#fruitiedadsshipping

referencing this post about an idea for Reborn's version of Sun Luzhen.

After the events of Reborn; the Pilgrims leave Five Village Abbey, now content with Yuandi's death + the restoration of the Ginseng Tree, but saddened by the loss of Fruitie/Qi Energy.

Until they pass by a Temple to Nüwa and find the snake-creaation goddess holding a large lump of wet clay and a pile of bone ash. After the initial shock of seeing the goddess (Zhu Bajie gets smacked for staring), they realise that she's just as delighted to see them. The Pilgrims all come closer thinking that they're witnessing how the goddess creates new life.

Nüwa: "Ah! Sun Wukong! Just the person I needed to see!" Smokey: "Huh? Why?" Nüwa: (*hands Smokey the lump of clay and some ash*) Smokey: "???" Lump of Clay: (*glows with soul energy*) Sha Wujing: "There's something moving inside! Is it a soul?" Nüwa, explaining: "Sometimes little ones skip Diyu all together and find me so I can make them a new vessel. This little one didn't have a strong enough body to reincarnate into." Smokey: (*absent-mindly rolling/shaping the clay into a rough egg-shape*) "Why is that?" Nüwa: "Because it's soul used to belong to the first Demon King Yuandi." The Pilgrims: (*all in various stages of shock*) "what." Nüwa: "No earthly vessel could hope to contain the primordial energy that laid within. So it came to me seeking help to be born. However I don't create life from my own power anymore. My new creations need a parent to mold from in order for the body to be made. And since Stone Monkeys can absorb their parents Dao through their egg, I knew exactly *who* to wait for." Smokey: (*pauses and finally stops rolling the clay/ash lump*) Egg-shaped Clay: (*hardens in Smokey's hands. Now resembling an actual Stone Egg*) Smokey, realising: "WAIT?! DID YOU JUST-!" Nüwa, cheeky smile: "I hope you come to love your little heir. They'll hatch soon enough." (*The Goddess disappears into the stone floor of the temple*) The Pilgrims: "!?!?" Smokey, shell-shocked: "I think I'm a father now."

The Pilgrims ofc are panicking at the fact that the very demon they just perma-banished/killed has literally reincarnated into Smokey's arms. They argue over whether or not to smash the egg (the monkey hisses and clutches the Egg tighter) or to go back to Five Village Abbey and hand it over to Zenyhuan for the immortals to deal with. But then there's the chance that the gods may just destroy or seal away the egg anyway.

Smokey is super conflicted since he has repressed grief over losing Fruitie, and doesn't want the only other Stone Monkey (he knows) to be raised by humans or risk becoming an experiment for Lao Tzu. Also his Stone Monkey instincts have been activated and he hisses at anyone who comes close to the egg.

So they decide for now to keep the egg, and the resulting little monkey, until they can figure out whether or not the soul contained even remembers being Yuandi.

A different argument quickly crops up along the way.

Sha Wujing: "So... what should we name them?" Zhu Bajie: "Why not just call them Yuandi? It's who they are." Xuanzang: "We are not naming the baby after who they used to be. Yuandi is dead. This little one is alive." Smokey, holding the egg: "Also, what if it's a girl?" Zhu Bajie and Xuanzang: (*protective-uncle mode activated*) "GIRL!?!"

And since this little reincarnated baby is Reborn's version of Sun Luzhen, I wanted their name to include one of the major characters. It was difficult cus "Lǚzhēn" (履真/"to tread/shoe" + "reality") is a compound name. One naming idea I have is; "Zhēnzhì/真志" - is a compound of "to tread" + "ambition". That or Smokey nicknames the baby "Xiao Lǚ/Little Shoes" cus of little shoe-like markings on her back feet. Also matches her "twin" Xiao Qi. :3

Once the truth comes out about Liang's little stowaway being a Stone Egg they stole found at the base of the Ginseng Tree, the Pilgrims of course ask about their choice of name.

Sha Wujing: "So did you name your cub that when you found out it was once Qi Energy?" Liang: "Huh? No, I just called them Xiao Qi [小气] cus they're a tiny bundle of energy. It was either that or Peachy, since they're pink and fuzzy like a peach." (*kisses the giggling Xiao Qi's face*) The Pilgrims: (*all give Smokey a sly smile*) Smokey: (*hides face/blush at the fact his rival/crush has similar naming themes for babies*) Zhēnzhì/Xiao Lǚ: (*paps Smokey's face with tiny hands*) :P

@latvian-spider; referencing this post about Reborn! SWK & LEM accidentally making tree babies. They show up and are *covered* in baby monkeys that look like them.

Peach: "How?" Smokey: "Gardening mishap." Peach: "That raises further questions!" Liang: "Genius here [points thumb at Smokey] swallowed the pit inside of the manfruit he stole from the abbey. It gets stuck in his body, he hocks it up and buries it on the Mountain. We both tend to it on-and-off for the next year. We both check it one day and *pop!* tree full of baby monkeys." *room is silent* Dasheng: "...WHY?" Liang: "Turns out the pit and sapling of the ginseng tree absorbs the Dao of its surroundings. It stuck around us for so long that the only "fruit" was monkey demons with our genetics." Sugar: "Wait... isn't the ginseng tree perennial? It grows a new batch every couple thousand years..." Smokey: "Our tree sorta withered in on itself when the last baby fell - like it sorta expended all it's energy. Probably why only the tree at the abbey produces multiple fruitings." Plum: "I mean its definitely a lot cleaner than childbirth, I'll say that." Smokey, a baby climbing on his head: "Higher chance of unexpected yields though." Xiao Qi + the 5 Stone-fruit baby monkeys: *happy chirping!*

Reborn!SWK and LEM basically had mutliple Jttw stories together before they realised that they were taking care of the same Baby-Fruit tree.

The names of the 5 bonus fruit babies and their identifiers are;

Xiǎoxìng/小杏 ("little apricot"). Very light brown fur. Likes to charm people and "sing" (sounds like chirping) along to music.

Xiǎotáo/小桃 ("little peach"). Mostly white fur that turns into a gradient of light tan, like the colours on a peach. Calm and curious.

Xiǎolǐzi/小李子 ("little plum"). Mostly dark brown-black fur, has a sour look on their face most of the time. Grumpy/sleepy.

Xiǎoyīng/小樱 ("little cherry"). White fur with some fawn-like brown spots. Bright red face marking. Giggles at everything.

Xiǎozǎo/小枣 ("little jujube"). Dark brown fur, looks like a mini-Smokey. Very mischievous.

Oh dear... poor Reborn!Red. Stupidly in puppy love at first sight but when they try to show Xiao Qi any form of affection they start hearing boss music.

I also had the hilarious thought of how the Reborn family probably looks to an outside observer:

Actual Fairytale Character Xiao Qi compared to Reborn!SWK/Smokey, the adoptive celestial werewolf siblings, and SWK!LEM/Liang. Off to the side is the Pilgrim Uncles providing bonus backup.

When most people ask Xiao Qi who their dad is; their faces *drop* the second the hear "Sun Wukong", and they start running at "-and the Six Eared Macaque". Xiao Qi wonders what the big fuss is.

Ooo thats a really cute idea for a Reborn!MK!

I've discussed my idea for a Reborn sequel/au in theses posts here; where Qi Energy pretty much reincarnates themselves into the the "MK" of the Reborn verse. As the Law of Conservation of Energy states; energy cannot be destroyed, only transferred. In this case Qi Energy -> Stone Egg -> a baby mystic monkey.

It would be really cute that the "Stone Egg" in this case was more like an obscenely big peach pit (a "Stone fruit" seed if you will >:3) created by the manfruit tree after it's revival, and Reborn!SWK buried it on FFM thinking it would sprout another manfruit tree/maybe a normal peach tree.

Later on; LEM comes around and tends to the weird little sprouting tree whilst also trying to keep order on the rapidly-healing island.

Que the "Macaque" chapter where the two monkeys are pointing at eachother in horror as the little "tree" pops out a fresh monkey baby that looks just like them. And then the baby starts sprouting plant life where ever it steps.

Maybe in my au idea, I might have SWK and LEM accidentally make their second-"born" this way. Xiao Qi getting an unexpected little sibling from a manfruit pit SWK coughed up.

I mean it's one thing to have Xiao Qi and the two wolf siblings along, but add in five more baby monkeys? Reborn!Pigsy is no doubt putting his hoof down if they are, they are not childcare service.

Well... Smokey/Reborn!SWK was about a couple years into a pilgrimage thats meant to take like 9/17 canon years when he and Liang/Reborn!LEM got the accidental windfall of baby monkeys.

It happens during the "Macaque" chapter where SWK gets kicked out by Xuanzang/Tripitaka for killing the bandits. LEM def defends Smokey's actions - violently once he witnesses Tripitaka using the Headache sutra on SWK. Lets just say a monk almost got folded until Pigsy and Sandy stepped in.

Cue the 3 monkeys + 2 wolf kids leaving on a a sommersault cloud to;

Complain to Guanyin.

Drop the kids off at FFM so they can introduce them to the good, zero-monk life while SWK has a small emotional breakdown.

Check up on that weird tree they planted a while back- WHAT THE?!

The Weird Tree: *looks like a peach tree, but has 5 infant monkey-shaped fruit* SWK & LEM: "UHHH..." Zhu Yu (wolf child 1#): "Those are the ugliest pears I've ever seen." Xiao Qi: *bouncing excitedly for some reason*

At first the adult monkeys think maybe the fruits are ginseng/manfruits that just look kinda weird? Until it requires both of their strength to pull one off a branch, and then the peach-skin-like coating of the "fruit" sloughs off and reveals a squalling newborn baby monkey.

SWK & LEM, both covered in fruit juice: "Oh my-" "-Sweet Guanyin." The Four other "fruits": *start swaying and making cry-chirps* SWK & LEM: "UH OH." Xiao Qi: "Yay!!!" Wolf siblings: *confusedly licking their new sibling clean*

Smokey has to manifest a few baby/fruit baskets so him and Liang can literally catch the other four as they drop naturally. Seems that picking the eldest fruit "woke up" the others.

And when its all done, they have five very grumpy infant monkeys that smell like fruit. And once the youngest dropped, the tree curled in on itself like a wilted flower and seemed to revert to a sterile trunk.

The two monkeys are shaken, covered in not-fruit juice, and theres five babies screaming in their ears + their three extant kids running around excitedly.

SWK, holding four baskets: "...we really should have stayed with Master." LEM, still in shock while holding the eldest of the five: "Maybe we can bribe him with one?'

Guanyin soon manifests to explain that she gave Tripitaka a talking to about abandoning his student. She pauses mid-sentence, looks at the two parent monkeys, blinks, and admits a little sheepishly;

Guanyin: "I blessed your false-ginseng tree to give you children once you had returned from your journey. It seems that the tree misinterpeted your banishment as your return." SWK (almost all limbs occupied with rocking a cub to sleep): "YOU THINK!?" Guanyin: "My blessings multiply depending on the desire of the parents." SWK & LEM: *nervously glances at one another* *Later when all the pilgrims reunite* SWK & LEM: *both look sleep deprived, and are covered in baby monkeys* Pigsy: "WHOA... how long did we leave you two alone for?" LEM: "A whole day." Pigsy: "You worked fast then!" XD SWK: "Pigsy I swear to buddha, I'll throw you into the Mother-Child River if you make another joke."

SWK has a small crisis of choice now. He can't leave Master alone or he'll definitely get eaten. But he doesn't want to be an absent figure to his kids - and Xiao Qi has made his intentions to continue on the pilgrimage no matter what.

SWK & LEM: *share a look* Pigsy: "No. Absolutely not." SWK: "I can't leave Liang alone on the island with five babies. It's not fair." Sandy: "And we'll need them if Xiao Qi wishes to continue on with us..." Pigsy: "NO." Tripitaka: "We aren't a nursery service." Pigsy: "Thank you!" Tripitaka, places hand on SWK's shoulder: "We're family." Pigsy: "Noooo!" *Cut to each Pilgrim holding a baby* Pigsy, threateningly: "You two best keep it in your pants from now on!" SWK: "Thats not how they were made!" Pigsy: "I don't wanna even hear about your bedroom activities!" Xiaolizi/Little Plum: *squeaks angrily from Pigsy's back* Pigsy: "See? Even he's tired of it!"

Each Pilgrim gets a fruit baby to hold.

Pigsy is very upset by this turn of events, but luckily his little buddy (Plum) backs him up in his rantings ("Meh!" "Thats what I'm saying!").

Sandy is just rattling off history facts and stories to Cherry while the baby just "ooo"s and giggles at everything he says.

Tripitaka gets Peach, cus the little girl is the easiest to hold and seems interested in the monk's vague Buddhist sayings.

Apricot just *leaps* onto Ao Lie's back and refuses to be moved less he starts crying. The dragon-horse feels a little smug to be his favorite.

Jujube has to be kept close to the monkey parents or else she tries running off to cause mischief. Very much her Baba's daughter.

Xiao Qi is still a Baba's boy, and will 100% cling to Smokey if his hands are free. The wolf kids feel a little left out at times, but Liang is quick to focus attention on them when the fruity babies are causing a fuss. A few of the babies learn how to transform into wolf pups so they can run together as a mini-pack (Apricot prefers to be a horse foal).

As for the potential dangers of having so many small children on this journey? While both monkey parents would have *preferred* to have raised the cubs on FFM, they know that they can do so much more good in the world while travelling.

And a lot of demons would look at the pilgrim group like; "Are those monks? Sweet Yama! How many baby demons are there? They def aren't good monks in any case. Ain't worth my time." XD

We are talking about super-powerful, nigh-indestructible, nature-healing babies after all. The real people in danger are whoever dares think they can handle a baby in a fair fight.

Can you tell me more about your Smokey's lil chaos bringers (also, poor he and Liang at the beginning of their parent moments jhshsis)? I need to do something with them and mine lmao. I just need the necessary information >:}

Theres two kind of SWKs; the ones with a reasonable amount of children, and Reborn.

I mentioned what the little stone-fruit monkeys look like Here. Body wise, they look like normal puffy, infant monkeys. Mostly fur and squeaky noises.

Smokey and Liang know how to care for a baby monkey cus of experience with Xiao Qi and taking care of infants back on FFM. But multiply that by 5 and you get some exhausted Mystic Monkeys. Half of the reason they decide to take the kids on the journey is cus at least they can pawn babysitting duty onto the other four pilgrims.

Smokey and Liang *frequently* have one or more infant monkeys clinging to their heads and shoulders.

Liang/Reborn!LEM manages to wrangle the babies into color-coordinated clothes, but by the gods they will take every opportunity to run around nekkid. Smokey/Reborn!SWK doesn't even try to discourage it.

Every town they stop in at has at least one horror story of a baby demon monkey raiding market stalls and or acting like a little fluffy chaos gremlin.

And by giving the fruitiedads Xiao Qi and five younger fruit babies, I have accidentally made the Jttw version of Osomatsu-kun. >_<