This is the first chapter from my now finished story. I thought I'd post it now since I just got done and I'm really ecstatic about it and it had a cute end and... yeah lol.

Anyway, this story has the "original" plot of a "what if Goku wished back all the erased universes from the tournament and Caulifla went to go find him?" story. As such, it focuses mainly on these two, has a decent amount of fluff (I may have laid it on too thick at times), and only has one OC who shows up much later. There are other characters, but I only have them in when necessary, which is mainly the beginning and first half, because I wrote this while I was hungry for Goku x Caulifla interactions, and used those characters to kinda set things up.

I definitely think my overall delivery - while more simple - is at its best with mainly the first half, especially these first few chapters (I wrote the first 3 chapters all in one night). Could be because I felt more into it and so I got more out of it, maybe? Idk. I'll be doing my best to touch things up, one chapter at a time. And as a spoiler, these chapters aren't gonna have a consistent length with each other. In fact they tend to get longer as they go on xD

I also noticed my overall story structure seems to fluctuate as my mood and state of mind changes, so this might seem a bit different from the excerpt I posted before. But that I'll probably wind up adjusting as I fix each chapter up too. Also, unless I go in and change it, a lot of the story takes place over the span of about a day. I found I'm not super good with time skips :|

Rated M because there is a lemon later on. Given the nature of this fic, the lemons are more emotional, and therefore quite a bit more... descriptive...

This is my first and definitely my last-ever fic. It turned out to be over 50k words and even this was almost too much for me. I am at least proud of the fact that I finished it in just under 2 weeks, but hopefully that doesn't mean it sucks. Kudos to all you writers out there. And the ones who wind up not finishing a story... I totally get it now lol.

Anyway, enjoy!

The last thing Caulifla remembered was seeing Kale's glistening eyes, threatening to spill over with unshed tears as the small twin gods began to raise their hands to end their existence entirely.

The young wild-haired Saiyan stole one last glance onto the battlefield, an almost forlorn expression as she observed her most recent mentor and muse - the Saiyan who had taught and helped her grow more in the last few minutes than the entire rest of her existence leading up to this point - one last time.

Enveloped in the aura and grace of Ultra Instinct, he looked like a god. No, and angel.

No, both.

'I guess I won't get to become strong like him after all, or even learn how to turn blue, or...'

Her eyes were closed in thought. A ghost of a tear began to manifest itself in the corner of her eye as her thought trailed off.

And then she was no more.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The heavens themselves rumbled from the clash of nearly unfathomable power as Goku and Jiren's energy collided, both carrying the entire will of the universes they were representing, protecting. But no matter the righteous intentions, there could be only one victor, and Goku knew that. In order to preserve his own universe, he'd have to erase yet another one.

Like all the others before.

Images of all the individuals he'd faced in this tournament up until this point flashed through his mind. Particularly, the Saiyan girl with the wild spiky hair who had both approached him with the most deadly tenacity and yet with the most endearing childlike wonder. In the small amount of time they'd been fighting this battle royale, she'd become both his greatest enemy and his biggest fan. Both determined to take him down, yet with an honest yearning to grow and learn from him at the same time.

Yet that could've never happened, because at the end of this tournament, only one of them could've possibly remained. A teacher without a student, or a student without a teacher.

How cruel reality could be, to take all these innocent lives away so haphazardly, was the thought that crossed Goku's mind as he continued his struggle for power with Jiren. All he needed was one opening, one decisive moment to end things.

They all flashed through his mind again. Every last person he'd encountered in this tournament. Everyone who had their own universes, ideals, and families to protect. Everyone who had dreams for the future. Everyone who no longer existed.

They deserved more than to be wiped out so suddenly like this!

Letting out a loud shout and an even more enormous amount of power, Goku released a tremendous wave of power into his beam towards Jiren, containing not only his will, but empowered by the will of everyone who fought for their lives so far. All of their faces flashed before him, steeling his resolve to win, with a new goal in mind.

The blast overtook Goku's current beam, making it grow nearly twice as wide. Jiren found his resistance beginning to crumble under the strain, as the very fabric of space itself seemed to crack around the arena.

"Yeah! That's it, Goku! Keep pushing so I don't get erased!" Lord Beerus shouted almost barely audible over the sound of the tremendous energies clashing.

"Hm?" Whis leaned forward and squinted before blinking twice in confusion, "Where is he?"

"Huh!?" Krillin, Shin, Roshi, and Beerus exclaimed in unison before taking a closer look to realize that Goku was no longer at the other end of the struggle.

Back with Jiren, whose muscles were straining to maintain his position against Goku's attack, grunted more loudly as his focus was entirely on overpowering and repelling the Saiyan. So focused that he did not notice the fist that had emerged from inside the beam itself and connected with his barrier, cracking and then shattering it with the resulting force of the clash creating a powerful shockwave that sent both warriors flying.

It was over in the next instant.

Jiren saw Goku in the distance, still in mid flight from the force of the clash. Bringing his hand back, Jiren prepared for one final blast to nail the Saiyan before he recovered. Upon bringing his hand forward, however, he was met with a solid force as his hand was clasped inside Goku's.

Eyes widening, Jiren looked to where he'd seen Goku before, revealed as a mere afterimage to his newfound speed. He felt Goku's grip on his hand tighten, causing him to look back at the man in front of him. The Saiyan's eyes burned with a fierce yet gentle intensity as he spoke.

"This isn't the end, Jiren. I promise. This tournament was filled with too many good people to just let it go." His gaze remained the same, but a soft smile appeared on his lips before he saluted the formidable warrior.

"Until next time." His expression became one of fire as an earth-shaking shout bellowed out from his throat, emitting a powerful blast of energy that split most of what remained of the arena asunder, and sent Jiren flying into the abyss below.

It was a surreal feeling to say the least. His body felt heavy, but his spirit couldn't be lighter. Finally allowing himself to really relax since the tournament started, Goku fell to ground in a slump, panting heavily with the largest smile he could muster. That same smile he always had after a tough battle that said "We did it, guys".

Pandemonium erupted and Goku would've bet all his zeni that the cheering would've been louder had it consisted of more than just his friends.

"Way to go, Goku!" He heard Krillin shout as his best friend (barely taller than Goku who was sitting) grabbed the Saiyan in the largest hug he could muster.

"You did it, dad! You had us worried there for a second!" Gohan looked far more relaxed than he had since this whole thing started. No doubt he was relieved that his family was safe.

"C'mon, Gohan. You know bleak odds are my specialty!" Giving them a goofy grin, most of the group laughed at his little not-too-inaccurate joke.

That was when Beerus, not looking too amused, stepped up to the Saiyan, "Yeah? Well if you'd have gone and lost I'd have wiped your planet out personally." Spoke the God of Destruction in a very serious tone.

"Oh, but Lord Beerus, how could you do that if both you and the planet had been erased?" Asked Whis in a whimsical manner, an almost visible smile on his features.

A vain appeared on the feline's head, "DAMMIT WHIS! IT'S HARD TO BE A GOD OF DESTRUCTION WHEN YOU RUIN MY THUNDER!", causing the Angel in question to put up his hands in mock defense.

"Now now, Lord Beerus. I'm merely stating a fact. Aren't you happy that we can all continue to enjoy delicious cuisine on Earth once again?" Asked Whis with a sly look on his face, knowing just how to push all of the god's buttons.

Beerus stopped to consider that for a second before his face lit up with almost childlike joy at the realization, "That's right! I can live to continue enjoying all of the scrumptious food Earth has to offer!" The cat nearly seemed to do a dance as he pointed out towards the void, "Let's return to eat and celebrate right away!"

This time, everyone absolutely laughed at the god's antics - with food on his mind he didn't seem to care - but all agreed that a celebration was in order, and even more than that... returning home.

"You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up in a bit. There's something I need to take care of." A still-slightly-winded Goku spoke up after managing to pick himself up to his feet, 'I made a promise, after all.' Again, the images of everyone who had fought, and the ones he had come to even care about, flashed in his head.

"Are you sure, Goku?", "Dad, what's up?", and "What are you playing at, Kakarot?" were the expected replies he got when everyone stopped and turned to look at him like he'd grown a second head. Goku turning down a large celebration meal? This was still Goku, right?

The earthling Saiyan waved them off nonchalantly with his "everything's ok" smile, "Everything's fine, guys. Promise. I'll be with you guys in a jiffy!" Motioning them to go on without him while pretending to know what a jiffy was.

Many of them looked unsure at first, while Beerus (who had abandoned all other thought but food from his mind) made a gesture for everyone to grab hold of him and Whis while calling back to Goku, "If you get back and all the grub is gone, don't blame me!"

"But you will be mostly to blame, Lord Beerus." Answered Whis once everyone had grabbed hold, making them disappear just in time for Goku to hear the first loud syllable of Beerus' retort.

Something along the lines of "Look who's talking!", Goku mused with a smile as he surveyed the arena. Already the Angels were hard at work piecing the crumbled mess back together, and aside from them and Zen-oh, he was completely alone.

'Not for long.' Thought Goku as he turned to face the middle of the arena, approaching where the two lords were seated.

"That was amazing, Goku!" "Yeah! Amazing! Amazing!" The two childlike creatures echoed as they danced around, coming down to shake the man's hand.

He smiled at their antics before letting them go, "It was thanks to you guys that I was able to have this amazing experience and fight so many different people from different universes!" He spoke with a clear smile on his face, before his expression turned more serious and downcast, "But at the same time, so many people were hurt and sacrificed."

The Saiyan looked down in silent thought for a second before he summoned it within him to bring up the question that had been burning in his mind.

He looked up to where they floated, his voice less grim than before, "You said that the ultimate winner of the tournament would also get to make a wish from the Super Dragon Balls, right? Does this wish have any limits?"

The two put on a puzzled face and made a noise of contemplation as they thought. The tense silence was palpable for Goku as he awaited their answer, which was finally granted when they piqued up after seemingly struck with an idea.

"Nope! No limits!" "None! None!" The two said with a jovial smile in their voice, again filled with a childlike wonder that seemed unbefitting of a god. But before anyone could get carried away, the Great Priest floated in.

"Allow me to clarify. The same restrictions of your Dragon Balls apply, but on a grander scale. You can't use them to say... kill a god or do anything that goes beyond their own power. Outside of that, there are no limits. Is that clearer?"

"Crystal." Goku responded firmly, looking up at the three, "Alright. I've made up my mind.". They looked at him expectantly with almost suspense.

"I wish that all the universes that were erased as a result of this tournament were restored to the way they were before they were erased!"