Journey
noun: journey; plural noun: journeys
1. an act of traveling from one place to another.
2. a long and often difficult process of personal change and development.
Joseph didn't exactly remember when or why he wanted to be a pilot. He just knew that it was his life goal as long as he could remember. Maybe it was influenced by his deceased father, Grandmother Erina did tell him about how courageous and how great his father was as a fighter pilot, how he died as a hero and she felt really proud of him (the 'just like your grandfather' bit was left out but there was always this hint of sadness whenever she talked about her husband son so Joseph didn't ask any further, that was why he didn't really like to talk about them). Or maybe the idea came from a simpler source: movies and comics. Seeing the planes swiftly avoid the bullets, thinking about how cool it would be to be able to rotate 360 degrees without feeling dizzy, to feel the wind, to fly and discover new places (and finding treasure), to go on an adventure.
His first adventure should be a sign that he would have a bizarre life ahead of him. Fighting vampire that was somehow turned by a stone mask (unlike how comics and movies depicted it. They were still weak to sun though), disguised himself as a woman (and it was a perfect disguise. He was a pretty lady and the guards really needed to check their eyes, standing too long outside definitely took toll on their eyesight), befriending a Nazi (could he call Stroheim his friend? He could at least call him an ally), meeting a great warrior (but damn that Italian guy could be a real pain in the ass sometimes), had to fight 4 men that seemed to compete between themselves who could be as naked as possible while still wearing clothes, in a way "get married" to two of those pillar men guys (which was not fun at all, because their wedding rings would kill him within 1 month. Such romantic act... should have predicted it with guys who were asleep for thousands of years), trained his hamon with an annoying yet very beautiful woman (no no no, he shouldn't think of that. He had enough trauma and nights without sleep after she told him that she was her mother. To think he even had thoughts of… No), did a gladiator battle kind of thing, and finally sent off a bird man (so called ultimate life form) to the space.
He lost his left hand but most importantly he lost a great warrior, a comrade, a best friend.
His next adventure was more fitting to the definition of a journey, in the sense of travelling. They went to so many places (and no, he wouldn't blame his particular luck with planes). Some of them were decent or even amazing holiday destination. They would have so much fun if they weren't racing with time to defeat DIO and save his daughter. Despite that, they had some fun moments. Playing card games together, Polnareff telling a jokes and Kakyoin would reply that it wasn't funny with a straight face, to see a soft small smile appeared on his grandson's face whenever they had fun before he quickly lowered his hat to cover it, Iggy chasing Polnareff around, or when Avdol sometimes did fortune telling for fun. Their bond grew tighter each passing day and Joseph could see it, everybody can see it. In a way, they were more open to others and he knew that they could be friends for life, even if they lived far away from each other. It was a hard journey, full of obstacles, before they finally defeated DIO. Holly was saved. He wanted to say he was happy, but it felt wrong. It felt really wrong.
He almost lost his life and he lost another comrades, another friends, 3 friends to be exact. His heart was heavy by guilt, the same feeling that still stayed inside his heart since he first had it years ago, that sometimes left a bitter taste in his mouth, the same feeling that is now quadrupled in intensity. He knew it wasn't his fault, but sometimes, he could see blood on his hands and another set of nightmares haunted him for years.
Joseph wanted to watch the sea scenery from the window on the boat, but his legs weren't as strong as before. So he closed his eyes and tried to feel the movement of the wave around the boat, hands gripping his cane (he could feel the slight vibration of the engine), trying to imagine what the sea was like around here (he supposed it would look the same. The same blue water, the same blue sky. He tried to imagine it based on his memory or what left of it). He would enjoy all this if just it didn't make him nauseous (another problems from getting old, too old). Would they arrive soon? He hadn't seen anything that resembled a port or a city nor heard the cry of the seagulls (then again, he couldn't really rely on his hearing anymore these days). He sighed but then a weak smile curled up on his face. His son. He was going to meet his son, the son he never met (could never met, until now at least. He should definitely apologize for that. He hoped his son would forgive him even though it seems unlikely). If meeting him would be his last adventure (journey. He should say journey or at least a visit. Every time he thought of something as an adventure he would lose somebody close to him. He didn't want that, not now, not ever again), he wouldn't mind, he wouldn't mind at all.
