Work Text:
“Jojo!” he’d screamed, Jojo’s lifeline in one hand and his heart in the other. If it was one or the other, Joseph’s life or Caesar’s, then…
There was no contest.
“This is my final Ripple!!”
Caesar’s body began to glow, golden and blinding. Jojo must live, he thought furiously, feeling all his power, all his energy drain out of his body to fulfil this final wish. This crucial wish.
Jojo must live.
He was going to die. Even as the building shook, even as his glow subsided, even as the ceiling rumbled and cracked and fell, Caesar’s heart was steady. As long as Jojo was alive, as long as the antidote got to him in time, Caesar didn’t care if he lived or died.
Jojo must live.
“Caesar!!” he thought he heard Jojo’s voice screaming as sparks of gold flashed before his eyes–
Everything went black.
--
He feels warm.
The air smells fresh and a little salty, like the wind that used to come into his room on Air Supplena Island. He can hear waves crashing on a shore faintly, so faintly he isn’t sure it’s not just his imagination.
Slowly, with a lot of effort, he opens his eyes.
He doesn’t recognise the room. He’s lying in a bed that seems too soft, in a room with pale yellow walls. The window has been cracked open; a soft breeze drifts in and ruffles his hair. Sunlight streams in gently, warming a small patch on his stomach.
His mind feels sluggish. He wants to call out, wants to see if anyone’s there, wants to find out where he is, but his tongue feels like lead in his mouth.
The door creaks open. He wants to turn his head and look, but his neck is stiff, like he hasn’t moved in a long time.
Footsteps head towards him from across the room, coming to a stop next to Caesar; the smell of flowers wafts over as a rustle of paper sounds somewhere to the left of Caesar’s head. “Buon giorno, Caesar,” says a familiar voice, softer and gentler and sadder than Caesar ever remembers hearing it. “How are you feeling?”
You’re pronouncing it wrong, Caesar wants to say, but can only manage a crackling groan.
Suddenly, there’s warmth and pressure on Caesar’s hand. “Caesar?” the voice gasps. The hand(?) on Caesar’s is shaking. “Are you awake?”
Of course I am, my eyes are open, Caesar tries to grumble. Suddenly, he realises his eyes have somehow slid shut without him noticing. Just as well he can’t seem to speak right now, that would have been embarrassing.
Caesar opens his eyes.
“Oh my god,” breathes Jojo, staring at him in amazement. His eyes are bluer than Caesar remembers. “Oh my god, Caesar.”
“Jo…jo…” Caesar manages, feeling amazed himself. Jojo is alive. His final wish– he did it.
Jojo is alive.
Caesar’s fingers twitch around Jojo’s hand. Jojo is alive. Caesar is alive, too. More than he dared to hope for, in those last moments.
“Here, drink some water.” Jojo brings a glass to Caesar’s lips and tips it gently. Caesar wants to argue that he can drink water by himself, thanks very much, but can’t deny that it’s taking tremendous effort just to keep his eyes open. The water is cool and refreshing, soothing his parched throat. Jojo even dabs at his mouth with a cloth so the water doesn’t dribble down his front.
“What… happened?” The words come easier now. “Wham?”
Jojo grins. “Defeated by one Joseph Joestar. Kars, too. The world is safe from Pillar Men forever.”
There’s more to it, definitely, and Caesar wants to hear the full story later, but right now…
“Antidote,” Caesar rasps. “My bandana. I thought…”
He trails off, but Joseph understands him anyway. “Nah,” he says casually, but his hand tightens around Caesar’s. “Thanks to me. You would’ve been crushed by a huge slab of ceiling if I hadn’t blown it up with my Ripple.”
Oh. So those sparks of gold had been Jojo’s Ripple, huh…
“I was really heroic, you know,” Jojo continues, looking smug. “You should’ve seen it. I even caught you when you passed out!” His tone is light, boastful, but there’s something in his face that seems troubled. He… must have been pretty worried. Caesar would have been, if Jojo had been the one bleeding out in an abandoned hotel.
Of course, this is the moment that Jojo’s grin grows impossibly wide and unbearably smug. “You know,” he begins airily, and Caesar is already dreading his next words, “you fainted… straight into my arms. If you wanted my attention, Caesar-chan, you really didn’t have to go to such extremes.”
If Caesar was feeling more like himself, he’s sure he would have scoffed and glared, maybe shoved Jojo. As he is now, the stupid joke startles little huffing laughs out of him. Even Jojo looks surprised at his reaction, which somehow makes Caesar want to laugh even more, but his laughter turns into coughs along the way, and Jojo isn’t worth losing a lung over.
“Good to… know,” Caesar manages once his cough subsides, trying for a cocky grin. “So… I have… your attention… now…?”
Surprisingly, Jojo’s face flushes a delightful shade of red. “W-well, sure!” he says, avoiding Caesar’s gaze, endearingly flustered. “You think I didn’t feel all that even if I die, Jojo must live bullshit you put into that bubble?! You’d die for me.”
“I’d die… for you,” Caesar agrees easily. He enjoys Jojo’s embarrassed glance at him for a moment, then lets his eyes drift shut. The room is warm and comfortable, the pillows and blankets soft on his skin. The flowers on his bedside table smell sweet and fresh, reminding him of the ones his mother used to put around his childhood home. Jojo’s hand is holding his, reminding Caesar that he’s not alone, not anymore. Sleep is already tugging at him, so he lets it pull him away.
Just as he’s drifting off, he thinks he hears Jojo say something, short and soft and sweet. He can’t make out the words, but the feeling is clear.
Caesar falls asleep with a smile.