Hello everyone ^^

Because of the lack of written feedback on the German version and general writing issues, translating is more fun right now and that´s why the next chapter is already done. ^^ I´m often receiving your reviews at night (in German time) and so I read them in the morning and it´s always a delightful way to start the day. So thank you so much for your feedback. It means a lot.

But now I have to say something about it, before I let you read this chapter. For some German readers, Connor became OOC in this chapter because of his "monologue" in the very beginning. But I think even though he isn´t a man of words, it would be different if he has to say something that is important to him. So I´m already sorry if you don´t agree to his behaviour here. For me it suits to him and I guess it probably won´t stay the only time he´s talking a bit more than usual. ^^

Reviews:

Luthlien: Actually that´s the point of the whole (and also this) chapter: Lillian isn´t an assassin and she will never be one. It has several reasons. First: You need years of training to become a "good" assassin. We don´t know even one assassin who wasn´t trained since childhood (at least I don´t ^^). Lillian is 26 and too old to start such a hard training, especially because she doesn´t have a basic knowledge she could build on. But she wouldn´t want to become an assassin anyway. She can´t kill people. It would destroy her and even though she is getting to a point where she says "I would kill, if I had to" later on in the story, it wouldn´t be easy for her. Just remember her reaction when she killed Walter Tibbet in "Freedom". ;) And last but not least: I don´t want her to be an assassin. I created her because I wanted to have an OC who can´t fight and who is just a "normal" person. Lillian wouldn´t be my Lillian anymore if I would make her become an assassin. ;) So I´m sorry. ^^ But Connor is going to teach her one thing or two later in the story. ;)

MohawkWoman: Actually it was the other way around. :D I always think of a title when the chapter is finished. So I thought that the last sentence would be a good summary of the whole chapter. But I´m glad to hear that it worked somehow. ^^

A summer thunderstorm

When I woke up in the next morning, Connor was still sleeping soundly. Carefully I sat up and stroked some strands of his hair aside to have a better look at the makeshift bandage around his head. The rag was still clean which meant that the wound hadn´t started to bleed again at least. I just hoped that Connor was also well because judged by his condition tonight, the hit on his head hadn´t been as harmless as he wanted to claim. But as if he had heard my thoughts, he opened his eyes and a smirk appeared on his lips when he looked at me.
"Judged by your gaze you could think that somebody died", he murmured and his hand moved to the rag around his head. He squinched up his face.
"How are you? Are you alright or shall I call for a doctor?" Worried I looked him over but Connor gave a faint and forced smile.
"I am fine. Really."
I raised an eyebrow whereupon he added: "Maybe a light headache but I am really fine beside that."
I looked at him sceptically, raised a hand and shoved two fingers right under his nose. "How many?"
Connor raised an eyebrow. "Six", he teased and pulled me down to him by my hand, so that I lay half on his chest and the tips of our noses almost touched each other. "I am fine", he repeated and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Do not be so concerned every time."
Now I was the one raising her eyebrow and I lifted my torso a bit to look him in the eyes. "Look who´s talking. You´re never relaxed about my safety either."
"Because you cannot defend yourself when you have to."
"No. I´m an average woman who has to hide when it becomes dangerous and can watch others doing her fights", I said bitterly, loosened his arms from my waist and flopped onto my back, staring at the ceiling.

After a short moment of silence, Connor rolled onto his side, propped up himself with one arm and his face appeared in my vision, frowning, his gaze confused.
"You are not an average woman. Why are you talking so derogative about yourself? Nobody is expecting you to fight. There is nothing bad about it."
"You think that. But maybe others don´t." I was still staring at the ceiling but Connor put a hand under my chin and made me look at him.
"What are you talking about? Who said that?"
"Nobody. Not directly." I bit my lower lip. I didn´t want to tell him about my dispute with Dobby and that was why I decided to talk only about my own thoughts.
"Sometimes I just think that I would be a better match to you, if I was an assassin. I wouldn´t need to sit and wait for you every time. I´m always worried if you come back and when you´re back, I often can do nothing else but to treat your wounds. I just think I would be a better help, if I would fight by your side."
While I had spoken, the wrinkles on Connor´s forehead had become deeper and now he was looking at me completely uncomprehendingly. Slowly he shook his head.
"How can you think something so absurd?"
"Well, you wouldn´t have to be so worried about an assassin all the time and could concentrate on more important things. An assassin like...Dobby for example."
Now Connor´s eyes widened and he appeared even more confused. "Dobby?", he asked and when I nodded slowly, his lips curled into a smile before he chuckled.
"Is this about your small dispute yesterday? That she doubted that you could support me?", he asked.
"You know about it?"
Connor nodded. "She told me, but she did not want to attack you personally. She just felt passed over because I have not kept my promise to her."
Now I was the one frowning. "What kind of promise?", I asked almost distrustfully but Connor shrugged his shoulders, unperturbed by it.
"During the war she asked me why I was still single and I told her that I hadn´t the time for a woman until then but that I could imagine to settle somewhere and have a family when the time is right. She asked me to give her the first chance when the time had come and I promised it."
"You did what?" I sat up in a jerk and only Connor´s good reactions prevented his nose from meeting my forehead. "You cannot give such a promise so easily!"
"Why not?" Connor cocked his head and really seemed to be serious about this question and I stared at him dumbfounded. Had he really spontaneously promised to a woman, to consider her first as soon as he thought about having a family? I didn´t know what to say about it but Connor hadn´t finished confusing me yet.
"Dobby is a good looking woman. Smart, with fighting spirit. Why should I not have promised it to her?"
Oh great. That was exactly what I wanted to hear.
"Well, what a pity that you didn´t keep your promise. Sounds like you would have been a perfect couple", I hissed. I surely was no assassin but I was almost sure that sometime I was going to be able to stab somebody with my gazes.

But Connor wasn´t quite impressed by it. He blinked at me and didn´t seem to know how to judge my reaction. Was he really so detached? I told him that I feared that an assassin like Dobby could be a better match to him and he listed the reasons why he actually could consider it. Not to forget that it wasn´t a nice touch towards Dobby either. I doubted that a woman would ask for such a promise, if she hadn´t feelings for the man she was asking. Now I understood why she had behaved so reserved to me. I wouldn´t have behaved different either. But it seemed like Connor hadn´t thought about it. Or...had feelings been involved on his side, too? I swallowed heavily.
"Have you been in love with her, when you gave the promise?"
Connor still looked at me surprised but shook his head vigorously. "At this point of time, I just thought that it could not be wrong to promise it to her. I do not know if I would have kept it in the end. But now it is invalid anyway and Dobby does not mind. Everything is fine."
I was still sceptical about it, but I doubted that it made sense to give Connor an understanding of female emotions. He was a pragmatist through and through. But I still had my original concerns.

"Don´t you think sometimes, regardless of Dobby, that an assassin would have been a better match to you than somebody like me?"
"You mean a woman who cannot fight, who is not a part of the brotherhood and whose biggest concerns lie in her daily life?"
I nodded and a smirk curled Connor´s lips as he slowly shook his head. "Maybe you are not an assassin or a fighter at all, but that is exactly why you have another view on the events around you and that is what I have appreciated about you right from the beginning." He paused for a moment to sit up and cross his legs. "My whole life I have been surrounded by conflicts, wanted to protect my people and had to think about how to do that. That is why I joined the brotherhood. I knew since the start of my training that I had to kill some templars to achieve my aims and I basically spent my days with planning these murders and fighting in a war at the same time, because I hoped that I could help people with that. I spent days with fighting and when I came home, I was still fighting in my thoughts. I never really slept because my mind was controlled by it and I thought that this was going to be over as soon as the war was ended and the templars were defeated. But when it was over, my people were driven out and other templars came and with them other conflicts. I am an assassin, always will be and that is why probably my whole life is going to be about fighting. But I chose this life and I do not regret it. Furthermore by now it is easier for me to sleep and think about something different than fighting and do you know why?"
He gave me a crooked smile. "When I come home now, you are there. You are not an assassin but you understand my concerns nevertheless. But just because you are not an assassin, it is easier for me to leave them behind. You cannot believe how I enjoy it to listen to you, when you tell me how you spent your day, even though you always think that what you are telling me is not important and boring. You always say that my day was certainly more exhausting and interesting than yours and that is why you think that what you are telling me is less important than what I am telling you. But that is not true. When I am with you, I can forget my concerns as an assassin. I go into my training room, take off my robes and weapons and as soon as I leave the room, I am just a man who is looking forward to take his wife in his arms and spend time with her. You make me come to rest and even when you are confronted by my problems like now, I have the feeling that you are taking a burden from my shoulders. You do not need to be an assassin for that because when you are facing my problems, you are not doing it with the values of the brotherhood but with your own mind and your own heart. Like you did in London and on Unst. That is what makes you special and I do not want you to think little about yourself. Because you are a better support to me in the way you are, than if you would stand next to me armed. If I had wanted it different, I would not have waited half a year until you came back to me from England."

When he had ended, I just stared at him speechless for a while. I didn´t know what to say, beside the fact that I couldn´t believe that he, the normally quiet, keeping his thought and feelings to himself Connor, had just poured out his heart to me. But just that he had opened himself to me made me struggle with my tears. He had often told me that he loved me and I had never doubted it, but I had never known what I really meant to him. I had always felt ridiculous compared to him, with my spoiled behaviour, my background and my comparatively easy childhood, my fears and my physical weakness. I had felt like a burden to him that he was enduring. But I hadn´t known that he felt my weaknesses to be my strengths.
I lowered my gaze and rubbed a hand over my eyes which were filled with tears now. I didn´t know why I was crying because I felt an enormous ease in my heart, now that Connor had cleared up my doubts and I didn´t question his words. He wasn´t an open person, but when he was telling something about himself, he was honest and said what he was thinking and that was making his words even more wonderful.
When I sobbed quietly, Connor moved closer, wrapped his arms around me and sank back onto the mattress with me. Laying on his side, he pulled me closer and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead before he gently stroked the tears from my cheeks.
"Why are you crying?", he asked quietly and first I couldn´t do anything but shrug my shoulders.
"I just doubted myself. I thought that I could never be the woman you need by your side."
He shook his head. "I love you just the way you are and I could not imagine another or better woman by my side than you are."
When he said this, my heartbeat quickened on its own and I felt like he had confessed his love to me for the first time. And somehow he had. A warm smile appeared on my lips, before I crossed the last distance between us and kissed him. All my love I felt for Connor was in this kiss and I heard him sighing quietly when he returned it and ran his fingertips through my hair. We both enjoyed this moment of closeness and the small caresses we shared. It felt like a wonderful eternity before I broke the kiss and said smirking: "By the way, I wanted to tell that I don´t think that you´re so bad either. I wouldn´t want to replace you anyway."
Connor chuckled. "Well, I am relieved to hear that."

Although Connor had planned to set off to Davenport as soon as possible, I didn´t need to convince him to reconsider these plans. We spent the whole morning in bed, cuddled up close to each other and enjoying our togetherness and I was the one who finally freed herself from the embrace, stood up and got herself ready. Connor had problems with getting up because when he had swung his legs over the edge of the bed and had stood up, he sank back again, groaning quietly and holding his head. For a short moment I thought that he would lose his consciousness but he admitted with gritted teeth that he wasn´t as well as he had thought he was. So we delayed our departure to the next day and I ordered Connor to use this delay and rest. He wasn´t enthusiastic about it, but when I left the room to meet with the other assassins, he lay in bed again and followed my order.

Jamie, Jacob and Dobby were relieved when I told them that Connor was fairly well and I was surprised when Dobby offered me to accompany me a bit through the city. After I had checked on Connor again, also to reassure him about my whereabouts, the assassin and I strolled through New York´s streets and Dobby showed me the places she connected many memories with. We never talked about our dispute or Connor and it felt like we were now really getting to know each other. Dobby was a pleasant company even though we actually hadn´t anything to talk about. We were too different for that, but soon it came to light that we shared a similar sense of humour. So the day passed amazingly quickly and after I had increased our supplies for the journey on a market, Dobby accompanied me back to the tavern. We were quite silent on our way but when we bid farewell to each other, Dobby surprised me with taking me in her arms and saying: "I´m glad that he found somebody like you. He deserves it."
I smiled gratefully and touched and basically didn´t know what to reply. But I had the feeling that I had made a new friend and smiling happily, I entered the tavern.

I bought two bowls of stew from the innkeeper and with the scarf, I had wrapped my shopping in, hanging on my arm, I balanced the food upstairs and into our room. There was Connor still laying in bed but when he heard me enter, he opened the eyes, sat up and smiled at me.
"How are you?", I asked while I gave him the stew that he was taking with thanks.
"Better", he answered. "The rest was helpful."
"I told you." Grinning widely I sat down onto the edge of the bed with my own food and we ate silently, before I took the empty bowl from Connor and brought the dishes downstairs. Back in the room I slipped out of my upper garments and crawled to Connor under the blanket, where I was pulled into his arms immediately and got a kiss on my forehead.
"Do you think we can set off tomorrow?", I asked.
"As early as possible."

A few hours after dawn, we had left New York behind us and were surrounded by forests and silence. Connor was much better than yesterday and probably it was due to his good fitness that he had recovered from the hit on his head so quickly. Only the wound on his head and its swelling reminded of it. Now we were looking forward to leave the last part of our journey behind us and to come home at last. Of course we also wanted to know the content of the coded message as quickly as possible, but nevertheless we took our time on our journey. Connor let Cobalt walk, we had a break from time to time and like during our journey to New York, we set up a camp in the forests by nightfall and set off at dawn. More than a week passed like this and the summer showed us its best side. The sun shined from a light-blue sky and warmed the air which slowly cooled down only at night. I was relieved that we were underneath the tree´s shadows most of the time because otherwise the journey would have been unbearable. I admired Connor for always wearing his hood and coat even in this weather without starting to sweat really. I probably would have died, but we were both glad when we found a river or a creek somewhere where we could refresh ourselves.

But on the tenth day of our journey, when he had crossed Concord and where only a day´s journey away from Davenport, the weather changed dramatically. Dark clouds gathered in the evening, covering the whole sky and hiding the sun. The wind freshened and when the first rain drops pattered down at us, Connor told me to hold on to him and drove Cobalt into gallop. We were in the middle of a forest and everything seemed to announce a summer thunderstorm which probably had been unpreventable after the heat during the last days. Connor steered the horse determined through the forest towards a rocky plateau and when we came nearer, I was surprised to see the entrance of a cave.
"We should be safe here", Connor said, dismounted Cobalt and lifted me off the horseback before he led Cobalt into the cave. The entrance and the corridor behind it were high and wide enough for the animal and again I was amazed when we finally stand inside an about six metres wide and four metres high chamber, laying so deep inside the rock that the sounds of the upcoming storm outside were only a muffled rustle. Our steps echoed from the walls and also my voice was followed by a silent echo when I asked: "Did you know about the cave?"
Connor smirked. "I know every corner of the frontier and you would be amazed, if you knew how many caves exist."

He took off the saddle and the bags from Cobalt and put out a rag to rub it over the animal´s wet fur. The rain had surprised all of us and I squinched up my face when I thought that we couldn´t make a fire to dry us. The same thought came to Connor, after he had patted Cobalt and looked towards the cave´s entrance.
"We will not find any dry wood and to light wet wood in a cave is not a good idea." He looked at me. "Are you cold?"
"A bit."
Connor nodded with my answer, grabbed the sleeping mat and went into a corner of the cave, where he unrolled the mat on the ground and beckoned me over to him.
"We are sheltered from the wind here. Come and sit. And take off the wet clothes."
I raised an eyebrow and grinned as I saw how he took off his coat and unbuttoned the wet shirt. "What is that going to be, Master Kenway? First you drag me into a lonely cave in the middle of a forest and then I am supposed to undress myself?"
He raised his head and shook it grinning. "You will freeze to death, if you are keeping the wet clothes on. Besides, we can warm each other."
"Oh, so that´s your game." Still grinning I approached him and took off waistcoat and bodice. The latter had barely prevented my shift from becoming wet, too and it really was more comfortable to get rid of the wet clothes. I sat down on the mat next to Connor who lay on his side and offered his arm as a pillow to me as I lay down, too and cuddled up to his broad chest. His fingers played with my wet strands of hair that were even curlier in this state and again I noticed with amusement, how fascinated Connor seemed to be about my hair. But he stopped playing with it as the loud bang of a thunder sounded and made me wince. I hated thunderstorms and Connor knew that.

He leaned his forehead against mine and stroked reassuringly over my back, while I closed my eyes and tried to suppress my fear of the thunderstorm.
"You know, it somehow reminds me of the storm on Unst, when he hid in this hut", I whispered and a smile appeared on my lips as I also remembered the morning after the storm. "You let me sleep in your arms and stopped keeping back from me. I think for a long time I wasn´t so happy as I was when you kissed me. I always love to remember it...even though the rest of the day was a catastrophe."
Connor chuckled. "I think we have a knack for letting beautiful moments end in catastrophes."
"Yes, sometimes", I agreed and squinched up my face when I thought that the last catastrophe was only over a month ago.
But it´s over now.

My fingertips followed the line of Connor´s collar bone but I stopped when he put his hand under my chin, lifted it and kissed me very tenderly. I smirked into the kiss when I felt how his hand stroked over my side and stopped on my bottom.
"Everything in place?", I asked amused and Connor uttered a confirmative humming. "Is that another tactic to warm up?" Grinning mischievously I slid my hands over his chest, but suddenly Connor´s hand disappeared from my body and he moved away from me.
"I am sorry. I did not want you to think something wrong", he said and when I frowned in confusion, he added. "You had to endure much in the last weeks. You have almost been raped. I do not want you to think that I brought you here to ravish you."
Confused I blinked at him, but then I couldn´t suppress a laugh. "Ravish me? Connor, I know that you would never do that." I laughed again but finally smiled mildly. "You know, I think it´s wonderful that you´re thinking of me like that. But if you believe it or not, I almost got over it already. Especially because you´re with me and I don´t have to be afraid of you. I enjoy your closeness and even if you should have the intention to make the most of this situation of isolated togetherness, you can be sure that I wouldn´t mind."
Connor scrutinized me but finally moved closer to me again and blew a kiss to my lips. "Isolated togetherness?", he smirked and I chuckled again.
"Oh, please. In the middle of a forest, alone in a cave. I think you cannot ask for more privacy. Cobalt doesn´t count."

I heard Connor chuckle, too before our lips found each other in a kiss that quickly became more passionate. We had been separated for a month and even though we were reunited for two weeks now, it felt like all the longing of the time of our separation would come over us at once. As if we finally wanted to leave all the memories behind us and show that we belonged to each other, despite all the trouble. For a short moment I had felt a small doubt, that I wasn´t entirely ready for Connor´s closeness yet, when he had stroked me so thoughtlessly. But the doubt vanished quickly as Connor´s tender hands and lips awoke this sweet, longing feeling inside of me.
A quiet moan left my lips when Connor´s hands started a tantalizing game on my still covered breasts, before he let them move lower, opened my skirt and took it off me. With tender caresses he freed me from my boots and stockings and also the shift found its way onto the cave´s ground. I uttered an appalled sound as my heated skin met the cold rock beneath us. But Connor´s hands lay on my hips immediately and lifted me back onto the mat, before he involved me in a kiss again, that we broke only shortly, so that I could help him getting out of his leggings, shoes and pants.

If anybody of us still had a doubt about the place or time of this moment, it had been thrown overboard long since. My torso arched under a loud gasp when I finally felt Connor inside of me and unintentionally I dug my nails into his shoulders when I just stroked over his back. He uttered a sound that sounded almost like a growl and apologetically I pressed my lips on his. I buried my hand in his hair and the other stroked over his spine again, felt the movement of his muscles while he moved and I raised my pelvis to meet his.
First Connor´s movements were gentle, almost careful, but when we found a mutual rhythm, they increased in intensity and soon we had to part our lips to catch our breaths. Connor began to caress my neck and coaxed another delightful moan out of me. Every touch and every powerful thrust brought me closer to my climax but I bit my lip, hoping naively that I could hold and enjoy these wonderful feelings our togetherness was causing inside of me, just a bit longer.
"No", Connor whispered to me when he noticed it and gently brushed my lips with his. Our gazes met and when I wrapped my legs around his hips to have him even closer with me, we were both overrun by our feelings. Our moans echoed from the walls before Connor leaned his forehead against mine exhausted and his heavy breath brushed my face. We stayed like this for a moment and enjoyed the sweet echo of our own emotional storm, while the muffled noise of the thunderstorm outside reached our ears.

"Now I´m warm", I said, completely thoughtlessly and my heart skipped a beat as I heard Connor laugh about it. He gently freed himself from my leg´s embrace, lay down next to me and pulled me into his arms. His lips gently stroked my forehead and I closed my eyes, sighing quietly. I already didn´t care about the thunderstorm anymore when I wrapped my arms around Connor and buried my head in his chest. I was filled with a perfect feeling of happiness that was suppressing everything else.
"Ratonhnhaké:ton?" He paused his caresses when I said his name and his chest trembled with the humming that was asking me to continue. "Konnorónhkhwa."
Connor chuckled because my tongue still stumbled over the, for European relations complicated, words of his native tongue.
"Konnorónhkhwa, Lillian", he answered gently and kissed my hair. This moment was perfect and this particular night in the cave was going to remain as something special in both of our memories. Forever.