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You had always found peace in the sound of the waves. There was something about the way it sounded, colliding with rocks and rolling on the sandy shore. Even the way it sounded when a big wave crashed into something had a soothing effect on you.
The sound of waves calmed you.
Tonight was no different.
With your eyes closed, you stood by the edge of the water, letting the waves creep up on your bare feet and letting the sea foam cling to your ankles. Opening your eyes would yield the exact same scene; the glow of the full moon against miles and miles of ocean. A few stars were peeking through the darkness.
This was the perfect place to clear your head.
You weren’t really here to concentrate, though. Were you?
Taking a breath in, you began to dance. You moved to a rhythm in your head, making every part of your body take on a life of their own. Your toes splashed against the surface of the water every now and again, but you didn’t let that slow you down for a second. Your body moved and spun ever so quickly and smoothly.
Even so, it felt like something was missing in your performance…
THUMP!
Your body stopped, as it had collided with something… or rather, someone.
You shifted your gaze towards whoever it was you had bumped into, and almost immediately, you jumped back with a little gasp.
To be fair, it was almost midnight on a deserted beach. It wasn’t like you were expecting a tower of a man to be standing nearby. His body faced the ocean, but his attention was now on you. If only it wasn’t. Those blue eyes were piercing holes through your body.
You could’ve sworn he was some sort of angel; scary, beautiful, and dressed from his cap to his pants in white. With that thought, it took more than a few seconds for you to finally say something.
“Jesus,” you breathed out. “I’m sorry, I… I didn’t see you there.”
The man before you didn’t say a word. All he did was keep staring at you, almost like he was studying a work of art. A few seconds felt like an eternity before his hand clutched at the brim of his cap, pulling it down slightly.
“It wasn’t your fault,” he said. “Your focus was on your dancing.”
You felt a little heat rise into your face.
“You… were watching me the whole time?”
He sighed ever so softly.
“How could I not? The only sounds I hear out here are the waves and your splashing.”
“I’m sorry for that,” you muttered as your body turned away from him and towards the ocean.
Your gaze was towards the rolling waves beneath you, but you could still feel his gaze on you. That feeling didn’t fade away, even after what felt like an eternity of silence. Save for the sounds of the ocean and the sea breeze, all was silent.
You heard him inhale.
“You dance very well,” he finally said.
Your face grew ever so slightly redder with his words.
“Thank you,” you said. “Mister…?”
“Jotaro.” He turned his face towards the ocean ahead. “Jotaro Kujo.”
Before you had a chance to give him your name, he added onto his previous statement.
“Your movements are fluid and graceful. I could compare it to the movement of an octopus…” Jotaro casted a glance at you. “But something’s missing in your performance.”
You shifted your weight.
“Ah well, it’s supposed to be a pas de deux. A two-person dance. But my partner…” You paused, thinking of a way to avoid admitting to a stranger the fact that your dance partner bailed on you. “He’s currently away. Right now, it’s just me.”
“… Is that so?”
You nodded to the ocean, feeling too ashamed to look the man in the eye.
If only he knew how alone you were feeling right then. Then again, why would he care? Just by looking at him, you felt like he wasn’t going to be the kind of person to care about your problems.
His next line really caught you off-guard.
“Let me help you practice.”
Your body turned quickly to face him. You could see his face was turned towards you again, his eyes staring directly into yours.
Was he serious?
“Are you sure?” You asked before you could stop yourself. “I mean, I wouldn’t ask of that kind of favor from you, and-!”
You stopped.
In one fell swoop, Jotaro’s right hand had grasped your left hand and his left hand was resting upon the curve of your back. His neutral expression hadn’t changed in the slightest. His stare into your eyes didn’t shift at all, either.
He was dead serious.
“It won’t bother me at all.”
Your heart was pounding against the inside of your chest, which made your free hand and lower lip tremble a little. Your eyes were wide and almost unblinking.
This had to just be a dream.
“I… But you don’t even know the dance!” you suddenly realized, maybe somewhat hoping that was going to slow him down a little.
It wasn’t like you wanted him to slow down or anything, but your sensibility was still intact.
“I’ll learn it as we go,” he replied.
There was no point in fighting it anymore. This man, for reasons beyond your understanding, wanted to help you practice dance, and there was no way you were going to make him back down.
“Follow my movement, then,” you sighed.
With that, you started to hum the tune meant to accompany the dance.
Your body moved, but this time more slowly than your initial dance outburst. Each move you made created the opposite movement for Jotaro.
Your foot would move forward, and his would move back.
You turned your body to face the other way, he did likewise, while never taking his eye off of you.
In the moonlight on that beach, the two of you moved slowly to each other’s rhythm. Light slashes of sea water accompanied your movements, surrounding the two of you. It was like watching two dolls rotating on top a music box. It was a beautiful moment.
This was just the very simple beginning, though, and things were about to get interesting.
You made a move to spin, and for your dance partner, this meant he had to twist his arm over your head. To make a long story short, his arm nearly twisted around you like a pretzel. It was a little awkward for you both, and a bit painful for Jotaro.
It made you wince slightly to think that this was going to happen again very shortly, but you were surprised by the fact that he managed to do it properly the second time.
To think that this man, who seemed so stern and terrifying was here right now to help you dance.
Then came the lift.
Jotaro was going to have to lift you up in the air while doing a spin.
This was a maneuver known to be more intimate, and you had to put your trust in a man you had only met ten minutes ago.
You made a motion for him to pick you up and lift you over his head. Though a little confused at first, he quickly got the message. His hands went under your arms and he hoisted you up into the air. He was definitely stronger than your original partner, as he held you up in the air for a solid minute while spinning you around very slowly.
Looking down at him, you noted how handsome his features looked in the light of the moon.
His face and his eyes looked softer, somehow. You might even have sworn that he was looking at you the same way you were looking at him.
Did he think you were just as beautiful?
The moment was broken when he finally put you down and let you go.
From the height you were at, he did let you go a little too quickly, which made the blood go to your head.
The world around you spin and turn your legs to jelly. The slipperiness of the water below you did not help at all, and quickly, you found yourself falling.
Before you could hit the sandy floor, a cold hand had caught you by your back. It made you shiver slightly; not because it was cold, but because you knew immediately it wasn’t his.
The warmth of his own hand replaced the cold before you had a second to react properly.
A dip wasn’t supposed to be a part of the dance, but it was quite a beautiful and unexpected finish to the whole number. It was too bad that nobody but you two were around to witness it. Even so, the only thing you two really paid attention to was the other’s eyes, and how it felt like time had stopped.
And maybe it did, for a little bit.
It made your lips tingle just slightly.
Then slowly, he helped you to stand upright.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Never felt better,” you muttered. You instantly straightened yourself up and took a step back. “Thank you for helping me with that. I appreciate it a lot.”
He gave you a little nod of acknowledgement.
“When do you think your partner will come back to you?”
Your face had gone a little red, as you actually kind of forgot why any of this happened in the first place.
“I, uhm… I don’t know. Maybe sooner or later.”
“I see,” he said before looking over the moonlit ocean. You thought that he must’ve been taking a moment to think about the dance he shared with you, though you couldn’t say for certain.
When was the last time Jotaro had allowed himself in a position like that? And with a stranger, no less.
Now you found yourself asking something he wasn’t expecting you to suggest.
“Would you mind doing this again with me tomorrow?”
He looked directly at you with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“You want me to continue to help you with your dance routine?”
You nodded, and he gripped at the brim of his cap in response.
“I really don’t see why you would want me of all people to help you…”
Jotaro then took out a pen and a notebook and wrote something down. Before you could ask about it, he tore out the paper he wrote on, put it in your hands, and started to walk away.
You had a look at the piece of paper.
It was a phone number, with his signature underneath it.
You looked over at him. He was already several yards away, but you could tell he was staring straight at you.
In the light of the moon, he almost appeared to be smiling. He folded his fingers over, save for his thumb and pinkie, and put it up to his ear.
Call me soon.
You waved at him cheerfully before picking up your things and walking away yourself. A smile remained in your heart, knowing that this definitely wasn’t going to be the last encounter you had with Jotaro Kujo.
With each step you took away from the beach, you could feel his gaze remain upon you, until you were finally out of sight.