Chapter 1:
The Start of Something Beautiful
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is the property of Hirohiko Araki…I'm not even going to try and mention all the owners of whatever songs are used.
"Talking"
"Thoughts"
Line Break
"P-Papa works here?"
Dolly smiled softly, reaching down and gently stroking her daughter's head. "It's not that scary, Jolyne."
A scowl immediately replaced the young girl's uneasy frown, "I'm not scared!"
Dolly kneeled, gently kissing Jolyne's forhead, "Of course not, sweetheart. You're the bravest little girl in the world!"
Jolyne smiled brightly at that, showing off the small gap in her bottom teeth.
Briefly, Dolly felt a stab of anger towards Jotaro. He'd never been the most…attentive man, but she'd be damned if he thought that he was going to ignore their daughter!
But she didn't dwell on those thoughts, instead rising to her feet and taking Jolyne's hand in her own, walking towards the front door of the Speedwagon Foundation's Florida headquarters.
Jolyne stuck a tad closer as the automatic doors parted, revealing how busy the ground floor was. Dolly herself had been here a few times, and even she was surprised at the sheer amount of people running to-and-fro.
But she didn't let that stop her from making her way to the front desk—even if Jolyne dragged her feet a bit.
Thankfully, one of the secretary's—a young blond man—had just put down a phone. He started to slouch in his seat, until he noticed them approaching the desk.
"Good afternoon," he said, with a hint of a smile, "What can the Speedwagon Foundation do for you today?"
Dolly smiled politely back, "Could you please let Jotaro Kujo know that we're heading up to see him."
The man nodded, reaching for a phone, "And who's going up to meet him?"
"His wife and daughter."
The man stills, astonishment clear on his face.
Dolly's smile slowly dipped down. Surely, they must know?
Evidently not, given the way the many stretched back and tapped another secretary on the shoulder, "Does Mr. Kujo have a family?" he whispered, badly.
Fortunately for his health, Jolyne was too busy staring at the murals on the walls and ceiling to pay attention to the conversation.
Without turning, the other secretary moved her phone speaker back, "Of course. Mr. Joestar."
"No, I mean a wife and child."
That made the woman pause, jerking her head to look at Dolly and Jolyne. She blinked, "I'm sorry, can you hold please?" she said to whomever was on the other line, before ending the call.
She leaned over conspiratorially, "…I don't remember him ever mentioning a wife and kid."
"To be fair, he doesn't mention anything personal."
"Sure, but you'd think he'd say he's married, for a few years now, at least."
"Yes, you'd think so," Dolly muttered darkly.
"Unless the kid's his step-child."
"She's his daughter," Dolly stated firmly.
The force in her voice forced the two secretaries back in their seats. "…She might be telling the truth."
"Yeah, who'd lie about being married to him?"
Before Dolly could really give the two assholes in front of her a piece of her mind, a man slammed his hands down on the desk, "Why the hell aren't you two answering calls?!"
Jolyne yelped at the sudden noise, prompting Dolly to bend down assuage her fears.
The two secretaries cried out, "Sorry boss! This woman and her kid, they, um…" he trailed off.
The man rolled his eyes, turning his head and smiling at Dolly and her daughter, "I'm terribly sorry, Miss. How can we help you today?"
Dolly nodded, smoothing out her skirt, "I'd like to go and visit my husband. He works here," she added, cringing lightly as she did so.
The man sidled the secretaries a glare, "I see…And who's your husband?"
"Jotaro Kujo."
The man's irritated expression was replaced by bewilderment, only for that to quickly make way for recognition, "Ah! Mrs. Kujo! I never thought I'd see you—or your daughter," he added, flashing a warm smile at Jolyne, who further hid behind her mother's legs, "in the flesh."
Dolly frowned, "'In the flesh'?"
The man shrugged, "I've only ever seen your photo on his desk."
Dolly couldn't help but smile at the fact that her husband kept a photo of them on his desk—he tended to be very spartan with his space.
The man gestured to the elevators, "Come with me, I'll lead you to his office."
Dolly thanked the man, as did Jolyne, after a little prompting.
They were the only occupants of the elevator, riding up to the 14th floor, as it were.
Dolly tried not to let the fact that she didn't even know the floor her husband worked on get to her.
"So…you work with Papa?" Jolyne suddenly asked.
The man shook his head, "Well, not directly. But we cross path enough for me to know that he's a very good man. Wonderful work ethic."
"Bit too wonderful," Dolly grumbled.
"Hmm, Mama?" Jolyne asked. Dolly just smiled, gently petting her head.
"Ah, here we are," the man said as the elevator dinged, doors opening.
He led them down a fairly empty hallway. The man said, "It's rare for this part of the building to be bustling like downstairs. Most everyone travels, as I'm sure you know," he said with a smile.
Dolly nodded but couldn't bring herself to smile back.
They finally made it to Jotaro's office—a corner office. The man knocked on the door, "Mr. Kujo!" he knocked again, "Mr. Kujo, your wife and daughter are here!"
When there was no reply, Jolyne sadly said, "Daddy's probably too busy."
Before Dolly could say anything, the man waved his hand with a chuckle, "Nonsense, what man's too busy for his family?"
If he noticed the heavy silence that followed the statement, he didn't say anything.
After another series of knocks, he shrugged, "Guess he stepped out for a minute."
Dolly nodded, that figured. "We'll just wait downstairs."
"Nonsense!" he stated, fishing out a keyring from his pocket, "You can wait right inside," he picked out one key shaking it with a smile.
Dolly frowned, "You have a key to his office?"
"Better," he said as he unlocked the door, "I've a Skeleton Key for the entire floor."
"'Skelton Key', what's that?" Jolyne asked.
He smiled, bending down to show Jolyne the key, "This little guy can unlock every single door in the floor."
Jolyne stared wide-eyed at the item, "All of them?"
He nodded, giving Jolyne the keyring. She handled it with awe.
He stood, smiling at Dolly, "Kids, huh?" he said, opening the door for them.
Dolly smiled back, patting Jolyne's shoulder, "Okay sweetie, give Mr…" she blinked, "I'm sorry, I don't think you ever gave me your name?"
The man laughed, "You know, I don't think I did." He extended his hand, "Lincoln Park."
Dolly accepted the offered limb, "Thank you, Mr. Park."
"Anytime." He bent down, taking back his keys from Jolyne. He pet her head, "Tell your Papa I said hello!"
Jolyne smiled brightly, nodding and responding affirmatively as Mr. Park walked away.
Entering the room revealed to be every as bare as Dolly suspected. Well, except for the pictures lining a desk along the wall. And—
"Ooh! What's that?" Jolyne said, already walking towards a package resting on her father's desk.
Dolly, walking towards the photos herself, called out, "Don't touch it Jolyne. I doubt Papa would be happy if you messed with his things."
Jolyne pouted, "Alright," she glumly stated, walking past the desk to look out the window.
Satisfied with her work, Dolly returned her attention to the photographs. The first one was a picture of his mother, Holy. Such a sweet woman. It was always a wonder how Jotaro turned out the way he did living under her roof.
Beside that photo was one of his grandparents, Joseph Joestar and…Suzie Q, that's it. She'd only met them once, but they seemed like decent folk—if filthy rich and unreasonably hateful towards Japanese culture (well, that one only applied to Joseph).
The next photo lifted her spirits considerably. It was one of their family. Ah, she remembered the day like it was yesterday. Driving down to the photographers, dressing up little Jolyne in all sorts of adorable outfits! The one that stuck was actually Jotaro's choice, an orange starfish that only left Jolyne's face unobstructed. He ending up holding her in his arms, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
She chuckled, remembering how the photographer kept on trying to get Jotaro to give him a wide, toothy smile. It didn't happen, obviously, but Dolly recognized the small crease in his lips that was his smile.
The last picture threw her for a loop, however.
It was a younger Jotaro, standing in what looked like a desert, along with four men and a dog. She only recognized two of the other men; Joseph, rocking what seemed to be an Indiana Jones costume, and Polnareff, the best man at their wedding. She had no idea who the red-haired boy and the dark-skinned man (or the dog) were, but they must have been important, since the photo was here.
But then, why had he never mentioned them before? In fact, why had she never see—
"AAAAAAHHH!"
Dolly dropped the photo, "Jolyne!" she cried, rushing over to her daughter.
Jolyne was curled up on the floor, trembling and gasping in pain, just in front of Jotaro's desk, an open box on its side beside her.
Dolly hissed, bending down and gathering her daughter in her arms, "Jolyne! What did I tell you?"
Jolyne said nothing, only gasping and moving further into Dolly's chest.
Dolly clicked her tongue, shifting Jolyne in her lap, "C'mere, let me see the damage."
But Jolyne still said nothing.
Dolly's breath caught in her throat, "Jolyne…Jolyne…answer me!"
Her eyes roamed Jolyne's body, stopping as she saw something poking out from her hands—which were held tight against her chest.
Licking her lips, Dolly said, "Jolyne, open your hands."
Slowly, Jolyne did so, and relief swept through Dolly's being, "Oh, thank goodness!" she said reaching down, "Just an arrowhead." She turned a smile to her daughter, "It's okay sweetie, it's just a little cu—AGH!"
Dolly jerked her head down, eyes widening as the arrowhead had moved, sinking into her palm.
She tried to keep her breath steady—keep her daughter from further panic—even as her vision started to darken, but she could not hope to hold back the shriek that tore through her lips.
"ORA!"
Dolly turned, falling back as the door exploded off its hinges, revealing her husband, Mr. Park, and an unknown, third figure standing just behind them.
That was all she saw, before she blacked out.
A/N: So, does Jotaro's wife have an official name? Otherwise I'm sticking with Dolly (as in 'Dolly Parton'). Anyway, decided to try my hand at this after going through 'Eyes of Heaven' again. Also, I'm not sure if Polnareff was actually Jotaro's best man, but considering the fact that Jotaro's…Jotaro, I doubt there's anyone else capable of filling the slot. I mean, there's Joseph, but that's weird, even for the Joestars. Unless of course they had a Japanese style wedding at Holy's insistence. Course, that would mean the Joseph wouldn't have attended, what with his burning hatred of all things Japanese (except for their college women that are younger than his daughter). I'm rambling. Be sure to leave a review. Later.