AnimeWolfGirl16: I do agree with you; Marie definitely knows a lot more than she is letting on.

Chapter 16: Finally Home

Marie felt something at the edge of her consciousness and lifted her head up slowly, knowing she had dozed.

Her mind instantly started to clear and she glanced over to see both Gohan and Leyla sleeping.

I wonder if he has woken up at all, Marie wondered but then tensed a bit when she felt Ki levels coming their way.

She stood up and stared at the direction the Ki was coming from, realizing a moment later who the Kis belonged to.

Marie stared up at the shapes of the rest of the Z fighters- minus Krillin since he was sleeping also- and then nervously raised her hand, waving it back and forth.

She glanced over and saw that Leyla was starting to stir, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she stood up.

"It's everyone else," Leyla said to her with her eyes shining. It was almost as if Leyla hadn't realized that she wasn't the first one to spot them.

"I know," Marie whispered as she watched Leyla run over to the group, who had by now landed, and started to talk.

Marie took one last glance at them before walking over to where Gohan was sleeping. She knelt down beside him and gently shook his arm.

"Gohan, wake up," Marie whispered and saw Gohan's eyes peek open a bit, only to shut a moment later.

Taking a frustrated breath, Marie then thought of something. Closing her eyes, she concentrated first on her Lotus and then on Gohan's. She was about to send a signal, but then opened her eyes.

Don't. He's exhausted. He needs rest, her conscious told her as she stared down at him.

"… and we found Krillin too. He's fine and sleeping now though," she heard part of the conversation as Leyla walked over with someone.

Marie looked up and saw that Gohan's father, Goku if she was remembering correctly, was staring down at her.

"You ok?" he asked and she nodded, averting her gaze back to the ground and listening to Gohan's steady breathing.

"He's sleeping," Marie whispered softly as she stared at him.

Goku's head nodded and he knelt down and started to pick Gohan up. Marie instantly tensed, feeling uncomfortable. She was about to protest when she started to think again.

It's fine. You couldn't carry him anyway, her conscious told her, making her somewhat annoyed.

I know, she thought as she got up and started to follow everyone back to the house, flying this time.

Marie still felt exhausted, but she knew she had to keep an eye on Gohan.

"At least until he wakes up," Marie stated to herself as she stared ahead at where everyone else was flying.

She was relieved when they finally landed, heading into the building and standing in the entrance for a moment. She glanced over at the counter where everyone prepared food, seeing a knife laying there.

Marie narrowed her eyes a bit and walked over, picking up the knife and turning it in her hands.

The knife had a silver blade that looked somewhat rusted, making her think that there had been a time when the blade was new and shiny. Her gaze then trailed to the hilt of the knife. It was a dull golden color with different designs on it.

She thought the knife was pretty and was about to put it down when something caught her attention.

She looked closer at the hilt of the knife and saw two symbols carved into it; Japanese writing.

"Goku," she whispered out loud as her eyes narrowed, but then became soft at the next word, "Gohan."

She tilted her head to the side a little, confused at what she saw.

Goku. Gohan, she repeated in her head, Gohan's.

She picked up the knife and slipped it into a pocket on her dress, coming to the conclusion that the knife was Gohan's.

Marie walked over to Gohan's room and stood in the doorway, seeing him asleep on the bed. She was about to go in the room when she felt a strange feeling.

She looked back near into the meeting room where the counter was and saw Leyla staring at her, a strange expression in her eyes.

Brushing it off as nothing, Marie walked into the room and started to close the door, but stopped when she heard talking.

"Krillin, do you know where the knife went?" she heard Goku's voice ask.

So Krillin's awake, Marie thought as she narrowed her eyes, then glancing to the bed a ways behind her, then why isn't Gohan?

"No, I don't" Krillin answered and she heard footsteps head in the direction of the counter, "I wasn't even here when you left."

"I remember putting it right here," Goku's voice floated back with a hint of confusion and a tap was heard, indicating that he had touched the place where the knife had been.

"Maybe it fell?" Krillin suggested, looking on the floor but finding nothing.

"Maybe…" Goku's voice trailed off as Marie shut the door, not wanting to hear any more of the conversation.

Her hand touched the pocket of her dress for a moment. She liked feeling sneaky, like she did now. She had to be.

Gohan's, she decided again as her hand came away from her pocket and started walking over to the bed, going to wait till Gohan woke up to give him his gift.

Ok, first of all, I am really, really sorry that this is late! Things got extremely busy for me, especially since it is the holidays. I'll leave it at that since I am sure that you don't want to hear my whole "life story" of why I missed updating this. Either way, this whole chapter was in Marie's point of view and is important. Anyone recognize the knife (for those of you who read "I Need You")? That's important too. Also, I have a sad but necessary announcement. Due to my increasingly busy schedule (school and life in general), I am going to have to update whenever I can. This means that I most likely will not be able to update monthly like I have in the past, so updates will be random. I will not go more than four months without updating, so you won't have to worry too much. I hope that does not make you want to stop reading this, so please continue and be patient. Also, please tell me what you think and any ideas or comments in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9