Expansion, Part 2.
Loneliness.
((TW: Angst moments and tears ahead.))
~Flower Fruit Mountain, a hour after discovery.~
A small tornado formed in from of the house the Monkey King had built over 13 years ago after his first one was destroyed by the Azure Lion. The winds disburse to reveal the matriarch of the Demon Bull Family, Princess Iron Fan, and standing beside her is a small dark furred monkey child. Iron Fan looks down to the young girl who hadn't said anything but a "hello" to her since she picked her up from that human and demon school her parents signed her into, nor was the child saying anything now.
"Mei-Yue," Iron Fan spoke. "We're here now. Your father is waiting for you."
Mei-Yue, the little six eared monkey, didn't say anything in response, she only nodded at her aunt. The princess gave a saddened front at the silence of her niece. She'd been quiet since she picked up from the school her brother-in-law was insistent on letting her attend. Speaking of which, the door to the house swung opened, revealing the smiling face of Wukong peered out. He appeared to be tired.
"Thank you again, Iron Fan. Mac and I have working our tails off getting everything ready for our new 'guest'."
The Princess gave a smirk to the retired hero. "Oh it was nothing too special. After all you know how much I adore my beloved niece."
The rust colored furred monkey rolled his eyes at the Celestial before him; Of course she would call his daughter 'her beloved niece', even though she could've consider her only son a 'beloved' (He wasn't allowed to say throw her past mistakes back at her unless she absolutely deserved it). Speaking of children, Wukong turned his attention to the nine year old dark furred cub standing beside Princess Iron Fan, giving her a warm smiling, noticing the girl's blank expression.
"Hey Lil' Tiger," the reitred king greeted, "How was school today honey? Ya make any new-"
Before he could finish his question, Mei-Yue walked passed her father without saying a word, she didn't even acknowledge him. Wukong stared as his daughter walked towards her room.
"Well that's concerning." The old king muttered, he turned back to the Celestial at the front door. "Did something happen at the school we need to know about?"
"I was actually about to ask you if something happened here that was upsetting her." Iron Fan responded. "She been quiet since I got her; She didn't even smile at me. Me! Her favorite aunt and mother figure."
The Stone monkey gave a loud 'HAH'. "Ah I didn't think you could be funny, Fanny. But everyone knows that my sister Ma is her favorite aunt and mother figure.". Iron Fan gave Wukong the sourest scowl.
"Regardless, Macaque and I will see if she's up to talking, maybe we can get an answer."
"You better."
With that, a tornado formed around the Celestial, then just as it came, the tornado dissipated, and Iron Fan is gone. The monkey king frowned at the spot the Celestial once stood. Oh Buddha how he hated his sworn brother's wife, but he wasn't gonna focus on her empty threats, he had a more important priority. One being a certain Celestial Primate eavesdropping on him.
"You know, you're sworn sister is a real pain at times." claimed Wukong as he peered down at the darker shadow that encompassed his own. He stepped to the side as Macaque emerged from the shadows, smirking at the rust monkey.
"You're the one who let's her get to you. I was just here to make sure you two didn't start fighting again." Macaque affirmed. "But aside from that. I think we need to address to elephant in the room, or rather our usually bubbly daughter not being herself."
"I couldn't agree more." Wukong sighed. "Do you think that Shang kid's at fault for that?"
Macaque groaned in frustration at the name. "Sweet Buddha, I hope not. That kid is an asshole, and his mother ain't any better, constantly saying her brat's angel.".
The rust colored monkey chuckled at his husband. "Going on a bit of a rant, eh Macky?"
The dark furred glared at his husband.
"C'mon, I think Mei-Yue went to her room."
Macaque strided towards the the hallway leading to the bedrooms.
"Note to self:" muttered Wukong as he followed suit, "Watch what you say around your pregnant mate. He will get snippy."
*~*~*~*~
In the bedroom of the Monkey Princess, Mei-Yue sat on her bed with her favorite stuffed rabbit wrapped in her arms. Her focus was on a picture frame on her bed. The picture inside was of her adoptive brother MK holding Mei-Yue when she was baby, her older sister figure Mei squealing in joy, their friend/her sworn cousin Red-Son looking over MK's shoulder, at the bottom frame was a saying carved into it. The carved words read 'Welcome, Little Sister'.
The soft knock emanated from the other side of the bedroom door, shifting the child's attention to it. It was her fathers on the other side, she knew that much.
"Moonbeam?" her baba's (Macaque) emanated from the door. "Can we come in please?"
There was silence from the girl's room. The Celestial Primates looked at each other with concern painted on their faces.
"Maybe she fell asleep." Wukong subjected.
The doorknob turned and door was pulled open by a tired looking Mei-Yue, the usual sparkle in her eyes was absent. Doing their best to mask their worry, the men gave their daughter a soft smile and knelt down to her level. Macaque was the first to speak.
"Hey Dumpling. How was your first day at school?"
Mei-Yue shifted where she stood. "It was fine, I guess."
"Are you sure? Because you didn't say hi to us when you got home."
"Y-Yeah, I'm-..."
The girl just shut down and stared at the ground, clenching her stuffed rabbit.
"Did something happen at the school?" Macaque questioned his daughter. "You know you can tell us when something's wrong, right?"
The only response he got was a shrug of her shoulders. Keeping his resolve, Wukong reached out and placed a gentle hand on his daughter's shoulder, finally getting her to look at them.
"Sweetheart, whatever is going on, we can help you go through it." The Stone Monkey consoled his young daughter, giving her a warm smile and the reassurance her needed. But his smile faded when she spoke up.
".... Am I gonna be alone forever?"
Both parents looked at their daughter
"I- I beg your pardon?"
"Dumpling, who told you that? Was is that Shang kid that's been giving you trouble?"
"No. He's not even in my class this years."
She took a deep breath in, then slowly exhaled before she spoke.
"Today in class... my classmate, Yao, was talking about his birthday party his parents are throwing fir him, and that his oldest birthday was coming up and-"
"And you're upset because you weren't invited?" Wukong questioned.
"No! Lemme finish!" Mei-Yue barked at the Stone Monkey as he held his hands in front of his chest.
"Okay, Okay. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. Please continue. "
"Thank you. As I was saying, Yao's birthday was coming up and his older brother was home to visit and celebrate his birthday and I didn't think anything of it. But then my other classmate said that she and her sister got to go camping this weekend. Then recess came and I wanted to play with the twins, Ming & Lian, but they said I couldn't play with them because..... it was a twins game and I don't have a twin..."
Her breathing was start to become hitched and she was trying to fight back the tears that were forming in her eyes, trying her hardest not to cry if front of her fathers. Macaque's expression grew from worry as he
"I tried to not let it all get to me, but....."
"Mei-Yue, you don't have to continue-"
"But when I was waiting for auntie Fanny, my friend Winnie told me that her big brothers were happy that she that she made it into the junior basketball team..."
A sob escaped from her mouth, the tears began to fall as she tried to wipe them away. She clenched her rabbit plush tightly as if it were a life line, too afraid to let go.
"I didn't wanna think too much about it, and-.. and I know you guys love me and your happy, and you need me to be happy... But... I didn't realized how alone I really am until Winnie said that, and... and......."
"Lil' Tiger-"
"And I hate it. I hate that I'm the only kid here. I hate that I have no one to play with after school, I hate that can't share my toys with anyone, I hate that I can't make up games with anyone but my cousins, I hate how empty home is even though you wouldn't leave me here alone, I hate not having a brother or sister here with me, I Hate Being Alone!"
She lost her resolve. The young monkey let out her pained cries. She no longer fought the tears, or held in the pain... She let it out...
"I DON'T WANNA BE ALONE!"
In that instant, Macaque pulled his daughter into a tight hug and let her cry while he tries to fight back the tears that were forming. Wukong joins in the hug, gently stroking his daughter head to soothe her as he did so many times before, all the while both men were trying to fight their own tears back.
"No, no, no, no, no, no. You're not gonna be alone, hon. Daddy and I would never let that happen to you in a million years." Macaque soothed Mei-Yue as she buried herself in his chest.
His precious daughter's muffled cried only grew louder, and it made his hearts break. He knew her pain. He and Wukong knew it too well...
To Be Continued in part 3....
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