Ezio X reader

Chapter 25: ~Farewell, for now.~

Splinters of wood flew each time our decoy swords met one another, I kept my footing aligned properly as pretty boy made a hurricane of attacks, I was waiting patiently, I noticed how impatient he truly was as he swung, how naive, finally I'm better at one thing. In truth impatience in a situation similar to this sort is ignorance in itself, his opponent could easily take advantage of that, during a fight, you want to look for anything that will gain you the upper hand, and taking advantage of his impatience will do just that; he had to have been lucky with his opponents up until now, they were probably just as impatient and sure of themselves as he was, which made sense, he would only win a battle between those whom aren't as bright themselves.

I kept my moves up, missing not a single beat, I counted in my head each step and block I made, he wasn't giving in, but he was getting more impatient as I continued to counter his strikes; this was what I aimed for. My grip on the wooden training sword became loosened, my hand had begun to sweat as I anticipated the moment he would mess up, each second felt even more prolonged than the last, but there it was, the slip up I'd been waiting for, he had gotten sloppy; now all there was to do in this moment is not fuck this up myself.

As his footing became uneven and his arms exposing himself, I took a swift strike, I could hear the rotted splintered wood hit the man in the gut; I wasn't done. This was now a bit of payback, after the gut shot, I swung at the back of his already weakened knees, he fell to them as I did; I then slammed my filthy boot down on his pretty little face, his hair adorning his face, I almost let up at the sight, his hair was loose, and falling in front of his face as my boot stayed aggressively where it was. I then thought back to the night before, he listened to me, he was the only one who had listened to me in years, he reminded me of an old friend who did, I thought back to the eyes I saw through tears, my sight may have been blurred, but I saw those brown eyes clear as day; Letting up would show a sign of weakness, in truth, sometimes you have to fight your old friends who've betrayed you in the past to succeed.. but in this point in time, though it'd be good practice in case I encounter a situation like this later down the road, I'd no intention to hurt ezio, a lecture awaited me I'm sure; but I'd take it.

Taking my boot from his face, he sat up and wiped the dry dirt from his face, though some of it stuck to the sweat on his face. I held a hand out for him, and he took it without hesitation, it made me feel like he trusted me just a little, not sure why that mattered at all, it just felt good.

"I'm sweating more than I ever thought I could, do you have any safe to drink water?" I asked in need of some soon, he patted his hands together to shed the dirt he had gotten on his hands as well.

"Si, I need some as well; you know quite a bit of the population is afraid of it right? Have you never been?" He turned to me as he was walking back inside, I followed in suit.

"No, it keeps us alive longer, at least that's what my father told me when I was a child, so I drank it with every meal, I've never been truly Ill a day in my life." I smiled brightly at the though of my father teaching me the things he knew and believed. When ezio and I got back inside, we both had a mug, it was easy to catch our lost breaths after that.

"Your mother and sister, have you decided when you're going? I'm sure they're worried something awful about you." I didn't want to keep him from his family matters any longer than I'd already had, it was hard to hide my sympathy for his family I hadn't even known.

"I shall be leaving in the morning, you are welcome to stay here as long as you please, but remember everything I told you, you will not run from this, you will face it head on, and if all fails, then you flee, knowing that you at least fought for yourself." He took a drink of water then rested his hand under his jaw.

"Si, but where will I flee to? They've eyes all over the city!" I lightly raised my voice without realizing.

"Don't get yourself worked up, you will come to Monteriggioni, that is where you will find me, unless I return before anything happens." He rested his eyes for a moment, he seemed tired, had he not gotten enough sleep?

"Ezio, you know how far that is, and sure the scenery is lovely but this is my home!" I began to do what he specifically told me not to.

"How far? Si, far enough away from trouble, they won't take the time to ride all the way down to Monteriggioni, they most likely have others who need to give payment too. And even if they did pay an unexpected visit, they would have walked right into an unplanned battle, and they'd have no choice but to lose." He sounded confident, he sounded as if he truly did care for me.

"Understood." I finally wanted to keep it out of mind for the time being, I rubbed my eyes, had I not gotten much sleep either? It didn't matter, there was a bed waiting to be napped in, and I know ezio would love to nap too, just, not on the floor; I frowned, it's his bed, I don't have a right, I know he specifically gave me the bed, as a demand and not so much as a request, I know I'm a lady but, I still don't think it's fair to him, I would gladly take the floor so he could sleep soundly.

I knew he meant well by everything he had said, but Monteriggioni was definitely a last resort, it would take me maybe a week to arrive there, and if it's over something that I can handle myself I won't go unnecessarily, if I can't seem to handle it without putting myself into more danger, then I'll go; like I said, it's a last resort. Ezio stood from his chair, it creaked as he did so, he retreated to the room, he must want to get rest before he makes his trip back to see his family, I'm sure they miss him dearly, with everything he has on his plate at this moment, he can't return home as often; it's heart wrenching.

I myself decided not to delay sleep any longer before I ended up awake all night thinking of things that will only upset me again. I peered into the room and ezio was already sleeping heavily on the pallet he had spread out onto the floor to make it more comfortable, as a matter of fact, it looked comfortable. I realized when looking at him sleeping, how tired I was myself; I crawled onto the queen sized bed and laid my head on the pillow, before I knew it I had already fallen asleep. I was afraid to face the issue on my own, but I knew I couldn't involve anyone else, I'll make sure those two pay for what they've done to my father and I.