legacy [james conrad] 2

Chapter 20

Charlotte jumps into action as Godzilla starts to head their way.

She grabs James's arm and starts running forward to catch up to Ford just as Gozilla hits the first building with his foot.

Debris goes flying everywhere, landing bewteen soldiers as they all try to get out of the way.

Charlotte continues to run forward, James trailing behind her as she meets Ford and grabs him by his vest.

"We need to get out of here!" She yells out over the sound of both animals roaring and starting to charge at eachother.

Charlotte runs forward, trailing behind other soldiers as they try to get out of the target zone.

They trail under the MUTO, who doesn't seem to realize that they're there, its focus only on Gozilla.

Charlotte glances back, her heart beating on her chest wildly as she tries not to trip over the thousands of things sprawled on the floor.

She manages to be able to look as Godzilla and the MUTO finally crash into eachother with a series of strong sounds.

Charlotte continues to move forward, passing through the middle of the street before finally coming to a stop when it caves under them.

She heaves in a breath, finally letting go of both men and removing her vest, which suddenly seems to weigh 100 pounds.

She didn't care that it was a requirement to wear it. She was tired of that thing weighing her down, and she wasn't going to keep using it.

She throws it on the ground, adjusting her tank top as the rest of the soldiers catch up to her and the others.

Finally, she walks forward, taking a peek on what's inside the crater, trying to ignore the sounds of the MUTO and Godzilla fighting to the death in the background.

"Sarge, you're gonna want to take a look at this" A soldier breathes out as he stares at the crater.

"Do you have a signal?" Charlotte questions as she walks towards him.

The soldier nods, motioning to the crater.

"It's down there"

____

James sighs, deep in thought as he stares ay Charlotte's back, his mind all over the place.

He'd known her for little time, but he knew that as much as she was tough, she did have a soft side to her, a side that held everything on its sleeve. But this version of her, the version of two years later was different.

Charlotte kicks a bunch of debris to the side, trying to make a path for herself.

"Charles" James calls out to her, catching up.

"What is it, James?" Charlotte remarks, huffing out a breath as she moves forward, trying not to trip over spare wires and pieces of wood.

"Are you okay?" He asks softly.

Charlotte halts mid step. She hadn't expected that question.

"What?" She replies quietly turning to look at him.

"I know I ask you, and I know you always say that you are. But you don't look okay" He declares after a moment "And I know, we're in this mission and we might die and there might be a chance that we made a mistake coming here. But I need to know if you're okay" He tells her softly, his gaze pleading.

Charlotte looks around, realizing that the team has long ago passed them.

"I'm fine" She declares after a moment, but she doesn't even believe it herself.

James lets out a scoff, shaking his head.

"Really, Charlotte? Are you? You look like shit. You're thin, like unbearably thin. You look like you haven't slept in ages. You look like... you look like a shell of yourself" He states, clearly frustrated.

Charlotte shakes her head, trying to avoid asking eye contact.

"Why are you asking this? Why now?" She questions after a moment, turning back to him.

"Because I've been trying to get to the right timing to ask you what the hell went on during those two years that, and something's telling me that it wasn't good. Look at yourself, Charlotte." He motions to her.

"A lot of things happened. Okay? A lot. It doesn't just go away. And right now... right now I can't even begin to tell you what happened and I know you want to know, I do. But not now" She tells him quietly.

James stays silent, contemplating what she just said before nodding slowly.

"Fine." He pauses "I worry, Charlotte, about you. One minute you're fine and then the next you look so... broken" He tells her, taking a step forward.

He stares at her, watching she takes in a shaky breath and looks around.

She closes her eyes, and for a moment, forgetting where she is.

There is no Godzilla. No MUTO. There's no Ford to take care of, and she isn't in the army doing some sort of maximum risk mission.

James watches as a single tear slips down her cheek, and letting out a sigh walks forward, enveloping her in a hug. She leans into his touch, and for a moment, she can't help but feel as if for the first time in a long while, she isn't alone. She doesn't care they're in the middle of a cross fire. Ford was able to take care of himself, and they'd catch up to the rest of the team, eventually.

She'd been burying her thoughts and memories, wishing that she could just move on with her life alone. She'd spent countless nights wondering what it would have been like if she hadn't run. If she'd just stayed. She'd grown used to being by herself for so long, having someone worry about her, care about her, even want to be around her was foreign to her. She was afraid of opening up to him. She was afraid he would leave her. She'd been afraid for so long.

She knows what James is thinking. Charlotte looks up at him, their eyes meeting.

"We can't" She whispers at him with a shaky voice.

She was afriad. To share her life with someone, to be able to open up and rely on someone like a normal person would. Loving someone could be so fragile. It could go so wrong in so many ways.

"Why?" James questions, pulling a stray hair out of her face.

"Because..." Charlotte trails off. In reality, she couldn't think of any reason. Yes, she was afraid, but the mere thought of James made her heart speed up. She'd been in denial for so much time. She'd tried to cover those feelings.

"Becuase" She repeats herself, exhaling a breath.

She wanted to be with him.

Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. James was the one for her. She didn't know how, or when it happened, but she knew. And as much as she feared falling in love and as much as she feared relying on someone, she knew she loved him, but until now, it hadn't really struck her.

She couldn't imagine her future without james.

a/n: this story is coming to an end 🤗🤗  just a couple of chapters left, like 3. i just wanted to say i love you guys and i really want to tell you that I really appreciate that you stuck through these two stories, even if they werent the best things, i mean im 15 i dont know much about writing but thank you for reading them and voting!! i just thought that after all james and charlotte have been though they need to be able to know what they feel about eachother, but even though they know they love eachother, they still havent had the courage to tell eachother and im looking forward to when they do... and if they do