The banquet stretched on long into the night. As the hours wore on, the monkeys began to drop what they were doing and go to sleep, either by choice or from the amount of wine they consumed.

Even the generals retired for the night, leaving the hall to check and make sure no monkeys wandered where they weren’t supposed to.

As for me? Well, I had been milling around Wukong, and he finally suggested we get some air. So now we were floating on Nimbus, lazily circling the island.

It was a great night out tonight. The stars looked so close, like I could reach out and grab them. Or maybe it was the wine talking.

“Okay, and then he said, ‘This isn’t the place for monkey business.’ And I whipped off my cloak and said ‘Then you’re not getting any business of mine!’ and stormed out. You, you should’ve seen their fucking faces, they were all so shocked, I never saw so many shocked humans in my entire life!”

I snickered at Wukong’s story as he finished it. He always told it when he got really drunk. And yeah, he looked sloshed.

But I wasn’t one to talk. Here I was laughing at a story I heard about a dozen times like it was the first time I ever heard it.

The moon looked so bright. I felt so warm and nice. And Wukong was here with me. I shifted and leaned into him. Everything was perfect.

He stiffened up and moved away. “Um, we should probably head down. We’re both pretty drunk right now.”

“Why? I like it up here. Let’s just stay a little longer.”

“I don’t know Yue, it’s probably about time to head to bed.”

“Please?” I gave him my best puppy eyes.

“Oh, okay, just a little bit longer.”

“Yay!” I shuffled over next to him and leaned on him again. So nice. So warm.

“Um, Yue, what are you doing?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you… purring?”

Was I? I just felt so happy right now. I wanted to spend a little longer with Wukong. I shuffled a little closer. I looked up at him and smiled.

He stiffened up again. “Okay. You’re drunk. We’re heading back down.”

“What? Noooo!” I grabbed onto him to try and make Nimbus stop descending.

“Yue! Let go! I’m… really reaching my limit here!”

His eyes were darting everywhere but to me. I smiled. I knew how to make him stop.

I climbed into his lap and nuzzled into his neck.

“Gah! Yue!”

“Can’t we spend a little more time together today? I want to have some more fun.”

He grabbed onto me and yanked me away from him. He set me beside him. “Yue, if you weren’t drunk I’d say yes in a heartbeat. But we both are, and before we do something we’ll regret in the morning, I think we should drink some water, and get some sleep. Here's your bedroom.”

We floated outside the window of my bedroom.

“No! Wukong, don’t leave me!” He set me down on my floor, off of Nimbus and hopped back on and floated away.

“Goodnight Yue. Don’t forget to drink some water.” He flew off, down the mountain, towards the waterfall.

“Wukong! Get back here!” How could he?! I was practically throwing myself at him!

I collapsed onto my bed. That fucker. I wasn’t that drunk. I knew what I was doing.

I’d show him.

I grabbed the jug of water beside my bed, determined to drink the whole thing before I slept. I didn’t have time for a hangover in the morning.

“Okay, thank you Beng. Just keep all the monkeys away from the room until we come out.”

It was in the early hours of the morning. I’d just finished my bath, and made sure to brush out all my fur. I knew I looked good. I wore a light dress, and was making the last preparations with General Beng.

“I’ll stand at the end of the corridor Your Majesty. I’ll ensure no one interferes with you and the king.”

Good old reliable Beng. Even though he stayed up as late as the rest of us, he was already awake and guarding the palace. I’d have to get something special from the kitchens for him.

But now, I knew we wouldn’t be disturbed.

I quietly opened the door to Wukong’s room and looked inside. Good. Still sleeping. I closed the door behind me quietly.

I tiptoed across the room and got into his bed. I flashed away my dress. Good thing he was a heavy sleeper. I laid my head down, and pretended to sleep.

Back in bed, nice and warm, it wasn’t hard to drift off.

Movement. Not from me. I blinked and yawned. I rubbed my eyes. And stared straight into a shocked Wukong’s face.

“Yue? But, I, you were…”

I gave him a smile. “Good morning Wukong. Did you sleep well?”

“Yue, what are you doing here? I put you in your room last night.”

I frowned and tilted my head at him. “No you didn’t. You brought me back here, remember?” I cuddled up to him. “Stop joking honey. We should sleep in a little longer.”

He shrank back from me. “Yue, did you crawl into my bed? Are you still drunk?”

“Wukong, stop it. I’m not in the mood for jokes. C’mere. I want a kiss.” I moved in towards him again, but he jumped out of bed.

“Yue, I think you’re the one who needs to stop. I definitely did not sleep with you last night.”

Wukong had a pretty good memory, even when he was drunk.

Unfortunately for him, I was a better liar.

I let my eyes filled with tears. I was a daddy’s girl with an older sister who loved to try and get me in trouble. I knew how to act.

“Wukong, do you… do you not remember our first night together?”

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“What? No! I mean, yes? I mean-“ He took a deep breath. “We didn’t have a first night together.”

I wiped away my eyes, “It’s fine. I should have been more considerate. You drank more than me after all.” I gave him a hurt look that said it definitely wasn’t fine.

Watching him question his sanity gave me a feeling of deep satisfaction. But I wasn’t done yet.

I pushed up off the bed. “I should go. You can’t remember, so it would be awkward for me to stay. Don’t forget to drink something for your hangover, and take a bath. I’ll wait for you to go first.”

The implication that I would have bathed with him hung in the air, along with the tension that this would harm our relationship. I flashed my necklace and my light dress appeared again. “I’ll head back to my room. I’ll see you later.”

I moved to the door. C’mon, c’mon….

“Wait.” Hook, line, and sinker. “You don’t have to leave yet. I just… I remember dropping you off to your room yesterday.”

I gave him a quizzical look. “I told you, you didn’t do that. Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?”

“Okay, well, what do you remember? Maybe we can figure out what happened.”

I walked up to him. “Well, I was feeling really good yesterday, and I cuddled up to you, like this.” I pressed into his chest. “And I started purring.” I purred and nuzzled into him.

“Um, Yue, this is a little-”

“And then I looked up at you and smiled.” I looked up at him and smiled again and I heard his breath catch. “And you kissed me.”

“I-I did?”

I nodded.

“I thought I pushed you off of me.”

I looked down sadly. “I was hoping we could jog your memory. I’m sorry, it was a dumb idea.”

I was about to back away, but his arms sprang up around me keeping me close to him. “Hold on, maybe there was something to your idea. So, I kissed you?”

I nodded and looked up at him. I pursed my lips and closed my eyes.

Finally. He kissed me, long and slow.

By the time we broke apart, we were both breathing heavy. His voice was husky as he whispered. “What happened next?”

I bit my lip to hide my grin. “We should probably move to the bed for this next part.”

Mmmmmnnn. Both of us were purring, and cuddling together. It was probably around midday.

The last couple of hours went exactly how I always envisioned them. With a few surprises from Wukong here and there.

I cut off my purring, now fully satisfied. “Well, do you remember now Wukong?”

His own purring cut off. “What? Oh, yes, definitely. I definitely remember now.” He nodded once, very confidently.

I snuggled deeper into his chest. “Oh Wukong. You’re such a liar. But it’s okay.” I popped up and looked him straight in the eyes. “I’m a liar too.”

He froze. “Um, you are?” I could see the panic in his eyes.

“Yep. You were very sweet last night. Refusing to sleep with me because I was drunk.”

“I fucking knew it! I did drop you off in your room!”

He was beginning to get it. I pressed another kiss onto his lips. He hesitated, but accepted the kiss just the same. Nice and sweet.

I drew back first. “Yeah, you did. And you really pissed me off. Just so you know, if I don’t want sex, I will tell you to your face.” I pulled on his cheeks, stretching them out. “And when I do want sex, I’ll make it very obvious like I did last night.”

“Owowowowowow,” He looked so pitiful his cheeks all stretched like that.

Fine. I already got what I wanted anyway. I let go of his cheeks and they snapped back to his face. “Got it?”

He nodded, rubbing his red cheeks and scowling.

Aw. Maybe I went to far. I kissed his cheeks to make them better. And then moved on to the rest of his face.

“Yue, mnnn, Yue, hold on. So we didn’t actually sleep together last night?”

I pressed one last kiss onto his nose. “Nope. Though, it certainly would have been poignant, and beautiful if we had. It was technically the anniversary of the day we met.”

“Okay, fine I get it. But… you didn’t just sleep with me to get revenge right?”

Oh wow. That look in his eyes. He was really worried about this. I flicked his nose.

“Ow! Hey! What was that for?!”

“For suggesting I’d ever do something so idiotic. Do you really think I’m the sort of lady who would sleep with somebody for revenge?”

“Well, no, but-“

I pressed a finger to his lips, interrupting him. “Wukong. Shut up. In case you haven’t figured it out already, let me make this clear.”

I sat up, and he did too. I moved into his lap and looked into his eyes. Chocolatey brown. Warm. Sweet.

I cupped his face. “I love you. I love you more than anything else in this world. Yes, you’re an idiot who doesn’t think before he acts. And you think you’re a lot smarter than you actually are. And your temper is going to get you in a lot of trouble someday. But I love all those things too, along with all the good things. You’re loyal, brave, and you’ve been so kind and patient with me. And you never expected anything more for taking care of me. You just wanted me to get better. And that helped me more than anything. How could I not fall in love with someone as amazing as you?”

His eyes were watering and he sniffed. “Damn it Yue. How long have you been working on that?”

“Came up with it just now actually.”

He buried his face in my chest to try and hide his tears. “You’re right. You are a liar.”

“I swear to Lunus, I just came up with that.” I patted his head. “And I meant every word.”

I kissed his head, and he pulled back from me, with a determined look in his eye.

“Yue, I…” He trailed off. “You’re… Um…”

“Don’t try to force it. Just say whatever pops into your head.”

“Shhhh. It’s my turn. Okay, um…” He took a deep breath. “Drunk me is a genius.”

I blinked. That was not what I was expecting to come out of his mouth.

“Shit, that came out weird. What I mean to say, is that the day I got drunk in the in-between and dragged you home with me, drunk me was right. I have a whole kingdom, but none of my subjects are really like… me.”

I nodded, following along. I wanted to see where this led.

“So, when I saw you dancing, and wearing clothes, and talking, I got so excited. And you were just so beautiful. Everything about you, from your fur, your tail, your eyes. Seeing you felt like destiny. Like if I could just talk to you, and stay with you, I’d never have to feel alone again. Admittedly, drunk me did not do a very good job of getting his point across, and the shiny metal lady was very aggressive, and well, some poor choices were made. But I guess what I’m trying to get at, is that when I’m with you, I feel like I belong. For the first time since I was born. And getting to know you has been the greatest gift you could ever give me.”

“Oh, Wukong.” That was by far the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. Nothing in any romance book could’ve prepared me for that.

“I love the way you get mad at me, I love the look in your eyes when you decide to do something, even though it’s hard, and I love the way you pull pranks, because, wow, you really had me going there. I guess, what I’m really trying to say here is… I love you too. More than anything.”

Now it was my turn to sniffle. “I guess it’s good to know this isn’t just a casual thing then.”

He gave a half-hearted chuckle at my lame attempt of a joke. I hugged him, as hard as I could, and he hugged me back, probably not as hard as he could because that would snap my spine, but hard nonetheless.

As we hugged, I couldn’t help but think of a few burning questions. And a few hard truths I had to get off my chest. “Wukong, we’re both serious about this right?”

He gently rubbed my back and nodded. “I’m more serious about this than anything else. I didn’t even feel this serious when I got dragged to the underworld.”

“Then there’s something I need to tell you. I… can’t get pregnant.” I pulled back from our hug.

“You can’t? Is it an old injury? I might be able to find something to help with that. If you’d like.”

I shook my head. “It’s not that. When monkeys in my world wanted to get pregnant, we ate a special fruit. It would send us into heat for a week or two, and that’s when we’re fertile. But since my world is gone…”

“You can’t get the fruit.”

I shook my head.

He let out a long slow breath. “That’s okay. If we really want babies, we can figure something out. There’s all kinds of strange magic in the world. If we look hard enough, I’m sure we’ll find something. And even if we don’t, we can always adopt. So don’t look so sad, okay?”

“Thanks Wukong.” I hugged him again. Lunus, why was he so perfect?

“Yue, if we’re together together, does that mean you want to get married? Like actual married.”

“Wait.” I pulled away again. “Aren’t we already married?”

“Uh, what exactly do you think marriage is?”

“Well, it’s when two monkeys sleep together, profess their love for each other, and vow to stay together for the rest of their lives. Then they throw a party telling everyone.”

“Um, here there’s a ceremony. I think. Marriage is really more of a human slash demon thing here.”

“Wukong, by my standards, we’re already married. We threw a party telling everyone we’re together ages ago. In fact there were two! The night I first came here you told the monkeys, and the day you invited your brotherhood over for a banquet. And now that we’ve done the first part, we’re officially married according to my world’s rules.”

“Oh.” He seemed shocked. “But what about the monkeys?”

“Wukong, they call me their queen. They already think we’re married.”

“Ah…” He shook his head. “It just feels like we should do something to celebrate. Would you like a ring or a bracelet?”

I chuckled. “You want to celebrate more? After what we just did? And why jewelry?”

“When humans and demons get married, they exchange jewelry. It’s supposed to show they belong to each other. As for celebrating…” He kissed me again. “We’re going to be doing a lot more of that from now on.”

I giggled. “Jewelry to show we belong to each other? Hmmm. I like that. It’s romantic. But I’m picking them out. You have a terrible eye for design.”

“Fair enough, but back to the topic of celebration…” He shifted me in his lap.

“Whoa, as much as I would love to… I’m hungry. We should get something to eat first.”

“Okay, but we’ll be coming back to this topic.” Wukong shifted me out of his lap, and I flashed my dress back on while he pulled some of his clothes off some hooks on the wall.

As he got dressed, he looked outside. “Huh, it’s getting pretty late. I’m surprised no one’s come to check up on us.”

“Ah, I have Beng guarding the hallway. I told him not to let anyone through until we left the room.”

He stared at me in shock. “Gods, you’re so fucking sneaky. I fucking love that about you.”

I laughed as I opened the door, and Wukong followed me out.