Amends

"So you're really divorcing Joseph, huh?" Josuke said with a sad smile, halfheartedly raking his silver fork through the lasagna before him.

Suzi gave a smile that was more placid and less morose as she took a sip of the wine from the elegant glass. "Indeed. I must be honest, Josuke, when you asked me to come with you to this restaurant I thought you were going to try and convince me not to divorce your father."

Josuke gasped. "No! Of course not! You have every right to! Jotaro told me how angry you were with him when you discovered my birth, and I wanted some time alone with you to tell you how sorry I am for the damage I've caused!"

Suzi couldn't suppress the amused chuckle she emitted. It was now apparent that Jotaro wasn't exaggerating when he told his grandmother of how "insufferably apologetic" the boy seated opposite of her was. Truth be told, she actually found it quite adorable to an extent.

"Josuke, it's Joseph's affair with your mother that is the reason for my leaving him," she said lightheartedly as she ran her steak knife through her t-bone steak. "You are but the product of it. You have nothing to be sorry for, and I will not tolerate you apologizing for being born."

Josuke frowned and kept his gaze focused on his uneaten meal. "I just hate being connected to something that's caused you so much pain…"

While Josuke's misplaced self-resentment Suzi assured him was unnecessary, he was correct that the revelation of Joseph having cheated on her had caused her trusting heart emotional drudgery.

She had spent more than half an hour throwing things at Joseph as he tried to get near her; the adrenaline that tinged her rage granted her the strength of a dozen men. Joseph hadn't been this fearful of Suzi when she was possessed by Esidisi! She locked herself within one the guest rooms of their home, refusing to come out, despite Joseph's pleading. Her rage ultimately gave way to devastation, and she fell to the floor sobbing.

The next day, she resolved to take refuge at a nearby hotel, only to open the door of the guest room to a half-awake Joseph, who had sat in the hall all night. Any other time that would've been an endearing gesture, but given recent events…

Joseph sprung awake and stood upon his cane as quickly as his age would allow, and immediately grasped Suzi's shoulder, apologizing profusely and imploring her not to leave him. Her heart wanted her to stay, but the pain overshadowed her love for him. She tearfully ordered him to release her – he wouldn't oblige. It was the strongest Suzi had seen Joseph in nearly a decade. She had no choice but to kick his cane out from under him, sending his decrepit anatomy tumbling to the floor. Suzi covered her mouth in disbelief at what she had just done. She wanted to lean down and make sure he was okay – part of her would always care for Joseph – but resisted.

She wheeled around to bound out the hallway, and was halted by her unfaithful lover seizing her ankle.

"Suzi... " he whimpered, his eyes pleading. "Please…don't…"

Her eyes screwed shut, the Italian woman murmured, "Good-bye, Joseph."

She wrenched her limb free and hurried out of their home, leaving Joseph immobilized and weeping in her wake.

She now sat at a table on a balcony outside of a notably exquisite restaurant, the evening breeze wafting around Josuke's anomalous pompadour.

"Well if anything good has come out of this ordeal," she said to Josuke, "it's a sweet young man such as yourself."

At that compliment, Josuke blushed. "I-I…thank you. If it makes you feel any better, I'd stop my father from having the affair, if I could."

Suzi raised an eyebrow. "Even if it meant you wouldn't be born?"

He instantly nodded. "It would be what's right! If it would stop you from hating him!"

Suzi then set down her knife. "I most certainly do not hate Joseph. I never will. That man has saved and defended me as a true hero would. His mistake with your mother has cost him our marriage, indeed. But that shouldn't erase the good that he's done."

"My mom's pretty crestfallen. When I told her that you were divorcing Joseph, she was ecstatic. She assumed that he was free to be with her now."

Suzi shrugged. "She's obviously welcome to him now, if she still feels that passionately. Not to sound arrogant, but I think it will be some time before he moves on from me. I sent Jotaro to retrieve some of my things, and he tells me that he was curled up in bed clutching our wedding picture to his chest."

She had winced at the image, albeit having not seen it firsthand. Somehow, despite how badly Joseph hurt her, she was relieved that she wouldn't have to see his devastation when the divorce papers arrived. It would be too much for her to spectate. She sincerely wished no harm upon Joseph or Tomoko – the home-wrecking bimbo.

"I hate that my mother isn't remorseful for any of this. I can tell that you're a very nice woman, Suzi." He reached across the table and comfortingly placed his young hand atop her aged one. "I know you've told me not to apologize for my father's actions…but I just can't help it.

"I'm sorry he hurt you, Suzi Q."

"Oh, Josuke." The benevolence Josuke radiated surged through her, slightly mending her silent heartache. "I swear, if someone saw us like this, they'd probably think I'm a cougar."

Josuke released her hand and beamed cheekily. "Well…I did see pictures of you when you were young…"

Suzi shifted in her seat slightly. "That's the same look your father gave me when we first met. You don't have any perverse intentions with this old broad, do you Josuke?"

They eyed each other quietly before sending a fit of guffaws echoing into nighttime air.