Disclaimer : I do not own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure nor the characters.
Note : This is a gift for ritsunamine a.k.a yes, I am your secret santa ouo I hope you like this and I am so sorry if this doesn't seem shippy (?) enough but I really enjoy writing this!
"… jo! Jo…! Jo…jo!" Dark, somebody was screaming his name. Was it Kars? No way. He defeated Kars and Kars was in space and he… He remembered hitting water. He must have fallen to the sea. But somebody called him, the voice was rather desperate and sad but it was familiar. "Jojo! JOJO!" He had to wake up. He had to wake up and answered, opened his eyes to show that he was okay.
The light was blinding him for a second as he tried to open his eyes. Everything was blurry, but it started to become clearer as he started to adapt to the surrounding, the voice became louder. Suzie Q was crying. However, the relief on her face was obvious. He moved his mouth, trying to say her name, but he wasn't sure if she could hear him or not, if his voice even came out at all. He tried to move his hand but it was just too painful. However, when he saw that Suzie Q started to smile before let out a choked laugh, he knew Suzie Q heard him.
"It's alright, Jojo. You're going to be alright." she said.
Joseph nodded (or at least he thought he nodded). His eyelids felt heavy... It was okay for him to sleep for a while right? He just wanted to take a quick nap on this comfortable warm bed (everything was better after being under the cold sea).
*.*.*
He survived. Against all odds, he survived. A fisherman boat found him and saved him and now he was here, back to Venice with Suzie Q (like how they promised. To come back in one piece, to come back to Venice).
Suzie Q was nursing him back to health, with her usual smile always attached on her face. She never ask Joseph about what happened In Switzerland. She asked him about how he felt. Whether he was hungry, what food did he want to eat, told him about what she saw in the city, about everything except why he was the only one who came back, about where was Caesar. Maybe she already knew, maybe she just waited for Joseph to tell it himself, or maybe she thought that Caesar was alive somewhere and was now with Lisa Lisa and the others and they were all waiting for Joseph to recover from his wound. It killed him slowly.
So one day, he decided to tell her, he had to. She was out to buy more fruits and so he thought of how he should tell her. He could just simply said that Caesar was dead but it seemed… cruel. He knew it was the fact but to just say it like that… It was the only way to tell it though, there was no way to sugarcoat this kind of thing. It was the harsh truth. As he was deep in thought, when Suzie Q entered the room, he flinched a little. She was talking about this new gelato shop in town, how it had this 'Buy one and get another one for free' promo but it was only valid for dine-in so she told him to be healthy faster so both of them could eat gelato there. He gulped before holding her wrist, making her stop talking and looked at him in confusion, but still with a smile on her face (and Joseph just felt more guilty because he knew what he was going to say would make that beautiful smile disappeared).
"I'm sorry, Suzie Q. I'm sorry." His voice cracked, tears were streaming down his face, making his vision blurry. He couldn't speak another words, he couldn't tell her what happen, all that could come out was a choked sound. He couldn't tell her how he failed to fulfill their promise; how if he just ran a little bit faster, if just he didn't fight with Caesar earlier, the blond might still be alive; how he didn't even know if anybody retrieved Caesar's body from that hotel ruins in Switzerland or did they just leave him there, under the cross-shaped rock (which was cruelly fitting); how with his last breath, Caesar still managed to save his life by obtaining the antidote for the last ring; or how Caesar's memento was burnt, leaving them with nothing. All he could do now was to bury his face with his right hand. His mouth tasted bitter and his heart was filled with guilt, he felt he could sink just by the guilt alone.
Without speaking a single word, she pulled Joseph into a tight hug. Joseph cried louder and he knew she cried too.
*.*.*
How they started their relationship was… weird. Heck Joseph didn't even know how he ended up falling for Caesar too. Maybe it was because they spent so many time training together or maybe it started as early as when Caesar helped him when they had to climb the pillar. It frustrated him because he loved both of them but he believed he had to choose one of them. He had tried to think about who he loved more but it just made him realize that he loved both of them equally and he really didn't know who to choose. He didn't need this kind of stuff stressed him out now since his hands were already full with the whole ordeal of the rings and the Pillar Men.
So one day, when they were washing dishes together (Caesar was doing it grudgingly, kept glaring at him every once in a while. Hey, it wasn't his fault that Lisa Lisa punished both of them because of something he did. Joseph wasn't even trying to drag Caesar along, well not really, but that wasn't the point) he decided to tell them. He loved both of them and he didn't know what to do because he wanted to date them both and he couldn't choose only one of them, he already tried. He told them that he would understand if they couldn't help him, that he just wanted to tell them this because this had been gnawing his mind for days and at least if he told them now that stress could be lifted from his mind. Caesar and Suzie Q were silent before they looked at each and start to laugh. He could feel his cheeks heat up from the embarrassment.
"This is not funny, guys! I'm trying to be serious here."
Caesar then ruffled his hair (still with his wet soapy hand, ew) and muttered something in Italian that Joseph couldn't catch (thus he couldn't try to find out what was the meaning later).
"We were just talking about the same thing the other day!" Suzie Q kindly provided an answer for him.
"Hah? What do you mean by talking about the same thing?!"
"It means both of us will date you, Jojo." Caesar grinned.
"Eh?!"
They both laughed again before they kissed Joseph on his cheeks, making them even redder.
"Now go back to the dishes, Jojo. You don't want Miss Lisa Lisa to give you more punishment, right?"
"And you better put that plate down first before you lose your grip and break it. It is Master's favorite, you know."
Joseph was left dumbfounded and his brain was still processing the thing that just happened. He later found out that Caesar and Suzie Q was dating each other way before he arrived. Both of them somehow fell in love with Joseph and wondered if Joseph would be okay with a polyamorous relationship. Joseph brought up that topic before they could and it genuinely surprised both of them at first (Caesar still didn't want to tell Joseph what he said in Italian and told him to go learn their beautiful language).
*.*.*
The view of the sea was beautiful from the room's window. He never really appreciated the view, he didn't have time to, and he was always too tired after the (cruel and) exhausting training. He couldn't actually see its beauty when he was training either, especially when he was training, he was busy trying not to die by sinking. Even though their dates were mostly done on the balcony, the one that faced the sea (Well, actually almost everything faced the sea on this place, obviously).
Joseph would sat down, leaning his back on the iron railing, whining about how Loggins was a cruel man that took great pleasure in watching him suffer and probably wanted him to die slowly by 'training' him. Caesar would occasionally blow out some bubbles while listening to Jojo's complaints, rolling his eyes. Suzie Q would just laugh at their bickering. Most of the time, they would talk about almost everything, like about their family (It was weird how Caesar never really talked about his family before except that one time he said that he had younger siblings and he was the oldest, but it all made sense now, at least to Joseph. Should he tell Suzie Q about this? Joseph knew it from Lisa Lisa and he knew Caesar died thinking that his past was a secret he kept from both of them and now just another thing that he would take along with him to his grave, did he ever intend to tell them if he came back alive?), or when Suzie Q told trip to Venice (more like grocery shopping) and then Caesar would tell her about their training and Joseph would add some remarks but Caesar would insist that Joseph was over-exaggerating things.
That particular day was just like any other day. The sea breeze softly caressed their hair, Caesar's bubbles were floating around them. It was a perfect time to take a nap (Caesar even closed his eyes with both of his hands under his head) and Joseph was almost doing just that when Suzie Q suddenly asked a question. "Hey, tell me about your plan for the future! After retrieving the antidote for Jojo, of course! Hmmm, Caesar, you go first!"
Caesar opened his eyes and straighten himself up. "Me? I just want to have a happy family."
"Heh? That's so lame!"
"I think it is a nice goal though. Even if it seems simple, not everybody can have a happy family and the ones that have it is very lucky. Hmmm, a simple joyful thing if I may say." Suzie Q's smile is returned by Caesar's.
"Not you too, Suzie Q!" the Joestar then booed, over-exaggerated his upset face. "Geez, I'm dating lame people."
"Then, what is your goal, Jojo?"
Joseph grinned widely. "Hehe, and here I thought you would never ask me, Suzie Q. I will become the best pilot in Britain- no, in the world! I will be a better pilot than my father, that's for sure."
"Can you even fly a plane? I bet you will crash every plane you fly on."
"Don't be so mean to me, Caesar. Besides, I have watched many movies about it, the one with them actually showing them flying it, shooting down another planes and stuffs like that, not the kind where they just put it as a stunt so I am pretty sure I can do it. I mean, it looks easy. Well, of course I will take aviation class too and I'm sure it will be a piece of cake."
Caesar contemplated whether to laugh because his reasoning was just plain ridiculous or beat him to his sense, to make this dumb young man understand that movies were not a good source for learning something, especially how to fly a plane. Instead, he just rolled his eyes then shook his head. At least Suzie Q already did the laughing for him (even though she tried to be discreet about it).
"You guys might laugh at me now but you guys will see when I can fly those planes then you will beg me to let you fly with me." Joseph proudly smiled and Suzie Q didn't even try to laugh his laughter anymore.
"And what is yours, Suzie Q? Your goal for the future I mean."
"Hmmm…" she placed her finger on her chin, cocking her head slightly to the side as she did so. She looked at them before a wide smile appeared on her face and clapped her hands together. "To live happily with you guys forever and ever!" she said cheerfully as she pulled both of them into a hug.
Joseph didn't know why that memory suddenly came to him, why he remembered that particular day even though they have so many days talking about stuffs like that. "But… Happy family, huh." He unconsciously mumbled, a small smile appeared on his face. He then knew what both of them would do after defeating the Pillar Men. He thought about many scenarios in his head but all of them would consist of him and Caesar had this little argument about how they would do it, about how to make it as perfect as possible. He laughed when he imagined what Caesar would say (how persistent he would be, his voice and how those little feathers would move slightly as he tried to convince Joseph that his plan would be the greatest plan ever). That was also when Joseph realized that his laugh just now was the first genuine laugh after Caesar's death. So, when Suzie Q came to change his bandage, he held Suzie Q's hand and smiled as widely as he could. "Hey, Suzie Q, let's get married."
*.*.*
The wedding party was simple, of course it was. They invited the fishermen that saved Joseph and a few people Suzie Q knew from the city. He of course wanted Erina, Speedwagon, Lisa Lisa, and his friends too but this was already as perfect as it could be. They miraculously could find a church and a priest that could wed them in such short notice. He also managed to find a place in Venice that could build a prosthetic hand for him, even though it wasn't as smooth as Stroheim's. He bought her a simple but beautiful ring, not something he imagined he would buy from somebody he was going to marry, he imagined more diamonds, but the ring just fit Suzie Q perfectly so he chose that. Suzie Q bought her dream wedding dress and she was the most beautiful woman Joseph had ever seen in his life. Her cheeks were tinted with a faint of red, her blue eyes gazed lovingly at him.
They both read their wedding vows (Suzie Q laughed slightly when hearing his. What was so funny? He knew he wrote the best vow out there) and then exchanged the rings. He lifted up both of her hands after that, made sure he kissed each fingers tenderly.
"I now pronounce you as husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
While they were kissing, Joseph suddenly felt something popped on his cheek, the soft 'pop' sounded familiar. He opened his eyes and saw that Suzie Q looked as surprised as him. They looked toward the church door and they saw bubbles. There were bubbles entering through the wooden door. They both looked at each other and nodded before ran together outside, holding hands. There were many bubbles, as if someone just recently blew them. The floating bubbles reflected the light around them, resulting in a beautiful trick of light. Suzie Q held his hand tighter. She started to cry but he knew she cried because of happiness (he knew because that was what he was doing). Joseph held her hand tighter, a smile on his face, he looked toward the clear blue sky now. When that one bubble popped near his ear, he knew he could hear Caesar's soft whisper.
"Be happy, you two. I love you."
"We will. We love you too, Caesar."
