A/N: Self-Indulgent fanfiction for Godzilla: KOTM. Madison's parents sucked, so Mothra and Godzilla are her Mom and Dad now.
Someday I'll wake, and rub my eyes, and in that land beyond the skies,
You'll find me
Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why...
What was one little girl compared to the devastation of Nature?
Madison had slept through the journey, aware of only sensations, mostly. Wind whipped through her hair, sweat and grime and blood slowly dissipated from her skin as she was swooped over gently fettered seas.
Something, like delicate armor, curled beneath her body and held her close. So close, Madison was sometimes tickled by the softest fluff she'd ever felt. The kind of thing that a child might imagine clouds to feel like, airy and light. Unfailingly warm as though the sun could sink its warmth into them.
She'd blinked once, twice, and then the world had shifted from a wasteland of human modernity to undeterred wildlife. Great and ancient trees with limitlessly wide trunks and bountiful vines reaching out to everything in sight. There were roots nourished by the clearest, blinding waters surrounding them.
When the journey ended, it wasn't enough to wake the girl. Only hints of light, gentle vibration, and a peculiar, familiar song permeated the deep sleep that her body so dearly needed. In retrospect, Madison admitted to herself that that was probably for the best.
Regaining consciousness had been painful, but the terrifying confusion after had been too much for her.
Trickling water had been the sound that calmed her, after it was all over. She'd found herself lying beneath one of the enormous trees, at the tail end of roots that bunched up over the terrain without care. A thick but quiet stream rushed past her, mere inches from her face, and it was easier to stare into than the enormous, luminescent eyes of the beast hovering over her.
There were no markers to signify that this land had been discovered by human civilization. It had not been beaten into submission and refashioned into something safer by greedy hands. This place was untouched and that was why, Madison reasoned, everything was so clear. The sky was devoid of smoke and the land was untainted by steel beams and the water thrived with life. Neverending life.
The fact was both daunting and unthinkable. The giant moth that had spirited her away, in the aftermath of chaos, tended to sleep well into the day; Madison had managed to pad through the jungle that was older than time every morning.
And every morning, she could barely comprehend how small she was. Maddy often found her life was spent looking up until her neck ached, attuning to the whispers of rivers and streams, the screeches of wild things zipping past, and the clashing colors of foliage sprawled every which way.
It wasn't so much a matter of deciding to come back than it was the way Madison's pulse quickened when she noticed the light of the sun gradually dimming. She'd found few places where the world was open to her, where things could be seen from a distance.
There was an alcove before a shoreline, and a shoreline of dark sand before the ocean. It all stretched out before her and beneath the sky as though bowing to them both. Though she was probably less safe here than anywhere else in this place that had no name, Madison felt comfort in being alone.
Dutifully, however, the young girl would leave the seashore behind and return to the spot that Mothra had claimed as her own. Hers. Theirs. Maddy could never get too far before being dragged back, especially when she'd tried to run.
Sometimes she was lucky, and the monster continued to sleep upon her return. Most of the time, she was not. Most of the time, there was a soft hum, a trill, a song guiding her through the thickets and back into the nest.
Mothra's eyes were always glowing and, though devoid of pupils, keenly set upon the single human dithering in the grass. It wasn't a look of a predator upon prey, but softer and curiouser. Frighteningly human. Larger than life and staring at her as one might stare at a bug beneath the lens of a microscope.
The soft ' chrrrr ' of a greeting made Maddy's shoulders sink, head bowed. She walked in the kaiju's direction and knelt down near the side of the Queen's head, still too scared to go anywhere near its beak for a mouth.
The girl hesitantly held out her hand and moved to touch the fluff of Mothra's head and slowly but surely resumed the same ritual of trust that they'd built up for days. It was much like when Madison had first seen Mothra hatch, with her mother.
Madison's mother had often said that these monsters were far smarter than humans dared give them credit for.
There are tallies in the trees but Maddy scratches them in without thought. She forgets that they serve a purpose, are meant to save her and make her feel hopeless at the same time.
She was the daughter of Drs. Emma and Mark Russell. She was well-known in Monarch, even just being the child of two highly-esteemed members. They would come looking for her, were already looking for her, would not dismiss her absence.
Until then, her days became erratic without the reminders. She began to sleep through the days and wake upon the rise of the moon.
Beside her, Mothra had watched as Madison worked her way to bringing in more light. Making a fire was more tedious than Maddy had remembered, but to accomplish it and laugh, surprised, at Mothra's interest over the flickering orange hue was enough to provide satisfaction.
Light was more important than anything. The forest about them was almost like its own ocean, so deep and dark. Aside from that, human's greatest power was useless. Fire could never provide more heat than Mothra herself. There was no need for blankets or heaters, for no chill could claim her when she was nestled in the downy fluff of her new protector.
Trust came easier with more tallies, with stronger light made with practice and patience. Sometimes, Maddy found it hard to leave her beast's side for even a moment.
Her hair wasn't quite so long as it had been when she was a little girl, but it had begun to snarl over her shoulders and snatch up twigs and leaves when she ran over blackened sand.
Madison felt like she might as well have been dancing. Her audience rested on a flattened knoll ladened with bending trees, unblinking eyes watching with rapt attention. At first it had been odd, wrong, embarrassing to run and jump and splash on the beach with someone watching.
She was mildly nostalgic as she skipped past rocks and bent down to examine new shells. (Maddy remembered being dwarfed by her father's favorite chair while her mother watched, smiling softly as her daughter looked through a book of common science projects for 3rd grade students).
To see the girl, energetic and lively, seemed to appease Mothra, whose wings needed resting. Big, beautiful and hypnotizing wings that shivered ever so slightly when Madison leapt from a low-hanging cliffside and into the sparkling sea.
The water plastered Maddy's hair to the side of her face, and she grinned widely as she squished sand between her toes. Tiny silver and pink fish swam by, slowing when in her peripheral vision and bolting fast when they caught her attention.
She was still a child now, but felt wistful as the sky clashed with purple and navy blue, allowing herself to be whisked out of the water by Mothra and led back to their shelter.
(Madison had wanted to do the entire project herself. She'd stamped her feet and cried over it several times, but when it was all over and she was standing, smiling with the hope of surprising her mother - because she could do it on her own and now Mom would see - the triumph in her chest disintegrated into nothing).
No one came.
When the Earth began to shake beneath her feet, Madison was unable to vocalize her terror in more than grunts and cries. She'd wobbled and fallen onto Mothra's face before the Queen nuzzled her gently, pushing Maddy up with a nudge of her beak.
Trees were crashing down, falling at their sides like toy soldiers as He emerged. Even a great distance away, Madison knew the being headed straight for them. He was a force of nature; not just a titan, but a King among them.
Her fear was a scent in the air, tangible. With a soothing chirp, Mothra guided the little girl back and beneath her wing, staying perfectly still as Madison shrunk and shook against her.
Once, Madison hadn't been deathly frightened of Godzilla. But since then, she'd become convinced that it was only herself and her kaiju that existed.
Were these monsters not meant to exist in an unending battle?
Madison remained in the depths of the nest, knees up to her chest. She missed the warm white fur that had blanketed her moments ago, but Mothra had risen.
Madison felt a scream try to crawl its way from her throat as she watched Godzilla tower over her guardian. Her heart felt like it was being brutally squeezed, like it had felt when the hydra had nearly murdered her father.
She couldn't stand to be alone again. It had been one thing to be alone in mind only, contending with her thoughts while her mother's work was more important, and when the bottle was more cherished by her father than anything else.
Still, Mothra seemed immune to her fear this one time. The great moth had eyes only for the king of monsters, whose enormous jaw began to widen in what might've been a war cry.
It startled Madison when she found herself charging forward, arms wide out as if to make herself seem just as large, and the scream she'd been anticipating ripped from her own mouth.
Mothra shrieked and Godzilla took a step back, not scared but stunned at the appearance of Madison's tiny figure in between them.
Then, Godzilla's head reared back, eyes no longer wide but narrowing to slits. And he roared until Madison's ears started to ring.
