(A/N) Another long chapter!? What is going on with me? This one is even longer than the last!
Okay, so, the time is going to be kinda all over the place since Luca starts his day a bit later than Giulia does so think of the time for Luca's day to be about 4 hours later than what's happening with Giulia's day. Just wanted to make that clear before you started reading. Hope that's not too confusing for you.
The next morning at the Marcovaldo house - Sunday
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Giulia's alarm went off, startling her wake. She rose from her bed slowly. Giulia looked out her window. The sun was shining, something that was rare during October but it was welcomed. She smiled remembering what was today. She was going to the aquarium with Luna.
Giulia hopped out of bed and headed downstairs. Massimo was already up with a cup of espresso in his hand, looking at a newspaper in the jobs section. And just like that, she was reminded that her dad was out of a job, putting her in a damper mood.
"Buon giorno, Papa," Giulia said, walking into the kitchen with the best fake smile she could muster.
"You're up early," said Massimo.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you. I'm going out again today." Giulia told him as she poured herself a cup of espresso.
Giulia mentally smacked her head. She had forgotten to tell him about it. She had been so scatter-brained lately with finding out about Guido's feelings for her and their date and now with her father being jobless, that hadn't helped.
"With that Guido boy again?" he asked.
"Not this time. I'm going out with Luna to an aquarium today."
"Oh, that sounds nice but, isn't that place far downtown?"
"Yeah. She and I are going to take the bus there." Giulia was about to take a sip of her espresso when she remembered. "Oh...right, bus fare. Oh, no...and I have to pay for my ticket too..."
Giulia looked down in disappointment. She had been so excited about the aquarium she hadn't considered logic. They were tight on money and the whole trip seemed expensive. Was she going to have to cancel last minute on Luna? That'd be a painful conversion. Then she saw a giant hand holding money out to her in her line of sight. Giulia looked up.
"You'll need this…" Massimo said, looking down at his daughter's surprised face.
Giulia looked at the money offered to her again.
"Oh, Papa...I couldn't…"
"Nonsense, Giulietta. You're young. You should take advantage of that." the larger man said with a smile.
Giulia knew her father was stubborn and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. But she knew she couldn't ask for a better Papa. Giulia jumped up onto his huge body and hugged him, taking Massimo by surprise.
"Grazie, Papa…"
"You are very welcome, my sweet girl," he said, finally hugging her back.
Giulia jumped off Massimo, taking the money. "I promise I will find a way to pay you back."
"Giulietta, it is a gift."
"Okay, Papa. I should go get ready now," she said giggling as she left the room.
Giulia still planned to pay him back. Somehow she would find a way. Giulia headed back up to her room with her cup to get ready. She placed her cup on her desk and checked the time on her alarm clock. It read '9:00 am'. Giulia hurried to her closet and took out a true-to-you coloured playsuit with short sleeves and a long pointed collar. She also grabbed her beige sweater and tied it around her waist. Finally, she put her hair up in a bun and was ready to go.
Giulia then went back downstairs, got toast to eat on the way, put on her white boots and went out the door to the bus station.
At the Paguro house - Afternoon
Luca awoke from a dreamless sleep. He had been tossing and turning most of the night and so he slept in through the morning. But it was Sunday after all so he didn't feel too bad. Luca rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The day before hadn't been terrible. It was fun for the most part. It was only until near the end of the day that it started to take a toll on him.
Alberto was an interesting and yet infuriating person. A person Luca sometimes couldn't make heads or tails with. Sometimes Alberto would be distant and would keep to himself, then the next thing he'd know, Alberto would start to tease him out of the blue. But Alberto's teasing felt different from whenever Giulia would tease him.
Giulia's teasing mostly consisted of saying things like Luca was so clumsy or was such a nerd for being the biggest math whiz. But whenever Alberto teased him it always put him on edge. Alberto's teasing felt...sensual to an uncomfortable extent. Luca had just been too afraid to call him out on it until last night. He had been too afraid because the last time he had brought up the idea to Alberto that his teasing felt more like some form of flirting, Alberto had made him feel like a fool for even insinuating that that was what it was. But last night Luca just had to bring it up again, did Alberto even realize his teasing felt like that? Did he care? Did Alberto just like to make him uncomfortable and treat him like a joke? Considering how many times it had happened it had almost seemed as if Alberto couldn't control himself with his teasing. But that was a stupid theory.
The teasing always flustered Luca, making his heart race and his face burn up like crazy. It made Luca question things about himself he hadn't before. He couldn't be attracted to Alberto. He wasn't gay and he was sure Alberto wasn't either. Luca liked girls and had crushes on girls in the past. So then why did Alberto make him feel the way he felt when he had been around his past crushes? The feeling of fish swimming around in his stomach. It didn't make sense and he couldn't bring himself to talk to anyone about it. Not even Giulia. She had teased him about possibly liking him in a romantic sense. It was embarrassing and he hoped Giulia wouldn't do that again in the future.
It was because of all that that Luca was hesitant to go back to the tower as Alberto had suggested. Why was it even something he was even thinking about doing? If he knew what was good for himself he would keep his and Alberto's relationship strictly tutor and student and leave it at that. Luca would not go back to the tower for something non-tutor-related and go about his business normally. It seemed like trying to be friends with Alberto was challenging. Different. Out of his comfort zone. Getting on his motorcycle had been terrifying enough...and leaving Portorosso as far away as the tower was, felt scary to do. So why would Luca want anything to do with Alberto and his...complicated-ness?
...And yet...doing both those things felt, in a way, ...exhilarating. Luca had always led a sheltered life mostly due to his protective mother. He loved her but she never let him do anything adventurous. If she knew he had done the things he did the day before she would freak out. It had been fun to go against the norm and it was all because of Alberto. Alberto was different and exciting to be around. And it was because of that that Luca was conflicted. Part of him wanted to go.
"Luca! I think you've slept in long enough! Come down to eat something!" he heard his mother say from downstairs.
He mentally thanked his mother for snapping him out of his thoughts. Maybe if he ate something he'd come to a decision.
At the Scorfano household
"Oh come on, Scorfano. It'll be fun. Stop being such a loner for once." Bartolo said on the other side of the phone.
"I'm not a loner, I just have more important stuff to do most of the time," said Alberto who was starting to get annoyed at his fellow Scorpion acquaintance.
Alberto had been getting ready to go to the tower when Bartolo had called. Alberto kept thinking that if he had gotten out of bed earlier he would have missed Bartolo's call. How he wished he could've been faster. Bartolo was pestering Alberto to go hang out with him and the other Scorpions that went to school with him. Alberto hardly ever hung out with them outside of school. He had hung out with them a lot more the year before. At first, it was fun and new. They'd go get high or get drunk with the money one of them would steal from their parents. He would have a drink or two and smoke a couple of joints but after a while, it started to become routine. That was all they'd do. It had gotten boring to the point where he just didn't feel like doing it anymore. And they were a bunch of idiots. They didn't care about him and the feeling was mutual. And Alberto knew that Bartolo just wanted him around because he wanted to get in good with a future higher up in the gang. Bartolo could be a real kiss ass sometimes no matter how much he would pretend to not care.
"Ercole won't be there. He's too busy trying to kiss up to your dad as usual." Bartolo told him.
"Oh, I'm sure he is."
"Yeah, so doesn't that make you wanna come and hang out now?"
" Ehhhh… "
"Oh come on, asshole. You used to be fun." Bartolo groaned.
" No , I used to be a conformist. Unlike you, I have responsibilities now. My dad has me on a leash these days, you all know that. I don't have time for 'fun' ."
"Oh, bullshit, Alberto. I heard you haven't been with your dad in a couple of days. What have you been doing?"
"That's your business, how ?"
"Oh, be honest with yourself. You don't have anybody outside of the gang. Come on, tell me what you've been doin'."
Alberto sighed. He hated when Bartolo would throw that fact in his face. "I gotta go."
"Okay, but just so you know, if you don't come tonight I'm gonna find out what you've been doing," Bartolo warned.
"Uh-huh…" Alberto said back, not taking what he said seriously.
He then hung up on Bartolo. But the threat didn't go completely ignored. If the guys found out about the tutoring thing he wasn't sure how that would go. If Luca didn't show up today then he'd know where he stood with him. It would tell him that Luca believed he was not worth his time outside of tutoring. He was hoping Luca would show but he believed it was more likely he wouldn't. And if Luca didn't Alberto would go and hang out with the other guys and probably drink away all his cares.
Bus Station
Giulia arrived at the bus station and saw that Luna was already there. Luna noticed her coming and waved. Giulia walked in her direction but as Giulia got closer she got a better look at Luna which almost made Giulia stop short.
Luna was wearing a pretty white dress that went down just above her knees. The dress had long bell sleeves and the skirt was flowing and circular. She also wore white pantyhose with black ankle-strapped shoes and lastly she had her hair in a loose braid she had swept on her right shoulder.
"Luna, you look...beautiful," Giulia said, unable to stop staring.
Luna's face went pink and she looked down away from Giulia, fiddling with her dress' skirt.
"T-thank you. So do you." she slightly stuttered.
"Thanks. I love what you've done with your hair. I wish my hair could do that. It's so crazy I can barely do anything with it."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Giulia took it out of its bun, letting it fall loose to show Luna. "It's practically anarchy up here."
"That's not true! I think your red hair is very vibrant and it stands out beautifully!"
Giulia's eyes went wide at her sudden outburst in protest. Nobody had ever said anything like that about her hair before. She had always been a bit self-conscious about it. Giulia flushed.
Luna then realized she had just unnecessarily yelled out of nowhere. A few people were now staring at her. What the hell was the matter with her? This was a public place. She cleared her throat.
"Sorry. It's just, uh, well, your hair always reminds me of a fiery sunset and, well, I like it."
The flush on Giulia's face did not disappear, hearing that. It only spread to her ears.
"Th-thank you…" Giulia stammered.
Luna smiled and then circled Giulia, studying her hair. She then brushed her fingers through Giulia's locks, making Giulia shudder.
"Hmm...well, your hair is thick and long enough. I think it could be done. I could...braid your hair on the bus. If you want." Luna said, rubbing her arm.
"Oooo, yes, yes, yes!" Giulia said happily.
Luna laughed. "Okay"
Not too long after, the bus arrived and the girls got on. Luna got on first. She fished out her change purse from her dress pocket and took out the money she needed for the bus. Giulia noticed she took out too much.
"Uh, Luna, isn't that a bit too much?" she said.
Luna ignored her and got closer to the driver. "I'm also paying for my friend's fare too, Signore,"
The driver nodded and Luna put the money in the slot for both of them. She then took Giulia's hand and led her to the seat at the back of the bus. They sat down.
"Luna, you didn't have to do that," Giulia said.
"True but I wanted to. I know you and your dad are struggling with money and all and I wanted to do this today because you seemed really down. Then I realized this aquarium trip, like most fun things, costs money and it didn't feel right to have you pay for it." Luna started to blush before saying what she said next. "And so...because I want to cheer you up...this day is my gift to you."
Giulia's face started to heat up. "W-wow. That's really sweet of you, Luna. But I couldn't let you pay for everything."
"Sure you can. If it's my gift for you. Your day."
Giulia laughed. "Heh, alright but just don't go overboard. I should pay for something . Like my ticket for getting in the place."
"Then I guess now... wouldn't be a good time to let you know I... already bought your ticket for you yesterday," she said, pulling Giulia's and her ticket from her pocket.
Giulia crossed her arms. Luna gave a nervous laugh. Giulia couldn't help but smile at her.
Giulia sighed and gave up. "Okay, I'll let this go. For now." Giulia told her.
"Yes, yes. Now, shall I braid your hair?" Luna asked, changing the subject.
Giulia nodded and turned around so Luna could better get at her hair.
Eating lunch hadn't helped Luca decide as he hoped. It had been a while since Luca woke up. He spent most of the afternoon still being conflicted about taking Alberto up on his offer. Luca had homework to do. He thought maybe stimulating his brain would help but to no avail.
Luca was now eating the dinner Daniela had prepared. Everyone was gathered around eating at the table.
"So, Luca, I heard you went out yesterday and not with Giulia. What did you do?" Lorenzo asked.
"How did you know I wasn't with Giulia?" Luca asked back.
"I saw her with a boy at her house yesterday. Looked like she just came back from a date with him."
"Giulia is dating now? Aw, they grow up so fast. I'm sure that made poor Massimo emotional. I don't know what I'd do if you suddenly started dating some girl, Luca. I just don't know if I could give you up to anyone." Daniela teased as she pinched Luca's cheek.
Luca gave an awkward laugh as he pulled out of her grasp. "Ah, well, I was just doing an extra tutoring session with the person I'm, well, tutoring."
"I see. Where did you do the session?" Lorenzo asked.
"Oh, uh, just at his house." Luca lied.
"I see."
Across from him, his grandma gave him a look, as if she knew he was lying but she said nothing.
"You don't talk much about him. What's he like?" Daniela asked.
"He's, uh…" Luca wasn't sure how to answer that.
"Is he cooperative? He better not be giving you a hard time. Especially if you're giving up a Saturday just to tutor him."
"It's going alright. Don't worry, Mom."
"Are you doing anything today?" his grandma asked.
"I don't know yet," Luca said, now poking at his food.
"That's good to hear," said Lorenzo. "You see, Luca. The fishery has been a little low in help recently and we may need you to help out with deliveries for a while and-"
"Oh, just tell the boy what your stupid brother did!" Grandma Paguro said, rolling her eyes.
" Mom! " Daniela shouted.
"I don't care if that lunatic is hurt. What he did was wrong."
"What did he do?" Luca asked, looking at his dad for answers.
Lorenzo didn't say anything. Too afraid and ashamed to tell the truth. Luca's grandma looked at Daniela.
"Alright, alright." Daniela sighed. "Your uncle let Massimo go at the fishery a couple of days ago."
"He what?! Why?!" Luca stood with his hands on the table. He turned to his dad once again.
"I'm sorry, Luca but it was out of my control," Lorenzo said, not looking at his son.
"That is not true. If you had pushed your brother to let the poor man keep his job it could have worked." Grandma Paguro said, raising her voice.
"Mom, I don't think this is a conversation we should have at the table," said Daniela, trying to avoid the conversion altogether.
Suddenly Luca left the kitchen and headed to the front door.
"Luca, where are you going?!" Daniela yelled.
"I'm going to see if Giulia is alright!"
"But Luca you-"
Luca slammed the door as he walked out, causing Daniela to stop mid-sentence. Daniela sternly looked at her mother. Her mother ignored her daughter's angry expression. She had no regrets. She knew her grandson deserved to know the truth.
Outside Luca walked next door to Giulia's. Why didn't Giulia tell him this happened? When he knocked on the door Massimo answered.
"Ciao, Luca. I'm sorry but Giulietta isn't home right now." Massimo said.
"Oh...well, that's okay. But.., um." Luca, looking up that the large man didn't know what to say to him.
The man was like a second father to him. And Luca couldn't believe someone in his family had caused the poor man to be in this predicament. What could he say? It wasn't like Luca had the power to give Massimo his job back.
Massimo could sense that the boy was troubled and wanted to say something but he seemed hesitant.
"Would you like to come inside?" Massimo offered.
Luca smiled and nodded, entering the house as Massimo held the door open for him.
At the Aquarium
"Wow! I've never seen so many fishes all at once in my life!" Giulia said in admiration as the two girls entered the building. "Wait. Is it 'fish' or 'fishes'?"
Luna laughed at Giulia's cute confused expression.
"It's 'fish'." Luna clarified. Then she had an immediate thought. "Buuuut, I suppose there are times when 'fishes' can be accepted as a plural. Like, if you see two trout swimming together. You could say that you're looking at 'fish'. But , let's say, if the two trout were joined by a salmon, you could say 'fish' or 'fishes'. ' Fish' can refer to multiple fish in a setting, especially when they are all the same species. ' Fishes' usually refer to multiple species of fish, especially if you're speaking scientifically."
Giulia just stared at her blankly, making Luna feel embarrassed.
"Sorry. I'm rambling." Luna said, flustered. "I do that sometimes when I talk about aquatic stuff. I'm a bit of a nerd about it."
"That's okay." Giulia assured her "Never apologize for being the smartest person in the room. I'm a real nerd about space so you're not the only one who's an enthusiast about something."
"Really? That's cool." Luna smiled.
"Yeah, I'll talk space with you sometime. You'll have a hard time getting me to shut up about it." Giulia joked.
"Looking forward to it."
Giulia and Luna explored further into the aquarium. They stopped when Giulia stood to stare at a catfish that was staring back at her. Giulia started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Luna asked.
Giulia tried her best to calm herself so as to not draw too much attention before speaking. "Well, it's just, Ercole really does look like a catfish. Hahaha!" she broke and burst out laughing some more.
Luna looked back at the catfish.
"Haha! You're right. He does!" Luna broke into laughter with her.
They settled into their giggle fit a bit more until they took a few breathers.
"So...what's your favourite fish?" Giulia randomly asked.
"It should be around here somewhere." Luna started to look around and then took out the brochure she kept. She searched for where it could be. "Aha!"
Luna closed the brochure and took Giulia by the hand, taking her to where Giulia assumed her favourite fish was. They stopped at another area with different fish. Luna let go of Giulia and searched a bit more until.
"There!" Luna said, suddenly stopping at a tank that contained tiny blue fish with black stripes. "These are damselfish. There are many different kinds of them but this is my favourite." Luna stated, pointing to one of them. "I'll spare you the boring details." she chuckled awkwardly.
Then to Luna's surprise, Giulia leaned her body onto Luna's back to get a better closer look at the fish, wrapping her arms around Luna's shoulders as she stood on her tiptoes. Giulia looked at the blue fish's black stripes and yellow-ish white colours in awe.
"Whoooa…Sono così belli…" Giulia said, beaming at the blue damselfish.
Luna's heart was racing but she tried her best to stay calm and smiled at the redhead's fascination.
Massimo had given Luca a cup of water who was now sitting with him at the table.
Luca was sure to be careful with the water as to not spill it all over himself despite being a bit shook up. How could the firing of his best friend's dad not have been brought to his attention sooner?
"What has you troubled, Luca?" Massimo asked.
Luca smiled fondly at the man. Massimo was so kind that of course, he held no ill will against Luca, even if his family had set Massimo and his daughter out to dry. But it only made Luca feel more guilty.
Luca sighed. "I-I'm so sorry that my uncle fired you. I had no idea. Giulia didn't even tell me."
"Oh, Luca. It's alright. These things...happen, unfortunately. The business can't afford me anymore." Massimo said as Machiavelli then perched onto his shoulder. "If anything, I think you should be more worried about the business and why it can't afford more help anymore."
"Maybe but...what about you and Giulia? What will you two do?" Luca asked.
For a second Massimo contemplated telling the concerned boy what problems could arise from his and Giulia's jobless predicament. Luca could be saying goodbye to his best friend in the future but he couldn't find it in his heart to say so. So instead he said,
"Well...change is a part of life. Nothing stays the same forever. And if we all stayed where we are in life, nobody would ever grow." Massimo took a sip of his coffee before continuing. "We have to adapt to doing new things and...not be afraid of what the future has in store for us. Even if it is different from what we're used to."
At that moment Massimo looked so wise in Luca's eyes. His words were hard to take in but, in a way, he was right. This year, so far, things had been progressively changing. Yes, he should be concerned for his family's well being but he loved Giulia and Massimo. He worried for them. But Massimo's words did make Luca start to reflect on how he was living his own life. Staying safe all the time. Being 'the good kid' and never taking any risks. Alberto was the complete opposite of him. And...he liked the rush Alberto pushed him to go through even if it was scary. Was that what was missing in his life? Did he crave more excitement?
Massimo looked at Luca who seemed deep in thought. He wondered what was going on in the teenager's head but, having a teenager of his own who already seemed to want to keep things to herself, he assumed Luca was probably no different.
"Giulietta and I will survive," Massimo said finally, causing Luca to break out of his thoughts.
Luca nodded and stood up from his seat. "Please take care, Signore Marcovaldo," Luca said.
"Are you heading back home?"
"Not just yet. I'm going somewhere tonight." Luca said with determination as he headed out the door.
"Alright, well, stay safe," said Massimo, waving goodbye.
Luca could see that sunset was on the horizon. He rushed back to his house, opened the garage, took out his helmet and bike, got on his bike and rode off in the direction of the docks of Portorosso.
Giulia and Luna had been enjoying the sights of the aquarium together. Luna had been archiving every moment in her memory so she could look back on them whenever the thought of actually being with Giulia crossed her mind. Since that was not going to be a possibility.
Luna had noticed that Giulia's date with Guido hadn't been brought up once, which was welcomed to a large degree but it was a wonder why Giulia hadn't. Weren't friends supposed to talk about that kind of thing? Did it not go well? A dark part of her was hoping it didn't. She felt terrible that those dark thoughts had started getting stronger. She had never been jealous of anyone before and she hated that since Guido was a nice guy.
But all those questions had been popping up every once in a while throughout the outing but Luna had been too afraid to bring it up. She was tired of self-sabotaging herself. But she believed that Giulia and Guido dating probably would have happened eventually, even without her actions of stupidity and niceness. Their date would only hurt to hear about.
"Oh, cool! This place has a touch pool!" Giulia said all of a sudden, distracting Luna out of her thoughts.
"Huh!? O-oh, yeah they do." Luna said nervously.
"Let's go!" Giulia grabbed Luna's hand, taking her in the direction of the touch pool.
They had gotten to it. Giulia stuck her hand in and touched a starfish. She smiled, loving the feeling of it. Then she noticed Luna wasn't doing the same. She looked a bit anxious, keeping her hands behind her back.
"Everything okay?" Giulia asked, taking her hand out, now holding onto the edge of the tank.
"Oh, yeah, yep! Perfectly fine...it's just uh…" Luna had to think of an excuse quickly. "I don't really believe in the idea of touch pools." Good! That was good. That wasn't even a lie. "But I don't mind if you don't feel the same. Just my opinion. Heh."
Luna never liked touch pools anyway. Being a sea creature, she thought they were inhumane and shameless. The thought of humans thinking they could just touch, or god forbid, pull at the fins of a fish, or any creature that was in there that didn't want to be touched was wrong. According to her Nonno, touching fins, especially between two sea creatures, could be seen as an intimate thing. But Luna didn't know about that one. That was probably an outdated thing now considering her Nonno's ancient way of thinking.
He did tend to question the things she wore at times. Believing some of her clothes to be too revealing when the things he would refer to were just knee-length skirts and the occasional top that showed her navel.
"Oh-kay." Giulia let out and then went to touch a nearby sea cucumber.
Luna, with nothing better to do but wait until Giulia got bored of this, looked among the crowd around the touch pool to people-watch. Her eyes landed on a little girl nearby who had her hands in the pool touching a horeshoe crab. Only, her hands didn't show human skin. The girl's hands were scaly and violet. She was a sea creature. Something Luna rarely ever saw out in the open. It made her smile seeing the girl looking so carefree.
Luna looked back to Giulia. This was it if she wanted to see first-hand how Giulia reacted around sea creatures. She took the plunge and tapped Giulia on the shoulder to get her attention. Giulia looked up in question and Luna pointed at the little girl. At first, Giulia didn't react but then she saw the girl's violet scaled hands in the water.
"She's cute, huh?" Luna said.
"Adorable," Giulia said back.
The remark made Luna smile. That was a good start. As the two teens continued to stare a bit more at the giggling girl they noticed an older couple who was accompanying their child near the little girl. They were giving the little girl a look of distaste as if they were uncomfortable that she was even breathing the same air as them.
"Ugh, I can't believe they let her kind in here." the woman said, not doing a very good job of talking quietly.
"I guess not every sea creature here is in a tank." Her husband snickered.
The comment unnerved Luna, making her tug tightly at her dress.
"Hey!" Giulia yelled at the couple, surprising Luna.
The older couple and everyone that was in hearing range, including the little girl, looked in their direction.
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Giulia continued.
The couple seemed to be confused, unsure if Giulia was referring to them or not. The wife pointed at herself.
"Yes, I'm talking to both you and your idiot husband!" confirmed Giulia.
Luna's eyes widened in shock at what Giulia said as if Giulia didn't care she was making a scene in a public place.
"Excuse me?!" the husband said, clearly outraged over the redhead's insult.
"You heard me! What makes you think you're so special that you think it's okay to say those kinds of things about sea creatures?! They have feelings too! This little girl is not inferior to you two or your kid!" Giulia yelled as she gestured to the girl.
The little girl looked just as surprised at the scene as Luna was.
"How dare you talk to us like that! Don't you have any manners or respect for your own kind?!" the wife yelled.
"Who are you to tell me about manners or respect! Don't make me laugh!"
"I say we shouldn't pay this girl disrespectful girl any mind, Stella. She probably isn't even human. A human would never do this sort of thing." the husband said, trying to end it, though passive-aggressively.
Giulia put her hand on her hips. "You wanna see if I'm a sea creature, eh?" Giulia then stuck her hand in the touch pool and splashed water from it towards the couple, soaking them. Causing them and the rest of the crowd around them to gasp in shock, including Luna. " There , you see?! I'm human!" she said, raising her drenched hand to them. "It's people like you two that make the rest of us humans look bad."
The wife looked like she was about to retort but seemed to stop herself when she heard the crowd around them, which was starting to grow, murmur things about them that sounded far from friendly. The couple then wore embarrassed expressions.
The wife cleared her throat and then grabbed her child's hand and her husband's. "You're right, Carlo. We don't need to take this. Let's go." and with that, they left the scene, seemingly mortified.
Giulia's angered eyes followed them until they were out of sight. Once they were no longer seen from view she let out an exhale.
"Santa Mozzarella…" Giulia muttered. She took Luna's hand and started walking away. "Come on, Luna. Let's go somewhere else."
Luna was still speechless from what just happened and could only nod. After what she had just witnessed from Giulia, her heart was pounding. A new feeling started to arise inside her that scared her beyond belief.
At the tower
Alberto was lying on his hammock. Waiting to see if Luca would show. He looked out the window. His chances weren't looking good. The sun was disappearing from view. Alberto's hope was slowly dying with every passing second. He closed his eyes, trying to convince himself that this wasn't getting to him.
So what if Luca didn't show up? If he didn't then that would mean Luca had no interest in getting to know him. And even if he did he'd probably ask stupid personal questions about him. Alberto didn't like to share things about himself with anyone. But then again who says Luca would care about what he had to say? In fact, why was he so interested in getting to know Luca anyway? Luca was a nerd, a klutz, a know-it-all that made him feel stupid in comparison. Luca wasn't the type he was supposed to hang out with on the regular anyway. If he and Luca were to hang around each other at school casually in the halls together what would his peers say? What would Luca's peers say? They'd probably laugh their asses off.
Alberto opened his eyes and looked out the window again. The sun was gone now and it was starting to get dark. He sat up from his spot and shook his head. Who was he kidding? Luca wasn't coming. He was just bad company for Luca. Luca was a golden boy. The boy that got good grades and was going somewhere in life. Alberto was going nowhere. He was set to be stuck in the same position his entire life just like his dad. He'd only bring toxicity into Luca's life. Best they stay as student and tutor and that was it.
Alberto could still catch up with the rest of the boys. He could use a cold one right about now. Alberto stood up, climbed down the make-shift ladder and made his way down the hill to the beach to leave the island.
As he made his way to the beach, he saw something on the shore, lying down. Did something wash ashore? As he got closer it looked familiar.
"Luca..?" Alberto said in surprise.
Luca, who was still in his sea form, didn't get up but turned his head to look in Alberto's direction. He seemed out of breath.
"*huff*A-Alberto. *huff*I'm here. *huff*Remind me to never *huff* swim that far that fast ever again." Luca said out of breath.
"Y-you came?"
Luca finally found the strength to get up and he shook the wetness of the ocean water off himself.
"You invited me," Luca said coolly.
"Well, yeah, but...I didn't think you were actually gonna show up." Alberto said, looking away from him.
"Yeah, well...I wasn't sure if I was going to either, to be honest..."
Alberto looked down at his feet. He wasn't sure how to feel about that last comment but he didn't care. He was just surprised Luca had shown up at all. He couldn't believe it. There was a bit of lingering silence between the two when Luca spoke again.
"So, you said I should see this place at night. Let's see it." Luca said, walking towards the tower.
Alberto followed, rolling his eyes at the skepticism in Luca's voice. "It's gonna blow your mind."
Soon Giulia and Luna found themselves in a tunnel tank. The area was quiet and only they and two other couples were there. The blue lighting from that water was dim, making the atmosphere feel calm in a way. It felt as if they were swimming underwater with the fish in the tank. There were tons of schools of fish swimming around the reefs and sea turtles.
Giulia looked upwards. Swimming slowly just above her was a shark. She could very clearly see its sharp teeth as it swam. Its closeness surprised Giulia, making her let out a tiny gasp of surprise and accidentally back into Luna's front.
Giulia flinched at the touch, feeling flustered. "Sorry…"
Giulia's tiny scare made Luna giggle. "Don't be scared. It's just a sand tiger shark. They're practically harmless to humans, especially in this tank." Luna said.
Giulia stiffened up, feeling defensive. "Please, I wasn't scared. Just my instincts acting up, that's all."
"Hmm, right."
The two girls hadn't said much to each other after the confrontation Giulia had with the couple at the touch pool. Giulia wasn't sure why Luna had been so quiet after that had happened. Did she embarrass Luna in front of everyone? She was just doing what she felt was right. Maybe she should have let it go and not acted so impulsively. Giulia's act first and ask questions later attitude always got her into trouble.
"I'm sorry about earlier…" Giulia said finally.
Luna raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"It's just...what they said back there about the little girl ticked me off so much. Sometimes when I get really mad in public I forget I'm even in public at all. I didn't mean to embarrass you."
Is that what Giulia thought? That Giulia embarrassed her? No… Luna just had never seen a human do something like that before.
Luna took Giulia's hands in hers. "Giulia, no. That's not it at all. I am not embarrassed. Did it surprise me? Yes. But what you did for that girl was so...admirable."
"Really?" Giulia smiled.
"Yes. Honestly, I should have been the one to do that...I guess I'm so used to people not talking back to people who say things like that that I just...stopped fighting back…" Luna said, ashamed she had just been a bystander in the situation. She turned to look back at the fish in the tank, letting go of Giulia.
"Well, don't feel too bad. You're not obligated to get into it with people like that."
"No...but I still should have said something along with you."
Giulia's eyes focused on a sea turtle that swam by. "I hear that sea creatures are more prominent in Genova. Some even walk around in the rain for everyone to see. You don't see sea creatures do that here . There's probably even more there than there are here."
Luna sighed. "Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they aren't in town. They're just...really good at hiding. I mean, you could be living right next to a sea creature family and you wouldn't even know."
Giulia's eyes widened at that but she kept quiet.
Luna continued. "Sure, Genova is nice and, quote-unquote, 'progressive', but a lot of sea creatures prefer it here. They like the simplicity and quietness of Portorosso. And it's closer to the ocean water. Sure there are plenty to be seen in Genova but there are a lot in Portorosso too, I assure you."
Giulia then felt sheepish. "...I didn't mean to come across as sounding ignorant..."
Luna froze and she tensed up quickly turning to face Giulia again. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that. I don't think you're ignorant at all, Giulia. After what happened back there you are definitely not ignorant." She took Giulia's hand and intertwined their fingers together. "After that...I can see that you're an ally to sea creatures...and that's really cool."
Giulia looked down at their intertwined fingers. She gently squeezed Luna's hand in hers. Luna's hand was warm and comforting and the feeling that she had felt when Luna ran her fingers through her hair earlier, returned. Giulia couldn't exactly pinpoint the name of the feeling but it made her feel like she was lighter than air. The colours of blue that radiated off the water were now shining onto Luna, making her look breathtaking. Like she belonged in the underwater environment.
Luna blushed and started slightly twisting around her braid with her other hand in nervousness. She was thinking about doing it. She was thinking about showing Giulia the truth. She could do it right now. They were practically alone. No one would see. Her parents would never know. Giulia wouldn't scream. She accepted Luca. Giulia could accept her too in the same way as Luca.
Luna took a deep breath before speaking again. "Giulia…?"
"Mmhm?"
Luna, with the hand that was holding Giulia's, slowly raised their hands to their faces between them. Their fingers still intertwined. Giulia looked at their hands and then back at Luna, her eyebrows raised, expectant.
Luna then closed her eyes and tapped into focusing on the change. Pushing the will to show her scales on the hand that was holding Giulia's. Luna, with her eyes still closed, had been expecting to feel Giulia's hand twitch in hers or hear her gasp or something . But nothing. When Luna finally opened her eyes again she could see that both hands showed only human skin. Nothing had happened. Her pink scales hadn't appeared as she commanded them to. Her hand still showed human skin. She let out a slow and shaky gasp. This couldn't possibly mean...
"Luna, is everything okay? You look pale." Giulia asked, her face full of concern.
Luna let go of Giulia's hand. "Y-yeah. I, um, Y-you wait here, I'll be back. I'm j-just going to go to the bathroom."
Luna, turning on her heel, rushed away before Giulia could say anything. Giulia watched her in confusion. What had just happened? What was Luna going to say and why did she close her eyes like she had been trying to focus on something? What happened that had her so spooked? She hoped Luna's behaviour wasn't due to anything she had done. All Giulia knew now was that her heart had finally stopped rapidly pounding against her chest.
Luca and Alberto were now on top of the tower waiting for the stars to come out. Alberto was making up a fire in the fire pit. Once the firewood was put together Alberto looked around for his box of matches but couldn't seem to find it.
"Looking for something?" Luca asked.
"Damn. I think my box of matches is downstairs. Alberto went to get up but Luca held out his hand to stop him.
"I can get it. Where are they?"
"Uh...okay, um, they're in my desk drawer."
Luca nodded and then went down the steps. When he reached the bottom floor it was a little dark to see but since he wasn't human he could see fine in the dark. Good thing sea creatures had excellent vision in the dark. Luca went to Alberto's desk, opened the drawer and picked up the box of matches. Before he turned to leave he noticed the glowing fish drawing that he had admired the day before was still on the desk. Luca wondered what had inspired Alberto to draw such a beautiful scene. Maybe he'd ask him.
Luca went back up the steps and handed Alberto the matches. Their hands brushed as Luca passed it to him, making both of them shiver and look away from each other. Luca went over to the other side of the fire pit and sat down. He faced up towards the sky. The stars were slowly starting to show up one by one. Alberto lit up the match and threw it into the fire. And then he laid down next to Luca but a few centimetres away from him.
They didn't say much to each other. They just watched the sky as the stars started to spread in the evening sky. Every star seemed to shine brighter than the last.
"Whoa…" Luca let out quietly.
"What did I tell ya," Alberto said. "Isn't it great?"
"Yeah…" Luca thought back to the drawing. "Hey, Alberto? Your fish drawing. What inspired you to draw that?"
Alberto then laughed a bit awkwardly. "Oh, haha. Uh...it's pretty dumb. You'd just laugh."
"Try me."
Alberto sighed. "Okay, well...when I was a kid...I used to believe that the stars were actually glowing anchovies, swimming around in the sky."
Luca turned his head to look at Alberto, one of his eyebrows raised. " Really? "
"Yeeeah...and I also thought the moon was the giant yellow anchovy you saw in the middle of the drawing...I don't know. I was just a stupid kid." then he thought for a moment. "I guess nothing's really changed." he chuckled bitterly.
"Hey, you're not stupid Alberto," Luca said, absent-mindedly moving closer to the taller boy.
"Well, it's not like I'm really that good at anything. I suck at school and I'm pretty much a disappointment to everyone."
"Okay, now that's stupid," Luca said suddenly.
"What?"
"What you thought the stars were as a kid is creative actually. Also, what do you mean 'you're not good at anything'? You're really good at art. Like, really, really good at it. And I know you're trying at your other subjects. You were willing to get someone to tutor you. That shows you care about doing well." Luca got a bit closer to him. "And if you're willing to make an effort like that then... I don't think you're a disappointment."
Alberto turned to look at Luca only to find him closer to him than he was before. Alberto's eyes widened.
"Why do you think that about yourself?" Luca asked.
Alberto wasn't sure if he should've moved further away from Luca. Did Luca even realize how close they were right now? Alberto's face flushed and he looked away from Luca again. Trying to look anywhere but him. His eyes focused on the sky.
"Well, maybe it's the people I surround myself with. I don't really even like them that much but they're my crowd. I should be able to fit in but I don't really. The ones that do talk to me here and there are only there to kiss up to me."
"Kiss up? Why do they kiss up to you?"
Alberto tensed. He was getting a bit too far into the personal stuff. How did Luca do that? He always seemed to manage to almost get his walls down. He decided to deflect.
"Eh, it doesn't matter. People do that all that time. It comes with my rep. They all want to be on my good side so I don't pummel them I guess." he said leaning back to lay down.
Luca pouted. He didn't fully believe that that was where his answer was going but maybe he was overstepping boundaries. Baby steps. Luca laid down as well.
"So...what made you wanna come back here?" Alberto asked.
"What, you don't believe I came to that decision on my own?"
Alberto chuckled. "No."
Luca sighed. "Well, okay, you'd be right on that."
"Mmhm."
"Shut up." Luca laughed. "Let's just say, someone, in a way, convinced me that if I didn't come I'd be missing out on an experience," Luca said as he took off his glasses to better see the sky.
"I see..." Alberto said with a smile.
Suddenly a shooting star flew across the sky.
"WHOA! Look at that!" Luca said with excitement. "Did you make a wish?"
"Pshh, making wishes on stars is for kids." Alberto waved off.
Luca blushed in embarrassment. "Heh...right… never mind."
Alberto side glanced at Luca. Maybe that was a bit mean but Alberto said nothing. The idea of wishing on stars seemed useless to him. As if doing something so simple would really give you exactly what you wanted. It was a nice thought though. Watching the star leave their line of sight, a tiny part of him wished that he'd meet the one who convinced Luca to come back and thank them one day.
"This really is amazing though. I've never seen a view like this before. It's really cool you get to have this all to yourself…have you ever shown anyone else this before?" Luca asked.
Alberto then turned his head fully at him again "...No. I've actually never brought anyone to this island before. Just you…"
Luca's eyes widened and his face slowly started to heat up. He turned his head to look at Alberto, now seeing that he was looking at him straight back. Alberto was so close. He almost forgot to breathe.
"...Really?"
Alberto smirked. "Really really."
Luca's gaze finally broke and he cast his eyes downward sheepishly. He felt all warm inside. He felt special… he noticed their hands were now right next to each other in between them, almost touching. Alberto's eyes followed Luca's downward, now also noticing this. Luca didn't know where it came from but something in him got bold. Slowly he moved his hand closer to Alberto's. Luca was expecting him to move his hand away but he didn't. It just stayed where it was, so Luca kept moving his hand towards Alberto's until they finally touched. Both boys sharply inhaled. Then Alberto took it one step closer and slowly linked their pinky fingers together. To Alberto's shock, Luca didn't pull away. They both then exhaled, praying each other couldn't hear the other's heart pounding.
What the hell were they doing and why did it make their stomachs feel like dozens of fish were doing flips in them? One of them had to break the tension fast before they panicked.
Alberto cleared his throat. "So, uh...y-you seem to, uh, know a lot about the stars and junk."
"Y-yeah…" Luca replied shakily.
"Then, uh...d-do you know what shooting stars do? I always, uh...wondered that."
"Oh...w-well, um…they're meteors, tiny specks of dust from space that burn up super far away from Earth. They're really fast. Meteor showers are even cooler!" Luca was relieved that Alberto was able to calm him down.
"Huh..neat...Be cool to see a meteor shower I bet."
"Yeah…"
Back at the Marcovaldo's house
After Luna had run off to the bathroom she came back to Giulia saying that she 'just really had to go to the bathroom' . Thankfully Giulia hadn't asked any questions about it and they eventually decided to go home. Luna had insisted she walk Giulia home after they got off the bus and now they had reached her house.
The day was over but Luna felt like it hadn't ended well for her. Something was wrong with her but she didn't know what. She had decided to backtrack on revealing herself to Giulia. If she couldn't bring herself to change at will then something wasn't right with the decision.
"I had a really amazing time today. You really made me forget that my life is kind of a mess right now." Giulia said.
Luna blushed "Oh. Well, it was no biggie. I'm glad I-"
Giulia interrupted her with a big hug. "I'm so lucky I have you to be there for me. Thank you…" she whispered into her ear.
Luna shivered and her face went completely red. She was glad it had gotten dark out so Giulia wouldn't see how ridiculous she probably looked.
"W-well, as I was saying, I'm glad I could help. I'm happy you had fun. I did too."
"Cool."
Luna wanted to give her just one slight peck on her rosy cheek but she held back. If she did she'd ruin everything and just confuse her so she held back. Being sure not to make any more physical contact or she'd break her composure.
"I should be getting home now. Buona notte." Luna said finally.
"Buona notte. Maybe next time you could come over and meet my dad?" Giulia asked, sounding hopeful.
"Yeah, sure."
Giulia then went inside. Luna was about to head straight home. But she just couldn't keep what was going on with her a secret anymore or she was going to pop. She decided to stop at Luca's house. She had to talk to him; he was the only one who would understand.
She went next door and knocked on the Paguro's door. An old woman answered.
"Hello, young lady. Who might you be?" she asked.
"Oh, hi. I'm Luna. Luca's friend from school. Is he home right now?" Luna asked.
Grandma Paguro could see that the girl looked like she was in distress.
"I'm sorry but no. I saw him leave on his bike to go somewhere a while ago. It's been a few hours since then. I'm sure he'll get an earful from his parents when he gets back. He should hurry home soon though. It is a school night. You should go home too. It's getting late."
Luna looked down in disappointment. "Alright. Well, tell him I stopped by."
The old woman nodded and closed the door. But Luna couldn't bring herself to walk away now. This was killing her. Luna decided to sit on the porch and wait for Luca to come back.
Luca and Alberto had dozed off later into the night. When the fire died out while they slept, the air had gotten cold, causing Luca to inattentively scooch closer to Alberto for body warmth. Alberto's arm had reflexively draped over Luca's back, both completely content.
The two boys had stayed like that for almost an hour until Luca shot up. He checked the time on his watch. It was now way later than he had originally intended to stay.
"Oh no! I fell asleep!" Luca yelled out loud, not even realizing the position he and Alberto had been in. He quickly grabbed his glasses.
Alberto woke up in a daze. "Huh? Wha?"
But Luca was already gone. Alberto, too tired to care, fell back to sleep but felt a chill overcome him now that he was laying alone.
On Luca's Street.
Luca raced to his house on his bike. He double-checked the time. It was getting even later. He had felt bad for not saying goodbye to Alberto but he was going to be in so much trouble if he didn't hurry. He couldn't believe he had lost track of time. He had no idea what had caused him to fall into a deep sleep like that. It felt so...nice.
Luca's house had finally come into view. As he got closer he could see someone sitting on the porch. Luca squinted his eyes. It was Luna. She was hugging her legs, her head resting in between her knees.
Luca parked his bike and got closer to the girl. "Luna?"
Luna's head shot up, hearing her name. Seeing that Luca had finally come back home she stood up and ran to him, hugging him.
"Luca. Something's wrong with me!" Luna cried, finally breaking into tears.
"Wha? What do you mean?" he asked, rubbing her back and trying to console her.
"I-I can't do it anymore!"
"Can't do what?"
"I can't change at will anymore!"
(A/N) If you don't know what the colour "True to You" is, type in "true to you colour" it's a very nice colour.
If you wanna see a visual of the fish Giulia and Luna are looking at, it's this fish here. - attachments/392847645133111297/906024513802764318/IMG_
So, what did you guys think of the Luca and Massimo scene? I find no one talks about their dynamic. It's underplayed a lot in the fandom and I don't see much interaction with them. I like the idea of Luca looking to him for guidance as well. Y'all can thank Massimo for being the push Luca needed to go back to the tower.
Up until now, I've noticed I have never touched upon how other sea creature families, who don't hide, are treated first hand in this universe before. I thought this would be the perfect time to do that. So I'm glad I gave myself a reason to. Hope you guys liked the scene where Giulia schools the bigot couple.
Luna can't change into her sea form at will anymore? Oh no! What could be the reason?!
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Reviews are very much appreciated! They really do motivate me and make me feel good. I read every one.