silenzio bruno.

chapter 2.

a few days ago...

alberto wakes up. it's a typical day; he needs to help massimo with deliveries, so after breakfast and some coffee he loads up the wagon and goes door to door, just like giulia would do in the summer. it takes a few hours- afterward, he puts on his lifeguard shirt and heads over to the shore.

alberto enjoys being a lifeguard for porto rosso. he's treated as an equal by everyone there, even though he's a sea monster- he's also made some friends that turned out to also be sea monsters, other than luca of course.

there are less people at the shore now that it's starting to get a bit cold, but alberto watches carefully over those that are there. after a short time, he can see something shiny below the surface a few miles away. curiosity gets the better of him and he swims toward it.

what is this...? alberto picks it up; it's some kind of necklace. he thinks he's heard it called a 'dog tag' before. on the other side, alberto finds a name scratched into the metal.

"no way..."

this is his father's name... giovenzio. had he dropped it? is he... here?

alberto peeks over the surface of the water, at the island he used to live on before he met luca. what if he finally came back?

alberto takes the necklace with him as he wanders over to the island.

"hello?" he calls out. there's no response, so alberto climbs up the wall of the tower.

"anybody here...?"

"alberto? is that you?"

santa mozzarella. it's him. alberto can't believe his eyes.

"dad...?" he whispers. "w... why are you here?"

"i needed to see you, alberto. i... i messed up. i want to see you again. i want to take care of you."

"what??"

alberto feels a wide range of emotions. sure, there's a part of him that's happy; he thought he'd never see his father again. but there's a bigger part that is angry; why, after all this time, does his father think that he can just walk back into his life?

"i don't need you to take care of me anymore... i'm older now. i take care of myself."

"alberto." giovenzio puts his hand on his son's shoulder. "you've been living in that human town, haven't you? it's too dangerous. you can't stay there."

"dad, it's not like that." alberto brushes his dad's hand off. "they know i'm a sea monster. they care about me."

"and how long will it be until they change their minds and kill you? you can't trust them, alberto."

"and i can trust you? i don't think so." alberto tosses the necklace, which giovenzio catches. "i think you dropped this. i'm going home."

"alberto! give me a chance. come with me."

alberto leaves. he decides not to mention this to anyone; if his dad is really serious, he'll come to town and find alberto himself.

later that night, alberto is eating dinner with massimo. it's pasta- though alberto has learned how to properly use a fork, he still has a habit of getting an unnecessarily large amount for each bite.

"alberto, you got more mail today from luca."

"really!?" alberto says, mouth full. he gets up from the table and scrambles to grab the envelope. the letter reads:

ciao, alberto! <3

recently, me and giulia started going to this new ice cream place that is down the street from us. it tastes really good, almost like the ice cream down in porto rosso. maybe when you visit during winter break, we can go together and try some. i hope that you and massimo are doing well. please tell mom and dad that i say hi and that i am doing well.

love you, luca <3

alberto is smiling as he reads, still shoveling pasta into his mouth with his free hand. suddenly, there's a knock at the door.

"i'll get it!!" alberto bounds from the table, letter in hand, and swings the door open. he assumes it is luca's parents or one of the townspeople.

it is not.

"alberto," giovenzio says. "i'm here. will you please listen now? can we go for a walk?"

alberto's smile fades, and he glances back at the kitchen for a moment before walking out and closing the door behind him.

"fine."

this is the last time alberto is seen in porto rosso.