Author Notes: This fic is a bit of a mixture of video game fiction and real life facts. It was originally going to be a one-shot, but it's become hideously long, so I'm splitting it into two (or possibly three) parts. Also, this is my first piece of fic published to the Internet for almost three years, and my first Assassin's Creed fic at that. I've never written anything that is set in the Renaissance era, I usually only write modern day, so if there are any major discrepancies please don't hesitate to tell me. Hope you enjoy this, guys.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ezio or any other mentioned Assassin's Creed characters, they belong to Ubisoft. The OC's mentioned obviously belong to me. As for Leonardo Da Vinci, he belonged to himself as far as I'm aware.
As he stood on the second floor balcony looking out over beautiful early morning Firenze, Ezio Auditore felt relaxed and at ease. He felt a very lucky man to be viewing the sights in front of him.
It was 1519, and many years had passed since Ezio's glory days as an Assassin. Still an esteemed member of the Order, the Florence-born noble had slowly succumbed to age, and now he had accepted that his days of free-running across rooftops were well and truly behind him. Ezio was now almost sixty years old, his strong limbs replaced with weaker, aching muscles and his stallion-like locks now a silvery mane.
However, even with time constantly marching on, his memories never faded. With every day that passed he constantly relived the moments of the last forty years of his fast-paced, never peaceful life. The unexpected murders of his father and his brothers, which was the starting point to all that Ezio became as a Master Assassin. With every person he murdered in vengeance, he could wash their blood from his hands, but he always felt that the blood of the three people who meant most to him also lingered there, and it would never truly wash away.
He knew how to keep his emotions in check, and made sure they never made their way outward – that was the way to being a true Assassin – but that didn't stop him from feeling the ache of guilt deep in his heart every single day. He often wondered how his brother Federico would be now. What little Petruccio would have grown up to become. Now all that was left of their family was Ezio and Claudia.
Maria, their mother, had died three years earlier, and it had no doubt left a void in both their lives. Even up to the day she died, Ezio noticed that Maria had never gotten her sparkle back. That look in her eyes, the way she would light up whenever Giovanni walked into a room. The moment he was snatched away, something inside her was snatched away with him, and it never returned. She had become a shell of the woman she was, and it broke Ezio's heart every single day. He could never fix it, even though he had spent thirty years trying. That was the part of his mother's death that Ezio found the hardest to accept; the fact that she left this world not at peace at all.
"Ezio?"
The grey-haired Italian snapped out of his deep thoughts and turned around, a small smile forming on his scarred lips as he laid his eyes on the person whom had called his name.
"Rosalie, cara mia, it is a beautiful day, made even more beautiful by your presence." He took two steps forward, reaching for the hand of the aged yet strikingly beautiful woman. She laughed at his words, stepping towards him as he pulled her into an embrace, planting kisses softly on her neck.
"Mio marito, ever the charmer."
Rosalie Auditore, Ezio's wife of almost eight years. She was a tall, long-legged, olive-skinned woman, with flowing raven-coloured hair and slight tweaks of grey in the middle parting. Ezio had met her when he moved back to Firenze, and it wasn't long before she had tamed the Assassin and made him her own. They had been blessed with a child a year after their marriage; a son, whom they named Lucio.
With every day Ezio knew he would have to tell his son about his Assassin heritage, but he didn't even know where to begin. He finally understood why his own father had kept it from him. It had been a tough thing to digest when, at 19 years of age, he received the truth from his Uncle Mario. He was so young, and part of him knew that he'd only accepted the truth because he was backed into a corner and had no choice. Lucio was barely seven years old; so sweet and innocent. Ezio couldn't bring himself to destroy the perfect, sugar-coated world that his son believed in. But he cast a thought back to how it felt to learn his own father had been living a secret double life. He never wanted Lucio to feel as hurt and confused as he had been. It was a difficult situation. Ezio could only hope that his son would live a peaceful life, a life not marred with loss and tragedy like his own.
"How did you sleep?"
"Very well, my darling, and yourself?"
"Just fine."
Rosalie released herself from his embrace gently and took a step back, grasping onto her husband's hands. "Come down for breakfast bello mio. Lucio is asking for you."
Ezio nodded in agreement and followed his wife down to the dining room. They lived in the Villa Auditore - which had needed some remodelling when Ezio had returned to Firenze – but Ezio did not want to let their beautiful home slip out of his family's hands. He had offered Claudia an opportunity to live there with him, but she politely refused, citing the reason that she'd started her own life in Venezia and did not want to leave.
Ezio often wondered if she simply found it too painful to come back to Firenze after all that had happened. Losing Maria hadn't helped; Claudia had considered their mother her best friend.
"Good morning my son," Ezio said as he stepped into the dining room, seeing Lucio sat at the table, waiting patiently as their servant walked around placing down plates and cutlery.
"Good morning father!" Lucio replied excitedly, a beaming smile on his face.
Ezio returned the smile to his young son, then pulled out a chair and beckoned Rosalie to sit down.
"Thank you my love," she spoke, kissing him before taking a seat. Ezio pulled out another chair for himself, preparing to sit, as he heard the sound of a thundering knock at their front door.
"I'll just go see who that is," he said softly to Rosalie, making his way towards the hall. He reached for the handle of the beautifully carved wooden door, and pulled it open. In front of him stood a young man, dressed in smart white and blue clothes, carrying an envelope in his hands.
"Good morning Sir Auditore! Per placere, forgive me for the early intrusion on your day, but I have travelled all the way from the Chateau d'Amboise, at the request of the great King Francis I."
Ezio's eyes widened. "You came from France? What does your King want with me?"
"I have a letter from you, from His Majesty himself. It is of great importance. I suggest you read it right away." The messenger thrust the letter out in front of him. Ezio reached for it, eyeing the messenger suspiciously as he opened it.
The fine and noble Ezio Auditore da Firenze,
My most humble greetings to you. I realise that you and I have never met, and that this letter may seem rather unexpected and abrupt. Accept my sincerest apologies in this case. I am writing this as a favour for my dearest friend, Leonardo Da Vinci. As I am sure you are already aware, I employed Leonardo some many years ago, and he currently resides at Clos Luce, close to my royal residence. This is a matter of grave importance. The brilliant and talented Leonardo has become gravely ill. I can say with an honest hand upon my heart that I do not believe the man has much time left to inhabit upon this Earth.
He has often spoken of you, Ezio Auditore, the man whom he considers the closest he has to family. You and he may not share blood, but he calls you his brother and it would be wrong for Leonardo to pass to the next world without seeing his only brother one last time. I send this in the hope that it reaches you soon enough. The messenger I am sending with this letter will direct and accompany you to Amboise. I hope that you can visit as soon as possible.
Sincerely
His Royal Highness King Francis I, House of Valois
Ezio looked up from the letter slowly, a million thoughts running through his mind. He had not seen Leonardo in many years, but it did not mean that Ezio felt any less for the man. As the letter said, they had been like brothers since their very first meeting forty-three years earlier. Leonardo was the one man Ezio had always explicitly trusted. They had been through so much together. It was Ezio's fight all along, but Leonardo was the one who always stood beside him, and to learn that Leonardo was losing the last and most important fight of his own, cut Ezio right to the core.
His attention turned to the messenger, still stood in the doorway nervously, waiting for some kind of response to the letter he had just handed over.
"Are you returning to Amboise right away?" Ezio asked him. The messenger simply nodded.
"I'm coming with you. I think the time has come for me to visit Leonardo."