AnimeWolfGirl16: Thanks and yes I can understand why you would feel that way.

Chapter 19: Missing

Gohan opened his eyes and sat up when he felt something stir. He glanced around the cave, not seeing anyone.

He took a deep breath when he remembered the realization from the night before; that his father was now gone and went off to train.

"Of all things," Gohan mumbled as he shook his head, "I think he would have learned his lesson by now."

He felt something on the edge of his conscious again and glanced around quickly, still not seeing anyone.

"Hello?" he asked, hearing the cave echo.

In response, he heard small footsteps seemingly fleeing to a different part of the cave. He tilted his head to the side, standing up.

He searched for a Ki level and found it; radiating fear and worry from it.

Gohan shook his head and concentrated, trying to find the source of the Ki and its owner. He searched again, finding that the Ki had disappeared. He bit his lip in frustration, wondering what the owner of the Ki was hiding from.

He started to head towards the pathway leading out of the cave when he felt something. Turning around and walking back towards the lake, he realized that he was feeling signals. His head tilted to the side again, thinking. His eyes widened when he knew who the person was.

"Marie?" he called, hoping she would answer.

More footsteps came and then he saw her shadow dance across the far wall. He ran towards her, wondering why she was running away. He stopped right in front of the pillar she was hiding behind.

"Marie?" he asked again, this time softer, "I'm not mad at you."

He saw her peek out from behind the pillar, her face stained with tears.

"What's wrong?" he asked, wondering what had gotten her so upset. She inched towards him a bit, still keeping one hand on the pillar.

"So many things," she mumbled, staring at the floor.

"Like what?" he asked, hoping for more information on what had happened. He saw her glance at him before she walked over to the lake, sitting down like she had the night he met her; her feet dangling in the water.

"After you left, everything changed," Marie started when he came over and sat beside her, "Your green friend left."

Gohan assumed she meant Piccolo, but he was then confused by what she had said.

"He left?" Gohan asked, hoping that he wouldn't disappear like his father, "Where?"

"He didn't say. He just left," Marie said and then glanced over at him, "but he's not gone. Not like him."

Gohan nodded when Marie said that, taking note of the way her eyes narrowed and some anger entered her voice. He hoped that he wasn't influencing her feelings through their link.

"So what else happened?" Gohan asked, hoping not to dwell on both his and Marie's anger. She looked over at him and then down at the water.

"Your bald friend- Krillin, I think- he tried to follow us," Marie said, making Gohan even more confused.

"Us?" he asked, wondering if someone else was in the cave, "Krillin tried to follow you where?"

"Oh," Marie said when she realized her mistake, "I should have explained more. Either way, Krillin tried to follow me into the room where Leyla was, but I just shut the door."

"In his face?" Gohan asked, and at Marie's nod wanted to laugh but felt sorry for his friend at the same time.

There was silence for a bit, neither of them knowing what to say after that.

"How is…?" Gohan started to ask, but couldn't bring himself to. Thankfully Marie seemed to know what he was thinking.

"Leyla?" she asked softly and at his nod, looked away, "That's sort of the problem."

He looked at her, somewhat confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked, hoping nothing bad had happened.

"She sort of…" Marie started hesitantly before finishing, "ran off."

It took a moment for what Marie said to register in his mind, but when it did his eyes widened.

"She ran off?" Gohan repeated, not quite believing what he was hearing.

"Yes," Marie said, staring at the water, "after…"

She then cut off, making Gohan wonder why. Her eyes then filled with tears again, making him wonder what had happened.

"Marie, I need to know," Gohan said softly, hoping she would tell him what was wrong. She waited a moment, still letting tears leak from her eyes when she spoke.

"She wasn't happy to see me," Marie said quietly, "She said… a lot of things; blaming you, blaming me. Then she took off."

Gohan felt confused, wondering why his long-time friend was acting strange, but then started to come to some problems.

"Marie, I know this is going to be hard, but I need to know what she said," Gohan said, not wanting to cause Marie more hurt but needing to know the answer.

"I can't tell you," Marie said, staring at the lake. Gohan then tried a different approach.

"Can't you show me?" He asked, remembering the link that they shared. Marie shook her head, more tears welling in her blue eyes.

"I can't," she whispered, her voice failing, "I don't want you to judge her the same way I do."

He fell silent, knowing that what Marie was saying was true.

Sometimes when people's darkest secrets are brought to light, you can no longer think of them the same way, he thought, feeling some sadness.

"Do you have any idea where she would have went?" he asked gently, trying to somewhat change the subject. He didn't want to hurt Marie's feelings, but he wanted to find Leyla; making him torn between his two friends.

"I don't…" Marie shook her head, trailing off for a moment before continuing, "I think she's near the ravine."

"The ravine," he repeated, knowing Marie meant the place where he had seemingly 'died'. He somewhat wanted to ask Marie how she knew, but didn't want to cause her any more stress.

"She's not alone," Marie's statement made him look up at her, seeing pain in her eyes.

"Do you know who else is with her?" he asked, feeling some dread start to enter him. She looked away from him, muttering a two-syllable word: Ta-ko.

He felt his fear increase, knowing that his friend could be in danger. He started to run out of the cave, but stopped and turned around, seeing Marie still standing in the same spot.

"Would you mind coming with me to help look?" he asked and she nodded. He knew that they would have a better chance of rescuing Leyla if they were together.

Marie followed him out of the building, and he briefly wondered if they should fly. The Tako was already near Leyla, so it was more of a danger to be cautious.

It would be too preoccupied with her, he thought, lifting into the air. He glanced back to make sure that Marie was following. Her flight was somewhat awkward at first, but after a few moments she was ready to go.

They set off towards the ravine, and Gohan kept an eye on Leyla's Ki. It didn't seem to be dropping, or even in distress. The only thing he could feel was sadness.

Sadness that I caused, the thought made him frown, determined now to set things right.

"We're here," Marie's whisper caught him off guard, and they landed. He instantly looked around for Leyla, but couldn't see her.

Is she in the ravine? He wondered, checking and seeing no one.

He turned around, about to ask Marie, but saw the sad expression in her eyes. He followed her gaze, seeing two shapes on the other side of the ravine.

"Leyla?" he whispered, and Marie's sad nod confirmed the answer. He started to walk towards his other friend, but Marie's fear that spread through her Ki made him stop. He glanced back at her, seeing fear in her eyes.

"It's alright; she's fine," he said in a soft voice, not seeing the fear go away.

"Don't go," she whispered, and her gaze fell to the bigger shape in the distance. He followed her gaze, knowing what she meant.

"We can't just leave her out there," he argued with concern, "I don't abandon a friend."

He flew to the other side of the ravine, touching down onto the ground a few feet away from Leyla. Marie had followed him, and Leyla's back was turned towards him.

"Leyla…" he started, but stopped when he saw her turn around. His heart stopped for a moment when he looked at her eyes; a red glow in them.

"Leave," her command was simple, and he was conscious of the Tako a few feet away from her, floating in the same spot. It almost looked inactive.

Or waiting for someone to tell it to do something, the thought made him frown, and he took a step towards his friend.

"Leave," Leyla stated again, this time more forceful. Gohan shook his head, not moving.

"I'm not leaving unless you come with me," he said, and then continued, "Leyla, I know that whatever I did makes you sad, but I had no control over it. I don't even have an idea of what happened. I wouldn't lie to you, and you know that I wouldn't have done that willingly."

Silence followed afterwards, making him feel slightly uncomfortable. He figured that Leyla was thinking through what he had said, but he hoped that she knew him well enough to know that he wasn't lying.

We've been friends for so long; his thought was interrupted by a screech from the Tako.

He looked at it and realized that it was glowing a red color, along with Leyla's narrowed eyes. She shook her head, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"It you've lied to me about this, then how am I ever supposed to trust you?" the question sent sadness pricking through him as the Tako sped towards them.

I'm really sorry for not updating this long, but I got caught up in life, as well as working on other fanfictions! This chapter was a bit hard to write, but thankfully it is now out. Please tell me what you thought in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9