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”You’ll see- Next time I call you, you’ll finally meet your new sibling… I Promise.”
Those were the last words he heard before his Baba went into a deep meditation along with his Mama. It was essentially a magical coma. They didn’t grow or change. Hell, if they were moving at all, it was imperceptible.
MK was worried for his Baba, he looked so tired. The bags under his eyes were the scariest part. Because even after his fight with Nezha, where he retrieved the map to the rings of Samadhi, he didn’t look this tired.
His Mama had already passed out. But he was worse, his eye bags were darker, and he could barely stay awake, let alone stand. Wukong had to carry him to the nest he made on the top of the mountain.
MK couldn’t help but worry they wouldn’t wake up. They had been so tired, so unbelievably exhausted, his Mama looked sick even, and he was immortal. But his Baba assured him they would wake up, so he trusted him.
After a moment of looking at the pair of monkeys lying motionlessly, his Pa came beside him and placed a soft hand on his shoulder, telling him they should head home and get ready for a new day. Tomorrow will be a new day.
MK went home with his Dad and his Papa. As they got home, MK, now in his human form, asked his Dad if he could help with dinner. His Dad told him he needed to shower first. With a laugh, he ran upstairs and took a shower.
His nerves thanked him as the heated water ran over his skin. He got clean and then dried himself off. Afterwards, he threw on a plain white t-shirt and black shorts before running downstairs to help with cooking. His Dad already had the pot on the stove. He laughed and joked that he had started without him and how treacherous it was.
They cooked together, something they had always enjoyed doing. He liked making noodles. He could do it for a thousand years and never get bored. It was in his bones, his first meal was from Pigsy’s, even if neither of them knew it at the time.
His Pa offered to take him for a much-needed haircut in the morning, he practically had a mane by now, and he usually wasn’t too keen on having long hair. In that moment he thought about Mei and Redson, and he surprised everyone in the room when he said that he wanted to try growing it out for a change. Tang smiled and patted his son’s shoulder, encouraging him to do so, and saying that he could help style it.
Mk wanted to spend time with Mei and Redson. The three of them had been hanging out a lot, yeah, but it was time well spent, they made memories. They played games, both board games and video games alike, on a usual basis.
MK called Mei first, her name was higher in his phone. She picked up on the first three rings, she sounded happy to hear from him. She was his childhood best friend, and they always watched movies together.
When he asked her if she wanted to spend the day with him, she accepted without much hesitation. She asked if Redson would be there, her voice sounded all too sly for his liking. He told her that the answer was probably, he hadn't called him quite yet. He ignored when Mei said that his word essentially meant it was a yes because Redson ‘has a soft spot’ for him.
MK decided to focus on his relationships, after all, he still had two dads. That was more than the average person.
His Dad’s shop was still busy, rightfully so, it was the best noodle shop in town. He found himself enjoying delivering noodles a bit more, it was nice, but then again, it was still his job. He started cooking with Pigsy more, learning to trust himself more than a written recipe. He knew the taste of Pigsy's noodles like he had been born from a bowl instead of a stone.
He began to spend more time with his Pa, and he finally read the actual Journey to the West book, though the version he had bought came in four volumes, colored emerald green. He still liked listening to his Pa’s wisdom and learning from the scholar.
He had therapy with Sandy and his clowder of many cats. He trained with Mei and Redson, outside of hanging out and little dates.
Of course, he visited his Baba and Mama every weekend, and made sure all the things they had prepared for the baby stayed well taken care of. They’d need it when that baby finally hatched.
But MK started to worry as more and more weeks passed without so much as a sign the baby would hatch.
Eventually, the first year passed. His Papa told him that maybe the baby was going to take the full 35 months. That thought both soothed and worried him, almost three years? That’s a long time.
He was worried some new villain would come back, and he wouldn’t have his mentor to help.
He talked to Sandy, and he was able to slowly come to terms with that. Telling himself that the baby would be okay and he had a huge support system to help in case something did happen.
He’d focused on living instead of worrying. Focus on what can be now, instead of what could’ve been.
He invested his time in growing, learning, becoming someone to be a hero, and becoming better and better.
He cooked with Pigsy, the noodle shop had been there since before he was born. He loved cooking with his Dad, and he always wanted to continue it. His Dad liked to impart wisdom onto him much like his Papa, (he was beginning to see why they were married), whether it be about trusting his senses over a recipe or some cooking metaphor for life. Things like: “Things are the best when you wait for the perfect time.”
He read more with his Papa, talking about myths and stories. The two of them even ventured outside Chinese Mythos and looked into all kinds of myths and legends.
He enjoyed learning and taking in wisdom.
Though their time together wasn’t restricted by myths. Tang was a scholar, he knew things *other* than mythology. He also learned things from his Papa about human nature and philosophy. He learned that even though sleep was a vital part of mortal life, it's still important for Celestial and Immortals because, outside of the physical body, the mind benefited greatly from sleep. Sleep allows the mind a break to reset for the next day, to sort all the things you learn into their places and make sure you remember everything.
That’s when he started taking his sleep more seriously. If he was going to be immortal, he needed to keep his mind healthy. He really did not wanna end up insane like a certain blue wildcat. Specifically, a blue wildcat belonging to the "big cat" category within the Felidae family.
He took care of animals with Sandy and went hiking and camping with him, learning about nature and meditation. Sandy also likes to impart wisdom onto him (He was beginning to notice a pattern) about nature and how to learn to value little beauties in everything.
He played video games with Mei, they always had fun. They also trained both with, and without Redson. Though they all trained with, and without each other. He focused on spending as much time doing their favorite things: watching movies, shows, playing games. They went to concerts and even *tried plays.*
He went on dates with Redson. They did picnics occasionally, but they also began cooking together. MK watched him work in the workshop. He and Mei introduced him to shows they thought he’d like. Much to everyone’s surprise and unsurprisingly he took a liking to cooking shows like DBK did.
He even connected with Nezha more, they were both princes now and despite Nezha being a bit of a rule-follower, he liked MK’s defiance and rowdy attitude.
It was hard but he managed to live without being consumed by his worry. There were days where he was a bit bed bound with worry and sadness, but his family came and helped him. They all loved MK and MK loved them.
The trouble came when the third year passed. Why weren’t they awake? Why was the egg still unhatched? Why were his parents still so tired looking?
After days of frantic research with the help of MK, Nezha and other people, his Papa found something.
Apparently, sometimes celestial gestation progresses at the rate of the Celestial Realm even if they are in the Mortal Realm. A factor they didn’t know to consider. This information hit everyone like 67 consecutive trains.
The egg would take centuries to hatch…
MK would face his immortality *without* his immortal parents.
He would grieve almost everyone around him without his parents.
He was… *alone.*
They couldn’t even undo the spell, because awake or not the baby needed Wukong and Macaque’s power to grow. Not to mention that undoing a spell like this could be dangerous, it would undo on its own when the baby was hatched and the two Celestial Monkeys were healthy. Them being asleep was safer and easier. It was hard but they couldn’t undo the spell that sealed them away
MK cried that day, that week, that month. He was scared, he was terrified. How was he going to survive over a thousand years without his parents?
But he knew mourning was only going to eat at the time. He had more therapy with Sandy. It would take an incredibly long time, but he needed it.
He focused even more on his family. He wanted to see his life and he wanted to squeeze everything he had into time with them. MK grew closer and closer to his family. He knew by the time his Baba and Mama woke up, the time he spent with his Dad, Papa, Sandy and Mei would be a grain of sand in an hourglass, but he didn’t care.
It was his family. He would love every second he spent.
It felt like centuries already when only seven years passed since they found out, and ten since his Mama and Baba went to sleep. He hoped that was a good sign. His Dads noodle shop only grew bigger and they made more money. MK even offered to move out to make room for having more guests. MK was basically 34 years old and still living with them but they denied the notion. They said he’d have years to live outside their house, they wanted him there.
MK didn’t argue.
He and Redson took it slow in mortal terms, which might’ve been fast for Demons but neither Redson nor his family said anything about it. After the first three years of their relationship, they spent the night together, they both were new to it but it was a night they both enjoyed and never regretted.
After seven years, they got married. MK knew it might’ve been a little short in comparison to their lifespans. After all, his mama and Baba were engaged for… what? 2,000 years before they married? But MK wanted his Dad and Papa to see him get married before they were too old to remember it. Redson agreed that was a good idea. He didn’t mention that his own mother had been pestering him for over a decade about getting married and having children with MK.
His Dad and Redson had already spent time together. They were closer than MK had expected them to be. But they only got closer when they started cooking together.
Pigsy had started teaching Redson his traditional way of cooking, even sharing a bit of his story about learning the recipe from his mother, who had learned it from her mother-in-law. Redson always enjoyed talking with the pig demon. Sometimes they would silently cook together with almost practiced ease, other times they would talk about endless topics, Redson even divulged his own stories of learning to cook.
Now they’d have family cooking nights where MK, Redson, and Pigsy would cook a big meal and they’d all eat as family. More often than they’d expected, Redson’s family would also come, and DBK would join in cooking.
Those nights were MK’s favorite, his entire family was together.
Somehow in all his packed time with family, he still visited his Mama and Baba at the mountain, while he knew they likely wouldn’t wake up for another ten centuries. He still wanted to visit, talk to them even if they probably couldn’t hear him.
He learned so much about the people around him but found that he never got tired of learning new things about the people he loved.
As his family got older, he valued the time more and more. He planned to take over the Noodle Shop. Not out of some obligation or anything. His Dad and Papa had made sure he knew that they wouldn’t be upset if he chose to do something else. He wanted to take on the business. It was his entire life, his first meal, his home. He wanted to live there forever.
He liked art, and his role as the hero of Megapolis, that was never in question. But those were more like hobbies, he still preferred to work at his dads business, no matter how cliche that seemed.
After 25 years since Wukong and Macaque went into a coma, Pigsy made the decision to retire. He was pretty confident in MK’s skill with cooking, and Redsons. He trusted in his sons to take care of his shop.
MK took care of his parents when they got older. He wanted to, they took him in as a kid and they had a pretty substantial amount of savings to help with these delicate years. Pigsy, despite always talking about having a ‘Noodle Empire’, never bothered to expand.
He was always content with one shop, one building, one family. His Family.
MK hired more trained professionals, of course, to help him as the years passed. He wasn’t a nurse and elderly people had a lot of health concerns that he wasn’t trained to be able to accommodate. But he still did most of it, he learned to do it.
Redson and Mk took a long time to decide on having kids, not because they *couldn’t* but because MK had a small fear that he would get stuck in a thousand year rest like his family. But ten years after his Dad’s retirement, a lot of patience and a metric fuckton of therapy, they decided to have a child.
MK decided on his own that he wanted to carry the child. He didn’t want to follow the egg route, he wanted children but he didn’t want to miss out on a millennia just to have a baby. Not that his parents were less for choosing to do that. He knew they wouldn’t have done this on purpose.
So they began to try for a baby, much to his family and Mei’s teasing. It didn’t take long for them to conceive and 9 months later they brought the cutest little boy into the world. Redson and MK ended up naming him a classic name for triumph or victory, Kai. When the baby finally opened his eyes, they were like a mirror image of Redson’s, deep red like dark fire, like the fire he created.
There was some worry among them that Kai would end up creating a second Samadhi Fire like Redson. So they made him a necklace with a pendant carving with a bull and a monkey surrounded by fire. On the back was written three things.
小宝宝(xiǎo bǎobǎo), meaning "little baby."
火焰猴 (huǒyàn hòu), meaning “flaming monkey.”
凯旋 (kǎixuán), meaning “triumph.”
When Kai was born they had a baby shower soon after, it was nice. Life was good for them. They felt at peace, life was going.
The baby shower was lovely and Pigsy, Tang, and Sandy all met the little firestarter. However while Redson was holding his infant son, they all made the discovery that Kai had inherited Redson’s fire power. How did that happen? Kai sneezed fire into Redson's face.
It didn't take them long to realize Kai aged as quick as a mortal too.
MK buried Tang first, he was fully human and even though he was younger than Pigsy, demons just simply had a longer lifespan. Kai was six. He may have been young but he still loved his grandpa. Kai learned how valuable life was at age six. Tang’s death was peaceful, without pain or sadness, he just went to bed one night, and simply didn't wake back up. MK brought Pigsy and Kai to the grave to visit everyday, more often than not he was accompanied by Redson. He replaced the flowers at the first sign of wilt, lit incense and talked with Pigsy to Tang. It was comforting that they had more confirmation than other mortals often did that there was an afterlife.
MK mourned, Pigsy mourned, everyone mourned. Tang was a good man, a good father, and great grandfather. He had a heart that was bigger than himself and an intellect to match. He always sought to understand the people around him and see the best in others. MK and Pigsy grew closer in his last few years.
Mei got older too, even with using her family’s life-extending tricks. She got a job as a professional racer. She was happy racing and MK made sure she practiced safe riding. He wasn’t about to let his best friend die in a fiery crash. That would be cringe of her.
Kai got older, and while he had intense fire power, he hadn’t created a second reality burning fire yet. So they were a bit calmer about the matter. Mei loved the little guy. He was irresistibly cute. Before long he was 15.
Mei was by far Kai’s favorite person, She took him to her races with his parents and would give him motorcycle rides through Megapolis and he watched the old Monkey King movies with her
Sandy got older too, and as his own years passed he began to coach MK through that, how to handle grief and understand death without fearing it. How it was natural and how it wasn’t the end. It was only a bridge to new beginnings. Sandy taught MK that life wasn’t about avoiding death, it was about enjoying the time we have. About forming connections and understanding each other. Death was inevitable, yes, but life was also inevitable.
We are born, we live, and when our time comes, we die. It was the natural path for mortal beings. It didn't make them less, it gave their lives a purpose, to live its fullest.
Pigsy didn’t live much long after, he was older than Tang and the two of them were just barely older than Sandy. MK made sure they were buried together. Even if they weren’t alive in those bodies, they had stuck together longer than MK had been alive at that point and he wanted them to stay together long after they departed.
Almost every single creature on earth would make at least one meaningful connection. It was simple math. We are born from *someone* and that very person is often our first relationship, and earth isn’t even close to being underpopulated.
To live a life on earth and not make one single connection was a statistical improbability. It would take effort. Humans especially were inherently social creatures. They hunted in groups in the beginning of the species and now they lived in cities and villages with thriving cultures and families.
The purpose of life, Sandy had told him, was to give life a purpose.
Sandy helped him grieve, though it was made significantly easier with the therapy before the deaths. It was more practice than anything. Sandy told him that grief was love persisting beyond the grave, that love does not simply disappear after the person goes. Love stays, it warms your family and friends, it changes lives.
MK continued to make human connections. He didn’t let his immortality swallow him. He learned that life was precious and even Redson began to grow friendly with a handful of mortals.
True to his word, MK took over the noodle shop with Redson. It was a family business and Redson had been a part of the family longer than they had been married.
Mei stayed close, she was a well known racer and she was a near expert at it, but she wanted to live in Megapolis. Her family was there, biologically yes her parents lived there, but also emotionally. She spent a lot of time with MK and Redson, the three of them were inseparable and even if she couldn’t cook she still had much to offer. She had humor and company and family.
Sandy encouraged MK to continue therapy after his passing, the kid was very stable and had a good support system, but therapy was always a good decision. It helps and it’s better to keep it up, rather than to wait for a catalyst and need more extensive help. Waiting until some breaking point would only make issues worse and take longer to deal with. It’s always a better decision to refine something than wait till it breaks to repair it.
MK mourned when he buried Sandy, of course he did. Sandy was an important figure in his life, he helped him through so much. But he also knew how to continue with himself. Sandy had taught him well.
MK was still taking care of Flower fruit Mountain, after all, their king was incapacitated, which kinda made him the acting leader, then again there were monkeys and they managed to be alright before, but he liked to visit and keep the place nice and clean.
Mei got a bit more time than the rest, she aged slow because of her dragon heritage but she was far from fully draconic. So time did what it does, and Mei passed away. MK and Redson mourned her, that part would never be in question, they buried her with honor, just like the rest. Kai missed her, she was his auntie. He missed riding through town with her and rewatching the same old movies from before he was born.
Kai was raised knowing the history of his grandparents.
He was taught about the brotherhood, how his Baba’s Baba had wrecked Havoc in Heaven. How he and his Dad’s Mama, alongside their sworn brother, Azure Lion, Yellowtusk, and Peng, had all planned to overthrow the Jade Emperor of Heaven. He learned the why and how they had failed, the punishments they’d all suffered from it. He was told the story of the Hero and the Warrior, their argument and how they had both hurt each other. How they had both hurt each other, how words could leave woulds that extend past the flesh.
He learned about how the monk had come to release Wukong from the mountain, he learned of the circlet and how his Baba had worn one as well. He learned about the monks' efforts to reform the Monkey King. He learned about Macaque attacking the pilgrims, and how Wukong had defended them. He learned how wounds that had been festering for a half a millennia had infected their judgement. How their desperation and pain had led to the warrior’s end.
Kai also learned about the Lady Bone Demon, Macaque’s Revival at her wicked hand. He learned about how she had used him against Monkey King. When she was defeated, his debt had died with her and his life was back in his own hands. He learned about how the Hero and the Warrior had started their own journey, a journey of healing and relearning how to love and care for another
He always visited Flower Fruit Mountain with his parents and for the first few years of visits he would play with the other monkeys and their cubs, eating fruit and roughhousing.
After the first few years, Kai began to stay by his parents, ever curious about what they talked about with two men who probably couldn’t hear them.
After a while he came to realize they talked because they cared. Because even if there was a slight chance that they could hear them, then it was worth it. That’s why he started doing it more, he talked to Mei when they visited her grave and even his other grandparents as well as Sandy. He didn’t meet them, but he wanted them to know him.
Before they knew it, another ten years had passed. Kai was twenty-five.
MK and Redson had agreed to offer their son immortality when he was an adult. A month after his twenty-fifth birthday, Kai’s parents sat down with him, he already knew they were immortal, it was pretty hard to hide. He had many mortal and immortal friends, he knew the benefits and disadvantages of both pretty well.
They explained that they could make him immortal like him, but he would barely age anymore, if only to accommodate his mind and powers. They explained that this choice couldn't be undone, he’d be granted eternal life like they were.
Kai needed time to think about this, his parents understood that well. They told him to take ample time, the deal was not going to expire anytime.
Kai discussed the decision with his friends, mortal and immortal. Most, if not all, encourage him to take this opportunity. So he did, he came to his parents six months after their discussion, telling them that he accepted. Shortly after his twenty-sixth birthday, he was immortalized.
Megapolis grew around them, not big, the city was already pretty great, but trees got bigger and buildings changed, even just slightly. They all fell into a bit of a routine, a pleasant one that always seemed to find new ways to keep them from boring to death.
Pigsy’s Noodles continued to remain one of the best restaurants in the city and it stayed a staple of Megapolis. It brought in amazing business and good money.
Demons were becoming more and more integrated into daily life, MK and Redson obviously participated heavily in that, earning a reputation for their acceptance, though to them it was basic decency.
Demons were beginning to become more and more accepting as generations progressed and less of them were driven to crime because of it. They were getting help and proper healthcare instead of being shunned to the corners of society’s shadows. MK found himself acting in a hero role less and less, which he found himself proud of. It meant he did a good job.
By the 9th century, demons were everywhere, they were a part of the culture and everyone grew better because of it. More and more of Megapolis became accessible to everyone, literature became richer and fuller, education and intelligence rates of the schools and districts surrounding them began to rise.
Megapolis was quickly becoming a growing community of vibrant individuals and friends. MK found comfort in the fact that Sandy, his Dad and Papa, would be proud of the world that this was becoming.
MK hadn’t even realized how long it had been since his parents fell asleep growing the egg.
MK, Redson and Kai were at the mountain earlier that day, they all had spoken to the sleeping monkeys themselves, just as they had been doing for literal centuries. Afterward, Red had gone to tidy up the house and make sure everything was ready, even if they thought they weren’t even close to when MK’s parents would wake up. It was still routine. MK was training with Kai, something they had started two-hundred odd years ago.
They’d since gone home hours ago, all getting ready for the next day before settling down into bed for the night. Mk took inventory of their supplies, Redson did the dishes and put them into their places, and Kai made sure the tuk-tuk was in good shape for tomorrow's deliveries
Wukong awoke with a start, the spell had fallen around them a moment ago, panting heavily before he looked up and noticed the figure on the pedestal in front of him, blocking the morning sunlight. He looked up to see the backside of his child, she looked about two, maybe three years old. She had his ears and brown fur, looking like an adorable mix of his and his husband’s fur.
She was silent as she turned around, having realized he was staring at her. He looked for a moment, not really knowing what to say. The cub tilted her head at him, seeming to be taking in his form as well.
Wukong took a breath in before trying to speak, his voice cracking as he greeted his daughter. She reached her tiny little hand out, moving slowly at first before quickly pulling his bangs curiously. He yelped softly in pain, remarking on how much of a menace she was, his smile unhidable. She really was his daughter.
Both of the monkeys heard a gasp on the other side of the pedestal, the cub turning her head back while Wukong leaned to look just past his daughter.
Sitting there with wide eyes, was none other than Macaque. Wukong didn't know why he was surprised at first, who else would be there.
The cub tilted her head in mild confusion before seeming to realize who he was, immediately curling forth to reach for his ears, curious about the differing appendages, but she lost her balance on the pedestal and fell forward into her Mama’s arms, landing with a small noise.
She was initially startled by gravity, having experienced its effects for the first time, before warming to the feeling of her mama’s fur and cuddling into his arms.
Wukong crawled closer and his arms came around his husband and freshly hatched child. Macaque and Wukong took in her features, smiling as they realized that she had Macaque’s mask, Wukong’s bangs, Macaque's eyes, and thankfully only Wukong's ears. They both agreed that she was perfect, and she was theirs.
Which is why it was so startling when she suddenly shadow-portaled away.
Macaque and Wukong shared a look of agreement and Macaque dove into the shadows himself while Wukong went to go call their son.
Wukong spent little time on the lockscreen, barely glancing at the time before calling his son.
It took a minute but soon he heard his son's voice, only deeper than he expected but he chalked that up to it being early and the likelihood that MK had been asleep. He told his son that he had someone waiting at the mountain who wanted to see him. MK seemed to begin shouting to another person, from the pet name of “Firelily” there were limited options, before abruptly hanging up. When had his son moved in with his boyfriend?
How long had they been out?
Wukong pushed the thought away before going to his bedroom, seeing his mate’s shadow and knowing that he had found their daughter.
Less than twenty minutes had passed before they heard it. A voice, not their sons, a different young man’s. Wukong shared a confused look with Macaque’s shadowy figure before he gave a nod and stepped out of the shadows, coaxing his daughter out while Wukong went ahead to scope out whoever else was there.
That was not MK’s, but it was one that called for his own Baba.
The boy called for his Dad to hurry, urging his Baba to slow down. That's when he heard the thundering of shoes against stone steps. The young man sounded worried but Wukong didn’t care for details on an intruder’s life. If there was any intruder he needed to protect his mate and his new cub. He pulled his staff out of his ear, and held it ready.
With a clang, the golden banded staff dropped when he saw his own son, his much older son standing there instead of the young man they remembered him being. Wukong's heart sank at the sight, he realized that it had been so much longer than he’d initially thought it to be. It wasn’t very long before Macaque stepped outside and gasped at the sight of their eldest.
MK’s legs felt weaker and his body shook as his eyes watered. His parents.. They were awake.
Before he knew it. He had dropped to the ground like a sack of flour. His Baba rushed in to catch him and hug him close
How long has it been, he wanted to ask. But their son, a millennium older and wiser, answered before they could.
One thousand fifty years, he said. The two men were horrified at that answer, they’d been asleep that long? That was a terrifying notion.
Their world only grew harder to believe when a teenager in a red pajama set, soon followed by Redson, appeared behind. Redson was shocked and came to MK’s side. Wukong covered his mouth for a moment, slowly connecting the dots that the teenager was his grandson.
Macaque looked worried that their son would hate them for this, that fear melted when MK waved him closer, hugged him tightly, careful not to hurt the cub. He smiled and whispered that she looked amazing
Macaque and Wukong hugged their son back and Redson guided his son toward the cuddle pile.
MK rambled about the past millennia to his parents for a while before explaining that they had gotten married and had a son. MK looked toward Kai, motioning for him to introduce himself.
“Hello… I’m Kai, I’m your grandson.”
THE END(?)