Editing Ezio Auditore da Firenze (section)

===Early life===

:'''Maria''': "''Our son is watching.''"
:'''Giovanni''': "''I know.''"
:'''Maria''': "''You should talk to him.''"
:'''Giovanni''': "''I will.''"
:—Maria Auditore and her husband discuss Ezio's rising curiosity.

Ezio was born in Firenze on 24 June 1459, as the second eldest child of Giovanni and Maria Auditore. Although he appeared to be stillborn at first, he began crying after some words of encouragement from his father. Giovanni remarked on the boy's "fine set of lungs" before proudly raising him in the air, naming him Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

Until the age of 17, Ezio lived a life of contentment and luxury as a member of the Florentine noble class with his siblings: his older brother Federico, his young sister Claudia and his younger brother Petruccio. He was apprenticed to renowned banker Giovanni Tornabuoni, who worked alongside Giovanni Auditore's banking business, but was all the while unaware of his father's allegiance to the Assassin Order. By 1473, Ezio lived with his family in the Palazzo Auditore in Florence.

====Courting Cristina====
One evening in 1476, Ezio spotted the beautiful Cristina Vespucci at a square and, encouraged by his brother Federico, introduced himself to her. Because of his awkwardness, she was not particularly impressed and declined to give him her name before continuing on her way. Nonetheless, Ezio followed Cristina home, where she was confronted by Vieri de' Pazzi.

Cristina repeatedly rejected his advances, but Vieri ignored her and prepared to force himself on her, at which point Ezio intervened. The two men began a fistfight, with Ezio emerging victorious. Vieri swore vengeance against Ezio before running off, and Cristina thanked Ezio for helping her. She introduced herself to Ezio and kissed him, assuring him that he had earned his "second chance", and a relationship blossomed between the two.

====Fight on the Ponte Vecchio====
On 26 December 1476, Ezio, Federico and friends of the family fought with Vieri de' Pazzi and his gang on the Ponte Vecchio. After trading some barbs, Vieri threw a stone at Ezio, leaving a scar across his lip that would remain for the rest of his life.

Ezio pummelled several members of the opposing gang, but Vieri fled the scene before Ezio could do anything to him. As Ezio prepared to give chase, Federico noticed the scar on his lip and advised him to visit a doctor. After looting several of Vieri's unconscious followers, the two brothers ran across the rooftops to find the doctor.

As the doctor tended to his wound, a nearby church caught the eye of the brothers, and Federico suggested a race. Ezio won and together the two climbed a nearby tower and looked out over the city, expressing gratitude for the lives they live. Soon after, Ezio noticed that Cristina Vespucci's window was open and decided to pay her a visit despite Federico's disapproval. Ezio made his way to the home of Cristina Vespucci and spent the night with her.

He was discovered by Cristina's father the morning after, forcing Ezio to flee from a group of pursuing guards before meeting his father at the Palazzo Auditore. Giovanni scolded him for spending the night at Christina's and for his fight with Vieri but admitted moments later that his son's actions reminded him of his own youth. He then asked Ezio to deliver a letter to Lorenzo de' Medici although Lorenzo was not there to receive it. The letter's contents discussed the recent murder of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza of Milan, expressing his belief that Francesco de' Pazzi was involved.

==== The fateful day====
On 28 December 1476, Petruccio asked Ezio if he could collect eagle feathers from the rooftops while promising that he would return to bed afterwards as he was ill. After a tiring search for feathers, Ezio gave them to his younger brother, though Petruccio was secretive about their purpose. Unbeknownst to them, this would be the last moment they shared together.

Later, Ezio found his sister in a distraught state, having discovered that her boyfriend, Duccio de Luca, was cheating on her. After obtaining his whereabouts, Ezio confronted and beat Duccio before warning him to stay away from his sister.

Returning to the Auditore villa once more, Ezio's mother asked him to help her pick up some paintings from a young artist she patronized, Leonardo da Vinci. On the walk home, Leonardo struck up a conversation, beginning a friendship between the two young men that would endure for the rest of their lives.

After Ezio finished his chores, he was summoned by Giovanni, who asked him to deliver two letters to contacts of his in the city and retrieve a third letter from a nearby pigeon coop. Ezio complied although two odd encounters with Giovanni's contacts left him confused. As he retrieved the note from the pigeon coop, Ezio witnessed a group of guards running across Florence.

Returning home, Ezio found his house ransacked, his father and brothers missing, and his mother and sister hiding. The housemaid Annetta, not recognizing Ezio at first, tried to strike him with a frying pan, but missed. She informed Ezio that the city guards arrested his father and brothers and brought them to the Palazzo della Signoria. Ezio decided to pay them a visit, but was told to avoid the guards, as they had a warrant for his arrest as well.

Climbing the Palazzo and speaking to his father through the window of his cell, Ezio was instructed to find a hidden chest in his office, take everything out of it, and deliver a sealed letter to Uberto Alberti, Gonfaloniere of Florence and a close friend of the Auditore family. Ezio did so, and donned his father's Assassin robes, a sword, a broken Hidden Blade, a coded page and a letter containing details of a plot against the city of Florence and the Auditore family. A pair of city guards then appeared at Ezio's door and tried to kill him, but were instead cut down by Ezio.

Ezio brought the incriminating documents to Uberto and was assured that his family would be released the following day, when the information was presented as evidence of their innocence. Ezio noticed an ominous hooded figure in Uberto's house, but had no idea who he was. Uberto asked Ezio if he would like to stay the night, but he declined and spent the night at Cristina Vespucci's house instead. 

====Auditore execution====

:''"I'll kill you for what you've done!"''
:―Ezio to Uberto Alberti after watching his family's execution in 1476.

The next day, 29 December 1476, Ezio made his way to the Piazza della Signoria, where Uberto presided over the execution of his family. Giovanni declared their innocence, citing the documents given to Uberto as evidence, but the Gonfaloniere denied any knowledge of such evidence. Ezio screamed that Uberto was lying, but his efforts to prevent the execution were ultimately in vain.

Watching in horror as his father and brothers were executed, he stormed the gallows in an attempt to kill Uberto, exposing himself, whereupon he was restrained by the city guards. Uberto ordered his execution as well, and at the urging of one of Giovanni's friends, Ezio fled the area and sought shelter in a brothel run by the sister of the Auditore housemaid, a courtesan named Paola.