GODZILLA
THE ULTIMATE DUELS

Disclaimer: Godzilla and other characters are copyright Toho Co. Ltd.
I own only my original characters.

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Chapter 6
Rose

Maui, Hawaii; June 24th, 2011

Susan was surprised at his son's sudden exclamation. "Why?"

"Just stop, OK?" Jim pleaded.

At first Susan hesitated, but then, reluctantly, she pulled over to the nearest "entrance" to the fields and stopped the car. Jim got out of the front seat quickly and ran to the sugar canes. He didn't go far, though, as he soon found what he had seen from the car. If he had been excited and joyous during the flight, now he was everything but that.

Before him, lying on the ground, was a girl. He looked at her unconscious body, feeling so sorry for her. Even though it was pretty dark already, her blonde hair still seemed to shine a little. Jim thought it was the stars that did it. He couldn't stop looking at her face. She looked so calm. Then he saw the wound in her right arm. It wasn't bleeding anymore, but it still looked rather bad.

"She needs help", he thought to himself. Without any second thoughts, he lifted her in his arms as gently as he could and carried her over to the car.

"Oh my God!" Susan yelled. "Is she...?"

"Come on, we need to get going", Jim interrupted.

Susan opened the back seat door. Jim got in and put the girl lying down, her head on his lap. Susan closed the door, got in the front seat, and they were off again. Susan called Sato to inform him about their sudden stop. Jim could hear the Captain's quite angry voice through his mother's cellphone. He felt sorry for her. He wondered why things weren't going well for them.

Then he looked down. The blonde girl still looked calm as she lay there. Jim tried to think how that was so possible for someone who was...well, unconscious. As he stroked her head, he saw her wound again. "Who could do such a thing?" he thought to himself, knowing that the wound was caused by a bullet.

Suddenly the girl's fingers started to move. He startled and looked as she slowly opened her eyes. "Where am I?" she said, her voice sounding a bit weak.

Susan looked in the rear-view mirror and noticed that she was awake. Jim couldn't say a word, even though his mouth was open. He just sat there as the girl finally looked up at him.

As their eyes met, both of them couldn't even think anymore. Especially the girl had lightened up. There was something about the boy that made her feel safe. She had never felt like the way she did now. "Where am I?" she asked again.

Jim remained silent for another few seconds, but then he built up the courage to speak to this stranger. "Don't worry", he said softly. "We're taking you to a safe place."

The girl rose from his lap to sit and asked: "Where?"

"Um..." Jim leaned forward so he could speak to his mother. "I know it's supposed to be a secret, but I think she would find out anyway."

Susan tried to think what to do. She didn't want their mission to get known to any outsiders. She thought it could only bring trouble for them. But, eventually, she decided to make an exception. She couldn't imagine that one girl would let them down. And she was sure that was exactly what Jim thought, too.

"All right, you can tell her. But don't go into too much detail, OK?" Susan said.

Jim agreed, leaned back and turned towards the blonde girl. He noticed that she was afraid so he started to speak.

"We're from the Earth Defense Force. You know that?" When the girl nodded, he continued: "We have come here on a mission. When we were driving past the sugar cane fields, I saw you lying there. You were completely unconscious. I don't know, I just couldn't leave you there. So, I picked you up and here we are now."

The girl felt so relieved. She was amazed that someone had "rescued" her. "Well...thanks, I guess", she said. "Where are you taking me now?"

"We're going to stay in Ka'anapali for the night. I think we can arrange things so you can get a place to sleep in too."

"Wait a minute. Ka'anapali? Where are we now?" the girl asked quickly.

"We're just about to enter Lahaina", Susan yelled from the front seat.

"Lahaina? Great!" said the girl and sighed in relief.

"Do you live there?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, I do. I live in a house right by the shore. You could just drop me there."

"What do you think, Mom?"

"Sounds fine to me. Just tell me when to stop, OK?" she turned and asked the girl.

"Okay", the girl answered.

And so they came to Lahaina. Susan and Jim were astonished by the sight. Both felt interested in being in a more primitive town than they had used to. They watched the buildings, the shops, and the people while taking their time in driving through the streets. Lahaina was known for its everyday traffic. And all the time the girl was glad to tell them all kinds of interesting things about the town.

After about ten minutes of driving, they finally reached the girl's house. As she had told, it was right by the seashore, but you couldn't see most of it from the street, as there was a white wall in front of it. The girl motioned Susan to park the car to the nearest parking lot, which happened to be right across the street from the house.

When they parked, the girl thanked Susan and Jim, got out of the car and started to walk to her house. Jim looked at her and thought for a moment until he came up with an idea. Then he opened the back seat door and yelled at her: "Wait a minute!"

The girl stopped and turned around, looking quite puzzled. Jim took his backpack from the trunk and walked to her mother. "What are you doing?" Susan asked.

"I feel quite unsure about her safety. What if something happens to her again? The wound was caused by a bullet, you know", he said. Susan was surprised by that. "I think I should spend the night at her place, just in case."

"Jim, are you serious? Are you sure about this? Let's suppose you're right. Then what if something happens to you too?"

"Mom, I'll make sure that nothing will happen. I promise. Just let me go with her, please", said Jim and patted her mother on the shoulder.

Susan looked at her son whose pleading eyes were almost watering. Then she leaned out of the window and looked at the girl standing in the distance. Susan saw a lot of anxiety on the girl's face. Somehow that sight made her feel the same way as her son. She felt an urge to help this young girl. She pulled her back inside the car. She glanced at her watch. It was time to make a decision, so she could continue driving to Ka'anapali.

"All right. You can go", she said. Jim sighed in huge relief. "But you had better do what you promised. Keep an eye on both of you."

"I will, Mom."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too, Mom."

Jim started to walk towards the girl, and Susan started the car. "Be careful, Jim! You behave yourself!" she yelled.

"Yes, Mom!" Jim answered, rolling his eyes. The girl was amused by that.

As soon as Susan was out of sight, Jim said to the girl: "I guess I don't need to tell you how protective parents can be."

"Well...I don't know actually. I live by myself", the girl answered.

"What? You're kidding!"

"No, I'm not."

"How old are you exactly?"

"I'm 15. Why?"

"Well, I'm 15 and I still live with my Dad. How could you possibly be able to support yourself?"

"I have my ways", said the girl almost automatically. After that, Jim didn't say anything.

As they crossed the street and stopped at the door on the white wall, the girl said: "Oh, by the way, my name is Rose. Rose Andrews."

"Oh...Well, nice to meet you, Rose", said Jim and held out his hand. "I'm Jim. Jim Hudson."

"Nice to meet you too, Jim", Rose said and shook hands with him.

Rose took a key from a pocket in her pants and opened the door. They entered the small courtyard of her house. There was nothing much, only a few bushes and trees with typical Hawaiian flowers. As Rose saw Jim looking at them, she said: "Beautiful, aren't they?"

Jim looked at Rose, then at the flowers again and said: "Yeah."

They walked to the front door, and Rose opened it. As she motioned Jim to enter, he said smilingly: "Oh, no. Please, ladies first." But as Rose insisted that he's a guest, and he should get the privilige, he entered the house first.

As soon as Jim was inside the house, he was stunned. Before him stood a relatively large living room with a small kitchen. There were three padded chairs -one of them being a couch-, a TV set, and a dinner table. All the chairs were made of a bamboo-like wood. The kitchen had a refrigerator-freezer, an oven with a stove, and numerous cabinets. The living room also had large windows with a view to the ocean, and a door to the backyard.

Jim was completely dumbfounded. He wondered how could this girl live all by herself with all that stuff. He was brought back to reality again by Rose. She tapped him on the back, which made him jump. "What do you think?" she asked.

"Wow...It's just...Wow." That was all that Jim could say.

"Wanna take a look outside?"

"Why, sure."

Rose opened the door and they entered the backyard. Jim couldn't see everything because it was pretty dark, but he was able to make out a tree that stood very close to the ocean. Jim felt suddenly very tired. Rose seemed to notice that and told that they should go back inside.

Once they were inside again, Rose said: "If you want to go to sleep, go ahead. I need to make myself something to eat first."

"Okay, um...Where am I going to sleep?" Jim asked.

"Oh, yeah! I totally forgot!" Rose giggled. "There are three bedrooms in this house. They're all side by side, which I think you've noticed. Anyway, the first one's got a two-story bed and a closet. The second bedroom is the one where I like to sleep. It's got a large bed and a shower. Finally, the third one's also got a quite large bed, and a closet."

"Hmm...I think I'll sleep in the third one."

"All right. Well, see you in the morning then. Good night, Jim."

"Yeah, good night."

Jim paused for a moment to look at Rose. He noticed the beautiful smile she had on her face. A smile that could melt anyone. He admired that quite a bit. And with that, Jim took his backpack and stepped in his bedroom. He quickly took out his pajamas and put them on. He felt very tired. He didn't even bother to brush his teeth this time. All the travelling had took his strength. He lay down on the bed and pulled the covers over him. As he finally fell asleep at a little over midnight, he certainly hoped for some action for the upcoming day.

While eating a little snack, Rose stood in front of the living room windows, looking towards the ocean. She still wore that beautiful smile on her face. She hadn't smiled so much for a very long time. She was still so happy that she had been "rescued" by Jim. "I think a whole new chapter is about to begin in my life", she thought to herself.

Author's notes:

I thought it would be best to leave this note in this chapter.

The characters of Jim Hudson and Rose Andrews are dedicated to two of my favorite actors, both of which appeared in Bridge to Terabithia (2007), one of my favorite movies. Jim Hudson is dedicated to Josh Hutcherson and Rose Andrews is dedicated to AnnaSophia Robb.