Goku yawned and stretched his limbs, taking a few moments to enjoy the sunrise before directing Nimbus to make its way to the Tournament Headquarters. It had taken all night and all day to get to Papaya Island—he and Chi-Chi had apparently traveled farther north than he'd thought—and it had taken another full day just to find where to go once he'd arrived.

The tournament grounds had been destroyed during his fight with Piccolo, so he hadn't really been sure where to start until a friendly old man recognized him and directed him where to go. Unfortunately it was closed when he got there, so he'd had to wait until today to confront them. He didn't even bother with breakfast! Instead he hopped off Nimbus as soon as he arrived and marched right into the now open Tournament Headquarters building.

"Can I help you?" greeted a bored looking teen, who was doodling something in a notebook. Her name tag read Bodi but that wasn't important right now. Goku only cared about the tournament.

"Yes! I need to talk to the person in charge of the Tenkaichi Budokai, is that you?"

"Do you really think I'd be greeting guests if I were?" the teen scoffed. When Goku didn't answer she just rolled her eyes and said, "Nevermind. Do you have an appointment?"

"An appointment?"

"Yeah, is he expecting you?"

"I don't think so?" Goku answered. Not unless he had someone like Fortune Teller Baba that had told him.

"Well then you won't be able to meet with him today."

"But you don't understand!" he told her as she opened a drawer and pulled out a book. "I need to speak with them immediately. It's important!"

Bodi shrugged. "That's what they all say."

"But it is!"

"Look," the teen huffed, tapping a square in the open book, "he's free tomorrow afternoon. I can pencil you in then."

"Pencil me in?" Goku parroted, trying to understand. She wanted to draw on him?

"Do you want the appointment or not?" she snapped.

"Uh, sure I guess."

"Good." The girl grabbed a pen and pressed it against the paper. "Name?"

"What?"

"I need your name."

"Oh," Goku flushed, starting to feel a little foolish. "I'm Son Goku."

"Son…Go…ku…wait a sec," she mumbled, before looking up at him. "Son Goku, as in the newly appointed strongest man in the world Son Goku?"

"That's me," he grinned.

"Oh my god, okay, just wait right here!" The teen scrambled out of her seat and then ran to the office across the room. Goku could hear a bunch of hurried mumbling before she finally returned followed by a familiar looking blonde man.

"Waah!" Goku pointed in shock. "You're the announcer guy! Don't tell me you're in charge of the whole tournament!"

"Goku! It's great to see you again," the announcer grinned. "And no, the man in charge is my father-in-law."

"Father-in-law?"

Well familiar with Goku's lack of knowledge in everything but martial arts, the announcer nodded and explained that it was his wife's father.

"That's great! That means you can convince him not to cancel the tournament!" Goku beamed, ecstatic at this good news, but the announcer guy didn't seem nearly as enthusiastic.

"Unfortunately it's not that simple. After all those martial artists were murdered after the 22nd tournament, people were too afraid to show interest in the most recent tournament, and with the smaller number of fighters, a lot of our sponsors pulled out as well. Now with the tournament grounds completely demolished, we just don't have the funds to fix it, let alone host another one any time soon. The tournament was already costing us more than we could afford."

"So that's it then?" Goku mumbled, his hopes dashed quicker than he could blink. "There's nothing I can do?"

The announcer shook his head slowly and gave him a sympathizing pat on the shoulder. "I'm afraid not, but speaking of funding, we should get you your winnings now that you're finally here."

"What's that?"

"You know, your prize money." The announcer grinned, still amused at Goku's lack of interest in anything that wasn't martial arts. "We deposited it along with your previous second place earnings in an account with our bank. By now you should have earned quite a bit just from the interest of the first two tournament prizes alone!"

Really? Goku blinked. "Is it enough to cover fixing the tournament grounds?"

"Probably not, but seven hundred thousand zeni isn't something to snuff at!"

"Oh I see," he sighed, not really caring now that he knew for sure the tournament was never coming back. "At least Chi-Chi will be happy about that." Although how he was supposed to break the news to her about the tournament he didn't know.

This time it was the announcer guy's turn to stare. "Chi-Chi? You mean fighter Anonymous? I thought she turned you down. Oh! Uh, I mean…so you're getting married after all?"

"Well…we're on a training journey right now," Goku admitted, rubbing the back of his head, but he knew they'd be married eventually.

"Well that's great! It's obvious she thought you were a catch."

"Catch? Chi-Chi's fast but she's not fast enough to catch me."

"Uh…right…" the announcer laughed uneasily. "Anyways, let's get you your prize money."

He guided Goku to the doors and walked him the three or four blocks to the Island Reserve where a banker was waiting to speak to them after being informed of their immediate arrival courtesy of the teen receptionist, Bodi. From there there was a lot of questions and advice and a bunch of things Goku didn't really understand or even care about but eventually he was given some kind of plastic card, a thin book with stuff already written on the pages, and a bunch of paperwork that he was told to never lose, instantly putting him on edge.

If there was one thing Goku wasn't good at, it was keeping track of things.

Luckily the announcer gifted him a spare storage capsule to hold it all before sending him on his way.

It was only after he was back on Nimbus that it really began to sink in that he would never fight in the tournament again. Goku laid on his back and stared up at the sky. He knew he had to get back to Chi-Chi but he was too upset to rush back so soon. And how would he tell her? He didn't want to admit he failed. Not when he'd spent the entire ride there imagining her smiling in that special way for him when he returned and told her he'd stopped the tournament from being canceled.

He wished it hadn't been canceled.

That's it! Goku jumped to his feet, suddenly having an idea. He could use the dragon balls! It would take no time at all to get to Bulma's house from here and he was sure he could round up all seven within a matter of days. Hadn't he thought so when he and Chi-Chi were facing Xuan Wu and…oh. What if Chi-Chi really got hurt next time after he'd already made a wish? He couldn't risk that.

Well…maybe he couldn't wish on the dragon balls…but maybe he could still solve his problem by going to Bulma's? If anyone could figure it out, he was sure the self proclaimed genius could. Plus her house was really big! Maybe they could host the tournament there if they couldn't rebuild the one on the island?

Excited and feeling a new resolve, Goku directed Nimbus to West City. This time the trip only took half a day before he was coming to a stop in front of the big yellow dome of Capsule Corps that was the Brief's home, bypassing the front gate security.

"Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" announced a robotic voice over the intercom. Goku looked for the source but shrugged and started walking when nothing stood out.

He had only made it to the front door when a dozen thin gun shaped machines appeared out of nowhere aiming little red lasers at him.

"What the—"

"Halt! Trespasser Detected!"

Those little red lasers started shooting little red beams and Goku dodged them automatically, though one still managed to catch his sleeve, singeing the material. He gulped as a machine ten times larger than the others appeared and began charging.

"Oh Goku! It's just you!"

All at once the machines folded back up into the cubbies they'd been hidden, revealing Bulma leaning on the open door frame.

"I didn't think I'd be seeing you for a few more years!" she joked. "Come on in!"

She turned to lead him inside and Goku followed, patting down the still smoking hole in his sleeve.

"So what brings you by?" Bulma asked, as she led him to the gardens but before he could answer she turned to one of her butler robots. "Where's Yamcha?"

"Master Yamcha is on 2F."

Bulma nodded and continued walking and Goku took that as his cue to answer.

"They're shuttin' down the tournament," he told her pouting.

"Oh yeah, I think I heard something about that." She pressed a button, opening a sliding door to the upper deck gardens. "Yamcha look who's here!"

"Goku!" cried Yamcha, Puar and Oolong rushing up to him.

"Goku, what are you doing here? It's only been a few months since the tournament!" Yamcha greeted the younger man, patting him on the back.

"That's why I'm here! Didn't you hear? They're shuttin' it down!"

"I did hear that," Yamcha nodded solemnly. "It's a true shame, the tournament has been around forever. Legends have been told about most of the winners' exploits, especially yours," he grinned. "I couldn't believe it when I heard the news."

Bulma cracked open a beer offered to her by one of the robots and took a sip before pointing out the obvious. "But you didn't have to come all this way just to tell us, so what's up?"

"Well…I was kind of hoping you might know of a way to stop it from getting canceled. That and I wanted to borrow the dragon ball radar."

"If you ask me, you're better off without it," Oolong scoffed while Bulma dropped onto a revolving stool.

"You think I can stop it?" She stammered, pointing to herself before turning to the butler robot. "Fetch the dragon ball radar, it should be in the top right hand drawer of my bedroom desk," she ordered before spinning around in her seat a few times as she thought. "I dunno. Something like that requires a lot of logistics. It's not as simple as fixing the radar or making another micro band."

"Bulma's right Goku," Yamcha patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. "Some things are just bigger than us." A beeping went off, prompting Yamcha to check the sleek looking watch on his wrist. "I better get going. My manager wants to see me before tonight's press conference." He stood to leave with Puar floating up next to him. "It was good seeing you Goku, don't be a stranger."

"Oh, is that the time?" Oolong muttered looking at the clock. "I'm going to be late for my aerobics class!"

"I don't understand," Goku whined as everyone but Bulma left. "Isn't Yamcha upset about the tournament?"

Bulma scoffed. "Oh he was upset alright, for about a day. Then he went and got himself signed for the Taitans and that's all he can talk about now! If it's not one thing it's another. At least when he was obsessed with fighting I didn't have to see other girls fawning over him." She snapped her fingers. "There's an idea! If I help you get the tournament reinstated, Yamcha can go back to being a smelly outcast instead of a wealthy baseball player!"

"Baseball? What's that?"

"A really boring sport," she dismissed with a wave. "Speaking of smelly fighters, you're looking pretty clean. I'd half expected you to be in rags already."

Goku laughed, putting a hand behind his head. "Yeah Chi-Chi is pretty insistent on it." She wouldn't let him into bed until he washed up. "I guess I got in the habit."

"Well thank goodness for that," Bulma smirked before realizing what he'd just said. "Chi-Chi huh? The Ox-King's daughter? I thought she turned you down."

"She did," Goku pouted, wishing people would stop bringing that up. But then he remembered how Chi-Chi had called him handsome and found he couldn't really care about what happened at the tournament. "But we're doing marriage training now so we'll be gettin' married when we're done."

"Marriage training, hm?" Bulma pursed her lips and then leaned in close. "You know, if you're interested in getting married you should have asked me."

Goku frowned. "Why would I wanna marry you?"

"Because I'm a beautiful rich genius!" Bulma snapped. She tossed back her hair with a huff. "I'm way prettier and richer than Chi-Chi."

"If you say so," Goku muttered, eyeing her doubtfully. He knew he wasn't the best judge of these things but personally he liked Chi-Chi's looks better. Bulma's gaze was icy where Chi-Chi's was nice and warm and even sparkly at times. Plus Chi-Chi could fight and cook and ride on the Nimbus and she smelled amazing. Bulma couldn't do any of those things.

"So can you help me or not?"

"I guess I can look into it. It will take at least a few months, buyouts are never quick you know. But it would be a good PR move to soften our image, not to mention the charity tax write off. Maybe we could even work out a deal with the competitors as a type of sponsorship! Only the good looking ones though," Bulma amended quickly. "You'd do." She told him, pressing a finger to his chest. "You know you've gotten pretty cute now that you're not a pipsqueak anymore."

"I know," Goku grinned. "Chi-Chi told me."

"Hmph! Chi-Chi, Chi-Chi, Chi-Chi!" Bulma seethed. "If she's so great, why aren't you asking her for help?"

"Well I did…but Chi-Chi couldn't come cause she got sick."

"Sick?" Bulma gasped. "Goku you and Chi-Chi haven't done it yet have you?

"Done what?" Goku frowned.

"The item you requested madam," interrupted the butler robot.

Bulma took the radar from the robot and dropped it onto the nearby table. "If you have to ask, the answer's probably no." She reasoned until another thought came to her. "Have you kissed her?"

"What?" Goku blushed. Why was she asking him that?

"Oh my god you totally have! How else would you know what kissing was?" she pointed at him accusingly, shocked beyond belief. Who would have expected Goku of kissing someone?!

"No you've got the wrong idea!" Goku stammered, bringing up both hands in defense but that only made Bulma more suspicious.

She narrowed her eyes as she stalked towards him. "The wrong idea, huh? I don't think so. Just a few months ago you didn't even know what a kiss was when Chi-Chi kissed you at the tournament and now you can't stop blushing." She paused as a lightbulb went off. "That's it!" she snapped. "Chi-Chi's been kissing you but I bet you haven't reciprocated yet, have you?"

Goku released a strangled noise, making Bulma grin. Suddenly she looked quite predatory.

"What's the matter, Goku? Shy?" she purred, stepping closer to place a hand flat against his chest. "You know if the idea of kissing makes you nervous you could always practice with me."

Practice? He knew Chi-Chi had said that friends kissed on cheeks…but Goku didn't get the impression that's what Bulma was suggesting at all. And he was only supposed to do the other kind with Chi-Chi unless he and Chi-Chi went separate ways, which wasn't gonna happen.

Goku frowned and pushed her hand away. "No thanks. If ya need to practice you should ask Yamcha."

The only one he wanted to kiss or be kissed by was Chi-Chi.

"Fine! But don't regret it later," Bulma growled, shoving the radar at him and stomping off.

Goku had never been so relieved to see his friend go. Women sure were weird. He looked down at the radar and clicked it on, noting the closest one was just a little south of here.

"Guess I better get going," he shrugged, slipping the radar inside his shirt. He walked to the nearby window and called for Nimbus, eager to get his self appointed task done so he could get back to Chi-Chi.

The first one he'd found was the three star ball sitting on top of a super tall building in the city with only the birds for company. Next came the seven star ball located on a sandy beach, just inches from the ocean. Goku hoped he was so lucky the rest of the time. He wasn't eager to go back to Bulma's just to borrow one of her subo things.

He found the one star ball in a flying dinosaur's nest and the six star under some really hot and hard black soil that looked like liquid fire when he broke through it. If he didn't have such quick reflexes, he might have burned his hand off!

The two star ball was stuck between a couple of large rocks and his grandpa's was being used as a pickle weight for a nice granny that let him have it in trade for some help around her home.

The final dragon ball confused him at first until he found it frozen in a block of ice moving down a mountain river but it was nothing to break through it and grab the five star ball.

He smiled at the familiar gleaming orbs and added them to the storage capsule the announcer had given him, grateful that it was large enough to hold everything. It had taken him a little longer than he had anticipated but man was he glad to be done.

Now he could finally get back to Chi-Chi.

…

Goku had traveled for about a day when he finally started to notice some familiar landscapes. It couldn't be too far from where he'd left Chi-Chi. He hoped she wasn't too mad at him for taking off without her. Sure she had told him to go but she had looked so sad and ill when he left that he wouldn't be surprised if she was still upset. She was bound to be anyways when he told her he had failed to get the tournament uncancelled. He knew Bulma had promised to help but there was no guarantee in that.

He sighed, still very upset he'd been unable to do more, and directed Nimbus towards the ocean. The travelers had been heading towards a town along the coast when he'd left them, so there was a high chance of finding Chi-Chi there since he knew she would have wanted to finish the job.

Several minutes later, he spotted a decent size coastal village and swooped in low to see if he could spot anyone he recognized. Surprisingly it was Pika who spotted him first, beckoning him down in a demanding fashion that made Goku curious.

"What's up?" Goku greeted, glancing around to see if Chi-Chi was nearby, only to jump in alarm when Pika started shouting at him.

"What are you doing here?!" she screeched. "If you're looking for Chi-Chi, she left three days ago thinking you weren't coming back!"

Goku didn't understand. Why wouldn't he come back? They were supposed to be traveling and training together, of course he'd come back.

"So Chi-Chi's not here?"

"NO!"

"Okay then," he shrugged. "I guess I'll be going. Bye!"

Goku directed Nimbus back into the sky and thought for a moment. If Chi-Chi stuck to their schedule and only traveled in the afternoons then she couldn't have gotten too far. He'd search the surrounding areas and see if he could sense her ki. Luckily it had strengthened in their time together, so even though it was still unusually low for someone of her strength, it was still larger than the average person's. He was sure he'd find her eventually.

It was then Goku's heart clenched uncomfortably forcing him to acknowledge a small twinge of doubt. He hadn't liked hearing that Chi-Chi didn't think he was coming back. What if he found her and she didn't want to travel with him anymore? Would that mean they wouldn't get married? Goku felt his heart twist tighter at the thought. He didn't want that.

Goku might not have known what marriage was in the beginning—or even now really—but he knew he wanted to stay with Chi-Chi. No one had ever made him feel like Chi-Chi did. No one had ever sung to him by his bedside or treated him like he was clever or kissed his cheek making his stomach flutter. There had never been anyone who'd laughed and played with him the way she had or sympathized with him over his Grandpa.

There was no one like Chi-Chi. He had to find her!

o0o

Gods this was boring. Hou Yi had thought when Bai told him where he would find his target that it would happen immediately but he had been here for nearly a week now and there was still no signs of the scoundrel. Bai had probably lied. She had seemed oddly reluctant to tell him where to go but then again if she had lied, she would have known he would eventually find out. So maybe she was telling the truth.

Even if she was, how long must he wait? Surely he could have met the man somewhere else if it meant actually confronting him sooner? Bai was probably just concerned about witnesses. Though what did he care if those not cursed such as he, witnessed an act of violence they could not understand?

Well it was too late in any case. He was here, so here he would wait until his enemy dared to show his face.

Although perhaps it would not hurt to alleviate his boredom by taking a short walk? Bai had not specified the location to this exact rock. He had merely chosen it due to its vantage point and…

Hou Yi sat a little straighter as his gaze settled on a thin stream of smoke curling up over the tree line. It was the first sign of human life he had seen since he had arrived. Which could only mean his quarry had arrived.

He shouldered his bow and arrows and slipped silently down the hill and into the wooded area heading roughly north. After a while he deemed he had gone far enough and circled around the campsite to come from behind, peering through the bushes to find a lone figure training with some kind of rope-like weapon while two small fish roasted over a fire. Hou Yi could not tell from his location but he did not think this was his target. The hair was too long for one and the build too slim. He would have to get closer to know for sure though.

Since the figure's back was to him, Hou Yi wasted no time in sneaking closer, crawling low in case they happened to turn around and spot his movements. When next he chanced a glance in the person's direction, he knew right away that they were not who he searched for. Though skilled at fighting, the figure was unmistakably that of a woman's.

Hou Yi watched for a while, admiring her form, enjoying the way her hair and weapon whipped around her like a coiling snake. And her curves…he'd known many men to have killed for a chance at a creature such as this. Why she would waste her time with what was typically a man's pastime eluded him but perhaps her looks did not match the rest.

He turned to go, interested in being a voyeur no longer, when the woman finally paused in her exercise and turned to check on her food, freezing him to the spot.

It could not be!

His eyes roamed over every inch of her and back again but nothing dispelled the notion. It was her! His Chang'e! But how was this possible? He knew for a fact that she had been lost with the moon. Was it some form of reincarnation? What should have been had they not been cursed with an endless life?

Hou Yi stumbled forward, unable to help himself with his beloved so close. To be in her presence once again, in any form…it was more than he had ever dared to hope for. His Chang'e.

He had only gotten a few feet, however, when she noticed his approach and greeted him with a cautious hello. The lack of recognition in her dark eyes hurt but Hou Yi was nothing if not patient. He had waited this long to be reunited, he could wait a little longer to coax her to his side once more.

"Pardon me for interrupting your morning exercise," Hou Yi greeted once he was close enough, bowing respectively at the waist. "My name is Hou Yi. I saw the smoke from your fire and grew curious as I have not seen anyone else in these parts for some time." He stretched out a hand in hopes that it would soon be graced with hers. "May I have your name, beautiful lady?"

There was a pause, a heartbeat filled with silence, and then her cheeks flushed a delicate pink as she slipped her hands in his.

"My name is Chi-Chi."