The three days between Leon's final conversation with Coach Chivu and his flight to England were a strange, beautiful, and slightly surreal whirlwind.
The cloud of uncertainty that had been hanging over him had been replaced by the bright, terrifying, and thrilling sun of a decision made.
He was leaving. He was starting a new adventure.
And he wasn't going alone.
The scene at Milan Malpensa Airport was a masterclass in controlled chaos, orchestrated by one woman: Elena, Leon's mother.
"Okay," she said, doing a final, frantic check of their documents for the tenth time. "I have the passports. I have the boarding passes. I have the emergency cookies." She patted a large, suspiciously cookie-shaped lump in her handbag. "Sofia, you have your book? Leon, you have your... very white hair?"
"It's all here, Mom," Leon said, laughing as he put an arm around her shoulders. "We're ready."
