Chi-Chi stared at the space between her hands determined to get it this time. It shouldn't be that difficult, she knew what she was supposed to be doing…and yet somehow raising her ki to glow all around her was a great deal easier than concentrating and shaping that ki into a ball between her hands.

She shoved her energy towards that empty space and forced it through, managing to create a small spark, roughly the size of a marble. It was a good start but it needed to be bigger. They were in the Tiānshàng mountains and would probably find Kaishi any day now, she needed to be prepared. If she couldn't get this, could she really take on whatever awaited her in Xuan Wu's temple? Was she really prepared even if she could? Was she rushing things? Should she train a little more first? Was this a mista—

The energy that had started as a marble rapidly swelled to the size of a watermelon and exploded, throwing her hard on her back.

"Oof!"

She was definitely not ready.

"Well ya certainly got the power for it," Goku chuckled, reaching a hand out to help her up. "But ya seem a little distracted."

"R-Right," Chi-Chi flushed, taking his hand. "I'll do better."

She put her hands back out in front of her and created a new spark, this one a little bigger. Sweat beaded along her brow and her cheeks were red from exertion as she slowly worked to increase its size. She could do this. She would do this. The whole point of this journey was to get stronger and she wasn't going to stop now. No, she would go to Xuan Wu and then Qinglong and Zhuque and Baihu and anywhere else because she could do this!

Who cares if she had to face a giant snake? Or a three headed lion? Or a pitch black room so dark she couldn't see anything beyond the immediate glow of a candle? What did it matter if there were dark crawly things just beyond her line of vision? Things that could slither their way around her ankles and mouth and drag her off without a so—

Her energy exploded again and this time Chi-Chi deemed it best to remain where she was, just in case she made the spinning worse.

"Chi-Chi?"

Chi-Chi slanted her gaze in Goku's direction. Luckily he was able to interpret her expression for what it was—that she had no intention of moving—so instead he spread out on his side beside her, propping his head up with a fist as he waited for her to speak.

Things would be a lot easier if he could just let her stew on her impending failure in peace. Too bad he clearly wasn't gonna.

She sighed and turned her head in his direction.

"Ya ever been scared or nervous before a big fight?"

Goku frowned and then sat up and pressed a hand to his mouth as he thought about this.

Was there a time? He'd always been pretty confident in his abilities and pretty good at judging his opponents. There were only a few times where he'd felt that something might be beyond him but that was in the middle of battles, not at the beginning. Well…there was that final fight with King Piccolo…but then he'd been so angry over Krillin and Master Roshi, he'd hardly had time for nervousness.

He tilted his head back and puffed out his cheeks thinking over his other fights. The fights with Mercenary Tao had come and gone so quickly that he hadn't had time to think…and every other fight he'd only looked forward to, even Piccolo Jr…but nothing that amounted to being scared…

Goku pursed his lips and shifted his gaze towards Chi-Chi who was now sitting up, glaring at him. Oh no! What was the question?

"All ya had to do was say no!" she growled, causing a shiver to shoot through him. He gulped feeling his cheeks grow hot under her angry gaze. She sure was something when angry…except her angry expression was quickly turning into one with tears!

Anything but that!

"H-Hey!" He said, putting his hands out warily. "Don't cry!"

"I'm not cryin'!"

It sure looked like crying but even he wasn't dumb enough to say so.

"I'm not!" Chi-Chi insisted.

"Sure, sure." Goku mumbled, scooting up next to her and doing his best to ignore her tears as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why ya askin' about that anyways? Are ya worried about what'll happen when we get to the place?"

Chi-Chi pouted and drew her knees up to her chest.

"Maybe just a little."

"But why? You're strong. Just look at how well ya did two days ago!"

Too late did Goku remember that he wasn't supposed to bring that up. His only warning was the sharp rise in ki before Chi-Chi struck out, shoving him away with all the force of a tank.

"Goku!" Chi-Chi wailed, flushing in embarrassment. Despite the fact that Goku had sworn up and down and on everything in between that he hadn't seen anything, waking up in her nightgown sans panties, when the last thing she remembered was fainting in a towel, was still too much for her heart to bare! She had sworn him to never mention it again, so then why oh why was he bringing it up now?

"Chi-Chiiii," Goku whined, rubbing his head. "That hurt."

"Like I could ever hurt someone as strong as you," she huffed. "Ya promised you'd never mention that night again!"

"I'm sorry! I was only tryin' to point out ya got nothin' to worry about!"

"You swear ya didn't see anything?"

"I swear, Chi-Chi!" At least not anything that had been hidden under the towel. He might have stared at her legs for a long minute…or two…but only because he couldn't help but notice how strong they looked—especially compared to every other female he'd ever known—and it wasn't like he hadn't seen them when they were kids. He'd seen a whole lot more of her then, that's for sure.

Chi-Chi shot him one last "hmph!" before burying her face into her knees.

Goku sighed and placed a hand on her back. Girls sure were a lot of work.

"It'll be alright Chi-Chi. I may not have been nervous before a fight but it ain't like I don't understand. The night before me and Bulma left Mt. Paozu I was scared."

Chi-Chi peeked up at him from over her knees. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Goku nodded. "I'd never left Mt. Paozu before, let alone met another human beside Grandpa. He used to tell me stories about cities full of tall buildings with lots of people. It was weird as I'd imagined when I finally saw one."

"How'd you get over your fear?"

"Easy!" he grinned. "I wasn't alone. Just like you ain't gonna be alone when we get where we're going. I'll be with ya."

Chi-Chi smiled, feeling her cheeks go warm at his words. He always seemed to know just how to put her at ease.

"Thank you Goku," she murmured, leaning into his side.

"S-Sure!" Goku gulped, feeling flustered at the way she was pressing against him. It didn't help that her scent seemed to be getting thicker, making him dizzy. He scrambled for something to say as a distraction.

"Sooooo, uh, how do we find this place again?"

"All I know is it's supposed to be at the base of the largest mountain," Chi-Chi rose to her feet and used a hand to block the sun as she studied the skyline. Unfortunately it was hard to make a judgment of which tall rocky formation was largest when they were down in the crevices. If only the place they were looking for could be found on a map.

"We need to get higher," she grumbled. "It's too hard to tell anything apart from down here."

"Leave it to me!"

Goku pulled out his power pole and jammed into the earth before shooting up, up into the sky until he was finally higher than the mountains around them.

He looked around until he was satisfied he knew which was the tallest mountain and then dropped back down to tell Chi-Chi.

"It's thatta way," he said, pointing towards a large rock face. "We'll have to climb up and over this one, but we can make it by nightfall."

"Thank you, Goku. Let's hope the town isn't on the other side of the mountain." Even if it was though, it was a relief to know they were getting closer, though there was still a tiny little voice in the back of her head that worried that Kaishi didn't exist at all and that maybe her Mama's stories were just stories.

Fortunately for Chi-Chi, the village of Kaishi was not only a very real place but it was also easily found.

They had barely begun to descend the mountainside when they saw tendrils of smoke rising up past the trees and rocks. Excitement washed over both of them and they practically flew down the mountain in their rush to find its source only to halt in their tracks when they finally reached the outskirts of town.

"Woah," Goku mumbled as he and Chi-Chi looked around with wide eyes.

Kaishi turned out to be much larger than either of them had expected, and a great deal more cramped. All along the cliffs there were dozens of houses scaling the rock walls, some practically on top of one another, and there were plenty more along the two rivers that crisscrossed their way throughout the village. Everything in the center was some sort of shop, many of whom were selling their goods out of an opened window and if they didn't have a building they had a cart, or a donkey or a truck.

The markets were so jam packed with merchants, travelers and locals just going about their business, that Chi-Chi honestly wondered if the squished bodies could hold back a flood there was so little space. She supposed it couldn't be helped. There wasn't as much space to sprawl out between the cliffs sides as there was back on the plains of Mt. Frypan.

"Salmon! Get yer salmon! Freshest this side of the mountain!"

"Cabbages! Cabbages! Two for the price of one!"

"Try the latest and greatest! You haven't seen anything until you've seen this…"

"Dozens to choose from! Straight from the Southern Lands!"

"Handmade! One of a kind! Nothing else like it—"

"Finest chocolates in all of the Tiānshàng range!"

"Fresh eggplant! Two zeni a—"

Chi-Chi jumped as a warm, rough hand slipped into hers. She looked down and then up to find Goku smiling at her.

"So we don't get separated," he told her, giving her hand a small squeeze.

Chi-Chi blushed but acknowledged the practicality of his suggestion. There were a lot of people. She gripped his hand back as Goku cautiously led them into the crowd.

He'd never had to contend with so many people before. Bulma's home in the city was big but there was plenty of room to move about. The closest he'd ever gotten to crowds of this size were the tournaments but as a participant he'd never had to deal with them!

"Goku," Chi-Chi called, pulling on his arm to get his attention. "Maybe we should talk to some of the shop owners. See if they know where Xuan Wu's temple is."

"Alright," he agreed. Goku glanced around, judging the best place to start, and spotted a quiet looking shop selling fruit out the front end.

They worked their way over carefully and were greeted by an old, stone faced looking woman who eyed them suspiciously from her seat and a young friendly looking woman doing most of the work. Chi-Chi noticed they were both wearing thin chains with a single colorful feather attached but was distracted when the young woman turned her attention towards them.

"Hi there! Lookin' for anything special? We've got umes and plums and a fresh delivery of melons straight off the vine!"

Goku eyed it all eagerly. "They sure look good, don't they Chi?"

Chi-Chi smiled. Leave it to Goku to find an opportunity to eat. She looked over the goods and the prices and nodded towards the plums.

"How 'bout we get a dozen of those and two melons, hm?" Goku nodded vigorously, making Chi-Chi giggle. He was such a goof. She turned back to the seller as she bagged up their goods. "It's our first time here, I'd never expected it would be so packed!"

"Just cause we ain't in the city doesn't mean we ain't worth the visit," growled the old lady from her seat.

"Nana!" the young woman scolded. She shot them an apologetic look. "Sorry 'bout that, my Nana can be a bit sensitive when it comes to our home."

"Oh! I'm sorry for comin' off rude,'' Chi-Chi said hastily. "My Mama always used to tell me stories about Kaishi and I always wanted to visit. I suppose Xuan Wu's just a fairytale though, huh?"

This seemed to make the old woman curious.

"Your ma?" She asked with narrowed brows. "Outsiders don't know about 'ol Xuan Wu. What was her name?"

"S-Sachi—"

"Chino Sachi?" The old woman demanded, hobbling over. She gave Chi-Chi a hard withering stare and then nodded. "Must be. Ya look just like her. Always wondered where she ran off to. Should of known she'd find a man with those looks. Ain't like she was good for anythin' else."

Chi-Chi blinked. Her mother was from here?

"Nana!"

The old woman rolled her eyes. "What? It's true. Couldn't be bothered to work like the rest of us—or even to give anyone else the time of day!—but what can ya expect of someone with no parents? You work, girl?"

"I—" Chi-Chi began to say but the old woman just steamrolled right over her.

"No I s'pose not. Too pretty just like ya ma and it looks like ya already found ya a man as well."

"Hey wait a sec, Chi-Chi's a hard worker," Goku argued. He didn't quite understand what the woman was saying but he could tell it wasn't nice.

"That so? Well that's sumthin' then. Better to focus on that than to bother chasin' after tales of old Xuan Wu. Ain't nothin' but stories to scare them travelin' folk. Only odd ones like yer ma believed any of that nonsense."

"Oh, I see." Chi-Chi tried to smile, especially at the poor younger girl who looked so embarrassed as she passed them their fruit, but it was hard to focus on anything other than the fact that her mother had lived here! Was from here from the sound of it. Why hadn't her mother ever told her?

"Well thanks for the fruit." She nodded in lieu of saying goodbye and wandered off a few feet away.

While Chi-Chi was upset to hear them claim Xuan Wu was just a story, she was more concerned by the sudden realization of just how little she actually knew about her mother aside from the stories she used to tell. What else was there that she didn't know? What kind of person had she really been? Why had that old lady talked about her as if she'd been odd and lazy when the mother she'd known had been loving and hardworking? And who was correct? Was she the loving mother of her memories? Or this stranger that never even bothered to tell her only daughter where she'd grown up? The kind of person who ran off without a word to anyone?

Oh god was she following in her mother's footsteps without even knowing?

"Chi-Chi?"

Chi-Chi blinked and turned confused eyes up at Goku who was watching her with a worried expression. He didn't know what was going on in her head but he could sense from her ki that her emotions were in an uproar and it didn't take a genius to guess it was because of that mean old lady.

"Chi-Chi there's a man over there tryin' to get our attention." He pointed across the street to a very round man, carrying a large pack on his back waving them over. Luckily this proved just the distraction Chi-Chi needed. She and Goku exchanged curious glances with each other and then, figuring it couldn't hurt, made their way over.

"Hullo!" Goku greeted, lifting the bag of fruit to wave while pulling Chi-Chi through the crowd. "Did you need somethin' from us?"

"Nah, nothin' like that," the stranger said gruffly, focusing on Chi-Chi. "I overheard ya earlier, yer Sachi's girl?"

Chi-Chi nodded, suddenly wary about where this was going, but introduced herself and Goku.

"I'm Jiyuu," the man smiled, "I knew ya ma when we were kids. How's she doin?"

Chi-Chi grimaced. "Oh…well she died when I was little."

Jiyuu's smile dropped so suddenly, Chi-Chi could tell he was genuinely upset. She had never had to comfort someone over her own mother's death before but she couldn't just say nothing after delivering such bad news.

"It was very sudden," She told him. And it had been, the disease had struck out of nowhere. "She didn't suffer."

Jiyuu shot her an incredulous look of disbelief and then snorted. "Yer just like yer ma. She was always thinkin' of others too, even if old bats like that one over there," he gestured to the fruit lady, "thought her head was too stuck up in the clouds. You don't listen to them ya hear? Sachi was always good to me and any poor critter she could find. Couldn't keep a plant alive t'save her life though." He joked sadly. "Anyways, I heard ya talkin' bout Xuan Wu."

"That granny said it was make believe," Goku informed him.

"Just another thing she don't know nothin' about." Jiyuu huffed, rolling his eyes. "I'm a tradesman, so I travel all over these parts and there's more to Xuan Wu than she's tellin' ya."

"You mean Mama wasn't makin' it up?" Chi-Chi asked hopefully, squeezing Goku's hand so tight he couldn't help but grin down at her. He liked seeing her excited like this.

"Most folk think it's just a legend cause they can't get up there. He lives up top this mountain and ya need a pure heart to get there, see?"

"That's what Mama always said."

"Course she did, yer Mama knew all about Xuan Wu and the rest of 'em." Jiyuu grinned, "But what she didn't know—which I only found out a few years ago myself—was that one day old Xuan Wu decided a pure heart wasn't enough. Too many villains using innocent folk to open the path only to toss em aside later."

"That's awful!"

Jiyuu smiled at just how similar the young woman was to her mother and by the way the young man was touching her shoulder it was clear he was just as disturbed. It pleased him to know that Sachi's daughter had found someone who seemed to care about others like she did. He was sure Sachi would have approved.

"Not everyone's as good as you an' yer Ma," the tradesman told Chi-Chi kindly. "Which is why ol' Xuan Wu decided only one pure of heart an' wielding the Bansho Fan would be able to make a path through the clouds to enter his home."

"The Bansho Fan!" Chi-Chi gasped while Goku's eyes went wide. That's the thing they'd first searched for together when they'd met all those years ago!

"Heard of it have you?" Jiyuu snorted. He pulled something out of his pocket and showed them a thin bracelet with a single feather for a charm. "Don't go gettin' takin' in now ya here? These are just trinkets to make a zeni. That bastard Gaki—the village chief's nephew—heard me tellin' a friend about what I'd learned a few years back and drummed these up shortly after, claiming the feather came from the Fan itself. Did better than I expected, really."

"Can the Bansho Fan really make a path?"

"That's what they say but no one's really seen it in years. Aside for that idiot, last I heard, a large turtle took it under the sea."

Chi-Chi had a strong suspicion that the turtle was Master Roshi but she also knew that the turtle had carelessly thrown the Fan away without a second thought, so Jiyuu wasn't too far from the truth.

She sighed, "I guess it's hopeless then."

But Goku had other ideas. "We can ask Fortune Teller Baba!" he told her. "Baba knows everything! If it's in the ocean we can borrow one of those subo things from Bulma like when I went lookin' for Grandpa's dragon ball."

"Fortune teller? Ya believe those folk? Always thought they were more charlatans myself," Jiyuu murmured rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well if ya lookin' for one, there's a man that set up shop just outside of town. Wait a sec." He looked up at them in alarm. "Yer not really tryin' to go up there are ya?"

"Sure we are!" Goku answered for them. Why else would they search for the Bansho Fan?

Chi-Chi, meanwhile, didn't care to have someone questioning her abilities. Only she was allowed to do that.

She crossed her arms and raised a single brow. "Somethin' wrong with that?"

There was a sudden drop in temperature and Jiyuu was at first startled by Chi-Chi's challenging look, but eventually he just smirked and shook his head admiring the young girl's courage. "If anyone can do it, it'll be Sachi's girl. Ya just be careful now. Don't want yer ma comin' to haunt me if somethin' happens to ya."

"She'd be more likely to haunt Xuan Wu," Chi-Chi pointed out wryly, making the tradesman laugh.

"She would too! Sachi was fierce like that."

Chi-Chi liked hearing that. In fact, it reminded her of a time she'd caught her parents fighting. She hadn't heard what was said but her sweet mother's aura had turned so deadly that Chi-Chi had been sure the situation would become explosive at just a drop of a pen. Her mother had let her sleep in the humongous bed in her parents' bedroom the next few nights after that and Chi-Chi had giggled and pretended to be a serpent slithering amongst the sea of blankets.

Chi-Chi smiled widely, feeling silly for ever worrying. Maybe she didn't know every detail about her Mama, but she still knew her.

"Thank you. I'll come back once we're done and tell ya all about it," she promised.

"I'd like that," Jiyuu grinned. "Ya can bring yer young man as well."

Chi-Chi blushed and said their goodbyes, pulling Goku away before Jiyuu could say any more. It was only after they had made it to the other side of town that she'd realized she'd been holding Goku's hand since they'd first arrived. She smiled and giggled to herself, thinking maybe she really could consider him her man after all.

Goku shot her a puzzled look at her soft laughter, wondering just what was going inside Chi-Chi's head now. Her moods could change as fast as the weather but at least this time she was smiling.

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and then examined the worn looking tent they found set up just off the path. There were all kinds of random things set up all around it, as if the tent had no longer been able to contain it all and everything had just spilled out. Cushions and boxes, windchimes and ribbons. Goku wasn't sure what half the things even did but it all sure looked interesting.

"Hello?" Chi-Chi called, bending low to peek inside. "Is anyone there?"

Goku sensed a sudden spike in ki and then a young blonde fox, so pale it was almost white, came leaping out and jumped straight into Chi-Chi's arms. It stretched its neck to lick her cheeks, making Chi-Chi giggle.

"This fox sure is friendly," Goku grinned, bringing a hand up to scratch its ear. The fox gave his fingers a few playful licks before twirling about in Chi-Chi's arms and nuzzling into a ball. There was something odd about it though that Goku couldn't quite figure out.

"I see that Hushen has taken a liking to you."

Goku and Chi-Chi turned to find a wiry old man with a bushel of hair on his face and none on his head. He smiled widely at them.

"It has been some time since I have seen such a promising young couple, please come in." He drew the tent's flap to the side and gestured for them to enter.

The inside was surprisingly large, in fact Goku was sure it was more than twice as big as it should have been given there were enough cushions to seat a dozen people and books stacked as high as trees. Maybe it was magic. Fortune Teller Baba had been able to do some wild things too…but just in case, he stayed close to Chi-Chi.

"Please take a seat," the fortune teller told them, taking a particularly cushy looking spot for himself. "My name is Yue Lao. Perhaps you have heard of me?"

Chi-Chi and Goku traded a quick look.

"Sorry, but no." Chi-Chi answered for them.

"I am not surprised," Yue Lao chuckled. "I may be famous for my love predictions but that's not why you're here." He steepled his fingers together and leaned forward. "You are looking for the Fan."

"That's right," Goku nodded. "The Bansho Fan."

"Well you are in luck. It is in the village you just left."

Chi-Chi shook her head and began to stand. This wasn't worth their time if he thought that. "Those are just trinkets. They're not the real thing."

"Of course not," Yue Lao murmured, gesturing for her to wait. "The real Fan was lost after young Goku's master foolishly threw it out."

"So ya do know where it is," Goku grinned while Chi-Chi dropped back into her seat.

"I know as much as your Fortune Teller Baba," Yue Lao smiled. "Perhaps even more. Would you like to know what is in store for you both?"

"Dontcha already know the answer to that?"

"It is still polite to offer," Yue Lao countered.

"No thank you," Chi-Chi murmured, feeling that the offer had been more for her sake than for Goku's. Tempting as it was, she knew how easy things could be misinterpreted. She'd once asked a fortune teller when Goku would return for her. The prediction had been accurate but Goku had just as quickly left soon after. "We just want to know how to find the Fan."

"You already know who has the Fan," Yue Lao told them. "He is currently selling poor imitations for a tidy sum."

"The village chief's nephew?"

"Yes indeed, currently convalescing in his uncle's home."

"Will he be willing to lend it to us?" Chi-Chi asked doubtfully. Somehow she hadn't gotten a positive impression from what Jiyuu had told them.

"He will when you bring him these." Yue Lao grabbed several things from behind his seat and then handed Chi-Chi and Goku a small bag of salt and a bottle of what looked like red wine. "When someone like that gets a hold of a god's piece and is found unworthy, they bring misfortune upon themselves. In this case, a Baku haunts his dream."

"A Baku?" Goku asked. He'd heard that term before. Kami had talked about them once shortly after he'd defeated the Demon King Piccolo. He had slept badly those first couple of nights, the memories of finding his Grandpa and Krillin lifeless playing on repeat throughout his dreams, and Kami had said he'd send for one to help take the bad dreams away.

"Ain't Bakus supposed to eat the bad dreams? What's this one doing hauntin' one?"

Yue Lao nodded, pleased that the young man had heard of them. "That they do but some, particularly the young ones, can do more harm than good if they cannot swallow the dream fast enough. Which is where you both will come in. In exchange for the Bansho Fan, have the unworthy Gaki sit in a circle of salt in front of a tall mirror and drink that concoction. His mind will be open for you to walk in and stop the Baku from making things worse."

"We gotta fight it?" Goku asked.

"How you decide to stop it is up to you."

Goku caught Chi-Chi's gaze and smirked. They'd stop this Baku and get the Bansho Fan no problem.

"C'mon Chi!" He said, snatching her hand up and pulling her to her feet. "This time we're gonna get that Fan!"

Chi-Chi nodded, a determined look on her face.

"Right!" she agreed.

It was time to finally find the Bansho Fan.