Disclaimer: I do not own Luca or any of the associated characters.

A Note from the Author:

I had considered posting tomorrow, but then reconsidered knowing that many readers may be preoccupied on Dec. 25th. If you are celebrating tomorrow, I wish you the happiest of holidays with your loved ones. May this chapter be my gift to you. Thank you for reading.

Chapter 9: The Truth Speaks

Luca breathed deeply. The air was warm on his skin, the smell was sweet. He revved the clutch on the Vespa, and he charged forward into the lovely path ahead. Fields of yellow flowers were blooming for miles around him, but instead of a glowing blue sky and bright sun above him, Luca saw an endless expanse of stars. The skyline was painted with bold pinks, vibrant purples, jeweled blues. His favorite planet, Saturn, hung low and large in the sky, shining in place of what would be the sun. Other planets and their moons danced circles around the sky while the golden flowers swayed below. Luca smiled. It was beautiful. It was perfect. The only thing missing was—

Luca…

Alberto's warm, strong arms wrapped around him from behind. Luca sighed. Now it was perfect. He pressed himself backwards to better feel Alberto's body behind him, relishing in the warmth and security it made him feel. Alberto leaned around to plant a sweet kiss behind Luca's right ear, sending fluttering tingles down his neck. He revved the accelerator again, and they charged forward—together—into their new adventure…

Alberto…

Slowly, like candle wax melting across his vision, all the colors slowly began to blur into one faded, orange hue. It was a pleasant color at first, but slowly it grew brighter and brighter, until it suddenly felt too uncomfortable for Luca to continue gazing at it. As though in a daze, Dream Luca tried to shield his eyes from the glow only to discover that his arm suddenly felt extraordinarily heavy… and there was a horrible pounding in his head… and a searing ache in leg…

With a groan, Luca twisted uncomfortably in the brightness of the now rising sun. Groggily, he tried to tilt away from it, but there was a heavy weight on his chest. Luca cracked one eye open to see a blurry bush of tight brown curls, which he had only a moment to comprehend before the shape rose to reveal instead the face of Alberto, now almost fully dried into his human form save for patches of purple scales under his eyes.

"Luca!"

Still dazed, Luca felt himself being swept up into a tight embrace. He couldn't quite understand what was happening or how he'd arrived in this situation, but he could smell Alberto's scent in his nostrils and felt the comforting pressure of a body pressed against his own and it felt…nice. Despite all the individual pains he was experiencing, this was enjoyable, and he leaned instinctively into the embrace. He tried again to lift his arms to hug Alberto back, but just as before his limbs felt dull and heavy, and as his consciousness returned slowly, so did his memories…

"Alberto? You're okay!"

Alberto pulled away to gaze at him, and shock and relief washed over Luca like a heavy reef wave. "You've been out cold for hours, and you're worried if I'm okay?" Alberto snorted. "I'm fine! But you took a harpoon to the leg!"

"A harpoon?" Luca drunkenly took stock of his hastily bandaged leg. He had no recollection of getting speared, but the evidence was clearly there.

"We keep them on the boat if ever we see a shark getting too risky…" Alberto whispered. "He—Edoardo—threw it at you…" his voice trailed off.

"Edoardo!" The night's events were slowly reshaping in Luca's memory. "Where is he? Did he hurt you?" Luca eyed the nasty bruise that was forming on Alberto's forehead and a bloodied and swollen knot on his cheekbone from where he'd been struck. "What happened?"

Alberto couldn't believe after everything that had happened. Luca was still only concerned for his well-being. He clasped Luca's head gingerly in both his hands, stretching his fingers deep into his curly hair. "I don't know what happened," he answered honestly, and a little guiltily. "When I left him, he wasn't moving, but if he had left the boat turned off it would've floated inland by now with high tide…" He swallowed and looked down shamefully. "He might've gotten away… but I don't even care." He quickly glanced up to look Luca square in the eye. "I don't care what happens to that bastard. I only wanted to get you to safety."

Luca stared into Alberto's deep green eyes. All at once all the feelings he'd been trying to deny himself for weeks began erupting forward. He hadn't been so close to Alberto since their fight, but this was different. He was closer now than he had ever been before, and Luca suddenly felt as though an electric charge was coursing through his body. No, not now… not now! He swallowed thickly. He's your best friend. And he's not mad at you anymore. Just… be grateful for that.

"So… you're okay, right?" he whispered shakily.

Alberto gave him an indiscernible look and ducked his head in disbelief. "You're still asking if I'm okay?" He looked up again to peer at his friend. There was a softness in his gaze that hadn't been there before, and Luca felt chills down his neck as Alberto's fingers flexed amongst his soft brown curls. "Yes, Luca. I'm okay. Thanks to you… I don't know how you found us but if you hadn't stopped Edoardo, I'd probably be locked in a fish tank by now…" He leaned forward gently and pressed his forehead to Luca's.

"You saved me, Luca."

Luca kept his eyes open, even when Alberto leaned in so close it made his vision cross. He was positive Alberto could feel his rapidly pounding heart through his scalp, but Alberto said nothing else. He leaned back slightly and gave Luca an odd look. His green eyes roamed over Luca's face as though searching for something, but before Luca could ask what it might be, Alberto suddenly leaned in a second time…

…and kissed him.

Luca would've gasped, but his mouth was connected to Alberto's. His eyes grew wide with shock. Alberto was so close he couldn't really see him, but he could feel the pressure against his lips and the taste of sea water mixed with a flavor which he'd never experienced before. The kiss was sweet and gentle, but it ended as quickly as it began. Alberto pulled away to see a shocked and trembling Luca. Panic enveloped him.

"Luca?" He hadn't been prepared to see Luca looking so scared. "I-I'm sorry… I just thought… uh—"

Alberto leaned back on his haunches and rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously, unable to find the words he needed. The normally confident, fool-hardy young man suddenly looked nothing like himself. Luca felt he wanted to comfort him somehow, but he was still too stunned from shock. He felt his head might explode, if not from the pounding ache he still felt then certainly from the dozens of thoughts now all competing to burst forth in his memory right then. Every moment he'd ever spent with Alberto was crashing through his consciousness. Meeting Alberto in the goatfish pasture—finding his hideaway of human treasures—their schemes to buy a Vespa and take over the world—winning the Porto Rosso Cup together after revealing they were Sea Creatures—Alberto using their winnings to help send Luca off to school—every summer and winter returning to see Alberto in Porto Rosso—all the silly inventions and schemes they and Giulia tried to build—seeing Alberto again this summer, this time in a whole new way—laying under the stars on Alberto's apartment rooftop—feeling the jealousy envelop him after seeing Alberto and the blonde woman together—his fight with Alberto on the island—seeing Edoardo hunched over Alberto and knowing in that moment that he would do whatever it took to save him—Dream Alberto embracing him from behind as they rode off together under the solar system…

And now this—an experience Luca would never believe could happen outside of his imagination. Alberto had… Alberto had kissed him. And for all the words that Luca wanted to say in that moment, of every feeling he wished he could convey to Alberto right then, it was all he could do to manage: "Y-you… you kissed me?"

Alberto glanced sheepishly at him. "…Yeah."

"But—" Luca grimaced as he pulled himself to more of a seated position. "I thought… you liked…" He couldn't think of any nicer way of saying it. "—Girls?"

Alberto's eyebrows stretched upward into his forehead. His hand dropped to his lap.

"Luca…"

Again, the usually confident young man seemed lost for words, but at least this time a handsome smirk was tugging at the edge of his lips—lips which Luca was now unwittingly fixated on as comprehension was slowly dawning on what had just happened. Alberto shifted his position closer, causing Luca to take better notice of his uncovered torso and the lean muscles rippling under his deep, bronzed skin. The sunrise, now rising slowly higher in the sky behind, made it appear to Luca that he was glowing. He looked so beautiful.

Alberto reached forward to take Luca's hand in his own and he measured his words carefully. These were words he'd needed to say for a long time, but suddenly felt as though he hadn't had time to practice how he wanted to say them. With a deep breath, he lifted his emerald eyes to meet Luca's amber ones.

"Yes," he began, "I, uh, like girls just fine… but there's something you should know." He continued gingerly, pausing or looking away whenever he felt embarrassed, but Luca never once broke eye contact. "Luca, you are my best, best friend. You saved me from the island all those years ago. You helped me start a new life in Porto Rosso. I have a family again because of you…"

"I've always felt closer to you than anyone else, and at first I think it truly was because you were like a brother to me… but as we got older, I began to feel different. Every time you came home, I was so, so excited… and every August and January when you had to go away, I was devastated."

"I think that's why Massimo started handing off more and more of the business to me. When you and Giulia were away at school, I was just worthless most days… I didn't like doing anything but working the fishing buggy kept me busy and I was good at it, and it distracted me from how lonely I felt."

Luca swallowed hard, feeling like he might start crying for how shameful he felt. How could he have left his best friend to rot away like this while he was off gallivanting to school, only caring about himself? But he didn't have a chance to say anything, because Alberto continued: "Anyways, about two years ago I—Well, I started to feel like my excitement at having you come home was… more intense than it should've been. I didn't feel the same way about seeing Giulia again every break, and that made me feel sort of guilty. Why was I more excited to see you than her if you are both my best friends?"

"I started to realize that I felt… different with you." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "But I could tell that you didn't feel that way about me. You acted the same as you always had, and it made me feel like I was somehow wrong, so I tried to hide it. I tried to just be normal, you know? And enjoy our time together when you were home."

"But then… you left again last fall. And we had a really busy season. It kicked my ass pulling so many shifts, and that's why Pops hired Edoardo to help. And as winter was rolling in, I was so relieved that you'd be coming home again soon because I was so beat down and I really missed you…"

"But then—you didn't come home. We got a letter that you and Giulia were staying in Genova for the winter and I… I…" Alberto squeezed Luca's hand suddenly. "Argh, I was so mad. It was all I was looking forward to and I thought… I thought you would've missed me too, but I felt like when we received that letter I knew I didn't mean the same to you as you meant to me. Because if I did, you would've come home."

He couldn't even look at Luca now, but angry tears were brimming in his eyes. "So, I decided then to remake myself. I threw myself into work. I stopped swimming anymore, because even being in my Thalassino form made me think of you. I started living only as a human and I began… dating around and hooking up with Porto Rosso gals because I wanted to forget how empty I felt. And everything I did was sort of beginning to work. I finally felt like my own person again. I got my own place, and the business was going good, and I felt like I was finally over all those feelings I felt…until you came back."

"I tried to prepare myself for your return," he admitted. "I wanted to stay angry at you… but I couldn't. When it was almost summer, I started to get nervous. I got caught somewhere in between trying to not care that you were coming back but also feeling like I wasn't doing enough to keep up with you. I wanted to prove that I had made something of myself while you were gone, but nothing I had done felt like it was enough compared to you. You were becoming this super impressive, accomplished scholar and I was… just a lughead fisherman. So, I checked out every book on astronomy the library had and tried to catch up on everything you might've learned in that fancy school, but that was a bust. And then I tried working out more, so I could at least look more impressive and not be just the scrawny kid you left behind. I wanted… to make you regret leaving me behind, Luca."

He finally locked eyes with Luca again, searching for something in Luca's silence. With a deep breath, he continued, "I know that sounds really selfish and stupid… and it was. But when I saw you again…" he chewed on his lip, "Gah—It was like all that work I'd put myself through didn't matter. Because I saw you standing there at that fountain and immediately all those feelings came back. But there was something different about you, too. I wasn't the only one that had changed. You looked so grown up. You were like a different person…"

Me? Thought Luca. Compared to how much Alberto had changed, Luca felt like he was little more than just a taller, ganglier version of his childhood self. But he didn't have time to mull this over, because Alberto was suddenly gazing at him very intently. "Now I know I might've just been imagining things… but there were moments when we were together that I thought… well, I thought that…" Suddenly his anxiety returned, so he cleared his throat again and jumped into a different line of thought. "Ahem—I thought there might've been something more that you weren't telling me… But it wasn't what I thought it was."

His long dark eyelashes dipped downward, and he looked away from Luca. "I had started to think certain things… about us. About our friendship. But when you told me about Milan… it all came crashing down. I lost it." He lifted Luca's hand in his own and rested his forehead on it in almost a shameful way. "I'm so sorry, Luca… for everything I said. I was just… confused and scared and angry."

"But even after everything… you came for me. You risked your life to save mine…" Alberto was visibly shaking now, the shock and terror of the night's events finally catching up to him. "When you fell in the water… w-when Edoardo…" He couldn't bring himself to say it. "I-I brought you here, but I… I thought you were dying, Luca…" He pressed his forehead heavily into Luca's hand, his voice beginning to break. "And I begged for you not to leave me again… I told myself that if you woke up, I would finally tell you the t-truth."

He finally lifted his eyes again to meet Luca's. "I love you, Luca."

Both men stared at each other in stunned silence. They stayed there for several moments, neither saying anything else while the water gently swish, swished over the rocky shore and the early morning sun climbed higher and higher in the sky. Alberto felt he had plenty more to say, but he waited with baited breath for Luca's response.

Luca found his voice. It was rasped and shaky. "Y-you love me?"

Alberto nodded slowly. "I mean… yeah, I do. And I understand if you don't feel the same way. I just needed you to know the truth…"

Luca stared in disbelief for a moment, but the butterflies in the pit of his stomach finally took flight. They fluttered up into his chest and into his limbs, lifting his unoccupied hand to grasp Alberto at the crook of his neck and pull him toward him. This time it was Luca who initiated the kiss.

This one was slightly clumsier, as Alberto was caught by surprise. Luca went over every word Alberto had said in his mind. He wanted to tell him his own truth, too. How he had felt lightheaded and nervous every time he was with him, how he had such a hard time drawing his gaze away from how handsome Alberto was, how envious he felt at seeing Alberto with someone else and wishing instead that it was him. He tried to convey these feelings in this one, innocent kiss, but it wasn't enough. Luca pulled away only slightly enough to press his forehead to Alberto's again and whispered, with tight constrictions in his chest, "I love you, too."

It was unclear who delved in next. Luca was less practiced than his counterpart, but now having officially received an invitation, Alberto graciously took the lead. He arched his body over Luca's, allowing the more injured of the two to lay backward on the sand while Alberto met him with a feverish intensity. Luca grasped at Alberto's neck and shoulders, feeling he couldn't pull him close enough. He was enveloped in a fervor he didn't know he possessed, desperately trying to press himself as close to Alberto as possible. He wanted to feel all of him.

Alberto repositioned to straddle Luca from above, and he gingerly cradled Luca's head in his hand while continuing at his mouth. Their passion was only interrupted by brief gasps and pants as they fought against the instinct to breathe, desiring only to keep tasting each other as much as they possibly could. They suddenly had so much to catch up on—years of hidden longing were bursting forth from both of them. They might have continued for a small eternity if they had not been ripped back into reality when Alberto accidentally put too much pressure on Luca's injured leg, causing the young man to issue a strangled moan caught somewhere between pleasure and pain.

Alberto immediately leapt back. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

Luca winced as he leaned up onto his elbows, breathing shallowly and feeling dangerously lightheaded. "It's okay," he choked, though the terrible piercing pain had unmistakably returned now that the wound had been bothered. He tried to hide it, hoping they could continue where they left off. Alberto was too keen to be fooled.

"We need to get you back to Porto Rosso." He said gruffly. "I'm sorry, I got carried away."

"Don't be sorry," Luca panted, "I'm not."

Alberto chuckled and offered him a sweet, genuine grin. It was the kind of smile that Luca hadn't seen from Alberto in so many years he'd almost forgotten what it looked like. Alberto leaned forward again, but only to plant a sweet peck on Luca's mouth.

"I'm not sorry for kissing you, believe me. I can't tell you how long I've wanted to do that, and I plan to do it again later." Luca's cheeks burned hotly at this confession, but Alberto continued, "But right now we need to warn Porto Rosso about Edoardo, and we need to get you properly patched up."

Luca chewed his lip and nodded. Alberto stood and helped Luca slowly to his feet. Luca tried to withhold his groan of pain, but the new position sent sharp needle-like lances shooting up his side and he immediately felt nauseous. He'd evidently lost quite a bit of blood and his body wasn't yet fully recuperated, but they needed to hurry back to Porto Rosso as quickly as possible.

"Just hold on to me," Alberto instructed as they stumbled unevenly into the water. "I'll do all the swimming. Just try to take deep gulps while we're underwater and stay alert if you can, okay?"

Luca nodded drunkenly, suddenly fearful that if he tried to speak, he would empty what little stomach contents he might have.

"Ready?" Alberto asked. "Let's go." Together, both men dipped into the cold, clear water, and plunged onward.

Only one more chapter to go, folks. Thank you for taking this ride with me.

Until the next and final update,

-Olly