Chapter Text
Running away from home seemed like a good idea at the time.
Yet as Chi-Chi wandered through the woods of Mount Pouzu, her knapsack weighing heavy on her back, the determination that had rallied her for days began to falter.
Mount Pouzu was more remote than she anticipated. She trekked through miles of wildland, stopping only once at a small village. Unfortunately, for her, nobody there had ever heard of Son Goku, let alone his grandfather.
That had been an hour ago. Now she was completely lost.
Where is he? she wondered, staring at her map. It helped her well enough on the journey from Fire Mountain, but now it was useless. Her father never knew Son Gohan’s exact location on Mount Pouzu.
Not that he would help her even if he did.
It was all his fault. He was the one that forbade her from going to the Tournament—and when the guards caught her trying to sneak out of the palace, he had her confined to her room.
Not even the news about Goku’s victory over Piccolo had been able to change his mind…
“I need to go see him!” Chi-Chi begged her father. “Why can’t you just let me go?”
“Because Goku isn’t the right one for you!” he insisted.
“Not the right one for me?!” She couldn’t believe her ears. “Did you forget that he saved our kingdom?!”
“Of course not,” he said quickly. “I’ll always be grateful to him for that—”
She wasn’t having it. “He didn’t just save us, he saved the whole world! And you don’t think he’s good enough for me?! Why, because he’s not some stupid prince?!”
“That doesn’t have anything to do with…”
“You promised me to him, remember?”
He winced. “That was in the heat of the moment! I was desperate, and it was wrong.” He grasped her by the shoulder tenderly. “You’re my precious daughter, not some prize I can just throw at anyone. I want you to be happy…”
“Then let me go find him!” she pleaded, looking up at him with big, tearful eyes. A move right out of the unofficial Daddy’s Girl playbook that never failed her before.
Until now.
Ox-King stood his ground. “I’m sorry. I know it hurts now, but it’ll pass. And one day, you’ll find someone else.”
“I don’t want anyone else!” she snapped, tearing away from his grasp. “I love Goku, and he loves me!”
“You only think you love him,” he told her gently. “He was the first boy you ever met. That doesn’t mean you knowhim. You haven’t seen each other in years.”
“I know we’re supposed to be together!” she argued. “He promised me!”
“Oh honey.” A pained look crossed his face. “I thought that now you were older, you’d have realized…”
She stiffened. “Realized what?”
His shoulders sagged in sudden shame. “I don’t know what Goku is like now. I’m sure he’s still a fine boy. Only back then…back then, it didn’t seem like he understood things well. Master Roshi thought so too. And I don’t think…” He swallowed hard. “I don’t think he really wanted to marry you.”
The words were like a kick to the stomach. “That’s not true!”
“I think it is,” he replied sadly.
“But you told me—”
“I told you what you wanted to hear,” he admitted. “You were just a little girl, and you’d already been through so much already because of me…I’m sorry.” He hung his head in shame. “Believe me, I never thought you’d still be waiting for him after all this time.”
She stood there, her mind reeling from shock and anger.
“Think about it,” he pressed on. “If it hadn’t been for that silly promise, would you still want him?”
She turned away from him. “Get out.”
“Honey, this for your own good—”
“GET OUT!” she screamed. The guards posted outside probably heard her, but she was too furious to care.
With a sigh, her father headed towards the door. “It’s for your own good,” he repeated tiredly. “You’ll understand someday.”
“Yeah, right,” Chi-Chi muttered bitterly. If she ever had children, she’d never try to control their lives.
Well, she wasn’t his obedient little girl anymore. And those stupid guards posted outside her door weren’t going keep her from her destiny!
She had enough training to be able to scale down her balcony—which was exactly how she escaped that later that night. By the time morning came, she was long gone from Fire Mountain.
Dad’s probably worried sick by now. He must have the whole kingdom searching for me.
It didn’t matter. Once she found Goku and brought him back home with her, Ox-King would see how wrong he was. They could put this silly fight behind them, she and Goku would be married, and everything would be fine.
Right?
The woods seemed endless. With each passing step, she grew more anxious. What if Goku wasn’t here? Where else could he be?
Why did he never come back to Fire Mountain?
It was something she couldn’t help wondering from time to time. They were old enough to get married now. So what was he waiting for?
Maybe he was afraid he wasn’t good enough for her. After all, she was a princess. Maybe he thought he needed to prove himself worthy of her hand, just like the heroes in the stories she loved.
But he just won the Tournament…so maybe he was on his way to see her right now! Her heart gave a jolt. Oh Kami, what if he was at the palace right now, waiting for her?
Or maybe he just forgot you, just like Dad said.
It wasn’t true. Goku wouldn’t forget her, she assured herself. She marched on, clinging to her convictions despite her father’s words replaying in her mind: “You haven’t seen each other in years.”
So what? It didn’t matter that they hadn’t known each other long; the memory of him had been enough to sustain her throughout the years. He was sweet, kind, and strong. What more could she want in a husband?
You only think you love him. He was the first boy you ever met.”
Not true! He wasn’t the first boy she ever met. It was that Yamcha guy…
And you thought you were in love with him too. Then you forgot all about him the second you saw Goku.
Her stomach squirmed. She tried to ignore it. Goku and I are meant for each other!
Why? Because he was the first boy who ever touched you?
Her father’s voice again: “It didn’t seem like he understood things well…”
It triggered the memory of that fateful moment with Goku on Nimbus. That careless touch and his clueless smile. “You don’t have a boy’s wee-wee, so you must be a girl!”
Her pace slowed. A knot grew in her stomach.
“It didn’t seem like he understood things well.”
Okay, maybe that was a little true. Even back then, he struck her as being—well, not that bright. He should have known better not to touch her like that.
But that was when he was a boy. Things were different now. He was a man.
Who still hasn’t married you.
Doubt rose to such a crescendo that she was hardly aware of where she was going. Before she knew it, she was less than a step away from the edge of a wide ravine. She gasped and quickly moved back.
That was close, she thought, breathing heavily. I ought to be more careful.
Suddenly exhausted, she took off her knapsack and plopped to the ground. “What am I doing?” she murmured, rubbing her forehead.
She was out in the middle of nowhere, looking for a boy that she hadn’t seen in years. A boy, she was forced it admit, that she didn’t really know well at all.
Was her father right after all?
Why did she want to marry Goku? All because of some silly promise between two kids?
When she was a girl, it seemed so simple. It wasn’t only that touch or that promise. It was him. There was just something special about him, something she couldn’t explain. Something that moved her deeply. Far deeper than a mere crush. It felt like…like destiny.
Unless it was all her head. The sad fantasy of a lonely little girl, desperate for any kind of love.
I’m such an idiot.
There was a knot in her chest. She imagined going home emptyhanded, confessing her folly to her father, seeing the pity in the servants’ eyes…
Her heart heavy, she looked up at the sky. What I do? There were clouds everywhere, drifting lazily in the daylight.
Please. She wasn’t sure if she was praying to Kami or Fate itself. Please, give me a sign.
No sooner had the prayer been uttered that she saw something small and yellow shoot across the sky…
“Nimbus?” she gasped. Leaping to her feet, she shielded her eyes for a clearer look. It was the little yellow cloud—and someone sitting on top of it.
Goku!
All her doubts vanished. This was the sign she had been hoping for, proof that she had been right all along…
“GOKU!” Overwhelmed with joy, she jumped up and down, waving her arms above her head to get his attention. “GOKU, OVER HERE! DOWN HERE!”
Nimbus slowed, then stopped. He was too far to see clearly, but she knew that he heard her.
This was it. The moment she waited years for was finally here.
Laughing and crying, she kept waving at him. Her excitement was so great that she forgot how close she was to the ravine’s edge.
“GOKU, IT’S ME! IT’S—”
Her foot slipped. She fell. The last thing she felt was something hitting the back of her head, and darkness came.