Beng ran out as quickly as he came, and I wasted no time in following him.
On my way out the door I used my necklace to dress myself as quickly as possible.
I continued to run down the hall, and out of the royal wing, and to the entrance of the palace.
I wasn’t the only one.
Monkeys from all over were congregating to the entrance of the palace.
There was a buzz in the air, monkeys who chittered in excitement, racing each other to see the king again.
But none of them were going to beat me.
I got my sword out and hopped on it, racing above everyone’s heads, and wove between those swinging on the ceiling.
I made it to the entrance just before the crowd.
There he was.
Shaking off the water after coming through the waterfall on Nimbus, looking just like the day he left.
His fancy clothes, sitting position, even his broad smile.
He lit up when he saw me, spreading his arms wide.
He was right there.
He was alive.
His smile dropped as he realized I wasn’t slowing down.
Maybe he saw my face, and realized, it was not the face of somebody happy to see him.
Nimbus sharply dropped down, just in time to avoid Lonely Moon skewering him.
I whizzed right over his head, getting between him and the waterfall.
Good, I cut off his escape.
I hopped off, and turned towards him, ready for war.
He just looked confused, jumping off Nimbus and bringing his arms down from covering his head.
“Yue?
Is that you?
What are you doing?” What am I doing?
What am I doing?!
Why was that the first thing he says to me after ten years!?
“What am I doing?
What have you been doing!?
Where have you been?
What happened to your promise to send for me?
What the fuck made you disappear for ten fucking years!?” He frowned at me and crossed his arms.
“Ten years?
Yue, I’ve been gone for ten days.” “What?
Take a look around Wukong!
You’ve been gone for ten years.
I fucking gave up on you coming back!
I thought you died or worse, you just forgot about us.
Forgot about me.” My voice trembled, and my eyes filled with tears.
How could he do this to me?
Why was he acting like this wasn’t a big deal?
I needed him!
The crowd of monkeys running to greet him had stopped at the entrance of the room, the generals keeping everyone well away from the two of us.
Yeah, that was a good idea, I was two seconds away from attacking Wukong.
He just looked around, at the new decorations and carvings that marked the entrance to the palace.
“Yue, the palace does look nice, and the island does look a little different from how I remember, but I’ve only been in heaven for a week and a half.
Are you pranking me?
Because it’s not funny Yue.
You should stop.” Yeah.
I was done.
I hurled Lonely Moon right at his stupid fucking face.
His eyes widened and he barely had time to parry it with his staff, sparks flying as Lonely moon grated against it, desperate to take his head.
“A prank!
Do you seriously think this is a joke?
Do you have any idea what I’ve been through since you’ve been gone?
You… you…” He was still confused.
I just stared at him, my chest feeling dead.
I… I… I looked down at the wedding bracelet on my wrist.
I guess I should have stuck it back in my drawer, and left it to rot.
I grabbed it, my face twisting with rage, and I wrenched it off my arm.
Wukong gasped as I raised it high above my head.
“Yue, no!” I hurled it into the iron bridge with all my might.
It made a hollow ding noise, and clattered to the edge where it teetered, close to falling into the raging rapids below.
Wukong lunged forward, throwing himself to the ground in a desperate bid to grab it.
It went over the edge and his hand followed it.
For a moment, everything held still.
Until he brought his hand back up.
He caught it.
Barely in the nick of time, but he caught it.
He looked up at me, horrified.
“Yue, why?” Ugh.
I brought Lonely Moon alongside me, and sat on the blade, turning away from him.
“Figure it out you bastard.” I flew through the waterfall, as quickly as I could, not caring that I got all wet.
It was a warm night anyway, as I flew through the air, heedless of where I was headed, just… flying.
Now that I was alone, I let the tears fall.
Gone for a week and a half.
What bullshit.
Fuck.
I broke down and just started sobbing.
I sat down on my sword and just cried.
He was alive.
He was back.
And he said he was only gone for ten days.
Was that the best he could come up with?
He was better liar than that.
I was over the water now, Aolai just barely within sight behind me.
I flew low, just above the choppy water, letting my tears add to the ocean of sorrow.
He could’ve told me heaven imprisoned him.
That he had to fight in a war for heaven.
That he couldn’t come home.
But no.
He didn’t.
He just forgot about me and Flower-Fruit Mountain the moment he got into heaven.
Did our marriage mean nothing to him?
What about all his sweet words and gestures?
Was it all just a lie?
It’s been a while since I felt this bad.
I wanted to throw myself into the waves and sink to the bottom of the ocean, but I shoved the urge away.
I was still needed back on the island.
I needed to ask Liu about retirement procedures in the morning.
Then I had a report from Ba about recent developments in the research division.
While all my duties helped my urge to self-harm, they didn’t make me feel better.
Wukong really just left me.
And he couldn’t even bother to come up with a good lie to cover it up.
Did I mean that little to him?
I loved him.
I loved him with all of my heart.
Even after ten years all I wanted was for him to come home, safe and sound, and with a good reason for being away.
Now it felt like my heart was breaking.
Like he just threw it into the wall and shattered it.
I begged him to not make me care all those years ago, and he told me I would never lose anything again.
That liar.
I drifted aimlessly over the waves as I continued to sob.
By the time they ran dry, the sun was beginning to peek over the waves of the surf.
I watched it rise, trying to find any motivation inside me at all.
Besides the urge to shove Lonely Moon through my chest.
I needed to get back.
The generals will be worried.
But I just felt so tired now.
I just wanted to crawl into my bed and never come out.
Oh, I was headed for a very dark place.
I’ve learned to recognize the signs.
But I still couldn’t bring myself to care.
I shifted my sword west and started back home.
The sun rose slowly over the surf, and as I got closer to the island, I spotted a little cloud zipping to and fro above the island.
Wukong.
I didn’t want to deal with him.
I activated my invisibility.
And went straight to the palace.
The moment I got through the curtain of water, I dropped my invisibility, startling Ma.
“Your Majesty.” Ma bowed to me, as respectful as ever.
The other monkeys who were here took one look at me before running for the exit.
Yeah, I don’t want to be around myself right now either.
I sighed and pinched my forehead.
“Ma, tell the generals I’m resting today.
We’ll suspend all meetings and paperwork for now.
Only get me if there’s an emergency.” Ma hesitated, peeking up at me from his bow.
I’m sure he noticed my wet cheeks and red eyes.
“I will send up food and water to your room.
And check to ensure you consumed them.” Something I told them to do when I took a lot of “rest days.” “Thanks Ma.
I’ll see you later.” I flew my sword straight to my room.
The other monkeys took one look at me before jumping out of the way.
Word of Wukong’s return and our fight must be common knowledge by now.
Which means everyone was going to be walking on eggshells around me for the next week, at least.
I didn’t explode often, but when I did, no one wanted to be in the epicenter.
I made it to my room without incident.
I put my sword away in my necklace and collapsed into bed.
I flashed my dress back into my necklace before I got sucked into oblivion.