A/N: A thousand thanks to everyone who decided to review this story! :) I'm glad you enjoyed it, and look for other stories from me in the future! Now, time to wrap this bad boy up…

Disclaimer: For the last time. NO haha.

Dieci

She felt her pulse quicken. It nearly jumped out of the skin of her neck as the guards tightened their circle around her. She looked to Manfredo, who had thrust his arm before her in protection. He looked over his shoulder at her. She had never seen him with such panic in his eyes.

"So!" One guard called out, gesturing with his arms. "The fox has come out of his hole."

"Whatever you plan to do, take only me." Manfredo pleaded. "My wife has no part in this. Savonarola wants me!"

"He did." Another guard taunted. "But we have had a change of orders."

Cristina wrapped her arms around Manfredo as the guards moved closer still. She trembled against him as tears pricked at her eyes. So they mean to kill us both, she thought. She watched as the guards became so close that one's sword was inches from her face.

"If you come quietly, you may be spared." The first guard spoke.

Manfredo acted before Cristina could even utter a syllable. He tackled the guard, earning a deep gash along his bicep, and he pushed Cristina out of the circle.

"RUN!"

Cristina took off as fast as she could, and the guards took only a moment before following. She wanted Manfredo at her side, holding her head, running together with her. Yet, he stayed behind her, never taking his hands off of her back, urging her on. The guards shouted about her and Manfredo's faithlessness to the Lord. How Savonarola would not allow them to live now that they had attempted to flee. It did not slow Manfredo down. He and Cristina crashed through a group of monks as they cut a corner into the next plaza. Passersby screamed and ran in every direction.

Suddenly, Cristina heard a strangled cry. She no longer felt Manfredo's hands on her back. She turned around as he wrestled a guard, attempting to disarm him. Cristina pressed her hands to her mouth as she neared a well in the center of the square. She couldn't move. She had frozen up. She was helpless. Manfredo cried out again as the guard's blade sliced down his spine.

"NO!" Cristina shrieked.

Manfredo fell forward, right into her arms. Blood streamed down his back, staining his shirt. The horde of guards began to surround them once again. Manfredo strained to put a hand on the back of Cristina's neck, breathing into her ear.

"Leave me here. Do not stop." he rasped.

"Never." Cristina retorted. "I will not!"

"You must!" Manfredo groaned with pain. "You must be safe. You must keep our child safe."

"I can't leave you, Manfredo." Cristina wept.

Manfredo collapsed to the ground, his back supported by the cold stone of the well. She knelt beside him, tears rolling down her face. His glossy eyes met hers for what would be the last time.

"Please, amore…" he gasped. "Do this for me. Live."

Cristina felt a guard grab the collar of her dress and pull her to her feet. Instinctively, she crunched the man's nose with her elbow, freeing herself from his hold. She sprinted in another direction, not even taking a moment to look back. She couldn't. She could only send a silent goodbye to her husband, the man who had just given his life for her.

Her lungs began to burn as she struggled for breath, still trying to elude the guards' pursuit. She could feel her blood pumping, her heart slamming against her ribcage. She didn't know how much longer she could keep her pace. She had to find sanctuary. But who on Earth would protect her at their own risk?

The streets were hectic as Cristina raced on. Bystanders ran in every direction, making it hard for her to maneuver through the crowd. The guards were right behind her. She couldn't relent.

However, another group of guards now moved in front of her. She attempted to avoid them by heading for an alleyway, yet guards were there as well. She whirled around, panting and desperately seeking escape. But, she was trapped. Out of the many faces of authority, she recognized the captain that led the siege of her home. He took her viciously by the arm and twisted it behind her back. She screeched.

"Now, you will join your husband in hell." he seethed into her ear.

A sharp blade penetrated Cristina's side. She inhaled sharply, as though she had been pinched. Warm blood trickled down the inside of her dress. She thrashed around, trying to free herself, but the pain only quadrupled in intensity. It was as though she had been set aflame. Her scream was so blood-curdling that even the captain maintained distance from her. The knife clattered to the cobblestone at his feet.

Little did Cristina know that it was not her screams that caused him to release her. From the corner of her eye, she saw a blur of black, roughly in the shape of a man. She clamped a hand on her wound as she focused on this silhouette. There was only one person it could be.

"Ezio?" she cried out.

"CRISTINA, RUN!" he roared.

She witnessed his extended arm and heard a gunshot. The captain was now crumpled on the ground beside her. But, there was no time to waste. Still placing pressure on her wound, she ran once more.

"You have sins against the Lord!" one guard yelled as they chased her. Gunshots echoed in her ears, one after the other. She heard the moans of pain coming from the guards Ezio had slain. Yet, a few were still on her heels. One's sword slashed her shoulder blade, and she screamed in agony. She slowed to a limp. She wrapped one arm around her waist, the other under her armpit, trying to stop the blood flowing from her injuries. She whirled around to make sure that she was no longer being followed. All she saw was Ezio as the world continued to spin, even though she now stood still.

Cristina felt her knees give as she began to collapse, but Ezio stopped her fall. He cradled her in his arms as he rushed away from the scene of his crimes. She coughed and felt blood bubbling at the corners of her lips.

"Cristina, hold on!" Ezio prayed. "I'll get you to a doctor. You are going to be alright!"

"No, Ezio… I don't think I am." she heard herself say softly.

"NO! Don't go. Stay with me, Cristina."

Cristina blinked hard, and her view of Ezio cleared for a moment. She noticed the dark stubble on his chin and cheeks, the way his hair was disheveled. His clothes were soft, and she could see spots of blood speckled on the fabric. Whether it was hers or the guards' or both, she would never know. She smelled his musk, a mix of burnt wood and salty skin, and when her eyes finally met his, the weight of her mistakes plummeted onto her. Or maybe her slowed breathing was what compressed her chest. She could only croak.

"Ezio… don't you know? I've always been with you."

With what little strength she had left, she moved the silk of her corset away to reveal her necklace, the one that he had given to her so many years ago. The one that she refused to remove since. Ezio gasped. Tears streaked down Cristina's face. She sensed that she was dying. She could see it in Ezio's eyes. Those swirls of dark coffee. She swallowed.

"I wish we… could have had… a second chance."

Ezio's expression contorted with pain. His gloved hand reached for her face, gingerly touching the skin of her cheek and the side of her head. Even through the leather, Cristina could feel his radiating warmth. She saw nothing but white as her eyes rolled back. The last thing she heard was Ezio's strained voice. She could only hear two words.

"… my love."

It would be a long time before Ezio ever mentioned Cristina again. It would be in a letter to his sister, Claudia, in 1511 when he admitted his feelings for Sofia Sartor, but not without remorse. He wrote that, "After the death of Cristina, something inside me withered." It would be something that persisted Ezio for the rest of his life.

He often remembered the days after Cristina died. When he received a parcel addressed to him with his name written in a fine flourish. He remembered how many tears he shed as he read through his letters. She had kept them all. She perserved every moment that she had with him. And he would protect those very moments until his death.

FIN