This is for the RWCW discord server April challenge. The prompt was "Who Are You?" memory loss, etc.
Also forgot about this challenge but I did finally end up getting it done lol XD This is a Battle Tendency AU and contains spoilers.
Memories and Other Fragile Things
A JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Fanfic
Battle Tendency AU ending. Joseph Joestar survived the battle with Kars thanks to his companions—including Caesar who everyone thought was dead. Unfortunately, Joseph doesn't seem to remember anything, even the friend he thought he lost—or maybe, there's more to it than that.
Caesar was the first one to rush out of the car. Or, get out as quickly as he was able. His injuries forced him to use a pair of crutches, but he was still determined to make his way to the hospital, Lisa Lisa and Suzie Q. on his heels.
"Caesar, easy," Lisa Lisa told him firmly, but the anxiety was obvious in her face as well.
They had gotten the news via telegram that morning. Caesar had just been moved back to Air Supplena to recover, still unable to believe he had survived his fight with Wamuu. But thanks to the Speedwagon foundation showing up in the nick of time, he had. But it had all seemed to be for nothing when they heard the news about JoJo and how he had perished after everything during his battle with Kars.
Caesar squeezed his eyes shut, unable to help remembering the awful crushing feeling he'd had when Lisa Lisa had told him the news, his stoic coach with a waver in her voice and wet eyes, nursing injuries of her own. He hadn't been there to watch JoJo's back like he should have been. The guilt was as crushing as the rocks that had nearly ended his life. And it was all because he had been so rash as to go off to fight Wamuu alone. Because of that, he'd forced JoJo to also have to fight alone and get killed, while he, cruelly, had survived despite everything.
Or so he had thought up until that morning when they had gotten the telegram. Someone from the Speedwagon foundation had found Joseph Joestar. Not a corpse in the sea somewhere, but in a hospital in Italy, recovering from grievous injuries.
Caesar almost couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it until he saw JoJo for himself. Could prove that this wasn't some terrible joke; that his friend was actually still alive.
Lisa Lisa spoke with the receptionist once they got into the hospital and got the room number for JoJo. They all made their way there, escorted by a nurse.
"His injuries?" Lisa Lisa asked. "How bad?"
"Mr. Joestar is missing the lower part of his left arm and his right leg is badly injured. He also seems to have suffered from some head trauma."
Caesar frowned, and they stopped outside the room. The nurse held up her hand. "I will warn you that the reason it took us so long to contact you is that we didn't even know this man was Joseph Joestar until yesterday. He's been unconscious since he was brought in, but even then…" she sighed. "He seems to have suffered from some memory loss due to the accident."
Suzie gasped and Caesar felt ice clench in his chest. "What? Are you saying he doesn't remember anything?"
The nurse shook her head. "At the moment, it doesn't appear so, but these kinds of things take time, and usually memory starts to come back before long. Perhaps seeing some familiar faces would help him."
Lisa Lisa's face was flat, unreadable as she nodded and stepped forward to open the door. Caesar cautiously made his way inside.
JoJo lay in the bed, arm and leg in a cast, multiple injuries visible underneath the hospital gown he wore. He glanced up at them with a small frown as they came in, but, to Caesar's horror, there was, indeed, no recognition there.
"JoJo?" Suzie asked quietly, stepping toward the bed, offering a small smile. "We-we're so happy to see you again!"
Caesar stood behind her as JoJo's eyes flickered over them both. He would have thought that, because JoJo thought he was dead he would have gotten a better greeting than that. But then…he hadn't expected JoJo to not remember anything at all.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" JoJo asked them all finally, voice hoarse. "I seem to have bumped my head."
Suzie took a shaky breath. "We're your friends, JoJo. Don't you remember? I'm Suzie, and this is Caesar and Miss Lisa Lisa."
JoJo glanced between all of them. "Oh, well, I am sorry that I don't remember. Especially you, Suzie."
Tears slid down Suzie's cheeks and she pressed herself against Caesar's side, latching onto his arm as the blond stared down at his friend, willing him to remember. How could he apologize if JoJo didn't even remember?
"You really don't remember anything?" he asked. "Anything at all?"
JoJo looked at him for a long moment and Caesar held his breath as JoJo's brows pinched, but then finally shook his head. "No. Sorry."
"It's all right, I'm sure you will in time," Lisa Lisa told him. "In the meantime, focus on your recovery. When the doctors let you go, you'll have a place to rest on Air Supplena."
"I don't really know where that is, but thank you anyway," JoJo said, looking a little lost, clutching his blanket in his good hand.
Lisa Lisa nodded, then glanced toward the nurse who had stayed standing at the door meaningfully. Her mouth pinched but she turned to Caesar and Suzie.
"Let's allow Joseph to rest for now. We'll come back tomorrow."
"But, Coach!" Caesar protested.
"Caesar," Lisa Lisa said firmly. "Come on."
Caesar cast one last look back at Joseph who glanced up with still no recognition in his eyes. The blonde clenched his jaw and maneuvered himself out of the room with his crutches, suddenly feeling exhausted.
How cruel was it? He had been grieving for his friend for days, and now when he does show up by some miracle only Joseph Joestar could possibly pull off, he didn't remember anything.
"How long do you think he'll need to stay here?" Lisa Lisa asked the nurse.
"The doctor said he's recovering well, so as long as you make sure he has a comfortable place to rest and recover, then I would say he can leave within the next couple days."
Lisa Lisa nodded. "And the memory loss. Is it…permanent?"
Suzie made a small sound at that and hugged herself.
"We really don't know," the nurse replied. "It's very hard to tell with these things."
Caesar gritted his teeth. "Well how can we help?"
"If he's around familiar things and people, that might help," the nurse said. "Usually these kinds of things just take time."
It wasn't the answer Caesar wanted, but, it was apparently the one he was going to have to live with. It wasn't like they had another choice.
The next day, he and Suzie returned to the hospital, Suzie bringing a plate of cookies she had baked.
"What will we do if JoJo never remembers?" Suzie asked fretfully. "He…he…" she sniffed and Caesar reached out to gently touch her shoulder.
"Shh, you don't want to upset him. I'm sure he will. He has to."
Suzie nodded and they knocked on the door before going in.
Joseph was sitting up in bed, reading, and looked up when they came in. For a brief moment, Caesar thought he saw some flash of recognition in his eyes, but it must have been his imagination.
"Ah, it's you again," JoJo said. "Suzie and…Caesar, was it?"
"Yes," Suzie replied with a small smile, holding up the plate. "I brought you some cookies, JoJo."
"Thanks," Joseph replied with a small smile as Suzie set them down on the table beside his bed.
There was a rather awkward silence before Caesar asked, "How are you feeling today?"
JoJo shrugged then winced as he did so. "All right I guess. The medicine keeps me from feeling much. Some German soldier came by yesterday and told me he knew people who could make me a prosthetic arm once I heal a little more so I suppose that's good." He motioned to the arm that was still stuck in the sling, disturbingly shorter than it should be.
Well, at least Stroheim was being helpful so that was something. At least maybe Joseph could get his arm back. He wished Stroheim's acclaimed German science could fix his memory too.
Joseph reached over and grabbed one of the cookies, taking a cautious bite. "Hey, these are pretty good. A lot better than anything they give me here."
Suzie smiled. "Well, once you get back to Air Supplena I will cook you anything you want! It will help your recovery."
JoJo smiled slightly, glancing at Caesar again, before taking another cookie. "So, when are you getting me out of here then?"
"Soon," Caesar said.
Joseph sighed, and settled back onto the bed. "Thanks for the cookies, Suzie."
It sounded like a dismissal, and Caesar exhaled slowly, but nodded to Suzie, readjusting his crutches in order to move.
"Hey, what happened to you, anyway?" Joseph asked and Caesar saw him motion to his crutches. "You get caught in the same accident I did?"
Caesar sucked in a sharp breath. "No. I…I did something…foolish… and lost a fight."
Something unreadable crossed JoJo's face, a small pinch between his eyebrows, and then nothing but that blank look again. "Oh. Sorry to hear that. Hope you get him next time."
You already did, Caesar wanted to say, but didn't think telling that story to JoJo would help him so he just nodded to Suzie and hurried out of the room. Suzie followed on his heels. "Get better JoJo!" she called. "We'll see you again soon."
She caught up to Caesar. "Do you think we should call Signore Speedwagon or his grandmother? JoJo is more familiar with them. Maybe they would help him to remember."
"I don't know," Caesar said. "I don't think JoJo would want his grandmother to know about his…condition. They know he's alive, that's the important part."
"But what if he never remembers?!" Suzie cried.
"He will," Caesar promised her. Though he had no right to make that promise. He didn't exactly believe it himself.
A couple days later, they brought Joseph back to Air Supplena Island. He still seemed impossibly weak and quiet—both of which were incredibly odd for JoJo. In fact, the first thing he did once he got into his bed was fall into a deep sleep, until Suzie woke him up for dinner.
Lisa Lisa didn't say anything, but Caesar could tell she was worried. She had many phone-calls with Speedwagon, but didn't seem to come up with any kind of solution to their problems. Not that there even was one.
At least JoJo was alive, Caesar continued to tell himself. He hated that he felt it was all some sort of pyric victory. He knew his reasoning was selfish, and yet…JoJo had been right about the stupidity of fighting Wamuu alone. Caesar should have listened to him. If he had, he wouldn't have nearly died. He wouldn't be in constant pain from his injuries that he refused to lay in bed and heal properly. It was a terrible feeling to wake up in a hospital and be told the fight was over. That he hadn't been able to play his part, and that his friend was dead. Dead because he had made a stupid decision first and left Joseph to be forced into making the same one. No matter that Joseph was actually alive, Caesar's guilt would never leave him.
Maybe JoJo's memory loss was Caesar's punishment for ignoring his friend and then essentially abandoning him. If he has just cooled down a little back in St. Moritz…
But it was pointless to think of all of it now. He was grateful to have JoJo back at least. Maybe…maybe in some ways, it wouldn't be a bad thing to start over again. They hadn't exactly gotten off on the best foot their first time meeting. But that had only served to strengthen their eventual friendship more in Caesar's opinion.
Several days stretched by feeling like an eternity. Every morning, Caesar went to see Joseph in the hopes that he would remember something, but he never did. Suzie baked and cooked for him, and brought games to play with him that Caesar joined on occasion even though he had no stomach for them really. What he really wanted was to get back into training, but his injuries prohibited that, and he was still weak from giving that charge of Hamon to Joseph. He could still feel it surging through his veins, but a few broken ribs made even the most basic training exercises nearly impossible.
Joseph's answer when Caesar had asked him if he remembered his Hamon had been vague. It seemed he was aware of something at least. Hopefully it would help him recover quicker, though JoJo had never been one for finesse and neither of them were particularly good at healing with Hamon.
And each day Caesar asked JoJo if he remembered anything, and he said no, was one more day where Caesar's guilt got heavier.
That night he dreamed he was lying in that old hotel, the weight of a thousand rocks crushing him, pinning him to the ground. And all Caesar could do was watch as Wamuu and Kars tore Joseph apart in front of him. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, and he couldn't get to his friend. He couldn't…
Caesar woke with a gasp and flailed against the constrictive sheets wrapped around him. He panted, body aching from the distress thrashing, as he lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling and the pale early morning light seeping through the window of his room.
Caesar tried to calm his breathing, clutching his aching chest as he squeezed his eyes shut.
He couldn't do this anymore. Whether Joseph knew what he was talking about or not, he had to talk about this. He had to apologize. It would eat him alive otherwise.
Caesar pushed himself upright, and grabbed just one crutch to steady him as he left his room, hoping JoJo might be up since he had actually been getting up early lately.
He knocked on the door to Joseph's room and when there was a muffled reply, he stepped inside.
The door to the balcony was open, letting in the cool breeze off the water and Caesar saw Joseph sitting out there, a blanket wrapped loosely around his shoulders, clutched in his one hand.
Caesar limped out onto the balcony with him and Joseph looked up briefly.
"Oh, it's you. Do you need something?"
"We need to talk," Caesar said firmly.
Something flickered over Joseph's face, but he turned away, looking out toward the sunrise, before Caesar could analyze it. "Go ahead, then."
Caesar felt a slight curl of annoyance but tamped it down, instead, lowering himself into a chair, clutching the crutch in his hands tightly.
"JoJo, I need to apologize to you," Caesar told him. "I know…" he took a deep breath. "I know it might not mean anything to you right now, but I can't keep quiet any longer, I have to get this off my chest."
Joseph was silent, gaze still focused in the distance. Caesar ignored this and continued.
"The reason I got injured is because I was foolish. I thought I could beat our enemy alone, but it turns out that I wasn't strong enough. You…you warned me not to go fight him and I did anyway. And he nearly killed me." He took another break to steady himself. "And because of that, I wasn't there to help you fight in the final battle. And you and Coach Lisa Lisa almost got killed. I—I thought you had died. That was…that was the first thing I heard when I woke up in the hospital and I couldn't help but think it was all my fault."
His eyes were wet, dammit. Caesar reached up to rub an angry hand across them. "I am just so grateful you are alive, despite my foolishness. And I'm just sorry, JoJo, that I wasn't there at the end. I should have been there. And I will never forgive myself for that."
JoJo blinked and something glinted against his cheek, before he turned further away and hunched over, a hand going to his face, shoulders shaking. A soft hitching breath sounded out.
Caesar's eyes widened in shock. "JoJo?" he got up to limp over to Joseph, setting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right?"
To his shock, JoJo turned and yanked Caesar into an embrace, burying his face in the center of his chest.
"Caesar…" he croaked. "I'm sorry."
"JoJo…" Caesar breathed in shock, holding the younger man just as tightly in return. "Do you…" he almost didn't dare say it. "Do you remember?"
Joseph nodded against his chest. "Yes. I've…I've remembered for a while."
Caesar froze, arms loosening around JoJo as he pulled away to look the other man in the eye. "What?" he asked quietly, not sure he had heard correct.
A million emotions were running through Joseph's face. "My memory mostly came back that second day you came to see me."
Caesar couldn't breathe. Was he actually hearing this? "So…you're saying you remembered this whole time," he said blankly.
"Yeah," Joseph replied. "Just about."
Caesar saw red. he reached out and grabbed Joseph by the collar of his shirt, shaking him. "You…why the hell would you do that?"
Joseph made no move to pull away, instead, he met Caesar's eyes. "Because I was pissed! I thought you were dead, Caesar! I thought you were dead and it almost broke me because I could have followed you and I didn't. Yeah, you were stupid and stubborn but so was I. I was angry that you went alone and got yourself killed, so I…I don't know. You looked so apologetic when you came to the hospital that day, then when I finally remembered you I just…I wanted to teach you a lesson, I guess."
"You bastard," Caesar croaked, shaking Joseph again. "Do you have any idea how much this has been killing me? And what about Suzie and Lisa Lisa?! You didn't have to torture them too!"
Joseph looked away. "I know it was terrible. And I'm sorry."
"Sorry isn't going to cut it this time, JoJo!" Caesar said, hands trembling in the grip they still had on Joseph's shirt. Joseph's jaw was tight and his eyes were wet. Something inside Caesar shattered further and he carefully released his hold on the younger man.
"I should punch you in the face for this," he said.
"Then why don't you?" Joseph asked blandly. "It's not like you haven't before."
Caesar's hand clenched at his side briefly before he started to feel like he was deflating. "Because…because I'm too glad to have you back, you bastard. And…maybe I did deserve this."
"You didn't," Joseph admitted. "You're a good friend, Caesar. I see that now more than ever before. You could have just pretended nothing ever happened between us when you thought I had lost my memory, but you bloody apologized to me instead." He quickly reached up to rub his eyes. "The truth is, I was devastated thinking that the last thing I ever did was punch you in the face. I never got to tell you how grateful I was to have a friend like you. Never really had a lot of people I could really call friends before."
Caesar stood there, dumbfounded, listening to these sober words coming from his idiot friend.
"I only won that fight with Wamuu because of the Hamon you passed to me," Joseph told him. "Without that, I would have died without getting the chance to face Kars." He sighed with a small smile. "Sorry I couldn't save your headband though."
"I can get a new one," Caesar said with a sigh and sank back into his seat.
"Are you mad?" JoJo asked quietly, suddenly looking a lot younger than his eighteen years and causing Caesar's chest to ache in yearning to see his younger siblings again.
"Of course," Caesar replied. "But…I understand why you did it. At the end of the day I'm just glad to have you back. Completely."
"Well, not completely," Joseph said, motioning to the arm in the sling. "I'll have to get this sorted out." He glanced at Caesar sideways. "Hey, Caesar, I know you're pissed, but is there any way I can get you to just tell Lisa Lisa and Suzie Q that I just started to get my memory back instead of the truth?"
Caesar snorted, pressing his lips together into a firm line. "I should let Lisa Lisa beat you soundly for this. But…I'd say we should keep this between us. Especially for Suzie's sake. I don't think she would be as willing to forgive you as I am. Especially since I think you owe her something now that you're back."
Joseph's face lit up. "Hey, that's right." His expression turned grateful. "Thanks, Caesar. Really."
"You need to promise never to do something like this again though," Caesar said firmly.
"I won't. It was harder than you might think."
"And when you're recovered, I might still punch you in the face."
"I suppose that's fair."
"But in the meantime," Caesar said, reaching over and gripping JoJo's shoulder. "Welcome back, JoJo."
Joseph reached out with his good hand and gripped Caesar's shoulder in return. "You too, Caesar."