AN: A big thanks to everyone who's read this story.
As their journey had continued and Tripitaka had found herself getting better and better at fighting, she'd thought it was a combination of practise and Monkey's good teaching.
Only now did she realised that Sandy had been right on the money: she had simply been remembering her training as a War Maiden.
With only a dagger as her weapon, she struggled against Gold and his strong attacks, though unlike the last time she had Monkey fighting alongside her. He was taking the brunt of the God turned demon's strikes, but luckily, they didn't slow him down.
Padma and Wolf fought against Silver, and were faring better. Pigsy and Sandy were fighting against the other demons, though it wasn't much of a fight; the lesser demons were nothing more than cannon fodder for the two Gods.
When the other demons were finished, Pigsy and Sandy jumped in to help the others, the former helping Padma and Wolf while the latter helped Tripitaka and Monkey. Tripitaka, whose muscles were starting to burn with exhaustion, was grateful for the ease of pressure.
Silver was the first to go down. Pigsy struck him with lightning, and while the demon was stunned, Wolf kicked his hand to deprive him of his weapon. Padma ran him through with her sword.
"Rot in Hell, you son of a bitch," she snarled as she withdrew her sword.
The demon burst into ash.
Gold was helpless to do anything to save his brother. "No!"
Momentarily distracted, he was hit in the head by Sandy, while Tripitaka swooped in and cut off his sword-bearing hand. The demon let out a cry and collapsed to his knees.
Monkey stood before him with his staff raised. "I suggest that you and your brother don't ever try this again." He struck Gold in the chest, and the demon exploded into ash.
Everyone took a moment to catch their breath.
"Is it just me," Pigsy spoke up, "or was that really anti-climactic?"
Monkey didn't care that the fight had been short. Tripitaka – Cada – was safe. She had been struggling in her battle against Gold thanks to her human body, and Monkey had feared that she would be killed once again.
But she hadn't, and with no Godly bureaucracy keeping them apart, they were free to be together. And if any Gods in the Western Mountains wanted to argue, they'd just have to kiss his-
"The scroll is yours." Padma presented the Scroll of Love to Tripitaka, who accepted it with a smile.
She then handed it to Monkey, who added it to their ever-growing collection on his back. "What will you do?" he asked the pair.
Padma shared a look with Wolf. "We need to stay here and protect the people of this Kingdom. With the Horned Brothers gone, other demon lords will be looking to claim their territory. And there's also King Rajesh to deal with."
"Or you could just, you know, wait for him to die," Pigsy suggested. "Technically, you're next in line for the throne."
She shrugged. "His nobles will have something to say about that, but it's an idea."
Tripitaka stepped forwards and gave her friend a hug. "I hope we meet again when all this is over."
"Me, too." Padma hugged her back.
Monkey clutched hands with Wolf. It was still weird to think about that the demon he had fought (and at one point killed) had once been a God, and one he had known at that. "Take care."
"You too, Monkey King."
And then they were on their way, continuing on their journey to find the two remaining Sacred Scrolls.
"What is the next scroll, Tripitaka?" Sandy asked.
"The Scroll of Peace." Tripitaka leaned against Monkey, and he wrapped an arm around her. "And after that is the Scroll of…" She trailed off and giggled when Monkey leaned down and started nibbling her ear. "Monkey, stop!"
"Forgive me for wanting to make up for five hundred years." He smirked and winked at her. She bumped his shoulder with hers.
Pigsy rolled his eyes and looked at Sandy. "Well, this journey just got longer."
END NOTES: I first thought of the idea for this story two years ago, some time after my third or fourth re-watch of season 1. The release of season 2 finally gave me the motivation to write it, but thanks to a combination of an extremely fickle muse and lack of time (too busy with RL, too busy writing other stuff), I ended up rushing it. A lot.
This story was supposed to be longer. It was supposed to dive deeper into the entire concept of the red string of fate and reincarnation, not to mention dive deeper into the emotions of the characters. But I wanted to get this story done and out of the way, and looking back on it, I'm not entirely satisfied with how it turned out.
I guess what I'm saying it, I'm sorry for not writing this thing to the best of my ability, and if the muse ever hits again then I might re-write a better version. But knowing my track record, it probably won't happen. If anyone wants to use any concepts or plot points from this fic (or heck, even write their own version), then feel free.