Before this story begins, I want to say a few things.
Yes, I know this concept is greatly overdone. Yes, I know there probably isn't anything I could do with this concept that hasn't already been done. Yes, I have definitely taken plot points from other stories. And yes, I know this doesn't make a lot of sense given the current state of the Dragon Ball universe, but I've been wanting to write a story based on this concept, ever since I first heard about it. There have been a lot of stories I've wanted to write over the years but have been too afraid to, given how much they've already been done. I've decided the time has come for me to write these stories regardless of how much criticism I might be given, because these are stories I want to write, and the criticism will help me grow as a writer.
So, like many authors before me, I'll be exploring the ever-popular concept of 'What if Goku Married Bulma'. Please let me know what you think, all feedback is greatly appreciated. Enjoy.
The time had come for the Twenty-Third World Martial Arts Championships. It was a rainy day and the Turtle Hermit Master Roshi, along with Launch were eagerly waiting for the arrival of their friends who planned to participate.
"They're late aren't they?" asked Launch as Master Roshi checked his watch.
Just then a taxi pulled up and a woman with blue hair stepped out. She was followed by an anthropomorphic pig and cat by the name of Oolong and Puar and she looked surprised to see them.
"Hey you, long time no see," said the woman.
"It is you Bulma! I thought so!" stated Launch.
"Where's everyone? Not here yet?" asked Bulma.
Bulma started to talk to Launch but was interrupted by Master Roshi being his normal perverted self.
"HANDS OFF MY BUTT," yelled Bulma angrily punching the old man in the face.
Master Roshi rubbed his face in pain before he continued talking.
"By the way, what happened to Yamcha? Weren't you coming together?" asked Master Roshi.
"Oh him, as soon as we got back to west city he took off somewhere," interjected Oolong.
"On a journey by himself," said Puar.
"Even leaving me behind," growled Bulma.
"Ho, ho, ho… Yamcha too, huh? Krillin said the same thing and disappeared," stated Master Roshi. "What we heard about Goku three years ago left an impression."
"Hey," called a voice.
The group turned and saw a young man they didn't recognise. He was carrying an umbrella and was wearing a turban.
"He a friend of yours?" asked Master Roshi.
"No," answered Bulma.
"Master Roshi, you are back to life. Man you all look great," said the man.
"Where's Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and everybody? They in the gymnasium already?" he asked.
The group couldn't believe it. Was this Goku?
"N-no…" exclaimed Bulma.
"Way…" exclaimed Launch.
"Goku?" asked Master Roshi.
"Is it you?" asked Oolong.
The man named Goku was highly confused by this question.
"Huh? What are you talking about? Of course it's me," said Goku.
Suddenly the rain got lighter.
"Phew the rain's lightening up," said Goku.
"You're kidding right? This isn't really you?" asked Oolong.
"What, just cause I've got this wrapped around my head you don't recognise me?" asked Goku who started removing the turban. "I'll take it off, take a good look."
Goku removed the turban revealing his signature, messy, spiky head of black hair.
"Well? Obvious now right?" asked Goku before noticing something different about his friends. "But wait a minute did you guys shrink or something?"
"Stupid, you're huge," stated Bulma marvelling at how much Goku had grown.
"Now that you mention it. I might've grown some," said Goku.
It wasn't long before the group was joined by their other friends, Tien, Krillin, Yamcha and Chaiotzu. They were all happy to see Goku again after three years and were blown away by how much he had grown. Eventually however it was announced that the preliminaries would soon start, forcing all the fighters to head to the gymnasium. As they walked away, Bulma couldn't help but admire how much Goku had changed.
"I can't believe it, Goku's become quite a man, said Bulma.
It had been six years since Bulma met Goku in his old home in the mountains. At the time Bulma had been a sixteen-year-old teenager looking for the Dragon Balls, while Goku had been a twelve-year-old boy living a peaceful life in the wild. In this time they had been through a lot together. They'd searched for the Dragon Balls multiple times and had been on multiple life-threatening adventures.
When Bulma had first met Goku, she hadn't thought much of him, thinking of him as an immature, idiotic, but extremely powerful child. In fact despite his flaws she had always greatly admired his strength and he had always been there to help her when she was in danger. This led to them becoming close, albeit plutonic friends. Now that Goku was grown up however, things felt different. He was still his usual immature cheerful self, but he was now a handsome young man. One that would always be around to protect Bulma from danger should she need it. Bulma didn't know if she could admit it out loud right now, but she could see herself falling for Goku. The only issue was, would Goku feel the same? Given the type of person Goku was, this was highly unlikely. Little did Bulma know, something would happen during this tournament that would change her life forever.
The preliminaries were about to start, and all the warriors had changed into their uniforms. It was during this time that Goku spotted a green skinned individual he believed he'd be facing off against in the finals. He immediately recognised him as the child of the evil Demon King Piccolo. Tien recognised him as well, but they agreed to keep it a secret to ensure they didn't cause a panic.
Just before the tournament was about to begin, Goku felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw a woman he didn't recognise.
"Goku," said the woman.
The rest of the group were stunned by this, as she was extremely beautiful.
"Who are you?" asked Goku.
The woman looked a little hurt, before she became extremely angry.
"STUPID," she yelled before storming off.
"Goku who was that?" asked Yamcha.
"She's really hot," stated Krillin.
"I have no idea I swear. I've never met her before," answered Goku.
Before they could discuss this further, an announcement was made letting them know the preliminaries would soon be starting. The group of warriors did very well, with all of them qualifying except for Chaiotzu who was eliminated by his old master Mercenary Tao. The woman who had greeted Goku had also made it through, but she had refused to give her name to the officials. King Piccolo's son had made it through and Goku had a feeling he was going to give him his greatest fight yet.
The tournament got off to an exciting start, with Tien making quick work of Mercenary Tao. The next fight would be between Goku and the woman who had spoken to him shortly before the preliminaries began. The two got into the ring and prepared to fight each other.
For some reason she still looked extremely mad and Goku had no idea why.
"Hey, you always seem kinda mad," stated Goku. "Why?"
"Ask ya own heart that," said the woman.
"I don't get it… maybe you think I'm somebody else," suggested Goku.
"I'm thinking you're Goku! Am I right?" asked the woman.
Shortly after this, the announcer declared that their match had begun.
The woman was the first to attack. She was undeniably a fierce fighter, but Goku was able to dodge/ block her attacks with relative ease.
"ALL THIS TIME WAITING AND WAITING AND YOU FORGOT!" screeched the woman as she attacked Goku.
"Waiting for what?" asked Goku blocking her attacks.
"FOR YOU TO LIVE UP TO YOUR PROMISE," screeched the woman.
"I made a promise to you?" asked Goku jumping into the air.
"YEAH," she said following him.
She continued to attack even while they were in the air.
"But what did I promise?" asked Goku as the two landed.
"You said you'd come ask for my hand," stated the woman.
This caused shock amongst Goku's friends, while Goku was merely confused by what she said.
"Hand? Krillin what's she mean?" asked Goku, causing the entire stadium to fall over in embarrassment.
"You idiot! Taking a woman's hand means you're going to marry her," stated Krillin. "Hey, how'd you get yourself such a hot chick? It's not fair?"
"Goku did you understand that your promise means you and this girl are going to live together for the rest of your lives?" asked Yamcha.
"The rest of my life with, but I don't even know you. Why would I agree to marry someone I've never even met?" asked a shocked Goku.
"That's why I'm so angry, you don't even remember the promise you made me," said the woman.
"Well, if you're so angry with me why would you want to marry me?" asked Goku.
This question confused the woman greatly.
"Because I liked you. When a girl and a boy like each other very much they usually get married," said the woman.
This just confused Goku even more. When a girl and boy like each other very much they get married. How did that work? This caused Goku to look away from the woman he was fighting and look towards Bulma who was standing in the crowd. They were a girl and a boy, and they were friends. Did they like each other very much?
Goku had known Bulma for a long time. While he originally thought she was a witch that summoned monsters with her magic capsules he eventually started to see her as a truly remarkably person. She was way smarter than he was (granted that wasn't a big accomplishment), she invented truly incredible things and most of the adventures Goku had been on were because of her convincing him to join her on her quest for the Dragon Balls. There was also something about her fiery temper that he really liked. She was a woman who took no nonsense from anyone and for some reason Goku really liked that. He liked it so much and he liked Bulma, that Goku started to wonder something.
"Well, I think I like her very much. Shouldn't I marry her instead?" asked Goku, pointing at Bulma creating shock amongst the entire stadium.
"What? How can you like her instead of me?" asked the woman.
"Well, I at least know who she is," said Goku bluntly. "I don't even know who you are."
The woman was originally going to reveal who she was on the condition that Goku could defeat her, but she instead decided to make a desperate final attempt to get Goku to remember her and the promise he made.
"I'm the Ox's Kings' daughter. Chi-chi," said the woman.
Goku, Yamcha, Puar, Master Roshi and Bulma all gasped in shock as they recognised her as the young girl they had met all those years ago. Oolong wasn't surprised however, he'd figured that out long ago.
"Chi-chi, you mean?" asked Goku as the woman nodded. "And I promised…"
Goku than thought back to a moment six years ago when Chi-chi had said that when Goku was old enough, her father the Ox King would give Goku her hand. Goku didn't understand what she meant, but said he would come back and get it.
"Oh yeah I did promise that," said Goku.
"So, you'll marry me?" asked Chi-chi.
"If I'm honest I thought you meant something to eat, I didn't know you were proposing marriage," said Goku, creating shock amongst the entire crowd.
"Well now that you know what I mean will you marry me?" asked Chi-chi hopefully.
"But you said when a girl and boy like each other very much they get married. Like I said, I like her very much," said Goku pointing at Bulma again causing the young woman to blush. "Shouldn't I marry her instead?"
This nearly brought Chi-chi to tears.
"Are you saying you like her more than me?" asked Chi-chi.
"Well, I do know her a lot better than you and we've been on a lot of adventures together," said Goku.
Chi-chi couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had come all this way in the hopes of reuniting with Goku again, only to be turned down by the man who had promised to marry her, because he liked another woman more. She ran of the ring in tears forfeiting the match between herself and Goku.
"Um, the victory goes to Goku," said the announcer, in shock at what had just occurred.
Goku didn't understand why Chi-chi was so upset.
"Guys what's wrong with her?" asked Goku.
Everyone groaned at Goku's usual stupidity.
"Goku you just broke a woman's heart, how do you expect her to feel?" asked Krillin.
"I broke her heart?" asked Goku. "Is she gonna die?"
The crowd fell to the ground again in embarrassment.
"No Goku she's not gonna die, she's just upset," said Krillin.
"Should I go talk to her?" asked Goku.
"I think you've done enough. I'll go talk to her. Maybe I can help her realise that you didn't understand what she meant at the time," said Yamcha.
"Thanks, Yamcha," said Goku, as Yamcha took off to comfort Chi-chi.
Still not sure by what happened, Goku decided to go talk to Bulma, who he had in a way confessed to having feelings for.
"So, Bulma, should we get married?" asked Goku.
Bulma had to think about this, while she found Goku attractive and could see herself falling for him, she feared he didn't really understand what it meant to be married.
"Well not right now, but maybe sometime in the future," said Bulma.
"But Chi-chi said when a boy and a girl really like each other they get married. I think I really like you, do you not really like me?" asked Goku.
"it's a little more complicated than that," said Bulma.
"How so?" asked Goku.
Bulma had a feeling she was about to give Goku the first talk he'd ever had about being an adult.
Meanwhile, Yamcha searched the island for Chi-chi. He found her in a corner crying.
"Hey, you ok?" asked Yamcha.
"Do I look ok? The man who promised to marry me just ditched me for another woman," said Chi-chi.
"Look you gotta understand, while Goku's incredibly strong he's not very knowledgeable about things like romance or the real world. In fact, I'd say he's completely clueless," said Yamcha kneeling down to comfort Chi-chi.
"Still though, he promised to marry me, why couldn't he keep his promise?" asked Chi-chi.
"Because he didn't understand what you meant. Can you really expect someone to keep a promise when they didn't even know what you were talking about?" asked Yamcha.
Chi-chi could see the logic to Yamcha's reasoning.
"I guess you're right," said Chi-chi, but that didn't make the heart ache any less painful. "Now how will I ever find the right man to marry?"
"Well, I'm currently available, because I'm fairly certain Goku just stole my girlfriend," stated Yamcha.
Chi-chi looked at Yamcha. She remembered she'd also had a bit of a crush on him when she was younger, he was quite good looking and from what she could remember he was also incredibly strong. Maybe he was the ideal husband she had been looking for.
After Bulma had given Goku the talk on what it meant to be a grown up and get married, she feared this might turn Goku off getting married, but to her surprise he was ok with it. Because in his eyes he did like her very much, so he saw no reason as too why they shouldn't get married. Bulma had a feeling this would take a lot of work to get right, but as a genius she was always up for a challenge. So, in the end she agreed to them getting married.
The twenty-third worlds martial arts tournament ending up being the most exciting one ever. Goku made it all the way to the finals to fight the child of King Piccolo. The battle was very fierce with Goku even getting horribly wounded near the end. Nevertheless, Goku insisted that they keep fighting and even managed to win the fight when he presented that he had learnt how to fly and knocked Piccolo out of the ring with a vicious headbutt. After being healed by a senzu bean and later giving one to Piccolo so they could fight another day. Goku decided to head with Bulma to West City, so they could tell her parents the good news.