A/N's Note: I am so sorry for not updating! I've been busy with schoolwork (especially AP Art History) and I have an exam coming up on Wednesday! I've also had this annoying writer's block... so I apologize. I thank everyone who reviewed, though. I appreciate it.

A little more than halfway through this chapter, you'll be introduced to a new character and another side of the story. You'll see what I mean. ;P

Gaignun Girl: My grandma was already better that day I updated Chapter 5. But thank you for the concern. It's just that I don't know her that well at all, so I don't exactly love her like any grandchild should love a grandparent... I'm very distant from my family.

misokoblossom: I really appreciate the long review once again. Yes, the beginning was forced because I usually can't find a good way to start a chapter. I'm not good at beginnings... I think love at first sight is quite silly, too. It's Romeo and Juliet that made me think that way. Ridiculous that after only one day (or an hour; I can't remember), they want to get married. Oo; Oh, and yes, Talal did run away. I'm sorry if I did not make it clear enough.

Ch. 6: Resolution

Altair ran from the guards with ease. He was accustomed to running so far so quickly, as a trained assassin. He had just assassinated Talal, who found fit to use the streets of the city to escape. It was annoying, what with Talal's men blocking the way constantly. Altair quickly had to find ways to get past them every time and did so successfully.

Altair hid in a roof garden near Talal's warehouse. He had to go back to get that girl. Why, he did not know... Perhaps it was the fact that Malik might have the desire to kill him if he did not retrieve 'Suhayl,' not that he didn't already have it. Or perhaps it was the possibility that once the girl woke up, she would tell of all the secrets of the Brotherhood! Altair did not doubt it. He would tell Al Mualim of the girl and she would die. It was the consequence of any woman who had the reckless bravery to impersonate a soldier of any party, whether it is Crusader, Saracen, or Assassin. As far as Altair knew, it was probably the same in other countries as well.

The hooded assassin continued to Talal's warehouse as soon as the guards stopped searching for him. When he arrived, he entered through the same trap door on the roof that Talal had escaped through. He climbed down the ladder and turned to the unconscious girl on the floor. He crouched down to pick her up, but stopped upon closer inspection of her features. Vague memories flew through his mind.

A twelve-year old Altair sat down on the ground near the training ring, sweating much from the vigorous training. He only just began in the Brotherhood as Uninitiated, and so was not accustomed to the training of an assassin. He grinned, delighted that he joined despite everything else. He loved it. Already, he would be ready to give his life for what he would soon do. But of course, his teachers doubted he was ready, young as he was. Among his teachers was the great Ahmed, known far and wide as one of the deadliest assassins you could ever encounter. Altair was honored to have such a teacher.

Out of the corner of his eye, Altair saw Malik, his new friend, walk up and sit next to him. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Safety and peace, Altair," Malik greeted.

"To you as well," Altair greeted back.

"Master Ahmed is not here yet?"

Altair shook his head. "No."

It was only the morning, but Ahmed usually arrived early for training. Today, he hadn't and his students were becoming curious as to why he was late. Altair and his peers trained with another instructor who taught a higher ranked class for the morning training session, hence the vigorous training. But, their waiting had ended when they saw Ahmed being greeted at the entrance of the fortress. His equals crowded around him, some crouching to see look at a child behind him.

'Wait... a child?' Altair thought, confused. He and Malik stood up, curious. Just then, they noticed an older-looking boy next to the shorter child. Ahmed and the children followed him as he walked up to the library. Altair and Malik finally saw the trio clearly.

The boy was definitely taller than the two novices, perhaps about fourteen. He had piercing gray eyes and short light brown hair in layers. It was no doubt that he was Ahmed's son, considering the incredible resemblance.

The one next to him, however, surprised Altair and Malik upon closer inspection. 'A girl?! What's a girl doing here?' The girl seemed a little younger than the two friends. She had shoulder-length light brown hair and big gray eyes that shone in the sunlight. She looked around the fortress with amazement, honored to be in such a place.

'She should be,' Altair thought, scoffing. Never was a little girl allowed into the fortress, unless the village was in danger. There was also the consideration for safety. Anything could happen in the fortress. A rare occasion this was, but Altair did not care. Surely, it was of no importance to him or anyone else in the Brotherhood. He shook his head and turned on his heel towards the training ring, eyes studying the movements of the older assassins inside.

The hooded assassin was already midway on his path to the Bureau, the supposedly insignificant woman in his arms. His first memories of her came back to his mind and he pondered about what to do with her. Perhaps Malik would help, if willing.

'She's the same one from then... so she's Master Ahmed's daughter. We can't just kill her, for she is blood kin of a former brother. Innocent. There has to be a different solution.'

Altair truly had no idea what to do. When he arrived to the Bureau, he carefully put the girl over his shoulder and started climbing down. Once he was down, he placed her next to the fountain near the entrance and made his way into the next room, ready for an outburst from Malik.

Malik, with his keen ears, heard Altair's footsteps and turned. He noticed 'Suhayl' wasn't with him and glared. "Where is he? Did anything happen?" Albeit angry, concern was still heard in the one-armed man's voice.

Altair took a deep breath through his nose and sighed it out slowly. "... It's... difficult to explain. Suhayl's there, but... Follow me." He went back into the previous room and stepped aside for Malik to see. Malik's eyes widened when he saw the girl.

"... All this time... All this time, Suhayl was a woman in disguise?" Malik asked in disbelief. "How did she get into the Brotherhood? How did she last this long?"

Altair shook his head. "I don't know. Malik, remember all those years ago when Master Ahmed brought his children to the fortress?"

Malik caught on quickly and turned to the younger man in surprise. "She's Master Ahmed's daughter?! No wonder she is so skilled!"

Altair's shoulders tensed at the last sentence. The thought that a woman was better than he still fazed him like many knives on the flesh. It was an outrage! He would show her that she still had much to learn...

"She's waking!" Malik said, taking a step towards the girl.

The hooded man turned his head to the girl and saw that she was indeed waking up, but still appearing dizzy from the drug's effect. She took the time to adjust her eyes before looking up at the two men staring at her. She frowned.

"... Have you told... anyone else? About my secret?" she asked weakly. Her voice was quiet and soft, obviously affected by the drug. So she did not strain it until it recovered.

Malik shook his head. "I don't think anyone else knows except for Altair and I."

The girl leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She let out a soft sigh in frustration and, at the same time, relief.

"What is your name?" Malik asked, curious.

The girl raised her head again to look at Malik in surprise. "You are not mad?"

"Why would I be mad at the one who shares my burden?"

She shrugged and smiled. "My real name is Nadirah. I'm Ahmed's daughter and he secretly trained me and my brother, the real Suhayl, in the art of Janna."

Malik smiled back. "Is that so? I take it that you were the best fighter?"

Nadirah shook her head. "On the contrary. My older brother was the better one out of the two of us. He was incredibly talented. I just earned the attention of my father more often, mostly because I had much to learn before I reached Suhayl's level. He didn't mind the lack of attention at all. As my father trained me, Suhayl improved his own techniques in the meanwhile with every punch, kick, and swing of the sword. He was so amazing to watch."

"What happened to him?" Malik sat down in front of Nadirah, curious to learn more about her.

"He left Masyaf after both my parents died. He said he would look for a larger purpose beyond the Kingdom. I never heard from him again. We went separate ways."

"He left while you became an assassin." He made it a statement rather than a question, but Nadirah nodded. "How did you manage to get into the Brotherhood?"

The gray-eyed woman laughed. "Cloaks can work wonders! And my skills allowed me in quickly." She saw Altair turn away out of the corner of her eye as she continued, "Then I met Kadar. He was my first friend, I told you before. My first mission was with him as well. My, it was quite funny. Kadar was so clumsy!" She laughed with Malik.

"Yes, he had always been the clumsy one out of the two of us."

Nadirah raised an eyebrow, amused. "You're saying you weren't once out of balance or anything else of the sort? Everyone has accidents."

Malik looked sideways as if trying to avoid the question.

"Hah! Guilty!"

"I never said I never had an embarrassing accident!"

"Perhaps, but your eyes said all!" Nadirah laughed again, but Altair broke their conversation.

"Enough! This is no time for reminiscing! What are we going to do with her, Malik? I didn't bring her here for this!"

There was a tense silence between all of us as Malik and I looked down in defeat. Altair was right. What was to become of me? Malik let out a deep sigh and stood back up. He rubbed the back of his head with his lone arm as he thought. The two men paced around the Bureau while they thought of solutions. Would my secret be revealed to the entire Brotherhood? If so, would they accept me... or execute me? Would I continue the way I've been going, with a hidden face under a hood? Are there any other solutions?

"I got it!" I heard Malik exclaim. When I looked up, he was already in front of me, crouching to be at my eye level. I backed up a bit, awfully uncomfortable at how near he was. He seemed very enthusiastic and ecstatic, according to his expression. "I have to ask you first, Nadirah, before I do anything. Are you all right with cutting your hair?"

"What?!"

"For your sake. If anyone else finds out you are a woman, they will tell the entire Brotherhood without a moment's hesitation and you would die. Neither of us wants that, do we?"

I shook my head, looking down. "But he sure would." I gestured towards Altair, who stood at the doorway between this room and the next. Malik took one glance at Altair, but shook his head in disagreement.

"It's two against one and we are his superiors. He can do nothing about the matter, which is why he brought you to me."

"... I guess you are right..."

"Good girl..." I smiled slightly at that. My brother and my father used to say that when I did something right or to encourage me. How I missed them... Malik smiled back and patted my head in a brotherly way. "Are you ready?"

I nodded.

"Then come." He stood up and offered a hand. I took it and he pulled me up. We let go as soon as I was standing and Malik took out a knife from his knife belt. He walked behind me and turned to Altair. "Altair, will you hold her hair for me?" he asked.

Altair looked down before answering, "Of course." Altair walked over and grabbed my hair close to my head. Almost immediately, I felt a sharp tug, pulling my head back for a short moment. I looked back down and saw strands of my light brown hair fall gracefully to the floor. I suddenly felt lighter and reached for the back of my head. Layers... and definitely shorter. They had cut it vertically, giving my hair layers. However, I realized a flaw: the long locks of hair on the sides of my face. They were still long. I took one of my own knives from my knife belt and cut them up to my eyes. More light brown strands fell to the floor. I turned around to face the two assassins and tilted my head slightly to the side in question.

"So?" I asked. "How do I look?"

Malik laughed. "Like a child!"

"Eh?! How so?!" I didn't really want that answer. I wanted to know whether I looked male or not! From Malik's answer, I wasn't sure. Malik only laughed. I sighed and turned to Altair. "What about you?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't give me the same answer.

Altair crossed his arms and replied, "You look like a young boy-- younger than we are. How old are you, anyway?"

"Twenty-four! And you?"

"Twenty-five. I'm older."

I crossed my arms and stuck my tongue out.

"You are a child."

"Hm! Well... you're an idiot! I hate you." Okay, I didn't truly hate him. I became used to his attitude through our journey. Besides that, he needed someone to accept him. I could see it in his eyes even now. I needed him to see that I still had faith in him, despite the fact that I knew he now hated me with a passion. I didn't care about that... He needed a friend still.

"I hate you more."

"I hate you more!"

"At this rate, the both of you will be acting like children," Malik said, pulling me back by my hood. I laughed, realizing the situation. I guess I was indeed acting like a child, and so was Altair for arguing back. Malik was acting like the mature adult, which he was in my opinion. "Back to your question, 'Suhayl,' you look like a boy. Do not worry about it. As a matter of fact, you look like you might win a few hearts," Malik said jokingly.

"E-excuse me?! Malik!" My eyes widened, startled, and I shoved Malik lightly. He only laughed. I had to admit, he definitely wasn't the same as whenever he spoke to Altair, even Kadar. He was treating me like family, despite everything else. He joked, laughed, and smiled. He seemed much more open and light-hearted in my presence. I smiled at the fact.

"What? Compared to others in the Assassiun, you look quite good as a boy!" Malik replied, still laughing. How he reminded me of my older brother...

"Really? I do?"

"Ask the servant girls in the Paradise back home! They'll come running to you!"

"I sure hope not..."

Later, the commotion outside the Bureau calmed down. But, that was understandable considering that it was already nighttime. Altair decided to stay the night, much to Malik's discontent. I merely shrugged at the latter, already used to the attitude towards the demoted star. I did not bother with writing my report, tired from the day's events, and challenged Malik to a game of chess. Altair fell to sleep on the pillows in the first room in the meanwhile.

It came as no surprise when Malik won our game of chess the first time. That one round soon turned into a war, however, as I became desperate to win. You could not blame me after he defeated me with only nine moves! But the second round had the same result. It was always best two out of three, and two in a row took the cake! I realized in my futile efforts that Malik was too strong of an opponent in this game of strategy and war. As far as I knew him, strategy must have been his forte...

Malik and I fell asleep with another round of chess, sitting down with our arms acting as pillows for our resting heads. Before we did, Malik blew out the lone candle dimly lighting the room. Hey, we had nowhere else to sleep! We couldn't sleep on the cold, hard floor!

In the morning, Malik woke me up, preferring that I not wake up to Altair's cold attitude. Altair woke soon after, instantly ready to leave. We did so after I gave Malik a friendly embrace, seeing as I would not see him for about another week. The dreaded thought dimmed my soul with each step we took away from the Bureau...

Tala danced to her own music, singing along with it as well. The microphone in her hand made her voice echo in the now empty bar. In the morning, this bar was closed so that Tala would not be recognized or stampeded on by her fans. She was a local rock star gone incognito, changing her appearance when she was in business. The only ones here were her, her distant cousin Altan, and the rest of her band. Altan was her engineer as well and she pushed him around like a slave. By now, Altan was used to such treatment from the evil child, as he called her. But, they were a bit more calm than usual today. Their friend, Desmond Miles, was not here. He usually watched Tala with Altan as he cleaned the bar for opening time. His motorcycle was not parked outside as it usually was and Tala could, therefore, not hear his voice telling off Altan when they bickered. Oh, how she loved the sound. It always made her laugh.

Tala took a break from her practice and sat down next to Altan. She leaned on the table and pouted. "Where is he...? It's been a day."

Altan shrugged. "How should I know?"

Just then, they heard a knocking on the front door of the bar. Altan stood up to answer it, as he was the one in charge when Desmond's boss was not around. Desmond never liked to be disturbed and Altan was assigned to the task. Tala saw as Altan answered the door. On the other side of the doorframe stood a man in a black trench coat, a gray polo, and black jeans. He had brown hair that swept to the right side of his face and greenish-brown eyes that pierced the soul. Tala looked away in disinterest.

"Hey, Seath!" Altan called Tala by her middle name. Tala's ears perked immediately.

"Yeah?"

"This guy says he has an important matter to discuss with you."

"Come in..."

Altan stepped aside to let the man in, but the man didn't come through. "I must speak with you in private, Ms. Connor," the man said. "Do you mind coming outside?"

Tala groaned, but stood up anyway. She turned and walked towards the man. She stepped outside and leaned against the wall next to the door before Altan closed it. "Now, what is it yo--"

Tala collapsed from the impact on the side of neck and she passed out. The man caught her and carried her away.

"Tala!! Pull her out! Pull her out, now!!" A familiar male voice.

Flashes of cities Tala had never seen before.

Yellow.

Gold.

Blue.

Green.

A shining bright light.

"She's struggling." A different voice. Female.

"Nadi--" Now a male voice. "I--"

"Warren--"

"Brother...! How...?" Female, but different than the last.

"Desmond's right. We have to--"

"Who is--"

"--pull her out."

"--Adha, Alta--"

"... Ms. Connor--" Another male voice. Older.

"Traitor--!"

"Listen--"

"Don't you dare--!"

"--to my voice--"

"What will happen no--"

"--and--"

"--now, Mal--"

"--calm down."

"Will I... die?"

Be who you are, and live without looking back at past sorrow.

Tala's eyes opened suddenly, waking from the volley of unfamiliar memories. She shot up from the cold, advanced machine with sweat beads rolling down her brow and gasped for breath. She looked up, glaring deathly daggers at the four people surrounding her.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Her voice dripped with venomous poison, but only the one at her immediate right flinched. She shot her gaze to him and she recognized him within a second. "Desmond...?"

Desmond had a relieved expression on his face, but that didn't last when his friend jumped on him and pulled him in a tight embrace.

"Dear Dezzy! My friend, my buddy, my pal! I missed you so much! Did the bad people hurt you? Were you kidnapped, too? How've you been?"

"Let go of me, damn it!"

Tala only laughed, but let go anyway. She turned away from Desmond and studied the other three. On the other side of the machine, there was a scowling old man in a lab coat and a smiling blond woman who was most likely Tala's age. At the sight of the third person, Tala glared and pointed an accusing figure at the man who had kidnapped her. "You! I knew you were bad news since I first laid eyes on you!"

"Your expression from before says different," he responded coolly.

"Shut up!" Tala calmed down and turned to the two unfamiliar 'scientists,' if you could call them that. "Now then, answer my questions! Where are we and who are you guys?" she asked rather rudely.

The blond woman calmly replied, "Abstergo Headquarters. I'm Lucy Stillman. This is Dr. Warren Vidic and the man who was in charge of kidnapping you is Gomeric Hilde. It's a pleasure to meet you, Tala."

Tala smiled. "You, I like. But not the other two."

"Hah!" Dr. Vidic laughed. "You'd better start getting used to our presence, Ms. Connor. You're going to be staying here for quite a while until we have no further use for you. I will be supervising this project and Mr. Hilde will be watching over the both of you if you do anything rash."

"What?!"

A/N's Note: I made the Animus scene as exciting as I could and I think I did pretty well... I hope you like Tala! She's the evil child! Mwahahahahahahahahahaha- cough- hahahahaha! From now on, if you guys agree of course, I will put a chapter with only Tala every other five or two chapters, depending on how the story goes, for comic relief. Yes, comic relief. Nadirah's story can get serious, I think...

Tala is Nadirah's descendent, by the way, if you didn't figure it out by now. I'll post some pictures of her on DeviantArt when I can, so be sure to check my profile for the link.

I've given quite a few hints on what's going to happen with Nadirah in later chapters. So, now you'll know what to expect...