threatening orbs of ocean blue and hazel.

"You have no idea what I'm thinking Haytham."

"Yet here we are, you denying it while I know perfectly well I was on your mind this whole time," he replied matter-of-factly.

"Please, spare me the lecture."

"Why do you hate me?" He asked, his voice surprisingly quiet. Regretful. She reached out to take the cup out of his hand, grasping at it with a heavy heart. Those eyes of his. No, they were off-limits.

"I don't hate you," she muttered, annoyance clear in her tone.

"Then why is there silence, which I know you despise so much?" He asked, perfectly aware of what her reply will be. He knew it was his fault, but he had to speak to her, even if it ended badly, he just wanted to hear her voice again.

"Aren't you the one creating this silence?" She countered.

"Don't answer me with a question Ann."

"Don't ask me such idiotic questions then!"

"Why do we always argue?"

She chuckled, but there was no humor in her tone. "You. Stop. Asking. Questions." She was clearly losing her temper and suddenly shot up from her seat like thunder, the wooden bench wavering from side to side. He sighed.

"You are like a child, what happened to you?"

"I would love to ask you the same thing. You're evidently holding some sort of grudge against me after I didn't eagerly jump into your arms. Is that it? I can't believe you. Or is it because of Charles?"

"You're joking," he said, smirking, "jumping into my arms? I never expected you to do that. Ever. I would love for you to be beside me, to embrace me, to at least grace me with that one delicate smile of yours, but no, I would never take you by force Annora."

She deadened, her eyes widening, that familiar blush creeping up her skin like some sort of incurable disease. She looked away, blinking a few times in shock, and then tightened her lips together into a thin line. She shook her head slightly, not believing what she was planning to say.

"I don't hate you Haytham. I hate this god-damn distance between us. This distance that..," she paused, looking up at him, "that you created. For whatever forsaken reason."

She moved away from his field of view and opened the creaking wooden door to the kitchen, not even giving him another glance. He followed after her without hesitation and before she even registered what happened, he had her pressed against the wall. She began to breathe heavily, panting as he pressed his hands to the poorly painted walls, locking her in.

His gaze on-looked somewhere else entirely, and she noticed this easily, he too had a creamy red tint to his cheekbones and was seemingly struggling to have her so close by without losing control.

"Haytham?"

"I'm doing this so you don't get hurt in the end."

"What?" She gave him a confused look when their eyes finally met.

"I'm leaving soon, for London. You know I am. The journey will take more than two months and a ship is no place for a woman Ann. I can't stay here, Connor – my son – he will find me. Now that the Assassins are reborn through him as leader, they will track me down easily," he explained calmly, her eyes softening and tearing up, glassy and ever so reflective of the emotions he could feel passing through every fiber of her delicate being.

"I know. You're right, who am I to stop you Haytham?"

"That's why I'm keeping my distance, I'm not going to let the Assassins target you, and furthermore I'm not planning on breaking your heart. Not like this. Not like Charles did."

She crossed her arms, holding onto the fabric of her dress, afraid. Afraid of losing him.

"I suppose that's why this whole time I felt so pained, because I'm avoiding you in order to protect you, despite wanting to hold you tightly in my arms again."

She brought one hand up to shield her eyes, wiping away the tears that so easily began forming in her eyes. He felt tiredness overcome him again, a faint pain running through his neck, he turned to go but she spoke up, to his surprise.

"I'm not that weak, I- I was trained Haytham, I could take on this son of yours."

"No. I would never let you risk yourself like that."

"That's not for you to decide, if I am willing to then I won't hesitate to."

He gazed back at her, eyes full of disapproval, as if what she was saying wasn't making any sense. As if she was insane.

"You know not what you say Ann, I was killed – almost killed – by him. What chance do you think you possibly have?"

"But-."

"Don't Ann, I'm only protecting you."

"Then- Then don't distance yourself from me like this. I don't want this," she spat out in hate, he stepped through to the cosy living room and sat down in the closest armchair. He knew that it was wrong of him to treat her like that, but maybe if she came to despise him, see him for who he really is and why his own son wanted to kill him, maybe she would avoid the pain of losing someone again. Especially as that person would never be back.

But then, what would Haytham do, all alone in London? He thought on that for a moment and clenched his jaw when he imagined an empty manor, without the warming presence of Ann's body, her smile nor her fragile and shattered personality. Without the woman he wanted to protect. He hated such a scenario.

Maybe he could take her to New Orléans, or maybe even to the Caribbean Isles, where his father lived once, a lifetime ago. He could buy a manor there and she could choose to live with him, maybe he could even-.

No.

He was getting ahead of himself again, he considered himself unworthy of dreaming such dreams or desiring such desires. She deserved better than a man like him. But when he was dwelling on that thought, it ate away at him, and he wondered if he was wrong. It seemed impossible for her to actually want him, but then again he was supposed to die. Living was impossible yet there he was, breathing in the stuffy air of the warm living room while the woman who brought him to life was left behind, in tears.

"Ann!" He shouted across the room and noticed she was already stood in the doorway, with only her side towards him. He stood up with what strength he had and approached her slowly, her eyes were slightly red and he could see wet stains left behind by once fresh tears.

"I didn't want everything to turn out this way, I swear if I could, I would leave everything behind and take you with me," he whispered, the silence amplifying his voice. She shook her head, her hands entangled, distraught.

"But there is a way, just-."

"Are you really ready to leave this house, the memories, your family and every tie that you have to this place? For one man, who you don't even know all that well?"

"Still, Haytham, not all that well, but better than anyone..."

With that he suddenly caught her by the waist, his lips colliding with hers, her eyes widening at the sudden contact, heart trembling, thudding like rampaging horses, like wildfire, unable to let go of him. He pushed her away - softly - however, and she clutched her chest in shock, other hand resting on the crumbling wooden doorway for the support she really needed at that moment.

He looked confused, an unsettling fire burning in his eyes, as if he was ever so hungry but never sated. She heard her breath hitch quietly, his reaction was as honest as ever, the desire to hold her so strong and clear in his eyes, she felt like it was killing her.

"Haytham, I- I don't know, I want you to stay, to stop creating this distance, I can't stand it!"

"But I must! For your own good-."

"What good is it doing me if I'm apart from you? I don't know why, I don't know what this is, I just want you..," her voice died down, she pressed her palms to her temple, trying to figure something out, contemplating something, struggling to find the answers that she felt were all hidden away from her. "I want you to act like you did not so long ago, I don't care if it hurts in the end, I don't mind risking it, just please don't make me stay away from you any longer. If I can't go, why can't you let me enjoy my final days with you?"

"Anything, Ann."

"What?"

"I'll take any sort of pain, even death, I'll welcome it with open arms. Just not your suffering. To see you suffer like you did with Charles that day, what I felt then, it was worse than death. Anything, but not your suffering. That's why I won't let you get close to me." She looked away, shocked at his words, their meaning sitting heavily on her heart.

She felt silence engulf them again, realising he was her protector yet nonetheless a merciless monster, he was good yet evil, he was a sin but then again a virtue. He was who she wanted to deny and throw away, at the same time being the man she craved and wanted to stay with. He was everything she was ever afraid of, despite being all that she ever dreamed of.

He was hell on earth, standing there with clenched fists and furrowed brows, fearing her eyes.

He was what heaven feels like, his voice, his eyes, his skin and every detail engraved in them.

Then he spoke up again, voice - for the first time - wavering, "I won't let you fall in love with me."

Hope that was okay :) Trying to keep it shorter so I can continue writing more chapters! Please leave a review/fave/follow if you enjoyed, thank you! ^^

Till next time!

AssassinSuzy