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kujo jotaro would later claim that he knows nothing, but there is a spark in his eye that says otherwise. you could feel the electricity– the pure, unadulterated energy running through his veins, remnants of a great power that once flowed through them.
as with every story, it starts somewhere. in this universe, it starts with egypt, as it always does. at the tailend of a journey that is forty-nine days too long, the flickering flames consume the last of DIO’s diary. five– six, actually– men and a dog watch the fire eat away at the last of DIO’s legacy. it is a quiet affair, and many things were lost– in this universe and all the others.
jean-pierre polnareff and mohammed avdol get a chance go out for dinner, iggy hot on their trail, shiny new prosthetics and all. there are still lost limbs, but a new life to live– and jean-pierre and avdol link fingers with a dog carrier in avdol’s free hand and retire to the south of france until the next adventure calls for them.
kakyoin noriaki still does his twenty-meter emerald splash, but there are no bloodied water tanks nor are there destroyed clock faces, only a scar wrapping his torso– thanks to a hamon-filled rope and a bit of luck. jotaro doesn’t stop kakyoin when he vanishes from his life, a new regret in a sea of new chances– but not before warning jotaro of a certain enrico pucci.
in this universe, caesar anthonio zeppeli follows every step joseph joestar does– holly is as much his daughter as she is joseph’s, after all. caesar saves three lives that were lost in another, his hamon sparking with every touch. in this universe, joseph joestar’s hair is darker and his eyes brighter, with the carefree attitude of a man who has lost nothing but still gained everything. joseph joestar splits his time between new york and italy, he eats more spaghetti al nero and speaks more italian in this universe– and in this universe he has one more ring on his ring finger than before, one for a legal marriage and another one for a marriage in all but name.
there’s a twinkle in caesar’s eye when he tells the story of two wedding rings of death, one on a windpipe and another on an artery. joseph joestar sighs and lets him tell it every single time. there is no fight over prideful things and of family pride fifty years ago, and there are no stones that crush zeppelis or hamon bubbles made with blood.
the fact that jotaro makes sure all of these happen makes it easier to sleep on all forty-nine nights before DIO and the WORLD happen. it makes it so much more cathartic when STAR PLATINUM: THE WORLD lands that last blow, and the WORLD crumbles again under his foot. it is safe, at least for now. they leave DIO’s head to burn under the scorching dawn.
★
even with the power of a GOD, there are things jotaro cannot simply undo. there are things that are too deeply woven into the fabric of reality– these fixed points in time, the foundation of the universe itself, are things that must happen.
in this universe at least, there is enough of jonathan joestar to bury next to erina pendelton-joestar. it is a simple thing, a gracious one even, but it matters all the same. there is a silent reverence between zeppelis and joestars when they gather in england to lower what remains of the joestar patriarch, and in this universe, jonathan and erina could rest side by side, as it should be.
jonathan joestar still gets his body stolen on a boat heading to america. both george joestars still die and elizabeth joestar still flees to venice as a wanted criminal. in this universe, however, there are things that don’t happen the way they should have.
in what ways, you may ask? it’s for this universe to figure out and for jotaro to find.
★
higashikata josuke is still conceived under the same circumstances, and in this universe joseph joestar not only earns the ire of his wife, but also his husband’s. kujo jotaro is still sent to morioh to inform josuke of his parentage.
kujo jotaro and kujo jolyne arrive on a sunny morioh day. jolyne was snoozing the entire car ride there, and jotaro could only hold her hand as they looked for the higashikata household.
hirose koichi bumps into him, and everything that happens next feels like a road he has walked before– despite everything. josuke and jolyne get along like a house fire, and there’s a silent chuckle that finds itself on his lips.
stone free claws their way out ten years early via stand arrow, and jotaro sees an inkling of a stand he used to know. STAR PLATINUM, now visible to jolyne’s teal eyes– the ones that holly joestar-kujo referred to as joestar eyes, takes the time to braid her hair and spin her around during the night.
in this universe, kakyoin noriaki spends his time off work in morioh, and for the first time in ten years, kujo jotaro and kakyoin noriaki meet– a red string of fate tied to both their souls. in this universe, kakyoin ryoko does not mourn her beloved older cousin, but ryoko finds the truth of egypt with thoth’s manga instead– she’s off to college, a life filled with adventure waiting for her, but kakyoin would rather not talk about it.
jolyne stays in morioh, because she has a stand and because she had thrown the biggest, baddest joestar fit in the train station. she sticks to her father like a lifeline instead, her hands always on white fabric or jotaro’s hand.
kakyoin noriaki finds a new budding community in a place he thought he was alone in. kujo jolyne and hirose koichi find a new teacher in the form of a man with red hair who eats cherries in a manner designed to freak out little kids (and jotaro) and has a stand that matches theirs. he bows in apology to the nijimura brothers, DIO’s influence still impacting lives, big and small– and nijimura keicho lives to see another day.
higashikata ryohei’s life is spared. shigekiyo yangu is fast enough to escape death and warn josuke about killer queen. sugimoto reimi gets the last laugh as all the stand users in morioh band together to find her murderer, and she ascends to what jotaro thinks is heaven with her loyal dog arnold. kishibe rohan still sheds a few tears for his old babysitter.
morioh moves on and moves fast , yoshikage kira a faint taint in the seaside city’s memory.
★
it happens on the beach. if you ask kakyoin noriaki about it later, he’d shrug and tell you it was a long time coming. jolyne would later tell stories about how palpable the supposed hatred was in the air, and how she had linked their hands together that day by the shore.
it is quiet, and it is sweet. the waves crash at sand on the shore, an inevitability of the universe– and that is how it feels like when he and noriaki kiss for the first time.
the starfish population of morioh and everything else that has happened and will happen could wait, there is celebration to be done and a little girl to be put to bed.
besides, they have all the time in the world.