Seeing Through the Trauma

Judgement (40)

"Now that that's been settled, let us leave," Nezha said, gesturing toward them and as MK was about to take a step forward he paused, suddenly having a thought. 

"Oh! Wait what about my friends? Red and Sandy will be waiting for me and they'll be worried if I just leave without telling them. Can I go say goodbye?" He asked quickly, wringing his tail nervously at the thought of his boyfriend getting stressed and worried if MK just suddenly disappeared without warning. 

And what about Mei, Pigsy and Tang? They'd freak out too if MK left without telling them.

"No time. We must leave as soon as possible I'm afraid." Nezha told him, tone serious and apologetic but firm and MK sucked in a breath of panic, opening his mouth to ramble again about how he couldn't just leave when Macaque helpfully pointed out, 

"just send them a text, bud." Which MK blinked at, pulling out his phone from his pocket quickly. 

"Oh yeah! Good point." He said a little dumbly, fumbling to write out a message and then copying it to all his friends. Except he added a little extra to Red's message, a bouncy 'I love you' and endless little heart emojis. He was halfway through adding those hearts when Macaque nudged him with his elbow lightly, and MK blinked, looking up and realising the three were waiting for him and promptly sending the message with an embarrassed grin, slipping his phone back into his pocket quickly. 

"Okay, now I'm ready!" He chirped, a little nervous about the idea of seeing some of heaven's officials but also more nervous about being back up there again when the last time he'd been there he'd lost half his vision. 

Eye aching, he quickly made sure his glamour was still up, not wanting anyone else to see his glaring weakness and failure, especially people as cool as immortals, and then noticed Baba's tail coiling around his wrist, his eyes stressed. 

"Stay by my side the whole time, okay kiddo?" He said, though it didn't sound like a request and more of a demand and MK nodded, knowing to appease him. 

"Okay." He was a little excited about spending time with Nezha without some big battle and end-of-the-world threat going on, but that feeling was overshadowed by his nerves about how serious the prince seemed. 

Nezha touched the ground with his spear and MK's eyes felt raw at the bright beam of golden light that surrounded the four of them. He felt Wukong's grip on his wrist tighten, tail coiling around his arm like a leash but didn't look back to make sure he was okay because suddenly his feet were on the ground, and when the light died down he was staring at the palace of the celestial realm. 

Where Azure had died. 

The building, once crumbling and filled with holes and cracks was now in one piece. It didn't look perfect, but all the cracks and giant holes in the walls looked filled and the courtyard was fixed. 

It was not as pretty as it had been before Azure attacked, since the bushes and few trees and flowers that had been quickly destroyed as collateral damage were not there anymore, but the ground was fixed and the smooth stone floor looked new and whole. 

Nezha led them toward the building and while Wukong and Macaque followed MK's feet felt stuck, staring up at the building and feeling a sharp pain in his left eye, his hand trembling as he resisted the urge to cover it. 

Wukong's tail around MK's wrist stopped him from moving on when MK didn't move, and his Baba turned back with a concerned look on his face, eyes roaming over MK worriedly. 

"Hey, you okay, cub?" He asked, tone soft and careful and MK quickly snapped his gaze away from the building, looking toward his worried parent instead and the two paused behind him and quickly nodding, stepping forward and ignoring the way his legs felt shaky.