In fact, Ezio was going to meet Leonardo for the afternoon, to see if his friend would make a set of blades for the girls. He didn't expect Altair to know who to ask, so Ezio volunteered to get a set for both girls, rather than just Anna.

Of course, he also hadn't expected his own apprentice to push him into the canal, either.

Anna managed to shove him in the canal, grinning briefly at her victory, before she darted away again before he could catch her. She even got up onto a building, albeit a short one, and crouched there watching.

Swearing colorfully in untranslated Italian, Ezio pulled himself out of the canal and tried vainly to wring out his clothes. He was not going to admit that he might have deserved that.

Anna snickered and kept track of him. Oh this was just too priceless to slip away now. Especially when he got to his destination. People were already starting to walk around him instead of past him.

Still grumbling in colorful Italian, Ezio turned around and went back to the hideout to change. There was no way he was staying in clothes saturated with canal water, and he needed to clean up before he saw Leonardo. His friend would never let him live it down otherwise.

Anna snickered and followed him back, keeping to the low rooftops as she did. Hey, after being up on the church tower for at least an hour, the lower rooftops weren't so bad.

Altair snickered a little as Ezio passed him, although he didn't quite comment. He just smirked.

"Essere tranquillo," Ezio muttered as he passed Altair. He didn't want to hear it right now. Quickly, he cleaned up and changed, although it would take more than one scrubbing to completely undo what the canal did. For now, it would have to do. Then he headed back out to see Leonardo.

Anna grinned as she trailed him all the way back to Leonardo's workshop, still feeling distinctly smug.

Leonardo didn't even look up from his work until Ezio entered, and then he smiled and walked over, hugging him. "Ah, Ezio! What a pleasant surprise! What can I do for you today?"

Ezio returned the hug like he always did.

"I had a few questions for you, if you can spare the time," he replied. He knew Anna was following him, but he didn't see the harm in it for the moment.

"Of course! What do you need?" Leo led the way farther inside, absently shutting the door.

Anna blinked and stayed perched across from the workshop. The area looked familiar from the bits of Venice they'd seen on vacation, before all this craziness. But she couldn't figure out why.

Ezio followed into the next room.

"I seem to have found a pair of trainees," he said. He didn't specify who was training them. "And I feel that it is about time for them to start learning with blades." He looked at his friend. "Of course, I trust no one else with the making of such things."

Leo nodded his satisfaction of that. "Of course. The same design as yours?" He looked at the hidden blade briefly before looking back at Ezio. He still had the design memorized, and they would not be hard to make.

"The original one, yes," Ezio replied, nodding. "Perhaps specialty ones later, if the trainees prove skilled."

Leo nodded his agreement of that. "And how have you been faring with these trainees?" He started gathering up supplies from around his workshop, absently pushing things off the table and reorganizing the mess he called his work place.

"It varies," Ezio replied. "They seem to be taking well to preliminary training, but I am still uncertain as to how well they will handle the next phase." He didn't bother touching anything on the work table; he knew better than that.

"Hmm. Most people require a little... push for that kind of work," Leo observed, almost idly, glancing over at Ezio as he started working.

"Most do," Ezio agreed. "These two perhaps more than most."

"Hmm. Well, I cannot help you there." Leo glanced over at him again. "I will have these done for you by tomorrow."

Ezio nodded.

"Thank you," he said. "If you would like, I can bring the trainees by when I pick up the blades?"

"I would like to meet them." Leo looked up again with a smile. "Until tomorrow, then."

"Ciao," Ezio replied with a little wave. Then he left the room, heading back outside through the workshop.

Anna made her way back to the hideout before Ezio could get there and accuse her of following him. So when he got back she was already settled down next to Iris.

"You are both coming with me tomorrow," Ezio said as he passed the girls when he got back. He knew Anna had followed him, but he saw no need to point that out yet.

Anna nodded. "Sure thing," she said, watching him go before looking at Iris with a grin. He still smelled faintly of the canal.

Iris grinned just the least bit. Anna had told her about the canal incident.

"Alright," she replied She was a little curious, but she figured they would see tomorrow what all was going on.