Assassin's Creed One Shots

The Strength of a Mother (Edward James Kenway x Single mom! Reader)

Inside a dusty tavern on the beautiful island of Cuba, a little boy was playing with some little animals he had carved from wood. He was about five years old but he knew he acted mature for his age. His eyes lifted up as he watched his mother bustle about the tables, lifting drinks and food high over the heads of the drinking men and women who wanted a nice drink to dull their senses. The young boy smiled as his mother waved at him from the other side of the room. He waved back and began to play with the little animals again.

His focus was interrupted by a rather large man who plopped down next to him at the table. He had long blond hair and the beginnings of a beard on his face. His eyes were lined with black Kohl that the young man has seen on many a pirate. The boy smiled and swished his legs back and forth under the chair he sat on. His mother worked ever so hard after the death of his father. He had been told that he was taken by an evil pirate that took his robes and pretended to be him.

The assassin order tried all they could to help his mother but she wouldn't fight for them. His father had been abusive to her and she wanted nothing to do with the holy war that still rocked the world. She had taken her son up and moved to this lovely island where they made a little home out of wood and palm leaves on the beach.His pants had holes that his mother patched and his shirts were ones she made to fit him the best she could. He couldn't really complain, sure he had more things when his father had been alive but it was worth it to not hear the screaming and crying almost every night his father was home. He didn't understand why his mother had married his father but she often told him that. "You are the best thing to come out of that man and without him, I wouldn't have you."

He decided to make light conversation with the man beside him and he placed his little animals in a small pouch his mother had sewn for him. He looked to the pirate and tapped the large man on the shoulder. His blue robes seemed  familiar but the boy didn't mind the familiarity. The pirate turned to look at him and the boy pulled the sidest, most friendly smile he could.

"Hi! I'm Ethan! I like your hood!." He chipped. The man chuckled and smiled softly at Ethan. He stuck his hand out and Ethan didn't know what to do. The man realized this and placed Ethan's smaller one in his large one, teaching him what a handshake was.

"Hello Ethan. I'm Edward. I like your little animals. Did you make them yourself?" He asked softly in a Welsh accent. Ethan nodded and pulled them out once more. He had a little elephant he had seen in a book, he had a bird, a iguana, a cat, a horse, a fish and a dog. He had worked hard to make them and he was very proud of his little creations. He looked up to view his mother again and he saw she was speaking to one of the women who worked at the tavern. She didn't do what his mom did. He knew what the pretty ladies were for and his mother had told him that when he gets older, he will want to do it too. He didn't believe her but she hadn't been wrong before...

"Say...What's a young lad like you doing in a tavern all alone?" Edward asked Ethan. Ethan pointed at his mother with a kind smile.

"That's my mama. She works here as a waitress. She's so cool!" He said with pure admiration. Edward looked up and saw the woman who was now wiping off a table where a man had thrown up on it. Her (H/C) Hair was pulled back by a white bandana and her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows. Her brown skirt was covered by a white apron that had various stains splayed on the front. It was obvious that she was a very hard worker and she was determined to make ends meet.

"Aye. She seems to be working very hard. Do you live here or..." Edward trailed off, thinking that there was no way that a young child as bright and innocent as this could live in a brothel of some kind. To his relief, Ethan shook his head and pointed to the beach from one of the windows of the tavern.

"No. I live out there. Mama and I built it after..." He trailed off. His mother often told him not to talk to strangers but there was something about this man that seemed so open, so approachable, that Ethan forgot one of the basic rules his mother had instilled in him.