The next day after the Doge's death, at sunset, we had a funeral for Aurora and her baby. Adel stubbornly declared that her mother didn't want to be buried, but burned, as she believed it to be a much more beautiful tradition than the alternative. And so we complied. It was ironic that she wanted a funeral like that for her mother when she almost died herself in a fire. But none of us questioned her decision.

We laid Aurora out on a gondola in the Thieves Guild district as the sun began to set. Even after labor and in death, she still looked like a pale angel, her hair shining in the last rays of the sun, her features so relaxed you would have thought she was just sleeping. Ezio, Adel and me stood at the banks. Not a word passed between us, the silence heavy with grief. Adel hugged my waist, sniffing quietly. She didn't cry anymore, having cried all the tears she could during the night and day. She simply looked upon her mother's face one last time.

Ezio bowed his head, and read a long prayer in Latin, his voice quiet and blending with the calm waves of the water. Soon, we watched as the boat began to float away, flames and sparks rising into the air beautifully, coloring the waters and houses with a warm glow. Stars were already visible on one side of the horizon, the heavens clear of any gray clouds, the moon beginning to shine through the dusk.

The skies didn't weep for the dead woman and her children. And no one even remembered the man who was responsible for it all.

When the funeral pyre disappeared from our vision, I gently tugged Ezio's sleeve. "Come on, let's get back inside before someone recognizes you," I told him finally, after a long time. He nodded shortly, running a quick hand through Adel's tousled hair. She suddenly looked up at both of us, her eyes tired, sad, and curious.

"Is it true you killed the Doge?" She didn't seem to be afraid. I think she was beyond the point of caring if a murderer was standing right in front of her. Ezio sighed, kneeling down to look the girl in the eyes.

"In a way, I did. I didn't make it in time to save him," he explained to her.

"Then why can't you tell the guards you're innocent?" she asked with curiosity. Ezio glanced up at me.

"Because they won't listen. I'm a convenient scapegoat for them."

"Oh."

"Let's talk when we're back at the palace, okay?" I asked, looking around somewhat nervously. A few guards did not pose a problem, of course. But Adel was with us, and I didn't want to introduce her to bloodshed. At the very least not so soon after everything that happened.

"Certemente," he straightened out, and fell into step beside me. Adel continued to cling to my hand as we walked along the docks back towards the palace. Thankfully, this part of the city was void of guards, as it consisted mostly of abandoned buildings that looked like they were ready to crash down at any moment.

"Eden, you worry too much," Ezio drawled.

"That's got to be the first time I've ever heard someone say that to me."

"But seriously, what are the chances of somebody actually recognizing me?"

"Ezio, you're forgetting a tiny little detail."

"What's that?"

"It's us, so the chances are pretty good."

His mouth curved up in a smile as he shook his head, sighing. "Since when are you so careful?"

"Since the entire city is on full alert looking for you." I was not in a very optimistic mood at the moment. I was subconsciously gripping the handle of my gun, an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"I-" The bell of alarm came too late to me. There was a sickening dull thunk! and Ezio stumbled a few steps, gasping. It took me a moment to realize what was going on, another for Adel to scream, and one more for me to whip around and shoot the man that stood on the roofs, the new arrow falling out of his hands and cluttering onto the street.

But the alarm in my head did not go away. I realized there were more around, and they were drawing in fast. Ezio let out a stifled groan of pain, and I noted that a long arrow was sticking out of his right shoulder, blood already soaking the fabric around it. Making a decision in a split second, I yanked both of them to the nearest building. The door creaked loudly, but opened, despite the cross of boards on it, which I guess were just a warning in the fashion of "Yeah, this building is about to collapse, but hey, it's your life."

Ezio followed closely, grounding his teeth. I slammed the door behind us, and caught him on his stumble. The building was large, dark, and after straining my senses, I concluded completely empty except for a decade's worth of dust. I led both of them deeper inside as Ezio's fingers curled painfully on my shoulder. Looking terrified, Adel practically attached herself to my leg, hugging around it closely.

In the farthest corner of the house, blocked from general view by a wall, I carefully lowered Ezio onto the floor. He coughed, and hissed in pain. "We need to get- Antonio-"

"It's too far," I argued. He leaned onto the wall with his good shoulder heavily. "You won't make it there, and I'm not leaving you alone." I turned to Adel, who was watching us with continuous shock and fear. "Can you look around? Just don't leave the building." She hesitated, looking at the blood around the arrow and paling further. But she nodded, detaching herself from me and going back out of the room shakily. I turned back to Ezio. "You'll have to walk me through this, I only know the basics..."

I'd pulled out bullets before. Admittedly, the technique was slightly different, and probably more difficult, considering you'd have to find and pull the bullet out. At least the long shaft of the arrow was in plain sight. But I was suddenly afraid of doing something wrong.

"Break the ends," he instructed.

"Want something to bite?"

"Just do it!" he clenched his jaw when I touched the arrow. Luckily, my hands did not tremble, used to shooting even when I was wounded myself. As I snapped the barbed end off that'd gone cleanly through the top of his shoulder, he stifled a low moan, remembering to stay quiet. I threw the arrowhead away from myself, and gave him some time to regain his breath. Sliding the cloak off the end, I quickly undid the clasp, putting it away.

"Your one unprotected shoulder, and of course you get injured there," I muttered.

He smiled wearily through his pain. "Seems like I've got to start listening to you more often..."

"Damn straight." His armor and shirt came off with effort, as I tried to hurt him as little as possible while I worked, though I had to cut away a lot of the fabric around it.

"You set the entire thing up just so you could take my shirt off, didn't you? Cause you know, all you had to do was ask, amore," he made a feeble joke, and I glared at him, but then smiled involuntarily. How we managed to crack jokes in this type of situation was beyond me.

"Oh, please," I zipped my bag open, my hands slippery with his blood as I got out a flask of clean water and the bandages, "If I wanted to take someone's shirt off, I'd rather them not bleed all over me."

"But I guess things aren't so bad," he breathed, shutting his eyes for a moment against the pain, "I'm being undressed by a beautiful woman, so I shouldn't complain..."

"It's the blood loss talking," I replied to him, though I licked my lips nervously, feeling my cheeks heat up. "Now hush. This is going to hurt."

"What else is new?" he clenched his jaw and fists as I took a hold of the arrow stump again.

"Okay, one-" and without waiting for three, I yanked it out, dropping it onto the floor, and pressing his cloak onto the wound from both sides. Then I let out a breath of relief I didn't realize I was holding. "Okay - now... hey, don't pass out on me!"

"Right," he blinked rapidly. I proceeded to dress the wound after a few moments. I had very little water, so his entire side was still stained with blood, as were my hands. "Where's Adel?"

I forgot about her until he asked me, and looked around. "I'm not sure. Will you be okay for a few moments while I go check on her?" He didn't seem all that certain, but nodded. I stood up shakily, leaving his side. Adel was in the room beside us, curled up in a corner, staring in front of her blankly. "Hey, are you okay?"

She looked up at me, and nodded. "There's just…so much blood…" she stared at my arms with unease. But I didn't make a move to hide the blood on me.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. You can stay here for now if you want," she bobbed her head, hugging her knees again, and I came back to Ezio.

"Antonio's thieves should have went to him by now," he whispered as I sat down beside him again, making the dust swirl in protest, "You know how it goes... he finds everything out minutes after it happens."

"Let's just hope we don't get found by the wrong people." I replied, hanging my head. "I'm sorry, by the way."

"For what? I was the one being stubborn," his chuckle was followed by a small grunt. "Don't worry about anything."

"Ha! Who's worried?" I suddenly felt tired. The room was dark, with the boarded up windows not allowing any moonlight in. The house creaked and trembled at our every move, and outside, I could still hear guards still yelling to each other, searching the area. "You're lucky the arrow missed your lung. That would have sucked even more."

"Yes, I imagined that would have." He paused, and then slyly told me, "When Antonio gets here, though, I took down five of them before they got me. No! Ten!" I laughed quietly as he began to try and stand up. I put my hand on his chest though, restraining him.

"I don't think so. Stay down for now, I can't catch you if you pass out. I'm a strong girl, but not that strong." I reminded him, but he stubbornly continued to climb up the wall. I sighed, and let him attempt it. As soon as he was on his feet, though, he became wobbly again. "Told you."

"Okay, then...standing is a bad," he muttered, basically sliding down the wall to sit again.

"Shh!" I suddenly shushed him, listening to the old house. What was that tugging...

I stood up, alert, my knife falling into my hand easily. Somewhere in the old house, I heard footsteps. Quiet, careful, and confident, like the trotting of a big cat... or dog?

I slid into the room beside us. Thankfully, Adel was still in her spot. She stared at me, and then at the dagger in my hand with surprise and fear. I leaned down to her, and pressed a finger to my lips to stop her questioning. I then spoke quietly. "Can you go keep Ezio safe for me?" She nodded, scrambling to the doorway while I straightened out. I could hear the movements plainly now, and I narrowed my eyes, ready to carve up the first one that tried to come through the door.

My eyes widened when I heard growling of a hunter that caught scent of his prey. My insides froze over as I realized just where I heard that growling before...

They let the dogs out.

Literally.

Sonofabitch.

An example of those freaks of nature nearly silently stalked through the doorway, and stared at me with i's glowing red eyes, the only thing that stood out in the darkness of the abandoned house. The rest of its figure looked merely like a big shadow, but I was sure that did not make it any less real, or it's claws any less sharp. I swallowed hard, and took a step back involuntarily, tightening my grip on my blade and gun.

It froze in the doorway, and glared at me. I realized that I was in the way, and it was confused. I didn't know how those things functioned, but considering Rodrigo's display, the owner had to give them direct commands. And this one was probably told to find and kill Ezio. The thing didn't know what to do with me or the girl. We were not part of its orders.

He tried to side step me, but I held my ground, knowing that if I let that creature get through, Ezio wouldn't stand a chance. Then he growled again, but before it could lounge for me, I pulled the trigger. I barely even heard the gunshot pulse past my ears, but I saw it jerk backwards as it whined with pain. A few drops of blood dropped onto the floor, the wound on its neck burning from my the bullet.

But the Thing did not fall down to die. I gulped, because as soon as the animal was injured, he decided to get rid of the nuisance that was the cocky girl with a weapon.

It roared at me threateningly, lunging with blurred speed. It was freakishly fast for something that size, but I managed to duck at the same time, slicing again at its throat. Connecting, the sound of ripped flesh echoed around me as it howled again. Jerking its head away, it faltered enough for me to see that I still managed to cut through a good half of it. Its blood immediately flooding onto the floor, I rolled away from the monster before it could reply in kind. When mortally wounded like that, it threw away the now useless instinct of preservation, blindly attacking me again as it charged.

Swiping its thick, sharpened claws, the monstrous mutant would've have easily taken off my arm if I didn't dart away in time. Jumping to its side and praying that I'd make it outside of its peripheral vision with enough time to strike again, I inavertedly yelped as it connected. Pain seared through my mind like a flash of flame as three deep gashes appeared along my right shoulder. I barely contained my scream, my long dagger clattering onto the floor, having fallen out of my weakened hand. My entire limb felt as if it was on fire.

Running on a nauseous combination of adrenaline and fear, and desperate to end it, I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. Taking another shot as the Thing tried to orientate and attack again, the loud, deadly pop! of my gun filled my ears.

That one hit in between the eyes. Shuddering, its giant, ugly head shook in its death throes. After what seemed an eternity, it finally fell to the side, twitching. I spared another two bullets just to make sure it was dead, and then dropped it, clutching at my arm. Finally letting out a loud groan, it felt as if it was about to fall off. I leaned onto the nearest wall, grinding my teeth.

"Man's best friend, my ass," I muttered to myself, and made my way carefully towards the doorway of the back room, where Ezio and Adel were.

I was met with two pairs of extremely worried and scared eyes. Adel was hiding behind him, curled up into a tight ball, tears of fear in her eyes, and Ezio was sitting alert, despite his wound, his dagger clutched in his good hand. I tried to smile reassuringly, but it was lost in the pain. I fell onto my knees beside them and my bag.

"Eden what the hell just happened?" Ezio asked, dropping his weapon, and holding onto my uninjured shoulder, as if afraid I'd fall. I guess I did feel a little dizzy...

"Less talk, more help," I glared at him, and began to pull at my shirt's collar. "Adel, don't go in the other room," I warned the girl as she made a move towards it, at the sight of fresh blood. "Just turn away - or something…dammit, Ezio, help me!" He didn't argue, but helped me remove the offending piece of clothing, hesitating slightly, at which I just snarled, "There's nothing you haven't seen!" Granted, I was left in my thinly woven undertunic, which didn't leave much to the imagination. But there were far more important things to think about than modesty. With each word, pain pulsated anew, and I just wanted to get the irritating cloth off of me.

"Did you kill it?" he asked as I turned my back to him, beginning to clean through the multiple wounds. They were actually not as bad as they felt, but the green foam forming along the edges signaled something was wrong. I hissed in pain as I cleaned it, though it was useless for now; I'd need to cut away the strange infection before I could properly tend it.

"No, I just left it alive! I always wanted a pet!" I didn't bother turning just for the pleasure of glaring at him. "It was hunting for you. Your blood is everywhere." My own bleeding did not wish to be stopped, and I only managed to slow it down. Though it was hard to do with only one hand. I tried to move my fingers. Painfully, they complied, to my great relief, though they were almost completely unwilling to bend. "We'll both have to see a doctor as soon as we get out of here."

He agreed quietly. I ignored my shirt, and instead, pulled my cloak around me. I was cold. And so tired...

I was still worried, as I blinked through the unnaturally fuzzy surroundings. The assassin always healed surprisingly fast, an ability that I envied. Considering I just lost use of my right arm for at least a week or two, he would be up and about in just a few days. But for now, we were both in far from perfect shape. I just hoped very sincerely that no guard would follow the dog inside to see what happened.

But, of course, things never go as you want them to.

Adel heard it first, to Ezio's and my surprise, as she suddenly made a small noise, scrambling back across the room to us.

"Think it found him?"

"It hasn't come out for a good ten minutes. Probably feeding..."

"I don't want to see that!"

"Well- what?! Cazzo!!" I think they found my recent masterpiece at that moment. I realized that I left one of my daggers and my gun in the other room... and prayed they didn't find them.

"He killed it!"

"Impossible. He was injured badly, you saw the amount of blood on the street!"

"Then it was that girl!"

"Are you telling me a woman could take one of these down? He'd rip her apart before she could even move!"

"Just shut up and help me search the house!"

I shut my eyes tightly for a moment, and my left hand found my remaining knives. I could throw with both arms, but...

But the moment that one of the guards entered, a hand appeared from behind him, and slit his throat before he could even make a sound. I breathed with relief as the pathetic lighting of the darkened warehouse revealed Ugo and Luca as they came through the door.

"What have you got yourself into?" Luca shook his head reproachfully. What came next, I don't remember. I think I may have fainted from relief. That doesn't sound like me, but...

Damned dog…

---

~"Hey," Eve greeted me coolly. I leaned back on the bench, looking up at her.

"Hey yourself. It's been a while." She nodded, and sat down beside me. She hadn't changed over the years. Her eyes were still the cool shade of dark green, staring out with solid indifference that was not present until after our father left. And she was still the more conventionally prettier one. She didn't have scars coloring her skin, for one thing. Her hair was not cropped unevenly and pulled back into a messy ponytail. It fell to her shoulders inits beautiful, layered curls, so uncannily like our mother's.

"You really screwed up this time, Eden."

I smiled bitterly, looking away from her, and leaning onto my knees. This was a tired old argument. But this time, I had no intention of denying anything. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"Why did you do it?"

"Why?" I repeated thoughtfully. "I've done a lot of things, and for different reasons. What do you mean?"

"You could start with why you followed in dad's footsteps."

"Becoming an assassin? I didn't do it for him. I did it for you and mom."

"What about afterward? When both of us were gone and you had no reason to continue?" she asked, probing. I sighed.

"Eve, what do you want me to say? I don't know why. Maybe I liked it. Maybe I cracked up after everything fell apart. Maybe because I didn't know anything else."

"And now?"

"Now? Now… it just makes sense. It's about the only thing that does anymore. I'm a killer, Eve, and no matter how hard I'd try, I'd never be able to let it go. Maybe Dad knew this before he died. It's why he gave me the tattoo, isn't it?"

"And we come back to dad," she crossed her arms. "He'd be so proud of you...Why are you so eager to join him and mom, though?"

"Shut up," I whispered sadly.

"Or is this about Alex? Are you really so heartbroken? I thought you were over it already."

"You never get over it," I shook my head, "I didn't used to think that until after he died."

"You lied to each other."

"And it still worked."

"You were a drug dealer, a gang member and a killer. He was an army ranger. What, you think that in death he won't mind all that?"

"I won't die."

"That's what he used to say, isn't it?" she was trying to push my buttons, and trying hard. "You were happy with him. And then he left, and never came back. Just like dad, and like me. Is that why you're so scared?"

"Scared? Of what, pray tell?"

"Why do you run from him?" in my dreams, it seemed perfectly normal that Eve was talking about people she never knew.

"Ezio?" I asked, and the name hung in the haze of my mind. "I don't run from him."

"Not physically," she shrugged. "You want to love him. You do love him. You just don't trust him to stay."

"And who's fault is that?" A bitter smile appeared on her lips.

"I guess it's mine. But, dearest sister, you might as well enjoy it while it lasts. Who knows. Maybe you will see old age after all. Though I wouldn't bet on it."

We sat like that in silence for a long moment, in which she pulled out a smoke, and lit it up.

"Eve, what are you doing here?" I finally asked. "And why can't I dream of nice things?"

"Oh, haha," she chuckled without humor, taking a long drag from the cigarette. "Trust me, this isn't the first time you'll go down the memory lane. Just say thanks that it's just me and not Larry."

"I'm not sure which is better anymore," I grumbled, "Though I guess my former boss is the last person I want to see while asleep."

"Former?" she stared at me for a long moment. And then she began to laugh. I liked her laugh, always had - it was pure, melodic, and beautiful. It was one of those things I used to live for. But the bitterness in it stung, now. "Do you really think that? Please, look at yourself. You still think of him as your boss. You're still afraid of him, even though his great-great-great-great-however many greats grandfather isn't even born yet! You're an idiot if you think you'll get over it that easily!"

"So what do you suggest then?" I snarled quietly, pulling my legs up onto the bench. She shrugged.

"Waking up would be a good idea," she smirked at me, standing up. "Well, sister dearest, this is where I say goodbye. You'll see me again though. You can bet on it." Instead of shimmering out of sight or disappearing in a puff of smoke, she simply walked away into the fog in front of me, until I could no longer see her.

I was left on the white bench in the middle of nowhere, blankly staring into space.~

---

"Ezio..." Adel whispered. The man moved in the darkness, looking around to her. His eyes were sad, and very tired as she came closer to him, putting a small hand on his arm. He smiled down to her, grateful for any distraction at that moment. With his shoulder healing and Eden still asleep, there was a hell of a lot to be worried about.

After the incident, his own wounds were properly stitched up and tended, and Adel was escorted into the palace by Luca, who managed to calm her down quickly. She'd taken a liking of the thief, like nearly every other female, no matter the age, charmed and calmed down by his even, pleasant tone. The dog was also brought in, though it took the joined efforts of five men to do so. Antonio already began to try and identify the creature, but so far, he'd come up with nothing.

And Ezio stayed at Eden's side. For many reasons. Because she couldn't protect herself at that moment. Because he was worried that Borgia's men wanted to capture her. Not to mention, because she just looked so god damned peaceful while asleep that he couldn't take his eyes off her.

"How are you doing?" he asked quietly, and she shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Are you afraid of us?" he suddenly asked, a question that'd been spinning in his head for some time. She didn't seem to be afraid, but he wasn't sure.

She shook her head. "No. You and her...you're good. Even if you do bad things."

"How do you know that?" he shifted his eyebrows together.

"Dad always said assassins were evil. And you... you hurt others. But not good people, just the bad ones. You save the good ones. Doesn't that make you good?" she seemed confused by her own thought process.

Ezio slowly nodded, "Yes. I guess that's, uh, what we do," he steadily said.

"See? Simple," she shrugged. He couldn't help but grin. Sometimes it really did take a child's easy answer to break down what really mattered.

Suddenly, he furrowed a brow again. "Adel, can I ask you something? Who was your father involved with back in France?"

"Why?"

"We've been trying to figure out who set the fire," he explained. He didn't want to scare the girl any more, so he didn't add, Because they might be coming after you.

She seemed to contemplate it for a while, scrunching up her face in thought before replying, "He made deals. With lots of people."

"Can you remember who he made a deal with right before you came here?"

"No," she shook her head. "I'm sorry," she swallowed, "I don't know anything."

"That's fine," he shrugged. It would have made no difference, anyway. "And here's an easier one. What are we going to do with you?"

"What?" Adel was taken aback by the question, "But- can't I stay here?"

He smiled sadly. "Adel, we can't exactly take very good care of you."

"I don't need anyone's care!" she stated stubbornly, "I can be an assassin, too!"

He opened his mouth, and shut it again. Now he was the one taken aback. "What?"

"I want to be like you and Eden!"

"But...why?"

"Because..." She tried to think of a reason, but suddenly came up with a blank. He sighed, and lifted her up to sit on his lap with his good arm.

"Adel, you have no idea how hard it gets sometimes. I became one out of vengeance more than anything else. For Eden, it was the only way. Looking back, there was never much choice for either of us."

"But-"

"I'm sorry I have to say this, but you're too young to make a decision like that, tesorina."

He understood the fact that she could have easily grown up in the few days, as he did. He was, after all, nothing but a teenage boy when life took the unexpected turn, forcing him to mature in the matter of hours. Perhaps she did too. But he suddenly couldn't stand the idea of the innocent creature going down his path.

She opened her eyes wide and sniffed, pushing away from him. "Eden said the same thing."

He looked over to the woman sleeping on the bed, now peaceful but very tired looking. "She was closer to your age when her parents died."

"They died?" she suddenly seemed confused. "She said they weren't...around..."

It was too late to bite his tongue, so he shrugged, and explained. "It's hard to talk about those things. Or maybe she just didn't want you to feel sorry for her."

"Did your parents-?"

"Yes."

"Oh. I'm-"

"Adel," he interrupted, glancing outside of the window, where the moon was barely visible in the upper corner of the frame, "It's late, you should get some sleep."

"What about you?"

"I'm alright, I haven't done anything for the last two days."

"She won't wake up because you're watching her," she reminded him, and he chuckled.

"You never know."

"If anything, you should kiss her!"

"What?" he did a double take, and the girl smiled for the first time in days, looking very proud of herself.

"Like in the fairy tale! The prince wakes the princess up with a kiss!"

He bit down on his lip, as to not burst out laughing, and to stop the slight blush he immediately felt creeping along his cheeks. "Adel, this is hardy a fairy tale. And Eden would probably hurt me if I ever called her a princess."

"No harm in trying, right?" she crossed her arms, looking at him sternly.

"Seriously, piccola. She'll kill me."

"If she wakes up, she'll just be thankful. And if not, then she'll never know!"

He sighed. "If I do it, will you go to bed?"

She nodded enthusiastically. He let out another breath and stood up, nearing the bed.

Eden was in a lot better shape than she was after the poison incident. Once just asleep, she curled up around the sheets again, throwing a few of the unsuspecting pillows to the floor. Sitting down beside her, he gently brushed a few strands away from her face, and she shifted in the drug-induced sleep, murmuring something unintelligible, though it seemed to put her at eases.

Leaning down, his lips hovered over hers for a moment, hesitating. Sorry, Eden. He mentally said goodbye to the cruel world, and kissed her.

To his enormous surprise, the sky didn't fall down, and the world did not explode,. It creaked, threatened, and became a brighter place all of a sudden.

Her lips were not smooth and soft like every other girls' he kissed. They were torn, scarred and healing, but they were warm and familiar, like everything else about her. He suddenly realized he preferred that to the beautiful and fragile ladies from this time.

He pulled away, pressing his fingers to his mouth in startled realization. The strange warm feeling inside his chest was foreign, he realized as he sat back down beside her.

Looked at Adel, who had a strange look of triumph on her face as she waved goodbye, skipping out of their quarters, Ezio was left to continue his vigil over the woman, pondering what had just occurred.

Soon after that, Eden shifted again. Muttering his name quietly, a smile graced her lips, as if a ray of sunshine spilled over her face. Running a hand through her hair, he couldn't help but smile, however - she spoke in her sleep sometimes: names, random words in his language, but more often than not, in her own, barely audible. Mostly, it was of Alex, which was followed by either a soft sigh, or a sharp intake of breath. It didn't take Leonardo's brains to figure out what she dreamed about. Sometimes, she even woke up, leaving for about an hour.

After a moment, Ezio also realized that she hadn't been talking in her sleep for a rather long time.

Mostly, ever since they made it a habit of sleeping close together.

---

I cracked my eyes open, and was greeted by very bright light. I blinked. It didn't go away. I blinked again, with the same result. And then I realized it was the sun shining through the window. I was buried in the white sheets, curled up around a pillow. I shifted, testing myself out.

A quick flare of pain shot through my arm, and my eyes flew open completely. A small gasp escaped my lips as I remembered what happened.

"You're awake!" I felt someone sit beside me, the mattress giving under him. I rolled my head, trying to escape the blankets and finding Ezio smiling at me warmly. "I was starting to get worried."

"Sure - just- give me a moment to remember my name," I muttered, rubbing my eyes. Then I squinted at him, my eyes traveling over his form, stopping on his left shoulder. "How are you?"

"Well, far from great, but getting there," he laughed softly.

"What happened?" I asked quietly.

"You'll never believe this, but you were poisoned."

"What? By who?" I didn't understand.

"The dog, apparently," he explained. "Did it bite you?"

"No-" I tried to remember. That particular part was sort of fuzzy, "I think it scratched me."

"When you passed out, we moved you to a doctor right away. He was surprised too, but came up with an antidote quickly enough.

"How long was I out?"

"A few days-"

"What?!" I would have sat up sharply if my arm was not completely against me moving it in any way. "How the hell?!"

"Easy, now!" he hurried to calm me down, "There're still remnants of poison in your blood, not to mention the blood loss itself, and just plain exhaustion. The doctor said that the more you slept the better."

"You drugged me?" I asked dangerously, and he looked a bit more nervous.

"Technically, the doctor did, I had nothing to do with it."

"You…you…suck," I stated bluntly, and retreated back into the blankets. I heard him chuckle as I pouted into the fabric. "Go away. And tell someone to get me some coffee. This is just inexcusable, I can't believe you let me stay in bed this long!"

"What would you rather be doing?"

"Anything else! And frankly, I don't trust you not to have your way with my sleeping body," I growled in good humor. But to my surprise, I heard him cough. "Ezio Auditore," I snorted in admittedly amused warning, "What did you do?"

"Nothing. My apologies for letting you sleep. You just looked so damn adorable, I didn't have the heart to wake you up."

"I'll give you adorable..." I yawned widely, shuddering internally when I imagined what I actually looked like at that moment. Probably not the visage of Venus, that was for sure. "As soon as I get some damn coffee..."

"I don't understand how you drink that stuff," he humphed, and I emerged from the sheets once more to glare at him.

"It's not that bad with some milk and sugar, you know."

"I knew it! It's just that Antonio seems to think that's a defilation of an expensive product, though..."

"Pfft, less coffee is used up, and I like it better. I don't see why he's complaining." I grumbled. "What's the point of having something if you don't use it? Or, in this case, drink it? Anyway," I finally sat up properly, stacking up the pillows behind me, and folded my hands on my lap, "Alright, then, fine. I have three questions."

"Shoot."

"What's the take on things outside the palace? How's Adel? And what the hell am I wearing?!"

"Nothing is new, Adel is fine, and that, cara mia, is a nightdress."

"A night - who was the genius that decided it would be a grand idea to put me in this?!" I stared down at the white gown, through which the bandage of my shoulder showed clearly.

Smirking, he arched a devious brow. "I like it," Ezio reassured me after laughing at my expression.

"And why is that?"

"It's see-through."

I gaped for a moment, and then threw a pillow at him, "Out, you pervert! Out!"

He began to snicker as he caught the pillow, and returned it in kind. "Hey, you've got nothing to be ashamed of-"

"You will soon!" I threatened, and he continued to laugh loudly on his way out. Once he was gone, I suddenly regretted chasing him out, as I was starving. I snorted to myself, and slumped back into the bed for a moment before sighing, and getting up carefully.

It was time to play hide-and-seek with my clothes...