Chapter Text
Daniela had journeyed to the surface world only a handful of times since Luca had left for school.
It wasn’t that she hated mingling amongst the humans. It was just all so foreign to her that she didn’t make it a habit to leave the comfort of the ocean as much as her son had—that adventurous pull completely absent from her body. She enjoyed Signor Marcovaldo’s company whenever he donned the scuba gear Alberto leant him so that he could visit their aquatic home; and vice versa whenever the fisherman would invite her, Lorenzo, and her mother over to exchange good food and humorous pleasantries that were mostly about their children.
It felt a little strange at first, having only known this man a total of a few days before her son was off to pursue his studies. In fact, she hardly knew anything about him. But she promised Luca she would put in the effort to get to know Massimo better, especially since the man’s former partner was allowing her son to stay in her home for the entire school year. And if Massimo was kind enough to open up his home to her Luca during the entirety of her and Lorenzo’s search, then Daniela figured she could trust him.
A new summer had arrived faster than she could’ve ever imagined, and Daniela did absolutely nothing to hold herself back the moment Luca stepped off that train. She rushed to her son as quickly as her human legs would allow her to go, scooping him up and crushing his slender body before he was desperately gasping for air. She could feel the tears streaming down her face, leaving stripes of bluish green behind as she peppered Luca’s entire face with joyful kisses.
Her son was home once more.
It didn’t take long for nightfall to come on that special day filled with warm welcomes and casual conversations surrounded by plenty of food; curtaining the little town of Portorosso in a blanket of inky black and little twinkling dots of light. Stars, she remembered Luca telling her, his face beaming with pride as he told her all about the things he learned about those dazzling little balls of fire hanging above them.
Daniela could feel her own swell of pride listening to her son ramble on and on, every word that passed through his lips filled with such a fiery passion that it made her giggle every time he’d look back at her. Her baby boy was so smart.
She reached a hand towards Lorenzo, squeezing it affectionately as the two watched Luca and his friends joke around and converse with one another, basking in the glow of the string of porch lights hanging decoratively across Massimo’s backyard. It was Giulia and Luca’s first night back in Portorosso and both families took it upon themselves to commemorate such a special occasion with a bountiful feast, music, and good company. Her mother sat across the other side of the table, exchanging casual conversation with Massimo while sipping on a glass of brandy.
Daniela couldn’t remember the last time she felt so at peace.
“Oh man, I love this song!”
Glancing over towards the kids, Daniela watched as Alberto eagerly rushed to the middle of the backyard, dragging a reluctant Luca behind him. Though she had seen his confidence grow thanks to Alberto coercing him out of his shell, Luca was still the adorably shy little boy Daniela had always known ever since he was born. Alberto brought out the best in him, from what she gathered, seeing her son erupt in a series of nervous laughter as he awkwardly stood in front of his best friend, the music blaring loudly from the speaker behind them.
The upbeat tempo and fast-paced instruments carried into the night, causing Alberto to move and shuffle around Luca, his hip connecting with her son’s in an attempt to get him to join him. Daniela smiled as Luca followed suit, rocking back and forth almost comically, his rhythm very offbeat with the music that was playing. Alberto didn’t seem to care, she noticed, even going as far as to cheer Luca on in a series of whoops and hollers.
Daniela swore she saw her son blush.
As the song continued, the two boys slowly found a rhythm together, feeding off each other’s energy like two starved children. They circled around each other, gliding and swaying to the beat of the music, their bodies so close together but not touching completely. Daniela watched in awe, her son and his best friend getting lost in their little dance, their eyes locked on one another with amused grins splayed across their faces.
This looked familiar.
Their energy felt familiar.
“Lorenzo…” Daniela breathed, her eyes never leaving the sight of her son and his best friend. She gasped when Luca apparently lost his footing, falling backwards right into Alberto’s arms. The two erupted in a fit of giggles before Alberto spun Luca around, his hands ghosting over her son’s hips for a brief moment before falling back into the rhythm they had created together. Just the two of them. Lost in their own little bubble that they built themselves, away from any distractions, any worries.
Just Luca and Alberto.
She almost didn’t hear Lorenzo when he finally acknowledged her, his eyebrow cocked quizzically before following her gaze. Daniela blindly reached for her partner’s hand, squeezing it tightly before a small smile tugged at her lips. “Look at them, Lorenzo. Look at our son.”
Lorenzo watched the scene before them, and it didn’t take him long before he realized why Daniela was so quick to grab his attention. His eyes shifted towards her, pointing in the direction of Luca and Alberto, almost at a loss for words. “Are they…?”
Daniela nodded, her heart bursting in a series of flutters as her mind backtracked to a time when she was young and just discovering the mystifying emotions that was first love. “They are.”
“But—” Lorenzo fumbled over his words, his palms opening and closing, as if trying to claw at the right thing to say. “But they’re so young.”
“Young love is always the most powerful.”
Daniela glanced over at her mother, her cheeks flush from one too many glasses of brandy. She nodded towards the boys in question, their foreheads ghosting over one another, shoving each other playfully before retiring back to their seats with Giulia. “He’s a good kid, mia figlia. They’re both good boys. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
“But that’s the thing,” Lorenzo chimed in. “They’re both boys.”
Her mother shrugged nonchalantly. “Love works in mysterious ways, Lorenzo. It comes without warning and sometimes hits you so hard, you’re left feeling as though you’ll never be able to take another breath again. But it’s a beautiful thing. An experience you get to share with another person for the rest of your life, if you’re lucky. It doesn’t care what gender you are or even if you’re a human or sea monster. All love cares about is finding two people to help it grow. Evolve. Morph into something pure and long-lasting. Don’t you want that for your son?”
He glanced over at Daniela, his eyes flitting from her to her mother to their son and back to her, his lips parted uncertainly before pressing together in a firm line. She offered her partner a smile, grabbing onto his hand and giving it a reassuring peck before dragging him behind her. “Come on,” she motioned with a nod. “Let’s go talk with him.”
--
Luca was a little confused when his parents suggested that Alberto and Giulia help clear the table and start packing up the leftovers. He figured they would’ve asked all three of them to help, but instead they urged him to sit down, both taking a seat next to him while his two best friends walked away in confusion. He felt a pang of discomfort bubble in his belly, but the reassuring smile his mom offered him was enough to help quell his uneasiness, even if it still left him a little confused.
Was he in trouble?
“This was nice,” his mom sighed, her eyes shining from the reflection of the bright string lights hanging above them. “Having our family back together again. It’s just like old times.”
Luca chuckled quietly, hugging his knees close to his chest. “Yeah, it is. I really started to miss all of this while I was away. You and Dad. Grandma. Signor Marcovaldo—”
“—And Alberto.” His mom finished before he got the chance to, her smile growing just a fraction wider than normal. She placed a hand over his own, giving it a gentle pat before glancing over at the two Underdogs clearing the table. “He really is a good friend, Luca. I could always count on him to bring by any letter you sent, even going as far as to read it to me, your father, and your grandma. There wasn’t a day that went by where he’d tell us how much he missed you and couldn’t wait for you to come back to Portorosso so you two could pick up where you left off. Spending all of summer getting into hijinks and swapping stories, even though you two pretty much covered everything that went on in your lives over the phone. I watched him work hard to make sure you had everything you needed while you attended school, picking up any extra shift that came his way while working as a salvataggio. He wanted nothing but the very best for you, Luca and he was determined to go through hell and high water to make sure you got the very best, even with you being hundreds of miles away.”
Luca could feel the fluttering inside his chest grow faster and faster with every word his mom spoke, his eyes trailing towards Alberto, who was now teasing Giulia over something that clearly made her huff in annoyance. He felt his lips tug in a soft smile, his arms pulling his legs closer towards his chest in a poor attempt to hide the bashful blush spreading across his freckled cheeks. He really did owe Alberto his life, knowing that his best friend would do quite literally anything to make sure he was taken care of. Protected. Just like the big fish watching over the little anchovies swimming amongst the galaxies and planets above.
“We saw the little dance you two were doing earlier.” His dad pointed out and Luca immediately felt mortified.
“Oh Neptune, you saw that?” he laughed, rubbing his hands across his face in embarrassment. “I tried telling Alberto that I’m not much of a dancer, but he insisted.”
His mother smiled fondly at him, her hand giving his own a tight little squeeze. “What your father is trying to insinuate is that the dance you two were doing wasn’t just you two shuffling about awkwardly. It actually had meaning behind it.”
Luca shot his mom a quizzical look. “What do you mean?”
His dad rubbed the back of his neck nervously, his gaze locked on the ground rather intensely. “W-Well, son. Uhm, you see, when a sea creature takes that big step from adolescence to adulthood, they start to go through some subtle and not so subtle changes in their behavior. You get taller, your voice starts changing, and as your interests start to gear towards finding a … a mate … your instincts start to take over.”
Luca’s brow furrowed skeptically, completely lost as to where this conversation was going. His mother must’ve sensed his discomfort, because she chimed with a gentle cough, placing her hand on top of his shoulder in assurance. “What your father means is sea creatures have a sort of … cultural custom, if you will, whenever someone comes into our life that we develop … strong feelings for.”
“O-Okay,” Luca started slowly, his eyes flitting from his mom to his dad. “But, what does this have to do with me and Alberto?”
“Well,” his mom continued, a coy smile playing at the corners of her lips. “When you two were dancing and playing around earlier, that was actually a courtship dance.”
“A courtship dance?”
His mother nodded in affirmation. “Yes. You see, Luca, when two sea creatures come together and form a bond that’s stronger than any current the ocean could ever muster, the two share an intimate dance with one another, promising the other that they will be there for the other through the harshest of storms; through thick and thin until their final moments in this world. This dance is reserved only for that special someone they meet and it’s exchanged in a series of lingering movements and silent devotion. Your father and I shared a courtship dance many years ago, promising that we will be there for one another no matter what. Until death do us part.”
His father smiled warmly at his mother, reaching behind Luca to grab at her hand, interlocking their fingers together in a silent promise. He still sat there confused, though, his head shaking as if to rescramble his racing thoughts so that they made better sense. “Wait. So you’re saying … that Alberto and I…?”
He let the words hang on his tongue for a moment, as if pondering their flavor before glancing towards his best friend in wonderment. He knew he had strong feelings for Alberto the moment their friendship started to develop. Those long, hot days filled with laughter and new discoveries as they explored everything the surface world had to offer them. Alberto taking his hand and guiding him through every adventure that he knew he’d never even dip his toe in if it weren’t for his best friend’s encouraging words. The dream they shared of one day owning a Vespa of their own, packing what little they had on their backs before riding off into the sunset. Just the two of them. Discovering a world bigger than Luca could ever imagine.
“Luca?” his mom’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts, her hand resting comfortably on his cheek. “Hey, look me in the eye. You know I love you, right? Your father, your grandma, Signor Marcovaldo. No matter what path you decide to take, whether it be with Alberto or not, you know that your family will always love and support whatever decisions the two of you make. I know I’ve made some mistakes with you in the past, thinking I knew what was best for you by changing who you were and sending you to live in The Deep. But that was before I truly witnessed the lengths you were willing to go through for your friend. For him. Your love for that boy is as clear as the ocean water in Portorosso.”
Luca felt his heart skip a beat, his hand draping over his chest absentmindedly. “But … what if he doesn’t feel the same, Mom? What if that really was just a silly old dance? How do you trust your feelings so strongly when the chance of them getting crushed is so … possible?”
He felt a supportive pat on the back, his father offering him a humble smile. “Well, son. Sometimes you just gotta take the plunge and go for it.”
Luca felt a swell of hope fill his heart, his shoulders loosening before wrapping them tightly around both his parents, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. “Thank you, guys. I love you.”
“We love you too, son.” His mother smiled, planting a firm kiss on Luca’s cheek before pinching it affectionately. “Alright. Now that that talk is out of the way, let’s move on to the more serious talk. You’re fifteen now and I think we need to reiterate a few things about being … friendly with another person.”
“Uhh, Daniela. Do we really need to have that talk now? He already knows where guppies come from.”
Luca could already feel the discomfort percolating in his stomach again, his face changing a thousand different shades of red. “Wait, what’s going on?” He asked, the question falling on deaf ears.
“Well seeing as his interest clearly isn’t with the opposite sex, I don’t think we have to worry about any accidental egg fertilizations, Lorenzo. Besides, if he doesn’t hear it now, then he’s going to come crying to us in a matter of seconds with questions.” She looked down at Luca, clasping her hands together as if getting ready to start on a long project. “Okay, son, always remember that your body is a temple. No matter how much you love a person, always make sure they respect you and your boundaries. Don’t ever let them peer pressure you into something you don’t feel comfortable with, understand? I don’t care if that boy pays your way through graduate school. If you’re not ready to mate with him, then there’s no law that says you have to.”
“Mom!”
“Daniela!”
His mother shot them both a stern look, her arms folded defiantly. “What? Lorenzo, you and I were young once. They’re not going to be innocent forever. Once they start developing stronger feelings, eventually it’s going to lead up to more … intimate forms of courtship. I just want our son to know he can always come to us if he has questions.”
This isn’t happening, Luca thought in embarrassment, his face feeling as though it were about to spontaneously combust in an eruption of horrified mortification. What on Poseidon’s great blue sea did he do to deserve this?
“Now, another thing you need to understand is that foreplay is very important. And—”
“—Hey, Luca!” Alberto called out from the other side of the backyard, his arms full with leftovers and dirty plates. “Any chance your parents will let you come by and help us out with—”
“—Yes! Santa Mozzarella, yes! I’ll be right there!”