AnimeWolfGirl16: Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, I do think that Marie is adorable, but she can be a bit dangerous at times. That will be revealed soon though.

Chapter 8: Something about Today

Gohan woke up the next morning with Marie about an inch away from his face. Somehow he did not find this very odd for her to do, just a bit disturbing.

"Um Marie, what are you doing?" he asked, now fully awake. His friend only smiled and stood up.

"You're awake," she said, not really answering his question. He shrugged and sat up in his bed, dangling his feet over the edge. Marie was currently sitting on the huge flower that she had "made" the night before. He stood up and went over to open the door, but suddenly it came speeding towards him, smacking him in the face.

"Ouch," he said as he rubbed the place where the door hit his head. The floor then got really dizzy and he started to fall back. Marie, not realizing the mistake she was making, stood up and tried to catch him. She did not realize that Gohan was heavier than her before they both fell backwards and ended up sitting on the flower.

"Ouch," both of them said at the same time, even though the flower was soft. Gohan then realized that the reason Marie had stated her pain was because he was now sitting on her. He quickly got up, feeling the heat burning his face.

"I'm sorry Marie," he said quickly, "are you ok?"

She stared at him for a moment before answering.

"Yep," she stated happily while she smiled, confusing Gohan greatly with her sudden change of mood. He didn't have time to reply though because when he turned around, he was met with a somewhat angered and confused Goku.

"Gohan, why is Marie in here?" his father asked while looking at the girl who was now sitting down.

"Well, I couldn't just let her sleep on the floor…" he started, trying not to start laughing at the situation.

"Then what did she…?" his father ask as both of them turned around to see Marie staring at them innocently while sitting on the flower. Goku stared at Gohan for an explanation.

"Gohan, how did that get in here?" his father asked while pointing at the huge pink flower. He had to resist the urge to laugh again, not quite sure how to explain it to his father when he didn't really understand it himself.

"Marie?" he asked as he looked at his friend, both of them smiling sheepishly. She looked down at the flower and then up at Goku.

"I made it," she stated while smiling, making it even harder for Gohan to not start laughing at his friend's behavior. Goku stared at Marie like she had just said that she had blown up the world, then staring at Gohan with a questioning look.

"Gohan…" his father started but Gohan interrupted him.

"Yeah, I know. Kind of hard to believe, but it's true," he said while he looked at his friend before adding one thing, "I'm a living witness."

Goku shook his head and then answered while walking out the door.

"Gohan, you're still on bedroom confinement. And Marie, I guess I can't stop you from staying with him…"

The voice trailed off as the footsteps faded. Gohan stared at the wide open door before walking over and closing it before sitting back down on his bed, Marie giving him a confused look.

"Gohan, want to play?" Marie asked as she stood up and came to sit beside him on the bed.

"No Marie, I'm supposed to stay in here," he said while shaking his head, making his friend frown a bit.

"But don't you want to go outside?" Marie asked while pointing at the closed door.

"Yeah I do," he answered, "but I'm not allowed to."

Marie seemed to pout for a moment before walking over and sitting near the window, soaking up the little rays of light coming in from it.

"But I like the sun…" she started but then stopped, an unreadable expression coming onto her face. Then she smiled,

"Ok we can stay in here."

Gohan didn't quite know what to think about that. He knew it wasn't fair if he was supposed to stay inside and his friend didn't have to, but he knew Marie might not want him to stay in his bedroom alone.

"It's ok Marie. You go on outside," he said in a happy tone while closing his eyes. When he opened them again, he was met with an unhappy Marie.

"No," she stated while sitting down on the floor, her hands on her bent knees.

"Marie, it's ok. I'm fine. You can go outside," he tried to convince her, but apparently it wasn't working.

"No, I'm going to wait for you," she said stubbornly. Gohan sighed, knowing that this was getting them nowhere. He looked at the flower and then thought of something.

"Hey Marie, how did you make that flower?" he asked, attempting to change the subject. Apparently it worked because Marie came and sat down beside the pink plant and patted the floor beside her, motioning for him to sit there. He got off of his bed and sat where she wanted him to.

"The Lotus," she said in a soft tone. He looked over at her, confused at what she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked while looking at her. Marie's blue eyes darted up to his for a moment before she answered.

"The Lotus controls nature and is a supplier of life," Marie explained, looking back over at him to make sure that he understood. Gohan nodded, telling her to continue.

"Lotus hosts are connected, knowing what each one feels and wants. Lotus hosts can also share memories and feelings," Marie said softly but when she said that, Gohan felt like another Ki was near them. Marie instantly stood up and started glaring at the wall, Gohan following her gaze. After a few moments, she relaxed and Gohan couldn't feel the Ki anymore. Both of them sat down again.

"Why don't you try?" Marie asked, surprising Gohan a bit.

"Try what?" he asked, but Marie stared at the flower and then back at him.

"Making a flower," she stated. Gohan nodded, but then thought of something.

"Shouldn't we remove this flower first?" he asked while patting the huge plant. Marie shook her head.

"No, we can't 'remove' it. It will wilt when it runs out of life, but until then, it's stuck here. That's also why I didn't make it in the hallway. Also, I think you will only be able to make a small one," Marie said and then stood up, walking over to the foot of his bed and sitting down on the floor. He followed her, wondering why she had moved. She seemed guarded, almost as if she knew someone was listening.

"Right here," she stated in a soft tone, patting at the floor in front of her, "just concentrate."

Gohan put his hands where she told him and closed his eyes. After a few minutes of just sitting there, he peeked his eyes open, expecting to see a flower in front of him. But all he saw was the same floor and Marie. He looked over at his friend.

"Why isn't it working?" he asked. He thought he had been doing everything right, but now he didn't know what was wrong. Marie closed her eyes and thought for a moment.

"Try thinking about the flower. It's not just enough to try, you need to know," she answered before patting the floor again. He nodded and then closed his eyes again, this time trying to do as his friend had instructed. He started to see a faint image of something in his head and concentrated on it; seeing blue and green overlap. His eyes jolted open as soon as he felt all his energy pour out of him. He saw Marie smiling at him before he collapsed; the green and blue finally taking form.

Gohan opened his eyes to slight darkness; the only light in the room being a small sliver cast by the moon. He groaned and clutched at his head as he sat up, then hearing light footsteps coming towards him. He wearily looked over to see Marie smiling at him. He smiled back as best as he could.

"Come see," she said as she motioned for him to lean over his bed. He did as she told him to and saw a shape on the ground. It was a dark blue color with green vines sprouting into the floor. But something was wrong with it, its petals were lying limp and it looked as if it were…

"Dead," he stated as he stared at the now lifeless flower. Marie nodded and he thought he saw sadness reflected in her blue eyes.

"Yes, it left just after you passed out, but I thought you wanted to see it," she said, making Gohan have mixed emotions. He was thankful that his friend had saved his first 'made' flower for him, but he was also made that it had died.

"First thing I make, and it goes and dies," he declared while sitting up, but he didn't fail to notice that Marie flinched when he had said "dies". He stared at her, noticing for once that her light blue eyes looked a bit dull.

"Marie, are you ok?" he asked, concerned of the way that she was looking, almost as if he wasn't there. She stared at him for a few seconds before smiling weakly.

"Yeah I'm fine," she said, but then stopped, walking up to where he was.

"What?" he asked, confused at the way she was staring at him. She shook her head.

"Can you walk?" she answered him with a question and, at his nod, grabbed his hand and gently pulled him over to the window. It was then that he realized that the window was slightly cracked.

"Come on," she said as she opened the window and slid out, "we are going for a walk."

"But I thought that I am not supposed to…" Gohan started, but stopped when he was interrupted by Marie.

"They don't know the needs of a plant," she stated simply, but then stopped when she felt her foot slip. Gohan lunged forward and caught her arm but was then pulled down with her. Gohan thought that hitting the ground from the height away from his window would hurt, but he was surprised when he heard an "ouch" from below him. At first he thought that he was sitting on Marie again so he looked down and saw Leyla.

"Leyla, what are you doing here?" he asked in a hushed tone after they all were standing.

"Um, I was just coming to check on you," she stated nervously as her red eyes darted to Marie, taking on a harsh tint, "and I didn't know that she was living with you."

He was about to reply when he heard noises from above them. He shook his head to silence the two, hearing the footsteps grow louder.

"Follow me," Marie whispered as she started to run across the grass. He heard the noise of a jammed door from behind them and realized that Marie had probably locked the door. They ran out of the town until Gohan's shoes struck rock. Gohan stopped and tried to catch his breath, the others doing the same until they could all talk again.

"Well, I think we are far away enough," Leyla said while looking around at their surroundings, "where are we?"

"I don't know," he said. They were in a rocky landscape that had lots of deep falls and sharp rocks, "but where ever we are, I don't like it."

Marie just nodded, but she started to walk around anyway. Gohan and Leyla followed. He felt guarded; something was not right here. There was barely any noise; even the grasshoppers were absent from this place.

They all stopped at the edge of another crevice. Marie and Leyla started to walk away, but before Gohan could follow them, he felt a searing pain flash through his right side. He instinctively put his hand down to see if there was any blood, but he felt none, only that insistent pain.

Marie had obviously felt that he was in pain because she had turned to look at him. Leyla soon followed, but with a confused look on her face since she didn't know what was going on. Marie had just opened her mouth to say something, but then time seemed to stop when Gohan saw her grow deathly pale, staring at something behind him. His eyes widened and just before he turned around, the ground beneath him cracked open and where he had been standing was now sent down into the crevice, him along with it.

He knew he heard something, maybe a scream, but he couldn't make anything out. He knew that he had to fly, but the pain in his side was not allowing him to focus his Ki. Before he could even think, his body slammed into something hard and his vision turned dark; the only constant thing being the pain in his side.

"Gohan!" both Leyla and herself screamed at the same time. She had seen it, seen it just before the cliff gave way and sent Gohan tumbling down to the ground below. Glowing red and white, it had been watching her. It had embedded itself in the rock bed where Gohan had been standing, but when the rocks had given way, it had vanished.

Was it just my imagination? Marie thought, her heart still thumping with fear. She was going to try and shut everything out when a fierce shaking of her shoulder got her attention.

"What?" she asked as she turned to look at the owner of the hand ready to hand out a tirade, but she stopped when she saw clear and crimson mixing together.

"We need to get down there," Leyla said in a whisper and Marie could tell that the girl was shaking as bad as she was. She nodded and started to jump down onto the rocks, controlling the vines in the earth below to make an area when they couldn't get down.

They finally landed on the harsh ground below and Marie instantly knew something was wrong. She didn't feel it; the signals that had been constantly sent back by the other Lotus. She saw Leyla start to run forward but then the girl tripped, sending dirt and rocks into the air. Marie went over to see if the girl was okay, but Leyla shoved her away despite the gash on her knee.

Marie ran forward and bent beside Gohan, who was now lying still on the ground. She put her hand on his arm and stopped, feeling how cold he already was.

Flowers that are wilting are cold, losing all light and nutrients that keep it alive, her mind instantly remembered what it had known, he's dying.

She heard an almost chocking noise beside her and looked over to see Leyla with tears in her eyes.

"Gohan, I think it's time we should go home," Leyla whispered but started to freak out when she didn't get an answer. Marie looked away when tears started to blur her vision as well.

"Gohan," she whispered, knowing that he was already gone. She felt the urge to lie down when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Marie," Leyla's voice came through to her distorted, "you said that Lotus hosts are connected."

"Yeah, so?" she replied weakly, not really listening well. Leyla seemed to know this and shook her shoulder harder.

"Marie! You need to do something!" Leyla nearly shouted. She sat up and looked at the other girl, seeing the same wetness that was in her eyes reflected.

"But I don't know if it will even work! I've never done it before!" she declared as she tried to stand up, but couldn't find the strength to.

"You need to at least try! If not, he's going to die!" Leyla shouted at her, making her look back down at the ground.

"You don't think I know that…" she started but shook her head, not finishing the sentence. Marie closed her eyes and willed for this to work; Gohan had no idea what he had just done by dying, and now it was her turn to start to fix the mess that he had made.

I am really sorry about not getting this chapter up sooner! School and life in general have both been really busy, but I hope this at least made up for it. I hope you liked it and please review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9