[There's a long period of silence at that. Both hands are resting on the chair now, and as the seconds tick away, Ezio's fingers curl and uncurl as Alastair's words repeat themselves over and over in his head.
Yes. Caterina is dead back home. He can never have the relationship with her that he has here. Back home, he cannot allow himself to be so open or show so much of himself to one person. Back home, he is an Assassin.
But this is not home.
Alastair is right, and while it will take Ezio a bit longer to fully and completely understand it, it's a beginning. He finally straightens, breathes out a little, and gives the faintest of a smile at the boy.
Already, he has grown so much.]
That is true. There is still much here that we do not have at home. [He pauses, considers his words.] I will remember that.
Grazie, Alastair. [It's said with sincerity, a moment where he is found vulnerable among his students. It only proves that even he is human, like them, and feels just as they do, even at the worst of times.]
[Alastair watches Ezio as he thinks. His words had some effect, that much is certain, so Alastair will have to trust that he did say the right thing. He exhales and nods.]
You're welcome.
[It's true that here they lack so much from home, but what they've created here, what they've been given, that balances it out, doesn't it? Maybe Alastair is reaching for balance where it doesn't exist for the comfort of it, but he's starting to think it might be true.]
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Maybe not completely, but enough.]
You're here now, though. And so is she.
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Sì, I am aware.
[But it's difficult for grief to see beyond just what lies before him- to go past that and see the good. For now, at least.]
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You can't change what happened back home.
[He hesitates. It's... weird talking to Ezio like this.]
I don't think... you should let what you can't change there haunt you when... she is still here.
She's... been given a second chance. And so have you.
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Yes. Caterina is dead back home. He can never have the relationship with her that he has here. Back home, he cannot allow himself to be so open or show so much of himself to one person. Back home, he is an Assassin.
But this is not home.
Alastair is right, and while it will take Ezio a bit longer to fully and completely understand it, it's a beginning. He finally straightens, breathes out a little, and gives the faintest of a smile at the boy.
Already, he has grown so much.]
That is true. There is still much here that we do not have at home. [He pauses, considers his words.] I will remember that.
Grazie, Alastair. [It's said with sincerity, a moment where he is found vulnerable among his students. It only proves that even he is human, like them, and feels just as they do, even at the worst of times.]
no subject
You're welcome.
[It's true that here they lack so much from home, but what they've created here, what they've been given, that balances it out, doesn't it? Maybe Alastair is reaching for balance where it doesn't exist for the comfort of it, but he's starting to think it might be true.]