16. Ever After Begins

It seemed like Miki just closed her eyes when she felt a light touch on her hand. She turned her head further into the couch cushion, not wanting to face a world without Godzilla. The last notes of his song-how many times did it play during the night?-came to her.

"...Where is that old friend gone?
Lost in a February song.
Tell him it won't be long
'till he opens his eyes.
Opens his eyes..."

Somebody turned off the stereo. Miki covered her eyes with one hand. The touch came again, this time on her shoulder. She groaned, opening her eyes to tell the source to buzz off.

A young man bent over her, clutching a black sheet wrapped around his lean frame. He had wavy brunette hair framing his handsome features. Long eyelashes surrounded hooded dark-brown eyes, which were set beneath thick eyebrows. A slightly large Polish nose almost dominated his face. His lips were boyish and his chin rough with stubble. He stood about six feet tall, and she could tell his legs made up most of his height.

Something about him was strangely familiar. Where did she see that guy before?

"Miki..." The man said. He sounded exactly like Godzilla. Same silky baritone voice.

Miki jolted back in a rustle of fabric. It came to her then: That man was in the photograph she found in a coat pocket several months ago. She looked over the back of the couch. Godzilla's body was gone.

"Who are you?" She cried, "What did you do with Godzilla?"

"Miki, it's me!" he said. Kneeling down, he took her hand in his. The sun shone on his pale skin, making it glow. He looked like an angel, and in his eyes she could see reflections of herself. "It's me, Miki. Really."

"G-Godzilla?" Miki squeaked out. The familiar knot in her throat returned. Hearing that voice hurt.

The attractive young man nodded and smiled at her-even his smile was beautiful. He tugged gently on her hand, "Come with me...I can prove it."

Miki feared this was all a dream. Nothing this surreal could ever be reality. She let him help her up. Her dress sparkled like dew under the sun's rays-even the dirty parts around the hem. The man led her down into the basement, sat himself at the piano and played the familiar chords of Un Giorno Per Noi. When he opened his mouth and Godzilla's familiar voice came from it to fill the room, Miki knew this wasn't a dream. Dreams always ended just before the best part.

Passion filled the young man's face. He leaned his head back as the last note left his lips. There were tears clinging to his eyelashes.

Miki collapsed onto the bench next to him. Her hands reached up, touching his stubble and running her fingers through his beautiful, soft hair. His dark eyes gazed at her with nothing but love in their bottomless depths.

"I was sitting right here when I fell in love with you. At exactly four thirty-two in the afternoon on January eleventh of the year two thousand and seven, actually," he said, looking sheepish. "It's pretty geeky of me to remember the exact date and time, but..."

Miki giggled, putting a finger on his lips. "I remember that I was about to do this..."

She leaned in and kissed him. Slowly, gently. He felt so soft, human and real, and he was an amazing kisser.

"Mmh, Godzilla-"

"Josh." He said, breathless.

"Hm?"

He smiled at her, so sweet and endearing. "My real name is Josh."

"Josh." Miki whispered against his mouth.

Josh stroked her cheek and kissed her again, passionately. Then he pulled back to rest his forehead against hers. "Man, I've wanted to do that for so long."

"Me, too." She sighed happily and slipped her arms around his neck, playing with his silky hair. "So how did you end up as Godzilla in the first place?"

Josh sobered a little. He bit his bottom lip as he closed the lid over the piano keys. "It's a really long story, Miki. Can I tell you over breakfast?"

"That's fine. Now um..." Miki stood up and turned around, looking over her shoulder at him. "Could you please undo all these buttons? Naoto is probably sending out a search party for this dress, and I don't want to be in it when he finds it."

Josh laughed and his whole face went into it-and Miki was quite taken with how his eyes squinted into crescents. He gladly helped her out of the constricting white garment. They shared the sheet when they dragged the dress upstairs, tossed it over the couch and rushed into the kitchen to make pancakes.

While their breakfast cooked, they stood in the doorway, holding each other close in the sunlight. Outside, the fresh-from-a-storm garden gleamed like new. Or maybe they were the new ones, like Adam and Eve, reborn again to see everything and each other through different eyes.

"Hey," said Josh.

"Hm?" Miki looked up.

He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

"Will you be my girl?" Pink spread along his pale cheeks. The shy, slow way he blinked his eyes and the puppy dog look hadn't changed even though his appearance had. "I mean...uh..."

She laughed. He was cute when he blushed.

"Yes, Josh. I will."

Josh's face brightened. He touched her belly where their child would grow and hugged her close once again. Miki melted happily into his embrace.

All was right in the world.