Chapter 20: I'm Sorry

Gohan dodged to the side, narrowly missing the sharp tentacle that had been aimed at him. He spread out his senses, knowing that Marie had moved away a bit as well. Leyla was still in the same place, not having moved an inch.

Do you know why she could be attacking us? Marie's voice rang through his mind, and he got a brief glance over at her before he had to dodge another attack.

Other than being extremely angry at me because I somehow hurt her? He shook his head, glancing over at his friend again; I have no other clue, unless-

A thought hit him and he was confused by the physical pain he felt in that moment; that was, until he realized that something had literally hit him. He was knocked harshly to the ground, sending his world spinning and making him lose the thought.

A groan escaped him as he stood up, but he knew he shouldn't have been distracted in the first place.

Seems like I'm forgetting everything I learned; the thought didn't bring him any comfort, and he quickly pushed it aside.

A cut on his arm was bleeding now; not too heavily, but enough to bring slight discomfort.

He stole a glance at Leyla. She seemed emotionless, staring at the ground with those same, glowing red eyes. This detail made his thought return, and he stretched out his senses again, mindful of the Tako and on Marie's condition. The octopus-looking creature didn't seem to be targeting Marie, only him.

Good, let's keep it that way, he thought, forming a yellow ball of Ki in his hands and firing it near the Tako. Dust spread up from the ground, creating a sort of camouflage that hid them. The Tako gave a strange noise that sounded like frustration, giving Gohan time to run over to Marie and make sure she was alright.

"I think I've got it," he started as he ran over to his blonde haired friend. Marie had been glaring at the Tako, but glanced over at him at his statement.

"Got what?" she asked, not quite getting what he meant, "The Tako can still move."

"Not the Tako," he shook his head, motioning towards Leyla, "I think I know why she is attacking us. Her eyes are glowing, sort of like how that creepy lady controls the Tako. What if she could be controlling Leyla?"

Marie gave him a look that he interpreted as slight doubt, but he figured it was better than nothing. He searched the area for any more Kis, but was confused when he couldn't find any.

"She isn't here," Marie read his mind, frowning slightly, "That means this is all Leyla's doing."

"No, she wouldn't-" he started to refuse, but another strike from the Tako made them separate. Frustration filled him; Leyla wouldn't attack her friends, something else had to be making her do this.

It isn't her, he thought determined to set things right between them.

"Leyla!" he shouted her name, but sadly got no reaction. She wasn't responding to him, so he would have to go to her. He started to run towards his friend, but the Tako quickly caught on to his plan and blocked his path.

I don't think I can defeat it, he dodged another attack, getting nowhere closer to his goal; no I definitely can't defeat it, but I need to get to Leyla.

Light green vines suddenly started sprouting up from the ground, entangling the Tako's tentacles so that it couldn't move. Gohan wondered for a moment if he had done that, but Marie's shout to him made him think otherwise.

"Gohan!" His friend shouted, knowing what he needed to do. He knew that Marie couldn't hold the Tako forever, so he was going to have to be quick.

He ran towards Leyla and stopped when he got a few feet away from her. She was still staring at the ground, but her tear-filled eyes drifted towards him as he appeared.

"Leyla, I know that this isn't you! You wouldn't hurt us! I know that nothing I say is going to make this better, and it won't bring your mother back! I'm sorry," he didn't know exactly what he was trying to do; he just let it happen, "I've had to live with the guilt of what I did since then, and it only worsened when I figured out that I was the reason she's gone. I didn't mean to do anything; I wanted to help."

Leyla's gaze was steadily on him, but she suddenly gasped as the red glow in her eyes faded. She seemed to realize where she was and that he was in front of her, almost as if she hadn't before.

Gohan glanced over at Marie to see the Tako quickly vanish, but his other friend kept her distance. His gaze then traveled to Leyla, seeing the tears start to fall from her eyes. She started to fall forward, and he rushed to catch her.

"Are you alright?" he whispered, feeling horrible at the thought that she was feeling this way because of him; because he had betrayed her.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Leyla sobbed over and over again, burying her head against his shoulder. Anything else that she said was lost in her sobs.

"It's not your fault," he kept his voice calm and even, feeling exhausted but wanting to be strong for his friend. Leyla raised her head to look at him, tears still streaming from her eyes. She looked like she wanted to say something, but footsteps behind them made her silent.

"We should get home," Marie suggested, bringing back the fact that the Tako could still come back and attack again. Gohan nodded, helping Leyla to her feet, and started traversing back to their safe haven.

Once again, I do have to apologize. I have gotten so busy over the past few months with being sick and trying to work on my other fanfictions (as well as having some difficulty in how I wanted to portray this chapter) that I haven't been able to update until now. Sorry this chapter is so short as well, but I believe this is an alright stopping point (since the next chapter starts out with a bit of a time skip). I was looking through the other chapters of this fanfiction and had a thought: should this fanfiction still be rated "M"? I put it under that category rating since I wasn't sure in the beginning when I started it (I thought mainly for "attempted" violence). I'm wondering what your opinions are; should I keep the fanfiction at "M" or lower it to "T"? This would be really helpful if you could give me your opinions on this, since it has been bothering (not quite sure if that is the best word) me for a while now. Thank you for being so patient and please let me know your thoughts in a review!
-AnimeWolfGirl9