The Ox King wiped a stray tear from his beard, still beaming at Goku.
"So, tell me, little sprout, what brings Gohan's kin all the way to this scorched rock? You didn't come just to say hello to an old man, did you?"
"We're looking for a Dragon Ball!" Goku said, holding up his hands to show the size.
"A Dragon... what?" The Ox King scratched his helmet, looking genuinely puzzled.
Bulma finally crawled out from behind the wreckage of the car, her eyes sparkling with hope.
"It's a orange sphere! Transparent, with little red stars inside. About this big!"
The giant's face lit up.
"Oh! One of those glass trinkets? I've got one of those sitting in the castle. Never knew it had a fancy name."
He looked at Bulma, then at Goku, his expression softening.
"If that's all you're after, and not the gold in my vaults, then it's yours. Consider it a gift for my brother's grandson."
Goku beamed, giving him a thumbs up.
"Wow, thanks! You're actually a really nice guy!"
The Ox King let out a bark of laughter, though there was a bit of a grim edge to it.
"BWAHAHA! Nice is the last thing those bandits I flattened earlier would call me, but I'll take the compliment, kid!"
Goku looked around at the blackened, silent peaks.
"But hey, what happened to the mountain? Wasn't this place always on fire? Did it… go out?"
"The fire?" The Ox King gestured proudly toward his daughter.
"Chi-Chi put it out."
"Her?!"
Bulma and Oolong shouted in unison, staring at the small girl.
She looked formidable, sure, but extinguishing a literal mountain of fire seemed impossible.
"That's right." the Ox King boasted, patting Chi-Chi on the shoulder
"She tracked down an old hermit called Master Roshi and brought back the Bansho Fan. Master told her he'd been using the legendary fan as a lid for his cooking pot! Said he was about to toss it in the trash before she showed up."
"It was covered in soup stains." Chi-Chi added.
"Wait, Master Roshi?"
Goku's eyes lit up, his tail doing a little loop of excitement.
"The old turtle hermit guy? We just saw him a little while ago."
The Ox King's jaw dropped so low it nearly hit his chest plate.
Even Chi-Chi's stoic expression cracked, her eyes widening in genuine shock.
"You... you know the Great Master Roshi? Personally? You've actually sat and talked with the God of Martial Arts?" the Ox King stammered, his voice losing its booming edge.
"Yeah, he's a bit weird, but he's nice." Goku said with a casual shrug that made Bulma wince.
"He even gave me a present for helping out his turtle. He gave me a flying nimbus!"
The Ox King took a stumbling step back, his massive hands trembling.
"The Flying Nimbus? No... that's impossible. Only those with a pure heart can even touch it. It's been decades since anyone was worthy enough to ride the cloud of the heavens!"
"It's not impossible." Goku grinned. He looked up at the grey, ash-filled sky and filled his lungs.
"FLYING NIMBUS! COME HERE!"
For a moment, there was only the sound of the wind whistling through the charred canyons.
Then, a golden speck broke through the heavy soot clouds, trailing a streak of pure, brilliant yellow light. It dived through the gloom like a sunbeam, coming to a soft, bouncing halt right in front of Goku.
The little cloud hummed with energy, looking impossibly bright against the blackened landscape of the mountain.
The Ox King fell to his knees, his massive axe clattering onto the rocks.
He stared at the golden cloud as if he were looking at a miracle.
"It really is the Nimbus..." he breathed, his voice a mix of terror and absolute reverence.
He looked at Goku, then at the cloud, then back at Goku.
"To think... Gohan's grandson isn't just a warrior... he's a pure soul. Master Roshi himself chose you."
The Ox King looked from the golden cloud to Goku, and then back to his daughter.
A massive, mischievous idea seemed to take root in his head.
"BWAHAHA! It's fate! It's written in the stars!"
He leaned over to Chi-Chi, gesturing toward Goku with a thumb the size of a loaf of bread.
"You see this, Chi-Chi? This is the one! This is the boy who's going to take your hand!"
Chi-Chi's entire face turned a shade of red that rivalled the Power Pole.
She stiffened, her fists clenching at her sides as she shot a look of pure fire at her father.
"S-Shut up!" she snapped, her voice hitting a high, defensive pitch.
"You don't get to decide things like that! My hand isn't yours to give away to some... some weird kid with a tail!"
Goku tilted his head, looking back and forth between the two of them.
"Take your hand? Where are we going? Do you need help carrying something?"
Bulma sighed, face-palming so hard.
Oolong just rolled his eyes, muttering something about "blissful ignorance."
"Just... just be quiet!" Chi-Chi barked at Goku, though her blush hadn't faded an inch.
She spun around on her heel, her ponytail whipping through the air as she marched toward the mountain path.
"The Dragon Ball is in the study." she called out over her shoulder, her voice still trembling with a mix of anger and embarrassment.
"Follow me and get it over with before I change my mind and toss all of you off this cliff!"
The Ox King just watched her go, a proud, knowing grin hidden deep within his beard.
"She likes him," he whispered to a terrified Oolong.
"I can tell."
/////////////////////////////////
Weeks turned into months, and the scorched silence of Mount Frypan became the backdrop of Chi-Chi's life once more.
The orange sphere was gone, carried away by the boy with the tail and the blue-haired girl in their search for miracles.
Chi-Chi remained, her days filled with the Bansho Fan training.
That was, until a peculiar sight broke the horizon.
A giant turtle, Gamera Junior, came spinning through the air, its jets hissing as it performed a dizzying, wobbling landing at the foot of the castle.
The Ox King and Chi-Chi stood at the gates, watching with a mix of awe and confusion as the shell finally stopped spinning.
Out stepped Master Roshi, the legendary Turtle Hermit.
"Master!" the Ox King shouted, bowing so low his helmet nearly scraped the stone.
"What a surprise! To what do we owe—"
"Hold... hold that thought." Roshi groaned, leaning heavily on his wooden staff.
His face was a sickly shade of pale green, and he held a hand over his mouth, swaying dangerously.
"The spinning... was a bad idea. Give me... a minute."
Chi-Chi watched him with a flat, unimpressed stare as the "God of Martial Arts" struggled to keep his lunch down.
Once the old man finally managed to take a deep, shaky breath and regain his composure, she stepped forward, arms crossed.
"If you're here to ask me to be your student again..."
Roshi adjusted his sunglasses, a small, knowing smile tugging at his lips. The playfulness was gone, replaced by a rare moment of gravity.
"Actually, Chi-Chi, I've finally heard you." he said, his voice dropping into a calmer, more serious tone.
"I'm not here to ask you to train under me. I'm here for a different kind of favor."
Master Roshi leaned on his staff, his eyes hidden behind the red tint of his sunglasses.
"I want you to enter the twenty-first Tenkaichi Budokai."
The Ox King let out a low whistle.
"The World Martial Arts Tournament? That's where the best in the world go to prove they aren't just big fish in small ponds. But why Chi-Chi, Master?"
"Because, my new star pupil is going to be there. And I want to see how he handles a real challenge."
The Ox King scratched his beard, puzzled.
"A star pupil? Who could you possibly have found that's worth all this trouble?"
"A boy named Goku, the grandson of our old friend, Gohan."
The Ox King froze, his eyes widening behind his goggles.
"Goku? He's training with you now?"
Chi-Chi, who had been listening with her back turned, slowly turned around. She let out a sharp, dismissive scoff, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Him?" Chi-Chi said, her tone dripping with disbelief.
"Master, with all due respect, I faced him a few months ago. He relies entirely on raw strength, there's no discipline behind it."
She stepped forward, her gaze cool and critical.
"When we fought, he wasn't fighting, he was lashing out like an undisciplined animal. His Ki control is practically nonexistent. He relies on instinct alone, swinging wildly and hoping something lands. Honestly… you're wasting your time."
Master Roshi's smile didn't fade; it grew wider.
"You're right, Chi-Chi. Back then, he was sloopy." Roshi conceded.
"But that's exactly why you should go. If a weakling like him manages to surpass you just because you stayed tucked away on this mountain... well, that would be quite the embarrassment for the Ox Clan, wouldn't it?"
Chi-Chi's jaw tightened.
The idea of Goku surpassing her was like a slap to the face.
"He won't." she muttered, her voice low and dangerous.
"Then prove it." Roshi challenged, pointing his staff at the training grounds.
"Go to the tournament. Show him the difference between someone who just hits hard and a true master of Ki."
Chi-Chi didn't answer immediately.
She just tightened her grip on her own arms, her mind already picturing the look on Goku's face when they met in the ring.
"Fine." she said, a sharp, competitive smirk finally cutting through her mask.
"I'll go. But don't blame me if I break your favorite pupil in the first round."