Chi-Chi pulled her air bike off to the side and took a swig of water from her flask. She had made good time getting off the island and across the waters considering she'd been watching the small screen on her dashboard as much as she had the road. Thankfully everyone was still at the tournament and the roads were blissfully empty, otherwise she might have crashed into something after witnessing Goku's fight with that Tien Shinhan —or the little she'd caught of his fight with Piccolo before the camera cut off. It was sobering in a way she hadn't expected. She knew that Goku was strong but she had thought she had caught up to him a little.

HA!

And that Piccolo! How fearsome!

She couldn't even compare herself to Tien or their friend Krillin. Both of them could shoot energy out of their bodies and take similar blasts head on, while she hadn't even been able to stand her ground against a gust of air!

"I'm so embarrassed," she groaned, covering her face with her hands. How could she confront Goku like she had when she didn't even measure up? Wasn't even anywhere close to being his equal!

Chi-Chi allowed herself a moment to slouch against her vehicle and then straightened, putting the bike into gear and pulling back out onto the road. Her instincts were telling her to keep going even though she wasn't entirely sure of her destination. She knew where she should be going, considering she hadn't really told anyone she'd be attending the tournament in the first place. She hadn't wanted to risk telling anyone in case she hadn't been able to find Goku and thank goodness she hadn't!

However, now that they wouldn't be getting married, and wasn't that just painful to admit, she was at a bit of a loss what to do with herself.

For so long she had been preparing to be his wife, planning the ways she could best support him. All the skills she'd learned…all for nothing now it seemed.

God she was such an idiot.

She wiped a tear from her eye and pushed her focus to what she should do now.

She supposed she could take over for her father but the bustle of running a kingdom had never really interested her. Sure she enjoyed the busy work, the feeling of accomplishment she gained when helping the citizens, but all she'd ever really longed for was romance and adventure like the stories from her childhood.

Romance seemed no longer an option…but adventure?

If there was one thing that had come from preparing to marry Goku, was her discovery in how much she enjoyed fighting. Not that she liked fighting just for the sake of fighting, of course. Her father had taught her as a means to protect herself but then one day she'd caught some delinquents harassing a couple of young girls. It had been nothing to knock 'em flat, of course, but from the experience she learned that she liked how capable it had made her feel. She liked the challenge of improving herself and pushing herself to the best of her abilities. Heck, she simply liked the exercise. Performing her daily katas was soothing.

For the past seven years she had trained and grown to believe that she could handle almost anything.

Now after seeing Goku struggle against Piccolo, she couldn't help but wonder what if Goku had failed? Which was a ridiculous thought, she knew he would never fail…but what if he wasn't around to help? What if Piccolo or that Tien or any other unknown villain out there decided to attack her home in the middle of the night? She was strong, even stronger than her father, but she wouldn't be able to stop someone like that. She wasn't as strong as Goku.

But could she be?

Her heart squeezed tight at the thought.

Goku was a hero, a free spirit. He was everything she'd ever longed for and…and she wanted to be his equal. Wanted to be able to stand by his side and come to his aid the next time Piccolo or an even bigger menace threatened their world so that he wouldn't have to shoulder the burden alone. Even if his heart would never be hers.

She wanted to go on the journey.

There was a time, years ago, when her mother was still alive and would tell her fables and myths, history her mother had called it, about the homes of the gods and the foolish humans who sought to take their powers for themselves. She didn't want to steal their power but maybe they'd give her some of their guidance. If anyone could help her get stronger, surely it would be the gods?

Her mother had warned her only one pure of heart could make the journey and survive, and once, several years ago, she had proven her pure heart by sitting on a cloud. Though physically she had changed, she was sure her heart was just the same and her heart, it yearned, with such a painful intensity that she had to wonder if it had ever really been about the boy at all or if this was the path she was meant for all along?

Be brave, it whispered. Be strong.

Oh how she wanted to be strong. And brave. She wanted to travel, she wanted adventure. She wanted to experience all that life had to offer before finally settling down with the love of her life in some cozy little home in the woods away from all the fuss and noise of her kingdom.

But to do that, first she had to be brave.

Well, hadn't she already traveled to the tournament on her own? She'd already taken the first step of her journey. Chi-Chi smiled and looked to the sky.

"Watch over me, mama."

Spotting a clearing up ahead, she pulled over once more, this time to write a letter to her precious papa.

o0o

Goku flew aimlessly on his Nimbus, not really sure what to do with himself now. He had just defeated Piccolo and had earned the title as the strongest man in the world but Goku knew that there was always someone stronger out there. He just hadn't met them yet.

Still…even though he knew he wanted to continue getting stronger, he didn't have the first clue on how to go about it. He'd already completed his training with Kami and Mr. Popo but where he went from there was beyond him. And he couldn't just ask Kami, not after fleeing on the Nimbus after Kami had offered him the position as guardian of the Earth.

But that was a problem for tomorrow. Right now he was still riding high on his win or wins, he corrected, mentally adding his victories against Tien and Chi-Chi to that list.

Chi-Chi! He still needed to talk to her!

His heart felt tight as he remembered her goodbye. He didn't understand why it had pained him so. Goodbyes had never bothered him before…well, except for maybe his grandpa. Maybe that was it. Maybe it was because the way she said it had sounded so permanent, like grandpa, like he would never see her again.

He rubbed his chest, feeling his heart tighten, making Goku frown. This wasn't fair. He'd been ecstatic just moments ago, he didn't like that he was feeling this way now.

He needed to find Chi-Chi.

He wasn't sure where she'd run off to after their match but she had to go home sometime right? Briefly his thoughts wandered to his own home in Mt Paozu and the last time he'd been there years ago but that was him and he didn't think most people were like that. Surely Chi-Chi would head home now that the tournament was over?

He shrugged. It was the only thing he had to go on.

"Alright Nimbus, to the Ox-King's castle!"

o0o

Chi-Chi had just finished sealing her letter when several motorcycles pulled to a screeching halt behind her. She eyed the group warily as they surrounded her, noting their wild looks and demeanor. There were a dozen of them in total, all dressed in leather and spikes. She tucked her letter away and stood to face the newcomers.

"Can I help you?"

"Seems like you're the one who could use some help," crowed a tall lanky fellow with his hair gelled up to form a single line down his head. "You lost sweetheart?"

Chi-Chi frowned.

"No."

"Not a talkative one, is she, boss?" snorted a large fellow with a flat snout.

"She's a babe," woofed another, flashing sharp canines at her in a wicked grin, while a small rat faced fellow snickered eagerly beside him.

Finally a great dragon of a man stepped forward, his squinty eyes, bushy brows and a heavy set jaw somehow marking him as the leader.

"Care to guess who we are little miss?"

"No."

"I thought you'd say as much," he laughed. He nodded at a large predatory man, with eyes as sharp as a jungle cat. "Tiger."

This seemed to be all the direction necessary as the fierce looking man jumped forward and began stalking towards her.

"I like your spunk miss," grinned the dragon man, the one she deemed as the boss. "It's a shame you had to run into the Zodiac Gang. Tiger will try to make this quick."

Chi-Chi stretched out one leg in front of her, lifting her arms into position, making the thugs around her burst into snickers and howls. That was fine, Chi-Chi smirked, they wouldn't be laughing long.

Tiger finally deigned to make his move and pounced but Chi-Chi was faster. She twisted into a kick sending her opponent crashing into two others and now the rest began to eye her warily.

"You were saying?" Chi-Chi murmured, smiling as sweet as she could manage.

"ATTACK!"

o0o

Goku had barely been flying in the direction of the Ox-King's home for five minutes when he spotted something odd in the distance. It looked like a group of people on an abandoned road but he couldn't make out what they were doing. He guided the Nimbus closer and was surprised to see a fight! But not just any fight, it looked like there were twelve people all ganging up on a single person at once. He frowned, not liking that. Only bad people cheated in a fight.

He moved to jump down but froze when he realized who their opponent was. It was Chi-Chi! He'd found her! He watched, transfixed, as she took on a dozen men all larger than her, dancing and weaving in between them with her skirt fanning out all around her like a flower twirling in the wind. He had known she was a graceful fighter but there was something almost…beautiful…in the way she moved…even as she bent down and swung one of the smaller men in a circle, bowling down several others in the process.

She dropped him then and then flew around a large heavyset man, wrapping her legs around his stomach and locking her hands around his head.

"LEAVE," she hissed, tightening her grip, "Or ya boss gets the drop, yeah?"

Everybody froze and then hastily rushed to do her bidding, taking off on their bikes as quickly as they'd come.

Chi-Chi released her prisoner and then kicked him towards the remaining bike, stretching her muscles as he too took off in a cloud of dust.

"And here I thought ya needed help."

Chi-Chi jumped, sending her fist flying out behind her only to be stopped by a large hand attached to a grinning Goku.

"Goku!" she blinked, stumbling back in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you!" he laughed, rubbing one hand against his head.

Chi-Chi flushed under his gaze, not having expected that answer nor how adorable he looked while stating it. She pressed a hand to her heart and tried her best to ignore its rapid pace.

"Oh…uh…what for?"

"Well…" Goku began, realizing only then that he hadn't been prepared to catch up to Chi-Chi quite so soon. He leaned forward, taking comfort in being surrounded by her warm scent once more as he struggled to answer her.

"I wanted to…uh…that is…I was wondering if you might change your mind? About me? I know I disappointed ya, but I can do better if you just give me a chance?"

Her cheeks, already an appealing bright red, turned an even deeper shade and Goku felt his grin widening in response. He didn't understand why the sight made him happy but figured it was because he was finally speaking to her when she wasn't angry or sad. Yeah, that had to be it.

"Goku."

He straightened at her stern tone, and looked at her expectantly, making an already difficult decision even harder for Chi-Chi to stick with. Why did he have to look so happy to see her?

"You're really very sweet to want to keep your promise to me but my answer remains no."

Goku's smile dropped into a confused pout, pulling at her heartstrings. Wasn't this hard enough without him looking so dang cute?!

But she had to remain strong, she just had to!

"I don't understand, I'm willing to try. Why aren't you?"

'Because you don't love me!' She wanted to shout but it was embarrassing enough that he hadn't even remembered her, let alone that she had harbored one-sided feelings for so long. Oh why couldn't he just let it go? She turned away, no longer capable of facing him.

"Goku, it's not that simple. A man and woman should love each other before getting married, or at the very least have a strong bond between them, otherwise they could be miserable for the rest of their lives! And you couldn't even recognize me," she chided, turning to face a serious looking Goku. "If we were to get married and form a family only for you to later realize you didn't or couldn't care for me…I…I don't want that. Marriage is a permanent decision, it shouldn't be made lightly."

"But Chi-Chi," Goku murmured, moving closer. He had the urge to take her hand in his, but he didn't know why, so he kept his hands pinned to his side. What she was saying made sense, he knew it did, and yet…every instinct in him was screaming not to let her go like this. That if she left he would regret it. But why? The thought of living with someone for the rest of his life was scary. He hadn't even lived with his grandpa for more than a handful of years and yet…the thought of a family…that's what they would be right? The thought of family was comforting.

Whether it was right to form one with her was another story but the thought of never seeing her again, of that permanent goodbye, it bothered him.

He needed more time.

Time to understand his feelings and time to persuade her, but Chi-Chi seemed dead set on cutting off any chance for that here.

"I do care for you. You're my friend."

"It's not enough," she argued, taking a step back away from him. "It was a mistake to bring it up in the first place. Besides, I can't get married now. I'm going on a journey."

"A journey?" Goku blinked, "What sort of journey?"

"Er, a long one?" These kinds of trips were usually long weren't they? "After our match I realized I have a long way to go if I ever hope to be half as good as you, but I've done as much as I can at home and well…my mother used to tell me stories about warriors who traveled to meet the gods." Chi-Chi turned away, suddenly feeling shy. It was rare that she got the chance to talk about her mother. "I know stories aren't always true…but you fly on a cloud and the Bansho fan existed at some point and if I can get stronger along the way…" she shrugged, "Well I guess we'll see."

"So you see?" Chi-Chi asked, raising a single brow as she willed him to agree with her. "I can't marry you, since I don't know how long I'll be gone."

"Well then I can just go with you!"

Wait, what?

"What do you mean you can just go with me?" Chi-Chi spluttered, trying to step back but unable to because Goku was holding her hand. When had he…?

"I mean I'll go with you!" Goku beamed, pleased everything was falling into place. "By the time we're done, we'll know each other well enough to get married!"

"B-but…" He was still thinking about marriage? Even though she'd turned him down twice now? "But I haven't said yes?" she muttered, wondering how she had lost control of the situation so quickly.

"Then say yes, Chi-Chi," Goku ordered in a low voice, one that forced her to look up. However, looking up turned out to be a mistake, because his black eyes were bearing down into hers and Chi-Chi suddenly found it hard to breathe. Who knew eyes could look so intense?

"I…uh…" Chi-Chi swallowed, "Okay."

Goku squeezed both her hands and then jumped back, doing a cartwheel, some backflips and even a happy little jig while Chi-Chi watched and wondered what the hell she had just agreed to.