Author's note: This one-shot is Christmas themed and extremely sappy. The romantics might cry in happiness, but macho dudes will probably vomit. You've been warned! I'd like to call this an early present to all the great people who read my stuff.
Story sountrack(in order, one song per scene): Mannheim Steamroller - Carol of the Bells, Auld Lang Syne and Stille Nacht(Silent Night).
Summary: Godzilla reveals a secret to Shezilla...and then explains what he thinks a Christmas tree is. I bet you'll look at Christmas trees a little differently after you read this.
o
The Wishing Tree
o
Rockefeller Center, NY City
Christmas Eve
Nothing said Christmas to New York like the famed Rockefeller Tree. It stood like a ninety foot tall beacon, lit by thousands of twinkling lights that glinted off the gently falling snow. Travelers came from everywhere just to behold its beauty. And that is exactly what a little Japanese-American girl was doing when the ground started to shake. She ignored it, thinking it was the subway.
A rumbling sounded in the distance. The girl turned towards the noise. She saw a massive black shape moving through the snowfall. Then came a roar, a terrifying sound as loud as a jet engine. Screams erupted from across the plaza. Panic took over and the people scattered in all directions, slipping in the fresh snow.
The girl recognized the creature as Godzilla. Years ago another monster came to New York and the press called it Godzilla—for lack of a better name. Japan wasn't happy about that.
But what was Godzilla doing all the way in New York?
The frightened little girl crawled under a park bench. In her young mind it seemed like the safest place. She felt the ground underneath her literally shifting from Godzilla's monstrous footsteps. Each step he took cracked the pavement and crushed cars. His long tail flipped side to side, smashing into buildings and sending Christmas decorations flying. Lights, ribbons, wreathes and tinsel mixed into the debris falling with the snow. He stopped briefly and the girl could see glistening bits of ice where seawater solidified on his rough hide. Icicles had formed on his jagged dorsal spines and they sparkled eerily in the ambiance of the Christmas decorations. He even had icicles on his face where the water froze on his snout, giving the vague appearance of a mustache and beard. It was almost comical.
Almost.
Whimpering, the child peeked through the slats on the bench. Much to her surprise, Godzilla halted right next to the Rockefeller Tree. The tree reached to the middle of the behemoth's pitted thigh. Godzilla stood there for a moment, his goldish-brown eyes fixed on the tree's star topper. Then he reached down and cupped the star in his clawed hands with an odd gentleness, though his movements caused the entire tree to sway on its base. The girl hiding under the bench actually heard Godzilla rumble low in his throat. Almost like he was talking to the star on the tree.
And then, just like that, Godzilla let go of the tree. He shook himself like a dog, dislodging snow and ice from his hide. His dorsal plates slammed loudly together, shattering the icicles hanging off their points. He licked his lips like a cat, his tongue cleaning the ice off his lips. Then, silently, he turned and left the same way he came.
It was the least damage he had ever caused. The little girl crawled out from under the bench to watch Godzilla leave. He was looking down at his feet. She swore he was trying his hardest not to cause a lot of damage.
Kaijuologists worldwide were left scratching their heads at this behavior. Nobody could find a logical explanation for Godzilla's mysterious half-attack on the Rockefeller Tree.
If only they had known he did have a purpose for coming there that Christmas.
o
Lagos Island
One year later
The sun sank into the horizon, turning the sky varying shades of purple. Beneath it, the uneasy ocean churned out icy blue waves. Moisture hung heavy in the air, which meant rain would fall before dawn. As the sun disappeared the little warmth it brought faded away.
Shezilla blinked sleepily in the nippy winter air. She really wanted to just dive into the water and go to sleep until spring, but Godzilla was insistent that she stay awake. Speaking of Godzilla...Shezilla spotted him emerging from the surf a few hundred yards away. A huge wave rolled across his legs, splattering foam on his dark charcoal hide. He flashed that smarmy little smile he always put on when he was up to something.
"My love, what are you up to?" asked Shezilla. She'd never seen her mate look so happy before.
"Follow me and you'll see." said Godzilla, grinning even more. He promptly about-faced and splashed back into the chilly sea with Shezilla right on his tail. While they swarm, he went on to explain, "I saw something amazing last winter. I want to show it to you."
"Amazing in what way?" Now Shezilla really grew wary. Her mate lacked all sense of danger until something caused him pain. So what did he mean? Did the land sprout volcanoes? Did predators appear? Was the world ending?
"You'll see." Godzilla smiled again at her while he swam. His invisible colors were brilliant in the gloomy water. Beautiful blues and purples gleamed in the pits and grooves of his hide. Shezilla could not stop looking over at him. Godzilla seemed to have the same thoughts about her - more than once she caught him staring at her.
Together, in unison, the two giant kaiju increased their speed. Their jagged dorsal plates cut across the waves like knives through butter. The water grew colder as they swam.
Godzilla stopped, prompting Shezilla to stop alongside him. He turned to her, smiling once again, "Are you ready?"
"Yes."
"Rise slowly." he said softly, carefully lifting his head out of the water. "This is one time that we don't want to scare the little humans away."
"All right," Shezilla nodded and surfaced alongside her mate. The water had gone from icy blue to as black as the sky. She looked up at the sky and saw no stars. Then she noticed Godzilla swimming slowly ahead, so she followed him
The two mutants were floating near an island, but it wasn't the one they raided for food. Shezilla followed her mate past a smaller island with a strange rock formation. The rock looked like a green human holding a flaming stick high above its head. She eyed it warily, never letting her beloved mate get more than one body length ahead of her.
"Is that the guardian of this place?"
"Huh?" Godzilla looked at the figure, blinked and laughed, "No! It's harmless. It's just a strange mountain."
Relieved, Shezilla turned her attention back to the big island. It was very similar to the island they went to for food. Humans were out and about, walking around the buildings. Rolling metal insects scooted over the black paths. Yet at the same time something was different. This island had trees between the light sticks lining the black paths that crossed amongst the boxes. Shezilla looked closer. A red substance was wrapped around the light sticks and trees. Thick green vines were tied high across the black paths. But the most amazing thing of all...there were even tinier vines that gave off light. Shezilla glanced at the sky. Could it be the humans captured the stars on these vines to create this beautiful glow?
"My love!" she gasped, clasping his hands.. She wanted to cry because it was so beautiful. "It's...it's stunning! I—I've never seen anything like it."
"That's not the best part." Godzilla was quite taken with how her eyes twinkled in the light. "Can you see the giant tree?"
She looked again and saw it. A huge tree less than half her height. Humans were gathered around it, vocalizing in a way she found rather pleasant. The tree itself appeared covered in the stars missing from the sky. And on the very top she saw the brightest star of all. The Morning Star had been absent for a long time. Now Shezilla knew where it disappeared to.
"The humans...how did they catch the Morning Star?"
"I don't know—but I'm glad they did." said Godzilla, his eyes growing faraway. "Last winter...I went looking for that Star to make a wish and I found it here. I even scared the humans because I walked over to the tree and touched it while I made my wish." Godzilla began, "The Star heard me. It granted my wish."
"Really?" she looked at him. "What did you wish for?"
He reached over and took her hands, smiling. "You."
"M-me?"
"Yes...you. I—asked the Morning Star to end my lonliness...and you appeared the day it rose again in the sky." Godzilla interlocked their fingers, whispering, "I made the wish every day since the Flash, but it was never granted until the day I asked the Star directly. And it answered with you."
At that, Shezilla's eyes filled with tears. She leaned forward and nuzzled Godzilla's nose, feeling him draw her close to his chest. Her heartbeat fell into rhythm with his. Intense waves of emotions flooded through her and the tears in her eyes rolled down her cheeks. She felt warm even though the air was so cold that ice formed on her granite hide.
Godzilla blinked at his mate. "Don't you want to make a wish?"
Shezilla giggled and shook her head. "I don't need to." she leaned back and squeezed his hands. "I'm holding everything I could ever wish for right now."
Godzilla's eyes softened and twinkled in the glow coming from the island. His invisible colors mixed with the sparkling ambiance created by the light hitting the frost on hide. Shezilla grinned at him in the same moment something drifted down from the sky. First one tiny speck, then two...and then dozens.
Godzilla looked up. "We should go."
"All right," Shezilla replied.
Together, they slipped silently into the calm water.
o
Hours of swimming finally wore on the two kaiju, so they paused for awhile to rest. They floated side by side in the middle of the dark ocean. The snow had long since stopped and the sky was crystal clear. Stars lit up the night like white diamonds on black velvet. It was utterly silent. The entire world seemed to stand still.
"My love?" whispered Shezilla.
Godzilla, who was almost asleep, rose back to full awareness. "Yes?"
She drifted closer until their sides touched. "Why do the humans put that tree up in the winter?"
And Godzilla smiled...he did have a theory for this bizarre human custom. "It's a Wishing Tree. Did you see the little stars on all the branches? Humans are so small that the Morning Star can't hear their voices, so they catch the Morning Star on a tree and their wishes turn into shooting stars. Then the shooting stars get caught on the branches and stay there until they are granted. I know the humans give the Morning Star back to the sky...it never fails to return by the season's change."
"But there are so many wishes!" Shezilla gasped. "How does the Wishing Tree answer all of those wishes before the Morning Star has to leave?"
He shrugged and yawned, glancing up when an odd jingling sound broke the silence.
Shezilla looked up towards the noise. A tiny red box, which was pulled by several four-legged animals, circled high over her head. Startled, she roared and shot her heat ray at it. The red box banked away from the blue beam and zoomed off into the distance. Shezilla refocused on her mate as the jingling sounds faded. She raised a curious brow. "What in the world was that?!"
"I have no idea." Godzilla shook his head. "Happens once every winter. I can't hit it either."
The two kaiju chuckled about the flying red box and dove into the ocean depths. They wrestled around a bit before finally settling down in a trench. Godzilla felt Shezilla curl up against his side. He put his arm around her and she placed her hand on his chest. Together, they drifted into hibernation while holding everything they could ever wish for.
