Hello! Nothing very new to report. As usual, thanks to all the great people who review, and I'm sorry I don't always get around to replying to you guys. I'm currently trying to get into writing a new Criminal Minds story, as well as keep up with a Phantom of the Opera story, AND try to keep on writing original stuff. Little hectic. Special thanks to EpicCritic for living up to the username and being the best critic a writer could have!

-McKenna

Monteriggioni, Italia

1480

"No, no, Audra, hold it like this." Said Ezio Auditore, frustrated as he marched over to the tired girl and reworked her grip on the sword. Audra's shoulders slumped, and the still healing wound stinging and making its presence known. She hadn't been up for training with Ezio for the past couple days, but he had insisted that while they were both 'home', they might as well train. Rather than leaving her alone and up to her own devices, he made sure there was always something for her to be doing, and it was starting to get on her nerves. As much as Audra knew he was only doing it to get her mind off things, she had grown quite accustomed to being alone most of the time.

So, she rolled her eyes and held on to the sword, lifting it in front of her in defense. Ezio drew his own, twirling it effortlessly, before swinging it above his head and attacking Audra. She grunted as she flung her sword up to meet his, metal clashing on metal- the sound rang in her ears as she lifted the sword once again, this time lunging at Ezio.

The bastard countered easily, and smiled as he began to taunt her. She growled, poking the sword in last ditch attempts to get him to fight back. When Ezio got the message, he began to administer multiple of Audra, who kept up, countering each one. Finally, Ezio stood down, plunging the blade of the sword into the earth. Audra caught her breath, bending over and dropping the sword on the ground. Ezio chuckled, watching her as she threw herself on the ground, lying out lazily. She smiled into the sun, closing her eyes, basking in the warmth of the Italian sun.

She peeked open with one eye when she felt Ezio fall onto the ground next to her. They smiled at each other, the mutual feeling of nostalgia washing over them. It felt like they were children once again, laying on the rooftops in Florence. Audra couldn't help but grin in remembrance. There was one time when Federico and she stayed out all night, and Ezio was angrier even than their parents for not telling them they'd be out. She giggled at the memory, but it stung deep down. And here she thought that Federico was a buried memory in the back of her mind. Some days, he seemed very much alive to her.

"What are you thinking about?" Ezio asked, stretching out his limbs. Audra shut her eyes drowsily. What was she thinking about? Shifting uncomfortably under Ezio's fierce gaze, Audra couldn't help but searching for a sign of Federico in his eyes. Did Ezio miss Federico still? Of course he does, Audra had to tell herself, they were brothers, for Christ's sake.

Still, she reasoned with herself, we haven't talked seriously in a very long time.

"Nothing. Just thinking about…things."

Ezio looked at Audra, scrutinizing. "I don't like how far away we are, Audra."

She dared not to look at him, afraid she might say something she'd regret. She couldn't help but agree with him, however. The two best friends slowly began drifting apart, and it had been years since their lives had changed. Rubbing a pinch of dirt in between her fingers, Audra made a quick and rash decision.

"Why are we alive, and all of our siblings dead?" She whispered, trailing her eyes up to meet Ezio's. He pushed himself up, curling into a sitting position. Audra followed suit, not tearing her intense green eyes from Ezio's deadly brown ones.

"I," Ezio started, but was interrupted when Angelo came walking out to the practice ring. He smirked when he saw the two laying on the dirty ground.

"Didn't interrupt anything, did I?" Angelo asked, a smirk planted on his sun-kissed face. Audra rolled her eyes as she pushed herself up off the ground, denying the help that both men offered. She hissed at the stinging of the wound, but quickly mashed her lips together. "Lorenzo Medici has requested your presence in Florence for a debriefing of sorts, I suppose. Best get a move on. Both of you." Angelo told them, and without a second glance, began walking back up to the villa.

Aura smiled with a sliver of hope. "Maybe I can see Leonardo." She said softly, with a tender reverence. Ezio felt a pang on jealousy surge through him- was he not enough? He only nodded when Audra glanced up to him for permission, his lips unable to pull into a smile as she gave one of her own.

She grasped his hand, and his brain suddenly woke. His face felt hot as she grasped it tighter and began pulling him towards the stables.

After a brief meeting with Lorenzo in Florence, the two set out to meet Leonardo at his home. They walked stiffly next to each other; both on edge being back in Florence once again. Although Lorenzo gave them both capes with the Medici crest on them to keep guards at bay, it was nerve-wracking for them.

Audra squinted as Leonardo's work shop came into view, the gorgeous wood carved door shut and gleaming in the bright, Italian sunlight. Her lips curved into a smile, something she unfortunately hadn't done in a long while, and she grasped Ezio's hand. He seemed to be in another world, she thought, as his eyes glanced from place to place expertly. Audra sighed. Does he ever just stop?

They neared the door, and Ezio knocked loudly, the door echoing back. Audra tapped her foot impatiently as the seconds passed. Leonardo normally opened to door in less than ten seconds, tops.

Ezio rubbed his hand on his forehead as Audra pursed her lips. "Where is he…?"

"Scusi, Signore. Signore da Vinci has been asked to move to Venezia to do some work for a Venetian noble! They rebuilt his entire workshop there for him and everything!"

Audra and Ezio turned quickly to see a common man, with a slight smile. Ezio thanked him for the information while Audra groaned. More walking to be done, then, she thought. Her thoughts only turned back to the Ezio when he grabbed her arm and brought her closer to him.

"Appennine Mountains, then?" Audra said, looking up at Ezio's sun-kissed face. He nodded and smiled before tugging her along with him.

"Might as well get a move on, little Audra."

But she slowed instead, grinning madly at the old nickname he hadn't used in years.

"Is that him?" Audra asked, pointing to a man who was crouched over a wheel of a wagon on the side of a road on the mountain pass. It was now about high noon, and the sun was glinting down with all the intensity of hell, and Audra couldn't help but to notice it.

Oh, toughen up, you Ragazza stupida! She scolded herself as Ezio went ahead of her, finding that indeed, the stranger was Leonardo.

"Ezio! Audra!" She heard him shout gleefully, cueing Audra to run on and meet them. Leonardo met her with a hug and a few kind hearted words of things that happened years ago. Audra felt her heart tear inside.

Sure, she had thought of how much Leonardo must have felt at the sight of his love dead. Never, however, had she realized how much it could have affected him. Bella was her sister, yes, but Bella was his true love. Audra closed her eyes and thought to herself for a few moments longer while Ezio and Leonardo fixed an apparently broken wheel. Breathing in deeply, she repressed her overly romanticized emotions and pressed on with what was important.

"Ezio, I think I've figured out how to make man fly!" Leonardo busted with satisfaction, while Ezio only chuckled amusedly.

"Is that what this thing is?" Audra asked, coming towards them and peeking into the wagon. Leonardo smiled proudly and nodded. He began explaining the mechanics to Audra as Ezio hopped onto the seat. Leonardo glanced over his shoulder at his big, burly friend and turned back to raise an eyebrow at his smaller, sly friend.

Audra shrugged. "Guess we'll be escorting you to Romagna." She told Leo with a witty smile, pulling on his arm and climbing up to Ezio. She sat rather uncomfortably in between the two men on the wooden seat of the wagon, squashed into Ezio's side. He offered Audra a winning grin as they set off, moving the wagon along the mountain passes. They were travelling for only little while when Ezio interrupted Leonardo's nonstop chattering to Audra. She glared at him, upset.

"Pray tell what's so important, Ezio?" She asked, her voice thick with sarcasm. Ezio only glared back, his more frightening.

"We are not alone." He replied cryptically, his eyes glancing at all their surroundings. Suddenly, much to Audra's horror, soldiers began riding up on their flanks. "Leonardo, get in the back, Audra take the reins, and I'll hold them off." He shouted, thrusting the leather ropes into Audra's ready hands while Leonardo shuffled himself into the back of the wagon.

Ezio clambered onto the back of the wagon, drawing his sword. Audra concentrated on the pass; it was rocky and had many sharp turns, which, she considered, could be of use. Her attention turned back to Ezio's fights when the clang of metal to metal sounded out, and she began to panic. Ezio threw off the first few guards, but many, many more kept coming and jumping on top of the wagon.

"Audra!" He shouted desperately as a guard cornered him and flung his sword down on Ezio's.

Breathing in and out, she clutched the reins in her hands firmly. First real assassin-like move, Audra. Don't mess it up. "Hold on Ezio!" She shouted back as they took a sharp turn, Audra making sure that the cart went on to two wheels only. She heard thuds as bodies hit the ground next to them, but Audra kept the cart moving, only hoping that Ezio took her advice literally.

"Audra, watch out!"

Audra had little time to react as an arm snaked around her neck, and another around her torso. The man squeezed her neck tightly, cutting her off from sweet air, and she kicked and fought as her sight got splotchy and her body grew more and more tired. In a last ditch attempt, Audra picked up her arms, leaned forward, and tore the man off of her, flinging him to the side of the cart. Quickly, she regained control of the horses, and began steering the cart back to normal.

Audra breathed in deeply once more. "Thanks, Leonardo." Said she.

"Audra!" Came Ezio's demanding, booming voice. Her eyes widened as she realized that he was yelling at her for a single reason: the guards began firing flaming arrows onto the pathways. She quickly pulled up on reins and began steering the galloping horses around the flames, which proved extremely difficult. One arrow went whizzing past her, missing by nearly a few inches. Audra growled and whipped the reins furiously, daring the horses to go faster and get them out of the pass.

Her heart suddenly dropped to her stomach when she witnessed soldiers burning a bridge so that they couldn't cross.

Now or never, Audra, she told herself. Be strong.

She gripped the reins tightly, planted her feet firmly on the wooden planks of the wagon, and kept the horses going at their fast-paced speed. "Hold on tight, this is going to be a little bit rough!" She called out as the horses leaped through the flames and came out on the other side of the bridge, nearly unharmed. Audra smiled to herself, rather proud, when another flaming arrow was struck into the ground on the pathway. Ezio bounded up to her, snatching the reins away, but offering a small smile and nod combo for her work. "Hang on." Ezio muttered to her as he steered wildly around the arrows, dodging the majority of them.

Leonardo hopped back to the front, his hand placed firmly on his head to keep his hat on, and another planted on Audra's shoulder in a makeshift thanks. "Go, Leonardo, they're here for us, not you. We'll catch up with you later." Leonardo and Audra shared a look, but he nodded dutifully, taking the reins from Ezio, and watched as the two assassins jumped from the wagon expertly.

Audra drew her sword and took a quick tally of the guards that were surrounding them. Her shoulder touched Ezio's. "How would you like to divvy this up, Signora?" He asked politely, raising an eyebrow at one of the more heavily armed guards.

Audra smirked. "Sixty, forty?"

"As if." Ezio replied as he launched an attack on incoming guards, swinging his sword with wildly remarkable technique. Audra did the same, bringing her sword down and around, effectively slashing at a guard's side. He fell to the ground, and another one came up, his uniform giving him away as one of the higher ranked.

If there was one technique Audra believed in with all of her being, it was to know the enemy as best as possible. She could easily pick out any type of guard by their uniform, and sometimes even something simple, like the way they communicated or walked or even fought. Knowing beforehand who she was tangoing with made the fighting that much easier for her sake, at least.

She ditched her sword, ran up, and quickly struck the officer in the heart with her hidden blade, then masked herself with the body as another officer jabbed his sword at her. With his sword stuck in the dead officer's body, Audra threw the body down and pierced the other man in the heart, and pulled the sword out of the body. She took a moment to glance over and check on Ezio's progress, which was much farther along than hers. She rolled her eyes; he fought as if he was a man late to his own wedding.

The primal yelling of a descending officer brought her back to her own fight, and she met the attacker at the throat with a quick and artful dash of the sword. He fell at her feet.

Sometimes the job did make her feel sick.

Ezio ran up to her, grabbed her by the hand and began tugging her along. "Ezio, wait!" He turned to her, his breath ragged and short. "Why were they…?"

"Chasing us?" He answered for her. "They were Rodrigo Borgia's men."

"The man who?"

Ezio nodded, and so Audra did too. Ezio took a moment to look her in the eyes. Her intense green eyes were clearly searching for something yet still. Sometimes, when he did see that look, he wished he could quell her desires and questions himself. It was guilt that filled him, really, but it destroyed him, how much she differed.

Or was it that he destroyed her? Was that his guilt?

"Ezio?" Audra asked, cocking her head to the side and parting her full, lips. Her chin was cut. Just another thing to feel guilty for, he thought bitterly.

"Come, we better meet Leonardo at Romagna." He replied, vainly trying to keep his eyes from meeting hers. Audra restrained him from moving, rather, grabbing the folds of his armor and bringing him back to face her. She searched him, then, finally, sighed. Disappointment washed over Ezio.

Audra reached up hastily and pressed her lips to Ezio's, placing a hand firmly on the back of his hood. Ezio responded to her actions quickly, but not in the way he ever thought he would. His hands moved to the sides of her face, holding her to his lips and deepening their kiss. Both relaxed into the embrace, it almost feeling natural. It felt right.

Feels like it took too long, Audra thought warmly as Ezio released her and pulled away slowly.

He knocked her forehead with his, and she kept her eyes shut tightly. "We need to get to Leonardo."

"Right." She whispered back.