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

Apparently a sentence got cut off toward the end when I first posted this chapter. It should be fixed now!

Chapter 109

The following night, Ezio found a note on his door from Rosa asking him to meet her on top of the highest building in the city at midnight. He laughed to himself at the fact that she still had not bothered to learn the name of the Campanile di Giotto, but made his way to the bell tower at the requested time.

Ezio hadn't been able to find Rosa since Savonarola's death, and he was growing more anxious as time passed. He assumed La Volpe was keeping her busy (Ezio was busy as well) as they tried to restore some normalcy to the city. There were several reasonably possible political outcomes (and none of them were ideal), but the Assassins had decided not to get involved unless they had to. It wasn't their place to decide for the citizens how the city should be governed (merely to fight for them when it was necessary), but they secretly hoped that the Medici would return. Medici rulers, despite their shortcomings, at least kept the city stable and relatively free, which would likely not be the case if another demagogue arose from the chaos or if a foreign power attempted to seize control.

Ezio hoped that he had given the people of Florence enough guidance with his speech on the previous day to keep any of this from happening. The person whose opinion on the matter meant the most to him, however, was waiting on the top of Giotto's Tower.

"Have you been up here before?" she asked him as he pulled his weight over the ledge.

"Sì, many times," he grunted as she helped him up. "Although I'm usually here to find someone down in the city, not to enjoy the view like you are."

"And who says I'm enjoying the view?" she asked, crossing her arms. "If I need a view that meets my standards, I'll climb the Campanile di San Marco the next time I'm in Venezia.

Ezio shrugged. "To each their own, I suppose. If you did not come for the view, then what did bring you up here?"

She walked over to the edge and pointed to the base of the tower. "Do you see that hay bale?" she asked.

Ezio looked. "Sì, it's quite dark but I can still-" he paused midsentence, realizing what she was asking. "Wait, you're not actually thinking about..."

To be sure, Rosa had gotten fairly good at navigating her way down to hay bales with his help, but Ezio wasn't convinced that she was anywhere near acquainted enough with the practice to make the jump in question.

"Not tonight," she shook her head, looking back at him. "But one day...one day I'd like to."

Ezio smiled. "I'm sure that with some more practice we can-"

"And if I'm going to do it," she continued, interrupting him, "I want to have a damn good reason for it."

"Such as?"

"The same reasons you have when you do it."

"Hmm?" Ezio raised an eyebrow.

"To make this world a better place. To fight for the people who need it the most. To guide others to learn from themselves," she said, looking over the city again. "Those seem like good reasons to take a leap of faith...to become an Assassin."

"Then...you mean-"

She cut him off with a kiss. Neither of them knew exactly why it happened, but they were glad it did. It was the first kiss they had shared in a long time, and even though things between them had changed, it may have been even more meaningful than any other.

In another moment, she released him with a smile. "I'll let Antonio know of my decision the next time I see him. I'm sure he'll be happy to finally hear it."