[A/N]: Thanks for reading! Feedback is always welcome!

Chapter 85

Ezio moved the letter closer to the light of his candle to make sure he was reading it correctly.

Dear Ezio,

I wasn't sure how to begin this letter, or even if I should begin it at all. Part of me fears that you won't even receive it. Another part of me fears that you will and that you won't reply to it. Antonio says very little about you other than that you are well and that you ask about me, so I decided to tell you myself.

I suppose you are wondering how it is I am able to write to you in my own hand. It took some time, but I have forgiven Antonio as you asked, on the condition that he would teach me how to read and write. He says it is dangerous for us to communicate with each other, but I think he also knows better than to try to stop me.

A lot of time has passed since you left Venezia, I know. I wanted to be angry at you for it at first, but it did me no good. Whenever I was especially mad, I would run away until another one of the thieves found me. I wanted Antonio to shout at me for it, but he never did. He was always patient and never said a word about it, which always made me even angrier until I understood it. You were right, Ezio. He is a good man, and I am glad I have forgiven him.

I've forgiven you too. Antonio is consumed with his work with the other Assassins and with finding the item that was stolen from you, and I know you must be doubly so. Fortunately for him, he did not tell me you had been stabbed in the process until after you had recovered as well. Regardless, I wish you the best of fortune and speed in your search, especially if fortune saves you from another (more skilled) blade. This doesn't mean I'm not going to have a few words to say to you when I see you next, but I will leave your nose in one piece.

I know it may sound optimistic at this point, but I do mean "when" and not "if" I see you. I also want your opinion on something, but that too will have to wait until we meet in person again.

Until then, if you can, please keep me informed of your fortune and health. Antonio tells me what he can, but I would rather have it from you.

Yours, with love,

Rosa

Ezio reread the letter several times, fearing each time that he would wake up from a dream and it would cease to be real, but he didn't. It was the first thing he had heard from her in five years, and it was in her own writing! It contained fewer swear words than he was used to hearing from her, but perhaps Antonio wasn't keen on teaching her how to put those on paper. He resolved to write a letter in return the next evening, even if his lack of discretion would upset the other Assassins. It was the last part that he thought about the most as he fell asleep. "Yours, with love."

His plans, as they so often seemed to be as of late, were quickly changed when he tracked down a monk in an abbey in Forlì and was pointed (after some persuasion) to Santo Spirito in Firenze to seek one Fra' Savonarola. It seemed a long way to go from only the word of a single monk, but it was all he had left at this point. He quickly returned to his room in Caterina's citadel and wrote to the other Assassins of the news before packing his belongings. The following day, he set out for his home city with a mixture of elation from Rosa's letter and apprehension from not knowing what (if anything) he would find when he got there.