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Chapter 11 ~The last goodbye~ (END)
Walking around the Piazza on a Sunday was way more tiring than you expected, maybe because you were still half asleep or because your father had taken you from here to there nonstop, sometimes dragging you without even realizing , it looked like he was avoiding something or someone invisible.

-Padre can we go back home? –Your complained while sitting on a bench looking at the reliquary that your mother gave you years back.

-…Sorry, mio caro(my dear) what did you say? –He responded seconds later, his eyes piercing the crowd in front of you, pointing at every direction like arrows looking for their targets, you grunted and looked at him a little annoyed.

-Is everything alright padre? You have been acting weird since morning. What is it? –You clung at one of his arms and grabbed a little so he finally looked down at you, his eyes were about to come out of his head.

-Maybe you are right, we should go back… your mother should be awake by now… -He said defeated by your comment and before standing up his eyes gave another quick check to the surroundings, you did the same hoping on finding that mysterious monster or entity that haunted him but there was nothing.

He grabbed your hand and stood up making his way with very much less enthusiasm than before, it looked like he even was delaying the inevitable arrival to the house and you realized horrified why when both of you were standing in front of it…

*~*~*~*

-Wake up… -A deep voice called you and just when the slumber started slowly to disappear a heavy metallic foot shook off the remains by kicking you, a loud grunt was swallowed in your throat and when you open your eyes clearly you noticed that you weren’t anymore in that filthy pit, you were outside, a place you hadn’t seen before, it looked like roman ruins. –Hold her until I told you otherwise. –The same voice said, now that you were aware of the surroundings it was obvious whose voice was that, your apparently father’s ex partner in crime Rodrigo Borgia… but he wasn’t alone, another old man accompanied him, his expression just as wicked as his.

Strong and brusque hands obeyed his command and held you firmly, until now you had noticed the rag of clothe that was impeding you to move your hands.

-And what is this? –The stranger walked over and looked at you like people do to a stray animal, with airs of superiority adding a lot of disdain and disgust to his expression.

-Just… an insurance. –Rodrigo hissed slyly and walked over to you as well, it was disgusting having them too close to you, the thought of kicking him right in between his legs crossed your mind but it would only make things worse than they already were, you needed to save energy for the obvious and imminent escape you would have to make later. –I like to have advantage over my enemies… -His hand reached to touch your face, the callousness of its fingertips made you shiver in displeasure and you squirmed against the brute that was holding you to get away from it, you could hear a throaty laugh from the other man, that now that he was closer you noticed the ridiculous beret he was wearing on his head.

-You seem very confident maestro (master), May ask what will you do with her after we finish the assassin? –Just by the way his eyes flickered when they landed on you was enough to know about the ulterior motives implied in that question, knots in your throat and stomach formed one after another making you feel nervous and much more uncomfortable about the proximity of both men.

-That is none of your concern signor Barbarigo. –Rodrigo cut him dryly and stopped from caressing your cheek to look at him, a long and threatening look; the man that apparently was referred to as Barbarigo understood very well the message and lowered his face as an apology.

-Mi dispiace Maestro (my apologies master), I shouldn’t have asked such vulgar question. –He excused himself in a submissive tone while still looking down; you left out a very small sigh of relief. He returned to his normal position and just when he was about to say something else a guard appeared escorting another older male, his appearance was very familiar to you, he looked anxious and went straight to the Borgia before even looking at the other man.

-I am sorry Maestro! I did all I could but the assassin proved too strong. –The senile man excused himself pretentiously, almost looking like a victim, the way he moved his arms and slightly trembling body made him look pathetic, he was degrading himself on purpose.

-Clearly. Else the others would be here with you…-Rodrigo reproached him angrily, the poor old man only could low his head in fear. –To say nothing of the fact that Firenze remains in Medici hands. –The Borgia hissed this with great displease, as if the words were vinegar for his mouth.

-It’s Francesco’s fault! His impatience made him reckless. I tried to be the voice of reason-…

-More like the voice of cowardice. –The old man got cut by Barbarigo the faint stare they shared for a millisecond talked more than a thousand words.

-You’re no one to talk, signor Barbarigo. Had you sent us quality weapons instead of this garbage you venetians call ar-

-ENOUGH! –The shout made you wince, you looked at the men with your eyes opened like plates when something from the corner of your eye caught your attention, something shimmering white under the pale moonlight, for a second you thought it was a ghost but discarded the possibility before your mind could process the incoherence, maybe it was only some side effect from being too much time without a proper lighted ambience. –We put our faith in your family and you repay us with inaction and incompetence. Then when asked to account for your failures, you make excuses and insult us? How do you expect me to respond?-The voice of the Borgia sounded very intimidating, the senile man was afraid of even making visual contact, he looked like a child scolded by his mother for breaking a jar while playing.

-I don’t know… -he replied without daring to encounter the wickedness of the man’s eyes, regret and fear in his voice.

-It’s alright, I do. –Rodrigo put one of his hands in the shoulders of the old man and for a moment you thought maybe he was reconsidering on giving him another chance, thing that changed when you saw his metal piercing through the old man like a knife does with butter, it was just too good to be true. You were left breathless for a second when the bleeding man looked at you for a faint second, a silent scream of help in his eyes.

-No… please… don’t… -He begged horrified by the blood that stained him, you felt kind of pity for him.

-Please don’t what? –Barbarigo laughed wickedly at his misery and threw him on the ground making more blood to splurt out. It was painful to see the man trying to get up and failing wretchedly.

-I can fix this… only, spare me. –He cried out as he crawled at the men’s feet pleading for mercy, hoping to move their inexistent hearts.

-No. –Rodrigo answered dryly and unsheathed his sword this time, you looked away before seeing the metal falling down, but the drowned chuckle you heard was enough to deduce where the it had landed, it was then when you saw something again, but now it wasn’t a faint glance of something, it was a full shape of a person, you knew who it was, the only person who could be under those dirty white robes hiding behind a pillar.

-What a mess… so sorry to have claimed your prize. Assassin! –You looked nervously at Rodrigo and then back at Ezio who was caught in that moment by a pair of guards dragging him forcedly closer to the center of the ruins, he looked at you and mouthed “everything will be fine” to calm you down, but you knew that him alone wouldn’t be able to recue you, you needed to help him but how? –Did you honestly think I wouldn’t expect you to follow? That I didn’t PLAN for it? We’ve been at this longer than you. –Rodrigo and Barbarigo gave a few steps forward to short the space between them, for a moment he sounded threatening but as the sentence went his voice calmed, and that couldn’t mean anything good. –Kill him. –the Borgia ordered unfazed and you lose your control, you started to struggle with the guard that held you and noticed that Ezio was doing the same with his captors the only difference was that he counted with his hidden blades to end them whenever he wanted and so he did, stabbing them clean in their jugulars. He was ready to walk towards you but stopped when Rodrigo took you from the brute’s hands and imprisoned you between his body and a cold blade against your throat.

-Try to give a step and she dies. –The templar master warned pressing the metal harder against your soft exposed (S/C) skin, inevitably your beatings raised and your breathing became heavier, even a thin layer of cold sweat was forming in your forehead, you looked at Ezio horrified by feeling death so close to yourself.

-Let her go, she doesn’t have to do in any of this. –Ezio replied moving one of his hands at you, from behind you could hear how Rodrigo laughed.

-She has to do in this even more than you do. –You swallowed hard before trying to clear your mind, there was an almost 100% that after this chat ended he could kill or even worse take you with him, you needed to make a divine move to get out of this and the only one you could think about was too risky, if you could use the right amount of force and agility, you could easily get out of his grip with a not too deep cut in your throat, the chances of not dying in the attempt were almost zero but it was worth the try.

-Maestro we have to leave… -Barbarigo whispered near the man’s ear, it was now or never, with all the strength and the adrenaline flowing through your system you moved your arms backwards hitting with your elbows Rodrigo’s ribs, when he pulled back from the pain you were tossed onto the floor the knife slicing your neck in the process and from the distance you could hear Ezio’s heartbreaking screaming for you, the warm crimson spilled out from the wound but not in massive quantities, which meant, once again, fate had been by your side.

You pressed hard against the pouring wound to prevent too much blood loss, in seconds Ezio was right next you holding you tight against his chest, almost crying. The templars had already taken off from the place not without leaving you a little gift from theirs, an horde of 8 men with their weapons ready to kill, but what they didn’t knew is how angry and frustrated Ezio was, they suffered the wrath of an Auditore in the worst way possible, stabbing and slashing he ended one by one watching that they never get closer to you for less than 2 meters, crimson flew all around staining him and even a little reached you, a total massacre.

When the coast was completely cleared up and there were any other soul but yours and his, Ezio drew near you again and checked your wound, some tears rolled down his face when he saw your thin smile.

-I’m so sorry (Y/N)… I should have… -He started apologizing but you cut him with a soft kiss in his lips.

-It’s fine… just take me… to il dottore (the doctor)… If I bleed too much… I will pass out… -You spoke in between gasps holding tight your neck to not bleed too much. Ezio cut the rags off your wrists and used them to cover the wound before lifting you princess like. Both of you were ready to go but the cries and whimpers of a man stopped you. It was the old man that accompanied Francesco the day you were caught, apparently Rodrigo hadn’t finished him, maybe he did it on purpose just to let him suffer.

Ezio looked down at you and without even speaking you knew what he was saying, it was the most human thing to do, you nodded at him and he proceeded to walk with you in his arms over to him. Kneeling down he positioned you in one of his legs holding you with one arm while the other was with the hidden blade drawn out. With a gentle move Ezio moved his arm closer to him and stabbed his neck quickly, the man soon stopped breathing as his soul abandoned his body.

-Vai, amico libero de fardelli e paure (go forward friend, unburdened and unafraid) requiescat in pace (rest in peace). –Ezio rushed his hand delicately over the man’s face to close his eyes and then adjusted you again before standing up. –Hold on tight. –He said, you could swear you heard a pinch of fun in his tone; he was happy, happy of having you in his arms again, where you belonged, safe and sound.

*~*~*~*

With your little heart pounding on your ears, you made your way into the house, the inside wasn’t any better than the outside, everything was flipped upside down; the curtains, the furniture, the paintings and even the carpets were torn apart. Every second that you admired the chaos the bigger your fear became, the only thing in your head was your mother, where was she? Was she fine? Was she hurt? These and more questions clouding your mind.

You hurried upstairs but in the way some drops of blood were visible, the metallic smell made you want to throw up but your nerves contained it, the upper floor was just as destroyed as the first one, you ran through the corridor but when a big track of blood appeared in the middle of the way you froze. Trembling and holding back the tears that threatened to go out you followed it carefully of not touching the crimson pool and stopped at the slightly open door of your parents’ room.

Holding your breath you pushed slowly the scratched door and what you found inside made you automatically throw up right there, your mother was on the bed, everything was stained with crimson, the floor, the walls, the covers and the smell of death was just too much for you, your father entered and found you on the floor gagging and crying, you wanted to continue returning your stomach but there was nothing left, he kneeled down and hugged you tight, at first you fought, kicking and slapping him, trying just to made him let you go, but he didn’t, he held you there and heard you cry and call for her waiting that maybe she would answer but he knew it that it wouldn’t be like that, he knew it, it was over… no, he still had you, he still had the most important thing in this world. Your screams of pain drowned the soft cries that escaped from him, but they wouldn’t be enough to hush the voices inside his head, the voices of guilt and regret that would haunt him till his very last day.

*~*~*~*

After receiving a full body check from the doctor, from your now almost gone bruise to your slightly wounded face passing through the slashed neck, Ezio took you back to the villa in monteriggioni, where the family gave you a very warm welcome.

Claudia was the first in running into you, she was completely heartbroken when she saw you in your state, all your clothing ripped and filthy, the bandages in your neck and patches in your face, as the still little girl she was, the tears came up without what seemed an ending.

After she calmed down Mario was the next, he gave you kisses all over your face before hugging you very very tight without minding your smell or your dirtiness apologizing for not had rescued you before, but honestly there was no one to blame, it wasn’t anyone’s fault.

Finally Maria came to welcome you, she hugged you just like a mother does, with that subtleness and tenderness that made all the pain go away, though she didn’t say something, her warmth was everything you needed to feel good and loved.

That night you took the longest bath of your life, with a little assistance of Claudia and Maria, you cleaned every corner of your body carefully making sure to not reopen any wound and once you were finished the best reward of all, Ezio, was waiting for you in the bedroom.

He helped you to change bandages and dry your (H/L) (H/C) hair, making every touch gentle and careful trying not to break you, as if you were made of glass.

-I am so sorry… -He murmured against the back of your shoulder, he was sitting behind you in the bed tightening the bandages around your neck.

-Ezio… please don’t apologize, I’m here now. –You answered and moved your hand backwards to tangle your fingers in his loose brown hair.

-Si, you are… -He whispered softly, you could feel his lips curving on your skin in a thin smile. –(Y/N)… -Ezio kept silence for a few seconds, you hummed and waited for him to order the words inside his head.-Ti amo (I love you). –you turned around a little abruptly and made your neck hurt but when you saw Ezio’s face it all faded away.

He was looking at you right in the eye very confident as a blush covered slightly his delightful brown skin, tears burned your eyes but you hold them back, however when you smiled they started to roll down, one after another leaving shimmering lines in your cheeks, you tried to stop but it was pointless, all that stress, all that fear, all that sadness, it was at last coming out, abandoning your system, it felt so good not to play the strong girl anymore, just the little frightened girl that had to grow up too fast to survive, just you.

The saltiness went on and on, Ezio remained in silence holding you close, giving you his warmth and love. He took you under the covers with him and held you close to his heart, hearing how your whimpers and sobs slowly stopped, cuddling you he watched over your sleep, promising himself of never letting anything nor anyone hurt you again, ever.

*~*~*~*

Everything changed so drastically to you, that it looked like a dream… a nightmare. The day after your mother had died your father started to arrange many things and enclosed himself inside his fortress, his studio while you mourned alone in your room, holding tight that reliquary he had given you what felt like a lifetime ago, she was given a proper burial at least you were sure her soul would find a place of peace on heaven but what would be of you, why did she left you all alone? God was certainly so cruel sometimes you could say you hated him, he could do and undo without anyone questioning him ever.

When your father finally came out from the studio and went to see you, it was only to tell you about the moving you will have to do to France to get you safe from an organization called The templars, very bad people that searched to end with people like him and your mother besides dominate all human kind but what he meant by getting you safe was the start of your training as an assassin.

Before leaving the city that saw you born you asked for your father to visit your mother’s grave one last time before going to the Auditore house and farewell, he agreed with you and once you were there, you took the reliquary she had given you and put it on it.

-What are you doing mio caro?-Your father asked you concerned as he walked closer to the grave.

-It’d be too painful if I carry it with me… besides, in that way she will have something of mine close to her. –You said emotionless as you admired the golden object shining with the sunrays.

-Are you sure of this? –He said once again and patted your head while you were still kneeling on the ground.

-Si… -Actually you weren’t sure but if you took it with you it would be just too difficult to let her go in peace.

-If you say so mio caro… it’s time to go see the Auditore dear, there is a long way ahead us. –You nodded and stood up grabbing his hand.

Your past life was about to end, now you had to embrace the new future waiting for you, the future of an assassin.

*~*~*~*

As the time passed, every trace of your captivity slowly faded away from your skin, but not from your mind, in dreams you could still see Ciro’s beautiful green eyes sparkling when he saw you, it was painful to remember him, so much guilt and regret, the way he suffered before dying, you wished you would be dead instead of him but it looks like sometimes not everyone can be saved.

Nonetheless the thing that didn’t stop from spinning in your head every minute of the day were all the things Rodrigo Borgia had told you, about him, your father and the truth behind your mother’s death and all those secrets that remained yet to be told, sometimes you found yourself diving so deep in your thoughts that everything around just stopped; there were days in which even eating seemed to not be important.

Though Maria, Claudia and Mario didn’t notice this behavior Ezio did and asked you many times what was the matter, if he could do something to help, but you always answered with a lie to not worry him, it was hard to hide again so many things from him but, would he understand if you explained it to him? Could he really help? Maybe, after all he was involved in this as much as you but it was also a family matter, you were sure if you told him that he would laugh.

Day, night, day, night, the cycle went on and on for a week, Ezio had been eradicating all the roots of the Pazzi while you stayed in the villa alongside the other Auditore healing, training, gaining strength but no matter which activity you did, you just started to feel out of place in there, like a piece of a puzzle being forced to fit in, it was true they had given you lots of joy and love but it all seemed surreal, distant, like a memory, your body could be there but your mind wasn’t. You had made a vow to Ezio of being always by his side in this but what if you couldn’t? it was tough to admit it, but this wasn’t your place anymore, at least not now, you needed to search for answers and staying here would only stop you. If you talked of this with him he would insist on accompany you but he had his own journey ahead and you couldn’t let yourself become a burden to him.

In the eighth night of your return, like a thief robbing, you collected all your belongings, your new hidden blades made by the charming and talkative Leonardo Da Vinci, your knives and new clothing, carefully watching on not waking up Ezio, who lied peacefully in the bed. Before leaving you took off the bracelet, that had given you strength all this time, in the side where once your body lied beside his. You felt a sharp pain in your chest, maybe cowardice ran in your family.

With silent steps, you walked slowly towards the door and before open it you gave a last glimpse of him, making sure of keeping that serene expression embodied in your memory for the hard times to come.

And just like a phantom you made your way down the stairs, knowing that this would be the last time you did this in maybe a really long time or maybe forever, looking around at the whiteness of the hall trying to capture it with all your senses. Every step you took further felt like leaving a piece of yourself in that place, the only comfort you felt was the rays of the moon caressing your skin once you were outside and the murmurs of the fresh wind blowing through your ears, saying go on. Walking down the stairs of the villa and through the desolate streets like a stranger, only a visitor leaving a foreign town, you finally reached the stables, in there two horses bobbing their tails were resting, you approached carefully to one and caressed its face softly to convey your intentions, he seemed to understand your situation and didn’t put up any resistance when you adjusted the mount on his back. Suddenly from the darkness you felt a presence stalking you, it didn’t pass too long until the subject showed himself.

-Uncle Mario? –You felt your guts being ripped from the guilt.

-Bambina… where are you going? –He asked tenderly and took a few steps closer, you could feel his eyes over you but you felt too ashamed to even look.

-I… I need to leave… you see this is not my place anymore. –knots in your throat were impeding you to speak normally and the block in your head made thinking harder than it already was.

-What are you talking about?, you are family, this is your home too. –He said with a sad smile in his face.

-I have so many things to do Uncle… I need to leave and find my own journey, after all Ezio has his, doesn’t he? –You felt like crying but contained the saltiness that wanted to go out. –It’s time for me to go and search for answers, just like he will do on time. –You took a deep breath to steady yourself and finally meet his eyes.

-I understand bambina, you are right, everyone has his own path and maybe this is yours, I’m just worried on how my nipote will take your leaving. –A knife of guilt stabbed your chest.

-I’m sure he won’t understand it, not now, but I’m prepared to assume the consequences of my actions. –You finished on adjusting the mount of the horse and took its reins to walk him outside the stable. –Tell him the truth of why I left, he will be hurt, but that will make him stronger to face the dark days ahead. –with a quick move you jumped onto the horse’s back and removed on the mount, the horse neighed a little and you pulled the reins to calm him down. –Just please let me know how he is doing from time to time, I will write too. –You smiled at the man and calmed again the impatience of the animal that moved from side to side, desperate for start the ride.

-I will bambina, Spero che troverete la verità, arrivederci and buona fortuna nel tuo viaggio (I hope you find the truth, farewell and good luck in your journey). –He smiled back at you and from his belt he undid the sword he carried handing it to you.

Once everything was said and done you gave one last smile to Mario and one last look to the walls of the beautiful monteriggioni before kicking the sides of the horse that put its legs on the way like lightening. You didn’t dare to look back not once, it was hard, it was painful and it was sad, it felt like the ending of a story but deep inside you knew it was only the beginning of the chapter.
~~~~