Assassin's Creed II characters and references © Ubisoft
Kiara and all other OCs © Me

Training didn't start right away, at least not for me. Mario and Giovanni wanted to wait until my shoulder had healed completely first. Of course, that didn't mean that we didn't explore a few options. The first thing that needed to be addressed was what I knew, or rather, didn't know. When it was clear that I was going to have to start from scratch, Giovanni offered to take me while Mario worked with Ezio and Federico on more advanced skills.

Maria was sad when she found out that I was going to start Assassin training. She sat down with me and we had a long discussion about everything from the dangers of being an Assassin to a woman's place in the world. I felt bad about making her worry, especially since she had just assumed the position of being my mom, but the alternative wasn't exactly pleasant in my opinion. I would be stuck in Monteriggioni doing very little besides cooking and maybe some bookwork. I wanted to see the Italy as it developed through the Renaissance era, because I never would have had a chance in my old life. Some might call me selfish, but this was an opportunity I didn't want to pass up. Finally, Maria relented and hugged me tightly.

"I feared you would choose this path, Kiara, but I do not want to keep you here against your will. Promise me you will be careful."

"I promise."

Claudia and I had made up by this point. She had come to me in tears and asking me to forgive her for her earlier outburst. Of course I forgave her; I wasn't one to hold a grudge and I could understand why she had been so angry. Claudia was used to living the affluent life of a Florentine noblewoman and to be so suddenly ripped away from it all would have upset anyone.

There would be very few spats like that between Claudia and I, even though we were both headstrong and stubborn in our own right. Each never having had a sister before, we quickly became best friends and enjoyed each other's company when we were fed up with the guys.

Once my shoulder, and Giovanni's knee, had healed completely, Giovanni started me off on the basics of sword fighting, archery, horsemanship, and stealth.

"Stealth is the most important tool an Assassin can use," he told me, "this is why our enemies fear us so. This comes more naturally to you than Ezio or Federico, and as small as you are, you will be able to go places they cannot."

He sent me to the other end of Monteriggioni from the villa, my test being making it back to the house without being seen. Easy enough, right? Nope. Giovanni caught me five minutes into the exercise, scaring the heck out of me in the process. He snuck up behind me as I was trying to use a back way to get to the villa.

"We've got a lot of work to do," he said, just barely hiding a grin.

I was so mad at him for scaring me. I had no idea he could be that sneaky.

Sword fighting was even more intense. Giovanni gave me a light training sword to start off with. He taught me the correct stance, a few basic techniques, where to watch my opponent, and how to hold the sword so I could block any blow from him. This had to be the most frustrating part of my training. I was clumsy and completely inexperienced, flinching away from Giovanni's strikes more often than not while attempting to put up some kind of block. I really don't know how he put up with me for as long as he did, the man had an infinite amount of patience.

Now archery was indefinitely more fun than swordfighting. Again, I started out with just the basics; a light bow and some arrows without metal heads. Bows in this time didn't have a neat little notch marked in the wood or on the string to let me know exactly where to notch the arrow, but it didn't take a genius to figure out the correct process. My targets were just big wooden circles with rough circles painted onto them. Even then, though, I found out that being consistently accurate wasn't as easy as it looked. It was something that I had to develop a feel for.

Giovanni had decided to give me Storm as a thank you for what happened in Florence. This meant that the first thing I did in the mornings was visit the stables and learn how to feed, exercise, and groom my horse. Riding lessons were part of the package and I was saddle sore for several weeks before I finally got the hang of it. Storm wasn't the easiest horse to ride; he had a mind of his own and could be very difficult when he wanted to be, he even threw me a few times. I eventually learned that sometimes I had to compromise and let Storm have his way so I could eventually get mine.

This is how the majority of each day played out. I would spend hours and hours training one way or another, with few breaks in between. Even though I was training one-on-one with Giovanni, I still worked with Mario occasionally. He suggested that I learn to shoot arrows with my left hand as well as my right.

"You never know," he told me, "sometimes the angles for right-handed archers just don't present themselves."

So I decided to give it a shot, no pun intended. My first few attempts were so horrible that I couldn't help but laugh; I hadn't even hit the targets. But slowly, I started to get better until I was comfortable shooting with my left hand. Mario saw to it that once I reached a certain level of accuracy, he would increase the difficulty of my target practice. The targets got farther away and I moved up to bigger bows.

Mario also saw to it that he had other influences on my training, and one instance in particular really stood out.

I had finally made it to bed after a long day of training. My shoulder ached from taking on a bigger bow, my hand was bandaged from sword practice, and the rest of me hurt from the tumble I had taken when Storm decided to act like a brat. I was going to be so sore tomorrow, but for the moment I was glad just to be done with my training for the day…or so I thought. Not a few hours later, I was jolted from my sleep by a wave of ice-cold water.

The level of shock was so intense it scared and ticked me off at the same time. I came flying off the bed and managed to land on my feet where I gained full consciousness, and was met by the sight of an amused Mario who was holding a now-empty bucket.

"What the hell was that for?"

Now I don't swear very often, but that was more than justification. Mario raised an eyebrow at my volume level.

"You have more fire than I gave you credit for," he chuckled, much to my aggravation, "and you've got good reflexes."

"Mario," I sputtered, motioning to my soaking clothes, "w-what…why…?"

Mario shook his head. "You were foolish enough to believe that your Assassin training ended once you left the ring. This is not so, bambina. (girl) You are no longer a regular civilian, you are an Assassin, and that means you must learn to live like one. By the time I am though with you and my nipoti, the three of you will eat, sleep, and breathe like proper Assassins should."

My brief rage had expended itself, leaving my brain muddled. "So…this was another of your horrible tests?"

"Ah! She can be taught!" He became sober, "Kiara, you must understand that your enemies can strike at any time, and they will do so when you are at your most vulnerable. You must learn to sleep lightly, even when you are dead tired."

I started to shiver from being drenched. Maybe agreeing to be an Assassin was a bad idea.

"So what do I do now?"

"Rest. We will start bright and early in a few hours."

"But…my bed is soaked."

The older Assassin scoffed. "That is not my problem."

I groaned in aggravation, but glanced at the bucket. "You're going to drench Federico and Ezio too, right?"

Mario grinned with all the mischievousness in the world. "Of course! The night is still young!"

I couldn't help the tiny grin that pulled at my lips. "I'll keep an ear open then,"

Mario laughed again and left the room, leaving me to change out of my freezing clothes. It took me a few minutes of thinking – keep in mind I was still drowsy – but I finally realized I could turn the mattress over and sleep on the dry side. I had to forgo the blankets, but there was an extra under the bed.

I curled up, mumbling to myself about the absolute insanity of my current situation, and started to doze off. However, a yell from down the hall informed me that Mario was still wreaking plenty of havoc and enjoying every minute of it. I just hoped the water Ezio had been blessed with was as cold as mine.

Needless to say, all three of us learned very quickly to sleep light.

Summer turned into fall, which quickly became winter. All of us had acclimated one way or another to life in Monteriggioni. Claudia was currently keeping track of the town's ledgers and money under Giovanni's watch and had made some new friends. Petruccio, who we all were afraid wouldn't recover, was getting better! I don't mean back-to-the-norm better, I mean he was feeling stronger than he had when we were in Florence. Whatever the cause was, we were grateful for it and it wasn't long before Petruccio made his first trip outside in weeks. When it was clear that he wasn't affected by the outdoors, Maria cautiously allowed his little excursions to go longer and longer until he was spending hours out of the villa.

Petruccio still wasn't as strong as the other boys his age, it was possible he would never be, but he quickly made friends who were graciously considerate of him. He was so awed by the world he had never really experienced before that we could hardly keep track of him as he explored anything and everything. Petruccio still had minor relapses that we had to watch for, but overall he was healthier and happier than he had ever been. When the first snow came, he found he had to be careful in the cold, but that didn't stop him from starting a snowball fight with me and his brothers.

Even though I was training separate from the Ezio and Federico, we spent a lot of time together. The boys continued to teach me more free-running tricks and were getting me closer to performing a Leap of Faith. Ezio was proving to be the better at knife throwing and he took it upon himself to show me how "a master" flings steel.

One of our favorite things to do was saddle up our horses and explore the surrounding area, occasionally taking Petruccio with us if Maria was in a generous mood. I took my bow and a quiver of arrows with me at a suggestion from Ezio in case we came across some small game. The rabbits were still a little too fast for me, but the birds were a different story. Pheasants were easy to hit if I could spot them before they were spooked away and the quail tended to travel in little packs. Geese migrated through in the fall, but I had to be careful not to pick the biggest birds because they tended to have really tough meat. Maria had since assumed authority over all cooking arrangements in the villa, and gladly took advantage of any game we came back with.

Training was great and all, but sometimes we needed something else to take our minds off of how sore and tired we were. Three months in, a prank war started up between the three of us. At first it was little things like a pinecone put on the seat just before I sat down or sneaking up behind Ezio and poking him in the side just to see how much he would jump. Then the pranks got more involved, like a frog in my bed, courtesy of Federico. As our little 'battles' escalated, the rest of the family made sure to stay out of them, joking that someone was going to get hurt.

Ezio's pranks were nothing less than infuriating; even Federico would occasionally take a swing at his younger brother for something he had pulled. Ezio loved to pick on me for some reason and it wasn't long before I was ready to tear his head off. He once hid the training sword I normally used, which made me late to practice with Mario, which meant I had to train for an extra thirty minutes as punishment. Another time Ezio caught a big spider and put it in my boot. Do you know what it feels like to have something crawling, rapidly, all over your foot? I kicked my boot clear across the room to get it off, and of course Ezio was watching from the window. Now I'm a pretty patient person and just put up with his crap for a while. However, there was one stunt in particular that crossed the line.

It was the last part of summer and I was done training for the day. As I put my archery gear away, one of the mercenaries came over and said that Ezio needed to talk to me about something. That should have been my first clue, but being the oh-so-trusting person I was I didn't think anything of it. The man pointed me in the general direction and I followed his instructions, which lead to a small side alley but I didn't see Ezio.

As I walked to the other end of the alleyway, water suddenly cascaded down on me. I jumped and yelped, nearly falling over a pile of rubbish. As I sputtered and pushed my wet hair out of my face, raucous laughter from above drew my attention upwards.

"EZIO!"

The guy was crouched on the edge of the building, holding a now empty bucket, and nearly falling off as he howled.

"Asino!" I nearly screeched, "You are so dead!"

Ezio stopped laughing long enough to retort down at me, "Oh come now, Kiara. You looked hot and I thought I'd do you a favor."

"I'll get you for this!"

"Oh please," he scoffed, "you said that last time."

I snatched up the first rock I could find and hurled it at him, only my aim was horrible and it bounced harmlessly off the wall. Ezio darted away, but not before he delivered one last taunt.

"All those lessons, and you still can't throw."

I looked down at myself and snarled. I was completely soaked and would have to find a change of clothes. I stormed out of the alley only to come face to face with Mario. He took one look at me and his face contorted as he tried not to laugh.

"Not one word," I hissed as I continued on my way to the villa.

Ten minutes later I was still fuming mad as I changed into dry clothes. This was the third prank that Ezio had pulled on me in two weeks, and it was getting really old. The problem was, every time I tried to retaliate, he always managed to outsmart me. This latest stunt, however, just begged for payback of epic proportions. I sat down on my bed and thought hard. It had to be something unique, something he wouldn't see coming until it bit him hard in the butt.

Now I really don't know where the idea came from, but it was the proverbial light bulb that came on in my head. The more I mulled over this little tidbit of inspiration, the better it got. By the time I was finished formulating my plan, there was a scary, almost manic, grin plastered all over my face. Oh yes, Ezio was going to pay, and I was going to love every minute of it.

I hopped to my feet and hurried down the stairs to Mario's office. He was indeed there and, luckily for me, alone. Mario grinned at me as I walked in.

"I've lost count, how many pranks did that make?"

"One too many,"

"Do I sense revenge in the making?"

I couldn't help but grin, "Yes, but first I need a favor from you."

Mario listened as I explained, in detail, my plan to get back at Ezio. By the end of my explanation, he was chuckling.

"You are beginning to think like an Assassin, Kiara, this is good. Three days, eh?"

"Three at the most," I replied.

Mario rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmm, I suppose…but on one condition. I wish to see the end result."

I suppose that was doable. "Alright, I'll let you know. You'll talk to everyone else?"

"Of course. Now you better run, Ezio is sure to be on his way back."

I bowed slightly in thanks and ran out of the room.

Mario snickered to himself as Kiara disappeared. If her plan worked, Ezio was in for a dozy of a payback.

Ezio grinned to himself as he made his way up the stone steps to the villa, shaking out the slight soreness in his muscles. He was still chuckling over his latest successful prank on Kiara; she could be so gullible sometimes and her reactions were always gave him a good laugh. He didn't doubt that she would try to retaliate, but she had yet to be creative in her attempts and he had managed to remain unscathed so far. Ezio was sure that he could dodge whatever the girl had in mind; he'd just have to watch his back for a few hours.

(A few hours later)

No prank, but more importantly, no Kiara. Ezio had kept his eyes peeled for the young woman ever since he had returned to the villa, but he had yet to see her at all. Was she still sulking? Ezio grumbled to himself, why was it that females had to take so much insult at little things? It was just a bucket of water! It wasn't like she was going to melt. Finally, after arguing with himself for a half-hour, Ezio trudged grudgingly up the stairs to Kiara's room. Even if she was still willing to rip his head off, he preferred to know exactly where she was at.

The door to Kiara's small room was closed, and Ezio gave a heavy sigh before rapping lightly on the door.

No answer.

He tried again. "Kiara?"

Still nothing. So she wasn't even speaking to him now?

Ezio ran his hand through his hair in aggravation. "I was only having a bit of fun, Kiara. Must you act like such a brat about it?"

Silence was his only answer, and this time Ezio had enough. If she wanted an apology, fine, but he wasn't going to continue speaking to a closed door. He grabbed the handle and pushed the door open.

"For the love of..."

He didn't even finish his sentence. Kiara's room was empty with nothing out of the ordinary save the open window. Ezio took a step further into the room, eyeing the darkened corners warily as if Kiara was about to spring out at him. When nothing happened, Ezio walked over to the window and peered out, but saw nothing.

Now a little confused, Ezio looked around the room for signs of any recent activity, of which there were none. He pulled a dresser drawer open, but all her clothes were still there. Ezio even peered into her closet just to make sure that she wasn't hiding from him. She had to be somewhere, maybe the rest of the family knew where she went.

(The next morning)

Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Ezio hadn't slept well during the night, fully expecting Kiara to pounce on him while he was asleep, but the total lack of any mischief only made him more concerned. No one he had talked to the previous evening claimed to know of Kiara's whereabouts, yet they didn't seem overly concerned. Ezio was slowly growing suspicious of his family and their unusual disregard for Kiara's disappearance.

Ezio tried to reason with himself as he got dressed; surely Mario and his father wouldn't allow her to continue this little stunt and skip training for the day. Yet when he met Federico and his uncle by the training ring, Ezio's heart sank when Kiara was nowhere to be seen. More questions were met with more vague answers and by early afternoon, Ezio was completely fed up with everyone. As soon as he was done with training, the younger Auditore set out on a mission to find Kiara. If she thought he was just going to sit around and wait for her to pull whatever it was she had in mind, she was sorely mistaken.

Ezio's search lasted the rest of the afternoon and partly into the evening, with no success. He had looked everywhere he could think of that Kiara could hide, but either she was escaping him or had hid in the well because there was absolutely no sign of her. Ezio hadn't been unaware of everyone else's behavior either, he heard them snickering behind his back, he heard them taking bets as to who would win this game of cat-and-mouse. The problem was, Ezio was feeling more and more like the mouse with each passing hour.

This was ridiculous! How was it possible that the woman could evade him so easily when she herself admitted to being a bit of a klutz? Ezio was out of options aside from starting his search all over again, and he highly suspected that it would be pointless. The only thing he had left to do was wait her out. There was no way that Mario would have let Kiara take an infinitely long break from training; she had to show up sooner or later.

This was fun, waaaay too much fun. Ezio was going to think twice the next time pulling a prank on me crossed his mind. My hiding place, you ask? It was a tiny nook in the ceiling of my room, nothing more than an empty space left there by the builders of the villa. I had discovered it a few months ago when I noticed a thin crack in the ceiling that formed a rectangle just above my dresser. A closer inspection showed that certain plank was removable and the space was just big enough for me to crawl into. This is where I had been for the past day and a half. Only Giovanni and Mario knew exactly where I was and neither of them were about to tell Ezio.

It had been hilarious to watch the guy look all over Monteriggioni for me. He was getting more and more stressed out and I was enjoying every minute of it. Of course I snuck downstairs when Ezio was out training to get something to eat, and occasionally spying on him just to amuse myself. I wasn't done yet; I was going to let him suffer for a little while longer before finally getting my revenge. I was counting on the weather, and Federico, to help me out with the last part of my plan.

Another night passed, with less sleep involved than the previous one. Ezio had been sure that Kiara would try something now that she had him all wired up, but again nothing happened and the young man was nearly at the end of his wits. He sat up in bed with a groan and put his head in his hands, promising himself he would never pull another prank on Kiara for as long as he lived; the repercussions were too hazardous to his health.

The sound of Mario hollering up the stairs made Ezio groan again and he stood, reaching for his breeches. It was going to be a very long day.

The space was hot and stuffy, but I wasn't complaining. This hot weather was exactly what I had hoped for. All I had to do now was wait for the training to get over with. About mid-afternoon, I shimmied down from my slightly cramped hiding place and snuck over to my window. I peeked out and saw that Mario was about done with the boys for the day. Federico and Ezio were taking turns sparing against Mario's mercenaries and most of the men, including the brothers, had taken their shirts off. Off to the right a small group of girls huddled together, giggling and gasping dramatically at the show of swordsmanship. I scoffed and rolled my eyes; there were times when I really wondered about my gender.

In a well-executed move, Federico disarmed the mercenary he was fighting against and held the tip of his sword against the other man's throat.

"Well done, Federico." Mario commented, "I think that's enough for today."

All of the men mumbled in relief and started to put their weapons away. The girls who had been watching reluctantly dispersed, but not before throwing the Auditore boys some not-so-subtle looks.

I could hardly hold still. This was it.

C'mon Federico…

Ezio grabbed a nearby rag that served as a makeshift towel and wiped at the sweat on his face and neck. The session had been good for him, but as he eyed the villa, the former feeling of dread came back to him and not knowing what Kiara had planned made it even worse. Why didn't she just get it over with already? He'd learned his lesson, he was sorry.

Ezio was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't hear Federico come up behind him and he nearly jumped out of his skin as a figure suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision. Federico sighed as he took the rag from his brother.

"Ezio, you are a mess. Are you really that worried?"

Ezio ran his hand through his hair nervously and picked up his shirt. "It's been two days, Federico. Two days! This is getting to be absurd, it was just a joke!"

"And yet you didn't think throwing a bucket of water on her wouldn't incur her wrath?" Federico asked, his voice slightly muffled as he wiped the sweat from his face, "You know how much she hates cold water."

"I was only having a little fun!"

Federico rolled his eyes and pulled his shirt back on. "You can be so dense sometimes. Come on, maybe a swim will calm your nerves."

I was nearly hopping up and down with delight as I watched the two brothers head for the main gate. Federico and Ezio always went for a swim in the pond to cool off after training, and the older brother had been more than happy to help me out in my quest for revenge. Now the only thing left to do was to uphold my end of the bargain with Mario.

I waited until Federico and Ezio had reached the gateway to sneak out of my room and run out of the villa. By this time the mercenaries had gone home or to the tavern, leaving Mario pretty much by himself. The man grinned widely at me when he looked up.

"Tell me you're going to put that poor boy out of his misery, piccola."

I snickered, "I think he's suffered enough."

"Suffered is the correct word,"

I shrugged, "You know what they say about revenge,"

Mario chuckled, "Indeed. Go on, then, I'll fetch Giovanni."

That was all the permission I needed and I ran headlong for the gates. My destination was the pond, but I had a different way of getting there. Instead of heading directly for the pond I stayed east of it for a while until I found a small game trail that led down into the thickest part of the trees. Trying to remember everything Giovanni had taught me, I snuck through the brush as quietly as I could until I could hear splashing. I crept down further until I could just see the pond through the leaves. After a moment of looking I spotted two white shirts draped on a thick bush that would be perfect for me to hide behind. Ezio and Federico still had their pants on, thank God, or I wouldn't have even attempted this maneuver.

Ezio hated being caught off guard, and that's exactly what I planned to do, while scaring the living daylights out of him in the process. A slight rustling further up behind me informed me that Giovanni and Mario were on their way down. I watched Ezio carefully and moved only when he ducked under water. I got closer and closer to the bush until one final dash put me right where I wanted to be: in the gap behind the bushes where Ezio had so conveniently hung his shirt. I crouched down out of sight and waited. The swimming trips never lasted very long and if my intuition was correct, they were just about done.

Sure enough, Ezio surfaced and wiped the water, and hair, out of his eyes and started to wade in the direction of the bush. I could hardly hold still and counted the steps until he was in position.

One…two…three…close enough.

Just as Ezio reached out for his shirt, I jumped out at him, hands extended and hollering at the top of my lungs.

There's no way I can fully describe the pure hilarity of Ezio's reaction, it was almost like watching a cartoon. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head and he jumped like a cat that had been burned, making a panicked sound that almost could have come from a girl. Ezio jumped back so far that he lost his balance and fell backwards, his arms wind milling like crazy until he hit the water.

I was literally on my knees, hugging my ribs as I howled like there was no tomorrow. From behind me, Giovanni and Mario were roaring with laughter, each leaning on a tree to stay upright and Federico almost couldn't climb out of the water, he was laughing so hard.

Ezio came flailing up out of the water, sputtering and nearly shrieking at me.

"É donna orrible! É strega! Cosa diavlo c'é di sbagliato con te?"

Tears were rolling down my face at this point. "Y-you need to l-learn how to take a j-joke…" I broke into another fit of laughing and couldn't finish.

Even though Ezio was furious, I could tell I had scared the hell out of him; he was still pale, even under his darker Italian complexion. Snarling curses under his breath, Ezio stormed out of the water. He grabbed his boots and yanked them on, or tried since his feet were still wet, then snatched his shirt – making sure to shake water all over me – and stomped off with his ego trailing pathetically behind him. The rest of us were in stitches and tears by the time we could actually make it back to the town.

Owned, owned, and owned.

For the rest of that day and part of the next, Ezio refused to talk to me. Even after we were back on speaking terms, barely, he grouched around for a week. Having his butt handed to him by a girl definitely hurt his pride, and he wouldn't live it down for a long time.

It had been a whole year since the Auditores had taken refuge in Monteriggioni. Kiara, Ezio, and Federico had made considerable progress in their training. Giovanni and Mario sat down one evening to discuss what should be done next.

"I must admit, Giovanni, I'm impressed with Ezio and Federico's improvement." Mario commented as they sat down in his office.

Giovanni nodded, "I agree. Kiara is making her own progress as well. She's learning fast, even though she isn't aware of it. I think it's about time she started training with the boys. However, there is one thing I would like to address first."

"And that would be…?"

"As much of a refuge Monteriggioni has been for us, I'm afraid there are some things that our three cannot learn well here; pickpocketing and blending being the most prominent."

Mario stroked his moustache in thought. "Hmm, I hadn't thought of that…then again, you always did prefer the more subtle approach."

"I propose we send our Assassins-in-training back to Florence; to someone who can teach them the finer techniques."

"Paola, you mean."

Giovanni nodded again. "She will be able to keep them hidden under her roof, and she knows that art of subtlety better than we do."

"What of Volpe?"

"I think our trio will handle Gilberto a little better after they've had some experience first. Besides, I want them to take the time to really learn from our thief lord, but if we combine that with Paola's teaching, they will spend more time in Florence than I'm comfortable with right now."

Mario made a noise of agreement. "My latest report from Firenze says that trouble is still brewing under the surface, especially since Uberto's murder. It's most likely the Pazzis' doing since Francesco was able to weasel his way out of prison."

Giovanni scowled, "If I'd only had the time to present the evidence I had in my possession, he would have stayed there for good."

"Don't you worry, frattelo, we'll deal with him and his family soon enough. But, back to the matter at hand, how long do you suppose Kiara, Ezio, and Federico should stay in Florence?"

"I'm hoping no more than two weeks. If Paola is satisfied with what they've learned before then, she can send them back."

"You are sure about this then, Giovanni? You are confident that Kiara and the boys can hold their own?"

"You are not?"

"Ezio and Federico will be fine, I'm sure. But it troubles me a little to be sending Kiara into the fray so quickly. You yourself said she does not have any previous experience."

Giovanni rubbed his forehead. "I know. For a long time I seriously considered keeping her here, she is my adopted daughter after all. But this is not an assassination contract, this trip is strictly educational. If Kiara stays with the boys and they keep their heads down, there should be no need for any violence. However, I would prefer to wait until Kiara is comfortable wielding a real sword."

Mario was silent for a moment as he mulled the plan over in his mind.

"Very well. I'll send notice to Paola that we will be entrusting our young Assassins into her care soon."

Bambina - Girl
Nipoti - Nephews
Asino - Ass
Piccola - Little one
É donna orrible! É strega! Cosa diavlo c'é di sbagliato con te? - You horrible woman! You witch! What the hell is wrong with you?
Fratello - Brother

A/N – I'M STILL HERE! Sorry for the wait everyone, but since classes started up again I've had less time to dedicate to my fanfic and I'm afraid it will be that way for the rest of the semester. Oh well, such is life.

A lot of people wanted to see Ezio get owned, so now I have to ask; was it actually funny? *hides* I fail so hard a humor sometimes. I tried, I really did!

And, as always, many many thanks to those who not only read, but reviewed. You're the reason I've gotten this far, keep 'em coming!

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MJE - Thank you for the advice, as always. :)
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~TKD Dragon