Chapter Text
The first time went unnoticed, something a little like this.
Wukong muffled a giggle as he heard his dear warrior’s footsteps crunch the leaves below him. He remained shrouded behind the cover of the tree as Macaque’s footsteps became slightly louder before stopping to a halt.
The king had a wide, giddy grin on his face as he tried to remain as calm as possible and hide from his sneaky shadow. He held a hand up to his lips to stop another little laugh from slipping out.
“Boo.”
A voice spoke from behind him and he jumped, yelping and losing his balance on the tree branch.
Luckily enough, his tail instinctively wrapped around said branch and stopped him from face planting into the earth. His ears caught onto the snarky cackle above him and he craned his head to meet the eyes of his best friend.
“Oh, by Buddha! You should have seen your face!”
Macaque chuckled, shoulders hunching as his grin thinned out into a beautiful smile. He reached down, his hand outstretched and inviting. Wukong took it, hoisting himself back up onto the branch and pouting.
“No fair! I bet you used your ears to find me!”
The king huffed, crossing his arms and looking away. Macaque lazily smirked, rolling his eyes.
“It’s not my fault you’re so loud. Plus, you can’t even try to hide without giggling your ass off. Just admit that I won this round, my king.” He sassed, leaning into Wukong’s space teasingly.
Wukong tried to step away, before an idea popped into his head and he grinned. The warrior faltered at the grin and now he just realized that he was playing into a dangerous game. He tried to escape but there was no use, his king was already barreling into his chest and knocking the air out of him.
They both fell out of the tree, tumbling into the grassy ground below as they laughed together. Wukong snuggled into Macaque’s neck, giggling some as he hooked his arms over the latter’s shoulder.
“Can’t ever escape my surprise attack!”
The king exclaimed, to which Macaque only quirked an eyebrow at such words.
“Oh really? And what if I just portal away?”
Wukong only squeezed tighter.
“You can’t! That’s not part of the rules!”
He pouted further, moving to sit up from his place on Macaque’s chest.
“You cheat all the time, what’s wrong with me doing it?”
“Well I never use my powers! You’re always using yours!”
The shadow demon huffed, before smirking and shoving Wukong’s shoulder lightly.
“You cheater…” the golden monkey grumbled under his breath, knowing all to well that his dark counterpart heard him either way.
“Yeah, but you love me. Just admit it.”
The blush rushed to his cheeks before he could even push out a reply, Macaque found that quite funny. Wukong sighed, trying to push the words out, but found his throat has clogged up, and before he knew he was keeling over to cough up whatever blocked his airway.
He felt Macaque’s shaky, worried hands gently place themselves onto his shoulders and he couldn’t help but feel glad that he was here with him.
Soon enough, whatever got stuck in Wukong’s throat had landed in the hand that covered his mouth. He pulled his hand away from his face and peered at it.
Pink petals?..
Only then did the king find out they were petals of plum blossoms. He looked up when he heard a small giggle. Macaque had let a small chuckle slip, worry still slightly creasing his brow.
“I must’ve eaten the pit of a plum or something..” he humored and his shadow laughed again.
“When have you eaten plums?”
Wukong shrugged, smiling some.
“Eh, when I feel like it.”
“Do you eat the pits of stone fruit when you feel like it too?”
The king spluttered, slapping Macaque’s shoulder lightly.
“S-shut up!”
He huffed, dropping the plum blossom petals and deeming it as he either ate a plum pit or just inhaled a flower while playing.
“Want to play again? If we do, you’re seeking.”
Macaque smiled oh so beautifully. How could Wukong ever say no to a face as pretty as that?
“Yes! I’m bound to win this time!”
And with that, the flowers were forgotten on the earthy floor.
———————————————————————
But things turned more unfortunate as time went on, like this.
Wukong sat there, as comfortable as he could while stuck under a literal mountain. He clenched the fists that were able to breathe, unable to keep his breath steady.
He was angry.
Angry at Buddha. Angry at the Jade Emperor. Angry at the Brotherhood.
Wukong knew they were gonna fail, heaven let them win the first few times. So, their recent siege on the heaven would have them dancing on a puppet’s string and be called the dancing fool’s, blinded by arrogance.
But he was also upset.
Upset that he lost. Upset that his brothers abandoned him. Upset that his best friend had left. He was upset at.. his best friend.
He thought about his own words, how Macaque played dumb right in his face and went along with it, despite them both fully knowing it would most likely not happen. Not with the Jade Emperor hanging around.
‘We’re gonna get fat on fruit and bask in the sun for- well, forever!’
How foolish of him. He imagined Macaque’s smiling face as he munched on a mango and basked in the sun like Wukong promised. And as he imagined, he felt the clogging of his throat and couldn’t even bring up a hand to cover his cough.
His breath rasped as his throat tightened. He wheezed into the air, chest squeezing painfully as he spat up the cause of such discomfort.
He opened his eyes after a moment, heavy labored breaths accompanied his loneliness.
His eyes widened as they took notice of those same plum blossom petals he spat up years ago.
The same plum blossoms, except this time, he spat up even more of them.
Wukong bit his lip harshly, swallowing the saliva leftover in his mouth nervously as his stomach dropped.
Why?
Why would it only happen when Macaque was mentioned?
The thoughts continued to race along until he heard rather light footsteps. He looked up and was met with the presence of a mortal.
No, not just a mortal- a monk.
———————————————————————
“Wukong. please, sit here. I request to speak with you.”
The monk’s patient voice asked, his hand gesturing to the spot in front of him. Wukong obliged, sitting in front of his master nervously and avoided eye contact.
“Am.. I in trouble?”
Sanzang paused momentarily, before giving Wukong a small, kind smile.
“No, not at all. I just wish to walk with you about something. Is that alright?”
The golden monkey sighed with relief, nodding a little.
“Yes, master.”
His master nodded along with him, placing his hands in his lap as his expression fixed to something more serious.
“I wish to know if you have the knowledge of why you’re constantly coughing so much, let alone coughing up flowers. Do you know why, Wukong?”
Wukong froze. He tried so hard to hide the coughing and the spitting up of flowers but he mustn’t have tried hard enough.
“Please. I ask of you to tell me the truth.”
The monk, a patient man through and through- had pleaded, so softly that Wukong almost misheard him. How could he lie when he caused such distress?
The king took a deep breath in, and then out.
“I don’t know why I have them, or where they originated from but I’ve had them for a long time now.. I don’t know what it is, or if it’s dangerous.”
He answered truthfully, leveling his eyes with the great monk and was surprised to see he looked rather solemn. Sanzang sighed softly, but not disappointedly.
“I would assume so. Make sure to keep aware of it, I am unsure whether or not I’m right about this cough of yours. I’ve read that it could be dangerous, if I’m completely sure it’s what you have.”
"Well, what is it?"
The great monk paused to recollect the information he was once told, it clearly was a lot.
"It could be a disease. A disease of unrequited love."
Wukong's heart completely dropped. If that's what he had, who did he have it for?
He thought over all of the people he met over the centuries, the millennia and that's when one person crossed his mind. The person who was around him when he first coughed up the flowers.
Macaque.
He could feel his airway tighten and before he knew he was already leaning over himself and coughing into his hand. He could feel shaky, worried hands gently place themselves on his shoulders and had begun to cough even more.
It’s not him, it’s not him, it’s not him-
Knowing that it was his master instead of his best friend, he finally spat up his demise. This time, he coughed up a full plum blossom, and some extra petals.
Wukong stared down at the monstrosities that sat inside him, shivers running down his spine. He crushed the hell spawn of a flower in his fist and grit his teeth, eyes narrowing and brows furrowing.
“Wukong. Promise me something.”
The great monk spoke gently, voice trembling. The golden monkey immediately obeyed, craning his head and meeting eyes with Sanzang.
Sanzang took the hand Wukong had crushed the petal with and squeezed it around his own. It was reassuring, promising.
The king nodded softly, waiting for his master to continue on.
“Promise me you won’t let whatever this is affect you to the point it’s severely dangerous. Please, promise me.”
Wukong nodded again.
“I promise, master.”
While he was making empty promises, he knew he had to please the monk.
And please the monk he did.
“Thank you. You are dismissed.”
The monk smiled, small and subtle. Wukong nodded yet again, thanking the monk and returning to where he sat before he was addressed.
———————————————————————
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
All he heard was the collision, but he didn’t remember much of the chaos.
But, when he finally opened his eyes and peered down, the horror dawned on him.
The pain hit him like a freight train, not physically, but mentally. Everything hurt.
His eyes, widened and terrified, and oh so falsely a pretty gold- had brimmed with tears as he stared at the corpse below him in absolute sheer dismay.
The six-eared Macaque, laying there all lifeless like an unwanted doll.
Macaque made no movement, none at all. Even as Wukong shook him desperately, he still made no signs of life.
After all, his right eye had been gauged out and he was bleeding head to toe.
“Mac- Mihou, wake up.”
He pleaded, voice going soft even on his own ears. He cupped the left side of his first love’s face, placing his thumb in front of his ears and the other fingers curled behind the three appendages. Those pretty ears, as bright as an eclipse, used to light up Wukong’s whole world when he saw them. Now, they were as dull as a put-out campfire, only to be remembered as once bright.
He shook Macaque again, waiting for some sort of response.
Anything to find out he was alive.
He then leaned down, pressing his right ear against his warrior’s chest and listening intently. He waited a few seconds.
Nothing.
Not a single beat of a single heart.
There was nothing left.
“Mihou- Liu’er, please. Please, wake up- don’t leave me.. please.”
He pleaded again, shaking the lifeless body more frantically as tears cascaded down his cheeks. He choked out a small sob, punching Macaque’s chest weakly and finding no strength left in him.
He cried, holding the corpse in his arms like he was the most precious thing in the world. And to Wukong, he really was.
And after a few silent moments, Wukong began to laugh; a dark, empty and hollow thing.
“This-… this is just a joke, right? It's another one of your cruel jokes, isn’t it Mihou?”
Of course, no answer from his shadow.
“you’re not really dead, are you? You just want- to hurt... me. To trick me, don’t you? Surely, you aren’t truly gone...”
More silence.
It was daunting, how silent it was.
Especially with him.
Usually, the sounds that were around them were wild laughter and loud talking, although more recently it was angered screams and loud snarls, growls.
But at least they were talking, not just sitting there like a murderer and a corpse.
Forget ‘like’.
It was a murderer and a corpse.
Not just any corpse too, his best friend’s corpse-
His first love’s corpse.
“Come on- get up-… please, why won’t you just- get up?”
He couldn’t do or say anything that could make Macaque come back, there was nothing he could do.
It was his fault, and he knew it.
If only, things were different.
If only, he could love someone without destroying them with his bare hands.
If only….
There were too many ‘if’s’ to think about, Wukong just wanted to give up immortality right then and there.
Stomp the peaches he ate, destroy the pills he consumed, vomit up the wine he drank.
Immortality was a curse, he knew that now.
Everything came with a cost, and not being able to die was one of them.
Another, was watching everyone you love fade away; whether they die naturally or by your hands.
Wukong now experienced the pain of killing someone he loved. Someone he would risk all of his immortalities for.
“I love you-… I’m sorry. Im so sorry, Mihou. Please- forgive me, I didn’t mean to-… I love you so much, come back to me please-“
One final sound filled the air. Heart-wrenching, destroyed sobs began to weave their way out of Wukong’s body as he clung to Macaque’s corpse like there was no tomorrow.
Of course, his pleads, confessions and apologies fell on deaf ears. And he still couldn’t comprehend that his best friend would not return.
And of course, the sky seemed to torture him right then and there. The clouds opened up, making the sun peak through and wish it’s good mornings to the world. It was pitifully beautiful, the way it shone through and highlighted the clouds in a luminescent sort of way.
It was the first time it was a beautiful morning, they fought for days in the mud and rain; only focusing on winning and not their own hygiene.
But, Wukong had no time to worry about how long they’d been in the rain with his dead best friend in his lap as he’s trying to choke up the flowers clogging his air way.
Choked sobs left his throat as he hunched over. He coughed and coughed and coughed until he couldn’t couldn’t feel them anymore.
He felt unpleasant, glaring down at the flowers that developed from his chest with his tear-filled eyes.
Maybe his master was wrong about the disease.