Disclaimer: I don't own this awesome show, nor do I claim to. I'm just playing in the sandbox until we get a season three.

AN: I've been making a habit of completing stories entirely before posting, but I'm making an exception with this one because I just couldn't wait. Season two was so good. :)

"Where is she?! Why isn't she here?!"

The hooded Gods before him didn't respond. Monkey reached for his staff, determined to tear them all apart until they told him where she was, but came up empty. Which made sense.

He was dead.

One of the Gods stepped forwards, pulling back her hood. It was Gwen.

"She has been with you all along."

Before Monkey could ask what she meant by that, he was violently yanked away from the Heavens.

Tripitaka was standing in the gardens of Jade Mountain, blossom falling all around her. That, along with the bright sunshine overhead, told her that what she was seeing was a moment in time before the demon uprising.

She was filled with the familiar feeling of memory walking; it was the same feeling she'd experienced when witnessing Monkey's memories alongside him. But she wasn't connected to Monkey. Why would she be seeing his memories?

Laughter filled the garden, and Tripitaka turned to see a young woman – a Goddess – running through a white archway. Long golden hair cascaded down her back and a golden tan caressed her skin, but her most striking feature was the pair of golden eyes that were almost glowing. Unlike most Goddesses, she wore men's shirt and trousers, and there was a dagger attached to her hip.

She was carrying a load of peaches in her arms and kept looking behind her. "Come on, Monkey! Hurry!"

The familiar God ran through the archway behind her, and Tripitaka couldn't help the gasp that escaped past her lips.

It had been a week since Monkey had launched himself into the sun, and there was still no sign of him. After building a funeral pyre for Gaxin and watching his body burn away into ash, Tripitaka, Pigsy and Sandy had waited by the tree all night and all the following day. After the second night had passed and the sun had risen again, Monkey still hadn't returned.

And Pigsy had been forced to separate a screaming Tripitaka from the scrolls.

"It didn't work! Let me try!"

"And what if it did work? You'd die for nothing. Give Monkey time."

Time.

Tripitaka wanted to be patient; back at Lion Heart Rock, she'd spoken to Gaxin about his own resurrection, and he'd told her he hadn't returned until six weeks after his death. Which had then been followed by two weeks of Monica nursing him back to health. Granted, Monkey wouldn't need that much recovery time since he was a God instead of a human, but that didn't mean it wouldn't take a while for Monkey to pop back up again. She just had to wait.

But she also wanted Monkey back, right now. And she knew how impatient he was; knew he wouldn't wait to make his way back to her. If it was taking him this long…

The temptation to get the scrolls was close to unbearable, and it took every ounce of the Scholar's teachings to keep her from storming up to Pigsy and snatching them from him.

Because as much as she didn't want to think about it, maybe there was a reason the incantation didn't work. Maybe the Gods didn't want Monkey to return. That thought ignited the fires of rage within her, because how could they? He died saving all of them. He deserved a second chance at life.

The Monkey in the memory ran towards her, arms full of peaches, and Tripitaka wanted desperately for him to see her. But it was only a memory, and he ran right past her without even sparing her a second glance.

"Cada! Up here!" Monkey ran towards the largest tree in the garden and leapt up it with ease, landing perfectly on one of the higher branches.

The Goddess, Cada, turned on her heel and ran towards the tree. She too was able to leap up and land on the branch next to him without any effort. The pair stayed quiet as an older God wearing a long white robe hurried into the garden, flustered and angry.

"Where is that little piece of…" His gaze scanned the garden, but he didn't think to look up into the trees. Which, Tripitaka reasoned with a giggle, he really should have done, given that one of the Gods he was looking for was named Monkey. With a huff, the God stormed away to continue his search elsewhere.

When he was gone, Monkey turned to Cada and said, "You're welcome!"

She frowned. "And what am I thanking you for?"

"Because I was the distraction, he's only looking for me," said Monkey. "I told you it would work."

Cada bumped him with her shoulder. "It was my plan!"

"Yes! And I told you your plan would work," said Monkey. "Without my confidence and superior ability to pull off plans of mischief, you would have been caught."

She bumped him again, and the two laughed together as they shared the peaches between them.

Tripitaka smiled at the sight of Monkey looking so happy. Her gaze was then drawn to the Goddess, and she wondered what happened to her. Cada hadn't been present in Monkey's other memories, particularly Monkey's trial. Added to that, Monkey had referred to Davari as his only friend, but he was clearly on good terms with this Goddess. She wondered what that meant.

As she watched them eat, Tripitaka realised that she was starting to get hot. Her hand wiped away the sweat on her brow, and her nostrils flared at the smell of smoke. She looked around her for the fire, but the memory remained peaceful. She couldn't even see the smoke.

Her eyes widened when she suddenly realised that the smell wasn't coming from the memory, and in the next moment she snapped her eyes open and found herself lying on her sleeping matt on the floor in a room filled with smoke. The day's events flashed back to her, and she really should have known that collecting the fourth scroll wasn't going to be as easy as it seemed.

The Scroll of Spirits had been given to a monastery for protection. When Tripitaka had arrived at the door with her companions and spoken her name, the monks had let them inside without a fuss and handed over the scroll. And since it was nightfall when they arrived, they had been allowed to stay the night with the intention of setting off first thing in the morning.

Tripitaka wondered if the fire had been caused by a demon attack, but there was no time for contemplation. She ignored every instinct in her body screaming at her to climb to her feet and run. She needed to stay close to the floor, where the smoke wasn't as thick. Struggling to breathe, she pulled her scarf up over her nose and mouth before crawling in the direction of the door.

It was impossible to see even a few centimetres in front of her. She struggled to keep her eyes open as they started watering, and continued crawling forwards. When she reached the sliding door, she used the back of her hand to feel the frame further up.

She gasped and snapped her hand back. The whole door was flaming hot. There was a good chance that if she opened it, she would walk into an inferno.

Even with her scarf covering most of her face, it was getting harder to breathe. But she pressed on, turning around and crawling in the direction of the window. It took longer this time; she could feel her energy burning away as the room grew hotter and hotter. She was tempted to find her water canteen and pour it over her head, but there was no time. Not to mention there was a good chance that the water itself was already too hot to do any good.

Finally she reached the far wall, and pulled herself to her feet. She pushed against the window shutters, but they were jammed.

She was trapped.

"Help!" She banged her fists against the shutters. If they didn't open, then hopefully someone would hear the noise. "I'm in here! Help!"

It was all she was able to shout before she was overtaken by a coughing fit, which sent her tumbling to the floor. And very quickly, she realised she was too weak to get back up again.

"Help…" Tripitaka's throat was dry, and the word was barely a whisper.

Her world started to go dark.

Suddenly there was a loud crash, and Tripitaka felt the window shutters blow past her like paper in the wind. She tried to turn her head to see what was going on, but could barely move. A pair of arms scooped her up before she was pressed against the warm body of her rescuer, who wasted no time in jumping back out of the window into the night. There was a brief rush of wind against her face before Tripitaka was gently placed onto solid ground.

She could hear shouting, and vaguely recognised the voices of Pigsy and Sandy, calling her name. And another name. A familiar one.

With the little strength she had left, Tripitaka turned her head to look up at the face of her rescuer.

A pair of red eyes stared down at her. But the face around them was one she knew.

"Monkey…"