Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a quiet Wednesday. The sun was out and there was a slight, comfortable breeze in the air. Enough to make the jingle of the neighbors’ wind chimes drift through the open window and into the small apartment. As usual Jotaro had risen early, spending his morning hours reading up on the intricacies and politics of international waters in preparation for a coming research paper.

He’d made the decision to leave his old life behind and study in the United States three years prior. Deciding on a quaint college on Florida’s coast, he began his studies and new life away from what was familiar, and away from what haunted him.

Though on the other side of the globe, he wasn’t without the comforts of family or home. His grandfather, Joseph, owned several properties scattered around the state meaning there was always possibility for a spontaneous visit from some member of the Joestar lineage. In addition, his mother, Holly, made a point to send care packages reminding him of things he missed from Japan. Snacks and such, things that seemed trivial but meant quite a lot to a person feeling separated from home.

Jotaro enjoyed the divorce from all that he once knew, he enjoyed his time at college and having a clean slate to build his life on. For once he seemed to have a sense of normalcy, he was able to act his age and not worry about things bigger than himself. Here he was able to cast aside his past regrets and focus on his now. Even if that now was studying or poking and prodding a starfish in an evening lab.

By the time his senior year rolled around he had made Florida his home. He was comfortable with the people he knew and found their presence pleasing. They didn’t bother him too much and provided a sense of regularity in his life that was anything but. They didn’t ask too many questions about his past and let him live as he pleased. Hell, he even had a girlfriend. Though the relationship was to him a flimsy, awkward thing, it was something which Jotaro cherished, though he would never tell that to another soul. It brought him to reality and made him remember that he really was still a kid. The two were in the same year, she was studying economics. At this time of day she would typically be in the middle of a lecture.

This fact was why her call on that quiet Wednesday afternoon struck him as odd. Seeing her name on the Caller ID he paused for a confused second. He answered the phone but before he could ask anything, she spit out the words, “I’m pregnant.”

She had cast the two words over the phone line and let them sink like an anchor. They fell deep and they fell slowly into Jotaro’s brain. He did not express any immediate reaction, did not utter any confused sound. He did not laugh, cry, or speak, he simply took it in hearing the words replay in his mind over and over. He waited for the anchor to fall to the very bottom.

Once it reached the ocean’s floor, his mind began to race like the sand it displaced. How could this have happened, what were they going to do, what was he going to do, what does this mean, is this ok, what should he do, who should they tell, what was the next step. Oh god, was this right?

After a pause that lasted a moment longer than it should have, Jotaro responded shakily, “Okay.”

They both let that one word sit in between them. Okay.

On the other end of the line, another moment of prickling silence. “Okay? Anything else?” She responded with a hint of shaky frustration. Jotaro wondered if she was going to cry, a pang of panic struck him as he considered the fact that he might have to console her

After a few more seconds, he responded with “Let’s talk tonight. I’ll go to you.”

She hesitated but knowing the father of her child she understood that these moments of pause and less than adequate responses were part of his method of processing.

“Okay, be here for six and we can get dinner. Ok? I love you.”

He twitched and felt a bead of nervous sweat begin to form on his brow with the mention of those words.

“Love you, bye.” He spit out in one breath and quickly lowered the phone from his face. He hung up and returned the phone from where he had picked it up.

Looking at the wall directly in front of him, his mind was completely blank. Shit, fuck, fuck.

Turning and beginning to pace around his small studio apartment, he held his hands above his head breathing in and out at a steady, albeit raggedy pace. He felt the urge to talk to someone—he desperately needed someone to talk him through his situation. Picking the phone back up, he wondered who he should confide in.

No one from his life here at school would be helpful. They were all kids and didn’t know what he was really, really like. He thought about giving his mother a call but didn’t want to send her into a panic. His next thought was to phone up an old friend in France. He was quite sure the lady-killer might have actually had experience in a similar situation. He quickly ruled this option out however as he wasn’t sure Polnareff’s advice would be all that helpful.

Finally, he settled on calling the old man. He had lived a long, eventful life and could most likely give valuable input on the matter. Though Joseph may not have ever had an unexpected child throw a wrench into his life’s plans, he might be able to help Jotaro out in the moment.

Dialing the older man’s number, he prayed that his grandfather would pick up. By no means was Jotaro Kujo a spiritual man but he hoped for divine intervention in this moment. As the line connected, he thanked whatever deity had made it possible.

“Jotaro,” the old man said heartily. “What a surprise you never—"

“Jiji, I’m having a baby.”

Silence. On both ends. Jotaro immediately felt his face redden and heart start to race. He was entirely unsure of every second to come. His worry and fear were interrupted suddenly by a loud and brash, “HUHHH?”

After this, another moment of painfully awkward silence. Jotaro was becoming increasingly aware of the length of these frequent pauses.

“My girlfriend is, uhh… pregnant.”

Loud maniacal laughter erupted on the other end. Jotaro clicked his tongue and let out a loud tch, to interrupt the old man. He could just imagine the tears beginning to form in Joseph’s eyes from laughter. Quieting down, Joseph responded, “I didn’t take you for the type.”

“It was unexpected, I just found out uh... now. I don’t know what to do.”

With a few more giggles to round out the fit of laughter, Joseph replied, “It’s ok.” Jotaro eased up a bit after hearing these words. They meant nothing, yes, but hearing them out loud was a comfort to the young man.

“A child never is expected.” Joseph continued, “When I found out about your mother I nearly had a heart attack. I was probably around your age, though I was married.” Another tch from Jotaro let Joseph know that his grandson really was not in the mood for his grandfather’s humor. In truth, he rarely was.

“Don’t worry, Jotaro. Things will work out. If you’re scared now, don’t be. It’ll only be scarier once that baby actually gets here. You’ll make a great father, I know it. I know the way you care for your family.”

Jotaro stood still, taking in his grandfather’s words. “Ok, but what do I do, um… next.”

“Jotaro, I can’t tell you that. This is an important moment in your life, it’s important that you’re the one making the decisions.” Jotaro furrowed his brows, expecting this response but still unhappy with it.

“You’ll regret making choices based on other people one day, do what you feel is right.”

Jotaro paused, considering the old man’s words.

“I’m going to ask her to marry me. It’ll be easier that way”

There was another moment’s pause as Joseph sighed.

“Jotaro, I’ll support you no matter what, but don’t compromise your life for convenience and comfort. Consider more, are you sure you love her? Is this what you want?”

He thought for a moment, he wasn’t sure in all honesty. How could he be, he was 21 and still learning about himself, about who he was as an individual. He wasn’t committed to being a full-fledged boyfriend, how could he be a husband and more, a father?

Even with these concerns, he knew that marriage should be the next step, it would be what his girlfriend would want and what would be best for the baby. Thinking it over quickly, he responded.

“Yes.”

Joseph sighed, knowing his grandson better than the boy thought he did. He had expected this answer. “Ok, you know your grandmother and I support you no matter what. Your mother and father back home are the same.”

“Uh, thanks, Jiji.”

Joseph chuckled, “Of course.”

“Alright.” Jotaro began, attempting to bring the awkward conversation to a close but was stopped short by Joseph.

“Jotaro, when we first found out about your mother I was over the moon. I had always wanted a family of my own growing up and your grandmother and I were looking forward to starting one. I was still scared, though. Just like you.”

Jotaro stood completely still holding the phone, still staring at the same spot on the wall he had been when he first decided to call Joseph.

“I didn’t know what to do and what was to come. I decided to write a letter to Holly. It was more for me than her though.” The old man smiled and let out a small sigh, calling up the tender memories of his daughter’s entry into his life from memory.

“I wrote down everything I was feeling: the fear, joy, hope, everything. I still have that letter to this day. I’ve shown it to your mother, she cried when she read it but that’s just her. You know that.” He paused for a second and the two men shared a quiet moment on the phone.

“You might want to do the same, I know it’s hard for you sometimes —you know— to get things across.”

Jotaro stood, taking in his grandfather’s words of advice. After a few seconds he said simply, “Yeah. Thanks, Jiji. I’m going to do that.”

“Of course, let me know if you need anything. Suzi and I were planning a trip down there in a few weeks. We can move it up if you want, we can be there Friday—"

“No, I’ll be fine.” Jotaro interrupted the man’s quick forming plans. “Thanks.”

Joseph let out a tiny laugh, “Bye, Jotaro.”

With that he hung up and put the phone back in its place. He wandered over to a couch near the open window, sitting gingerly on the cushion’s edge. He rested his elbows on his knees and buried his head in his hands. He was racked by a wave of panic, followed by fear, followed by what might have been excitement, followed then by seemingly every emotion at once.

Sitting like this for what was felt to be an eternity, he straightened his back and looked out of the window to his left. He noticed the little things outside on the sunny Florida Wednesday: the birds, the squirrels, the flowers droopily waving in the breeze. He thought that nature seemed to be especially beautiful at this one particular moment in time. Looking at the serene scene outside of his window, he felt a bit of hope for the future.

He lifted himself up and off of the couch and made his way down the apartment’s tiny corridor, walking through the door and into his bedroom. Normally, he wouldn’t listen to advice from the old man but at this moment he was genuinely unsure of what to do next. He felt like he was paralyzed, unable to think or act for himself in any meaningful way.

Taking a seat at the desk in the corner of his room, he scourged around for a blank sheet of paper. Finding one among a pile of documents from a recent lecture on marine biological diversity, he cleared the remaining clutter from the desk and set the paper in front of him.

Staring at the blank sheet, he was scared. Scared of this new beginning and what it meant. There was little he was certain of in life, but he knew he wanted to live peacefully and quietly. This… unexpected event… seemed to completely throw a wrench into those plans.

The blank sheet of paper stared back up at him, reminding him of the endless possibilities of where it could take him. Running his hand over the paper, he reached with the other for a pen in the jar at the desk’s far left corner.

Picking up first a blue pen, he returned it in favor of one with black ink. The one in his hand was a souvenir his grandfather had picked up for him on a trip to Las Vegas some time back. A gimmicky thing, the pen had the words ‘Luxor Hotel, Las Vegas’ written on the barrel in a bold font. Right next two it was a pyramid and sphinx, commercial recreations of the originals in Egypt. It was a cheap little thing, but Jotaro liked this pen more than the others. Neither of the men had been to Egypt since 1987 but the pen was a little reminder of their time spent there, the good times.

He clicked open the ballpoint and hovered over the blank paper, not knowing how or where to begin. Resting his left elbow on the desk, he used his thumb to smooth the wrinkles forming on his forehead from stress. Tapping the desk with the pen, he racked his brain with what to write.

Finally, he decided on the date and scratched Wednesday, April 24, 1991 along the top of the paper. He was left now with how to truly begin.

Hey Hello

That seemed to be a good enough start. He considered getting up and walking away for a moment —a break— but resisted the urge to run.

If you’re reading this, I’m your father. I found out today about you. Quite the surprise if I’m being honest. Didn’t expect it a bit.

Right now, I am feeling scared. Actually, I’m not sure what I’m feeling. I’m sorry if this comes off strange, I just don’t know what to think. Or what to do. So I’m writing this.

I’m really not good at expressing what I’m feeling, something you’ll probably learn fast. Sorry I guess.

Do you think I’ll be a good dad? Not really sure why I’m asking you that. Sorry again.

I never saw myself as a dad, but maybe I never really thought about it. I’ve been coasting for years, going along with what comes my way. I guess this is the same. Maybe.

He stopped there, not sure if what he was writing was what was right. He felt like he should put down more but then again, that wasn’t quite him. The letter was meant to be for his child from him, it was meant to be his genuine expression and feeling.

I’ll promise you this now, as long as I’m alive I’ll try to protect you. That’s all I can do in life. Protect the ones I care about, the ones around me.

I don’t know you, but I love you. I hope you’ll be able to love me too.

Jotaro
Dad

Staring at the paper, he felt a little sense of release. The short note had helped to calm him down, helped to center him back in reality.

He was going to be a father. He was going to be responsible for someone.

He put the pen down softly and cleared some papers off of a small gray box on the desk to his right. He opened the box’s lid and removed more documents inside, old research papers and notes. He gingerly placed the little letter inside, noticing how it made the box look so big and empty. He stared at it for a bit before returning the lid to the box. He grabbed it with both hands and stood up, turning from the desk and walking over to his bed. He knelt and slid the little thing underneath, out of sight. On the off chance someone entered his space, they would certainly not find it.

He stood up slowly. Reaching over the bed, he picked up his hat that had been resting on a pillow. Putting it on and pulling it over his eyes, he sighed. Yare yare.

Chapter Text

The tiny room was dim, the only source of light came from the lamp to the right of Jotaro’s head. The yellow glow radiated softly throughout the room, casting shadows of dolphins and stars on the crib’s soft green sheets from the mobile above.

In the corner of the nursery Jotaro sat in a rocking chair by a curtained window. He used his feet to sway the wooden chair back and forth ever so slightly. His eyes were trained on the bundle close to his chest.

Swaddled in a blanket, the little baby slept. Her hands peeked out from underneath, one atop the blanket’s edge and the other resting up against her father’s chest. Her face was peaceful, mouth curled up into what looked to be a little smile. He could feel every single tiny breath she breathed and synced the pattern of their rocking to her rhythm.

Two weeks ago they’d named her Jolyne. It was a suggestion from his mother, Holly, who had never quite forgiven her own parents for omitting the Jo from her name. As a woman fiercely devoted to her family, she was determined to maintain the naming tradition from her son onwards. Even more, it was her choice if Jotaro had been a girl. The name suggestion was surprisingly not contested by his wife. In fact, it was excitedly welcomed. She had been raised north of their Florida home in Tennessee as a devout Dolly Parton fan.

Jolyne’s first moments in the world were a blur in Jotaro’s memory. Her birth was, truthfully, one of the more frightening experiences of his existence. She had come two weeks earlier than expected, depriving her father of two much needed weeks of preparation.

The unexpected nature of her arrival caused Jotaro and his wife to meet at the hospital rather than travelling there together like the soon-to-be mother had hoped they would. By the time he arrived she had already been admitted to a private room.

A few hours of impatient, unsure anticipation from the couple passed as the contractions came closer and closer together. When the time finally came, the room was occupied by him, his wife, and a doctor flanked by a team of nurses.

In the moment he felt nothing but uncertainty. What do I do, what am I supposed to do, is this real? Panic stricken thoughts raced through his mind as his face went stone cold and white, the very image of absolute fear.

His wife lay on the hospital bed at his right, gripping his hand tight enough to draw blood. He did not notice, however. His eyes were focused on the team operating at the end of the bed. He dared not get any closer and remained by his wife’s head.

Eyes following the individuals delivering their child, he could not hear a thing. He was aware of the hospital staff’s chatter and his wife’s agonizing yells but his mind was blank. White noise seemed to flood his brain as he could hear only the sound of his own ragged breathing.

After half an hour in this state of terrified limbo, a loud, shrill scream shattered his panic. Blinking a few times, he seemed to return to the reality in front of him. He was a father.

A nurse spoke and motioned for Jotaro to come to the end of the bed to cut the umbilical cord, an action which he quickly but politely declined. The baby’s screaming continued as a nurse rushed in to separate it from the mother. He watched as they took the little thing away to clean.

“It’s a girl!” One of the nurses gushed, turning to look at the parents with excited eyes. His eyebrows arched and his brow furrowed, lips quivering as he struggled to hold back tears. At this moment, the world he had known melted away as he struggled to follow the baby’s movement behind the two nurses treating her. He felt a small squeeze on his right hand. Looking over he noticed his wife staring up at him, still breathing heavily.

“Go get her,” she said with a faint, tired smile. “I want to see our baby girl.”

Without a word he stared down at her laying on the bed, his lips still quivering. Beads of sweat had formed on her forehead from labor and she looked beyond tired. Despite this, he had never seen her look so beautiful as she did in this moment. Her eyes had aged in a matter of minutes and now poured a loving gaze into his own. The two new parents shared their last moment together without their daughter between them.

He nodded and managed a slight smile before dropping her hand. His heavy legs carried him slowly across the room as he wearily approached the nurse holding his baby. They had wrapped her in a soft white blanket and dressed her in a matching hat with a tiny pink bow at the front. The nurse said something to the new father which he could not register over his still racing thoughts. She smiled warmly and moved to deliver the baby to her father.

Holding his little girl securely in his rigid arms, he felt a few warm tears fall down his face and into the corners of his mouth. He couldn’t remember the last time he had cried, it very well could have been years ago.

Staring down at the baby a large, proud smile spread across his face. He wished he could stop time forever in this one moment and waste away a whole lifetime holding his daughter.

Wearing the same expression now, he’d recognized how much Jolyne had changed in just the two weeks since her birth. Her cheeks were fuller, rounder, and rosier. Atop her head was a soft tuft of black hair, a lot for a baby but something which came as no surprise given his family’s genes. His grandparents had insisted that Jolyne was the spitting image of her father, but he refused to see it. Now, alone with her he recognized this fact. The shape of her eyes and roundness of her nose were near identical to what he had seen of himself in baby pictures.

Continuing to rock the chair back and forth, he thanked whoever or whatever above let her sleep tonight— she was a fussy baby to say the least. She had come into the world screaming and had rarely stayed quiet since. Jolyne seemed only ever to be quiet in her parents’ arms.

Looking up at the clock on the wall he noticed the time. 3:16 AM. Shit, he thought.

In only three hours he needed to be up to prepare for a meeting with his mentor regarding his bachelor’s thesis. The work was the culmination of his college career and completing it would put him on track for a solid job in the Marine Biology field. He never half-assed assignments but now, holding his daughter in his arms, he was more determined than ever to do well on his coming work.

He returned his attention to Jolyne’s sleeping face. He’d been playing this game for an hour now, each time thinking about how late it was and how he should get to sleep but then remembering how soundly his little girl was resting nestled against up against his chest. Tonight was the first night she’d gone to sleep relatively easily. She had only woken up once during the night but was quickly calmed by her father’s presence. He desperately did not want to disturb her quiet and change her serene countenance to that of the familiar scrunched up face before a crying fit.

Looking again at the clock he noticed a few minutes had passed and decided that he should put her down for the sake of his work tomorrow. He got up from the rocking chair slowly, careful not to make any sudden movements that might disrupt Jolyne. He watched her face closely hoping that she would not stir. When she moved her nose ever so slightly he froze, afraid that it meant he had failed.

He paused for a few moments waiting for any other movement from the baby. Seeing that he was in the clear, he made a slow crawl to the crib at the opposite end of the room. Once at the tiny bed he removed Jolyne from her position up against his chest, feeling the separation as her little hand left. Having her so close was just… nice. Soothing. Just as Jolyne was only calm in the arms of her parents, Jotaro was truly only at peace holding his baby girl.

Adjusting her slightly in the crib, he moved his hands to rest atop its railing. Staring down at his daughter, he felt a sense of happiness flood his body right then and there at three in the morning. He felt warm. His heart felt full.

A little smile came to his lips as he quietly cooed, “I love you, Jolyne.”

Leaving her with this final message for the night, he turned and walked over to the lamp still lit in the corner of the room. Pulling its cord, he shut the light and left the baby’s room.

To the immediate right of the nursery was his own bedroom where his wife was fast asleep. For most nights she had been the one to calm Jolyne down and get the baby to sleep. Tonight, relieved from her duty, she slept heavily.

Jotaro stood at the room’s entrance with one hand resting on the doorframe. Looking inside he felt no desire to sleep. With the opposite hand he rubbed his face and turned away from the bedroom, making his way towards their kitchen.

The couple had moved into a tiny flat together following their wedding four months ago, having just enough time to make it a suitable home before Jolyne’s arrival. It was a small starter apartment barely large enough for the two new parents who found hordes of family planning pilgrimages to meet Jolyne. The two had decided that after Jotaro had found a job and his wife had completed her degree following this deferred semester they would find a proper home for their family.

Once in the tiny kitchen he looked around for a notebook among the textbooks and baby books scattered messily on the counter. An oceanography textbook sat open next to a book titled What to Expect in the First Year, both with sticky notes poking out signaling important passages. Finding a notebook, he opened it to a blank page and took a seat at the counter that doubled as their dining area. Picking up a pen he had found lying near a stack of books he wrote the date across the top of the page.

Thursday January 23, 1992

For good measure, he added the time.

3:32 AM

Jolyne,

Today you are two weeks old. Crazy how time flies.

Tonight was the easiest night yet, you actually went to sleep pretty early and stayed that way. Though I had to go to you once. I didn’t mind it. I spent a little too long there. I have an important day tomorrow, it probably wasn’t the smartest idea to spend it up all night. Oh well. Holding you now is more important.

Tomorrow is a big day for my degree but I’m looking forward to it being over and coming back home. A lot has happened in my life, especially in the last five years but holding you close makes it all feel worth it. The good and the bad, I’m glad I went through it all to meet you.

Tomorrow night your grandmother and grandfather are getting in from Japan, they’re going to see you for the very first time. It should be exciting but I’m sorry, I know she’ll hold you a little too tight. We’ve had to keep my grandparents away. They flew down from New York the day after you were born and haven’t left. Every day they try to come over to see you. We’re young, we don’t want old people near us every damn second of the day.

There are so many people you’ll have to meet. So many characters, I’ll tell you. Honestly, you could do without meeting some of them. Actually, on second thought I don’t think I want you near some of them.

I had a friend some time back, he wasn’t really good with babies but I wish you could meet him. We got along really well and just kind of understood each other. I think he would have been able to help me through all of this, he was better at sorting through stuff than me. Sometimes I think he’s still close by, probably laughing about how I mess things like this up. He was a really great guy. And a really great friend. I miss him Jolyne. Every day.

I’ll tell you about him another time. It’s a long, sad story and not one I want to think about right now. There’s so much I want to tell you, to do for you, to show you. Someday.

Right now you’re sleeping in the other room and I doubt you’ll be awake by the time I leave the house tomorrow but wish me luck. This thesis and my degree are dedicated to you so I’ll give it my all. Once I’m done with school, I’ll get a job and give you everything you want. Everything I didn’t have.

Jolyne I’m not sure you’ll be able to understand it but my whole life changed when you were born. Honestly, I’m not quite sure I can put it into words. It sounds cheesy and everyone says it but it’s true. You are everything to me, and everything I do is now for you.

I love you so much.

Dad

He hesitated for a brief moment before writing that last word. Though this was his twentieth letter in just two weeks’ time, he was still a bit unsure of his new title. It still scared him.

Despite this lingering fear, he had managed to write to his daughter whenever he felt overwhelmed with emotion and needed to channel it somewhere. Thus, he found himself sneaking away once or more a day to write these tiny notes.

He ripped the page out of the notebook, taking the extra minute to tear off its messy edge. Holding the letter with both hands, he looked it over and smiled softly. Standing up, he turned off the kitchen lights and left the room. His steps were light, careful not to make unnecessary noise that might wake up the other two occupants of the tiny space. He stopped at the nursery and peeked inside, seeing Jolyne sleeping soundly in her crib.

“Goodnight.” He whispered, hoping the words would reach the little baby’s dreams.

Entering the bedroom, he walked over to his side of their shared bed and switched on the lamp that sat on the nightstand. As the light flicked on his head jerked over to his partner, afraid that it might wake her. Luckily, several sleepless nights had made her too tired to care. He slowly, quietly opened the bottom drawer of the nightstand and removed its top layer of contents. He shed away worksheets, handouts, and graded papers to reveal the little gray box hidden inconspicuously at the bottom. It was difficult to hide something in the tiny apartment but his box of letters for Jolyne was something he wanted no eyes to see, not even those of the mother of his child.

He lifted the box and put it down softly on the edge of the nightstand. Removing the lid, he placed the newest letter atop the growing pile. Written on papers of different shapes and sizes, whatever he could get his hands on in the moment, were the other letters he had penned. He had collected just about fifty notes for his two-week-old baby girl in the nine months since he had begun writing. He put the lid on the box and returned it to its home in the bottom drawer, carefully camouflaging it again with scientific leaflets and papers depicting detailed diagrams of fish. Closing the drawer, he looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. 4:05 AM.

Time to call it a night, he thought as he rose and prepared for bed. Surely tomorrow would be rough for the father and college senior running on just two hours of sleep.

Laying on his side, Jotaro stared at the wall. As he welcomed the coming sleep he was left alone with his thoughts. Weeks ago he would have been recounting memories of his past mistakes and regrets, tonight he drifted away only with the image of his daughter’s sweet, serene sleeping face on his mind.

Chapter Text

Jotaro walked out of the bar and crossed the street, making his way to his car parked on the opposite side. He had had one drink and was nearer to stone cold sober than even a bit tipsy. The drink was only a prop to fit the part and his patronage of the hole in the wall was not for pleasure, far from it. The shabby little bar was as inconspicuous as any other location, making it the perfect rendezvous point for a meeting between two private parties. The man he had met tonight from the Speedwagon Foundation was the same as the night before.

Unlocking his car and ducking his head to get inside, he replayed the information received from tonight’s meeting. Nothing surprising, more of the same that he had been getting for the past month. These meetings had become commonplace for the 25-year-old man since the Foundation had discovered the existence of additional stand arrows. The news came much to the chagrin of Jotaro who believed that the chapter of his life which the arrows had played a part in had ended with his burning of Dio’s diary years ago.

Pulling away from the street’s curb he began his drive home. It was late, later than he wanted it to be. Again. Driving towards the pinks and oranges of the setting Florida sky he knew he wouldn’t be able to make it home before nightfall.

There had been too many nights like this, he knew that. Tonight was the third of this week that he had gotten home in this way. Adding more weight to the gas pedal he raced the sky, stupidly hoping he could win.

Lately, he had been pushed to his limits. He had recently been promoted at work and given the role of Second Marine Researcher at the Non-Profit he had been hired at three years ago. Given the summer season there was more work to do than ever in the field and in the lab meaning long hours and arduous tasks. In addition, he had been taking a few graduate classes online, aiming to pursue a doctorate in the future.

For some time he had managed with this workload, finding an extremely delicate balance between practical life and personal. Adding the pressure of the Speedwagon Foundation’s discoveries obliterated his much-appreciated stability. Now, that which he had built seemed to be in peril.

A part of him wanted to dismiss the Foundation, to shrug them off and continue on in this blissful balance he had found after Egypt. He was, however, not a man who could turn a blind eye to a dangerous discovery such as this. He was born with a righteous heart and always acted on it, even if that meant disrupting his way of life. Even if he truly did not want to, he complied with the Speedwagon Foundation and agreed to help in any way he could.

Each night after work he travelled to a different rendezvous point to receive updates on the situation. The whole ordeal —the mention of Dio, the arrows, and stands— had trudged up memories he had worked hard to suppress. His mental state in the last month had been rapidly declining, he was teetering on the verge of a complete breakdown.

As he rolled into a familiar neighborhood his thoughts drifted from that night’s meeting to who was waiting for him a few houses away. It pained him to think of what he had been putting his wife through in the past month and hurt him some place deeper to think of Jolyne.

He had never opened up to his wife about his past, had never told her about his family’s trials. Thus, she knew nothing about his own crusade in Egypt and nothing of stands. To try to explain it to her would be altogether too much, Jotaro thought. He doubted she would ever believe or understand.

Never did he imagine it would come back to haunt his present. Never did he imagine he would have to move in secrecy in order to protect his family from his past.

Jotaro had noticed his wife growing suspicious of his actions in the past week. He had been fielding her doubts with the simple excuse of an extreme amount of work but could tell that its efficacy was fading. She would not be able to tolerate the vague shrug of an answer for much longer. Despite this, he had nothing else to say to her. He wanted desperately to resolve the situation without involving her or Jolyne, he wanted to protect them from the unimaginable danger he had once faced.

Pulling into the driveway he saw a faint light emanating from inside the home. Trudging up to the front door through the dark, he replayed the all too familiar events that were about to unfold in his mind. He would walk inside, his wife would greet him, they would have the same conversation (How was work? Good. Late again? Yeah, lots of work. Ok, goodnight. Goodnight.), he would spend some time in Jolyne’s room watching over the sleeping toddler with a heavy heart, only to then make his way to the bedroom where he would promptly pass out. The next morning he would wake and repeat it all once more.

Hand hovering over the doorknob, he hesitated, contemplating quitting it all.

Quitting. Telling the Speedwagon Foundation that he could no longer be involved. Or quitting by returning to his car and driving far, far away from everything and everyone. Letting out a sigh, he turned the knob and walked inside.

To his surprise, his wife was standing in the tiny corridor at the front entrance. Typically, she would be waiting in the kitchen or resting in the living room that opened up to the right of the door.

Closing the door, he turned to face her, unsure of what to do or say. She stared at him with narrow eyes, seemingly looking through him. He opened his mouth in an attempt to cut the silence but was interrupted.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she spat out.

Standing there, he was unsure of exactly how to proceed. He had been expecting this to happen for some time, he knew she had a right to be angry.

“What do you mean?” He said hesitantly.

“It’s almost nine o’clock. Where the fuck have you been?” Her words were quiet and cold.

“Work, I had to stay late. Again. I’m sorry I know I said I wouldn’t—" he cut his sentence short as her nose scrunched and brow furrowed in angry disgust. She covered her face with a hand, her thumb and index fingers resting at her temples. Her other hand sat on her hip.

“Work. Always work.” She said flatly, pausing for a few seconds. “Are you cheating on me?”

His mouth opened, he wanted to deny and explain the whole situation. Though it might not have been love, Jotaro cared for the woman in front of him deeply. Enough to never come to that. He wanted desperately to come clean to her —to anyone really— and take the weight of secrets off of his chest.

His mouth moved to begin to speak and for a split second he nearly spouted the truth. He pursed his lips before muttering a quiet, defeated, “No.”

He shook his head and followed quickly with “No, its work.” His voice was strained as he begged her with his eyes to take the simple answer.

She kept her hand at her face, refusing to look up at him. Shakily she said “You can’t keep doing this, I can’t do this. Every fucking night you’re working late. I can’t raise JoJo on my own.” Her voice caught with every word she breathed.

As if on cue the toddler bounded down the hallway screaming, “Daddy, daddy!” Jolyne ran by her mother and up to her father who was standing frozen at the entrance of the home like a stranger waiting to be let in.

Jotaro watched as the little girl reached him with her unsteady footsteps and put her hands up. He bent down and picked up his daughter. Giving her a kiss on the cheek he said “Hi Jolyne, I missed you.” The little girl giggled as she wrapped her arms tightly around her father’s neck and buried her head in his shoulder.

Jotaro crossed the home’s threshold while holding the toddler with one arm. “Let’s not have this conversation now.” He said a bit to coolly as he passed his wife.

He entered the kitchen and threw his keys on the counter. He placed the briefcase he had been holding on a chair, ready to be collected early the next morning. Jotaro turned to see his wife still in the same spot by the front door. She hadn’t moved an inch but had turned to face her husband. Her hands were now lying by her side, her face a mixture of pure anger and betrayal. In this moment they both were glad Jolyne’s head was still buried in his shoulder.

Crying hot, quiet tears she pointed at him, her finger shakily cutting through the air. “You were a mistake.” She choked out softly. Gesturing around their home, “This was a mistake.”

Jolyne tried to lift her head but Jotaro kept it down with his own. He didn’t want the little girl to see her mother’s tears.

“This isn’t a life.” She gulped the words down. “I don’t want to see you here tonight.” She wiped her face and turned to walk down the hallway away from her husband and daughter. He could hear her footsteps move up the stairs and into their bedroom, her actions truncated by the sound of a slamming door.

Managing to squirm free Jolyne poked her head up, her face close to her father’s. With big eyes she questioned innocently, “Why was Mommy crying?”

Jotaro felt his eyes sting. He wasn’t quite sure how he should answer this question. In this moment, looking into his daughter’s eyes, he was painfully aware of the hurt he was causing his family. At three years old Jolyne might not feel her father’s absence and secrecy quite yet but it would come soon enough. Adjusting the toddler at his side, he used his now free hand to cradle her little face.

“Mommy’s just a little mad at daddy ok, Jolyne? It’s daddy’s fault, it’ll be ok tomorrow. I promise.” He tried a slight smile to sell the story to the toddler.

Looking at him with innocent eyes she said, “Daddy you shouldn’t make mommy mad, that’s not nice. Say sorry.”

He smiled weakly and moved to hold her little hand in his own. Shaking it twice he said softly, “I know. I will.” Looking over at the clock he saw the time, 8:47 PM. Late, too late for a toddler. Even one as rowdy as Jolyne was.

“Alright sweetie, it’s time for bed.” His daughter’s face wrinkled in immediate protest.

“Nooo,” she whined tightening her grip around her father’s neck, desperate to stay. “I want to play!” she dragged out.

“Tomorrow, sweetie. It’s bedtime now.” He said, making his way through the house to the little girl’s bedroom while still holding her hand.

“Nooo,” She continued to whine. “We have to play now. You won’t be here tomorrow!”

Her words sank into him as he climbed the stairs to the home’s second story. Turning the corner, he passed the shut bedroom door where his wife lay on the opposite side. Jolyne squirmed in his arms, protesting their arrival at her bedroom.

Once inside, Jotaro flicked on the light and walked over to the pint-sized bed, placed her down gently. “I’ll be here tomorrow, don’t worry. We can play as much as you want.”

The toddler’s face lit up. “Promise?”

“Promise.” He said with a faint smile, pinching her chubby cheek playfully. “Now it’s bedtime.” He tucked her in and leaned in to give her a kiss on the forehead.

“Daddy, bedtime story?” she said with round eyes.

“No, it’s late Jolyne—" looking at her wide, puppy-dog eyes he smiled. He’d been defeated. “Ok, a quick one.”

Jolyne squealed in excitement and gripped the top of the blanket. She had taken hold of a purple teddy bear and held it tight under her left arm. Jotaro walked across the room and picked a book out of the tiny collection of cardboard literature on a shelf lined with toys and the little girl’s playthings. Goodnight, Moon, he’d decided. He dragged a small chair across the room near the bed and sat in it, afraid it might break under his weight.

He read to her for a short while, glancing over with the turn of every page to see her eyelids growing heavy with sleep, halfway through the toddler fell fast asleep. He sat on the tiny chair for a minute, staring at his daughter’s face. He reached a hand out and smoothed her hair gently so as not to wake her. Standing up, he leaned over the bed and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Goodnight.” He whispered.

Jotaro shut the light and left the room, walking out into the hallway. After a few steps he reached the shut bedroom door. Standing in front of it, he wasn’t sure what to do. He ghosted a hand over the doorknob, very nearly moving to turn it. He removed it quickly and stuffed both hands in his pockets. He didn't want it to be like this, no. But he wasn’t sure what he could do, or what he would say if he were to try to mend the situation. Instead he stood outside of the door, its white panels staring back at him. He was helpless.

Removing his left hand from his pocket he scratched the back of his head. He turned and continued down the hallway, making his way down the stairs and back to the kitchen. Without hesitation he opened a cabinet and grabbed a glass, from another he pulled down a half empty bottle of whiskey.

Removing the cap, he poured himself a drink. Picking up the glass, he stared at the brown liquid. He didn’t drink often but this would be his second of the night. In one swift motion he took the contents down and put the glass on the counter, beginning to pour another.

Looking at the clock on the wall he saw it was just about 9:30. I don’t want to see you here tonight. He heard his wife’s words play back in his mind. Should I sleep on the couch or in the guest bedroom, should I leave and get a room at a hotel? He knew he couldn’t bring himself to open the door upstairs.

He picked the glass up off of the counter and drank the whiskey down as quickly as the first, bringing it back down with a slight crash.

“Fuck.” He said to himself. With his left hand resting on the counter, he brought his right up to cover his eyes. With his index and thumb he massaged his temples. The action only made him remember his wife standing in the same position an hour earlier. “Fuck.” He whispered to himself again.

He lowered his hand to rest with the other on the counter’s edge. Looking around the kitchen he searched for an answer. His eye caught sight of a magnetic notepad hanging on the fridge. He walked over and reached for it, stopping for a second as his eyes met a photo of Jolyne attached to the fridge with a butterfly magnet. He touched the picture gingerly and smiled. It was taken a year ago, she was dressed in a frilly green outfit and was held by his mother. She was so small and happy. She looked like a little doll.

Pulling the notepad off, he fished around a junk drawer for a pen. Finding one, he made his way over to the table at the opposite end of the kitchen. Taking a seat, he glanced over the top sheet of the notepad, on it was a grocery list written in his wife’s handwriting. Tearing it messily from the pad he slid it across the table out of sight.

At the top of the small paper he wrote the date,

7/19/1995

He stopped there. He hadn’t written a single letter since the Speedwagon Foundation had come into contact with him weeks ago. He felt he didn’t have the time or motivation to sit down and write them. In truth, the reason why he hadn’t been writing the letters was the same reason he didn’t walk up the stairs and open the bedroom door. He was afraid of confronting the truth, afraid of admitting to hurting the ones around him. He bit down on his lip, hard.

Jotaro put the pen to the paper but made no moves to write. He simply let it sit, making a tiny black dot on the otherwise clean white sheet. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say exactly, or how he would even begin.

Turning his head toward the bottle of whiskey on the counter, he contemplated pouring another drink. Lifting his pen from the paper, he nearly got up for his fourth of the night. Wiping his face with his hand, he decided against it and turned his attention again to the notepad in front of him. With a mind clouded by emotion, confusion, and three glasses of whiskey, he leaned in and wrote quickly.

Jolyne,

I’m so sorry, Jolyne. I’ve been a bad dad. I haven’t been around much lately and I really cannot tell you how sorry I am for it. I told you tonight that we would play tomorrow but I’m not sure I can. I promise I’ll make it up to you, we can get ice cream soon or go to the aquarium. You loved the dolphins when we took you last year. I’ll do that for you. As soon as I can I’ll take you to the aquarium.

Shit Stuff from my past has come back to haunt me kind of. When I was younger I got into some pretty deep sh stuff. It was almost ten years ago now that I think about it. Every time I remember it seems like yesterday. The memories are so vivid.

I had a good reason for going through it all, it was for your grandmother. I had to protect her. I had a good team with me, my old man and some good, good friends. We went on a journey I guess you could call it. We had to track down this man who was pure evil. It was crazy, so much happened so quickly.

Long story short, our my family is fucked messed up. It’s like a curse, we’ve all got demons and burdens to bear that we just can’t seem to shrug off. I thought I could but apparently it’s not over for me. I’ve been working with the Speedwagon Foundation to put an end to this all but I have no idea what’s next.

I’m trying my hardest not to burden you with my family’s curses, Jolyne. If there’s one thing I can do in the world it’s keep you safe and away from all of this.

I want you to know that I’m trying. I’m trying to protect you from this while still being your dad. And I’m sorry if I’m terrible at it. I’m trying. I’ll let you down sometimes. I already have. Sorry.

I’m afraid I’ve hurt your mother. I never told her about my past, not even the little bit I just wrote about. I don’t think she’d quite understand. And I get it. But that means I can’t be honest with her now. I know that hurts her. It’s like living in a home together with someone she doesn’t know. We might not be in love but she deserves better than me. She’s a good woman and the best mother I could hope for you.

God you deserve better than me Jolyne. I love you. I’m so sorry I can’t say it enough. I’ll make it up to you, like I said. Once this shit stuff with the Foundation is done and this chapter of my life is closed I’ll be free. I can be the man I want to be and the dad you need me to be.

Promise.

Dad

He leaned back and let a breath escape through tight lips. He neatly tore the pages he had written on out of the notepad, three in total. Had he decided to write another line he would have needed a fourth. Picking up the notepad he got up and walked over to return it to where it belonged. He stopped again to look at the photo of Jolyne.

He picked up the bottle of whiskey and returned it to its home in the kitchen cabinet. He brought the dirty glass to the sink and washed it, leaving it to dry on a rack to the left.

Turning from the sink, Jotaro walked back over to the table where he had left his newest letter for Jolyne. Collecting his work, he left the kitchen and walked a short distance to his office.

He flicked on the light and made for the room’s closet. Opening the door, he pushed aside a hat box on the top shelf to find the familiar little gray box that housed nearly four years of his thoughts. Bringing it down, he carried the thing to his desk a few paces away.

Placing the box squarely on the desk, he lifted the lid. Looking inside he realized he couldn't deposit the letter without securing the sheets together. The leaflets would slip around and ruin the order of the letters that he had maintained. Sliding out the top drawer of the desk, he fished around for something to solve the issue. Finally, he found a paperclip and secured the three pages together. He placed them gently at the top of the sizable pile.

In his first few months as a father he had written non-stop, some days even writing more than one note to his baby. Now, he took time only when he felt desperate. Closing the box back up, he walked to the closet and returned it to its inconspicuous home on the top shelf among other boxes of various colors and sizes.

Closing the closet door, Jotaro turned and looked around the room. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do now. His wife’s words echoed again in his mind; I don’t want to see you here tonight.

He scratched the side of his head thinking it might be best for him to spend the night somewhere else, stay at one of his grandfather’s hotels the next town over. Alcohol induced, he felt the best thing for himself and for those sleeping on the floor above him in this moment was for him to be away. Deciding on this, he walked out of the office to retrieve his car keys from the spot that he had disposed of them on the kitchen counter. He was met in the hallway by a surprising sight that struck a bit of fear in his heart.

Jolyne stood, purple teddy bear dragging on the floor, waiting for her father. The three-year-old had managed to leave her room and make it down the stairs on her own in complete darkness.

Jotaro was panic stricken. His mind flooded with thoughts and questions of how she had managed to get there on her own, and how she could have been injured in the process.

He rushed to her, bending down and taking her face in his hands. “Jolyne what are you doing down here. It’s dark you could’ve fallen down the stairs. What if you got hurt?”

The toddler, sleep still obvious in her face, said simply, “I can’t sleep, daddy.”

Still holding her face in his hands, he breathed out. Her eyes were looking back at him, half shut from exhaustion. He cursed himself for thinking running would be the best option a moment ago.

Jotaro smiled and said, “Let’s get you back to bed.” Picking up the tired toddler in his arms, he was met with a sudden, groggy protest.

“Nooo,” she said hazily. “I want to sleep with you, Daddy.” He held her at his hip so that her head rested on his left shoulder.

“Jolyne—" he started before being interrupted by another tired protest from the little girl.

He stood in the hallway, again debating what his next move should be. In truth, he didn’t want to leave the house. Especially not now while he held his daughter so close.

“Ok.” He said softly to Jolyne, nearly certain that she had already fallen asleep in his arms. He walked down the hall and into the living room. Once in the room, he grabbed a pillow and blanket that had been sitting on one of the two couches. Walking to the other, he lay Jolyne down, propped her head up on the pillow, and covered her with the blanket. He sat by the toddler who was fast asleep in her makeshift bed, careful not to move too quickly on the couch and disrupt her. He looked over at his daughter and smiled.

“Goodnight. I love you.” He whispered.

In the dark, with his daughter by his side Jotaro drifted to sleep. In his mind were worries of the future, fears of the past, but his present was precious. He would not have traded the world for this moment of quiet, for this night of falling fast asleep on the couch with his daughter nearby.

Chapter Text

The smell of bacon wafted through the house, reaching Jotaro’s nose as he sat in his office replying to emails. The delicious scent this early in the morning made him anxious to put an end to his work and track down the source. Typing diligently, he signed off on the email at hand and gave it a quick glance over, checking for errors. Not seeing any, he sent the correspondence to his boss and rose from the leather chair he had been sat in.

He stood there for a moment, stretching his back which had grown stiff from sitting for the past hour. His focus was on the scene outside of the window in front of him. In recent years he had learned to take moments of pause like this, moments in which he could simply appreciate the present. Though the sight of the Florida neighborhood was not an especially lovely view, to him it was comforting. The green lawn that bled into cracked pavement reminded him that he was just a man, he was allowed to live quiet days in the suburbs like this.

He left the office and followed the scent of bacon into the kitchen not far off. Arriving at the room, he rested his forearm on the door frame and again took in the scenery in front of him. His wife was frantically moving around the space, breakfast ingredients and various cooking utensils were sprawled messily around her on the counter. She was humming a bit off tune and shaking the contents of a box of premade pancake mix into a bowl.

She hated cooking. It was tedious and boring, and for that reason the family often ate the same simple meals in rotation that she or Jotaro prepared. Takeout boxes were not an unfamiliar sight in the Kujo household. Despite her strong feelings, she wanted today to be special and so she undertook the arduous and, quite frankly, annoying task of preparing a breakfast feast. Jotaro watched as she moved to add water to the bowl. She still hadn’t noticed him in the doorway.

The two rarely spent mornings together. Usually they were both focused in their own routines, both rushing to get to work and to drop Jolyne off at daycare. Today, however, was a special day. They both had taken it off, something rare and typically unwarranted for a Monday in early September.

He moved from his perched position over to where the woman was busily whisking together the batter. As he approached, he felt a bit odd. He felt out of it, not quite himself. He wasn’t sure what exactly overcame him as he neared his wife. He felt happy though. Today was a special day.

He snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her close, landing a small peck from behind on her cheek. She jumped a tiny bit, shocked by this unexpected and rare show of affection. With his face still close to hers, he said quietly, “Smells good.”

Her face melted into a smile and reddened, “Oh h-hi.”

She felt a bit embarrassed for acting like a schoolgirl around the man she had been married to for five years but, in truth, right now Jotaro was someone she rarely saw. He was not an outwardly affectionate man. In fact, to label him as affectionate to any degree would be a gross mistake. His affection came quietly in tiny gestures like picking up his wife’s dry cleaning before she asked or buying Jolyne’s favorite ice cream at the supermarket. It was hard to get used to, it often left his family hungry for more.

He pulled away from his wife and she felt the immediate loss of his touch. He turned to the oven and cracked the door slightly, peeking at the bacon cooking inside. The oil and fat bubbled and melted together to create the intoxicating scent that reminded him of his very first meal in America.

Recovering from her flustered state, she turned around to speak to the man. “Honey, why don’t you go wake up JoJo. Get her ready, I’ll have this all done in like an hour.”

He replied with a deep smile, one which forced the wrinkles around his eyes to appear, features that told of the sheer amount stress he had experienced in his twenty-seven years.

He left the kitchen with his wife’s eyes still on him and walked through the house, ascending the stairs to reach the little girl’s room. Quietly opening the door, he poked his head inside.

She was fast asleep, sprawled out messily on the bed with wrinkled, discarded sheets nearly hanging off of its edge. He walked over to where she lay, sitting on the bed and leaning in to put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. Shaking her gently he cooed, “Jolyne, Jolyne wake up. Come on.”

He continued to shake her shoulder to no avail. She was an extremely heavy sleeper. He stood up from his position sitting on the bed’s edge and moved to kneel on the ground, leveling his eyes with where she lay. With one arm still shaking her shoulder, he used the other to pat her head gently.

“Sweetie, you have to get up. Come on. Jolyne, wake up.” A bit of frustration was creeping into his voice as she remained asleep. After continuing on in this way for nearly a minute, he saw her eyes flutter open. She let out a yawn and looked sleepily at her father. Jotaro rose and returned to his seat on the bed’s edge.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” he said with a smile, grabbing one of her hands and shaking it playfully. She mumbled a drowsy, unintelligible reply before trying to roll over and get back to sleep.

“Oh no you don’t.” He said as he moved to scoop up the little girl. She was forced awake with the sudden movement.

“Jolyne, do you know what today is?” He questioned, craning his neck back to look at her face. Sleep still in her eyes, she said simply and sweetly, ”Is it my birthday?”

Jotaro let out a hearty chuckle, only Jolyne was capable of making him laugh in her innocent, genuine way. “No, your birthday is in January, it’s September.” He moved a hand to stroke her hair, smoothing her bed head. Jolyne grumbled, awake now but still unsure of what was happening.

“It’s your first day of school!” Jotaro said with a hint of exaggerated excitement.

Her eyes lit up; she had been talking about this day for a while now. Excitement came into her face as she registered the fact that the day had finally come. She was a rowdy, adventurous child and was looking forward for the new grown-up experience.

She wrapped her arms tightly around her father’s neck. The two giggled together, “Let’s get you ready.”

“Daddy are you going to make me into a princess?” she said, now full of energy.

“Of course. But let’s get your face washed and your teeth brushed first.” Jotaro put the girl down and followed her to the bathroom down the hall. He felt a twinge of nervousness creep up inside. Jolyne had declared the night before that she wanted to be a princess on her first day. Jotaro tried and failed to explain to the five-year-old that she couldn’t wear a costume to school. To prevent a full tantrum, he pitched a compromise— He promised to do her hair intricately, like a princess. She reluctantly agreed once he had added dessert as another bargaining chip.

In order to keep true to his promise he had spent too long, nearly two hours too long, looking online and in the little girl’s picture books for references. He had even enlisted his wife as an assistant, using her hair as a canvas to practice styling and braiding. She complied willingly, surprised by her husband’s actions but warmed by the effort he put in doing such a small thing for their daughter. Now, in the moment, he wasn’t certain he would be able to do it just right. He was genuinely afraid of disappointing her, he wanted everything to be perfect for her.

Jotaro stood in the doorway of the bathroom supervising Jolyne while she brushed her teeth. She’d recently started brushing on her own. It seemed to Jotaro that with every passing day she needed him less and less. She rinsed her mouth and turned to flash a toothy grin at her father, giggling while showing him her job well done.

He smiled back at her, “Alright, let’s go get dressed.” The little girl hopped off of the stool she had been standing on and ran down the hallway after her father, the two reaching her bedroom at the same time.

“What outfit did you and mommy pick out for today?” Jotaro asked the little girl while walking over to the chair where her ensemble had been laid out the night before. Jolyne excitedly followed, keeping close to his leg.

“A white shirt with flowers and butterflies and a blue skirt, I wanted to wear my crown but Mommy said I can’t.” She said excitedly, the words falling out of her mouth all at once.

“Oh yeah?” Jotaro handed the little girl her shirt and skirt for her to dress. “Well it’s ok. I’m going to do your hair up like a princess. Princesses don’t always need crowns you know.”

Jolyne whined, pulling the shirt over her head. “Yeah but I wanted to wear the crown.”

“Yeah, yeah. Kindergartners don’t wear crowns though.”

After she had dressed Jotaro sat her down at a tiny arts and crafts table in the center of the room. He sat on the floor behind her so that his head was level with her own. Brushing her hair out he began to feel the nerves again.

In his life he had been through a lot. If he were to tell stories of his youth, of what he had experienced, of what he had battled, it would surely sound closer to one of Jolyne’s fantasy books than reality. His fear now of messing up his daughter’s hair on her first day of school was matched by nothing he had quite experienced.

He began to part her hair carefully as she moved her hands around the table, keeping busy by drawing a picture and humming a childish tune.

“Daddy what’s school like?”

“It’s a lot of fun. Sometimes. You learn new things, meet new friends.”

“Do you think I’ll make friends?” The little girl asked innocently, her hands moving around erratically, leaving Jotaro without a clue of what her final artwork would look like.

“I know you will, sweetie.”

“Daddy where are your friends?”

The words caught him by surprise, in fact, he faltered a bit while braiding, having to undo the plaits to fix his mistake.

“My friends are all over, Jolyne. I’ve got friends around the world, friends from work, friends from when I was younger. Your mom is my friend.”

“Are you friends with the people on your desk?” She continued to move her hand jerkily, now adding color to the drawing.

“What do you mean—” He was confused, not sure where to comment had come from.

“The guys on your desk. In the picture with you and Jiji from a loooong time ago.”

His brows arched as he realized what she had been talking about, he didn’t know that she had seen that photo. He smirked and laughed a bit, “Jolyne, you know not to call great grandpa that.”

“Yeah but you do.” the little girl snappily replied, Jotaro laughed and gave it up.

“Yeah, those are my friends from a long time ago.”

“Can I meet them? I want them to be my friends.”

“Yeah, someday. Maybe.” He said a bit hesitantly, not quite sure how to answer the five-year-old.

Jotaro continued braiding, keeping his mind trained on the task at hand so as not to wander to memories of the past.

“I like the man with the red hair. He has pretty hair like Ariel.” She said sweetly. “I want to marry him.”

Jotaro chuckled, it came from his heart. “I don’t think so.”

“Daddy, am I your friend?”

Securing the final piece of her hair with a ribbon, he leaned back to admire his work. It looked good. Taking a glance at the clock on the wall, he noticed how much time he had spent. It had only taken up an hour of the morning. In truth, he thought he would have needed more time. He patted the top of her head carefully, making sure not to move a single hair out of place.

“Of course, Jolyne. You’re my very best friend.”

The little girl turned excitedly to face her father, smiling all the way.

“Daddy you’re my best friend.”

Jotaro’s face melted into a smile, he hugged her and held her tight, feeling her arms try to hug him back with strength equal to his.

Pulling away from the embrace he said, “Alright little princess, let’s go show mom.” At that moment he looked down and saw her hands, covered in ink from the markers she had been using. Colorful streaks made their way up her arms nearly to the puffed sleeves of her white shirt.

Grabbing her arms, he said worriedly, “Jolyne what did you do? How did you do this?”

She smiled her usual toothy grin. “I made a picture for you!”

Sneaking out of his grip she turned to pick the drawing up. She held it away from her chest in both hands, proudly presenting it to her father.

It was a crude drawing, something only a parent would be able to decipher and appreciate. Together were Jotaro and his wife, him drawn almost comically taller than she was. In between them was smaller figure, a little girl, Jolyne, holding both of her parents’ hands. All three were wearing “U” shaped, giant smiles. The little family stood by a house-shaped scribble surrounded by flowers, butterflies, dolphins, and seashells. She had taken a liking to the latter and began incorporating them in her art after having spent a bit too much time in her father’s office while he worked. Jotaro took the drawing gingerly from his daughter’s hands.

“I love it,” he said. “It’s beautiful, Jolyne.” He stared at it for a minute while the five-year-old babbled on, talking him through each and every one of her artistic decisions. When she finished her lecture, she looked up at him and smiled again.

“I really love it.” His eyes creased as he looked to his daughter, “I’m going to hang it up on the fridge later.” Getting up and off of the ground, he placed the drawing back down on the tiny table.

“Now,” he started sternly, a noticeable change of tone in his voice. “Let’s get you cleaned up before Mommy gets mad.” Jolyne giggled mischievously, knowing that she had done something that would surely upset her mother. The two made their way back to the bathroom where Jotaro managed to scrub away the marker, lucky that it was made for messy children like Jolyne.

Chatting with his daughter about the coming day, he relished in the moment. He recalled her just a short while ago, brushing her teeth and getting dressed all on her own. He was afraid she would quickly grow out of needing him. Scrubbing the marker off of his daughter’s messy arms on her first day of school brought him back to what he had now. She was still his little girl, she needed him to fix silly little problems like this.

For Jotaro the last few years had been rocky. He had been in and out of phases where he was in and out of his family's lives. Given business with the Speedwagon Foundation he could not devote himself entirely to being a husband or father, he had responsibilities much bigger than his own life.

He couldn’t be there for Jolyne every time she needed him. She had had to learn how to do things without him, learn how to fall asleep without him kissing her goodnight. This past summer had been different, blissful. Research on the stand arrows had plateaued and he hadn’t been needed in the past two months as much as he had before. He had welcomed the distance from his unusual responsibilities. Now, for once in his life, he genuinely enjoyed his days. He lived like he had always wanted to, quietly and peacefully. He partook in normal, everyday activities and spent the evenings lazily with his wife and daughter. The family had gone to the zoo, the park, and the beach. They had gone on road trips across the country to visit relatives. With each new memory he wondered if he was allowed to lead such a normal existence. Each moment of peace that he experienced was followed by a creeping doubt that infiltrated his thoughts when he found himself alone. For every good day, he had an exhausting night.

Jotaro dried Jolyne’s arms off with a towel and picked her up. The two faced the mirror where Jolyne caught a glimpse of her hair for the first time. Two little buns sat atop her head, with the rest cascading down the back in an ornate braid.

“Daddy, daddy! I look like a princess!” Excitedly she pointed at herself in the mirror.

“Yes, you do. You’re my princess.” Jotaro answered, looking at the little girl’s face rather than her reflection.

“I want you to do this every day!” she said enthusiastically, still looking at herself in the mirror.

“Ohh, I don’t know about that, Jolyne.” Jotaro said, genuine fear of having to again style her hair creeping up.

Their chat was interrupted by a yell, “Jotaro! Jolyne!” The father and daughter looked at each other with wide eyes.

“Uh-oh, I think Mommy’s mad at us.” Jotaro joked, poking Jolyne playfully in her stomach. The ticklish five-year-old squirmed and laughed.

The duo walked out into the hallway where they were met by the wife and mother standing at the top of the stairs. Seeing them, she smiled and exclaimed, “Look at you!”

She hurried over to steal Jolyne from her father’s arms, the little girl happily jumping ship.

“Mommy, Daddy made me into a princess! Look, see!”

“Yes, he did! You look so pretty!”

Jotaro watched on as the two shared this sweet exchange. He felt a bit strange observing from the outside. He was reminded of moments like these that he missed while away on Foundation business. Hearing the two in front of him share a laugh, a calm wave flooded over him.

Looking over at him, his wife smiled. “Come on, let’s go eat breakfast.”

After enjoying a filling, albeit slightly cold breakfast the little family had made their way to the elementary school. They had decided to walk rather than take a car. The school was only ten minutes away and it was an extraordinarily lovely day out, sunny but not overbearing as Florida often was. A slight, sweet breeze brushed by Jotaro’s hand as he held on to his daughter’s.

Upon arrival at the school Jolyne was promptly posed in its courtyard for pictures. Regrettably, Jotaro had married a woman who felt it necessary to capture every single one of life's moment. Having no relatives near, she was often sending these photographs to different addresses around the country or abroad. Jolyne didn’t mind, in fact she encouraged her mother’s actions. She loved playing model, especially on days when she was dolled up as she was today.

After snapping several photos of Jolyne holding the straps of her backpack tight with both hands and smiling while saying “Cheeeeeeeeese,” she turned to her husband.

“Jotaro, get in there.”

She said this softly but sternly, knowing complaints were sure to follow. As he began to open his mouth in protest, she closed her eyes, tilted her head slightly, and smiled, “Come on.” She was not having any of his objections today.

The man paused for a second, looking over at his daughter who was now distracted by the other families and kids her age. He pulled his hat over his eyes, adjusting it a bit. “Yare, yare.”

“Yay!” his wife squealed before calling out for Jolyne’s attention. Turning to see her father approaching, the little girl smiled again. This time genuine and not simply for the photo.

Jotaro stood by his daughter, one hand resting on her shoulder as his wife snapped several pictures.

“Now pick Jolyne up, that’ll be reeeeeal cute!” she ordered. At times like this he swore that she believed she was a professional photographer. Jolyne raised her hands in the air and Jotaro promptly lifted her, holding her at his side. They both smiled for the next round of photos.

Another suggestion came from behind the camera, “Jolyne, give Daddy a kiss!”

Doing so, Jolyne allowed her mother to take the photo, and her father to tuck the brief moment away in his mind.

“That’s a keeper.” His wife lowered the camera that had been covering her face, revealing a proud smile. “Hold on, let me get someone to take a photo of all of us.”

Jolyne looked around at the scene from her new vantage point in her father’s arms. Jotaro, sensing her hesitation in the moment asked, “Are you nervous?”

The little girl looked at him squarely in the face. “No!” She pouted.

Jotaro laughed, “Ok, ok.” She was a stubborn little thing, even if she was feeling nervous there was no way she would come out with it.

His wife, having found another mother to serve as their photographer, hurried over to his side. With Jolyne in one arm he wrapped the other around his wife’s shoulder. The family of three smiled and waited for the photo to be taken. In this moment Jotaro was genuinely happy. Like he had never been before. He was glad to be alive.

Once done, his wife sneaked away from his grip and went to collect the camera, thanking the woman who had stepped in and offering to do the same for her family.

Jolyne moved to wrap her arms around Jotaro’s neck, still moving her head to look at the new place and unfamiliar faces around her. He watched her eyes dart around and wanted to tell her it’d be alright but knew that he would only be met by a sharp rebuttal. She was tough for a five-year-old. Maybe it came from her father’s side.

“Ok, Jolyne! It’s time to go inside!” her mother nearly sang, returning to her husband’s side. Jolyne’s grip on her father’s neck tightened for a split second.

Jotaro patted her back, “Come on, you have to go.” She looked at her father’s face. Seeing his slight smile, she decided to be brave. She slid down his side onto the ground and grabbed one of each of her parents’ hands in her own, leading the two through the school's courtyard. Her mother and father shared a laugh, knowing she would soon shed her confidence as she would realize she didn’t know how to navigate the school building.

They made their way inside and down a few hallways, Jolyne energetically chatting with her mother as her father took in the surroundings, judging the place where he would leave his daughter in a few moments.

Reaching Jolyne’s assigned classroom, the family filed inside. It was brightly lit, the walls lined with colorful, welcoming posters and charts. Kindergartner-sized tables were scattered around the room with small chairs to match. There were about ten other children already there, the majority huddled into a small group away from the door. A handful of families were inside the room, still saying their respective goodbyes. One father in the corner was crying loud, obnoxious tears as he held onto his daughter about the same size as Jolyne.

Jolyne stood in front of her parents, taking in the new setting. A thin, older woman with dark hair approached the family, bending down to level herself with the five-year-old.

“Hi there!” she said sweetly, “I’m Mrs. Talbot! What’s your name?” Jolyne backed into her father’s legs, grabbing a hold of one for support. Her mother’s hand came to pat the top of her head, reassuring the little girl that it was all ok. “Go ahead, Jolyne.”

Jolyne stepped forward, breathing in sharply as she said a bit too loud, “My name is Jolyne Kujo and it’s my first day of school!”

Looking down at his little girl Jotaro smiled proudly, his wife giggled at his side.

“Well Jolyne, it’s nice to meet you,” The woman said with a smile. “I’m going to be your teacher! We’re going to have a lot of fun this year!”

Jolyne flashed a grin, seemingly shedding the anxiety she had been feeling just a moment before. She was an outgoing child. She would be fine after a bit of warming up to the situation.

Mrs. Talbot rose, extending a hand out to greet both parents. “Mrs. Kujo, we’ve already met but I’m so glad to have you here today. Good to meet you, Mr. Kujo.” Jolyne looked up, watching the exchange.

Clasping both hands together, the teacher exclaimed again, “I’m so happy to have you here, Jolyne!”

“And we’re all excited for her to be here today.” Jolyne’s mother said, patting her daughter again on the head. Jolyne was now looking to the other end of the classroom where the group of children were noisily talking. She had grown curious about the group, wondering who they were and what exactly they were doing. Noticing the shift in her attention her mother said, “Alright Jolyne, it’s time for us to say goodbye.”

After these words fell from her lips both Jotaro and Jolyne turned sharply to look at the woman. They both knew this was coming but both were not quite prepared. Bending down, she held her daughter’s shoulders in her hands.

“I love you sweetie, have fun today.” She said close to the little girl’s face. She hugged her tight and planted a kiss on her daughter’s cheek. “We’ll see you soon.”

Jolyne’s eyes were wide. Jotaro stared down at her, his mouth slightly open. Jolyne’s eyes met his and he felt the lump in his throat grow. He knelt down, slowly.

Resting his hands on crouched knees he looked his daughter in the eyes. “Bye Jolyne. I’m going to miss you.” He gulped, feeling it a bit hard to get the words out. “Have fun, make a lot of friends for me.”

He wrapped his arms around the little girl and held her close, saying again, “I’m going to miss you.”

Shifting her eyes between parents, the little girl straightened and said quickly, “Mommy, Daddy, you can leave now.”

The words came as a surprise to all parties. The three adults shared a laugh that lightened the mood of the situation.

Jolyne grinned, happy to see her parents' smiles. “Ok! Bye-bye!”

She turned and ran over to the small crowd of children. Her parents watched as she joined the little group, announcing herself and striking up conversation with some of the others. Just like that, she had left them on their own.

As he felt his wife’s hand loop into his own, he watched Jolyne’s head bob up and down with excited chatter. The two parents stood, waiting for the courage to leave their baby. A gentle squeeze a few seconds later distracted him. He looked over to his wife at his side. She winked and said softly, “Let’s go.”

Jotaro looked again for Jolyne, now seeing her laughing with the others her age. His legs were frozen. He didn’t think he would be capable of moving from that spot. His wife reached a hand over to cup his face. He looked again at her and saw a few happy tears streaming down as she smiled. “Let’s get out of here. She’s alright.”

The two walked out of the classroom and into the hallway where Jotaro immediately stopped again, straining his neck to take a last look inside at Jolyne. He felt a tug on his hand as his wife led him away towards the school’s exit. He moved his feet slowly, mechanically, not quite present. One hand still being held by his wife, he used the other to rub his face.

The couple made their way back home quietly. Though she had wanted to chat, she understood that her husband was processing. His typical lackluster answers to her conversational quips would be altogether nonexistent in this moment. And so, she settled with walking nearly silent under the Florida sun.

His mind moved slowly, his thoughts hazy as he tried to sort through too many emotions. He was happy for his baby girl, yes. He was happy that she seemed to be excited, mostly, for her new adventure. Happy that she was looking forward to making friends. Happy that she was strong enough to say goodbye.

And yet, he was torn. His happiness was undercut by his fear. The same fear that had crept in earlier that morning. Fear that his importance in his daughter’s life would quickly fade. Though he had been happy moments ago, his fear and anxiety now mingled in to create an unpleasant cocktail of emotion.

Not realizing that they had already reached their destination, Jotaro was woken from his cloudy thoughts again by a squeeze of his hand. After five years of marriage and raising a child together, his wife felt she had a good read on the man. She knew when he was spiraling into anxious thoughts and knew when he needed a reminder of his presence in the real world to bring him back.

She entered their home, Jotaro following a few steps behind. “I’m making some coffee, want me to make you a cup?” she yelled, already having made her way through the house and into the kitchen.

“No, I’m good.” He responded flatly, closing the door behind him. “I’ve got some emails to catch up on.”

“Ok, I’ll be outside on the deck if you need me.” Her words trailed off as he made his way down the hallway to his office.

He walked into the room and sat in the cushioned leather chair at the desk, leaning back and shutting his eyes. He let a sigh escape his lips and swiveled slowly a bit in the chair, moving left to right at a constant rhythm.

After taking the brief moment to collect his thoughts he opened his eyes. Sitting up straight he reached over to turn on the computer, looking around the desk while the large piece of technology took its time to come to life. Truthfully, he wasn’t quite feeling up to working now, he didn’t think he could focus on reading or replying to anything. His desk was carefully organized, not a paperclip out of place. A neat stack of documents sat to his left, the latest reports from a team of researchers on an expedition in the Atlantic. The far end of the desk was lined with four photographs in mismatched frames.

The first was a photo of his father, mother, and himself when he was about Jolyne’s age.

The second was the photo that Jolyne had spoken of earlier that morning. A copy of the original, it sat in a plain wooden frame. It was a rare photo of him smiling in his teens. By his side stood old friends now gone, Kakyoin and Avdol. Below the two the always goofy Polnareff was holding onto Joseph's chin. Iggy sat in the old man's lap, calm and compliant on this rare occasion.

He thought now about Jolyne looking at it, about her trying to imagine who the strangers might be. He smiled, remembering what she had said about Kakyoin. If only you could’ve met her, he thought. She would’ve loved you.

The photo to the right of this was of his grandparents and a month-old Jolyne. Joseph’s mouth was open wide, the photo snapped mid-sentence. Suzi held the sleeping baby in her arms, smiling sweetly.

The last photo in the line was one of Jolyne and her mother. It had been taken about two months earlier while the family was on a trip to the beach. He had taken it. Jolyne was smiling a bit too much in her mother’s arms, he could hear her saying, “Cheeeseee.”

He smiled at the photos, each representing an important part of his life. Looking at them today, he realized what he had now, and what he had to lose. Scratching his head, he opened the desk drawer to his right. Fishing around inside of it he found a clean white sheet of paper and a pen, the old Las Vegas one. He placed the sheet down on the desk and began to write.

September 1, 1997

Jolyne,

Today is your first day of school. Your mother and I just dropped you off. I doubt you’ll remember but you left us, not the other way around. You surprise me every day with what you do. You make my life worth it.

I can’t wait to talk to you when you get home, I want to hear all about your first day. From here on out you’ll do things on your own, you won’t need me as much. But I know that whatever you do, it’ll be big and great. You’ll be better than me, I know it. I hope I get to see it.

Jolyne you are my pride and joy, my everything. I don’t know where I would be in life without you. I don’t think I would still be the man I am now.

He picked up his pen and looked at it, the images on its barrel were scratched and faded with age. He was surprised it still worked.

Jotaro felt that he wanted to say more but wasn’t sure what. He usually wrote these when he was at a loss, when he felt like he might have not done what he should have for Jolyne. But now, he was happy. He had no regrets in this one moment and wanted to do nothing but tell his daughter how much he cared about her.

Sitting, thinking, he decided to end the note there. Short and sweet, he thought.

I love you. You’ll always be my princess.

Dad

Picking the sheet of paper up off of the desk, he read over it quickly, smiling as he thought of his daughter’s face.

“So, how’s work?”

He jolted up, surprised by the sound of his wife’s voice coming from behind. He hadn’t shut the door, expecting her to be outside as she had said she would be. He hurriedly hid his letter under the neat stack of papers to his left. She hadn’t learned of his habit of writing these and he didn’t intend on letting her know about it now. He moved to turn and face her but was surprised again by her arms slipping over his shoulders and meeting on his chest. She rested her chin on his shoulder, leaning her weight into the back of the chair.

“G-good,” he stuttered, still surprised and collecting himself after being caught at his most vulnerable. “Just finished up with emails for the day.” He said a bit more confidently, glad the computer was on to sell his excuse.

“Mhmmm, always working,” she purred. “You’re a good dad.” She said slowly, nibbling on his ear suggestively. “And a good husband.” Her breath made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He swallowed, needing to clear his mind. Still in shock he took a few breaths, coming to understand the situation.

He turned his head so that their faces were close, lips nearly touching. He could feel her breath, hot and heavy combining with his own.

“Thanks,” he said. “You too.”

The couple stood close together outside of the elementary school. Around them were other parents, waiting in similar anxious anticipation for their kids to come running out with the sound of the school bell.

His wife leaned her head against on his shoulder. He felt especially close to her today and was glad for it. The sound of the bell jolted them both, she lifted her head on high alert.

The first wave of children came rushing out, all streaming in the same direction away from the school. The two craned their necks, looking for their little one in the sea. Not seeing her yet, they perked up again when a second class was released.

Taller than most others around him, Jotaro was able to spot his daughter now among the crowd of kindergartners. Jolyne walked while chatting excitedly with four others, even holding hands with a little girl a bit taller than she was. Seeing this Jotaro smiled, remembering her worries earlier that same day.

“Jolyne!” he yelled uncharacteristically loud.

Jolyne turned her head in response to her name. Seeing her mother and father waving excitedly, she grinned. She dropped the little girl’s hand and she ran over to her parents, making sure to turn back and wave goodbye to her new friends.

Jotaro dropped his wife’s hand and walked toward his daughter who was running at him. “Daddy!” she shouted excitedly.

“Jolyne,” he scooped her up, cutting her momentum short. He planted a big kiss on her cheek. “I missed you. I missed you so much.”

She giggled and shied away from his affection. Her mother reached the two, grabbing a hold of the five-year-old’s hand and giving it a kiss. “How was school baby girl?”

“It was fun! Can I go back?” Her parents shared a hearty laugh.

“Of course,” her mother answered. “But now you have to come home with us, we missed you too much!”

“Ok! But I want to play with my new friends all the time!” Jolyne answered, still raring from the day’s excitement.

“Oh yeah? No time for mommy and daddy anymore?” Jotaro joked, tickling the little girl’s stomach. He surprised himself today. He had never showed this much affection at once, never would he imagine doing so in such a public place.

He lifted her above his head and plopped her down on his shoulders. Jolyne laughed, enjoying the attention from her father.

The girl’s mother grabbed a hold of her leg and shook it playfully. “Jojo, do you want to go get some ice cream? We want to hear all about your day and about your friends.”

“Yes yes yes!” Jolyne squealed. “I want cotton candy ice cream with rainbow sprinkles!”

“Anything for you, princess.” Jotaro smiled as he responded to the little girl’s demand.

The small family walked down the street and away from the elementary school. The two proud parents listened to the exciting tales of their daughter’s first day, reacting with genuine laughter and intrigue each time she introduced a new aspect of her story. Jotaro smiled looking at the path ahead and relishing in the bittersweet words of his daughter’s new life apart from him.

Chapter Text

“Jolyne, Grammy is gone.”

The six-year old looked to her father with a blank face, taking his words in but clearly not understanding their meaning. She was sat in a chair at the dining room table opposite her parents. Her mother was crying and held a crumpled tissue to her face.

Jolyne blinked. “She’s gone?”

Her mother attempted to suppress a sob and rose from her seat at the table, leaving the room and making her way up the stairs. Jotaro followed her with his eyes but didn't say anything or move to comfort her. Jolyne shifted in her seat to watch her mother leave, her confusion growing with the sound of each footstep.

“Yes. She died.” Jolyne turned to focus again on her father. “She was very sick. And now she’s gone.”

“Where did she go?”

Jotaro scratched his head, he wasn't qualified to explain death to a child. He was unsure of how to navigate the conversation without scaring her. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t beat around the bush. She’s dead and gone and never coming back. That’s it.

He selfishly wished that the roles had been reversed, that it was one of his family member’s that had passed rather than his mother-in-law. That way, at least, he wouldn’t have to be the one to explain this to Jolyne.

“She’s, uh, not with us anymore. She’s gone to a better place.”

Jolyne cocked her head to one side, “But why can’t we go to where she is? Why can’t we see Grammy anymore?”

“She’s dead, Jolyne.” A bit of frustration crept into Jotaro’s voice. Across the table Jolyne tensed up, gripping the edge of her chair tightly. The unexpected shift in tone and her confusion began to fuse into the early stages of a crying fit on her face.

Seeing his mistake, Jotaro rose and made his way over to his daughter. He knelt by the chair she had been sat in so that he was level with her face.

“Jolyne, you see, everyone is born, right. Everyone is a baby at some time in their life. Grammy was a baby once. I was, Mom was. You were a baby.” Jolyne stared back at her father with the same empty expression, trying to understand his words. He reached out and held her hands in his own.

“Um, everyone lives their own life. Everyone has fun and plays and has friends. But everything has to come to an end. It’s like when we go to the beach. We have a lot of fun, but we can’t stay forever. We have to leave sometime. Everyone has to leave the beach.

“When you die, it’s the end. It means there’s no more for you. There’s no more time to play. When you die, you don’t get to be around friends anymore. You go somewhere else. Everyone dies. Grammy died from cancer.”

“Everyone dies?” Jolyne repeated the words back slowly.

“Yes. And it’s sad. When someone dies, they leave behind a lot.”

“Grammy left Mommy behind?”

“Yes, and that’s why Mommy is sad. She’s going to miss Grammy. She won’t see her again for a very long time. It’s ok for Mom to be sad.”

“Are you sad?” Jolyne asked.

Jotaro made a face.

“Yes, of course.” He deadpanned. Truthfully, he was indifferent. He didn’t much care for his mother-in-law. If he was honest, he had quite a distaste for the woman. She never liked him and never came to respect his differences in culture. Whenever the two were in a room together they both avoided any interaction.

“But you’re not crying like Mommy?”

Jotaro let an awkward smile slip. “Uh, yes. Everyone is sad in different ways. I don’t cry. But if you’re sad its ok to cry, Jolyne.”

“It’s ok, I don’t need to cry too.” Jotaro cupped her face and smiled.

“Daddy, are you going to die?” The words came as a surprise. He pursed his lips, musing on how to answer the question.

“Yes. Some day.”

With this, tears began to form behind Jolyne’s eyes and her lips quivered. His simple answer had put the concept of death into perspective for the six-year-old. “D-daddy I don’t want you to die! Please don’t leave me!”

Jotaro leaned in to plant a kiss on his daughter’s forehead, lingering there for a few extra seconds. He pulled away and picked her up out of the chair. Looking at her face he said, “Don’t worry, Jolyne. I won’t leave you. I’ll be with you always.”

“B-but someday you’re going to die and I’ll miss you and I won’t see you!” She was crying now, her voice warbled by the child-like panic.

Jotaro leaned her head against his shoulder, stroking her hair in an effort to calm her down. “Shh, it’s ok. That won’t happen for a long, long time.”

Jolyne sobbed. Jotaro stood up, “Shh, don’t worry.” He looked around the room for an answer of what to do next. “It’s ok.” He cooed as he made his way out of the room.

“It’s ok, Jolyne.” He repeated, now making his way down the hallway. She continued to cry into his shoulder, processing the overload of information about life in the only way the six-year-old saw fit.

Jotaro crossed the threshold of his office and made his way to take a seat at the leather chair at his desk. “Jolyne, shh. Jolyne, it’s ok.” He lifted her off of his shoulder and sat her on his lap.

“Look, just because someone dies it doesn’t mean they leave you.” He wiped the tears from her eyes as she sniffled. “You’ll miss them but a piece of them will always stay with you.”

She continued to cry as she looked up at her father. He smiled down at her, and held her face in his hand, wiping tears away with his thumbs. “Look, I want you to see this.” He shifted her on his lap so that she faced the desk.

He leaned in and grabbed one of the framed photos from the desk's far edge. “You know this picture?”

“Yes,” Jolyne sniffled, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands. “Your friends from a long time ago.”

“Yes.” Jotaro said softly, looking at the picture. He scanned over it as he had countless times before.

A smile spread across as his face as he recalled the moment it was taken, as he remembered the voices of friends now long gone. He could hear the silly conversation that Polnareff and Joseph were having. Polnareff saying something about how Joseph’s beard made him look much older than he was, Joseph quipping back that it only made him more handsome. He could hear Avdol and Kakyoin exchanging their quiet comments on the situation, making fun of the other two’s absurdity in their polite tones. All the while he could remember Iggy chewing coffee gum in this one rare moment that he sat still.

“These are my friends. A long time ago we went on… an adventure. This man, Kakyoin, this man, Avdol, and this little guy here, Iggy… they all died.” Jotaro’s finger rested by Iggy. Jolyne reached for the photo, trying to get a closer look. She was quiet.

“They died. And I was really sad. For a long time. I’m still sad, Jolyne. I miss them a lot.”

For a moment, memories of those fifty days came flooding into his mind. Good memories. The meals they’d shared, the laughs they had, the nights they’d spent wondering what life would be like for them after the journey. Little things that brought a smile to his face and made his eyes sting.

“They’re gone. They left us. But they’re still with me. In my memories, in my every day, in everything I do. My life is better because I met them, and that’s what’s important. I miss them, but I’m glad I knew them for the time I did.”

Jolyne moved a little finger across the glass, tracing the picture and making contact with each face.

“It’s part of life. You live and you die. But everyone leaves behind good for the ones they love. Grammy might not be here anymore, but you’ll always have her with you.” Jotaro looked at the top of her head rather than the photo.

No, he still hadn’t recovered from the loss in Egypt more than ten years ago. Seeing the only people he had been able to make a genuine connection with disappear before his eyes so quickly had caused something in him to snap, something that could never completely be repaired.

When he learned six years ago that he was going to be a father, he felt that maybe, just maybe, there was hope for him. Though he was afraid, he had something good. Loss after loss in his life had led to Jolyne. It had all led to this little girl who genuinely loved him for who he was: faults, shortcomings, and all.

But there was always a fear that everything would be taken from him again. There was always a fear that he would lose Jolyne without any ability to stop it.

Often, he would wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. It had been years since he had had a proper nightmare, but the effects of his post-traumatic stress mingled with anxiety of the future forced him awake. On these occasions he would recall memories of his past, thinking of what he could have done differently and regretting that it was not him who was taken.

On nights like these he found himself drifting into Jolyne’s bedroom simply to sit near her as she slept peacefully, innocently. He was able to calm down in this way, to ground himself in his present and remember that everything was different now. She was a reminder to him that his life was worth living.

Jolyne turned in her father’s lap to look at his face. She wrapped her little arms around his neck, “I love you, daddy.”

Jotaro was surprised. Still holding the photo, he used one arm pull his daughter in closer. He felt the familiar stinging feeling return to his eyes, “I love you, Jolyne.”

She pulled away and put a hand on his chest, smiling up at him. “Your friends are here, right?”

“Yeah, they are. Always.” He felt a lump grow as he swallowed the last word.

She moved the hand to her own chest, “They’re here too.”

Jotaro smiled, forcing back the tears he had been holding in for much too long. “Yeah.” He said softly, patting her head.

Jotaro kissed her on the forehead. “Jolyne, why don’t you go and see Mom. She probably needs a hug.”

“Ok.” Jolyne said as she wriggled her way off of her father’s lap. She made her way across the room before turning, “Are you coming, Daddy?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there in just a second.” He said and smiled softly. She turned and ran through the house. He could hear her heavy footsteps as she made her way up the stairs to where her mother lay mourning alone in the dark bedroom.

Jotaro leaned back in the chair and looked to the photo still in hand. He let a warm tear fall quietly down his face. He traced the photo in the same way Jolyne had moments before, making contact with each face that he could no longer see.

He gulped down the rest of his feelings and returned the photo to its spot at the desk’s far edge. He reached for a tiny notepad to his left and sifted around some papers for a loose pen. He tore off a sheet and wrote quickly:

April 14, 1998

Jolyne,

I love you. So much. Thank you for being in my life.

You do more for me than you know.

Dad

Everything was quiet. The gentle patter of raindrops falling onto black umbrellas filled the air. The rhythmic drumming added to the somber atmosphere of the funeral scene. Occasionally, the goodbyes of another mourner departing and the sound of their soggy footsteps would overwhelm the sound of the rain.

Jotaro stood, holding Jolyne with the arm that was not occupied by their umbrella. Under another umbrella to their right, his wife held onto a slightly taller woman, her sister. Both had tears in their eyes and were trading quiet memories of better days.

Jolyne was looking at the hole in the ground where the casket had been lowered a few minutes before.

“Daddy, someday are you going to put me down there?”

“No, that won’t happen.”

“Why not? You said everybody dies.”

“Yes. That’s true.” Jotaro said. “But you won’t go before me. Parents shouldn’t have to bury their kids.” He said this but remembered the funerals he had attended where this wasn’t the case.

“You’re going to live a long, happy life. And I’ll be with you the whole time.” He added with a gentle kiss on the cheek.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder, tired from the unfamiliar events of the day. “Okay. As long as you’re always with me.”

“I will be.” He answered. For a second he fooled himself into believing it could be true.

Chapter Text

Blue, white, tan, another white one. The one after that had an extra window at the front.

The radio droned on as Jotaro watched the houses pass by. They all seemed the same. They all made up the suburban fantasy he had found himself in. Each house had a family it belonged to, each family had a history of their own.

He pulled into the driveway of his own home and sat for a moment in the car. He looked up at the house. Though it was not unlike the others in the neighborhood, he felt it didn’t belong. Something about this house, his house shouldn’t exist in the quiet, peaceful Florida suburbs.

Jotaro exhaled. He looked out of the rearview window and noticed the elderly woman who lived across the street watering her flowerbed.

He gathered up his briefcase and hat from the passenger seat and stepped out of the car, closing it and taking a moment to wave to the little old woman.

Slowly, he made his way up the steps and unlocked the front door. He stepped inside and was greeted by silence. On a typical day he would be promptly rushed by Jolyne and greeted by her mother trailing a bit behind.

The atmosphere of the home had been tense since two nights prior. He and his wife had gotten into an argument. Though not an unusual thing for a married couple of seven years, it was their fourth of that month alone.

It had started over a small thing. She had asked him to pick up milk on his way from work, something that he had forgotten to do following his meeting with the Speedwagon Foundation. What should have been a simple spat escalated into an all too familiar well-it-doesn’t-matter-because-you’re-never-home type of argument.

Jotaro removed his shoes and hung his jacket before making his way through the house and into the kitchen.

“Daddy!” Jolyne said, trying to get up from her seat at the dining room table. Sat by her side was his wife, papers scattered on the table in front of them both.

“Jolyne, sit. It’s homework time, stay focused.” She scolded, not bothering to look up at her husband. Jolyne grumbled a response which earned a side-eye glance from her mother.

The little girl snuck another look up at her father. Jotaro responded with a tired smile.

He placed his briefcase on one of the empty chairs and tossed his keys onto the table.

“Your dad called.”

Jotaro paused. He stared at his wife with a blank expression, confused by her unexpected words. Though his mother called more often than he might have liked, it was almost unheard of for his father to reach out.

His wife looked up at him, waiting for his reply.

“Did he say what he wanted?” Jotaro questioned.

“No. He just said to call him back.” She answered flatly.

Jolyne’s attention had drifted from her math homework. She watched her parents’ faces, conscious of the tension between them. Not sure what to make of it, she returned her focus back to the worksheet in front of her before she could be caught by either of the two.

Jotaro scratched his head, “Alright.”

He made his way to the kitchen’s counter where their home phone sat, picking it up and dialing the most recent number. He leaned against the counter, looking to his wife and daughter as the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Dad, it’s me.”

“Ah, Jotaro, good. How are you?” Sadao asked. In the background Jotaro could make out his mother’s voice. She seemed panicked, clamoring for her husband’s attention.

“I’ve been well. How are you?”

“Well. How is Jolyne? H-Holly, I know. Hold on, yes—“ On the other end, he could hear his mother’s voice more clearly. “Jotaro, your mother needs to speak to you.”

Jotaro shifted his weight onto one leg as he leaned against the counter. His mother tended to be a bit overdramatic as most on her side of the family were, but this was strange even by her standards.

“Jotaro? Sweetie, are you there?” Holly sounded as if she were in hysterics. He could tell she had been crying by the raspy sound of her voice.

“Yes, mom. Is everything—”

“Jotaro! Oh! Where do I even start…” she breathed the words out and sniffled.

“What—”

“Your grandfather cheated on your grandmother.” Holly sobbed into the phone.

Jotaro stood frozen, processing her words. He opened his mouth but nothing seemed to come out. The words he sought were trapped somewhere in between his mind and his mouth.

“He has a son. I have a brother.”

Jotaro straightened from his position against the counter and put a hand to his head. His sudden movement and unusual actions attracted the attention of his wife. Jolyne looked up from her homework at her mother, then to her father. She didn’t know what was going on but welcomed the distraction.

“He’s younger than you.” Holly said.

“What the—” Jotaro stopped his sentence short, noticing the smaller pair of eyes focused on him. He rubbed his face with his hand.

“Mom,” he said slowly. “What are you talking about?” Holly continued to sob. He could just barely make out the sounds of his father’s meek attempts to calm her down.

“Is everything ok?” His wife asked from the table, brow furrowed. Though the two were not on the best of terms, she knew that seeing her husband even a bit flustered was a rare sight and not one to be taken lightly.

“Yeah, uh, umm. Just leave me alone for a bit.” With his hand still on his forehead he left the room and made his way to the office.

“What’s wrong with Daddy?” He could hear Jolyne ask as he left.

He closed the door behind him and walked to the center of the room where he stopped and stared out of the window. Outside he could see the elderly woman across the street still tending to her flowers. She was now joined by her husband, standing attentively by her side.

“Mom. What exactly happened?” Holly’s sobbing lightened a bit.

“Sixteen years ago. He had business here, in Tokyo. He had an affair with a woman, she had a baby.” Jotaro was silent. Holly’s sobs grew louder again.

“Jotaro, she’s younger than me. He’s younger than you.” Jotaro rubbed his forehead. Joseph was nearly 80. How could he not have known of this? How did no one know?

“Jesus.” He replied.

“Jotaro, it’s terrible. Mom, Grandma Suzi, is a mess. How could he do this?” He could just barely hear his father say, “Shhhh, Holly, please.” on the other end.

Jotaro massaged his temple roughly with two fingers. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Oh, Jotaro, I don’t know what to do. I can’t believe this.”

“I know, Mom. I can’t either.” He hesitated, continuing to listen to her cry while trying to come up with an answer of what to say or what to do.

“Oh, Jotaro. What do I do? I have to fly out, I have to be with your grandmother. Or am I supposed to meet this boy, my brother?”

“No, mom.” Jotaro said sternly, quickly. He knew that she wouldn’t be able to meet the boy so suddenly, she was a strong woman but she was rash with her emotions. “Why don’t you fly out to New York and spend some time with Grandma Suzi? She probably needs you most right now. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Jotaro, no.” Holly replied and sniffled. “You have your own life to take care of, you have Jolyne. How have things with your wife been—”

“Fine.” Jotaro said abruptly, cutting her question short. “Look, I’ll take care of this. I’ll call the old man now.” He bit his lip, “Don’t worry, mom. I’ll handle this.”

Holly began to cry again.

“I’ll call you later, Mom. Don’t worry, nothing will change, everything will be fine.” He doubted that this would be the case, but it seemed to be the right thing to say to her in the moment.

“Oh sweetie, I wish that were true.”

“Don’t worry.” He repeated. “Ok. I’m going to give him a call now.”

Holly sniffled, “I love you, call me after.”

“Bye.” Jotaro said before adding a quick, “Love you.”

He hung up and tossed the phone onto the desk, paying no mind to how it landed. He rubbed his face with both hands and let out a deep, guttural sigh.

Outside the window he noticed as the elderly couple began to make their way inside their home, holding onto each other for support.

“Jesus.” He said again as he walked over to the desk, picking up the phone. With one hand resting on his forehead, he used the other to dial the number for his grandparents’ home. He put the phone to his ear and massaged his temple again, hoping to ward off the inevitable migraine that was soon to come.

After two rings, a familiar voice came to the phone.

“Joestar residence.”

“Roses, its me.”

“Ah, Mr. Jotaro. How are you?” The long-time employee of his grandfather answered.

Though the man had had the option of retiring many years ago, he had decided against it. He had grown fond of the Joestar family as he had been with them since even Holly was a child. In many ways, he himself was a member of the family. Seeing Joseph, the man he had once admired so, fall into to his current condition pained him deeply. Roses had made a vow to himself to stay by the Joestars however long he could.

“I’m good, Roses. I assume you know everything that’s happened.”

“Uh, yes, I do, sir.” Roses said, stumbling over the words a bit awkwardly. “I assume you’d like to speak to your grandparents?”

“Put the old man on the phone. Let my grandmother be.” Jotaro answered.

“As you wish. Give me a second to get the phone to him.”

“Roses,” Jotaro began. “Is he there, you know… in his mind?”

Roses paused, the topic was awkward for all who had known Joseph. He had been slipping, he was nowhere near the man he had been even a year ago. Though he was still mostly in his mind, he had bouts where he was completely senile, a different person even.

“He is. He’s more him than I’ve seen in a long time.”

“Ok,” Jotaro responded simply. “Thanks, Roses. For everything you’ve done for us.”

“It’s my pleasure, I care deeply about your family. You know that.” The man answered.

Jotaro grunted a response. While waiting, he considered his approach; What to say and how to say it. Before he had a chance to muse over his options, Roses handed off the phone.

“Jotaro.”

“…”

“Look, I don’t know what to—”

“What the fuck, Jiji?”

Joseph went quiet. It had been several years since he had seen the Jotaro who paid no mind to manners of respect. In truth, Joseph knew he deserved this Jotaro right now.

“What the hell is wrong with you? How could you do this to Grandma Suzi? How could you do this to my mom?”

“I’m sorry.”

“How am I supposed to explain this to everyone at the Foundation?

“Please, Jotaro—"

“What is wrong with you? Did you not think of your family?”

“Jotaro, I’m sorry.”

“What am I supposed to tell my daughter? What do I tell Jolyne?”

“Jotaro…”

“There’s a kid out there who lived his whole life without a father. How could you let this happen? Honestly, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“Don’t talk down to me like you’re the perfect man and perfect father, Jotaro.” Joseph snapped back. Jotaro went quiet, reeling from his brief moment of hysterics.

“I’m not proud of what I did. But it happened. I messed up. I hurt your grandmother, your mother, you.” The words sat in the space between the phone lines. Jotaro listened quietly, his hand still on his forehead.

“If I’m being honest with you though, I don’t regret it. I had spent too many years bottling up my feelings and at that point in my life I felt myself crumbling from the weight of it. I didn’t act on feeling when I was younger and I’ll regret that until the day I die. I can’t ever take that back…

“I decided finally to act on feeling on that one trip. It was freeing, and I genuinely cared for the girl. I feel terrible about it all, I didn’t know. I would’ve done more for her, for her son too.”

“Your son.” Jotaro corrected.

“Yes. My son.”

Jotaro pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “What are we going to do now?”

“Well, you know we were settling my will, that’s how this all came to light. I couldn’t do anything for him in his whole life, so the boy deserves the inheritance at least.”

“So, are you going to fly him to New York? How is he going to get this?”

“He doesn’t know who I am.”

“Oh,” Jotaro said, surprise lacking in his voice. “Are you… going to go to him?”

“I don’t know if I can, what with my condition and all. But I guess—”

Jotaro interrupted the older man with a sigh, “I’ll take care of it.”

Joseph was quiet for a moment. “No, I can’t let you. You have your own worries, this is my mistake—”

“Jiji, let me handle this for you.”

“Jotaro…”

“Look, there’s not much to it, right? Just find this kid and tell him that you’re his father? It’ll be a quick trip back home and this will be over.”

“Jotaro, listen—"

“What?” he snapped.

“Thank you.”

Jotaro went quiet.

“Thank you.” Joseph sounded choked up. “I’m sorry this happened. But thank you for trying to help.” He cleared his throat, “You’re the best grandson an old man like me could as for. I don’t deserve you.”

Jotaro scratched his head, a bit uncomfortable with Joseph’s sudden show of emotion. “Don’t say things like that, Jiji.”

Joseph chuckled lightly, recovering from his bout of feeling. “Hey, I’m sorry if this kid is anything like me. I hope he’s not, for your sake.”

“Jotaro let a small smile crack through his stressed demeanor. “Yeah, the world doesn’t need a second Joseph Joestar.”

Jotaro looked to the calendar on his desk. “I’ll fly out to New York on Friday, we can settle things in person with the inheritance and I’ll head to Japan to find this kid after that.”

“Ok.” Joseph responded simply.

Jotaro sighed again, “Don’t worry about this, I’ll handle it. Take care of Grandma Suzi now, that’s what you can do.”

“Thank you, Jotaro.”

“Bye, Jiji.” He hung up and put the phone down on the desk. He put both hands on his head and let out a heavy sigh, the migraine he had expected had already crept up.

A light knock alerted him. He turned to see the office door cracked open and Jolyne’s head peeking inside the room. It opened further to reveal his wife standing behind the little girl.

Jolyne slipped inside and ran across the room to where Jotaro stood, expecting to be picked up by her father. He bent down slowly to comply.

“Daddy, what’s wrong?”

Jotaro laughed awkwardly, unsure of how to answer the question. Not moving from the doorframe, his wife looked to him with concern.

“Oh, Jolyne,” he laughed again. “Where do I even start.”

“Alright. Jolyne, you be good while I’m gone. Don’t make trouble for Mom.” Jotaro crouched down to deliver his goodbye at eye level.

“Daddy but you’re coming back soon, right?”

Jotaro forced a smile in an attempt not to worry her, “Of course, as soon as I can.”

“Promise?” Jolyne’s face bent into a frown. Though it was not the first time her father had spent time away, it might as well have been. It would never be a familiar goodbye for her.

Hesitating in his response, Jotaro used his thumb to clean off a bit of icing stuck on her face from a Cinnabon cinnamon bun she had eaten moments before. “Promise. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Jolyne’s face lightened a bit. She wrapped her arms around her father’s neck, dirtying the back of his jacket with her hands, still sticky from her airport snack.

“I’ll miss you, Daddy.”

Jotaro hugged her back. Holding her close, he sighed. “I’ll miss you, Jolyne.”

He pulled away from their embrace and stood up.

“I’ll call you every night,” He looked up at his wife, “Ok?”

Jolyne responded with a nod of her head and a smile.

“Ok, Jolyne, we have to go. Daddy has to catch his flight.” His wife reached out for the little girl’s hand. “Say bye.”

Jotaro looked to the two of them, his daughter looking at him with wide eyes and his wife keeping her own trained on their daughter. “Goodbye.”

“Bye-bye, Daddy.”

“Goodbye.” His wife said, looking up at him for the first time since their farewells had begun. He could tell from her eyes that she was hurt, that she wanted desperately for him to stay and put her, Jolyne, and their family before anything, anyone else.

He looked at her and nodded. Not sure what else to do.

“Let’s go, Jolyne.” She said, looking again at the little girl before turning to make her way toward the airport’s exit.

Jolyne looked back and waved as they walked away, “Bye Daddy! Tell Jiji I said hi!”

Jotaro smiled, “I will.” He said softly, not sure she would be able to hear over the noise of the airport. He watched as they continued on, farther and farther away. Once they had been lost in the crowd, he turned and walked toward his gate.

His mind in a haze, he boarded the plane and took his seat by the window. He looked outside at black tarmac and the contrasting bright, blue Florida sky as the other passengers boarded. He remembered his wife’s face, her eyes. He thought of Jolyne’s as she listened to his promise. He bit his lip and swallowed.

Realizing that no one had yet taken a seat by his side, he got up and reached for his bag in the overhead compartment. Fishing around inside of it, he found the notepad and pen he had packed away. Shutting the compartment’s door, he sat back down and lowered the tray in front of him. He clicked the pen open and began to write.

3/24/1999

Jolyne,

We just said our goodbyes. I told you I’ll be back soon and I hope I will be. But I don’t know. Truthfully, I don’t know what to expect from all of this.

I’ve been wondering if I made the right choice, if I should have let my grandfather settle this on his own. Was it right for me to leave you and your mother to do this? You two didn’t ask for this mess of my family.

Honestly I don’t think there was another choice for me. I couldn’t watch as he tried to work this out on his own, especially the way he is. I’ve never been the type to watch as the people I care about struggle. It sounds good and noble and all, but it’s a weakness.

I always want to help the ones I care about, even if it hurts me in the end. It’s not in my character to put myself before others. I’ve always been this way.

Sometimes I wonder who I would be if I lived for myself. Maybe I would be able to be a better father for you now but

I don’t know. I don’t know Jolyne. Am I doing what’s right? Is this right for you? Is this right for me?

I hope it is. I hope I can come back to you soon.

I hope that one day I can look at you and tell you everything will be fine and believe it myself.

Dad

He clicked the ballpoint shut and tucked the notepad away in his breast pocket just as a middle-aged woman sat in the seat to his left.

With his right arm on the armrest, he leaned his head against the window and covered his eyes with his hand in attempt to clear his thoughts as the plane prepared to take him off to some place far away.

Chapter Text

The afternoon sun filtered through the kitchen’s curtained windows and cast a pleasant warmth on Jotaro. Sat at the small table in the center of the room, he sifted through some documents that he had brought along with him. It was classified information from the Speedwagon Foundation regarding their tracking of the stand arrows. There hadn’t been many significant updates in a few weeks.

Skimming over the page he held, he reached for the cup of coffee that had been sitting to his right and took a sip.

He put the paper down in favor of a small stack of polaroid photographs that sat atop a manila folder. They were images Joseph had managed to procure using Hermit Purple now in his old age.

It was a fitting sort of irony that as he made his first attempt to search for the son he had left alone in the world for so long, his clairvoyant ability was unable to find him. Instead, the old man could only catch images such as that which Jotaro now looked at. Images of a man, ugly by conventional standards, standing inconspicuously if not for the fog-like figure behind him. This had produced an immense amount of frustration in Joseph which was quickly replaced by fear of the fact that this strange man lived in the same place as the son he had yet to meet.

Almost as quickly as Jotaro had found Josuke upon his arrival in Morioh, this mysterious man, Angelo, had surfaced. Looking over the photos again, his intuition told him that this situation was likely related to the Foundation’s findings.

From the next room over Jotaro could hear faint noise coming from the TV. The same short jingle had been playing on a loop for nearly twenty minutes. Each time it would start loud, chiming the same three attention-grabbing notes and lasted a minute before trailing off only to once again begin the same way a few seconds later.

As he heard the song start up again for what felt to him to be the hundredth time, he decided to put an end to it. At this point it was distracting. Though he was a guest in this home, he had a job to do and wasn’t the type of man who was too timid to keep his thoughts to himself.

He pushed away from the table and walked to the doorway that opened up into the home’s living room. He stopped short of entering when he saw the house’s only other occupant sitting motionless in front of the TV.

Jotaro scratched the back of his head. Josuke hadn’t noticed him. It didn’t seem like he was noticing anything. He was lost in a trance-like focus, controller in hand while his puffy eyes stared blankly at the video game’s title screen.

Jotaro cleared his throat, “Hey.”

Slowly, Josuke turned his head to face the man in the doorway, his blank expression unchanging. “Oh. Did you need me?”

“Uh,” Jotaro scratched his head again, unsure of what exactly he had planned to do in this situation. “No.”

“Ok.” Josuke said, turning his attention to the screen once again. The soundtrack finally changed as he clicked the button for Start. Jotaro watched the teenager’s face as he continued to stare at the screen, and saw as tears began to fall silently down his cheeks.

“Damnit.” Josuke said almost in a whisper, tossing the controller to the side and burying his face in his hands.

Jotaro began to turn, not sure if it was best that he leave or stay. In truth, he wanted to leave the room and ignore the situation, getting back to the files he had left in the kitchen. He didn’t want to be the one to console a boy he had just met and walk him through his grief.

As he weighed his options of what to do next, he thought about how he knew Josuke. It hadn’t yet been a week that he touched foot in Morioh and stumbled upon the teen, but the person sat scrunched up in a small ball on the floor in front of him was not who he knew Josuke was.

Josuke was loud and jovial, a 16-year-old boy through and through. He made friends easily but wasn’t afraid of a fight. Despite this he was polite and showed signs of a proper Japanese upbringing. His family was important to him and he was closer to them than most other kids his age because of it.

A part of Jotaro envied him. He wondered what his life might have become if he had been like Josuke during his youth. Seeing the way the teen was now, crying on the living room floor, made him feel like he needed to stay.

Making his decision, Jotaro walked inside and over to one of the armchairs facing the TV. He sat in the lived-in cushioned seat and looked to the small end table by his side, atop it sat a photo in a thin silver frame. Jotaro thought that it must have been taken recently as Josuke wore the same school uniform as now.

He picked up the photo and looked it over. At the front was Josuke’s grandfather, Ryohei, if he remembered correctly. The photo was taken outside of their home where he sat comfortably on the grass in his police uniform. On his face he wore the smile of a man well into his years who lived a life he was proud of. His daughter and grandson were crouched behind him, bringing life to the photo. The former had an arm around her father, while the latter playfully put up a peace sign behind his grandfather’s head.

“Tell me about him.” Jotaro said, eyes still on the old man’s face.

“Huh?” Josuke lifted his head from his hands, confused by the sudden remark. He hadn’t noticed that Jotaro had entered the room. “What do you mean?”

“Your grandfather. What was he like?”

Wiping his face with his hands, he turned to face Jotaro from his seat on the floor. “What was he like?” He repeated the question slowly, not sure how to answer.

Jotaro nodded, looking over the edge of the photo’s frame at Josuke who was now staring at a spot on the carpet in front of him.

“Huh,” Josuke began, rubbing his puffy eyes again. “What was he like.” He took a second to collect his thoughts, a second that made Jotaro question whether his attempt at conversation might have been a mistake.

“He was funny. He was always trying to make me laugh. We used to have weekly competitions ever since I was little. Who could come up with the funniest joke, who could eat the most at dinner, who could stay up the latest. Who could scare the other most was what we were on when… you know.”

Jotaro lifted his eyes from the photo to look at Josuke whose words had now trailed off. The teenager was still concentrated on some spot on the floor as he recalled memories of better days.

“He was funny, but he could be serious. He was a cop, you know. He always talked about protecting Morioh. He always said, ‘I do it for you and your mom.’” He imitated the older man’s voice. Jotaro kept his eyes trained on Josuke’s face.

“I always laughed when he said that, protect it from what? It’s not like he was anything more than a regular old police officer.” He let out a dry laugh, “He rode a bike. Protecting the city from his seat on a bike…” His words trailed off again.

Jotaro shifted in the cushioned seat, crossing one leg over the other.

Josuke let out another dry laugh, “In the end it wasn’t him protecting me. I should’ve been the one protecting him. I let him down. I couldn’t do anything. And he’s gone because of it.” He choked on his last words as tears began to again take shape.

Jotaro returned his feet to the floor and repositioned himself on the cushion’s edge, leaning in towards the teen. “Josuke, don’t think like that.” Josuke didn’t look up from the floor.

“Hey. I mean, you can’t think like that.” Josuke remained concentrated on the one spot on the carpet.

“There’s nothing you could have done. If you spend your whole life thinking back on it, regret will eat you alive. You’ll never be happy.” Jotaro wished the boy would look up at him, or look anywhere other than that one spot. He knew what it was like to be stuck in thought, stuck regretting things past and cursing yourself for not acting differently. He didn’t want that for Josuke. He knew he didn’t, even if they had just met.

“Life’s like that,” Jotaro said, sinking back into the chair, not sure what else to say. “Sometimes you lose the people you care most about.”

Josuke let out a loud, unexpected sigh that shocked the older man. “It’s just,” he began as he stretched his legs out to lay down on the floor, staring now up at the ceiling. “It’s just that he and my mom, they’re it for me. We only have each other. We’re all we’ve got.”

“Well,” Jotaro fidgeted with the sleeves of his sweater. “You know… you have me. Now. If you really need.” He rubbed his eye, feeling awkward about the words coming out of his mouth. “And your old man.”

Josuke let out a curt laugh. “I don’t know.” He sat up suddenly and looked at Jotaro. “Thanks.” He smiled.

Jotaro nodded, looking out at the window rather than at the teenager.

“Jotaro, what’s he like?”

The older man laughed, “It might be better if I don’t tell you.”

“No. I want to know.” Josuke looked serious. “I’ve always wondered what my dad might be like but never could ask my mom. She always got emotional when he came up.”

Jotaro scratched his head and acknowledged the request with a grunt. Where to begin when describing Joseph Joestar…

“Well, he’s a man who could tell you stories for hours.” He didn’t want to be the one to do this, he wasn’t qualified to tell a son about his long-lost father. But then again, who was?

"When I was little he would tell me about his younger days. I never believed all of it. It was all a little too bizarre if you ask me. And I’ve seen bizarre.”

In Josuke’s eyes he saw the childlike excitement that came from hearing tales of one’s parent. It was a mixture of pride and awe to hear that someone they were so closely related to was so great. Oddly enough, speaking to the sixteen-year-old now made him think of Jolyne and how her face lit up when he told her great tales of his past and more mundane stories of days at work.

“He’s a good man, cares about his family, uh,” Jotaro wasn’t sure if that was quite the right thing to say given the situation. “He was sorry about… everything that happened, you know, with you and your mom. Which is why he wanted you in the will right away. He would’ve been here today if he wasn’t so old. He can’t fly out on a whim like he could in his younger days.”

“So he’s that old.” Josuke responded. Though Jotaro had told him Joseph’s age when they first met, he had no idea of the man’s condition.

“Yeah,” Jotaro said. “Cane, hard of hearing, forgetting things. He’s not the man he used to be.”

“I’m glad my mom isn’t around to hear that,” Josuke laughed. “She’d be so upset.”

Jotaro nodded in response. He wasn’t sure if he should continue or if the teen had been satisfied with the vague descriptions of his father. He looked again out at the window.

“So Jotaro, what are you like? C’mon, tell me about my nephew.” Josuke smirked playfully, throwing the familial term around well recognizing its absurdity. Jotaro glared at the teen whose smile was quickly wiped away. Josuke wondered if he had made the wrong move, for a second he thought he might even be in danger.

Remembering again that he was attempting to console the grieving teen, Jotaro internalized a yare yare. He reached up and pulled down the hat he had decided to keep on indoors.

“There’s not much to say. I grew up here, in Japan, a few hours away. My mother is American, my father is a Jazz musician, you probably don’t know him. I live in America now. Florida. I work at a Non-Profit as a Marine Researcher.”

“Are you married?”

Jotaro pulled his hat a little further down his face. “Yes.”

“Do you have a kid?”

“Yes.”

Josuke seemed excited to have dragged this information out of the man. He leaned in toward Jotaro from his seat on the floor, “What’s his name?”

“Her.” Jotaro corrected. “Jolyne.”

“Oh wow! I wouldn’t take you for the type to have a daughter. You’re not exactly soft around the edges.”

Jotaro glared daggers again at the teen who shrunk back and let out a yelp.

“Sorry! I’m just surprised is all. So what’s she like? She’s my…” He scrunched his nose and looked up in thought, “Great-niece? Right? How old is she?”

Jotaro sighed and sunk back into the chair. He was uncomfortable talking about himself and his family but was even more so when talking about Jolyne. She was the thing most precious in the world to him and telling anyone about her made him feel as if he were giving away pieces of his treasure.

He looked at Josuke, who was now sat up holding his knees.

Though they had just met, he felt he knew the teen beyond their strange family relationship. He himself had grown up mostly without his father being around as Sadao had often been on tour. Thus, he grew close to his mother and to his grandparents who visited often.

He saw himself in Josuke. He saw what he could have been if circumstances in his life were a little different. He also saw Jolyne.

The discovery of the existence of new stand users and the potential for a stand arrow to turn up in Morioh meant that his trip was going to be much longer than he had initially anticipated. This was something he had not yet had the courage to tell his wife, and especially his daughter.

He was no fool. He knew that this case in Morioh was likely not unique. With a resurgence in malicious stand users, he knew he couldn’t be near Jolyne lest someone try to use her to get to him. He would never be able to return to the blissful family life he had known for that brief moment in time. He couldn’t put her in that kind of danger.

Those nights she had learned to fall asleep without a kiss goodnight would develop into weeks gone by without knowing the feel of his hand holding hers. He would miss new friends, soccer games, temper tantrums, and baby teeth falling out—good days and bad.

And Jolyne, like Josuke, with wide eyes would hear stories about her father from someone else. He hoped that she would be like the teen in front of him, not jaded about his absence and instead a bright spot in the room despite it. He swallowed his feelings.

“Seven.” He answered. Smiling slightly at the thought of her face. “She’s in first grade.”

“Do you have a picture?” Josuke asked excitedly.

Jotaro lifted his leg to reach into his pants pocket. Taking out his wallet, he sifted through for the photo of her he kept on his person at all times. It was recent, taken by her mother on the day of her first school play. She was dressed in a flower costume, playing the part of some background character that her parents were overly excited to see her in.

Jotaro handed the photo to Josuke. His face immediately brightened, and he laughed, “She kind of looks like you! It’s the nose, I think!” Jotaro tugged on his hat again in an attempt to hide the slight smile that had broken through his exterior.

Josuke smiled at the photo, looking it over for a few extra seconds before handing it back to its anxious owner.

”I hope she’s happy. I bet you’re a good dad.” Josuke smiled, his eyes betraying the sadness he fought to hide.

“Yeah,” Jotaro said softly. “She’s a handful but she’s the most important person in the world to me.”

Josuke burst out into side-splitting laughter. “I never would have expected that to come out of you!” Jotaro frowned and reddened a bit.

After wiping a few tears and recovering from his bout of laughter, Josuke became a bit more serious. “She’s a lucky girl. I’d love to meet her someday.”

“Yeah,” Jotaro began, looking over the photo again before returning it safely to his wallet. “Maybe, someday.”

Josuke smiled sweetly with his eyes closed, “Thanks.” He picked up the controller to his side and turned to face the TV again. “I needed this.”

Jotaro pressed his lips together into a smile. He stood up from his seat and walked back into the kitchen, now hearing the bright, bouncing music of the video game in play.

He returned to his seat at the table and smiled. Looking down at the papers in front of him, he picked them up and began to sift through in an effort to find where he had left off.

He reached for his cup of coffee and took a sip of the now lukewarm beverage. He read over a brief description of what was currently known about one arrow’s location, once, twice, but couldn’t seem to focus. His mind was altogether somewhere else.

Jotaro reached again for his wallet and pulled out the photo. He smiled as he ran his finger over its edge, wondering what the coming day might bring Jolyne. If his math was right, it was about 1 AM in Florida.

He set it down atop one of the small piles of paper and fished around for a blank sheet. Finally finding one he grabbed a pencil and began to scribble quickly.

April 2, 1999

Jolyne,

It’s 2:54PM for me, 12:54AM for you.

I miss you more than ever right now and I’m sorry I can’t be there when you wake up.

Genuinely, I’m so sorry. If you’re reading this I still haven’t told your mother that I won’t be home for a while. I wish it wasn’t this way but this is for the best. There are things I need to take care of so that you’ll be safe.

I think you would like Josuke. He’s nice. For a teenager.

He said he wants to meet you one day. Maybe someday when we come to visit grandm—

“Jotaro, when do you think we’ll be able to leave the house? I’m hungry.” Jotaro heard the voice come from behind him. He had failed to hear the music finally end.

Josuke stood in front of the open refrigerator, searching for something to eat. Deciding on a custard bun, he took his snack over to the table. Slinking down in a chair next to Jotaro he asked, “So what’s all of this?”

Having hurriedly hidden the note and photo of Jolyne among the mess of papers, Jotaro scratched his nose in an attempt to recover from his momentary panic.

He cleared his throat, “You could call it work.” Josuke took a bite from his snack and craned his neck, trying to get a look at the documents. Jotaro tensed up, hoping he wouldn’t uncover what had been hidden.

“Cool.” Josuke said with his mouth full, sitting back in his chair, not especially interested by what he had seen.

The two sat together for a while, not saying anything in particular, but enjoying the presence of someone like themselves.