Hi everyone, hope your excited! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! This chapter will hopefully answer some of the questions you have in your head. Don't worry; I will explain a bit more at the end of this chapter. Please enjoy!

Chapter 5: As One Friend Comes, Another Goes

Gohan was trying hard not to fall asleep, but it was kind of hard since he had gotten next to none the night before. Maybe only two or three hours, but it still wasn't much. He was sitting outside of the building that they had been calling home for a while now; for some reason the Tako couldn't destroy this area yet, either that, or it was blind. Suddenly he heard a voice call his name.

"Gohan!"

He looked over at the figure running towards him and stood up, smiling. The girl was wearing dirty blue shorts, black running shoes, and a semi-white t-shirt. She had medium length black hair that came down a little bit past her shoulders. The girl reached him and knew that something was on his mind.

"Gohan, is everything ok?" she asked, concern coating her voice. He was currently staring down at the ground, not trying to make it obvious that he wasn't trying to look at her.

"Yeah, everything's fine Leyla," he replied, but she seemed to guess otherwise.

"Gohan, please look at me and tell me truthfully," Leyla pleaded. His head shot up and he stared into her crimson eyes.

"You know I wouldn't lie to you," he stated quickly, but stopped himself from looking away. Her eyes always seemed to haunt him now, since they were so similar to the figure's. But he knew that there was a difference between the woman and his friend: Leyla's eyes showed kindness. Leyla seemed to guess why he was bothered and stared down at the ground, breaking their gaze.

"Oh, that's right. I'm sorry, I forgot. It's just that…" she seemed to stumble and as he looked at her, she seemed like she was crying, the moist liquid gathering at her eyes.

"No, that's not…" he started, but got frustrated at his own lack of speech, "I should be the one who's sorry! I shouldn't think like that! You're my friend…"

She looked up at him sympathetically before wiping the moisture from her eyes.

"It's ok, don't worry about it," she stated before she gave him a half-hearted smile. He smiled back, but then wondered something.

"What did you want to see me for?" Gohan asked, before getting playfully punched in the arm by Leyla.

"Silly, it's been a long time since I've seen you," she stated, making them both smile. But apparently she had also remembered something else since her eyes lit up, "Oh yeah, follow me!"

She started to run and Gohan followed after her, wondering what she was so excited about. He didn't know her reason for running since she knew how to fly, but he guessed that she was so excited that she probably forgot that she could fly. As they were running, Gohan noticed that they left the area where the Tako couldn't get them and went beyond.

Hope I'm not making a mistake by doing this, he thought as he remembered his father's words to him a few nights before. After a while, they arrived at what looked to be an old town in ruins, stone houses now piles of rocks. Only one house stood.

"Come on, follow me," Leyla prodded as she walked inside the stone house. Even though it was the only one standing, Gohan saw that it still was pretty damaged.

"Where are we going?" Gohan asked as he followed Leyla into the house and saw her start to remove some stones away from one of the inner walls of the house.

"Don't worry, everything is fine," she answered, still leaving Gohan to wonder where they were. He suddenly was very conscious of a loud pounding, and he realized with dread that it was the Lotus again.

No, not now, he thought, stop it, stupid flower.

He leaned back against the wall, suddenly feeling too weak to support himself. He felt like he was going to fall through the house when someone supported him. He looked over and saw that Leyla was trying to hold him up.

"Are you feeling ok?" she asked, and he could tell instantly that she had regretted coming here.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just 'another problem'," he stated, realizing that the pounding had suddenly stopped. Leyla nodded, knowing what he meant, and went back to removing stones.

Gohan had told her about the Lotus before, and 'another problem' was their code word for something having to deal with the white flower. Gohan was still confused though.

That's strange, he thought was he continued to watch his friend remove stones, that's happened before, but not that bad.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by Leyla's voice.

"Come look," she said, motioning over to the hole where the rocks had been. Gohan walked over and bent down, realizing that the hole was just big enough to fit through. He peered farther into the hole and saw an old staircase that led down into the darkness. Gohan saw Leyla start to crawl through the hole, and some part of him started to grow uncomfortable.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked as she turned to look at him. Her black hair was covering some of her face and her crimson eyes seemed to glow. Involuntarily, his heart beat sped up with the sudden fear he started to feel, but he was brought back to reality when he realized he was looking at Leyla.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Don't worry, I've been here before," she stated before starting to walk down the stairs, leaving Gohan to follow her while wondering when she could have visited this place.

He followed her down the stairs, not failing to notice that he could see clearly. He was about to wonder how, but he then realized the yellow aura around himself and realized that he was in Super Saiyan. He shook his head, disbelieving of how dense he could be at times. Leyla looked back at him, probably making sure that he was following. Gohan didn't fail to notice that they had been walking for a long time. He was just about to ask how much farther they had to walk when he heard the sound of running water. Leyla stopped at the bottom and Gohan almost ran into her. He was about to say something when he saw what was in front of him, leaving him speechless.

They were in an underground cave, Gohan was sure of it, but he couldn't tell for how long it had been existing. Clear glowing water ran in small tributaries from other caves, all of them connecting to this one. Leyla started to walk towards something in the middle of the cave. Gohan followed and, when they got to the middle, stood beside Leyla. The sight that greeted his eyes seemed familiar, but he couldn't really place where or when he had seen it. There was a huge underground pond of the clear water with clear blue crystals lining the rim were the water didn't pour in.

"How did you find this place?" Gohan asked as he stared over at his friend, realizing that the water lit up the place.

"I just went exploring one day and came upon this building. I had found it odd that it was the only one still standing, sort of like our home," Leyla whispered, "I thought you might have known something about it."

"I feel like I've seen it before, but I don't know where," he stated, staring at the water. Something seemed really familiar about this place, he just didn't know what.

"Oh…" came Leyla's disheartened response. He thought something was bothering her and was going to ask when a Ki spiked up in his head. He stood up suddenly and turned towards the entrance, sensing that the Ki was near here. He could tell Leyla was surprised when he had suddenly stood up, but he didn't care. He started to run towards the entrance.

"Gohan, what's wrong?" Leyla asked, Gohan not failing to notice the fear in her eyes.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's bad," he stated before starting to run up the stairs. He heard her hurried footsteps that confirmed she was following. He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. He felt like he knew the Ki he sensed, but he couldn't identify it since his head had just started to buzz with the sudden nervousness he felt.

When he got to the top of the stairs, he hit his head on the top of the hole, making him stop and bite his lip at the sting it left. Gohan's head started to clear as the pain did and he suddenly recognized the Ki.

"Gohan, what is going on?" he heard Leyla's voice come from behind him. She sounded scared, and he knew why, but right now the danger wasn't coming for them.

"Leyla, Yamcha is in trouble," he stated simply, but then turned around to face her, making sure that she would follow what he would say next, "I need you to go back home. Go back home and wait. I need to help him."

Leyla started to shake her head.

"No, I'm not leaving you to face that thing alone…" she started, but Gohan cut her off to try and save time.

"Please Leyla, just listen. You need to go home. I won't be alone, I'm sure by now that my dad and the others know," he stated and started to walk out the door. A hand on his shoulder made him stop.

"Gohan, fine I'll go home, but if you go and die I swear you are going to be in trouble," Leyla forced out and Gohan saw that she was crying again.

"Leyla, don't worry. It takes a lot more to kill me than an overgrown octopus," he smiled at her before flying towards the Ki. He was relieved when he felt Leyla's Ki move off in the direction they had originally came from. When he was about half way there, he heard his father's voice in his head,

Gohan, turn around.

No, he answered simply as he kept flying. They had all learned how to communicate through their minds, but it sometimes bothered him.

Gohan, listen. I am not going to have you getting sick again, his father stated sternly. Gohan didn't stop flying though; already realizing with a sickening feeling that Yamcha's Ki was dropping.

I don't care. I want to help, he answered stubbornly.

Gohan, you're not going to be able to help much if your dead… his father said, but was cut off by another voice in Gohan's head.

Goku you are obviously not helping much, he heard Piccolo say to his father, but then the voice was directed at him, Gohan, your father is right. You should just go back and wait for us with your friend.

Gohan felt his face heat up a bit at the mention of Leyla.

How do you…? He started but Piccolo cut him off.

You don't really want to know what goes through your head unconsciously, do you? Piccolo answered, making Gohan shudder.

There were no more voices after that; Gohan figured that they probably decided he wasn't going to listen either way. When he saw a spec in the distance, he sped up, quickly coming upon where his friends were. His vision started to swim as his head throbbed. Images assaulted his vision; images of the underground lake, the battle, the scene in front of him.

He knew it wouldn't have stopped, but they did when he felt something hard smack into his side, sending him flying to the ground. When he opened his eyes, he saw blurred images of his friends and something else, something much bigger. As his vision started to clear, he saw his father and Piccolo staring at him with relief and confusion on their faces, Krillin and Vegeta getting smacked around, and the Tako holding Yamcha in some kind of death grip.

The Tako? Gohan thought with confusion, but then fear as he saw the scene unfold before him. Something loud assaulted his ears, something that made him want to cover them it was that loud, until he realized that it was Yamcha screaming.

Gohan didn't know what to do, so he just sat there staring at what was happening, taking in his surroundings. The Tako had its tentacles wrapped around Yamcha, but one of them looked like it was sticking into his side; Gohan's idea was confirmed as he saw blood dripping from where the tentacle was. A blue sort of liquid was running from Yamcha and into the Tako, where it combined and turned red. Gohan then realized that Yamcha's Ki was being sucked out of him.

Gohan felt his stomach give a half-hearted effort and he puked on the ground. His head jerked back up as the screaming continued and he felt Yamcha's Ki drop. His friend's head went limp as the Ki left him; the Tako discarding its prey as it threw the former warrior into a pile of rubble. Gohan then felt his heart stop as the Tako turned around and sensed him. Even though it didn't have eyes, Gohan was sure that it was looking at him. He started to back away, but stopped when he felt his head start to almost explode.

Gohan knew that he couldn't move and just as the Tako was going to grab him, he felt someone lift him up and carry him away. When the pain in his head ceased, he opened his eyes and saw his father holding him, confusion written on his face.

"What?" Gohan asked in confusion at the relief in his father's eyes.

"Gohan, we thought you were dead. We couldn't sense your Ki anymore," his father stated softly, confusing Gohan with his statement.

"You couldn't… what?" he asked, still confused. He saw his father shake his head, but then looked over when Piccolo started to talk.

"Goku, get him out of here," Piccolo stated as he stared at Gohan. Gohan cringed slightly, knowing that when his friends got back that he would get in trouble. He saw his father nod before they started to fly off. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the sound of everything behind him.

Gohan didn't know how to handle the rest of the day. He knew that Yamcha was dead, even bluntly telling Leyla when she came to see if he was ok. He knew that his real troubles would begin when everyone else got back. He was lying on his bed talking to Leyla when Piccolo and Goku entered the room.

"Leyla, could you please go home? We need to talk to Gohan," Goku stated as nicely as he could, but Gohan knew that his father was holding back rage. Leyla nodded while sending a sad look at Gohan.

As soon as she exited the building, Gohan got up from his bed. He was about to say something when he felt his cheek burn, the force sending him backwards. He brought his hand up to where it stung and realized that Piccolo had hit him.

"What was that for?" Gohan demanded angrily. He realized that Piccolo was staring at him hard.

"For almost getting yourself killed," his mentor replied shortly. Goku put a hand on the Namekian's shoulder, and then his mentor left the room, leaving him alone with his father.

"Gohan, were you trying to play some kind of joke today?" his father whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

"What?" Gohan asked, confused by what was being said. He stared at his father and saw concern in his father's eyes.

"Gohan today your power level completely left our senses. Did you hide your power level or something?" Goku asked.

"No, I was flying towards you guys," he answered, becoming even more confused. His father sighed before sitting down in a chair next to the bed. Gohan didn't sit down though; he was feeling too awkward about this situation. Suddenly, he knew what his father was going to say.

"You don't have to tell me what happened today," Gohan whispered harshly. For some reason, he felt like he was losing his temper, and bad part was that it was happening fast. His father stared at him for a moment before responding.

"Gohan, sometimes you have to face the truth…" Goku stated but Gohan interrupted.

"I have been facing the truth, dad! And I'm tired of it! I hate having to see everyone die! I hate that I can't help them!" he nearly screamed at his father as tears slid down his face. His father's eyes widened at Gohan's sudden increase in anger, but then came to pull his son into a hug.

"Gohan…" Goku started, but was startled when Gohan pushed away.

"No… no more," Gohan whispered, not really sure of what he was saying, "no more."

And with that, he ran out of the house and into the night.

So, how did you like it? Leyla is an OC just in case you were confused about that. Sorry that I was a bit late in updating this, I just released "No Restrictions" (my first Naruto fanfiction) and I have been trying to work on Chapter 12 of "I Need You". Don't worry though; the next chapter should be out soon. So, where do you think Gohan is going? Once again, I hope you enjoyed and please review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9