#giullia

Still, Alberto tries to speak to her but she’s flippant and claims she’s only passing through. He says this place is a haven for sea monsters and she should enjoy herself, but she insinuates it’s not a haven for all sea monsters, and she loves travel too much anyway.

Finally! The train comes into town and Luca and Giullia are back! The welcome is so exciting and warm and happy! Alberto’s so happy to have them back and listen to them talk about school and show them his Vespa! Giullia keeps mentioning having to research colleges while Luca is still considering what he wants to do.

The three eventually go out on the Vespa to have some fun, and it’s fine at first, but Alberto keeps getting bored too quickly and isn’t as excited about everything. Giullia is too excited/college-worried to notice immediately, but Luca does, and the two boys have a heart-to-heart in the water or on the island.

Alberto explains his issues and Luca says he wants to help but he doesn’t know what’s up either. Alberto thinks he should be happy, he finally has a family and support system, and he doesn’t want to be ungrateful, but somethings wrong.

Unknown to them, the migratory sea monster, let’s call her Noemi, is swimming around nearby and overhears. She calls that Alberto sounds stir crazy. That having a home base is the first step to discovering oneself. Then she leaves.

Luca suggests that he was able to figure out what he liked and enjoyed when he left, but he knew he had his family and Alberto always waiting for him. Thus, maybe it is Alberto’s turn. Maybe now is the time for them to finally go on their Vespa adventure!!

They rush to pack, trying not to wake anyone, and leave a note to explain that they’re going on a quick trip and they’ll be back soon. They also don’t take Giullia, since the original plan had always just been them so they want to do this themselves. They’re both still a little reckless…

Problem is, something happens to the note, maybe the cat tears it up or something, so no one knows where they went. Giullia, however, finds a torn piece of the note or she remembers some conversation and she suspects they’re somewhere nearby. So, she hurries to catch the train but misses. Instead, she runs into Noemi on her bike, about to leave, and somehow convinces her to take Giullia along.

I’m not sure about the finer points of the rest, but basically the boys end up on a cross country journey, followed by Giullia and her new “gal pal,” and through the journey they meet other sea monsters that are different. A lake monster from Scotland whose grandpa accidentally mooned the humans and the picture taken of his butt and tail became the Loch Ness Monster photo. A river monster from the Nile that looks like a crocodile and gets snippy when people call her a gator. A swamp monsters that can never seem to dry off and is a little gross. A snow monster that is “technically” water related and is fluffy when cold and has a heavy Russian accent. They’re all different and treated poorly even by the “plain” sea monsters.

The main baddie is also a sea monster who hates humans because a hunter took his leg, but he also looks down on the “lesser sea beasts” because he claims they don’t know what the real sea monsters have been through, sighting his leg. Baddie attempts to recruit Alberto, seeing the harpoon scar on his arm, but inevitably he realizes that the baddie is a hypocrit and they should all be supporting each other as sea monsters, even the more obscure ones, and he, Luca, and Giullia manage to save the day somehow.

It closes out the trio plus Noemi returning to Portorosso to worried but happy families. Alberto is so relieved to be home and hugs Massimo and Giullia together. Noemi says, however, that this is a good feeling, returning to home base, and is essential, but she’s pretty sure Alberto is migratory too and it’s okay to crave the world.

Alberto comes to terms that he’s finally comfortable and happy enough to go out into the world and explore (a bit more safely than the unplanned road trip he just took) similar to Luca going to school. So, he starts properly planning and getting ready to go, Noemi helping him plan while the Paguro’s and Massimo help him pack and plan his locations.

Finally, as he’s getting to his Vespa and wished everyone bye, he notes that there are more baggage than he needs. He turns and finds Luca lugging one, final bag over, all smiles, and says that he’s going to take a year break before looking into college, and that they need to give this whole adventure a second go.

Alberto smiles at him, hugging him tight, and the two best friends hop on their Vespa and are off to see the world.