Second Chance

by Adaelie

After being hospitalized for years, Chelsea comes to the so called island of happiness in search of a second chance. Upon this journey, she meets a few strange people, as well as friends and a newfound love. Chelsea x Vaughn.

Second Chance

After being hospitalized for years, Chelsea comes to the so called island of happiness in search of a second chance. Upon this journey, she meets a few strange people, as well as friends and a newfound love. Chelsea x Vaughn.

By Adaelie

Author's Note: I've been watching a Japanese movie called "Koizora". It's a very touching movie that moved me to tears. Anyway, I became so inspired to write a story alike the movie. Again, I said 'alike'. Not identical. Anyway, so this will be my first official story published on this site. Since the others were all just one-shots. I really do hope you guys like it! Oh and the first chapter may be a little lengthy as it is a song chapter. Thank you! The song is "Second Chance" by Shinedown.

"My eyes are open wide

And by the way, I made it

Through the day

I watched the world outside

By the way, I'm leaving out

Today"

Her breath fogged up the respirator as it slowly filled her lungs with air. Her pale, glazed over honey eyes stared up at the ceiling, wide awake. Often people worried about her. About her health. Above all, they worried that she wasn't going to make it. At times she heard her parents arguing about how they should pull the plug on her or not. Chelsea never seemed to be getting any better. Only worse, so it seemed. Often, she would wonder if they really loved her. She had decided that her life was split in two. Half belonged to her, and the other to her parents. They were the ones who were suffering. Financially, her family was never quite as rich from the start. If anything, the medical bills that kept piling up… seemed to be burying her parents in debt. And as you would think, money often was the topic in her household. Her parents acted as if there was nothing wrong. That Chelsea would make it, that she would be alright.

For some reason, she believed them. The treatments had been working, so the doctors said. Though her parents were relieved, they still were worried. Even after Chelsea left the hospital, how would they all support themselves? Their insurance didn't cover this, and the two didn't make enough money to support the two of them, let alone a child. But they both loved her. They did, and the fact that their beloved daughter was healing quietly only motivated them to work harder. Chelsea had lived most of her life in a hospital, surrounded by white walls and white floors. Her only friends being books and the few nurses that stuck around with her until the very end.

She fought the disease, to the best of her ability. She didn't want to die. But sometimes, the temptation to just give in to all the pain was strong. She tried to keep herself from dying. She wanted to live. To live for her parents, and for her to live a life past these white walls and floors. Through the day, she looked out the window. She watched as birds flew, and the clouds rolling by effortlessly. She turned her head back to its original position. Chelsea didn't understand how easily things could be lost. And how easily things could be given. She promised herself that today, today she would leave this hospital. She missed her life, the life she had been given only years before the illness began to ravage her body. Taking everything that was considered remotely normal away from her.

She started coughing and coughing. Even to the point where she couldn't catch her breath. Her parents ran to her side, holding their hands in her's. Doctors scrambled to save the young girl. "This wasn't supposed to happen," They said, as her mother stroked her daughter's frail brown locks. Her father simply gave the young woman's skeletal hand a reassuring squeeze. "You're going to make it Chelsea, we believe in you." The two said, as she tried to smile with what little energy she had left. She took in a final breath, her heart skipped a beat… and then she felt a sharp prick in her left arm. "This is experimental, we have to try it Mrs. Heartlily. In order to save your daughter, we have to take risks." A doctor said, though Chelsea could only hear parts and pieces of it. Her father squeezed her hand again, telling her that she'd be alright. She believed him.

Then… everything went completely black.

"I just saw Hayley's comet

She waved

Said why you always running

In place?

Even the man in the

Moon disappeared

Somewhere in the

Stratosphere"

Chelsea sat at her bed now, staring out the window casually. She had long since left the hospital, though she still was not strong enough to return to school. The moon had risen, and stars dotted across the sky. She had fallen in love with the sky. Its beauty had taken her breath away and at times very literally. She had taken up an interest in astronomy and the weather, finding beauty in what mysteries the sky held for her. It was beautiful. Much too beautiful for anything to be real. Her parents had stopped fighting for a while, simply relieved that Chelsea was healthy again. However, when they believed she was asleep; they'd fight. They'd bicker about how the other needed to work more, the other finding a new job. She could hear them. She could hear how they fought about money.

"Chelsea, baby?" Her mother said, smiling faintly as Mrs. Heartlily approached the frail looking daughter. "Yes?" She answered, turning her head away from the sky. "Hayley's comet is supposed to come out tonight." She said, smiling at her daughter. Chelsea nodded slowly. "I know." The young woman answered. She was perhaps fifteen now. The mother sat on Chelsea's bed now, their eyes watching in the sky smiling. "Baby, look!" Mrs. Heartlily said, holding her arm around the daughter's small shoulders and pointing at the sky. An object flew across the sky, and Chelsea smiled. It looked like it was waving at her. She felt as though it was trying to ask her why she was stuck in the same routine. As though she was still running in the same place. Her mother pressed her lips against Chelsea's forehead, said her good nights, and slipped down the stairs again. She fell back onto her bed, sleeping once more.

The man in the moon slowly disappeared as night became day.

She woke up early, simply to see this. The beautiful sunrise took her by surprise every day. It always did. And it always would.

"Tell my mother,

Tell my father

I've done the best I can

To make them realize

This is my life

I hope they understand

I'm not angry, I'm just saying...

Sometimes goodbye

Is a second chance"

Chelsea slipped down the steps now; it had been a few years since she had been declared healthy. Even so, her parents constantly worried that she could relapse. But she wanted to leave the nest. No, Chelsea had tried so many times to convince her parents that she wasn't going to be sick again. That she wasn't going to relapse, that she was going to live her life. The way that she should have lived it all those years. She had seen an ad that spoke of settling down on an island. A deserted island where she could help people build a community. She saw an opportunity, and sought to take it. She grabbed the bags that she had skillfully hidden beneath the staircase.

The brunette flitted over towards the kitchen, holding a piece of paper in her hand. She bit her lower lip, sitting down quietly before scribbling on it in her florid handwriting. She smiled as she finished. The young woman got up, and glanced at the stairs. As if she was looking for her parents to stop her. In a way, she kind of wanted them to.

"Mom, dad; I tried telling you that this is my life now."

Chelsea picked up her bags, walking past the door and putting her keys into the key dish. She slid her hand onto the door, sliding the door shut as the young woman escaped into the world. A few steps further and she turned, looking at her quaint little home.

"I tried to make you realize that I wanted to live the way I wanted to. Not the way you guys wanted me to."

She got onto the bus, giving her home a final glance. She sat in the bus now as it rolled over the pavement, stopping a few times or so. At least before she reached her stop. She thought about staying home. Maybe her parents were right to be worried. This was her body, what if she did relapse? What would happen then? On a deserted island, certainly there was no way of her finding advanced medication to save her there… would she? Second thoughts plagued her mind, but she bit her lip and continued forward. Chelsea kept walking towards the harbor. This was working on her nerves rather well.

"I hope you understand. I'm not angry; I'm just saying that… this is my goodbye to both of you. I love you so much."

"I need you to log into the ship's log." The sailor said, grinning from ear to ear at her. "Starting a new life on a deserted island, kid I envy you." He said, smirking as Chelsea furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance. She didn't like being called a kid. Then again, what teenager did? She filled out the form, as least before picking up her bags and walking up onto the bridge and towards her room. She put her things down, and went back onto the deck. She stared out at the ocean. "Anchors away!" The captain commanded, as they sailed away.

"This… is my second chance at living my life. I love you so much. Love, Chelsea."

"Please don't cry

One tear for me

I'm not afraid of

What I have to say

This is my one and

Only voice

So listen close, it's

Only for today"

She didn't want them to cry for her. It wasn't as if she was dying. No, she was living for a second time. Her second chance to live. She wasn't afraid of saying what she had to say. But at the same time, she was worried about how her parents were going to take it. She couldn't imagine how hard they had tried to keep her from hearing about their financial troubles and how hard they worked to keep her from dying. Chelsea could only tell that they would be upset with her, but take her feelings into consideration. They had to take her seriously. She wanted to leave, so she did. It was only a matter of time until they had to realize that. Even with the fact she rose so early in the morning. Chelsea lifted her head to the sky, smiling blissfully before slipping into her bed. She heard a sharp crack of lightning, and then the gentle rumbling of thunder.

She simply took it as a gentle thunderstorm. Nothing to really be concerned about. She fell out of the bed this time, as the boat rocked against the ocean's waves violently. Chelsea bit her lower lip, staring out the window. Waves rolled aggressively, unafraid of hurting the ship or the people on board. "All hands on de- Everyone hold on tight!" The captain exclaimed over the intercom as she scampered to the deck in the rain. Brown tresses hung in her face, damp. Just like the rest of her clothes, they clung to her body like a magnet. A final crack of the lightning, and then she fell backward as the storm tossed the boat around like a feather in the wind.

The sky hadn't held a sign that a storm like this was going to happen. Maybe she shouldn't have left. It was too late now though, she was doomed from the start.

"I just saw Hayley's comet

She waved

Said why you always running

In place?

Even the man in the

Moon disappeared

Somewhere in the

Stratosphere"

It was the memory of her mother and her watching Hayley's comet that urged Chelsea on. It kept her wanting to live. To live through the storm and the waves that crashed atop of her. It motivated her to live. Everything her parents had done for her. Everything they had sacrificed to save her life, even if it cost theirs. The fact that they had done all of that for her. The fact that all of that was given up for her made her heart keep beating. It made her want to live. It made her want to survive this.

"Tell my mother,

Tell my father

I've done the best I can

To make them realize

This is my life

I hope they understand

I'm not angry, I'm just saying...

Sometimes goodbye

Is a second chance

Here's my chance"

Mrs. Heartlily always understood her daughter's want to see the world. She had even been downstairs at the time when Chelsea had left. But she had said nothing. She loved her daughter with all her heart. Denying her simple wish of wanting to live her own life seemed beyond her. Though all the same, her heart pulled… wanting the mother to move and stop the eighteen-year-old from leaving. She couldn't move though. Now, she sat at the dining table staring at the letter her daughter wrote. Tears rolled down her face, and down onto the paper. The ink became blotches in a matter of minutes. She gasped silently, wiping her tears away. She didn't want the last thing her daughter touched to be washed away.

She glanced back out the window, staring at the pristine night sky. She remembered when Chelsea and she had watched Hayley's comet soar across the sky. She remembered her daughter's love for the sky. She could only hope that Chelsea would be fine. That she would be alright. A mother's love could only do so much. Her daughter… she wanted her daughter to be happy. A hand rested on her shoulder, as the woman turned her head up at the man. She smiled quietly. "She'll be alright, Chantelle. Don't worry about her so much. She's a grown up now." He said, smiling back at his crying wife.

Chantelle nodded slowly, getting onto her feet as the two walked towards Chelsea's room. She knew that her husband was hurting inside, but she assumed that… this was his way of being strong. She smiled tearfully, as the two immersed themselves into their daughter's world. Or at least, what little of her world she had left behind.

"This is my chance

Tell my mother,

Tell my father

I've done the best I can

To make them realize

This is my life

I hope they understand

I'm not angry, I'm just saying...

Sometimes goodbye

Is a second chance"

"Wake up!" A voice said, as she slowly drew her eyelids open. Chelsea sat up, shaking the sand out of her hair. She stared up at the old man who had called her awake. Where was she? She looked around, finding nothing more than an island. Was the storm just a simple nightmare? But if it had, where had her other things went? She sighed miserably, discovering that her things had been taken by the sea. She got onto her feet, staring at the old man quietly. "The boat went down," He muttered. Alarmed, Chelsea's eyes widened. "But everyone made it to the life boats in time, so I'm sure they'll be rescued now that the storm cleared up." The old man said now, and she let out a breath of relief.

"What's your name?" He asked, grinning at her. "Chelsea," She answered, smiling back. Happiness was contagious. "Taro," He said, nodding slowly. He pattered away, and she followed. Chelsea certainly didn't want to be alone on an island! And besides, there was no chance that Taro would survive without her to help. He led her towards a woman with reddish hair. "Oh father, there you are!" The woman said, clapping her hands together in relief. "This is my daughter, Felicia. Felicia, this is Chelsea." Taro said, putting his hands on his (probably) artificial hips. "Well, there's not much here except for a few old buildings. But we haven't looked around the entire island yet." came another voice, though now two other people (who looked like Felicia) approached her. Chelsea could assume that the other two were about her age at the very least. "What do you mean you went around the island by yourselves?!" Taro exclaimed, glaring at the other two. "Geez, calm down Gramps." The redhead (the girl anyway) said.

"Chelsea, this is Natalie and Elliot." Felicia chirped, as Natalie turned her head towards Chelsea. She raised an eyebrow in question, at least before Elliot came into the situation. "Cool, another pioneer, eh?" He exclaimed. Chelsea slapped herself in the forehead. She was already starting to like the other girl, seeing as how she hadn't said a word since her mother had introduced the two siblings.

"So, I guess it's just the four of us on this island." Natalie said. Chelsea frowned. She was hoping there'd be more people to talk to in the very least. "Don't look so glum. We were going to an underpopulated island to live on anyway. There isn't a more deserted island than this one!" Taro said, though I smiled anyway. There was no point arguing against him. Obviously. The five walked down towards the island, stopping in front of a rickety old house. "I don't know; looks a little too unstable for me." Natalie said. "Don't worry; we'll make it into a nice little house!" Felicia said, smiling. She was a happy camper wasn't she?

"Hey, Chelsea. Come here!" Taro said. The young woman nodded, following the senior quietly. "Looks like a ranch." He said. "Maybe you should be its new rancher!" Wait, what? No, no! She couldn't do it. Farmers worked so hard in the sun and from what she heard got sick from overwork. She had been in the hospital for so long, and she had been ill! She- She couldn't do this. But even so, she simply nodded her head. Chelsea had always been a people pleaser. Or as far as she could remember anyway. "You should give it a name." He said. "Cherry Ranch." Chelsea chirped, smiling quietly. She always loved cherries. Maybe working on this ranch wouldn't be so hard. Ever the optimist. "I used to be a rancher, so I can give you some pointers later on." He said, as she was led to an old house. "We've only been here one day and you already have a home. Lucky you!" Taro said, at least before pattering back home. A small elf looking creature appeared at her feet.

She raised an eyebrow in question. "Who are you?" She asked, almost tempted to kick the little thing. "I'm Noe, one of the Harvest Sprites on the island! Make this ranch thrive Chelsea!" It said before disappearing in a shower of sparkles. Weird.

"Sometimes goodbye

Is a second chance

Is a second chance

Is a second chance"

Chelsea walked into her house. This wasn't exactly the best house, but it was nice. She smiled quietly before strolling over to her bed and sitting down on top of it. This wasn't exactly how she had wanted her life to begin. But the people were nice, and Noe seemed helpful. This was her second chance. Her second chance at living.