Ch 7: The letter

the moment he finished speaking, the two looked at him with tight lips and unimpressed looks. even Ali was beginning to get tired of him even though he is such a patient person.

he gave them an apologetic with another surrendering gesture :"alright, alright, I'm sorry. I apologize. now, how about we show him the way to our home instead of just snooping around?"

they both sighed as they shrugged and gave a nod of agreement as Ezio looked at Ali :"alright, Ali, follow us and we will reach our home and the place you will be staying in."

Ali smiled at her as he nodded :"alright then, let's walk together. let's go." 'lead me somewhere? I could probably give you a better way to your home than you already know with my map, love.'

as they walked and made small talks, they also told him about locations and shortcuts along the way.

"when we turn here, you can see this doctor and these stores here. and right there, is our beautiful home." Federico introduced as they walked through the streets.

Ali could hardly stop the smile that creeped up on his lips as he looked at one of the most iconic locations of the entire Ezio Auditore franchise.

he has been many times to this house in the game, so as weird as it sounds, this place and street felt kind of nostalgic to him.

Ezio smiled smugly at his speechless reaction as she gave him a soft elbow to his arm :"well? what do you think? beautiful, right?"

he chuckled at her smugness which showed the childish Ezio that he was so familiar with as he nodded with a smile :"yeah, it's very beautiful. worthy of being the house that you were raised in. though it's nowhere as beautiful as you."

Ezio blushed a little as she slapped his arm softly :"oh, you. guess you are really trying to flirt with me, huh?"

Ali shrugged with a smile :"well, I'm taking my chances, I guess. and I DID say that I will beat your record. so that's a bonus."

Ezio chuckled at that :"well, good luck with that, bello (handsome)."

Federico who was being forced into becoming the third wheel rolled his eyes and sighed as he wanted to say something, but promised that he wouldn't, so he kept himself quiet.

Ali looked back at the Auditore house as he smiled as if he remembered something :"home, huh? hey, were you just raised here? or were you born and raised here?"

Ezio smiled back at his smile :"born and raised. all of my memories are in this house. it's home for us after all."

Ali nodded without taking away his smile :"alright then, won't you lead me inside? I think I would cause some problems if I just randomly showed up inside your home one day with no guide."

Ezio nodded as he walked towards her home :"alright then, follow me. I will introduce you to everyon- oh cazzo (fuck)!"

she suddenly stopped as she whipped her head in frustration and rubbed her temples with clear frustration while Federico chuckled at the side.

poor Ali who didn't know what was going on looked at them both in confusion at her sudden reaction :"what? what happened? is something the matter?"

she sighed frustratedly as she looked at him while swinging her hand around and making gestures :"well... it's... sigh, it's the way my family is probably going to react..."

she sighed again as she trailed off and looked at her brother who was laughing on the side for help which he decided to deliver :"well, as you can see here, Ali, my little sister is extremely beautiful and has won over the hearts of many men.

so there have been a lot of people who have asked for her hand in marriage. either by trying to win over her heart themselves, you know, people who were really cocky.

or by trying to have their parents set up an engagement between them and Ezio. but unfortunately for them, Ezio never agreed to any of them. and they couldn't do anything to her either. so they just gave us a lot of trouble.

in fact, you are the first guy for Ezio to show an interest in even though she has seen and interacted with a lot of them.

so that's an achievement. and speaking of achievements, getting Ezio's hand in marriage and making her your bride has gotten something like a challenge that has spread amongst the people. so that's another reason on top of her beauty to try and get her.

but anyways, back to the real subject. you see, our parents have also been worried about her not having a partner and have tried to convince her to accept a marriage.

but she always just refused and they couldn't convince her with how stubborn she is. so if she brings you to home, they're gonna get real excited! and she knows that too, that's why she is acting like that hahaha."

Ali looked back at Ezio who was looking down with an embarrassed and charming blushing face as he raised his eyebrow with amusement and smiled teasingly :"oh~? is that so? damn, I didn't know that I impressed the heart of such a princess~."

Federico laughed at his teasing as Ezio gave both of them a mock glare and pouted adorably :"oh shut up, you idiot. hmph." and whipped her head away.

Ali's heart warmed up at the scene, but he didn't want to push it too far and make the newly made friendship crumble into pieces.

so he held his hands in a surrendering gesture just like how Federico has done many times today with an apologetic but amused smile :"ok, alright, I'm sorry. you were just too cute to not tease. forgive me."

Ezio gave him another mock glare with a pout before she turned around and walked to her home :"are you coming or not? I'm not gonna sit around and wait up all day."

he smiled at her before looking at Federico and getting a nod of approval from him and a shrug afterwards :"let's not keep her waiting then. let's go."

he nodded back as they jogged after her but stopped :"ah, wait a second."

she looked back at him with a raised eyebrow:"what? what is it now? do you need something?"

he shook his head in denial as scratched the back of his head with a thoughtful expression :"don't you think it would be kind of rude of me to just show up uninvited and without any previous while not having any gifts?"

Ezio swung her beautiful hand as if to dismiss it :"non barattare con esso (don't bother with it). they are probably going to overreact just by SEEING you.

and if you actually brought a GIFT with you? che Dio ci aiuti (may God help us), andranno tutti fuori di testa (they will all freak out)."

but Federico butter in the conversation again, but this time, he was spitting facts instead of bullshit :"he's right, sorella (sister).

he's going to be living with us, so I think mother and father would see him in a good light from the get go if he showed politeness. first meetings are important after all.

I'm saying that, but all you need to bring is a bunch of flowers for mother. it's all taken care of if she is supporting you."

Ali nodded with a smile at that :"thanks, my friend, noted down and remembered hahaha. now, what should I buy, though?"

Federico shrugged in response :"just anything that you find and think is beautiful. you're gifting the flowers as a greeting, not as a way to win a girl's heart."

he nodded again as he smiled at Ezio :"hey, Ezio. come with me. you can at least lend a helping hand in choosing, right?"

with an amused hmph, Ezio turned around and walked back to him :"alright, fine. I will help you in this extremely difficult choice of which flowers you should gift."

Ali put his hands on his chest as he went along with her dramatic act :"oh, you do not know how grateful I am for this life saving act, signora (madam). just how can I ever repay your kindness?"

Ezio put her hand in front of her mouth as she giggled at him :"a simple flower or a gift would be enough, thank you very much."

Ali did a little bow as he smiled :"consider it done, bellissima (beautiful). now then, let's get your mother those flowers."

they walked together towards the flower shop which conveniently was just in the same street as they looked around and chose two or three kinds of flowers for mother.

Ali finally looked at her after they were done with the flowers for Ezio's mother :"alrighty then, so, which one do you want?"

Ezio looked at him as she smiled and shook her head :"hahaha, it's alright, silly. I was just joking with you."

Ali raised his eyebrows as he looked at her with expectation :"but I wasn't. and I honestly want to buy you a flower. so, pick your favorite."

Ezio giggled as she then looked at the table full of flowers and picked up a rose :"just this will do. no need for more."

he gazed into the mesmerizing image of the beauty holding a rose and smelling it and asked absentmindedly :"are you sure? you can pick some more, you know? I won't have any complaints if it's for you."

she gently shook her head as she took a gentle sniff of the rose in her hand and smiled :"no, it's ok. just this is already more than enough. thank you, Ali. it's beautiful."

as Ali paid the shop owner, he looked at her smiling form which made him smile as well :"and you are welcome. so you like roses."

she nodded as they slowly walked back and enjoyed the atmosphere :"yeah, I have ever since I was a kid. they are just so... lovely. the red is so beautiful."

Ali nodded back in response :"Non posso essere più d'accordo (yeah, I can't agree more). the red just makes it so lovable. so alive and refreshing."

she looked at him and it was her turn to be mesmerized by the sight of the handsome man looking at the sky calmly while holding flowers :"do you like red? is it your favorite color?"

he nodded once again with a gentle hum :"yeah, it has been since I was a kid. red is just... so full of emotion. so alive and colorful. there's something in the color red that just pulls me towards it."

while they were enjoying the comfortable silence, it was shortlived as a man suddenly looked towards them and noticed Ali.

he started walking towards them as he waved them :"mi scusi (excuse me), signore (mister) Ali Ashborne?"

Ali and Ezio glance at each other as he nodded slowly with confusion :"yeah, that's me. do you have some kind of a business with me."

the man that had suddenly appeared reached out for his bag and pulled out a letter and held it for to grab :"a lady with a covered face gave this letter to me and told me to give it to a handsome, black haired boy named Ali Ashborne that I will meat around here. she has already paid me, so I will excuse myself now."

Ali grabbed the letter and looked at it with confusion as he muttered under his breath :"a face covered lady? I don't know anybody like that."

'in fact, I don't know anybody to have them send me a letter. more so someone who is trying to be secretive.'

as he opened the letter and read through it, he teared up and almost cried but held it in with a happy smile as Ezio rubbed arm soothingly :"hey, what happened? is everything alright?"

he sniffed a little as he tried to calm down and nodded with a smile :"yeah, it was just someone asking for my health and wishing me a good future ahead."