~Suggested by and dedicated to Alliedragon ~
"Over 50 years.." Joseph Joestar muttered as he made his way through the chilly graveyard, his hands stuffed in his coat pockets. Ever since the defeat of the final Pillar Man, Kars, Joseph's life had been enjoyable. He'd married the woman of his dreams, Suzie Q, had a beautiful baby girl, Holly, and lived comfortably in his modern home, having always earned quite the profit in his Estate business. But there had always been something missing. Well, apart from the fact that his daughter now lived thousands of miles away in Japan with her child, Jotaro, who Joseph had never had the pleasure of meeting, while her useless husband left the two to go on countless jazz tours. This hole in his otherwise perfect lifestyle spawned from a man he met all those years ago, in the late Summer of 1938 and at the age of 18. The man was a certain Italian Hamon-User by the name of Caesar Zeppeli. Despite an extremely rough start, they ended up becoming the best of friends while they trained to defeat the Pillar Men. Deep in his heart, Joseph knew he loved him. He wasn't quite sure if it was the romantic form of love-He couldn't say he felt the same way about him as he did Suzie-But he knew it was something. He remembered feeling safe when those shining emerald eyes met his own, and the sun's rays bouncing off of his golden blond locks. He'd been a true friend, no doubt, as well as a hero to the end. Joseph always felt pain at Caesar's memory. His flashbacks to their short time spent together always ended in his final moments. What hurt him more, however, was that the last time they spoke before tragedy was in an argument. He had always felt partly responsible for Caesar's death. As stubborn as Caesar was, perhaps if Joseph didn't provoke him by insulting his will to avenge his forefathers, he wouldn't have ran off alone and to his death. And yet, in a way, Caesar died for Joseph. He had left him a final gift-The bubble of blood which contained his headband and the antidote to the poison that had been placed in his heart by Wamuu. He would never forget what must've been Caesar's last words, which was the yell of 'Jojoooo! This is the last of my Hamon! Take it from me!' In truth, it still broke his heart to think that Caesar had died just like his grandfather. But he was also proud, and honoured, to have been in the mind of a hero like him in his final moments. He was honoured to have acquired his friendship. Caesar had indeed had a warrior's death.
Joseph finally reached what was Caesar's grave-A marble memorial with golden lettering. There had been no burial because, well, Caesar's body wasn't retrievable. It had been crushed by a gigantic stone, due to the fact that abandoned hotel the battle took place in was crumbling. Joseph couldn't stomach the idea of ever seeing what was under there, despite his previous promise of 'finding him where he slept'. That was before the stream of blood pooled out from under his final resting place. So Joseph, as well as Lisa Lisa and Messina, were content with this beautiful memorial. Joseph felt a smile form on his wrinkled face as he read the lettering once again. "Caesar Zeppeli. Beloved friend, son and brother. 1918-1939. Taken too early, and never forgotten. Rest in peace." He then glanced down, and noticed the vase of flowers he had left on his previous visit, which was a few months ago. The flowers were all wilted, but Joseph calmly crouched, set the vase aside and removed the wilted plants. He then produced a fresh set of beautiful, yellow sunflowers and carefully placed them in the glass vase., smiling again as he breathed in their sweet scent. Sunflowers had always been Caesar's favourite flower, as he had told Joseph one day. He told him of his fond childhood memories of running through the huge sunflower fields with his younger siblings in his home village, playing games together until the sun went down. It was all Caesar told him of his past life personally, and, well, Joseph now knew why. He set the vase in front of the memorial, then began thinking of his dear, departed friend once more. It was a comfort to think that perhaps, if there was an afterlife, Caesar was smiling down at him right this minute. Would Caesar be proud of Joseph for defeating the Pillar Men? Did he smile as he watched Joseph get married to Suzie? Did he take delight in the knowledge that Joseph now had his own child? Joseph always told himself that he'd find out one day, and he didn't mind when that day were to come. He knew he had plenty of people to see 'up there.' His parents and grandparents, Loggs and Messina, Robert Speedwagon, and even Von Stroheim. Joseph only hoped they'd all be as happy to see him as he would be to see them. He sighed, and tilted his head back to look up at the sky. It was a perfect blue, but still quite cloudy. "Oh, Caesar.. I still miss you.." He whispered quietly to himself. He enjoyed sitting on this little patch of glass and simply reflecting. Thinking about his past time spent with Caesar. Sure, it was painful, but it was always good to remember the happiness they'd shared. Joseph checked his watch. His wife would be expecting him back for dinner soon, and she hated him being late. He sighed, deciding that it was time to leave. He got to his feet, and gave the marble a gentle pat. "Goodbye for now, Caesar. I'll come again soon.." He then turned away and began to exit the graveyard, already planning the excuse he could give Suzie if he was indeed late.
And somewhere, up there, Caesar watched him leave, and smiled.
(Feel free to leave requests or suggestions fam)
