Helllo there! Hope you all have been doing well. These are strange times, to be sure, so I hope I can give you something entertaining in the meanwhile. You all wanted to see the Earthlings train, so here you go. Thank you to everyone who's been leaving comments and telling me what you think. I read them all and I appreciate every single one of you. Enjoy!

Earth

"Tien!"

Tien Shinhan ran up to Chiaotzu, kneeling down and hugging him. Mr. Popo was standing behind them, in the entryway of Tien's dojo. The Earth Warriors had split up to train on their own with their own master. Krillin and Yamcha were back on the lookout, the former with Korin and the latter with Kami. Eventually, they would rotate to the next trainer, allowing all of them to get as much experience as possible. Tien was surprised when Mr. Popo said they'd be heading back down to his dojo, but he did not complain – he missed seeing his best friend.

"I missed you so much," Chiaotzu said. "You've gotten really strong!"

"I missed you too, Chiaotzu. I wish you could have come up with me. We could have gotten stronger together."

"You can always teach me later!"

"That's true." Tien smiled, putting his hand on Chiaotzu's hat.

Mr. Popo stepped forward. "Actually, that's more relevant to today's training than you might think. I asked Chiaotzu if he could find you a pupil that would test your patience and talents. If you're able to teach them, then you'll gain better knowledge and understanding of your own skills."

Tien nodded. "That sounds smart." He wasn't one to back down from a challenge. He hadn't gotten many students in his dojo, yet, but he knew what made the difference between a good master and bad master. He could do this. "Who is it?"

A loud sneeze echoed from the other room.

The door slammed open, and a pair of combat boots stomped on the hard floor. Tien quickly found himself at the pointy end of a samurai sword. He was only distressed for a moment, before he saw who it was. Then, he was more annoyed than anything else.

"You better tell me how the hell I got here, or I'm gonna kill you!"

Chiaotzu flew next to her. "Launch! Calm down! It's us! That's just Tien!"

Launch blinked. She narrowed her eyes. "Tien Shinhan?"

Tien pushed the blade away from him, and sighed. "Good to see you too, Launch. What are you doing here?"He glanced at the others. "And where's my student?"

Mr. Popo chuckled, and Chiaotzu looked down, sheepishly. Tien looked back at Launch. It did not take him long to put two and two together. He had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes and groan.

Chiaotzu was practically sweating, as he frantically explained himself. "Mr. Popo said it should be someone who doesn't have a lot of martial arts training! And someone with problems with… composure! I thought she would be perfect!"

Tien closed his eyes. He was no longer looking forward to this exercise. It wasn't that he disliked Launch – he liked her like he did all of his other friends. But there was just something about her that unsettled him. It wasn't the personality swaps. It was just the way she looked at him: it made him feel uneasy. No matter what hints he tried to drop, she wouldn't pick up on the fact that he just wasn't interested. He had spent the last several years dodging her to avoid an inevitably awkward conversation. He hoped that she would finally get the idea.

"Perfect for what?" She crossed her arms over her chest, popping a hip to the side.

He sighed and opened his eyes. If this was what Mr. Popo wanted him to do, he might as well suck it up and do it. "I'll be teaching you one of my techniques, Launch. If you don't think you're up for it, you can back out now."

"Hell no! I can handle anything!" She picked the sword back up and swung it around haphazardly. She kept glancing at him, as if she was fishing for praise.

"Remember, Tien," Mr. Popo said, "A good warriors is always patient, no matter the situation." He left the room, and Chiaotzu followed behind. The door closed behind them, leaving Tien and Launch alone.

Tien caught the blade, and threw the sword into a wall. Launch jumped backwards, hands in front of her. "It takes a lot more than swinging around a weapon to make a good fighter," Tien said. He turned around, and unbuttoned his shirt, hanging it against a wall. He wrapped his wrists with gauze. "It takes discipline, restraint, and a calm temperament."

Launch was dazed, nodding along to his words. Her eyes were glued on his bare chest. "Yeah, I got plenty of that. Don't worry."

"We'll see." He threw the gauze at her, and she managed to catch it. "Wrap up your wrists like I did, and meet me in the corner. We'll get started then." He turned back around and leaned against a wall, waiting for her to continue.

Launch's face had grown red, and she pressed her lips together. "B-but wait! I-I don't think I can do this," she yelled in a sudden outburst. "M-maybe you can help me, too!"

He pushed himself off of the wall and went up to her, taking the gauze from her. He took one of her hands, and began tightly wrapping the gauze around her palm. He cut the end with his teeth, and closed it, before moving onto the next. He thought nothing of it until he noticed that she was staring at him, with that same look that unsettled him to his core.

This was going to be a long training exercise.

Krillin met up with Korin on his tower. He was so nervous. Master Korin was such a revered figure, and the land below his tower was sacred. Warriors from all over made the pilgrimage to the tower just for a chance to train with him. Few made it to the top, and fewer still walked away victorious. Yamcha and Tien had been doing awesome, but Krillin still felt stuck. He could be stronger, but he felt stagnant. It was as if every bad thing the others said at the Orin Temple was true. It didn't make him feel better about his new training. He just hoped he wouldn't disappoint.

Krillin bowed in front of him. "So what are we doing today, Master Korin?"

Korin lifted up a bottle. "This is the Sacred Water. Once you've drank it, it will give you more strength than you could ever imagine."

"That's awesome. So… what do I have to do?"

"All you have to do is take it from me. Do so and drink to your heart's content. Goku went through this very test, years ago. As did your old teacher."

"Master Roshi did this?! Wow…" Krillin stood still, star struck by the revelation. Not only did he have to compete with all the other warriors who tried this, but also with his best friend and his master? There was certainly no pressure to this.

He swallowed, and balled his hands into fists. "Okay! I'm ready."

Krillin ran towards Korin. Right as he was about to grab the bottle, Korin jumped up, knocking him in the head with his staff. Krillin let out an oof, rubbing his sore forehead. He lunged out towards him, but Korin slid underneath him, to the other side of the tower.

"Hey, over there," Krillin said, pointing at the wall. Korin looked there. Krillin raced to his side, only to be scratched in his arm. He hissed, as he stepped backwards.

Korin laughed, as he groomed himself. "It's going to take more than some cheap tricks to pull one over on me!"

He should have known better. He had hoped he could get this over with quickly, but Korin was too smart to fall for something like that. Krillin wasn't looking forward to the rest of this, but he couldn't give up, now. If Goku and Roshi could do this, then so could he.

Gohan's training had been going on for a week. He wasn't any closer to becoming a stronger fighter than he was, when he began. Something hadn't clicked for him, and he couldn't wrap his head around what he was supposed to do. He was growing frustrated, feeling like he was failing Piccolo and letting him down. If his dad saw how poor he was doing, he'd be disappointed to. Gohan tried to keep it hidden and push forward, but it was getting more and more difficult to do so every day.

He tried to brace himself, as Piccolo threw punches at him. His hands were above his head, blocking the incoming attacks. He was getting tired, having been at this for several minutes. One hit made him lose his balance, and he fell backwards, barely regaining his footing.

Piccolo hit him again, to make sure he knew what it meant when he didn't block an attack, jabbing him in the stomach. The hit was hard enough to hurt, but not enough to seriously bruise or injure him. Gohan fell forward, catching himself before his stomach hit the ground. He sat on his hands and knees, his head hanging low.

"When you catch your breath, get up and start blocking again," Piccolo said.

If he were training anyone else, he wouldn't give them a chance to breathe: it taught a valuable lesson about pacing oneself in a battle. But Gohan was such a novice that he needed the extra seconds. He didn't see any sense in leaving him completely untrained for this long. He hadn't even known the basics of self-defense. If something happened when he was older, he wouldn't have stood a chance. Once this android crap was over, he'd be having a serious talk with Chi-Chi about this.

Even as he started breathing normally, Gohan didn't get up. He was still sitting on the ground.

Piccolo glanced up. "We're losing daylight, Gohan. You need to get up."

He still refused.

When he was about to reprimand him again, he saw two dark spots on the dirt below him. Gohan was beginning to shake, and he could hear him sniffling. Piccolo didn't curse or sigh. He just knelt down in front of him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Gohan crawled into Piccolo's lap and huddled into his chest. He grabbed onto his clothes and cried his little heart out. Piccolo sat there, allowing him to let it all out. He was expecting an outburst or a meltdown of some sorts, eventually. He could tell how frustrated he was becoming, over his lack of progress. He had hoped it would have waited until Goku started training him, though – he was better at handling Gohan's emotions.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Piccolo," Gohan said, sniffling. "I-I can't do this. I'm not strong like you and dad. I'm sorry I'm letting you down."

Piccolo looked down. That was what this was about? He was scared that he was letting him down? Now, he really wished Goku were here, instead. He had never been good at saying things to make people feel better – at lending out comforting or reassuring words. Gohan was such a sensitive little boy, too. The wrong words would only make things worse. He didn't know what to do.

"I never expected you to be. You're still learning."

Gohan sniffed, and wiped at his eyes, with his fist, looking up at Piccolo.

"This is why your father and I agreed to this, in the first place. You're learning. I'm not going to lie to you – it will take a while for you to master much. When you were first learning algebra, did you understand everything?" Gohan shook his head. "This is exactly like that. Just because you don't understand now doesn't mean you won't, later. I want you to start thinking of training like that. You've got that?"

"O-okay. I-I just don't want to let you down."

"I know you won't."

Gohan hugged him, again. "I love you, Mr. Piccolo."

Piccolo's heart skipped a beat. He stared down, slack-jawed at his open display of affection. He heard him say 'I love you' a lot to Goku and Chi-Chi, but never to him. Of course, he never doubted that Gohan loved him, but to hear it out loud… his stomach was doing flips.

"You too, Gohan." Gohan squeezed him tighter, after hearing it. "Now, stop your crying and let's get back to training. Okay?"

Gohan was beaming, as he stepped back. Tears were still in his eyes, but he was much perkier, now. Piccolo smirked. He had a feeling things would start taking a turn for the better, now.