Jotaro Kujo (Part 6) - Remember Us

Empathetic

The next morning, I woke up to an empty bed. I could tell why when I looked at the time. It was nearing afternoon. There was no way Jotaro would sleep past noon despite him always sleeping. I got up from the bed and went to the kitchen to find something to eat.

When I got there, I found Jolyne in the living room watching television. She greeted, "G' morning."

"Good morning," I said. "How was your sleep?"

She said, "Decent."

I asked, "Have you seen Jotaro?"

"He went out to the beach."

I asked, "You didn't want to go out with him?"

She said, "I rather not. I'm not too fond of big bodies of water."

Then I understood. The incident with Pucci included a big body of water. Annasui was the one to guide them there, so he could sense Pucci better. She nearly died there.

And I took her to the beach when she first stayed with us. That's why she never went into the water when we went there. I gasped, "Oh, I'm so sorry about that."

"About what?" She said confused.

"I took you to the beach when you first came here."

She sighed, "It's no big deal. Don't cry because of that. I didn't die."

"But you were scared." Maybe I shouldn't have said that out loud. "Um..."

"Really," she said. "You didn't know." She turned back to the television and continue watching it. "It's fine," she said with her back to me.

I went ahead to get a bowl of cereal. I came back to the room and sat on the couch adjacent from Jolyne. I quietly ate while watching what was on television.

Eventually, Jotaro came in through the front door. He walked over to me and bent down in front of me. He had something in his hand. "Good morning."

I kissed him on the side of his head trying to avoid his hat. "Good morning. Ugh, salty."

"Oh," he said.

"What's in your hand?"

He put it up to my face, so I could see it. In his hand was a shimmering looking shell to some sea creature. A slight smile grew on his face. Then he went on a spiel of the creature and what type it is.

"That's cool," I said. "Can I touch it?"

He pushed it closer to me as if to answer yes. He was excited, and I was all for it.

I touched the smooth surface. "Wow. That's really cool."

Jotaro sniffed. Then he looked at himself that was soaked and filled with sand. He said, "I'm going to take a shower."

"Alright."

When he was gone, Jolyne said, "I've never seen him get so excited like that before."

I said, "It's probably because he wants to be the 'cool dad'." I laughed at the air quotes. I didn't want to go serious and bring up how closed off he was in general. That was more out of his control that he barely let down his guard.

She laughed as well. "It's weird seeing him like that." Then she said in a more serious tone, "I didn't have him in my life growing up, so it was only so many sides I've got to see."

I gulped feeling guilt from her statement. I probably spent more time with him than she did. His own daughter. She didn't get a chance to know more about him. Now he doesn't have many memories about himself and his past...