[When she begins with their talk in the caverns, he hesitates. Not because he doesn't want to hear what she has to say, but there is a part of him that thinks she may simply twist whatever words he has spoken and construe them to make the rift between them grow.

But those words never come. Instead they are ones of apology, of explanation, and where he was once convinced that the bridges between them were long burned, here they are being mended and made stronger, to withstand what broke them before. As soon as the apology is out, he reaches out to her, gently tries to pull her towards him, a sign of forgiveness. There is no anger to be found anywhere, only kindness and a smile.]

I forgive you. [It is simple, but effective.] And I am sorry for hurting you even when I felt there was no other way to show you the truth. [Ezio never wanted to hurt her, never imagined it would go so poorly as it had when they had spoken to each other. He had thought she would get upset, but not to the point of where she nearly broke in front of him, a woman overburdened with too many tasks, and only one of herself to keep it all together. She cannot do this alone, and that was why he had tried to help.

Instead, he only made it worse.]

Hawke. [His voice is gentle, caring and genuine in the words he is about to say.] When I was seventeen, my father and brothers were hung in the city square, killed for a crime they did not commit. I became an assassin to avenge them, to destroy the men responsible for their deaths and to restore honor to my family name.

[It is the first time he has told anyone of his past in the entirety of his stay. From the island, to the boat, now to the city.]

I spent twenty years convinced that revenge was the only answer to my pain. That if I managed to ruin their lives as they had ruined mine, perhaps my failures as a son would be made less, and that it would make things easier to bear as a whole. It was to the point where it almost consumed me.

[His hands gently place themselves on her arms, an indication that he is being honest and open. He is quiet, careful, but it is not because he is afraid. Rather, it is because he wants Hawke to hear every word, and understand them for what they mean.]

I do not want you to suffer as I did, I want you to avoid going down the same road I had. No one should go through that pain, even if you believe you deserve it. And I know it is hard to accept everything I told you, because you are a good person and want to help everyone as much as you can.

[It is more than apparent he cares for her, very much, in how he speaks to her, how he brings her close the second she wants to see him again. That he is willing to forgive almost instantly, no matter the pain caused.]

But you must care for yourself first, love who you are and accept your flaws. That is not only necessary to survive, Hawke, but to live. To love. [A beat.] Without love, it really isn't much of a life at all.

[He stops there, face suddenly becoming conflicted as the thought of saying too much strikes him far too late. He knows if he says any more, it will hurt more than he intends. He's probably made it worse already. Cazzo.

The worry is apparent in his face, but he does not press any further. Instead, he keeps quiet, for fear of blindly just destroying what they were trying to rebuild in an effort to make her see what took him so long to discover on his own.

Before, he was afraid he had burned his bridges. Now, he fears he's destroyed more than that, and will never be able to repair it again.]