MAGO - Stardust Crusaders X OC

Epilogue

Eventually, Sana stumbled into the last day of school. Like before, she went to the Kujo residence. She'd been awake since before her alarm, and decided to go early. Sana silently left her own house and walked the short distance to the place she'd rather consider home. It wasn't like she didn't care about her mother, or her house. It was something unexplainable. She just didn't want to be there, so she rarely stayed. The walk over to the Kujo residence was made much shorter by the anticipation of leaving home. Besides, today was the last day, somehow. Sana didn't know where the time had gone, but she'd survived, whether that was the best outcome or not.

Ms Kujo was in the kitchen, making breakfast for three people. Herself, her son, and Sana. Sana wordlessly pitched in. She knew this kitchen like the back of her hand, or perhaps better, she'd spent so many days in here. Soon enough, the air was full of delicious scents that made Sana's mouth water. She'd mostly regained her appetite, and that day, evidently, was a 'hungry' day. The three of them ate. The food was good. Jotaro vanished to finish getting ready. Sana helped Ms Kujo wash up. Life continued like normal, or the closest thing to it.

Jotaro poked his head around the doorway. "Hey, Sana. We should get moving."

"Alright," Sana said, drying the last of the washing up. She replaced the towel and walked over to the door. "Bye, Ms Kujo. I'll see you after school."

"Okay!" Ms Kujo smiled, and Sana reciprocated. It was good to see the light in Ms Kujo's eyes, the colour in her cheeks when she was rushing around to try and get all the cooking timings right, hear her sing-song tone full of joy. No matter what the journey had done to Sana, and to the others, it had to be worth it to see Ms Kujo healthy and happy.

"Oh, Jotaro, you forgot something!" Ms Kujo called, and Jotaro reappeared in the doorway.

"Yeah?"

"Your goodbye kiss!" Ms Kujo moved past Sana and kissed Jotaro on the cheek.

Jotaro exhaled. "Good grief." That was it. He didn't argue, he didn't call her a bitch, he just took it. Even the 'good grief' didn't sound quite sincere. "Can I go now?"

"Mhm!" Ms Kujo nodded fervently, and smiled again. Sana moved to leave, but Ms Kujo took her arm. "Sana, wait a moment, please."

"Hm?" Sana glanced at Ms Kujo.

"I know I should've told you before, but I really appreciate what you did for me," she said, her voice low, and it was the most serious Sana had ever seen her. She pulled Sana into a hug. "It was so sweet of you to go on such a dangerous trip like that, and I know how hard it was, so..." she let go, and beamed at Sana. "I'm going to cook you dinner tonight, and you don't have to clean until the summer! Now, go and make this the best last day of school ever!"

Sana just stared at Ms Kujo, who was the picture of utter happiness, and slowly felt a smile creep across her face. "You know I'd do it again. Thank you for dinner, but I kind of like cleaning. If you don't mind, I'll keep doing that." It was true. She liked the cleaning. It was a good distraction. Keeping things in order was one of the few things that kept Sana sane, or near enough to it.

"Okay!" Ms Kujo said. "I'll see you after school."

"See you later," Sana said, and walked out of the door. Jotaro was already walking up to her.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

"Ah... your mother wanted to talk," Sana said. "It's fine. We won't be late." Sana didn't say the part about doubting that Jotaro even cared about being late, but she bit her tongue.

Jotaro started walking. "Did she tell you she's making us dinner tonight?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder. Sana hurried to keep pace with him.

"Yeah. She offered to let me off cleaning until the summer," Sana said. "I declined."