"Goku!" Chi-Chi's voice was a sharp intake of breath, her eyes widening with a desperate, aching hope. The years melted away, and she was once again the young bride watching her husband waste away from a cruel, invisible enemy. The longing on her face was palpable.
Gohan, too, felt his heart lurch. "Mr. Rhode," he asked, his voice trembling with a hope he barely dared to acknowledge, "can you really take us to see Dad?"
He knew the rules of life and death. Shenron himself had been powerless. But Rhode had never lied to him. If anyone could bridge that impossible gap...
"Of course." Rhode's smile was confident, reassuring. "No problem."
He explained the mechanics briefly—Kami's Lookout, Fortuneteller Baba's unique ability to bridge worlds—but acknowledged their loss. Then, a practical thought struck him. "Gohan, you should learn Instant Transmission. It would have changed everything in this war. Goku's method is difficult, but a wish to Shenron could grant it directly."
Gohan's eyes widened as the implication sunk in. If he had been able to teleport... to strike, to flee, to call for help... the androids' reign of terror could have ended so much sooner. He nodded, a new resolve hardening. "I will. Thank you, Mr. Rhode."
"Good. Now, both of you, hands on my shoulders. We're going to see Goku."
But he paused, glancing at Chi-Chi. "King Kai's planet has ten times Earth's gravity. Chi-Chi, you're not conditioned for that. Let's make a quick stop in the Time Chamber first."
A brief, disorienting trip to the chamber and back later, Chi-Chi was ready, her body briefly acclimated to the increased pressure. Rhode nodded, satisfied, and then—*SWISH. *
The tiny, checkered planet of King Kai hung in the void, a bizarre jewel in the cosmos. They materialized on its surface, and before them stood not just the rotund, blue-skinned Kai, but another figure. One with a familiar face, a gentle smile, and a glowing halo floating above his head.
"Dad!"
Gohan's composure shattered. He was no longer the battle-hardened warrior who had faced androids and Cell. He was a little boy again, seeing his father after an eternity. He rushed forward, arms wrapping around Goku in a desperate, crushing embrace.
Chi-Chi followed, tears streaming freely down her face. She reached out, touching Goku's cheek, confirming he was real, that this was not some cruel illusion. "Goku... my Goku..."
Goku, for his part, looked a little overwhelmed, but his smile was warm and loving. He patted Gohan's back, reached out to gently wipe a tear from Chi-Chi's cheek. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here. Well... sort of here." He tapped his halo with a sheepish grin.
King Kai stood to the side, a knowing, satisfied smile on his face, watching the reunion with the quiet contentment of a matchmaker who had just seen a plan come together.
Goku's eyes, warm and proud, swept over his son. The little boy who had cried when he left was now a young man, hardened by years of desperate struggle. King Kai had filled him in on everything—the androids' reign, the deaths, the lone fight. Goku's chest swelled with a pride that transcended the boundary between life and death.
"Gohan," he said, his voice thick with emotion, patting his son's shoulder. "You did so well. I'm so proud of you."
Since his death, Goku had thrown himself into training in Other World, challenging powerful fighters, rarely lingering on King Kai's tiny planet. Earth, without him, had faded from the Kai's immediate concern—just another backwater world in a vast, uncaring galaxy. It had taken a truly universe-rattling power surge to drag King Kai's attention back, and when he saw the devastation, the desperation, he had summoned Goku and told him everything.
"Chi-Chi." Goku turned to his wife, his expression soft with regret. "I'm so sorry."
The words hung in the air, heavy with unspoken guilt. He hadn't been there. Couldn't be there. His illness had stolen him from them, and then the world had stolen everything else.
"Goku, no." Chi-Chi shook her head, tears still falling but her voice firm. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't control it. And now... now we're together again. That's all that matters."
The family of three held each other, years of pain and separation dissolving in the simple act of being together.
On the other side of the tiny planet, King Kai was giving Rhode a very different kind of attention. His beady eyes narrowed, then widened with a knowing, theatrical gleam.
"You're not from this world, are you?" he declared, stroking his chin with the air of a detective revealing the culprit.
"Oh?" Rhode's eyebrow arched. Can he actually sense it? Could he help me find a way back?
"I heard your conversation earlier, and I deduced you were from another world," King Kai finished, a smug, self-satisfied grin spreading across his round face. "Elementary, really."
Rhode stared.
Silence.
A slow, dawning realization crept over him. This chubby, blue-skinned deity... was a comedian. In the Turles timeline, the Kaio-ken and Spirit Bomb lessons had been so intense, so focused, that he'd never gotten a proper dose of King Kai's... personality. Now he was getting the full, unfiltered experience.
He glanced at the family reunion, then back at the grinning Kai. This guy is a King. A god. And his immediate superior, the Supreme Kai, is a nervous wreck. And their boss, the God of Destruction, spends most of his time asleep. He sighed internally. No wonder Universe 7 is ranked last. With leadership like this, it's a miracle it hasn't collapsed entirely.