Disclaimer: I do not own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.
A/N: I have such mixed feelings about Godo... Merry Christmas!
Chapter 25: Hardly Enough Time
Godo shifted. The waves lapping gently against his boat had suddenly shifted. He looked up from the star resting at the end of his fishing line, glinting off the water in a soft glow. The wind was coming from the west now. That was no good.
"The people who've gone to the West are trying to say something," Godo said softly, turning his drawn visage towards Leviathan. The whiskered dragon turned his head to gaze at him, and nodded. He looked tired. Godo could feel something ominous.
"They haven't found the sun yet, have they?" he asked. Leviathan shook his head this time. "How much longer must we fish? What are we waiting for?"
"For you to remember," Leviathan's storm cloud voice rumbled. Godo's frown deepened. He touched his head, focusing. His mind strayed back to the peculiar girl on the walrus, and he recalled that she had stirred a strange feeling in him. This was not to mention the fact that when he had pulled her into the boat, she had been bound in chafing ropes, with a heavy weight burdening her small tail. It had been perplexing. She reminded him of someone. As he delved deeper into this, searing light flooded burned his eyes and lanced through his spine. He winced and shied away.
"There isn't much time left. You'd better hurry," Leviathan warned him, before coiling himself loosely and rested his head. He gazed across the ocean, and breathed a tired sigh. His beard was getting fully, and there were deeper bags beneath his eyes. He was beginning to look as old as Godo. Reaching a gnarled hand out, he laid it lightly on Leviathan's muzzle.
"How did it ever get to be this way?" he sighed, and shook his head. Leviathan rumbled softly. Neither of them would hold up at all if this kept up. The wind shivered across the water, and Godo looked into it.
"It's so strange that Da Chao would call back to me," Godo said absently. "We broke off on uncomfortable terms. I wonder what that girl had to say? I didn't give her much of an opportunity to speak."
"What was it she said?" Leviathan mumbled.
"She was asking about the heir," Godo scratched the stubble on his chin. He squinted, and saw in the distance Da Chao's kingdom. He glanced the other way, and saw the watery rays of sunlight. His eyes flashed around, hunting for the harpies. It looked like they still hadn't found the sun yet.