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Description
I ducked inside the crumpled remains of the plane, pulling out our supplies and handing them to Jotaro. As I passed Jotaro the first aid kit, he grabbed my wrist and looked down at my hand. I paused, looking back to see him lowering his mouth, his tongue coming out and lapping gently at my skin.

"Jotaro," I hissed, snatching my hand back. "We've been over this and now is certainly not the time." Jade eyes bore into mine.

"You have a cut," he said. I looked down at the back of my hand, seeing a long jagged gash.

"Oh, than you," I said awkwardly. Jotaro moved the barrels of water closer to the fire, peering down into the the baby's basket.

"Hey," he called. "Looks like the baby's fever's gone down."

"Oh, thank goodness he's safe," Joseph said, running over and kneeling next to the child. "If we lost him, I don't know what we'd do."

I giggled as I watched Joseph play peek-a-boo with the infant. Jotaro reached for me and I went into his arms so he could lift me out of the wreckage.

"What's so funny about that? It's not even a joke or anything," Polnareff huffed. "What an idiot."

"It's a game," I said, jumping when my retreating foot hit the radio. Static crackled loudly and Jotaro and I looked at each other. He quickly set me on my feet and leaned over to tinker with the radio.

"Hey, old man. The radio's not busted," Jotaro called. "What should we do?"

"Should we send out an SOS?" I asked. "That'll mean Dio can find us, but..."

"It can't be helped. We'll send out the signal," Joseph said. "We'll do it for the baby." He stood and walked over to us, leaning in and taking up the radio. Jotaro turned to me, holding up the first aid kit.

"Come," he ordered. "I'll bandage your wounds."

"I can do it," I argued.

"Let him do it," Joseph grumbled. "It'll be better if someone else does it."

"Joseph..." I hissed through gritted teeth. The scolding I was prepared to give the older man was cut off by the baby shrieking in discontent. We all turned to find Kakyoin holding the child up by his collar.

"Hey, Kakyoin!" I yelled, running over and taking the baby from him. "What are you doing?"

"Come on, that's too rough," Joseph said, rushing to my side. "You could strangle him like that."

"My apologies," Kakyoin stammered. I bounced the baby gently, rubbing his back and making hushing noises. He sobbed against my breast, clutching at my shirt.

"Let's get something to eat," Joseph sighed. "I'm sure you'll calm down once you eat." I continued to rock the child as his cries slowly became quieter. When he had fallen silent, I tenderly tucked him into his basket and smiled down at him. Someone touched my shoulder and I turned to see Jotaro behind me, the first aid kit in hand. I sighed and stood, following him to a near by rock where he instructed me to sit. He knelt before me, opening the kit and pulling out a bottle of antiseptic. When the liquid stung my wounds, he blew gently until the pain eased. I watched as he carefully bandaged each scrap he found.

"Thank you," I said softly. His emerald eyes darted up to meet mine, the light from the fire making them glow.

"You're going to sleep with me tonight," he declared. "If you go running into the desert in the middle of the night, that would be a problem."

"I'd rather sleep with Polnareff," I said.

"Why?" he asked. I sighed and closed my eyes.

"You know why, Jotaro," I said. He leaned up, his face close to mine and tilted his head slightly.

"Are you afraid of me?" he questioned.

"No," I said.

"I wouldn't hurt you," he assured.

"I'm aware," I said.

"You don't want to because of how I feel," he said.

"Correct," I replied. "I know you won't hurt me, but I don't trust you not to be...inappropriate." Jotaro paused, his eyes boring into mine.

"I won't touch you without your permission," he promised. I eyed him for a moment before I let out a heavy sigh.

"I agree to that, but I still don't want to share a sleeping bag with you, tonight," I said.

"You didn't mind last night," he pointed out.

"I was exhausted and scared last night," I explained. "The answer is 'no', Jotaro." He scowled at this.

"Fine," he said.

~♥~

I sat next to Polnareff, quietly eating the food that Joseph had made. Jotaro walked towards us, his brilliant eyes locked on me. I turned away from him, not knowing what to say after our exchange earlier. He dropped down next to me, a mug gripped in his hand.

"What do you think is up with Kakyoin?" Polnareff asked us. "He was flailing around in his sleep on the plane and now he looks like this. He even went after the baby. Something's wrong with him. I think he's at his wit's end. I don't know if he can continue this journey."

"He's probably just tired," I said. "We shouldn't be so hard on him." I set my bowel aside, pouring myself a cup of water as Polnareff wandered off to see what Joseph was doing. When Polnareff was out of ear-shot I sighed and rubbed my temples.

"I miss Avdol," I said simply. Jotaro looked down at me.

"I know," he said. "We'll be in egypt soon."

"Good," I said. "I miss it." Kakyoin suddenly jumped up, looking at us all urgently.

"Mr. Joestar, Polnareff, did you see that?" he asked. "That baby isn't normal after all! He just killed a scorpion. In the blink of an eye! He stabbed it with a safety pin!"

"Kakyoin, hold on," Joseph asked. "What are you talking about?"

"That is not a normal baby!" Kakyoin cried. "He's not even a year old and he knew what a scorpion was. And he killed it with those tiny hands!"

"A scorpion!" I asked, jumping up and running over to the baby, lifting him up to look him over. "Where?!"

"In here!" Kakyoin said, tearing apart the bassinet. "The dead scorpion on the pin should be in here." Kakyoin pulled out the blanket's and padding out of the basket, looking down into it in defeat.

"It's not here," he said, confused. "But it's true! Where'd you hide it?! Is it in your clothes?" He jumped up, reaching for the child, but Joseph stepped in his way.

"We got it, Kakyoin!" Joseph said. "That's enough! Stop!"

"Mr. Joestar!" Kakyoin plead.

"I said this earlier, but you're tired," Joseph said, taking the baby from my arms so he could feed him. "Let's talk again tomorrow morning after you've calmed down." He walked over to the fire, plopping down on a rock there while I followed to help him. I grabbed one of the bottles the woman at the air-port had given us and set it aside, heating milk in a saucepan over the fire. Joseph tried to coax the baby into eating, but the child turned his head away.

"Maybe he's gassy?" I suggested. Joseph put the baby over his shoulder and patted his back for a moment, then tried again. I began pouring the warm milk into the bottle when Kakyoin jumped up and slapped the spoon from Joseph's hand.

"Mr. Joestar, I'm sure of it now!" he cried. "I don't know where he hid the scorpion, but he's a Stand user! And I have the very thing to prove it! Look at the wound on my arm! At what it says! This is a warning. This must be a wound I got in my sleep." Kakyoin pulled his sleeve up, exposing his forearm where the words "Baby Stand" were carved in English. My mouth dropped open in shock at the angry looking wound."

"Oh my god!" Joseph exclaimed.

"Kakyoin, did you do that to yourself?" Jotaro asked.

"Kakyoin, you've finally..." Polnareff stammered.

"Kakyoin, what have you done to yourself?" I gasped, making to go to him, but Jotaro grabbed my arm, stopping me. Kakyoin looked torn for a moment before lunging forward, calling forth his stand. He aimed at the child, getting ready to attack.

"I'll have to use force! Hieorpohant Green!" he declared. Polnareff moved behind him quickly, striking him in the back of the head and knocking him unconcious.

"It's no use. He's totally lost his mind," Polnareff said.

"I can't believe it," Jotaro sighed.

"So Kakyoin can't fight or travel with us anymore?" Polnareff asked.

"We'll figure out what to do with him in the morning," Joseph sighed. "Let's go to bed. Polnareff, help me move Kakyoin."

"Sure thing." Polnareff said, going over and gripping Kakyoin under his arms.

"Jotaro, bring the sleeping bags," Joseph said as he grabbed Kakyoin's feet.

"Yeah," Jotaro replied, grabbing one of the bags and rolling it out. Joseph called to me as he and Polnareff carried Kakyoin towards one of the rolled out bags.

"Open that for us," he said. I nodded and unzipped it, helping them tuck the red-head into the bag. With that done, I gave Jotaro a hand rolling out the sleeping bags and unpacking the pillows. We all climbed in, me tucked away in Polnareff's bag, snuggled into his side while Jotaro lay near my back. Fatigue quickly set over me and I drifted to sleep.

~♥~

I groaned as I awoke, hearing Kakyoin telling Polnareff to get up. I grumbled and shifted when Polnareff asked me to so he could unzip the bag. I rolled out, getting groggily to my feet.

"Oi, walk straight," Polnareff said, putting his hand on my back to guide me.I grunted in reply as we headed to the little pond near-by to wash up. I had a feeling I had been having a terrible dream, but I couldn't recall it. Listening to the others talk, I wasn't the only one. I dunked my head under the water, pulling up and squeezing the excess water out. It had been several days since I had gotten a decent bath and I was starting to feel gross.

"Are you alright?" I heard Polnareff ask Kakyoin.

"What do you mean?" Kakyoin questioned.

"What do I...You were totally deranged last night! You even carved letters into your arm..." Polnareff paused and I looked over to see that the wound from last night was gone. "The wound is gone."

"Now, I'll go change the baby's diaper," Kakyoin said standing. I yawned and rubbed my eyes, getting up and grabbing a cup of coffee with Jotaro.

"You look tired," Jotaro said.

"So do you," I remarked. Jotaro smirked, his eyes shadowed by his hat.

"You should have slept with me," he said.

"I don't think I would have fared much better," I said. Arms came around me and I felt the heat of Jotaro's breath on my ear.

"I would have chased the nightmares away," he said. I suppressed a shiver that traveled up my spine at the honeyed way he said that and turned my head away.

"Jotaro..." I scolded. He pulled back, tucking a strand of wet hair behind my ear. I turned away and walked back to the camp to join the others, watching with joy as I saw the baby finally eating.

Description
I ducked inside the crumpled remains of the plane, pulling out our supplies and handing them to Jotaro. As I passed Jotaro the first aid kit, he grabbed my wrist and looked down at my hand. I paused, looking back to see him lowering his mouth, his tongue coming out and lapping gently at my skin.

"Jotaro," I hissed, snatching my hand back. "We've been over this and now is certainly not the time." Jade eyes bore into mine.

"You have a cut," he said. I looked down at the back of my hand, seeing a long jagged gash.

"Oh, than you," I said awkwardly. Jotaro moved the barrels of water closer to the fire, peering down into the the baby's basket.

"Hey," he called. "Looks like the baby's fever's gone down."

"Oh, thank goodness he's safe," Joseph said, running over and kneeling next to the child. "If we lost him, I don't know what we'd do."

I giggled as I watched Joseph play peek-a-boo with the infant. Jotaro reached for me and I went into his arms so he could lift me out of the wreckage.

"What's so funny about that? It's not even a joke or anything," Polnareff huffed. "What an idiot."

"It's a game," I said, jumping when my retreating foot hit the radio. Static crackled loudly and Jotaro and I looked at each other. He quickly set me on my feet and leaned over to tinker with the radio.

"Hey, old man. The radio's not busted," Jotaro called. "What should we do?"

"Should we send out an SOS?" I asked. "That'll mean Dio can find us, but..."

"It can't be helped. We'll send out the signal," Joseph said. "We'll do it for the baby." He stood and walked over to us, leaning in and taking up the radio. Jotaro turned to me, holding up the first aid kit.

"Come," he ordered. "I'll bandage your wounds."

"I can do it," I argued.

"Let him do it," Joseph grumbled. "It'll be better if someone else does it."

"Joseph..." I hissed through gritted teeth. The scolding I was prepared to give the older man was cut off by the baby shrieking in discontent. We all turned to find Kakyoin holding the child up by his collar.

"Hey, Kakyoin!" I yelled, running over and taking the baby from him. "What are you doing?"

"Come on, that's too rough," Joseph said, rushing to my side. "You could strangle him like that."

"My apologies," Kakyoin stammered. I bounced the baby gently, rubbing his back and making hushing noises. He sobbed against my breast, clutching at my shirt.

"Let's get something to eat," Joseph sighed. "I'm sure you'll calm down once you eat." I continued to rock the child as his cries slowly became quieter. When he had fallen silent, I tenderly tucked him into his basket and smiled down at him. Someone touched my shoulder and I turned to see Jotaro behind me, the first aid kit in hand. I sighed and stood, following him to a near by rock where he instructed me to sit. He knelt before me, opening the kit and pulling out a bottle of antiseptic. When the liquid stung my wounds, he blew gently until the pain eased. I watched as he carefully bandaged each scrap he found.

"Thank you," I said softly. His emerald eyes darted up to meet mine, the light from the fire making them glow.

"You're going to sleep with me tonight," he declared. "If you go running into the desert in the middle of the night, that would be a problem."

"I'd rather sleep with Polnareff," I said.

"Why?" he asked. I sighed and closed my eyes.

"You know why, Jotaro," I said. He leaned up, his face close to mine and tilted his head slightly.

"Are you afraid of me?" he questioned.

"No," I said.

"I wouldn't hurt you," he assured.

"I'm aware," I said.

"You don't want to because of how I feel," he said.

"Correct," I replied. "I know you won't hurt me, but I don't trust you not to be...inappropriate." Jotaro paused, his eyes boring into mine.

"I won't touch you without your permission," he promised. I eyed him for a moment before I let out a heavy sigh.

"I agree to that, but I still don't want to share a sleeping bag with you, tonight," I said.

"You didn't mind last night," he pointed out.

"I was exhausted and scared last night," I explained. "The answer is 'no', Jotaro." He scowled at this.

"Fine," he said.

~♥~

I sat next to Polnareff, quietly eating the food that Joseph had made. Jotaro walked towards us, his brilliant eyes locked on me. I turned away from him, not knowing what to say after our exchange earlier. He dropped down next to me, a mug gripped in his hand.

"What do you think is up with Kakyoin?" Polnareff asked us. "He was flailing around in his sleep on the plane and now he looks like this. He even went after the baby. Something's wrong with him. I think he's at his wit's end. I don't know if he can continue this journey."

"He's probably just tired," I said. "We shouldn't be so hard on him." I set my bowel aside, pouring myself a cup of water as Polnareff wandered off to see what Joseph was doing. When Polnareff was out of ear-shot I sighed and rubbed my temples.

"I miss Avdol," I said simply. Jotaro looked down at me.

"I know," he said. "We'll be in egypt soon."

"Good," I said. "I miss it." Kakyoin suddenly jumped up, looking at us all urgently.

"Mr. Joestar, Polnareff, did you see that?" he asked. "That baby isn't normal after all! He just killed a scorpion. In the blink of an eye! He stabbed it with a safety pin!"

"Kakyoin, hold on," Joseph asked. "What are you talking about?"

"That is not a normal baby!" Kakyoin cried. "He's not even a year old and he knew what a scorpion was. And he killed it with those tiny hands!"

"A scorpion!" I asked, jumping up and running over to the baby, lifting him up to look him over. "Where?!"

"In here!" Kakyoin said, tearing apart the bassinet. "The dead scorpion on the pin should be in here." Kakyoin pulled out the blanket's and padding out of the basket, looking down into it in defeat.

"It's not here," he said, confused. "But it's true! Where'd you hide it?! Is it in your clothes?" He jumped up, reaching for the child, but Joseph stepped in his way.

"We got it, Kakyoin!" Joseph said. "That's enough! Stop!"

"Mr. Joestar!" Kakyoin plead.

"I said this earlier, but you're tired," Joseph said, taking the baby from my arms so he could feed him. "Let's talk again tomorrow morning after you've calmed down." He walked over to the fire, plopping down on a rock there while I followed to help him. I grabbed one of the bottles the woman at the air-port had given us and set it aside, heating milk in a saucepan over the fire. Joseph tried to coax the baby into eating, but the child turned his head away.

"Maybe he's gassy?" I suggested. Joseph put the baby over his shoulder and patted his back for a moment, then tried again. I began pouring the warm milk into the bottle when Kakyoin jumped up and slapped the spoon from Joseph's hand.

"Mr. Joestar, I'm sure of it now!" he cried. "I don't know where he hid the scorpion, but he's a Stand user! And I have the very thing to prove it! Look at the wound on my arm! At what it says! This is a warning. This must be a wound I got in my sleep." Kakyoin pulled his sleeve up, exposing his forearm where the words "Baby Stand" were carved in English. My mouth dropped open in shock at the angry looking wound."

"Oh my god!" Joseph exclaimed.

"Kakyoin, did you do that to yourself?" Jotaro asked.

"Kakyoin, you've finally..." Polnareff stammered.

"Kakyoin, what have you done to yourself?" I gasped, making to go to him, but Jotaro grabbed my arm, stopping me. Kakyoin looked torn for a moment before lunging forward, calling forth his stand. He aimed at the child, getting ready to attack.

"I'll have to use force! Hieorpohant Green!" he declared. Polnareff moved behind him quickly, striking him in the back of the head and knocking him unconcious.

"It's no use. He's totally lost his mind," Polnareff said.

"I can't believe it," Jotaro sighed.

"So Kakyoin can't fight or travel with us anymore?" Polnareff asked.

"We'll figure out what to do with him in the morning," Joseph sighed. "Let's go to bed. Polnareff, help me move Kakyoin."

"Sure thing." Polnareff said, going over and gripping Kakyoin under his arms.

"Jotaro, bring the sleeping bags," Joseph said as he grabbed Kakyoin's feet.

"Yeah," Jotaro replied, grabbing one of the bags and rolling it out. Joseph called to me as he and Polnareff carried Kakyoin towards one of the rolled out bags.

"Open that for us," he said. I nodded and unzipped it, helping them tuck the red-head into the bag. With that done, I gave Jotaro a hand rolling out the sleeping bags and unpacking the pillows. We all climbed in, me tucked away in Polnareff's bag, snuggled into his side while Jotaro lay near my back. Fatigue quickly set over me and I drifted to sleep.

~♥~

I groaned as I awoke, hearing Kakyoin telling Polnareff to get up. I grumbled and shifted when Polnareff asked me to so he could unzip the bag. I rolled out, getting groggily to my feet.

"Oi, walk straight," Polnareff said, putting his hand on my back to guide me.I grunted in reply as we headed to the little pond near-by to wash up. I had a feeling I had been having a terrible dream, but I couldn't recall it. Listening to the others talk, I wasn't the only one. I dunked my head under the water, pulling up and squeezing the excess water out. It had been several days since I had gotten a decent bath and I was starting to feel gross.

"Are you alright?" I heard Polnareff ask Kakyoin.

"What do you mean?" Kakyoin questioned.

"What do I...You were totally deranged last night! You even carved letters into your arm..." Polnareff paused and I looked over to see that the wound from last night was gone. "The wound is gone."

"Now, I'll go change the baby's diaper," Kakyoin said standing. I yawned and rubbed my eyes, getting up and grabbing a cup of coffee with Jotaro.

"You look tired," Jotaro said.

"So do you," I remarked. Jotaro smirked, his eyes shadowed by his hat.

"You should have slept with me," he said.

"I don't think I would have fared much better," I said. Arms came around me and I felt the heat of Jotaro's breath on my ear.

"I would have chased the nightmares away," he said. I suppressed a shiver that traveled up my spine at the honeyed way he said that and turned my head away.

"Jotaro..." I scolded. He pulled back, tucking a strand of wet hair behind my ear. I turned away and walked back to the camp to join the others, watching with joy as I saw the baby finally eating.