Legends say that I don't own Lego Monkie kid.

The forest beyond the trees

MK blew into his hands, rubbing them together for warmth as he pulled up outside the restaurant. It was pretty cold for this time of year, and there was a thin blanket of snow on the ground, he wondered if it was a side effect of the Lady Bone Demon. Well if this was the worst of it, he wasn't going to complain, the snow was nice at least. "Pigsy!" MK called out as he entered "I'm taking my break now, cool?"

"Yeah, fine" Pigsy nodded as he cleaned the counter "we don't have any new orders anyway."

"How's the weather out there, MK?" Tang asked as MK took off his coat.

"Cold!" He shuddered with a laugh "but really pretty." He took a seat next to the scholar just as Pigsy placed a bowl of hot noodles in front of him that he wasted no time digging into. "Mm, this is so good after being out there all morning" he gushed as he eagerly ate his lunch.

Pigsy couldn't help but snort as he watched the kid, shaking his head fondly. Not that he could blame him; he could feel the chilly breeze from the door, especially as Sandy and Mei entered. "Hey, look who we found" Sandy said cheerfully, stepping aside to reveal Bai He.

"Please can we keep her, please" Mei asked playfully, hugging the younger girl tight, making her giggle "I'll walk her every day, I will."

"Leave the poor kid alone, Mei" Pigsy scolded her, but his amusement didn't go unnoticed. Bai He had become a regular at the restaurant ever since they'd return home, she was grateful to all of them for saving her from the nightmare of being the Lady Bone Demon's host, and for all the help they gave her afterwards. "So, your usual?" he asked as she walked up to the counter.

"No thank you, I'm just here to drop these off" she said as she dug around her bag, pulling out several envelopes and handing them out. Each looked to be personalized for each of them.

MK smiled as he took the envelops in hand, studying the yellow paper "what are these?"

"Invitations, now that everything's a little calmer I'm having a party for all of us!" She explained cheerfully.

"Ooh, that sounds fun!" Sandy gushed as he held his blue invitation close.

"Count me in!" Mei agreed, admiring her green one.

"Can't remember the last time I went to a party" Pigsy admitted, turning the grey envelope over in his hand.

"So you'll all come?" She asked hopefully.

"Of course" Tang assured her as he pocketed his dark red one "it's bound to be more fun than the mandatory faculty parties I usually have to attend."

"Hang on" Mk suddenly spoke up. He'd just noticed he and Mei had been given two invitations. Mei's extra was bright red and his was peach pink "how come Mei and I have two?" He asked, holding up his extra for emphasis.

"Hey yeah, afraid we'll lose ours?" Mei asked playfully with a smirk.

Bai He giggled "no, that one's for Red Son" she explained "I was hoping you could give it to him since you guys are so close."

" What? Pfft, w-we're not…we're not that close!" Mei chuckled nervously with a blush, although it was obvious nobody believed her "but I promise I'll make sure he gets it."

"What about this one?" MK asked.

"That's for His Majesty."

MK stiffened, eyes bulging slightly as he began to sweat "o-oh, you mean…Monkey King?" He asked hesitantly. The others looked at him, confused by his sudden change in demeanor. What was so strange about Bai He wanting to invite Monkey King? They'd talked quite a bit during the trip home and seemed surprisingly close, heck she went with MK to Flower Fruit Mountain almost every Saturday.

"…Ah, I-I don't know Bai He" MK stuttered, scratching the back of his head as he avoided her gaze "I-I'm not sure he'd…you know, the thing is-"

"Just give him the invitation, please" Bai He pleaded, flashing him hopeful puppy dog eyes. It was like they were having a silent conversation between the two of them, and Bai He appeared to have won as MK sighed in defeat.

"Yeah, okay" he agreed reluctantly.

Bai He's smiled returned tenfold "oh, I almost forgot" she pulled out another envelope, this one dark purple "do you think you could give Mr. Mac his too?"

"I mean I'll try" MK promised as he took the third invitation. Macaque did seem to have a soft spot for Bai He, not that he'd ever admit it "but usually I don't find Macaque so much as he finds me."

"I know, he likes to stalk you" she joked, earning a chuckle from MK.

"Oh, speaking of Monkey King, I gotta get going" he said, quickly finishing his noodles, choking a few times.

"You're training in this weather?" Sandy asked in surprise.

"Your opponents won't wait for a sunny, summer day" MK said, no doubt repeating something the Great Sage had told him as he grabbed his coat and dashed out the door.

It'd been a few days since Bai He had told them about the party, and because she was getting it ready, they hadn't seen her much. So it was a pleasant surprise when she dropped by that afternoon "hey Bai He" Pigsy greeted as the girl entered the restaurant.

MK looked up from his moping as she sat at the counter. "Oh, hey Bai He!" He said with a smile "so I haven't run into Macaque yet, but I noticed this morning his invitation was gone so safe bet he's coming" he said with a sly smirk.

"Good to hear" she said as she accepted a bowl of noodles "what about His Majesty?"

MK flinched, running a hand through his hair "sooo…here's the thing-"

"He's not coming, is he?" Bai He suddenly cut him off. The others looked at them in surprise, there was no way that was true, right?

"…I'm sorry Bai He" MK sighed softly, lowering his head, the others shock grew. "He was really touched you invited him, he really was" he assured her "but he thought it would be better if he didn't go, he didn't want to ruin your party."

"Huh?" Mei whispered, sharing a confused look with the others, what did that mean?

"It's okay MK" the young girl assured him. She sounded disappointed, but not surprised "I knew it was a long shot. Thanks for trying."

"Monkey King really isn't coming?" Tang asked in surprise.

"I don't get it" Mei couldn't help but huff "who passes up a party with their friends?"

"Since when are you guys and His Majesty friends?"

The others gaped, caught off guard as they stared at Bai He, she looked and sounded genuinely confused. "Wh…why would you think we weren't friends?" Mei asked.

Bai He stared at her like she were speaking in tongue "cause you guys hate him?" She answered slowly, like it should've been obvious.

"What are you talking about?!" Pigsy cried in disbelief. Sure, he wasn't the guy's biggest fan but hated him? That was a bit harsh.

"Yeah, we don't hate Mr. King!" Mei added as Tang nodded franticly. "MK, tell her!" Mei cried, looking to her best friend for backup.

"Hm? Yeah, what they said I guess" MK agreed half-heartedly, lifting his gaze from his mopping to his friends. "Oh, you're being serious?" He asked doubtfully when he caught sight of the looks they were giving him.

It was like they'd been sucker punched. Bai He thinking this was one thing, maybe she heard something she'd misunderstood, but MK?! "Why would you two think that?" Tang asked, he was a huge Monkey King fan! Why would anyone think he'd hate him?!

"Well I mean…you guys didn't really hide your feelings about everything with him leaving and the samadhi fire" MK explained carefully "… least of all from him" he muttered under his breath.

"Hey! We had a right to be mad at him for that!" Pigsy snapped defensively "he-"

"No one said you didn't!" Bai He suddenly cried, startling them "even His Majesty thinks so, he defends you all the time! But how could anyone think you guys are friends with him when Pigsy banned him for life from the restaurant and Mei told him she'd never forgive him and to stay away from her? Not to mention all that talk about how he ruined MK's life, and how you wish MK never found his staff."

"…You heard all that?" Mei looked away, rubbing her arm.

" Everyone did" MK replied, sounding equally annoyed " really appreciate being dragged into this by the way" he added sarcastically. Mei and Pigsy flinched, they'd actually forgotten they'd said most of that, they'd just been so angry at the time. Now that they were rehearing it, though, they couldn't deny a lot of what they'd said had been uncalled for.

"But I didn't do anything, right?" Sandy asked awkwardly.

"No, I think he just doesn't know how to talk to you" MK reassured him. Sandy nodded, but that didn't give him much piece of mind. He hated to think he'd said or done something to make the Great Sage uncomfortable around him. Or worse, the lack of communication and interaction had given off the wrong impression.

"I don't remember saying anything" Tang said, scratching his head.

"Well…you did avoid him the whole trip home-"

"No, no, no, I thought he was mad at me!" Tang cried in a panic "you know for the whole…unwilling-accomplice-in-the-ritual…thing! I was just trying to give him some space."

"Oh! I'm pretty sure he's only angry at Macaque" MK assured him. Tang felt sick, had he really given Monkey King the wrong idea? It never occurred to him Monkey King might interpret the opposite but if Mk had assumed as much…

"So how could we not think you hate him?" Bai He spoke again, her hands began to tremble "why wouldn't he think that? When all his mistakes are constantly rubbed in his face? When he's never allowed to forget his mess ups? Why does everyone else gets a second chance, get to move on, but him?!"

Her eyes began to water as she looked up from her lap, her expressing filled with agony " you don't even know him! No one dose anymore! " She cried.

Everyone stared at her in stunned silence, none of them sure how to answer. "I gotta go" she said softly as she got up from her seat and walked out, scrubbing her eyes. She was gone before anyone could speak.

"…I didn't tell you guys about the Lady Bone Demon either, you know" MK suddenly spoke up, not looking at them. "I thought I was protecting you, and it took a while, but I realized that's what Monkey King was doing. He was trying to protect me" he casually returned to his work, leaving them to mull over his and Bai He's words.

"…Hi" everyone looked up to find Bai He awkwardly standing at the entrance, staring at her feet. They couldn't deny they were relieved to see her after yesterday, especially when they couldn't stop thinking about what she'd said.

"Hey, Bai He" Mei said gently, not wanting to upset her again.

"MK's out on delivery" Pigsy told her, Bai He nodded, fiddling with her hands as she slowly walked up to the counter and took a seat. For a while, they were all quiet, the poor girl refusing to meet any of their eyes.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you guys yesterday" she finally said "I just…when she took over both of us…I don't really know how to describe it, we were like, stuck in this void together? While we were there…I don't know, it was like we shared a brain? And I saw his memories and felt his feelings and….it wasn't all good, I honestly don't know how he doesn't have a breakdown everyday" she confessed.

"What do you mean?" Tang asked gently.

Bai He looked up at them "you know all about his adventures, right?" She asked carefully as they nodded, Tang probably knew the best out of the four of them, but between him and MK they got the gist of it "I never really gave those stories much thought before, but now…I can't see the trees anymore, just the forest."

"The forest?" Mei asked in confusion.

"Oh! Like that expression missing the forest for the trees" Sandy chimed in, his expression becoming grim "it basically means if you only focus on what's in front of you, you'll never see the big picture. Its especially bad when you do it to people."

Bai He nodded "I've realized Sun Wukong is to Monkey King what forest is to trees" she explained quietly.

"What do you mean?" Pigsy asked, trying to understand where she was going with this.

"I don't think Wukong realizes it's okay to not be okay. I…I don't think he knows how to be loved anymore. He's broken and no one seems to care." She looked down sadly "not even him" she whispered.

They stared at her, speechless. How where they supposed to respond to that? Except for Sandy, they weren't even sure they knew what she was talking about, and even he was sure he was missing something.

Before anyone could ask further questions, MK came through the door. "Hey Pigsy, I'm done for now so I'm gonna…" he trailed off when he felt the tension in the room "…is everything alright?" He asked gently, worried another fight had broken out.

Bai He nodded "yep, lets go" she said as she got up from her seat. Right, it was Saturday. Without another word, she followed the young hero out, leaving the others lost in deep thought.

So lost they didn't even notice the shadows moving in the corner.

"What about this one?" Mei hummed as she glanced at the box of chocolates Red Son was holding. After accepting his invitation in typical Red Son fashion, he'd insisted on finding something to bring to the party as a token of gratitude, no matter how many times she told him it wasn't necessary.

Mei supposed she couldn't blame him; if the occasional gala he'd attended with his Mother were anything like the ones her parents had dragged her to, she knew the kind of way he'd been expected to act.

"Uh, I guess…" she trailed off, looking down.

"What is with you today, Dragon Girl?" He asked with an arched brow. Mei quietly stared back at Red Son. Red Son who'd once been MK's sworn enemy, who'd been actively trying to kill her best friend when they'd first met. Now they were close friends, even if he wouldn't admit it.

She'd forgiven Red Son with surprising ease, but Monkey King?

"I'm a hypocrite" she suddenly announced.

He snorted "who isn't? We're all guilty of hypocrisy…but I suspect this is about something specific. Is this…something you wish to…discuss?" He asked awkwardly with a wince.

Mei smiled with an amused snort; he really was trying. "Monkey King isn't coming to the party because of us" she confessed after a bit, her grin falling "Bai He and MK both think we hate him. Which means he probably dose too…"

"Oh he absolutely does" Red Son told her bluntly.

"What?!" Mei cried "wha-how do you know?!"

"Simple, I overheard him talking to Noodle Boy" the demon continued, still browsing the selection of sweets. "For what it's worth, he holds no ill will towards any of you for it" he flinched as he looked up at her and caught sight of her horrified expression "…but I'm sensing that is not reassuring."

"Red Son" Mei began, her voice deadly serious "what exactly did he say?"

"He just reassured the peasant that it was normal."

"Excuses me, normal?!" What was that even supposed to mean, and why did it make her want to vomit? "You don't really think a couple of angry words would get to him like that do you?" she asked nervously "I mean he's the Monkey King for crying out loud!"

"While I agree he's certainly heard more than enough over time to develop a think enough skin, he's not made of stone" Red Son shrugged, before replaying that statement in his head "I mean…well you know what I mean!" He sighed in aggravation "look if you're that bothered by it, why don't you just…I don't know, talk to him?"

Mei groaned "easier said than done" Red Son couldn't help nodding in agreement.

"Well, I might have an idea" a coy voice suddenly echoed around them. The two were instantly on guard as a familiar dark furred monkey emerged from the shadows with a smirk, a purple envelope clutch in his tail.

"You know, if you're interested in taking suggestions from little old me."

Macaque's suggestion had actually not been terrible, if Monkey King wouldn't come to them, they'd go to him. The plan they came up with was to essentially corner him in his own home, not great admittedly, especially when said outload, but they were choosing to interpret it as an unannounced visit.

Problem was, they'd forgotten MK was the only one who could get passed the waterfall. So they had no explanation to offer for how they'd gotten passed without telling him Macaque shadow portal-ed them from Sandy's boat.

"Alright, I'll be the first to admit we could've planned this better" Mei confessed with a sigh of aggravation as they walked along the path. They did their best to hide among the greenery, but it was hard to remain stealthy with all the monkeys staring at them.

"Are they glaring at us?" Pigsy asked nervously as he eyed the dirty looks on the little monkeys' faces "I think their glaring at us."

"Maybe it's because we're strangers?" Tang suggested weakly "MK did say it took a while for them to warm up to him" although a voice in his head had its doubts. They finally emerged into the clearing that housed Monkey King's little home, looking around, they found no sign of the Great Sage. "What smells so nice?" He mumbled as he looked up to the house, faint steam coming from a window.

Pigsy inhaled deeply "soup, vegetables if I'm not mistaken."

"That's good right? It means he should be home" Sandy pointed out optimistically.

"Okay, but where is he?" the chef asked, looking at him with an arched brow "he could be anywhere on this mountain and I don't know about you, but I don't feel like hiking!"

Tang hummed as he looked around, trying to get an idea of where Monkey King could be. "He can't be far, maybe we can ask the monkeys. Hey little guys" he said as he walked over to a few and crouched down "you wouldn't happen to know where Monkey King is, would you?" The three little monkeys stared at him blankly.

"Oh yeah, this is going great" Pigsy said sarcastically.

"At least I'm trying!"

"Hey, do you hear that?" Sandy suddenly asked, the others picked up on the faint sound. It sounded like a voice. Curiosity taking over, Mei began making her way in the direction, following one of the little paths leading away from the house, the guys right behind her.

It didn't take long before they reached a spot where they found Monkey King hanging up some laundry on a clothesline, his back to them. The voice, as it turned out, was his. He was wearing a pair of headphones and was singing and dancing along with the music, completely oblivious to their presence. A few monkeys were gathered around watching happily.

Mei smiled at the sight; it reminded her so much of MK. "Should we try getting his attention?" Tang asked.

Before anyone could answer, Monkey King turned around with the now empty basked in his hands. " We can't go on together, with suspicious minds" Monkey King sang as he began walking back to his house with a little dance " and we can't build our dreams, on suspicious mi- AHHH!" Monkey King cried out as he finally noticed them, jumping in shock as he dropped the basket. The others jumped too, equally surprised "h-how-where-?" Monkey King stuttered as he looked around, hand on his chest "Kid! I warned you not to-!"

"MK's not here!" Mei said quickly, hands up "we…we were in the area and we…just thought…we'd say…hello?"

"…You were in the area?" Monkey King repeated slowly, staring at her skeptically as he set the headphones around his neck, music off.

"Uh y-yeah!" She smiled awkwardly "w-we were taking Sandy's boat out, a-and next thing we know, here we are!" She clapped her hands with a laugh. The others nodding in agreement with forced smiles.

"Uh huh" Monkey King nodded, not looking very convinced "and you got passed the falls how?"

"…You left them open?"

"…Let's say I believe that" Monkey King began as he picked his basket back up and began walking towards his house, the rest following close behind "MK isn't here so…"

"Right, we know, but uh…" Tang wrung his hands trying to come up with something. "…Uh, wow that smells great!" He said enthusiastically as they reapproached his house "you-you know we haven't had lunch yet." His appetite was well known, even by Monkey King by this point, so maybe he could get away with trying to get a free meal out of him.

Monkey King paused at the door, balancing the basket on his hip. "Uh thanks?" He said slowly "I, uh, I can get you a to-go bag if you like?"

"Oh, but soup is so much better when it's hot and fresh" Tang continued, giving the best puppy dog face someone his age could without being creepy.

"Uhhh…" Monkey King looked back and forth between them and his home, clearly trying to come up with a reason why they couldn't stay. "O-okay I guess that's the hospitable thing to do" he finally caved with a sigh, no doubt something he'd learned from his former masters.

Wordlessly, Monkey King entered his home, reluctantly accepting they'd be following. "Using your freeloading for good, are yeah?" Pigsy snarked, nudging Tang playfully as they entered.

Tang smirked "it worked, didn't it?"

Pigsy looked around as they waited, honestly surprised at how cozy the place was. He always assumed Monkey King lived in a palace with more space than he knew what to do with, he hadn't expected something so modest. "So you uh…you don't have a dining table or anything huh?" He asked absentmindedly, they were all seated in the living room while Monkey King was hidden away in the kitchen.

"Uh…not really? I don't really, you know, entertain much" he confessed as he reemerged, balancing several bowls with surprising ease, handing one to each of them.

Pigsy couldn't help staring at his bowl suspiciously, his chef's instincts on high alert. "This aint your hair, is it?" He asked, recalling something MK told him "cause I can't in good conscience-"

"Its vegetables I grow out back" Monkey King said as he sat down "and those aren't hair either, I buy the seeds offline."

"You garden?" Sandy asked with a smile, Monkey King nodded. Huh, they hadn't expected that. They fell into an awkward silence as they ate, they had to admit, the soup wasn't half bad. They glanced in Monkey Kings direction a few times; he was sitting as far away from them as he could avoiding eye contact.

He also hadn't touched his bowl "aren't you gonna eat?" Tang asked.

Monkey King shrugged "waiting for it to cool down, not really a fan of hot foods." Tang flinched, kicking himself. He should've known he wasn't a fan of hot foods, not after the molten copper!

Mei looked around, beginning to grow nervous, this was going nowhere fast. Her eyes finally fell on a large bookshelf lined with movies "um, wow! That's quite the collection!" She said cheerfully, it was better than nothing.

Monkey King blinked and glanced at the movies "I…guess?"

Okay, this was a start "so…are they all based on your adventures?"

"Uh, just that shelf" he said, pointing to the left side with his tail. Mei looked it up and down, nearly the whole left side was full, practically bursting, and they were all about his adventures? She knew there were a lot of films and shows about the Monkey King, MK had quite the collection himself, but she hadn't realized just how many.

Pigsy whistled, equally impressed. It was more than he thought existed "dang that's a lot, surprised you're not sick of hearing about yourself yet" he snorted. It was supposed to be a joke, some good-natured ribbing, but the way Monkey King tensed suggested he either didn't know that or didn't take it that way.

"Heh, yeah" Monkey King responded, looking away with a strained chuckle.

Mei and Tang shot Pigsy a dirty look "I-I didn't mean…wh-what I meant was-"

"Which ones your favorite?!" Tang asked quickly, hoping to salvage the conversation.

Monkey King jumped in surprise "uh…well, that ones the most accurate…" he explained as he pointed to the movie at the very top of the shelf beginning the lineup "…but gun to my head? I guess the animated series? I-I never really thought about it."

"Most accurate?" Sandy asked in genuine curiosity.

Monkey King nodded "I-I have them organized from most to least accurate. It's not like I expect perfection. Some details have been lost to time, others get reinterpreted or altered but…you know" he shrugged.

"Huh" Mei looked back at the collection with a new perspective. They'd never actually thought about that, never mind whether he would care. They figured he would just love the never-ending attention, but it made sense the more they thought about it. This was his life after all, all his experiences, people he'd known personally "so…that VHS waaayyy down at the bottom-"

"We don't talk about that one" Monkey King said quickly.

"Okey dokey."

"…You guys don't have to do this, you know" Monkey King suddenly said as their bowls became empty.

"What do you mean?" Mei asked.

"Look, I know MK wants us to get along, and I admire that about him, I really do but…you don't have to worry about being all buddy-buddy with me or whatever. I'll tell him you tried so he'll get off your backs, you know, hopefully" he gave them a smile, it was forced, and he still wouldn't look at them.

"You…no, no" Tang said quickly, shaking his head as he set down his bowl "no MK didn't send us, he doesn't even know we're here."

"Yeah, we came here to talk with you because we wanted too" Mei insisted, trying not to come off too forceful.

"…Why?"

The fragile tone in his voice bothered them more than they expected. "Well we…we wanted to clear the air a little" Pigsy began "we never really had a proper discussion after everything that went down, and we realize we said some things that crossed the line-"

"You didn't say anything that wasn't true" Monkey King interrupted "and certainly nothing that hasn't been said before or worse. Trust me, we're good."

Okay, that was a red flag, but they were going to put a pin in it for now. "No" Pigsy continued "no its not all good, we were angry, but that didn't give us the right to speak to you the way we did. At the very least, we should've talked things out once we all cooled down."

"What's to talk about?" It almost looked and sounded like Monkey King was getting frustrated with them now. They had kind of backed him into a corner, but there was something about how tense he looked…

"Well for one thing" Mei began patiently, trying another approach. "We could talk about…" how to word this? "…About why you might have felt… uncomfortable being more open about everything." Did that work? She was going to pretend that worked.

"Does it matter anymore?" Monkey King said, was it their imagination or were his hands shaking? "You're hardly the first people to give up on me" he gave an uncomfortable chuckle "heck, I'm still waiting for day MK does." It was clear he was trying to make a joke, but it wasn't the least bit funny. Worse, something about his face and the way his voice cracked made it painfully obvious he believed his own words.

It was… deeply concerning he thought that way.

"Oh come on!" Pigsy sighed in aggravation "yeah, your right, we had every right to be pissed off with you after all the stupid stunts you pulled."

" Pigsy" Tang hissed but went ignored.

"And yeah, we gave you a hard time, but we're over it now. For crying out loud, just because we were mad at you doesn't mean we hate you!" That had been a little harsh, admittedly, but Pigsy was nothing if not blunt. However, as the pig stared the Great Sage down, a terrible thought suddenly popped into his head.

"You…you do know there's a difference…don't you?"

Monkey King didn't say anything, he didn't need to, his silence said everything.

"Were you afraid to tell us?" Tang suddenly asked quietly. They all turned to look at the scholar, he was staring at his lap with a frown "I did some research on… her" he confessed "and I rediscovered this one part from the journey. There was a demon that disguised herself three times, all three times you killed her" he used air quotes, so the others knew he didn't actually "you saw through her disguise each time, but the others didn't. You tried to tell them, but they didn't believe you, and they ended up kicking you out." Tang looked at him sympathetically "the sources called her the White Bone Spirit, but…it was her, wasn't it?"

The other's eyes widened; they didn't remember hearing this story before. "Did that really happen?" Mei whispered, she vaguely recalled MK mentioning stories where the Monkey King temporarily left the group, but she didn't know he'd been forced to leave.

"And that wasn't the only time it happened" Tang continued, Mei's questions going ignored but also answered. "Was that why you didn't say anything about where you went or Mei having the fourth ring? W-were you afraid it'd happen again?" He asked carefully.

Not carefully enough, evidently, as Monkey King imminently shot up from his seat with an almost panicked look. " Well! This has been interesting!" He said quickly, making his way towards the door "but, uh, wow! Is that the time?! Better get you down the mountain before dark!"

"H-hey wait!" Whatever reaction they'd expected, it hadn't been this.

"You know, Tang makes a lot of sense" Sandy began as they followed him out of the house "that kind of repetitive negative feedback can have a serious impact on one's mental health. The years of solitude probably hasn't done you any favors either."

Mei and Pigsy looked at each other, they hadn't thought of it like that before.

Monkey King blew a raspberry "pfft, y-yeah maybe for dorky mortals" he chuckled nervously "but I'm the Monkey King."

"So humor us" Pigsy tried "yeah, we wouldn't have been happy with you, but we would've understood. If you just explained it to us from the start-"

" IT NEVER MATTERS WHAT I SAY!"

The group froze, stunned by the sudden outburst. Even Monkey King was shocked as he quickly covered his mouth. For a while no one said anything, they simply stared at the Great Sage.

The longer they stared, however, the more they saw.

They saw the way his whole body trembled. The way one shaking hand began to reach for his head before he pulled away. The look of shock and guilt consuming his face, like he was mentally berating himself for speaking.

Oh.

Now they felt like they understood.

Monkey King wore a mask of who everyone expected him to be. In many ways, that was who he was, but most of time it was an act. Worse, the mask had begun falling apart long ago, barely held together by tape and glue. He was a pillar of strength constantly on the verge of crumbling under his own weight.

This was the forest, wasn't it?

" Whoo! Not really sure where that came from!" Monkey King finally spoke with a nervous laugh "s-sorry about that, I uh…" he clapped "...yeah so let's get you-" he imminently went silent when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He didn't need to turn around to know it was Mei.

Not when her hugs were just like Ao Lie's.

Behind him, Mei's eyes began to sting, not wanting to focus on how he flinched when she'd touched him. She wanted to believe he would've done that regardless of who hugged him for a verity of reasons.

She didn't want to believe it was because he thought she might hurt him.

The silence cut through Mei's heart like a knife. There was so much she wanted to say, so much that needed to be fixed, but she had no idea where to start. What if any chance at friendship they could've had was beyond repair?

She had to try, she decided, she just had to.

"Please come to Bai He's party, we really want you to be there… I really want you there" she said quietly, it was all she could think of. It wouldn't fix anything, not even close, but maybe it could be a start? Time felt like it'd slowed down as she waited with bated breath. Waited for assurance, for rejection, for any kind of response.

"…Let me help you get by the volcanos, t-they're tricky" Monkey King said quietly as he gently removed himself from her grip. Still not looking at them, he continued walking forward. The small group watched with heavy hearts; Mei could feel tears run down her cheeks, Pigsy shook his head while Tang and Sandy lowered theirs.

They walked in silence as they followed Monkey King down the mountain. As they boarded Sandy's boat, Monkey King still gave them a smile and waved them off. It was like the smiles he often had during their journey; it was only now they noticed how forced it was.

As the boat sailed back to the city, they watched as the mountain and Monkey King became farther and farther out of reach.

The day of Bai He's party had arrived, and they had to admit, she'd done a great job. There were colorful paper lanterns strung about and a table full of goodies. All in all, it was a great little get together…except it was clear that something was missing.

That someone was missing.

Neither MK or Bai He commented on it, if Red Son noticed, he stayed quiet, and Macaque was as unreadable as ever. The others, however, felt the weight like it was crushing them. "You guys having fun?" MK asked his friends. He'd noticed the way they were kind of huddled together on the couch looking down.

"Yeah, totally" Mei assured him, but even she knew she wasn't convincing. "I'm just…sorry Mr. King didn't come because of us" she confessed with a sigh, staring down at her cup of soda "I wish I'd talk to him sooner, instead of holding a stupid grudge."

"We all should've" Pigsy agreed.

MK frowned sympathetically, taking a seat next to his best friend. "Look, I know Bai He and I came down hard on you guys and I'm sorry about that" he apologized, scratching his cheek "I guess we had a few hard feelings of our own festering, but you guys did say you'd forgotten and gotten over it-"

"That makes it worse" Tang interrupted, shaking his head "we assumed just because we'd moved on, he had as well. It never occurred to us he hadn't." The scholar rubbed the space between his eyes "turns out he's holding onto a lot more then we realized."

"In keeping with the metaphor, the trees always remember what the axes forget" Sandy said sagely, feeling terrible as well. He'd suspected the Great Sage wasn't as okay as he presented himself during their time together, but he hadn't spoken up. There just hadn't been a right time, now he wished he'd tried to make time "the fact is, we have no excuse for how we treated him."

MK's frown deepened, he wanted to argue, but he wasn't sure he could. "You're giving yourselves too much credit" Red Son suddenly spoke up, coming over to the group "you're hardly the first to have such…exchanges, let's call it, with Monkey King." He glanced away "goodness knows my family's hands aren't as clean as we've preached."

"He's not wrong" Tang confirmed, adjusting his glasses "I've been reevaluating the story more recently and…well he gets as much as he gives, probably more." Macaque listened from where he was distracting Bai He, his mouth a thin line. In truth, his knowledge of what exactly went on in his absences was limited, just how much was he ignorant too? How much was that idiot keeping him in the dark about?

Knock, knock, knock.

The group looked up in surprise at the sudden, almost hesitant knocking from the front door. "You don't think it's a neighbor, do you?" Mei asked as Bai He made her way to the entrance "we're not being that loud."

"I don't think-"

"YOU CAME!" Bai He suddenly cried excitedly. Curious, the group peaked around the corner to the doorway and their eyes widened.

Standing there was Monkey King.

The Great Sage stiffened as the girl hugged him before she quickly let go. "Oh sorry! I should've asked first" Bai He apologized, looking down until Monkey King opened his arms with an awkward grin. With a smile, she resumed their hug, Monkey King reciprocating this time. "I'm so, so happy you changed your mind!" She gushed as she took his hand and brought him into the main room.

"Heh, glad to hear it" he said a bit awkwardly. He did his best to avoid eye contact with anyone that wasn't her or MK, but he still gave them all a small wave.

" Monkey King! You're actually here!" MK cried as he practically tackled his mentor, much to the others amusement. It wasn't long before the two were chatting his ear off, but he made no move to stop them. If anything, he clearly enjoyed their company. The others, meanwhile, watched mesmerized with cautious optimism.

He came.

Monkey King came.

Their minds were whirling, what should they do? Should they approach the Great Sage or let him come to them? It didn't help he was sticking so close to MK and Bai He, and the one time he was away from them, Red Son surprisingly engaged in a conversation with him. Clearly neither knew how to speak to each other but managed no less.

Finally, an opportunity presented itself. MK managed to coaxed Monkey King into taking a seat on the couch next to them as he scurried off for snacks before the Great Sage could protest. He glanced in their direction before quickly looking away anxiously.

"I-I'm glad you changed you mind" Mei suddenly said, her voice much softer and quieter than her friends were used to. She meant it, and she sincerely hoped he knew it.

"…I-I can leave anytime you want me too" he said quietly, still not looking at them. He was trying so hard to be accommodating.

"We don't want you to leave" Tang assured him gently "please, stay as long as you like." He made sure there was no room for confusion or argument. He didn't want Monkey King leaving until he was good and ready, and not a second sooner or later.

"…O-okay" Monkey King mumbled, he really looked like he couldn't understand why they would want him there.

"Here" Pigsy handed him one of the mooncakes from his plate. When he made no move to take it, he waved his hand more insistently "I can do this all night, no one goes hungry on Pigsy's watch." That seemed to work, as Monkey King carefully took the offered snack. "That's more like it" Pigsy said with nod, taking a bite of another "not bad for store bought, gets the job done, but come to my restaurant and I'll show you some quality."

Monkey King paused mid bite "I…that sounds nice but I'm banned" he reminded the pig gently. There was nothing accusatory in his voice, he was merely stating a fact, but the chef still felt it.

"No, you're not" Pigsy said, his voice as gentle as it got. The sincerity wasn't lost on Monkey King as he gave the chef a nod.

"Or we could come to you again" Sady offered. He was beginning to suspect Monkey King was very out of practice with crowds "whatever your more comfortable with, and this time, we promise to call first."

"Thanks for not ratting us out to MK for that by the way" Mei chuckled sheepishly.

"I said I wouldn't" for the briefest moment, a small grin appeared on his face "but if he asks why I changed my mind, I might have to fess up."

Mei giggled "that's fair" she tapped her cup "so…what have you been up to since we got home?" She wasn't sure what inspired that question, but she figured there were worse ways to break the ice.

Monkey King shrugged "just keeping the mountain clean…looking after the monkeys…training with MK…nothing much." They nodded, making sure he knew they were listening. They were trying to think up more questions to ask or potential topics without getting too personal, but that was proving easier said than done. They really knew next to nothing about him personally.

"What…" they froze, looking at Monkey King as he spoke up. Slowly, he turned to face them, his gaze meeting theirs, now looking at them properly "…w-what have you guys been up to since getting back?"

Just like back on the motion, time came to spot, but this time hope filled their chests.

"W-well actually" Mei began once she found her voice, unable to stop the excited grin from forming on her face "a few months ago I went to an auction house with my Dad, I-I think they had some stuff there you might've recognized."

A small, cautious grin appeared on Monkey Kings face "o-oh yeah?" He asked in surprise "like…like what? I mean, if you remember any of them." Mei began happily recalling to the best of her memory what she'd seen. Tang, Pigsy, and Sandy listened in, occasionally contributing to the conversation. On a few occasions, they ended up having their own little talks with Monkey King.

The longer they spoke, they were overjoyed to see the Great Sage become visibly relaxed. He was still a bit anxious, that was understandable, but he was much more comfortable in their presences now than he ever was in the past.

That was enough.

Enough to convince them all hope wasn't lost. Enough to assure them they could all still be friends. They could and would fix the damage done, and they meant all the damage.

Their eyes had been opened to the forest, and now they could see how deep the foliage went.

So many trees were either chopped down or burned. So much hadn't grown back properly or at all. So much litter had been scattered about without a care. Goodness only knew what else lurked in the darkness they'd yet to explore. Luckily for them, they'd just purchased a lot of gardening equipment.

They knew they wouldn't be able to fix everything, but they were determined to leave the forest better than they found it, to help the forest be as majestic as the trees it presented.

They would do what they could to restore the forest to its former glory.

Tomorrow.

Tonight, they just wanted to relax and have fun. Tonight was just about all of them enjoying the peace for however long it lasted. Tomorrow they would roll up their sleeves and get started on what they could to help the newest member of their odd little family.

A feeling of excitement filled them, like they were about to embark on a different kind of adventure. They couldn't wait to get started on getting to know Monkey…

…No.

Getting to know Wukong, better.

Ah, ah! I told you I had a few of these planned!

So I have…thoughts and feelings, lets call it, about events in season three. I can't promise this will be the only time it comes up either, but I'll try to be nice.

I think I mentioned my hesitancy about writing fics for ongoing shows before. That said, Monkie Kid's seasons feel pretty self contained for the most part. Like, the endings are open enough should the show continue, but closed enough that it feels like it could be a proper ending.

That's just me though. Plus, this could be like what happened between seasons three and four.

There are a few fic ideas I've had to reevaluate after season four, but they're fairly minor compared to most.

Either way, they're for another day.

Till then!