When Will You Return
This whole fanfic began with the idea of Ghidorah and Rodan with the 'who did this to you trope' and then I blacked out. Enjoy some Rodorah with a bit of angst that has a happy ending.
Author Note: I originally posted this on a different Tumblr account but that account is gone so I reposted it here along with some other writing. It is also on my AO3 account here:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/83754046
___
As the final rays of the sunset were fading beneath the ocean horizon, Rodan stretched his legs out to land, but buckled and he toppled over onto his stomach instead. The beach shook by his impact, sand flying up onto his face, and he snarled.
Falling over like a newly fledged chick! Is this what I've become?!
His head jerked up, searching the island to be certain no one saw his embarrassing landing. Only a Monarch team in their metal flying ship was nearby, tailing after him. They kept their distance and flew around him.
At least no Titan saw.
His head swiveled in all directions. It was quiet on the island. Too quiet. There was no other being (except for the pesky Monarch humans and their humming base nearby) around. He wasn’t even sure if he was happy about that.
It meant a certain golden hydra had not returned yet.
He hissed at a stinging pain and gingery opened his left wing to reveal a wound that started on his side and moved up towards his wing. It was bleeding magma colored blood, steadily.
Damn that serpent. Rodan thought. That’s what he got for being helpful. A nasty wound and a face full of missiles.
He had been patrolling his territory earlier and noticed an island that was home to plenty of humans was being attacked by another Titan. It was outside of his borders so he shouldn’t have bothered, they weren't within his land. But even from a distance he could hear their fearful screams as their homes were crushed. He could only imagine how many of the fragile creatures had already been killed. In the old days before his long hibernation, there used to be humans that lived at the base of his volcano on Isla de Mara. Those humans worshipped him as a deity (as they should), and for their offerings of meat that they made for him, he would protect them. Whether from other human invaders or natural disasters, they were his worshippers and he would shield them as a dutiful deity did. After his awakening he had seen they still remained, but after the volcano emptied and the ocean was poisoned by the explosion that killed the air, all the humans left. And they never returned.
So he left his territory and flew quickly to the island to help them. Once he got closer he recognized the attacker as Leviathan. The great sea serpent who usually resided in a body of water called a Loch, somewhere on a land far away from Isla de Mara. It was strange to see them this far from home. Leviathan had made it onto the human dens when Rodan swept down on them and dug his talons into their back. Thus started the fight between the two of them. Teeth met talons and they swiped and ripped at one another. Rodan's bio-volcanic armor gave him an advantage as many of Leviathan’s attacks did not seriously harm him. Meanwhile Rodan was winning by driving them back towards the water, blood oozing from multiple wounds he gave. But he had dropped his guard for a moment and Leviathan’s sharp tail lashed out and cut through his armor, slicing his flesh from his side up to his wing. He was lucky it didn't go deep enough to cut through his wing. He was already not in a great mood so being wounded really made him mad. He unleashed a fury of attacks on Leviathan and finally pushed the serpent back into the water and they swam away hissing insults to him as they fled. Once Rodan was certain they would not return, he landed on the edge of the water to assess his damage. Only for fire and smoke to suddenly explode in his face. He yelped in surprise more than pain and raised his good wing to shield himself from the attack. From beneath his cover he was able to see the metal human ships firing at him.
Oh it was insulting when they attacked him, he wasn’t even harming them, he was helping them this time. If he could, he would scorch them and their stupid ships to ashes, he really would, but Godzilla and Mothra had made their orders very clear about not harming humans. So he took to the skies and returned home. By then he noticed a Monarch ship was trailing behind him. He bristled at them but they were sure to keep their distance.
On top of his already terrible day, when he attempted to land, his legs buckled and he completely face-planted into the sand.
So here he was now, still sitting on the beach with the water lapping around his feet and tending to the wound Leviathan gave him. He winced whenever he picked at it, the stinging pain shot throughout his body. More than once he attempted to clean the blood away but eventually gave up and let it bleed. Standing up, he walked further inland towards his volcanic nest. Then he stopped and listened. There was barely a rustle of wind on the nighttime air. Over by the human nests even their lights were beginning to dim. All was dark and quiet.
Ghidorah has still not returned.
Rodan couldn't stop the sigh that escaped him.
They had argued some days ago. Snapping and hurling angry words at one another. Ghidorah was planning on leaving the Earth for a few weeks. They wouldn't explain why but they said they would return when they were finished. When Rodan tried to ask for more information, they shut him down, ‘nothing you need to know’ they said dismissively but with a gleam in their eyes. Like there was a joke between them that he was not in on. He thought maybe he was the joke. So he snapped at them and they reared back and growled at him. For an entire day they argued and mocked each other. It never escalated to anything physical, but the emotional damage was worse than any injury they could inflict. At the end of the day Ghidorah snarled that they were leaving now, and they flew off out of the nest and upward towards the sky.
Rodan, still fuming, let them go, his pride would not allow him to fly after them before they reached the atmosphere where he could not follow. Three weeks later, there was no sign of them.
He had no desire to go to his nest right now. Without Ghidorah it felt too empty. So he laid down where he was standing now, on the dried grass and crumbling stone. He could feel blood pooling beneath him but he didn't care right now. With his head on the ground, he turned his eyes upwards towards the stars. For hours he watched them. Every shooting star that passed made him wonder if it were his mate, finally returning home.
Eventually, his tired eyes closed and sleep engulfed him.
___
The Earth was a rather mediocre planet. Ghidorah had seen much prettier ones, but if it deserved any credit, it was recognizable. A mixture of blues, greens and browns. They could see the biggest landmasts even from a distance, it was a shame the majority of the planet was covered in water.
San never liked water. He despised even more after losing his head during the fight beneath the waves with Godzilla.
Ni hated how heavy water made their wings feel.
And Ichi thought that if they could they would rid the entire planet of it. That would make Godzilla angry.
But they couldn't. Instead it helped them as a noticeable landmark, that they had found the right planet to return to. They were now passing by a small silver planet Rodan told them was called the Moon.
San was biting at the new hair that was growing around his neck.
Stop that, Ichi ordered.
Sorry brother, it still feels strange.
The feeling will pass but you are pulling it out.
San stopped but continued to glance at himself. This is the strangest growth we have ever had.
Ni snorted, Having hair feels different from scales.
Ichi hummed in agreement with his brothers.
They all fell quiet again, their large wings beating, bringing them closer to their destination.
A few weeks earlier Ghidorah was feeling pains in their body. Nothing serious, just a series of aches in their legs, wings and necks. They knew it was nothing of terrible concern. It simply meant they would be growing into a newer form. They did not grow steadily like the creatures on Earth, instead they would remain one size for a certain amount of time, then when the growing pains came they would find something of great power to absorb and fall into slumber. When they awoke they would be bigger with usually a new feature added to their body. In their eons existing across galaxies, they've done this a number of times, and still were not close to their full size.
When they left Earth, they searched around for a star, its gas and light when absorbed, gave them enough energy to complete their growth. San was the one to notice it out of the millions of stars around them and upon closer review, Ichi decided it would do. So they cocooned themselves within their great wings and fell into a deep and dreamless slumber. The process they figured took probably five or six days. When it was done, Ichi roused first. The star, once glowing in front of them, was completely gone. Drained. Dead. Ni woke second and immediately began to admire their new growth. It always took San the longest to wake and after some nudging from Ichi, they were ready to fly. Their newest form had indeed increased their size and strength, but around their necks was a large mane of golden brown hair. It shaped around their faces and curved down beneath their chins. Ichi's mane was larger and smoother than his brothers. He liked how regal it made him look. Ni's was smaller and the hairs stood up sharper and made him look like he was bristling. San had the shortest one. It started between his horns and curved down to his chin, but no farther.
It was different, but now that it had been on their bodies for the week-long flight back to Earth, they were all in agreement that they liked it. That it somehow felt right during this growth.
A gleam caught Ichi's eye and he turned to see a meteor shower to the left of them. Hundreds of rocks, racing across the blackened void of space in a long trail larger than themselves. San had also seen it and was admiring the shower, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. Ichi was about to nose him to keep focus when suddenly their body was swerving towards the shower and their legs outstretched to grab at something. Ichi ducked and weaved his head to avoid any rocks striking him. Their right talons flexed down on a meteorite and then they backed out of the shower, and returned to their original flight path. Ichi turned to snap at San for taking control of their body so suddenly and nearly getting them hit, but realized that it was not him who did it, but Ni.
What was that? Ichi growled dangerously.
Ni glared at him then raised his leg to show the meteorite. It was rough and round with grooves on its outer layer. Part of it had been chipped off and Ichi could see an array of colors inside.
You veered off course for this?
Ni snorted, It's for Rodan. A rock like this should smooth his temper when we return, if he's still upset that is.
Oh.
Right. They had left their mate on rather bad terms. This growth would be the first time since they came to Earth that they would need to leave it for the process. They wanted to surprise Rodan when they returned, and so stayed quiet about the reason they would be leaving for a few Earth cycle weeks. But Rodan seemed upset by it. Very upset. They did not expect him to suddenly start exploding in anger, and unfortunately their temper was just as short and they responded back just as fiercely.
Now that they have had time to reflect, they could all agree there were some things they shouldn't have said. They couldn’t take it back now though and San had reminded them that they were still not accustomed to the rules and social queues of the Earthly Titans. They must have missed something that made their little firebird respond in anger. They only hoped he too had cooled down while they were away.
Ichi gave a rasping click of his tongue to draw his brothers attention, they were entering the atmosphere and slowed their flight. They learned the first time they ever came to the planet that it was not good to enter it quickly or fly directly down, otherwise it would burn them. Their scales became damp when they passed through the clouds. The sky they flew into was dark. It was early morning and dawn would be coming soon. Rodan would probably still be asleep. They decided that they would join him in their nest and leave the meteorite in front of him, so it would be the first thing he saw when he woke.
High over the water and land, they flew past it all. Isla de Mara could now be seen and their tails rattled in anticipation to be back to familiar land.
Finally they reached the island and landed on the side of the volcano with one leg. With a silent wingbeat they dropped into the volcano, the opening was tight for them but widened further down to something more comfortable for them both. Now at the bottom, San leaned over a large nest that housed the two of them, then gave a confusing chirp. Ichi and Ni peered over, the nest was empty. Ni brought his snout close to the bottom to feel, it was cold and hadn't been laid in recently. They turned to a pool of lava nearby, left over from the past eruption. Rodan needed it to lay in for his health and survival, it glowed with heat and illuminated the inside with an orange glow, but was otherwise empty too.
Where was he?
They flew out of the volcano and into the air, each head searching the large island. Ichi zeroed in on the red form curled up at the base of the mountain. There!
Within seconds they flew down and were in front of him. The ground shook from their landing and Rodan jerked his head up, roused from his sleep. He first saw Ghidorah's body then raised his eyes up to theirs.
“Ghidorah?” He blinked a few times, still looking dazed from being abruptly woken.
“We're back.” San purred.
“We said we would only be gone for a few weeks.” Ni said.
“Have you missed us?” Ichi asked teasfully.
They waited for a response. Rodan was fully awake now, confusion and surprise etched on his face as he took in their sight.
“Are… you seem… different?” He said finally.
“We had a growth happen. It causes us to become larger, stronger and grow new features, like these.” Ichi turned his neck to show off his new glorious mane.
They watched his gaze move across their body. Various emotions flickering within his eyes and his head cocked to one side. Yet he still remained silent.
The silence was becoming uncomfortable for them and they shifted their weight uneasily, becoming more anxious at his lack of response.
Was he still angry at them? Looking at this face they didn't see any expression of anger, unless he was trying to cover it up?
Ni stretched out their leg and released the meteorite in front of him. Rodan looked down at it tilting his head to the other side, and with his wing claws, he reached down and grasped the rough stone. They watched him fiddle with it and observe the grooves and colors inside.
“We found it in a meteor shower when we were returning.” Ni said.
Rodan looked up again, “So you left to go space… to grow?”
They nodded, pleased that he understood.
“And you thought I didn't need to know?”
Huh?
They were taken aback by the sadness in his voice. They expected him to be happy, in awe, or maybe a little angry. But he sounded defeated.
Is he upset we didn't tell him? San asked Ichi.
Ichi gave a low hum before responding, “We wanted to surprise you.”
Rodan blinked at that, his gaze flickered between the three of them. “So let me get this straight.” His tone remained neutral. “You had to leave Earth for this… growth spurt, which apparently takes a few weeks and can only be done in space. And you didn't tell me because you wanted it to be a surprise?”
“... Yes.”
On the ocean's horizon, the sky was turning a shade of pink and light orange as dawn was rising. Flocks of shorebirds began to take flight from their nests, preparing for the day. After what felt like a millennia, they lowered their heads. “We are sorry if we caused you any distress from our leave… and for not being truthful to you… and for anything we said during our… argument.”
Rodan met each of their eyes then glanced down at the meteorite in his claws. Again his silence was almost suffocating for them.
Say something. Say something. Please say anything-
Finally he laid it down before him and raised his claws in an open invitation to them, a smile spread across his face. They exhaled in relief and leaned forward, each head pressing into their mate. San rested on his shoulder, Ichi nestled into Rodan's neck and Ni nuzzled against his warm belly, just beneath Ich’s head. Rodan rested his wing claws on Ni's neck and San's face, and tilted his beak down to press it against Ichi.
“You look absolutely majestic.” Rodan said, closing his eyes. “I forgive you and I'm sorry for my part in what happened as well. I… I should have explained what I was feeling instead of responding in anger” He opened one eye to gaze at Ni. “And thank you for the meteorite, it is lovely.”
“I found it.” Ni said smugly, and Rodan rubbed down his neck affectionately.
“Well I noticed the meteor shower first.” San whined.
Rodan gave a chuff of amusement, “Thank you. Each of you.” And pulled them in tighter.
Each head took in their mate's scent. He smelt of soot and stone. Of fire and burning earth. It was familiar and welcoming. They could bathe in it and never be tired. No matter how far they could be from one another, they would always be able to find him by his wonderful, intoxicating scent.
San opened his eyes and frowned, He just winced ever so slightly.
Suddenly Ni growled, He's wounded. Beneath his wing.
All heads drew back and before Rodan could say anything, San bit down on the forearm of his wing, just below his wing digits (in a gentle mimicry of their first fight) and, without putting any pressure to harm him, spread his left wing open. Rodan squawked at this in surprise. Ichi barred his fangs at the sight of a wound that stretched from his lower side, up towards the flesh of his wing. They could see orange blood was pooled beneath him, which came from the open wound, and was still trickling.
Thunder rumbled overhead and clouds began to form, darkening the land and sky almost instantly. Ghidorah's tails rattled dangerously, their manes bristling, making them look even larger as they stood tall. Lightning flashed and illuminated their enraged form.
“Who dared?!” Ichi roared. “Who dared to wound you like this?!”
“Tell us now and we will hunt them down and rip them limb from limb!” Ni snarled.
San hissed a particularly nasty curse in their native tongue, his eyes full of rage.
Rodan raised his chin and quietly chirped, “Enough.” They shut their jaws and the lightning died down as he continued. “No need to hunt anyone down. I dealt with it myself. Do you think me incapable of fighting my own battles?”
“Of course not.” Ichi rumbled. “We know well how fierce and violent you are in the heat of battle, and we love it.”
Rodan smiled. “I fought and I won. That's all. I promise I'm fine.” He gestured to the wound, “This should heal over within a few days.”
San leaned down and began to lick at the wound, softly growling. Ichi and Ni followed suit and three tongues cleaned the wound and the remaining blood. Ni hoped to catch the scent of the creature that did this but to no avail. He would delight in slaughtering the fool for this act. Instead they continued to groom their mate, who they missed dearly.
___
Rodan sighed at the feeling of Ghidorah's tongues cleaning away the sand and clotting blood from the wound. The rough spines on their tongues pulling the old blood out of his plated feathers and armour. It didn't take very long for him to be fully cleaned and the wound was barely bleeding now. Their tongues moved away from the wound and towards the rest of his body. He could feel their sharp teeth gently pull at any dirt left over and smooth out his feathers.
Oh how he loved it when they preened him.
“You should get in your lava pool.” Ghidorah murmured, standing up.
Rodan nodded and stood up as well, he snatched up the meteorite in his beak and began to walk up the volcano. He didn't feel like flying and opening the wound further. Ghidorah followed behind him.
Rodan kept adverting his eyes behind to look at them. He was shocked when they woke him, mostly because they were back, but also because flaming tongues, they were gorgeous! Rodan had actually missed that they were larger because he had been so transfixed on their manes, thick masses of hair that surrounded their necks. Each one was different yet matched them so well. He couldn't wait to press his face into it, he was certain it would be soft.
He transferred the meteorite to his claws and examined it more thoroughly as they walked. As per his species, he loved to seek and collect pretty and shiny rocks. The best ones came from space, meteorites that fell to Earth. When he was younger he would watch them shoot across the sky and follow their trajectory on where they would land. By the time he got there though it was usually crushed up from the impact of crashing into the ground. Sometimes he got little pieces the size of his iris but those were rarities. This one though would be the pride of his collection. It always delighted him to no end when Ghidorah remembered his love for rocks and gifted them to him. A gift from his mate who had returned home.
All the misery he dealt with yesterday was forgotten. And the feelings of guilt and anxiety from their arguments weeks before were now just a memory. One he would remember still, only to be sure it would not repeat itself.
At the opening of the volcano Rodan leapt down and opened his wings to slow his speed as he reached the bottom. Ghidorah landed behind him, and at once their heads began pushing him towards the lava pool.
“Get yourself in there.” Ichi ordered.
“Alright bossy.” Rodan purred mischievously.
Ichi's eyes sparkled with something… dangerously coy. “We'll show you how bossy we can be.” He grinned, showing his impressive fangs. “But later, first we deal with this horrid wound, I will not have it mar your body any longer. In you go.”
They gently pushed him and at once Rodan was engulfed with a glorious heat that immediately warmed him to his very core. He nestled in the thick molten liquid, it stopped at his neck, but otherwise his body and wings were completely emerged. He rested his head on the stone edge and closed his eyes. The wound no longer hurt and already he could feel the lava working to heal the damage and close the wound entirely.
With the meteorite beside him he took the time to observe Ghidorah's size again as they laid down next to the lava pool; he could now see that indeed they were larger.
I might need to expand the nest to fit us both, he chuckled to himself.
That could wait until tomorrow.
