7. No Longer Anonymous

MikiMew: sorry i haven't been on a lot. been busy. how are you?
perfectsomeone35411: it's ok
perfectsomeone35411: doing real good
MikiMew: good to hear. meh i'm so stuffed from dinner...anyway so what's new for you?
perfectsomeone35411: not much...i missed talking 2 u here.
MikiMew: i missed you too ps -hug-
MikiMew: i've just been so busy with this guy i'm staying with. he's wonderful.
perfectsomeone35411: i told u looks r not everything
MikiMew: you were right. but i still want to meet you.
perfectsomeone35411: ...
perfectsomeone35411: ur on odo isl rite?
MikiMew: yeah...how'd you know?
perfectsomeone35411: the bg in that pic on the ad for that new body wash stuff
perfectsomeone35411: it's the bay.
perfectsomeone35411: i no that area
MikiMew: oh...that's cool.

There was a long pause. Miki wrinkled her forehead, wondering if she somehow offended her online friend. He was always so sweet and willing to listen to anything she had to say. She started to type in a message to forget it, but he replied before she finished.

perfectsomeone35411: do u no where the abandoned litehouse is? there is only 1 on the whole isl.
MikiMew: oh! yes i can see it from where i am!
perfectsomeone35411: be there on the lite tower at 10pm and i'll come.
MikiMew: why so late?
perfectsomeone35411: my days r very busy. i can only get away at nite.

She swallowed, looking out the window at the lighthouse. What if perfectsomeone35411 was some kind of predator out to get her? No...that couldn't be possible...he didn't seem like the type to do those things. Then again all she had was the text he typed into the AIM window.

It was a risk worth taking. She'd just keep her cell phone in her pocket with Godzilla's landline on speed-dial.

MikiMew: ok, i'll be there.
perfectsomeone35411: gr8, i look 4ward to it
perfectsomeone35411: g2g now
perfectsomeone35411: c u in 2 hrs.
MikiMew: bye -hug-
perfectsomeone35411: ;D

Then perfectsomeone35411 logged off and Miki heaved a deep sigh. Her heart thudded against her ribs. She shook her head at herself and wondered why she was so afraid. It wasn't like she was a thirteen year old who went off to meet some forty year old pervert. Miki turned her laptop off and decided to take a shower. After that, she dressed simply in a flowing earth-toned peasant top and new bell bottom jeans with brown platform heels to give herself some height. She tied her hair up into a bun with brown hair sticks and put on just a touch of makeup. Then, giving herself a once over in the mirror, she made her way downstairs.

"Godzilla?" Miki called as her heels thudded on the steps.

"What?" Godzilla picked his head up and a slice of pizza dangled from his teeth. He was sprawled on his belly across one of the red beanbag chairs. His laptop was within his arm's reach. He referred to it occasionally while writing musical notation down on a piece of lined paper.

Miki burst into giggles. He was trying to eat, write music and read lyrics all at the same time! "Um," she walked over and caught the pizza slice before it fell across his notebook paper. "I'm going out for a little while."

"You're all dressed up-" He swallowed a chunk whole, "-at nine-thirty at night?"

"I'm just going to meet someone. I have my phone. I can call you if I get in trouble." Miki put the slice down on a piece of scrap paper. "I really need to get going. He's meeting me at ten. See you later!"

Godzilla's face became serious. "Be careful! It might be some sicko. Don't let him try anything with you...hey, maybe I should come with you."

"No, stay here. I'm fine. I'll call you if he does anything I don't like." She waved, grabbed her sweater off the rack by the door and hurried out before he could protest.

.o

Getting to her destination took a little longer than Miki anticipated. Her watch said nine-fifty when she arrived at the foot of the abandoned lighthouse. The night was cold, dark and damp with a marine layer moving in off the coast. She thought the way the fog muffled everything like a blanket extremely creepy. Sighing, she deeply regretted the chunky heels. It wasn't like she'd anticipated precarious, rocky ground. The white lighthouse was a cylinder that sat on a hilltop overlooking a defunct scrap yard. Pieces of twisted metal littered the landscape. Not exactly scenic.

Well, I better get to the top, Miki thought to herself. She grabbed the rusty ladder and jiggled it. No problems there, so she went ahead and ascended to the top of the tower. The platforms were steel. Her heels clanged against the rough, rusted metal. Behind her, the glass of the dusty lighthouse lens gleamed dully.

Miki glanced at her watch again. The hands glowed in the dark, telling her the time. It was nine fifty-nine. She moved partway around the huge lighthouse lens and discovered another ladder led down the back side. Good. She had an escape route in the event of an emergency.

Ten o'clock went by. Miki paced the platform, wondering if perfectsomeone35411 flaked out on her. She was about to give up when, at ten-fifteen, the ladder creaked. Miki scooted out of sight in the same instant her visitor heaved himself up onto the platform. She peeked around the corner to catch a glimpse of him and her breath caught in her throat.

It was Godzilla.

Miki's mind did a wipe and rewind. This didn't make sense! But wait...yes, it did. They had been chatting on AIM for almost a year now. perfectsomeone35411 always said the nicest things, always comforted her when she was down and basically made her feel comfortable enough to tell him things she never told her father. Using the anonymity of the internet, Godzilla had been touching her life for longer than she realized. And he trusted her enough to reveal himself.

Miki stepped around the lens. "G-Godzilla?"

Godzilla faced her. In the fog all Miki really saw were the white of his eyes and fangs. He grinned. "Now you know why I was so shocked to see you when we met."

"Why didn't you tell me then?" she giggled, giddy from the revelation.

"I didn't want to shatter the illusion, Miki. You were so distraught that if I told you that night, you probably wouldn't have wanted anything to do with me ever again. In fact," he swallowed, turning to look off into the fog, "I almost didn't come...out of fear that you would be angry at me for deceiving you."

Miki moved closer to Godzilla and said, "That's the beauty of the internet. You can get to know people before you ever see their face." She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. "I'm glad it turned out this way. What you look like doesn't matter to me anymore. You're the best friend I've ever had."

Miki felt Godzilla's chest shudder. Something wet dribbled onto her arm. Glancing up, she saw his mouth quivering...he was crying. "Oh, Miki...I-you're so good to me." He sniffed once and reached around to embrace her. His arms were strong, but gentle. She held him while he wept softly against her hair.

Three months ago, Miki didn't even want to touch this creature. It really amazed her how normal Godzilla seemed. He always listened to her, he treated her with respect and never ridiculed her quirks. In fact, Miki thought Godzilla was a lot better than most of the men she ever worked with. The modeling business was full of sleazeballs hoping to see some inappropriate skin. She knew Godzilla sometimes snuck peeks at her, it was a man thing to look at breasts, but he never looked at her like a piece of meat.

A 'man' thing? she blinked as she became conscious of his rough hide against her cheek. He is a man...he is to me, anyway. The man and the monster are two different beings living in the same body. That's all.

"Miki," Godzilla's voice vibrated through his collarbone. His tears had stopped. "You're shivering..."

"Just a chill. L-Let's go home."

He nodded and they descended the ladder. By the time they got to the bottom, Miki felt like she jumped into an ice bath. She hugged herself and shivered violently. Her head felt stuffed and full as if her heart beat inside her skull. Fatigue made her limbs weigh ten tons.

"Miki?"

"I-don't feel so well." Miki held onto the cold metal ladder. "This is so weird, I felt okay when I left the house."

Godzilla touched his palm to her forehead. "You're burning up!"

"I'll be f-" she tasted bile in the back of her throat. "-oh no!" Instinctively, she turned away from Godzilla and threw up in the dirt behind the ladder. Tears welled in her eyes. Her face flushed with embarrassment. She remained bent over until her stomach stopped doing flips. "I'm so sorry...I'm ruining this moment."

"Don't be sorry for something you can't help, Miki," Godzilla replied, laying a hand on her back. "Come here, I'll carry you home."

Too ill to protest, Miki let Godzilla lift her up bridal style. She found comfort in his strong hands and the sound of his breath rushing past her ear. He took a different path than she did. It wasn't long before the warmth of the house greeted her shuddering body. Godzilla carried her all the way upstairs so she could change into comfortable pajamas, wash off her makeup and get into bed. She even shivered while under the covers.

While Miki got herself squared away, Godzilla disappeared and reappeared with a bottle of ginger ale, some Tylenol and a TV tray to set it all down next to the bed.

"No! Don't stay here, I might be contagious." Miki half sat up, alarmed at the sight of Godzilla bringing his office chair into the room.

"Relax!" Godzilla chuckled. "I don't get sick so easily. Now," he poured ginger ale into a glass and offered it to her with a Tylenol tablet, "take this. It'll settle your stomach and help the fever."

Miki licked her lips and drained the pill with the bubbling liquid in the glass. Some of her nausea faded. She lowered herself to lie flat again. "Um, Godzilla? Could you...no, never mind, it's stupid..."

"What?"

"It's just-whenever I got sick as a kid, my dad always held me so I didn't have to sleep alone while I felt bad-but I'm not little anymore."

Though it was dark, Miki made out the slight smile crossing Godzilla's face. A moment later she felt the blankets shift as he slid under the covers behind her. He didn't take up very much space despite his size. His weight was another matter entirely. Miki had nowhere to lie except against his chest. She turned over to face him and his arms encircled her once again. He whispered, "Sometimes we all need to be a little childish."

Tears welled in Miki's eyes. She blinked them away and curled more into his embrace. He was purring softly like a gigantic cat. How he made that sound was beyond her, but she found it extremely comforting. It slowly lulled her to sleep.

.o

Godzilla woke up the next morning to find Miki still sound asleep. He half-smiled as he brushed her bangs off her damp brow. She still had a bit of a fever, though not as bad as last night. Then he glanced up at the little wall hanging of Mothra. The sun chose that moment to illuminate the mirror, giving him a view of his own face. His reflection made him shudder and turn away.

"Unh...Godzilla?"

He turned back to Miki. "I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

Miki shook her head to indicate no. Suddenly, she noticed the clock and her eyes popped open wide. "It's almost six! I'm supposed to be on the bay for a photo shoot at six-thirty!"

"Miki, you're sick. You can't-"

"There's no time to get another model. If I don't do this, I could blow a huge opportunity." Miki said. She detangled herself from the sheets, took some more Tylenol and made her way to the door. "I'll just go there and come right back afterward. It shouldn't take long."

Godzilla straightened a bit. "Who is doing this shoot?"

"An American. His name is Thomas Anderson."

"What's his number?"

Miki told Godzilla the phone number. Godzilla picked up her little pink cell phone, dialed it and turned it onto speaker. The other line rang several times before somebody picked up.

"This's Thomas," answered a loud bass voice.

"Good morning, Thomas." Godzilla said pleasantly. "This is G."

"G...as in the singer?"

"That's right."

"Holy-guys! Check this out, I have G on the phone!" Thomas rattled his phone around before his voice came back to say, "What can I do for you, G? Looking for a cover shot for another album?"

"Ah, no." Godzilla chuckled. "I have one of your models here with me. Miki Saegusa, who is staying in my home. I regret to inform you that she's extremely ill and can't come to this shoot you were supposed to do today. Now, if I send you a check for ten grand, would you let her come back for a shoot when she's well again?"

Miki's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. On the phone, Thomas said, "Well um...sure. We'll have to really rush, but I-think I can arrange that for you-er, for Ms. Saegusa. I can wait up to five days and then I have to get somebody else. Does that work?"

"You have a deal. Thank you, Thomas. Bye." Godzilla smiled and hung up without letting the photographer get a word in edgewise. He placed Miki's phone back on the desk.

"That was amazing," Miki grinned at him. "Thank you."

"No problem. Heh...I like to watch America's Next Top Model...and there is always a girl who falls seriously ill and does a photoshoot anyway. She rarely looks good. But this isn't a TV show, Miki. I want you to look and feel your best. Though..." he winked, "you're pretty cute even with a hundred degree fever." He could NOT believe he said that out loud. For a brief moment he felt his blood run cold, fearing she might think him a pervert.

The comment won a flush-faced giggle from her instead. Then she seemed to get a little lightheaded and made her way back to the bed. "Thanks, Godzilla. I'm supposed to shoot with a guy anyway. His name's Aleron Burke...he's French I guess...I've heard he's really good-looking. I really don't want his first impression of me to be all sick and throwing up."

Godzilla blinked. That hurt a little. "I understand. First impressions are always important."

"Especially in modeling."

"Yeah." He stood slowly and stretched with a wide yawn. This conversation had taken a decidedly uncomfortable turn, so he changed the subject. "I'll fix you something light to eat. That okay with you, Miki?" When she nodded, he headed downstairs to fix some breakfast. Scrambled eggs and bacon for himself and buttered toast with ginger ale for Miki. He sang as he cooked, unaware that Miki crawled back out of bed and sat down at the top of the stairs to listen. She got back into bed real quick when he finished cooking. Godzilla brought her toast on a small tray.

"Room service."

Miki smiled and scooted back to sit up. While she ate, she said, "Let's watch a movie. Something...romantic. Have anything romantic?"

Godzilla laughed. "I know a good one, but it's kind of long."

"What movie is that?"

"Titanic." he half-smiled. "I have it in my collection downstairs."

Miki's eyes lit up. "I've always wanted to see that!"

So, together, they watched Titanic on DVD. Miki commented occasionally on the wardrobe designs and Godzilla sometimes talked about the music. At the scene where Jack and Rose kissed, Miki put her head on Godzilla's shoulder and took his hand. Godzilla's heart pounded in his chest. He slowly put his arm around her so she could rest more comfortably against him. She did nothing to discourage the gesture.

"Someday I want to do something like that," Miki commented.

Godzilla blinked out of his funk and glanced at the screen. Jack was drawing the very naked Rose. "Hm?"

"Have someone photograph me naked. But...not something trashy. Something like what Jack is drawing."

That made Godzilla swallow hard. "Maybe if someone needs art photography, you could model for them. Maybe even..." he sucked in a deep breath, "...I might ask you. Could be an album cover or something. I'd have to crop out the breasts and below, or airbrush over it on my laptop." God, he was beginning to tremble.

"I'd love to model for you." Miki replied softly without even a thought. "Anytime, anywhere." Godzilla's heart almost exploded. Miki turned her head to look up at him. Her brown eyes swallowed him whole. "I wish I could take pictures of you and show the world that you aren't some freakish monster."

"It's not that easy."

"I wish it was." She looked back at the TV screen. "I wish everybody could see you sing and know it's you who owns that beautiful voice...it's not fair that people treat you like a monster."

"I do horrible things to the cities," said Godzilla. "I...hurt people. I hurt the economy."

"That's what makes it so hard. You do all that and then you're so wonderful to me." She sniffed. "You don't mean to hurt people when you do that, do you?"

"No." he sighed, forgetting about the movie completely. "I hate that people have to die because of me. But I have to act like an animal. Nobody can know who I really am. The world just wouldn't understand."

Miki put her head back on Godzilla's shoulder. She looked at the screen and watched the Titanic sink. "I do."

He smiled slightly against her messy hair. If only the world was as wonderful as you are, Miki...