Nothing had ever tasted sweeter, no drink had ever been more refreshing, than the Sacred Water Goku chugged from that once-accursed jug. It had cost him months of sweat, months of listening, observing, and imitating. His clothes were ragged and torn, and the soles of his shoes had worn through, but he'd finally done it.

"Ahhhh," Goku sighed deeply and wiped his mouth with his shirt. "That was great!"

"Congratulations kid," Korin grinned. "I didn't think you had it in you."

He shook out the last remaining drops onto his tongue, then placed the jug carefully back on its podium. Then he waited.

"I don't feel any different," he said finally.

"Were you expecting to?"

"You said it would make me stronger." Goku frowned as Korin's grin widened with mischief. "You were lying to me, weren't you?"

"Was I?"

"Well, I don't feel stronger!"

"You sure about that, kiddo?"

Goku paused for a moment, focusing his attention on his muscles. He stretched. Then he hopped from one foot to another.

"I feel so light!" He giggled with glee, jumping higher and higher. "Ha ha! This is great! Woohoo!" He stopped and turned to smile at Korin. "This was your plan the whole time, huh? You were training me all along."

"Looks like you've gotten smarter too."

"Yeah!" He punched the air, his hands blurring with the newly acquired speed.

"Well, that's it for me, kid. Ain't nothin' more I can teach you."

"What?" Goku's face fell in disappointment. "That can't be true! I'm not done, I can feel it!"

Korin shrugged. "My job here is done."

"No, it can't be!" Goku protested. "I know it's not! I can do better than this, I know it!"

Korin sighed, then turned his back to the young boy. "Goku," he paused. "You're a mystery to me, kid. You've come so far, a lot faster than I bargained for. But you got no purpose, and-"

"I thought you said there wasn't any purpose!"

"Well," Korin waved a paw in the air, "I didn't mean that exactly. Everyone's got some purpose, but these things are hard to explain."

Goku crossed his arms, eyebrows furrowed in an uncharacteristic glare. "You lied. You're a big fat lying liar!"

"Hey!" Korin turned back around, one claw raised in warning. "Watch it, kid. I don't take mouth from nobody."

"It's true! You lied about the water, and you lied about the purpose, and I know you're lying about training me. I'm not finished, and I'm not leaving here until I am!"

Korin sighed. There was nothing for it. Well, he had warned him.

"Look. I can't teach you anything here. But there is somewhere else you can go, someone who can…," he paused, choosing his words carefully. "No one can make you tap into your true potential, not here, anyway. But he can show you the way."

Goku nodded firmly. "Right. I'm ready."

"Goku," Korin's voice had softened suddenly, and he rested a warm paw on the boy's chest. "You have to understand that there's no turning back from this. You'll be bound by the code we set for you. You will have to follow the path of the pure of heart, purpose or no. Do you understand?"

Goku nodded again. In fact, he didn't fully understand, but he already knew that he had gone past a point of no return. He'd made his choices a long time ago, before his parents had kicked him out, before he'd awakened that night, even before Master Gohan had died. He'd made his choices when he trained at Kame Island, when he traveled to Master Baru and dedicated himself to the study of the old language and the old martial arts, when he'd gotten into Bulma's air car and set on the path that led him the statue of the Golden King. He'd made those choices willingly and happily, over and over again, and it had cost him a lot, but they were his truth. He couldn't turn back even if he wanted to. And he would never want to.

"Alright. I think you might actually be ready, even for how young you are," Korin said. "Follow me."

Goku followed him once again to the center podium. This time, Korin removed the jug and pulled out what looked like a long red pole seemingly out of the air.

"Come over here, take a look."

Goku approached and peered into the center of the podium. There was a small hole that looked to be the exact diameter of the pole Korin was holding.

"Here," Korin handed him the pole. "You stick it in the hole, and it will carry you up to where you need to go. You'll meet someone there who'll know what to do with you. Take this with you." He handed the boy a small round bell. "You'll need it."

Goku grasped the pole in both hands and twirled it.

"Go on."

Goku looked up at Korin's face, so unexpectedly soft and smiling. Apprehension welled in his chest as he carefully positioned the pole, then climbed up on the podium, grasping it firmly with both hands.

"Now say, 'Power Pole, extend'," Korin instructed.

Goku took a deep breath. "Power Pole, extend!"

He squealed as the pole shot up with a speed he'd never felt before, freezing air pulling at his skin. He held on for dear life, wrapping his legs tightly around the pole, the friction of it burning a hole through his already fraying pants.

It took only minutes, but the pole came to sudden halt, practically knocking Goku off with the whiplash.

He looked down. Gosh, he thought, you can't even see Korin's Tower from up here.

Then he looked up. Brushing against his spiky hair was a large white dome. A few feet away, someone had conveniently placed a ladder that appeared to go up to the platform. He jumped for it and climbed.

In a few steps Goku was crawling onto the marble floor of a vast white platform. It was something to behold as he stood up, still a little shaky from the ride, this expanse of shimmering white squares, a gorgeous white palace with a huge golden dome at the far end, held up by beautiful white marble pillars, everything twinkling with the sunlight. Palm trees waved gently in the air, and at the center, a little garden of delicate, colorful flowers, their sweet, light scent wafting softly around him.

Watering the flowers was a…man?

Goku approached him. "Um, excuse me? Sir?"

The man turned. Goku had never seen anyone like him before. He had dark skin, but not dark like many people he'd met and known in his travels – this was like looking into the night sky, if the night sky had large, piercing round eyes and thick lips. He had a round body, but not fat, it was almost like a baby's chubby folds, but not quite that either. He wore a white turban and wide pants, an intricately sown red open vest, and gold bands on his upper arms, which he held behind him. Small birds twittered on his broad shoulders.

"Um, hi!" Goku smiled, then offered a clumsy bow. "I'm here to train. Master Korin sent me."

"I see." His voice was soft but deep, and he spoke in Talpe, but almost with an accent that Goku hadn't heard before, as though he wasn't a native speaker, or native even to Vegeta.

"So, uh," Goku felt a bit off-kilter. "What is the place, anyway?"

"You may think of it as the Lookout."

"Lookout?" he grinned. "Like, 'look out below!' That's funny!"

The man made no expression.

"Ya know, like if you dropped something?" Goku explained.

"No. The Lookout is the place from whence you may observe the goings and comings of the mortal world. Or more accurately, it is where I may observe. You can observe nothing."

"I could try?"

"No."

"Oh," Goku frowned a bit. "Well, I'm not really here to observe. I'm here to train! Are you the Master here?"

"I am Mister Popo."

Goku felt the need to bow again, so he did, this time with more grace. "My name is, uh-" He paused. He had always introduced himself with, "My name is Kakarot, but you can call me Goku," but now, he wasn't so sure about that. He would always be Kakarot. But maybe he didn't have to be Kakarot right now.

"You can call me Goku," he said.

"Hello Goku."

"Hi!" Goku considered offering a hand to shake, but that didn't seem right, so he simply raised it instead. "So, are you the Master here?"

"I am the Keeper of the Lookout."

"So where's the Master?"

"There is no one here but myself. And now you."

"Oh," Goku scratched the back of his head. "Well, Master Korin told me to come up here to train."

"Yes," Mister Popo said. "You could not be here without his help."

"Right!"

"So you are ready for the test?"

"Test?" Goku said.

"Do you have the bell?"

"Oh, yeah!" He pulled it out of his pocket. "Here it is. What's the test?"

Mister Popo took the bell from him and it disappeared. "The test is this. You must fight me, and if I deem you a worthy opponent, I will train you to surpass me."

Goku grinned. Now this was more like it! "Alright, but prepare to be surprised," he said as he slid into a fighting stance. "I've been training real hard with Master Korin, and I got a few tricks up my sleeves!"

Finally, Mister Popo smiled. "This is very exciting. I haven't had a challenger in centuries."

Goku's grin widened. This guy was out of practice too! This would be a piece of cake!

"Alright, ready?"

"Oh yes!"

"Ha hah!" In a blur, Goku had disappeared. This was a new technique he'd taught himself, not quite the After Image – it relied purely on speed to confuse the opponent.

"Oh!" Mister Popo said. "He's gone!"

Goku grinned as he made for his left, jumping up for a kick-

"And there you are."

-only for a large fist to slam into his cheek and send him flying across the marble floor.

Goku pushed himself up. "Okay, I guess you're tougher than I thought. But so am I. This punch," he pulled his fist back, feet sliding as he prepared to launch himself, "will show you what I'm made of!"

He drove in towards Mister Popo with all the speed and might his body would muster-

-and slammed face-first into Mister Popo's fist once again.

The mysterious man's face had fallen in disappointment. "You are not very strong at all. I do not understand why Korin would send you to me."

Rage flared in his chest. "I am strong!" he screamed. "This time I'll get you!"

"Yes, please."

He moved again into a new fighting stance. Birds fluttered away from Mister Popo, who grinned.

"You will never lay a hand on me. Look what you did. You frightened the birds away with your bad attitude."

"Hey!" Goku yelled. "Don't make fun of me!"

He couldn't think – rage and instinct drove him instead as he launched a flurry of punches and kicks. But Mister Popo was right. He couldn't lay a hand on him. He must have been moving, but Goku couldn't see it, not until it was too late and Mister Popo was already behind him, punching him, kicking him, all across the platform.

Finally, Mister Popo grabbed him by a leg and threw him across the platform.

Goku squirmed, desperately trying to push himself up, but his muscles felt like jelly, and his sweaty palms couldn't get a grip on the marble beneath him.

"What a waste of time," Mister Popo said. "I am very disappointed."

Fire burned in his blood as indignation leveraged him onto his feet. "I'm not done yet!" Goku shouted across the platform. He crouched low, bringing the edges of his palms together for the technique that had never once failed him.

"Kame-"

Mister Popo smiled.

"Hame-" Goku took a deep breath, putting everything into the final move as the ki formed in his hands "-HA!"

The bright blue ball of ki flared out from his palms with a new speed he'd never managed before, and Mister Popo…

Opened his mouth…

And…

Goku watched in horror as the ki disappeared into the man's wide open mouth.

Then he burped a ring of smoke.

Goku fell backwards. "I don't-don't believe it," he whispered, voice shaking and cracked. "He ate the Kamehameha wave!"

"Do you see now," Mister Popo said, "that you are outclassed?"

Goku stood up, his whole body still shaking with shock. Mister Popo was right, he'd never managed to get anywhere near him, let alone lay a hand on him. He'd never imagined such speed and skill was even possible.

But he wasn't done. He couldn't be.

"I'll-I'll keep training." He wiped his face with his bare hands as it burned with shame. "I'll go back down to Master Korin, and-"

"No," Mister Popo said with finality. "The Lookout is not like the Tower. If you leave now, you may never return."

"But," Goku looked up, "you said I'm not worthy to train yet."

"I said no such thing. I said merely that you are outclassed."

"So," Goku felt his chest swell with relief, "you'll train me?"

"Not if you leave the Lookout."

Goku considered the implications of this. "Not even to visit my family?"

"No."

"But," he felt so torn, "no one knows where I am. They'll worry about me."

"That is my condition."

"How long will I be here for?"

"That is up to you."

The guilt of abandoning his mother burned Goku's soul, but…he couldn't say no to this. He couldn't turn back. And anyway, his parents didn't want him back, at least not under conditions Goku could accept. Krillin and Kaela would worry about him, and Bulma too, but – it couldn't be helped. They would just have to trust and believe that he would be okay.

"I need some clean clothes," he said finally.

"All your needs shall be met," Mister Popo said.

And Goku believed him.

A/N: I know this is a bit short compared to other chapters. It was initially supposed to be part of Chapter 35, but it's been so long since I updated I decided to just get that one out and do this one separately. Thanks so much for reading and sticking it out with me for this long! I really appreciate all your feedback.