The Forgotten Stardust Crusader

When Christmas Hurts You This Way

Kakyoin walked up the stairs, hearing a yelling that got louder as he went up the stairs. He started to be able to make out some of the yelling.
"And I get forced to go and safe my... of a father. I get shot saving a French... Charlie may have been killed because of this shit."
Kakyoin made out Sid yelling as he started to make out crashing noises. Kakyoin had made it to the door of Sid's room, he knocked on the door. Sid opened the door,
"Hi Kakyoin, sorry if I lost my cool down there. You really are a polite person. I don't genuinly think those rude things I said about you. I was mad and trying to say anything I could to hurt you. I genuinly feel awful and I hope you'll forgive me. I'm so sorry, the stress of everything has really been getting to me but, that's no excuse. But, if you want to borrow something again, please ask me. It's true that my mind has been quietier, I've been getting to sleep easier and I'm less anixous but, I've seen people in jail who's lives had essentailly had their lives stolen by being addicted to this stuff. I'm deathly afraid of becoming addicted to this stuff."
Sid stated.
"I'm sorry, I was nosey. I went through your things without asking. You were right the whole time. I told Mr. Joestar about what you said and he told me to leave it be. He was right, the stress got to me aswell but, it's no excuse. We need to stick together with everything going on."
Kakyoin replied.
"The book was something my aunt gave me for Christmas four years ago when I got into literature. That's why I was so protective of it. That and in jail, if anyone touched our things and we didn't act agressive about it, we would be seen as someone you could take advantage of. I know it's no excuse but, old habits die hard. I hope you'll give me a moment to gather myself. I'll be down in a moment to apologize and finish dinner."
Sid stated. She closed the door, Kakyoin made his way back down the stairs and to the dining room. For a short minute he could still hear the crashing sound then, it abrubtly stopped. Ten minutes later, Sid slowly made her way down the stairs to the dining room. She carried a peice of paper in her hands.
"I hope you don't mind if I wrote my apology down and read it aloud. I often struggle to convey my true emotions through speaking."
Sid started reading what she wrote on paper.
"I know I have the tendancy to be overly emotional. I don't know what else to say... or write besides, I'm sorry. At every chance when you guys have tried to bring up a concern about me, I bite your head off for it. I hope I didn't ruin Christmas."
Sid apologized.
"How damaged is the room upstairs?"
Kakyoin politely asked.
"It's pretty bad. I may have made the pain in my stomach worse by moving around that much."
Sid admitted.
"I'm sorry we put you through this much for our sake."
Joseph apologized, Jotaro nodded his head in agreement.
"This journey has been a lot on all of us. Some butting of heads was bound to happen. I'm glad it was resolved so easily."
Polnareff added.
"Why don't we all play poker?"
Jotaro proposed.
"Sounds good, does someone mind going to grab the deck of cards from the front pocket of my bag? I'd grab it myself but, my wound is really hurting."
Sid asked.
"Yeah, I can go grab it."
Kakyoin went upstairs, grabbed the deck of cards and went back down to the dining room. He sat the pack of cards down on the table. On the card packaging it read,
"Christmas 1985. To: Sid. With love, from: Charlie,"
in Sharpie.
"What can we use as chips?"
Joseph asked the group.
"Are there any candies in the kitchen?"
Sid wondered. Polnareff went to the kitchen to look. He came back with a few rolls of Smarties.
"Sorry you guys but, this is all there was."
Polnareff stated as he sat down.
"We can work with this."
Sid stated as she started evenly dividing them between everyone.
"I've never played poker before."
Kakyoin admitted.
"That's alright, I can teach you."
Sid offered. The rest of the night, the group helped Kakyoin learn to play poker. They had made up the only way they knew Sid could. At one point Sid felt like she was going to throw up. Kakyoin helped her the only way he knew how, he helped her up to get her to the restroom and helped her back to the table when she was ready. She thanked him and a few hours later, they all went to bed. Just before, Jotaro read the instructions and Kakyoin redressed Sid's wound. They all said their goodnights and Sid thanked Jotaro and Kakyoin for helping her. She took her painkillers and went to bed a few moments later.
Sid woke up the next morning to find everyone downstairs in their pajamas.
"Merry Christmas, Sid."
The rest of the group said in unison.
"What? I don't deserve this, especially after yesterday."
Sid reasoned.
"It's alright, we owe you after everything you've done for us."
Joseph stated.
"Would someone mind going and grabbing a plastic bag in my room?"
Sid asked, Polnareff went and grabbed the bag.
"What's in it that's so important anyways?"
Polnareff asked as he sat back down.
"I got you all a little something. It's not much though."
Sid replied, she started passing them out. Jotaro grabbed the gifts he had placed under a twig he had turned into a makeshift tree. Sid took out the last gift she had in the bag, realizing it was meant for Avdol, everyone stopped for a moment. Everyone started opening their gifts. Sid started opening the one from Joseph and Jotaro. Joseph lightly elbowed Jotaro in the arm.
"What did I tell you to say when Sid opened our gift."
Joseph whispered to Jotaro. Jotaro pulled the brim of his hat over his eyes.
"I remembered you talking about how you didn't like that you only had a skirt so, we got you those. The old man and I thought they would be your style."
Jotaro stated. Sid opened the gift, it was a pair of black jeans, a black sweater with grey stars and two black grommet belts.
"I love it, I'll go try it on soon. Thanks Dad, thanks Jotaro."
Sid smiled. She opened her gift from Kakyoin.
"Oh my gosh, this is adorable. Thanks Kakyoin."
Sid smiled. It was a yellow, star shaped pillow with a smiley face.
"I remember the doctor saying a pillow could help with the pain of walking around."
Kakyoin noted. Sid opened her gift from Polnareff.
"Oh, thanks, now these will be useful."
Sid smiled, it was a pack of her favorite cigarettes.
"I remember you saying your friend got you them in jail. I couldn't think of anything else and I had a spare pack."
Polnareff added.
"I'm sorry you guys, I'm an awful gift giver."
Sid apologized. She gave Joseph a small camera and some film. She gave Kakyoin a cherry plush. She gave Jotaro a book about the most recent discoveries of ocean life.
"Is this poster an original?"
Polnareff excitedly shouted.
"I think so."
Sid answered.
"Thank you so much. I remember mentioning The Bad News Bears is my favorite but, I didn't think you were really listening."
Polnareff gratefully replied.
"Dad, I know that if it comes down to it, you'll have to use that camera to find DIO. But, you've always seemed like someone who loves to take pictures of everything. I know these aren't much of a gift but, before I got to far, I had Charlie send these out."
Sid pulled out a handful of photos from her pocket. The first one was of a young Sid wearing a backpack on a front porch. Joseph flipped it over and it read,
"Sid's first day of school, 1974."
He looked at the next one, it was a young Sid on stage. The back of it read,
"Sid as Molly in the play, Annie. 1975."
"I remember you saying you were in a production of Annie."
Joseph recalled. Sid's face turned bright red.
"What, when did I say that."
Sid akwardly chuckled.
"Oh, it was right after you're surgery, you were definatley still under anethesia. May I look?"
Polnareff asked.
"Sure, if anyone is so inclined, they can have a look. Feels rude to say only one person can look."
Sid stated.
"You took tap dancing?"
Kakyoin asked, shocked.
"I asked Charlie not to put that photo in there. Oh well."
Sid noted, her face growing even more red. They had breakfast, which Sid skipped until she said she was going to get dressed and quickly ate most of it in her room. She put on the clothes Jotaro and Joseph had gifted her. It was a lot more comfortable than the skirt she had impulsivly picked out in Singapore. She wore the sweater tucked into her pants with the two belts and her wallet chain clearly visible. With the pillow Kakyoin got her against her wound, she made her way down the stairs.
"Alright, the car's here. We've got to head out."
Joseph instructed, everyone gathered their things and went out to the car. Sid struggled and sat down, hugging the pillow against her wound.
"You should take one of your painkillers if you need to."
Kakyoin kindly suggested.
"Thanks for reminding me. I was so excited to spend Christmas with you guys that I completely forgot to take one this morning."
Sid recalled. As they sped off, Sid grabbed her water bottle and took one of her pills.
"I hope you guys don't mind but, I'm going to try and take a nap. I'm feeling really sick and I'm going to try and sleep it off."
Sid asked, everyone said they were fine with it and Sid fell asleep. A few hours later, the car stopped in Pakistan and Joseph left the car. He had a handful of kebabs in his hands when he was confronted by a man. He put the kebabs down and motioned for everyone to get out of the car. Polnareff shook Sid awake.
"Huh? What's going on?"
Sid asked, still half asleep.
"It looks like we're about to face another enemy stand user so, I hope you're feeling better."
Polnareff informed Sid.
"Oh crap."
Sid mumbled to herself, still feeling somewhat sick. She left her pillow in the car, as to not look weak to the enemy.
"Well, well, well, looks like everyone decided to join the party. Incase you didn't hear in the car, I'm Dan of Steel and I implanted my stand, The Lovers, into old man Joseph's brain. Any pain I feel will be two times worse for old man Joseph."
He explained.
"Bullshit."
Sid accused. Dan of Steel proceeded to kick his leg against a fire hydrant.
"Ouch, it's like I broke my leg."
Joseph shouted.
"I also implanted one of DIO's flesh buds into his brain. It will slowly start to eat at his brain until he slowly dies."
Dan of Steel added. Joseph, Kakyoin and Polnareff started running.
"Sid, Jotaro, keep him away from Mr. Joestar as much as possible. We're going to find a way to figure this out."
Kakyoin requested, Jotaro and Sid both nodded.
"You know, I could have Jotaro do a thousand things for me. Like shine my shoes, nab something from the store for me, sky's the limit. But, all I really want is to take a nice walk with you, Sid. A nice walk to that lovely hotel over there."
Dan lightly touched Sid's chin and pointed to a tall building with his free hand.
"I will break every tiny bone in your body if you touch me again."
Sid slowly anunciated every word.
"Don't be so hostile, you wouldn't want me to get upset and do something that could kill your old man, would you?"
Dan asked. Sid clenched her fists, her eyes glazed over in anger.
"I've only known that old man for a couple weeks."
Sid replied.
"Not the right answer."
Dan yelled as he punched the side of a wall. Sid gave Jotaro a look as if to say,
"Is this really what's about to happen."
Jotaro pulled the brim of his cap down, not knowing what to do. They were trapped, if Sid said no and kicked his ass, Joseph would be killed. If she said yes, they both knew what would happen.
"You know, the lack of a bridge on this creek is really bothersome. Jotaro, be a pal and streach across it for us, why don't you?"
Dan condisendingly requested. Jotaro swallowed his pride and did as he was told. Dan walked across the bridge, bouncing on Jotaro's back along the way.
"Why don't you cross my dear, I just checked the bridge. It's very structurally sound."
Dan asked Sid. Sid walked a few feet down to the bridge that didn't involve walking on Jotaro's back. When she got to the other side, she tried to help Jotaro up but, was quickly grabbed by Dan and whisked away to the hotel that he had pointed out earlier. Sid shouted the entire way until Dan kicked his leg into a cement block. Sid was too injured and worried about Joseph being hurt to be able to do anything. She knew she could've easily defeated him with her stand or just ran away. But, there was nothing she could do with her fathers life on the line. Jotaro got up and stared at the hotel, he ran over, though, he didn't know what good it would do. Even if he did make it, there was nothing he could do that wouldn't injure his grandfather twice as worse. They were both powerless to stop Dan from assulting Sid. About five minutes later, Sid and Dan walked out of the hotel room. Sid looked as if she had seen a ghost.
"Oh, don't look so upset, I thought we had a good time."
Dan stated. Sid said nothing, only clenching her fist.
"Anyways, I got all I wanted from you. Jotaro, there's this jewlry store down the road I saw that had a lovely bracelet. Why don't we go pay them a visit?"
Dan asked. Dan and Jotaro started walking away, Sid didn't know what to do but follow them. Sid could feel her head slipping away, it felt like nothing she saw or heard was real. They all kept walking, the pain from Sid's wound felt like it wasn't her own, like it was someone elses and was imposed onto her body. She watched Dan and Jotaro go into the store then, Jotaro and the shop owners come out of the store. She saw Jotaro get beat up, knowing the only thing she could do was help him up after getting beaten. They saw Dan make his way out of the store with a different necklace. They were powerless against Dan and could feel each minute drag on increadbly slowly, waiting for the all clear signal from Kakyoin. A few moments later, Dan made them walk to a park bench, forced both of them to get on their knees and shine his shoes.
"You've got to do better than that, Jotaro."
Dan condisendingly stated, he then kicked Jotaro in the face. Jotaro clenched his fist, blood gushed out of his nose. Sid dropped the rag she was using and went to look at Jotaro's wound.
"I think it's brok-"
Sid was inturuppted.
"Baby, I didn't say you could stop shining my shoes."
Dan stated, kicking Sid in the shoulder. She used Soundgarden to break her fall. Sid and Jotaro paused for a moment to write something down in Jotaro's pocketbook.
"What are you two writing?"
Dan loudly asked.
"It's your tab and you're going to pay in full."
Jotaro answered, Sid nodding in agreement.
"You're wracking up quite the bill here. Don't worry, we have quite a few payment plans, wouldn't want you to go into debt."
Sid added. They went back to shining Dan's shoes, a few moments later, a look of horror swept across Dan's face as suddenly, a spot on his forehead started to bleed. Dan started to run away but, he didn't get far before Dan was tripped by Hierophant Green's tenticals. Kakyoin came out from behind the corner of a building.
"I'll leave this to you two but, I'm going to enjoy watching this."
Kakyoin stated. Jotaro and Sid walked over to the fallen Dan. Jotaro and Sid stood over him, unable to contain their grins of excitement.
"Look, I'm sorry, ok. You said you had payment plans, right? I'll pay you anything, name the amount. I'll do anything, please, just don't hurt me, ok?"
Dan pleaded, he started licking Jotaro's shoe.
"Oops, guess I forgot to mention that none of the payment plans involve money."
Sid retorted. She continued,
"It's really interesting to see a real life version of Icarus today. Flying so high, making us do whatever you wanted. But, you flew to close to the sun. You hurt my family but, most of all, you made me break my one rule. To never let anyone take my body for their own again. For that, you will drown in the oceans surrounding the island of Crete. Or in this case, die."
Sid stated, Star Platinum and Soundgarden shared an evil grin and then proceded to rain down punches onto Dan of Steel. After Jotaro was satisfiied, he threw a peice of paper at Dan that said "Jotaro Kujo and Sid Joestar," leaving the rest to Soundgarden and Sid. After a few minutes, Sid decided to end it and used 4th of July to electricute Dan of Steel to death. Shortly after, Sid cluched her stomach and threw up. Kakyoin rushed over to help her.
"I'm ok, I think all of this was too much for my stomach. Thank you Kakyoin."
Sid sat on the edge of the sidewalk, motioning for Jotaro to come over. Jotaro and Kakyoin sat down next to her.
"Did you get hurt at all Kakyoin?"
Sid asked.
"Not really, nothing that a couple of band aids won't fix."
Kakyoin replied.
"Ok, don't forget to use disinfectant on it until it heals. Jotaro, mind if I take a look at your nose? I didn't really get to look at it before. I'm not going to touch it or anything. I just want to get a closer look. Do you have any other injuries?"
Sid asked. Jotaro moved himself to face Sid and she began darting her eyes around Jotaro's nose.
"I think those shop owners may have broken a couple of my bones."
Jotaro admitted.
"Sorry to say but, this doesn't look like something I can patch up with just disinfectant and gauze. We need to go to a local clinic fairly soon."
Sid stated.
"Hey, you remember what happened to the old man when he went."
Jotaro pointed out.
"Well, I need to go too so, they'll be more than one of us there."
Sid replied, Jotaro nodded. Polnareff and Joseph rounded the corner and sat down on the edge of the sidewalk with the rest of the group.
"You guys alright? Jotaro and I need to go to a local clinic. If anyone needs to go aswell, we should go soon."
Sid proposed.
"I think I may have had a few of my bones broken."
Joseph admitted.
"I think it would be best if we all just went. Those of us who don't need treatment can stay in the waiting room."
Kakyoin proposed. Everyone agreed and they went to a local clinic they found after walking around for a half hour. Jotaro and Joseph were treated for their broken bones. Sid was tested for diseases and came up clean, she was given an RU-486 pill and had her stomach wound checked on. The wound was healing as expected and given more painkillers, bandages and disinfectant.
"Merry Christmas, Ms. Joestar."
The female doctor told Sid.
"Merry Christmas, Doctor. Thank you for being here during the holiday and helping me."
Sid told the doctor. The doctor said she apprecitated the thanks and that it was all part of the job.