Chapter Text
Chapter 16: Trials Above the World
Goku’s POV – Kami’s Lookout
The sky was thinner up here. Not just in air, but in feeling—like the world had stretched itself too far and forgotten how to breathe.
I stood at the edge of Kami’s Lookout, barely steady on my feet, heart pounding from the climb that had tested every cell in my body. Four months. Four months of pushing, training, failing, fighting—of coming close and falling short and trying again until my bones forgot rest.
And now, I was here.
This sacred place. This final step.
The marble beneath me was smooth, cool, humming faintly with ki older than anything I’d ever known. The clouds drifted lazily around the edge of the platform, thick enough to touch. Above me towered a small temple, unassuming but pulsing with power. And before it stood… him.
Tall. Dark robes. Ancient eyes set in a face that barely moved.
Kami.
“You’ve come far,” he said. His voice echoed even though the air was still. “Too far, perhaps.”
I bowed low. “I’ve come to ask for training—and your help.”
His eyes narrowed. “Help?”
“The Dragon Balls. They don’t work anymore.” My fists clenched. “I need them restored… to bring someone back.”
“Your friend. The one Piccolo killed.”
I looked up, startled. “You know?”
“I see many things, Goku.” His tone was cold. “Including the reasons you seek power. Some noble. Some… distracted.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he raised a hand—and the ground beneath me rumbled.
The trials began.
🌿⚡️🌿⚡️🌿⚡️🌿
The Mirror
Mist thickened as I stepped forward—barefoot and alone. No wind. No birds. Just stillness and the sound of my breath.
Then—he appeared.
A mirror of me stepped from the fog. Same stance, same gi, same wild hair—but the eyes… colder. Sharper.
He moved first. I blocked. Barely.
He struck like someone who’d memorized my every flaw. And he had.
“I’m everything you deny,” he said. “The thrill. The hunger. You don’t just protect—you want to win.”
I staggered.
And he was right.
I loved the fight. The challenge. The edge.
But I also loved her. And peace. And something deeper than victory.
I stood still. Centered my breath.
“I see you,” I said.
His smile faltered.
“I don’t fight to dominate. I fight to grow. To protect. To rise.”
With clarity, my strikes found rhythm—not rage. Purpose.
And the shadow faded.
Because doubt was the only thing keeping it alive.
🌿⚡️🌿⚡️🌿⚡️🌿
The Mind
The stone cracked beneath me, roots exploding into a forest of memory.
Then came the voices.
“You let me die.”
Krillin.
“You were too soft.”
Roshi.
Then—her.
“Would you hurt me if I ran?”
Brittney.
She stood between trees, eyes wide. Distant. Fading.
“No!” I shouted. “I’d never—”
But the image vanished.
And I realized:
This wasn’t a test of power. It was fear.
Fear that if she saw what I was—what I might become—she’d leave.
I dropped to my knees. Breathed.
“I don’t know what I am,” I whispered. “But I know who I want to be.”
The forest folded in on itself. Shadows turned to light.
And I stood again, whole.
🌿⚡️🌿⚡️🌿⚡️🌿
The Spirit
White. Endless. Silent.
A ticking clock echoed through the void.
I sat. I waited.
Time fractured. My thoughts spun. My ki cracked.
“You’re nothing.”
“You’re a mistake.”
“She’ll never love you.”
I broke.
Then—her voice.
“Let the thoughts pass… like wind through leaves.”
Brittney.
I inhaled. Exhaled.
In. Out.
And the ticking stopped.
Peace, like still water, settled in my chest.
And I walked out of that void no longer afraid of being alone.
Because I knew now: I never truly was.
🌿⚡️🌿⚡️🌿⚡️🌿
The Judgment
Kami waited at the end of it all.
“You passed,” he said. “You’ll train here. I will restore the Dragon Balls.”
Relief washed over me.
But then—he said it.
“As for the girl…”
“Brittney,” I said.
His face hardened. “She is too close. Too powerful. And you are a threat to that balance.”
“I love her.”
“Then walk away.”
“No.”
“She was never meant to meet you.”
“She did.”
“She is spirit and storm, child of a divine bloodline even I don’t understand. Your union could tear the veil between realms.”
I stood taller. “Or it could heal what you’ve all been too afraid to touch.”
Silence.
Finally, he turned. “Train. Stay. But keep your distance.”
But my decision was already made.
🌿⚡️🌿⚡️🌿⚡️🌿
That Night – The Edge of the Lookout
I sat alone with the pouch of herbs Korin gave me. Her blend.
Cedar. Peppermint. Something softer.
What if she was pregnant?
The idea didn’t terrify me.
It called to me.
A child. Our child.
I wasn’t ready.
But I would be.
I pressed my palm to my chest, then to my stomach.
“I’m coming,” I whispered.
🌿⚡️🌿⚡️🌿⚡️🌿
Brittney’s POV – Elsewhere on the Lookout
I leaned against the stone column, eyes closed.
He was here.
I didn’t need to see him to feel it.
But I didn’t move.
Not yet.
Because I was scared—not of him, but of what this might mean. Of what Kami might still take from us.
My hand drifted to my belly.
The faintest curve. The smallest stir of life.
“Goku,” I whispered into the wind.
And I knew, wherever he was—
He’d heard me.