Ch. 23
Let The Four Winds Blow

DECEMBER 23RD, 1988
12:51
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

It had been a day since they arrived in the Emirates. Pakistan felt like a memory now, one that Joaquín had mercifully put behind. In the time afterwards, when they traveled the Gulf of Oman, he felt extremely emotionally drained. The battle with Steely Dan had taken a toll on him, making him question if he was no better than him or any of Dio's men. Not to mention how dangerous his anger was. He did not want to end up hurting or endangering anyone else the way he did before because of that.

"But I know you would never do that," said Della reassuringly one night aboard the boat traveling from Pakistan. "You're a passionate individual, Jojo. You're not like those bastards Dio sends after us at all. You don't kill or fight just for the heck of it, but because you want to protect us. That's why you get so angry. It's reckless, I know, but it shows that you love us, and you'd never give up on us. Just like I'd never give up on you.

"Jojo, promise me that no matter what happens, never stop fighting. Even when things look bleak, or when our spirits have been crushed, never, for a second, lower your fists."

Joaquín promised her that night. And thanks to her, and everyone else, he snapped out of his emotional low and felt his resolve renew. He entered the Emirates refreshed and ready for the next path in their journey. And at that moment, it was in a rather normal car driving through a rather quiet neighborhood of expensive houses. It was quite a shock from the usual sight of rustic housing they've seen in India.

"This country is so bizarre," mused Jean Pierre as he looked out the window. "Is every house down here a mansion? They all have such lovely flowers blooming in their yards, and not a single one is in shambles."

"Homes like these would go for thirty to forty billion yen in Japan," said Joseph beside him. "But I suppose this is what life's now like for the ordinary person in this country. Around twenty years ago, this place was nothing but a desert. But thanks to the huge profits reaped in during the oil shock, it's grown into a prestigious city. It's almost like a dream come true."

"These guys must feel pretty lucky," said an impressed Joaquín as he looked out the window at the passing homes. And as he did, he noticed Noriaki beside him looking nervously out the back window. "Hey, Noriaki, what's wrong? You feel like we're being tailed?"

He didn't look away when he spoke. "No… It's just that, this is such a nice place, and I could tell if someone's following us… But it's for that reason that I can't help but keep looking back to see, just in case…"

"Hmph, I can't blame you," said Jean Pierre from the driver's seat. "With all these constant Stand attacks, I'm a bit on edge myself.

"A little break from all these fights does sound nice," admitted Della, leaning back against her boyfriend. "Besides, Christmas is coming up soon. It'd be nice to spend it together without someone trying to kill us."

Joseph laughed heartily at this, making himself almost sound like Santa Claus himself. "I would like that too, Della," he admitted, looking back at her and his grandchildren. "Especially with the company we have. Who knows, maybe Dio might throw us a bone. But as much as Christmas sounds good, we should still be prepared for anything. We're still on a mission. Er, mind handing me the map?" She did so, and after unfolding it, he cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Now, I was thinking about our next route from here. About a hundred kilometers from here is a village called Yarpline. If we take a car there, it would take about two days due to the desert and rocky mountains making the road rough for us. It's for that very reason the villagers travel from there via Cessna. So once we get there, we buy ourselves a Cessna and then travel through the Arabian Desert."

"Wait, what's a Cessna," asked Joaquín, never hearing that word before.

"It's a type of personal monoplane."

At the mention of planes, his eyes widened in fright. "Oh, hell no! I'm not getting on another one of those with you at the helm! No fucking way!"

"Will you relax?" Joseph was rather offended that he had to be reminded of his sketchy flight history. "We're not doing that until later. And it's a personal plane. Nobody else but us. I've been avoiding using anything else on the off chance another Stand user boards with us and puts innocent lives at risk. I don't want a repeat of Japan any more than you all do. Besides, with a Cessna, we'll be able to get to where we need to be a lot quicker.

"But as I said, that's later. We need to get to Yarpline first. And we'll be doing that with camels. If we take some camels with us, the trip should last one day."

Everyone turned to one another as if they had heard incorrectly. Jean Pierre was the first to speak. "Camels? I get a Cessna, but camels? Have you ever ridden a camel in your life?"

With a chuckle and a smug grin, Joseph looked over at his partner and said, "Have I ever ride a camel… Just leave it to Joseph Joestar. If anyone can do anything, it's me. Just relax and I'll show you how it's done."

Abuelito, why do you always let your ego get the best of you..? I'm getting the feeling you have no idea what you're getting us into...

~+JO*JO+~

He most certainly did not.

They had bought six camels for each of them, and they were all as majestic as they were very smelly. And while Jean Pierre complained about the stench, Joseph tried vainly to teach them how to mount them. The one he had chosen to demonstrate with was stubborn, and would not lower itself to be mounted. It was hard to tell if Joaquín's grandfather was doing it wrong or it just wouldn't cooperate. More than likely that former, given what he had to say when questioned about his methods.

"I watched that old movie Laurence of Arabia three times," he told them, still oozing with his usual confidence. "Of course I know how what I'm doing! Although I think I slept through it twice."

They all gaped in shock at him. Even the camel was exasperated, deciding to slobber all over his handler. Dismissing the spit as an "excellent source of sunscreen", he finally managed to get the camel down and climb aboard. He then explained to them how a camel's stride was different than a horse's, moving both front and hind legs on one side as opposed to opposite sides. They would have to ride in time with the odd, swaying rhythm so as not to fall off.

Which Joseph did in spectacular fashion.

"Let's get a move on, then," he declared, back on his camel and all roughed up from the fall. "The northwest awaits!"

And with the group finally settling onto their rickety camels, they all departed towards the desert. It was a lot more peaceful than they thought. Being that it was winter, the air felt cool, and the sun did not feel as hot as it should. It didn't stop them from sweating, however, which called for some sunscreen. Despite how boring it might have felt traversing the massive desert landscape, they treated it like any other day throughout their journey.

But eventually, like the palm leaves they used to wipe their tracks, the day was beginning to drag. They all stood quiet for hours on end, not taking a break except to use the bathroom once or twice. The desert felt as if it stretched on forever. And it was hot. But the minute night falls, it's gonna be freezing cold, thought Joaquín, who was not looking forward to the sudden drop in temperature later. He turned to look at the others and noticed Noriaki was glancing behind himself again. "Hey, you okay bud," he asked.

"I am," he responded slowly, this time looking back at him. "I just have this feeling that we actually are being followed this time."

Everyone looked behind them, and like it was in the front, there was just desert as far as the eye could see. Jean Pierre dismissively said, "You're just nervous, Kakyouin. Besides, we've been covering our tracks the whole time. If anyone really was following us, we'd see them from tens of kilometers away."

Joutarou shook his head. "Actually, I've been feeling the same thing for quite a while now."

"You still have those binoculars," asked Joseph. "Take a look for us, will you?" The younger of his grandchildren nodded and took out a pair of binoculars, Star Platinum phasing in to look through them. Joaquín could tell that he was using his Stand's telescopic vision, so similar to Preciosa's, to look farther than the binoculars could with the naked eye. It was quite a handy ability. He looked all around for a minute before putting it away with a stoic face.

"Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Nothing I can't see," answered Joutarou. "However, I don't doubt something strange is going on… I don't know what, though…"

"Maybe it's an invisible Stand user," suggested Della. "Jojo fought someone like that back in Japan, so maybe someone else is using a similar ability."

"Unlikely. Dio doesn't feel like the type of person who would send the same person a second time after they failed. Hol Horse doesn't count. From what niisan said, it sounded as if he was hunting us on his own."

"Hey, can we get a move on," called out Jean Pierre, taking a swig from his canteen. "I want to get those tents up soon. The sun looks like it just might set soon." He glanced at his pocket thermometer for a moment before his eyes widened. "Mon dieu, it's hot! Look at this! It's 50°C!"

Celsius... God, I hate celsius... But he was smart enough to know that 50°C was very hot when converted to Fahrenheit. And if he used the conversion formula (which he once dismissed as useless in his adult life), he would get…

122°F..?

"But that's impossible," said Joaquín, knowing how foolish he sounded. "It can't be that hot at this time of day!"

Joseph pulled out his pocket watch and said, "Well, this is the Arabian Desert. It's supposed to be this hot, even around s- Huh?!" He looked closer at the time, then turned back to the others. "Joutarou! What time do you have on your watch?!"

"It's 8:10," he replied after nonchalantly looking at his expensive wristwatch, only for his eyes to flash upon the realization.

"8:10?! PM?! I-I don't believe this! We've been traveling since the afternoon! So why the hell hasn't the sun set!"

He wasn't wrong. When they looked above, they could see the scorching hot sun hanging suspended in the air. And they did it without wincing. Whenever someone looked at the sun, the light would be so bright that it would not only hurt their vision but sometimes cause them to sneeze. At least for Joaquín. But when he looked up at this celestial body, there was no blinding or sneezing. It was just there. What they beheld was no normal sun.

"C'est impossible," exclaimed Jean Pierre. "The thermometer just jumped up to by ten degrees! A-And look at the sun! It's not sinking at all! I-It's rising!" Upon closer inspection, they noticed that he was right. The "sun" was slowly rising into the air, casting the sky into a deadly orange. And on top of that, it was large. It felt as if it were closer than it should be. Joaquín knew exactly what the Frenchman was going to say next.

"Don't tell me… The sun itself is… a Stand?!"

"Everybody get to some shade," shouted Joaquín, stopping his camel and running towards some nearby rocks. As he pressed himself behind it in what little shadow was cast, the others had followed suit and hid as well. "Son of a bitch… You guys were right… We're in the middle of the desert, and someone's followed us with their Stand. And it had to take the worst fucking form! Is Dio really that crazy prepared?!"

"What a mess… I think this was the user's plan the whole time… To use that blasted Stand to turn us into roast octopi for the rest of the day… No, for the rest of the night..!"

"It won't even take that long," muttered Joseph, looking over to see that their camels were uncomfortably shifting in place. "You can't even stay over 30 minutes in a sauna before it turns dangerous."

"We need to figure out how to beat it soon," exclaimed Della, looking in fear at the thermometer in Jean Pierre's hand. "The temperature just rose to 70°C! That's... That's 158°F! We can't last that long! We gotta find out whether it's near or far and attack from there! But more importantly, we gotta find that user and take him out!"

"You're right… They should be somewhere close by… We have to find them… Our enemy is more than likely hiding so they wouldn't be caught trailing us. And given that we know we're being attacked, they're probably not going to be moving for a while."

"H-hang on," interjected Jean Pierre. "What if this Stand is like Lovers back from Pakistan? That it could be used from a long distance?"

Joseph shook his head, sweat dripping from his face and beard. "I thought so too, but remotely-controlled Stands like that tend to have less power. But this 'sun's' energy is radiating so powerfully that the user has to be nearby!"

And how powerful it was. A nearby, dormant scorpion crumbled to pieces under the rays of the sun. One of the camels became so exhausted from the heat that it simply dropped. It was like that snow scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Han Solo's mount dropped dead from the cold, only with heat. Just thinking about that sent an uncomfortable, ironic chill down Joaquín's spine. Della's got a point. We've gotta hurry and find this Stand user.

"Niisan, what's wrong," asked Joutarou worriedly. "You look like you're suffering worse than us…"

"D-Do I," he asked back, wiping his wet brow. "I'm okay. It's this fucking heat… But we can't do anything if we just sit here sweating." He turned to the younger of the students. "Noriaki, can you use your Hierophant to scope the area?"

"Of course," replied Noriaki, his Hierophant Green phasing into view. "But I need to see how far the Stand is from us. Once I know, then we might have a chance of knowing where the user is!" And so, his Stand flew into the air, a silvery green, organic tentacle trailing to the ground behind him. "Twenty meters! Forty! Sixty! One hu-"

Something wasn't right. The sun was slowly glowing brighter, almost bigger. The others felt it, too.

Noriaki was in trouble.

"Kakyouin, bring your Hierophant back here," cried out Joutarou.

"It's preparing for something,' shouted Jean Pierre.

"Not yet," called out a confident Noriaki. It was too far to see, but it was obvious Hierophant Green was preparing his signature technique. "EMERALD-"

He barely had time to fire several emeralds before the sun discharged, multiple beams of scorching light firing off in every direction. The Stand was hit several times, and the damage reflected on Noriaki in several wounds. Everyone ducked as the laser-like beams struck all around, some hitting the rocks, but most mercifully missing.

The camels weren't so lucky, half of them pierced through and killed instantly.

"Guys, cover me and Joutarou" screamed Joaquín, Della and Jean Pierre summoned their Stands to do just that. Silver Chariot used his lightning-fast fencing to deflect the beams away from them. All My Love launched massive bubbles from all over its body to form a wall in front of them, which barely stopped them. Meanwhile, both Preciosa and Star Platinum were summoned, and they immediately punched a massive hole around the rocks into a makeshift cave.

"Everybody in! We gotta hide!" Nobody questioned him as they quickly ducked into the shadow of the hole the brothers made. The beams of light finally stopped, but that did not mean the heat of the 'sun' did. It was still sizzling hot, and the shade barely cooled them off. But that was the least of Joaquín's worries. He turned to Noriaki and asked "Noriaki, how're you holding up? Did it get you bad?"

"I'm fine," he groaned, wiping some blood and sweat off him rather sluggishly. "My Hierophant was in the middle of his Emerald Splash, so that guarded me… I'm only a bit hurt… But… It's so hot…I'm starting to get light-headed…"

"You're really lucky. That attack just now… It wasn't just randomly firing around it. It knew where to hit. It got you, it got the camels, and it nearly got us. Hell, it got through some of the cracks in Della's bubble wall. I noticed the beams getting thinner as they passed... This user's smart… And he could see exactly where we are… But we can't see them… Just where…"

He trailed off, and he began to notice that his body was almost devoid of any strength. His head felt light, too. "Niisan, you're definitely not okay," aid Joutarou, now sounding worried. "Did that guy get you?"

"No… Not… Not really… My body feels… off… Something's wrong with my body…"

"Oh my god," exclaimed Joseph. "Joaquín! Look at your arms!" And when he did, he felt the blood leave his face. There were cracks all over his skin. It looked flaky, the moisture simply leaving it. What was going on? This had never happened to him before, and while he tried to remain calm, Joaquín was freaking out on the inside. "Get some water! Who still has their canteens? Wait! I have mine!"

But there was no water left in his, for the 'sun' punched a hole straight through it.

"OH, SHIT!"

Joaquín chuckled, but not at his grandfather's disappointment. He had realized just what was causing his skin to break. "I can't believe it… I should have known all along… Back in New York… The cold weather… It made my Stand weaker."

"What do you mean, Jojo," asked Della as she hastily found her canteen and carefully applied some water to his skin. Some of the cracking was healing up.

"It means Preciosa can't stand extreme temperatures. Snow, the cold… and apparently boiling heat… It needs humidity, otherwise, its power decreases... Maldita sea… I hope Dio doesn't have a Stand like this guy, or else I'm fucked…"

"Oh, Jojo… We'll help you out, I promise."

And they did. What little water and sunscreen everyone had was used to restore Joaquín's skin to normal. It barely worked, and it was clear that it was affecting him more than he let on. Especially emotionally. To know that he had a genuine weakness made him upset more than anything. Anyone with the right ability could just kill him and in the worst way possible. For the first time since Preciosa was awakened, he finally understood why Stand users were so secretive about their abilities.

The minutes passed on, and they were all sweltering hot. Joaquín's skin became worse, some parts of him peeling right off. He didn't know how much longer he had. They needed answers before it was too late. Joseph borrowed Joutarou's binoculars and peeked them out from the hole, carefully trying to look for their attacker. But it failed when a single bolt of light broke it straight in half.

"SON OF A BITCH," screamed Joseph, slamming his fists and losing his composure. "WHERE THE HELL IS THAT BLOODY BASTARD! HOW IS HE SPYING ON US! MY GRANDSON AND MY FRIENDS ARE DYING AND WE STILL! HAVEN'T! FOUND HIM!" Joaquín had never seen his grandfather get so mad for as little as he had known him. It was almost eerie seeing his funny yet serious demeanor take a dip into a desperate rage.

Before he could reassure him that they won't die, he heard the most unexpected thing. Noriaki was chuckling. He was looking straight ahead and was chuckling. And it grew. He laughed, louder and more manic. It was as if he had heard the most hilarious joke in the world. He and Joseph looked at him worriedly before the latter asked, "Hey… Kakyouin… What's wrong?" But Noriaki simply laughed harder. "Hey! What's so funny?! Get it together, man!"

And it didn't stop with just him. Soon Joutarou was laughing, an act that took almost everyone off guard. Both he and Noriaki shared a glance and kept on laughing their heads off. Whatever joke they were in on must have been that hilarious. "Joutarou, you too," asked a shocked Joseph. Before they knew it, Jean Pierre had joined in on the humor, holding back at first before busting his gut. "Polnareff! Even you?!"

"Guys," called out Joaquín weakly as he looked between them all, "what's the big deal..? What could possibly be so fu-"

For a moment, he looked outside. And he finally understood what was so funny. It was so dumb, so right in their faces, that he too slipped into the same mad laughter as his friends. All four of their gazes found one another, stopping their laughter for a moment before they threw their heads back and cackled like hyenas.

Joseph and Della were beside themselves in shock.

"Oh my god," groaned his grandfather. "They've all finally lost it… This heat's gotten to their heads… Are we the only ones left with sanity?!"

"I'm afraid so," whispered. Della as she approached her boyfriend and shook him by his shoulders. "Jojo, snap out of it! You gotta stay with it! This is what the enemy wants, for all of us to lose our minds before we die! Please, it's not funny!"

He calmed down enough to catch her off guard with a small kiss and an amused smile. "Don't get me wrong," he said through chuckles. "What we're laughing at is definitely funny. Look outside." Joaquín pointed outside. More specifically, he pointed to a large rock. "You notice how the sun is casting a shadow?"

"Uh-huh..?"

"Okay, now look across from it." He pointed on the opposite side, where there rested a similar rock. "Notice anything… off about it?"

It took her a moment, eyes squinting to see just what it was he was getting at. And then her green eyes widened, and she too tittered in amusement. "Oh my god," she managed to squeak out. "What an idiot!"

"I don't understand," confusedly said Joseph, taking his fedora off and scratching his hair. "What am I supposed to be looking at? It's just a rock."

"Move, jijii," grunted Joutarou as he moved through everyone to the mouth of the hole. Star Platinum appeared at his side and picked up a rock, winded up for a pitch and then chucked it. It flew at such a velocity that it was almost impossible to see. And then it struck a hole right in the air. A pained yelp could be heard in the distance.

"W-What just happened?! How's there a hole in the air?!"

"Yare yare… You're pitiful, jijii. I'm just going to pretend you lost your mind from the heat, otherwise, I'll feel really ashamed to be your grandson."

As if on cue, the 'sun' in the sky fizzled away. The sky changed from blazing orange to a starry black. It was nighttime, as it was meant to be. The air slowly cooled, and the miraculous change in temperature restored Joaquín's skin to its normal self. "Oh, thank god," he sighed as he rubbed his scarred arms. And here I thought I was gonna roast like a pernil… Come on guys, let's go check out the damage."

"I still don't get it," mused Joseph as they climbed out of the hole and made their way to the hole in the air. When they further approached it, they could make out their reflections. "Oh! It's a mirror!"

"Exactly. The user was tailing us by using that mirror to reflect the landscape and blend in. It's no wonder we couldn't find him. The only reason we were able to was because of that rock's reflection. It didn't match with the shadows cast by his Stand. That's why we were laughing."

They reached the mirror and looked behind it. As it turned out, it was mounded in front of a roofless golf cart. It looked comfortable with its running AC unit, a tank filled with water, and a small table with drinks. And knocked out of his seat and unconscious, with a massive bump on his head, was a fat, balding man with a shirt depicting the sun.

"So here's our guy." Joaquín knelt before him and knocked on the part of his head that wasn't bruised. "Oye, pendejo. Didn't your mom teach you not to work for vampires? You'll either get killed by him or get your ass kicked by us. And it's pretty obvious how this ended for you." The only response he got was a pained, defeated groan. "We won't kill you, but if you follow us again, we might not be so lenient… Take his water. We're gonna need it."

As he began taking out the tank of water, Joseph looked confusedly from the cart to its driver. He then looked up and said, "So that means… we've already beat him? It's over? But we don't even know his name! We just disposed of his sun Stand just like that?"

"Does his name even matter? All we know is that it's based on the tarot card for 'The Sun'. And that he was pretty clever to trick us like that. Until we exposed it, then he's just another idiot to add to our list."

"We should get moving to that village," chimed in Noriaki. "The desert's already starting to get colder."

Jean Pierre's sneeze was a statement enough of how cold it was going to get.

~+JO*JO+~

It was finally Christmas. And while there was no snow in Yarpline, that did not stop everyone from celebrating in their own way. The morning after they had arrived in the village, they celebrated first with a massive breakfast courtesy of Joseph. Immediately after, he ushered everyone out of their hotel and ordered them all to go buy presents for one another. It was peaceful enough in the town that splitting up wouldn't be such a big problem.

And that's what they did for roughly an hour and a half. Joaquín and the others split apart and went from store to store, everywhere they could think of to buy what they wanted to for gifts. It was a lot easier than he had thought, and very fun, too. Because he knew everyone so well (for the most part), he was quickly able to get them their gifts. They would all enjoy what he had to offer them, and that thought alone was enough to make him happy.

After they returned to the hotel, the gift giving began. For Joaquín, he received a book from Joutarou ("Never Cry Wolf. It's also one of my favorite movies."), a pair of clackers from his grandfather ("The same ones I used against the Pillar Men! Treat them well."), a bag of jelly beans from Noriaki, a wristwatch from Jean Pierre, and from Della came some rather nice cologne. By the time he received his last gift, he wore the biggest smile he ever had since the start of their journey.

Then there were the gifts he bought everyone else. Joutarou received a book as well called Hatchet, his grandfather received a nice pair of sunglasses, Noriaki received a sketchbook coupled with pencils and a sharpener, and Jean Pierre received some hair conditioner. He didn't forget Della, but he did not give her her gift just yet. It was too special to give out at that moment.

"Let's wait for tonight, okay," he told her, giving her a reassuring wink.

The rest of the day was one filled with fun, laughter, and peace above all else. There were days when the Joestar group did not have to worry about getting attacked, or that they were on a mission. But today, on this special day, the threat of Dio was virtually nonexistent. It was as if they were celebrating Christmas like any other family would, singing carols, drinking eggnog, and just simply enjoying the time they all spent together. It was a joyous time, and Joaquín loved every second of it.

Before everyone knew it, night fell. After feasting on turkey and other Arabian dishes, everyone turned in for the night. Except for Joaquín and Della, who, while back in their rooms, did not quite sleep just yet. The couple was looking out over the balcony of their room, him holding her from behind and simply gazing out into the beautiful night sky. They had moments like these before, but being on such a dangerous mission, they were only a few times they could share in each other's love.

"It's such a beautiful night," spoke Joaquín gently into her ear, his hands reaching and clasping hers in his gentle grip. "I don't know what it is about looking out into the night, but… it's always so calming. The stars, the changing phases of the moon… There's just something so peaceful about it.

"You know," Della started as she looked onwards, "my mom once told me something about stars. It was a silly little expression people gave to them back then."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she said… She said…" Her brow scrunched as she tried to remember how it went. "A long time ago... when people thought that the sky and heaven were one and the same... they believed the stars at night were the light of that kingdom filtering out from holes in the sky. And they called them the 'Eyes of Heaven'."

Joaquín smiles and held her closer. "That's a pretty good name for them. Did you think about that each time you saw my birthmark?"

"Sometimes. I mainly saw it as a sign that you were an angel sent from heaven with some purpose."

"Well, I kinda believe that. Well, less of me being an angel, cause I'm anything but a saint."

She turned him around and faced him, her smile a loving one. "You are to me. Ever since I met you, you've been nothing but a saint. You've shown me kindness in ways no other person has ever shown me before."

"Even when we argued," he added sheepishly.

"Yes, even when we argued. Because whether I agreed or not, you only did it because you care for me, and not out of wanting to control me. I know that's not you. Cause everything you've done for me up until now has always been for me, putting me ahead of yourself. Even before we got together, you've done nothing but be a genuine friend and an overall loving person. And it's because of that that I came to fall in love with you."

His heart beat loudly in his chest, and he was certain Della could feel it too. In this moment, he didn't need anything else to express his love for her. This was all he needed, all he wanted. Just his beloved in his arms.

'Hey, Jojo," said Della, nervous that what she would say next might ruin the moment. "Um… you didn't forget about my gift, did you?"

It didn't ruin anything, and he most certainly didn't forget. With a smile, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. He did not kneel, however. But one day I just might, he thought with hope. "Merry Christmas, Della." And Joaquín handed the box to her. Slowly, she opened it and gasped. Inside were a pair of golden, diamond-set stud earrings.

"Jojo," she whispered in awe, eyes darting between her gift and him. "I-I don't know what to say, I… Oh my god…"

"Beautiful, aren't they? I saw them while I was out and I figured they'd make the perfect gift for you."

"You remembered my birthday."

"Huh?"

"My birthday is in April. I told you that before, remember? And you know what the birthstone for that month is, right?"

His eyebrows raised as he looked at the earrings. "Wait, did I just buy you your fucking birthstone?" She nodded with a big smile on her face. "Wow. I, uh, actually didn't forget your birthday. But I didn't remember what the birthstone for that month was. Huh... So I really did get the perfect gift. Well, that makes me feel pretty good about myself."

Della just chuckled and embraced him, which he happily returned. They did not part, choosing simply to lock their gazes with one another. Green met blue, and for this moment, their hearts slowly synchronized into one beating unit. Their faces leaned close, and their lips sealed together. No more words needed to be said, for their kiss expressed all the love they had for one another.

There could not have been a better way to end their Christmas.

~ARABIA FLATS: RETIRED~