Retracted Memories //LMK//ShadowPeach//

Chapter 11 (Part 2)

Macaque's tail kept lashing around. He grasped Wukong's limp hand and just stared. They were in their little house inside the cave in Flower Fruit Mountain. Wukong was only wearing baggy shorts, bandages covered his head, arm, leg, and stomach. He still hadn't woken up yet.

"Macaque, it takes time to heal. Be patient-" Macaque snapped up at Tang, "No, you don't get it! He's had his head chopped off and didn't even flinch! He's supposed to bounce back, he's supposed to have healed already!" A whimper escaped the injured monkey's lips and Macaque felt tears pool in his eyes.

"But instead he's in pain, medicine isn't working, and he isn't healing." Tang sighed and patted his arm, "I know. But all we can do is wait for the weapon to wear off." Macaque anxiously watched his sun and grimaced, he didn't like waiting.

--- DAY 2

"Macaque, come on. We need to go eat." Macaque wiped away the sweat on Wukong's face and answered without looking up at MK, "Coming." Macaque placed a cool towel on Wukong's forehead and hummed, "That better? You must feel like you're cooking." He grimaced, "Sorry, sorry. Forgot about the furnace thing. My bad." 

MK walked in again, "Macaque, come eat. Pigsy's getting impatient." Macaque nodded, "Okay, give me a second." He continued holding Wukong's hand, "Peaches, how long do you think this will last? Not too long I hope. Want me to tell you a story?" Of course, there was no answer. 

"Okay, then. Once upon a time, there was a rabbit. The rabbit was fast and witty. One day he decided to trick Ms.Lian, a bluejay, to get berries for him." Wukong's ear twitched and Macaque kept going, ignoring anyone around him. "Macaque. Pigsy wants to know what's taking you so long." 

"-And then the rabbit traded the worms for ribbon!" MK frowned, "Macaque." He stepped forward, "Ms.Lian was so angry she'd been tricked she took the rabbit-" MK tapped him and Macaque ignored him, "-and dropped him into a tree!" MK groaned loudly, "Macaque, you've gotta eat something!"

"I'm not hungry." MK glared at the shadow monkey before wrapping his arms around him and picking him up, "HEY-! PUT ME DOWN!" Macaque screeched loudly, thrashing against the strong boy. "Nope, I know for a fact that if we don't force you to you'll neglect yourself." He dragged the struggling monkey into the kitchen and dropped him onto a stool. 

Pigsy passed him a bowl, "Eat." Macaque stood up suddenly and tried to run back into the room, "NOT HUNGRY-" Mei firmly sat him back down, "Eat it or we'll force it down." Macaque ate as much as his anxious stomach would let him and bolted back into the room. He was twitching uncontrollably and was trying his best not to panic, but Wukong- 

Was where he'd left him. Safe. Macaque sighed in relief and plopped back down next to his sunny counterpart. The mattress sank under his weight and Wukong tilted towards him. Macaque groomed his hair, tears slowly making their way down his face, "I didn't finish the story. Sorry." He forced himself to ignore the pained whimpers as he continued the story, and nobody interrupted him.

---DAY 6

Macaque anxiously peeked over Pigsy's shoulder as he re-bandaged Wukong. The injured monkey was making pitiful sounds, but his eyes remained closed. Pigsy finished and stood up, "There. I managed to get some medicine into him, maybe it'll help. He seems to be in less pain than before so that's a good sign of recovery. The weapon seems to finally be wearing off."

Macaque sagged in relief and immediately scrambled into the bed with Wukong. He held him close, cradling his head in his lap. Pigsy left, but not before warning Macaque that he had to eat something soon. Macaque ignored him, instead, he started talking to Wukong.

"Peaches, I have another story. How does that sound? It's about a dragon! A dragon who had to learn how to fly..."

---DAY 10

"Honestly I'm worried for the guy." Tang sighed at Pigsy, "Yeah, but what're we supposed to do about it? He won't leave that room unless we make him." Sandy smiled softly, "Well, Monkey King's getting better. That includes Macaque, too, right?" Mei groaned, "Yeah, but he only eats when we make him, drinks water if we leave any for him, and barely sleeps! We're lucky he at least goes to the bathroom." 

MK stared at the table, his expression was somber, "It's just, they're really close. Especially now that they're regaining memories. They don't wanna end up like before they got amnesia. Which is great, but it's killing Macaque having Monkey King like this." Everyone went silent and looked at the bedroom, listening to Macaque murmuring to his crush.

Mei giggled, "They're head over heels for each other, aren't they?" Tang smiled lightly and Sandy beamed, "True love at its finest if you ask me! Mistakes happened, but they're working on not repeating them." Everyone thought it funny that a big guy like Sandy would swoon about romance.

And then Macaque shouted loudly, "HEY! HELP, SOMETHING'S WRONG!"

Everyone rushed in as Macaque held up Monkey King, "HE'S NOT BREATHING!" Monkey King's face was slack and his body was limp instead of rigged. Sandy scrambled to get some magical tea, "Hold him up!" MK silently thanked the gods they'd bought the expensive tea in case something went south.

Macaque held Wukong up, twitching violently every few seconds. Mei ran her hands through his hair, "Hey, it'll be fine. It's going to be a-okay." Macaque stopped twitching so harshly and just cried, not caring anymore if he ticced or not. "Shhh, he'll be just fine. He can't and won't die." 

Sandy brought the cold cup of tea up to Wukong's lips and tilted his head. Macaque's eyes widened, they remembered to make the drink cold. He let out a sob as Wukong's chest started moving again, up and down. MK gasped in relief, "He's okay!" Macaque hugged him close, and then a cough rang out.

"...Peaches?" Wukong stirred and groaned. Bleary eyes looked up hazily at Macaque, "...'M tired..." An airy laugh left Macaque and he hugged Wukong closer, "WUKONG!" MK grinned, letting tears fall down, "Monkey King!" He joined in the hug, and the others slowly trapped the golden monkey in one big group hug.

"Ugh, what conked me? A bus?" Macaque snorted, "No, you idiot! Some stupid demon." Wukong chuckled lightly, "Mmm, yeah I know. But it feels like a bus." 

Macaque laughed loudly, he was okay! His Peaches was okay! He stared down at him and laughed again, he was okay!

And that alone was much better than okay.