A frozen wasteland surrounded Piccolo and Gohan as they entered their battle stances. Piccolo's sharp eyes glinted dangerously as he studied Gohan's stance. 'He got the basics of it just right, but only barely. It is still not good enough.' The fingers of his right hand twitched.

Gohan flinched as he instinctively took half a step back into a more defensive stance. Piccolo's eyes squinted as he looked down at the boy, the new clothes he made for him fit his small frame well enough.

The weighted clothing was nothing too complicated to make as it was simply a smaller version of his own weighted clothing, minus the turban and cape and with the addition of weighted wrist and ankle bands, those were Gohan's idea and something he also added to his own outfit. Gohan's hair has also been tied up due to it becoming too long and it being too risky if it fell into his eyes during the middle of a fight, Gohan's tail has also been tied up at the base with a tight weighted band, no doubt causing the boy a large amount of discomfort and pain, and yet he endured that without any complaints, this is all because Gohan knows how important it is to overcome such a glaring weakness his race has.

The thick sheet of ice started to crack under their feet, it wouldn't hold in for much longer, it is a miracle it has held up as long as it did if you consider they both weight more than a dozen tons due to their weighted training outfits.

Gohan made the first move, he is too impatient and anxious to wait any longer as he rushed towards Piccolo, quickly flying towards the green man as he twisted his body to launch a quick spinning kick aimed at Piccolo's temple.

Piccolo raised his left arm, quickly blocking the kick with a grunt while simultaneously countering the hit by grabbing Gohan's ankle and throwing the boy hard through the ice and into the freezing ocean water.

The Saiyajin Hybrid sunk deeper and deeper into the dark waters as he tried to recompose himself, he coated his body with Ki to warm himself up before he started to freeze. He crossed his arms in front of his chest as he looked up, sensing Piccolo's Ki.

He rubbed his chin between his thumb and forefinger. 'He didn't even move an inch, did he? I knew he was going to block that kick but I thought I could've moved him a bit, I guess I'm not that good at controlling my Ki yet, that kick would've definitely sent him flying even if he blocked if I was.' Gohan thought as a school of fish swam around him.

Gohan slapped both of his cheeks twice to hype himself up then raised both hands up, gathering Ki on the palms of his hands. 'Now that's gonna make you move.' He thought with a grin as he shot the two yellow beams.

Piccolo smirked as he dove through the ice without any difficulty while twisting his body around the two bright energy beams and dove straight downwards into a wide-eyed Gohan. He stretched out his right arm until his open hand reached Gohan's face, his large hand grabbed the boy's face tightly as Piccolo pulled the boy towards himself, striking the boy on his stomach with his other hand and forcing the air out of his lungs.

The boy grabbed his neck as the cold water rushed straight into his lungs before he could stop it, ironically making him feel a burning feeling in them. He tried to fly up to get some fresh air before he drowned but unfortunately, Piccolo grabbed both of his ankles with only one hand before he managed to completely get out to breathe. Gohan looked down in panic at a smirking Piccolo that had another hand aimed right at his chest.

A powerful explosion came from Piccolo's hand, strong enough that it sent the boy flying out of the cold water. Gohan started to violently cough out the water that was previously into his lungs as he floated into the air while trying to breathe normally again.

After a few more moments Piccolo flew up and crossed his arms while staring down at Gohan with one eye ridge raised. "Had enough or are you going to stubbornly try to push yourself until you pass out yet again?" The green man asked the boy, sharp eyes trying to spot any signs of him being more hurt than usual.

Their training sessions normally last for hours and it's not unusual for either of them to get several bruises and even bleed but Gohan is not fortunate enough to have been blessed with advanced regeneration like the one Piccolo has.

Gohan considered Piccolo's words for a few seconds before he groaned, he has been working on a new technique but he doubts he could use it to get the edge against the Namekuseijin right now, it is not nearly as developed as he wants it to be to use in a proper fight. "Nah, I'm already beat since last night, I don't think I can keep going and the cold is not helping me focus my Ki properly." Yes, it's definetely the cold's fault and definetely not related to how excited he is due to being able to fly around and shoot ki blasts. Shooting powerful blasts with a single hand capable of easily blowing up the whole damn moon is yet another thing that he should be concerned about and yet it just feels... natural, and the extra weight wrapped around the base of his tail also difficulted things quite a bit but he's slowly getting used to that.

It's the cold and if anyone tries to argue otherwise he'll plead the fifth and stay quiet like the good little boy he is. No thoughts of world conquest have invaded his mind, nope!

Speaking of being a little boy; the drastic shift has been... not nearly as drastic as he thought it should have been. This new body feels very natural to him and he did not have any concerning issues using it, which sounds very odd to him. Perhaps not being able to remember anything about how he looked before helped him transition into this body?

But that's just a theory and he'll rather not dwell too much on those lest he gives himself a headache. He is not fond of headaches so avoiding those, for now, is the best plan he has.

Piccolo's eyes cut through his soul like a hot knife against butter. "You were distracted and even now I can hear how quickly your heart is beating." His right ear twitched as he looked down at Gohan. "Tch, the apple really doesn't fall too far from the tree after all." He spoke with a sigh at the end. "You're far too much like your father, both of you get too much into the fight, at least you got more common sense than him out of combat, barely."

Being compared to Goku made Gohan grin like an absolute baffoon but no matter how hard he tried he just could not stop that grin from taking over. "Really?!" Sometimes he forgets that once upon a time the people of this place were nothing but characters doodled into a piece of paper, actually interacting with Piccolo has been an amazing experience even if more often than not his whole body feels like it's about to break apart due to their training, and yet he craves more and more.

Don't get him wrong, his time with Piccolo so far has literally been life-changing but he wishes he could have interacted with Goku for more than a few seconds. He knows he'll see him again and the rest of the gang in a few months but just thinking about actually expending time with them makes him all giddy and warm inside.

Was he always this childish before? If so he does not care because right now he's having a lot of fun. But the more he thinks about what will come the more nervous he gets. Will he be able to fill in on Gohan's shoes? And even if he tries to keep things as close to canon(Not like he plans to.) does it even matter? Even that Inky man said this is not the same Dragon Ball Universe he knows and loves, things seem to be different and Zeno knows(Oh God, he'll have to deal with that little guy too, won't he?) what other changes will come.

And yet... he's not scared of it, he welcomes those changes because for some reason not knowing exactly what will happen is somehow very exciting. He wants to be surprised and to overcome new challenges.

Gohan wonders if that is due to his new Saiyajin DNA, to want to be challenged just so you can break your limits over and over again until something utterly amazing and unbelievable happens. He wants that.

Piccolo shook his head at Gohan's response to being compared to Goku and yet there was a brief quirk on his lips that was too fast for Gohan to catch. 'When I kidnapped the brat I only wanted to force out his potential and use him against the Saiyajin threat, never would I have thought that I would feel any sort of fondness for someone, and to think even someone like me could enjoy the companionship of another.' The green-skinned man hummed as he looked down at the boy. "Come, we'll return to the cave and rest for a few days since we've been sparring non-stop for an entire month, right now that is the best course of action since any more training will be torture on your body and give negative results."

And with a snap of Piccolo's fingers, both fighters will feel the weight of their clothing disappear. Gohan did not even attempt to mask how relieved he is with that choice because as much as he loved fighting and training with Piccolo even he has his limits. "Yeesh, I was starting to forget how it felt to feel so light." The hybrid said with a small smile on his face. "Lead the way, Mr. Piccolo."

"I've told you already, just Piccolo is fine," Piccolo grunted out while pinching the bridge of his nose. They've had this song and dance time after time and he knows exactly what Gohan will say next.

"Whatever you say, Just Piccolo."

Next time they spar Piccolo is going to throw him into the moon.

Can Saiyajins breathe in space...?

-000000-

"Ever thought about getting an actual house to rest?" Gohan asked not even one minute after he sat down and leaned his back into the cave's wall.

Piccolo responded without missing a beat. "But of course, I'll just have to get some work at the city, I'm sure a lot of companies will be thrilled to have the great Demon King Piccolo as their employee." With a flat tone of voice.

Gohan chuckled. "You never know, nowadays they're all looking for minorities to fill in some quotes and I'm sure they'll kill each other to get a chance to get a green man, you're one of a kind around Earth, ain't you?"

Unexpectedly, Piccolo fell silent while staring at Gohan with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Two." He finally spoke again just as Gohan thought he had messed up somehow and was about to apologize. "Two of a kind."

The boy's mouth formed an almost perfect 'o' as recognition crossed his face. Did he just really forget about Kami? He's pretty sure Piccolo talked about him a bit not too long ago when he was learning how to properly sense Ki and he felt what must have been the other Z-Fighters training at Kami's lookout. "Oh, right, slipped my mind." He said sheepishly while palming his neck and trying to laugh at his embarrassment at being so concerned.

The cave fell into silence yet again that would surprisingly be broken by Piccolo after an hour of resting. "Tell me one of your stories again."

Gohan blinked twice and tilted his head to get a better look at Piccolo. As per usual he's in that meditative stance with his legs crossed and fingertips touching but right now he's glancing back at Gohan instead of keeping his eyes closed.

"Which one?"

A pause as Piccolo's ears twitched.

"The one with the lions."

The hybrid smiled, for some reason, he just knew Piccolo would pick that one again.

As Gohan told the story Piccolo's mind began to wander.

'It's a pretty simple story, all things considered, it even has several songs but that's not what matters because the first time Gohan told me that story something stuck and I just want to make sure I'm not overthinking it.' A child that watched his own father die due to the scheming machinations of his uncle. Sounds familiar doesn't it? That was the first story the boy told him and even now it stuck, Gohan did not seem to be terribly affected by the death of his father at Piccolo's hands but he can't help but wonder if he's only pretending, the boy is surprisingly mature and sharp for his age after all.

Maybe the previous events had more of an effect than what Piccolo can see but only time will tell. All he can do is train the boy and shape him to be a better warrior and hope for the best.

But that's something he'll have to be more concerned about in the future because right now he has a story to listen to.

"...wait to be king!"

'If he survives the kid can have a bright future as a writer.' For some reason that thought made him chuckle, thankfully Gohan is too busy singing his heart out to notice that quiet little sound that managed to escape Piccolo's lips.

-000000-

A few hours ago.

Kuririn wiped off the sweat from his forehead and sat on the edge of Kami's lookout, he stared off into the distance while sensing two powerful energy signatures clash against each other.

Tenshinhan stood behind Kuririn with his arms crossed and a small frown on his face. "They're at it again?" He asked the vertically challenged man while glancing in the same direction he's staring at.

"Yup. Must've been fighting for hours now. Man, and here I thought Popo's training was tough, Piccolo must be a total slave driver!" Kuririn said with a concerned expression. Will Gohan really be okay...?

Something cold is suddenly thrown at the back of his head and Kuririn almost falls off the edge of the lookout. "H-hey! What's the big idea?!" He cried out in both anger and embarrassment at being spooked so easily by a water bottle being thrown at him.

Yamcha grins while walking up to Kuririn and Tenshinhan, Chiaotzu gliding across the floor and stopping at Tenshinhan's side while offering him one of the water bottles. The broad-shouldered triclops accepted the bottle.

"C'mon, did you forget you can fly?" Yamcha spoke between laughs, after a long day of training a laugh is exactly what they all need. Well, at least that's what he needs to cool off.

Kuririn pouted a bit and caught the bottle before it slid off the lookout. "Still, I'll rather not have random stuff throw at me, y'know."

The scarred ex-bandit whistled while sensing Piccolo's and Gohan's ki. "Damn, just how strong are they gonna get?"

Tenshinhan grunted. "Hopefully strong enough to take on the other two Saiyans, I hate to admit it but we're not even close to being half as strong as them." He'll say while clenching a fist tightly.

Yamcha scratched his cheek and glanced at the former Crane School student. "It's a bit embarrassing to be weaker than a six-year-old, to be honest, don't you think so? I know Goku was pretty strong when he was like fourteen but that's just absurd." With a small embarrassed blush on his cheeks.

Kuririn coughed to clear his throat. "Errr... four, actually. Gohan is four years old."

A silence fell amongst the group as they all focused on sensing the spar between Gohan and Piccolo.

"God damn aliens," Yamcha said with a slouch in his posture and took a swig of the water bottle.

"Humpf," Tenshinhan grunted in response while furrowing his eyebrows but also agreeing with Yamcha's words.

"Ayeeeup." Kuririn rested his chin on his fist.

Chiaotzu finally spoke after being quiet for so long. "Is that racist?" Flatly.

Yamcha spat out the water right on Kuririn and the bald man began shouting obscenities at the scarred man.

Tenshinhan looked up to the sky and offered a quick prayer to whatever divine being is above Kami.

They'll need it, he's sure of it.

-000-000-000

So, I'm back! Yay! After basically two years.

Guess someone must have gathered the Dragon Balls and wished this story back, huh? Bit of a waste of a good wish if you ask me!

Either way, I deeply apologize for the unannounced hiatus! I also want to say to everyone that was previously reading this story to check out the previous chapter because I've updated them all with some new stuff so they do have some important changes here and there.

Now, speaking of cute Dragon Ball waifus yet again, if you had to choose who would you pick? Or would you try to woo several gals in the end? Oh my.

Because as of now I'm unsure if I'll pair this Gohan with anyone or several ladies so I'm curious for the reader's thoughts. If you don't want to tell me in a review please feel free to shoot me a private message!

And as always, please criticize my writing all you want because I appreciate all constructive criticism that'll help me improve!