The Second Chance

Serena Tsukino's entire world is thrown upside down when she wakes up in the hospital with no recollection of anything including her own name. Amy and Raye have to help Serena recover her lost memories in order to defeat their new enemy, Nephlite. In the meantime, Darien is on his own mission to make Serena fall in love with him using her lack of memories to his advantage.

A/N: I want to thank James Birdsong, phillynz, and panda5173a for reviewing the first chapter. I appreciate your feedback so much! Thank you also to the new followers and favoriters, and those of you who do a quick read as well. I'm sending you all so much love, and hope that you enjoy this new chapter.

Chapter 2

After a while of laying in this small, white, gloomy place, I was craving a way out... It didn't seem so bad at first, that is… until I'm sitting up in the hospital bed realizing that my lack of memories hurts everyone around me. I want to do something about it, but I can't. I just want to get out of here.

A week has passed since the day I woke up. I frown thinking of the events since then. I learned that I may never recover my memories because of having a "physical" amnesia, whatever that means. I may not remember anything from the last four months. To make matters worse, everything I learned at school during those months is completely gone.

I pick up a pink notebook with white bunnies on the front cover from my bedside table. I flip to the first page, reading the words written on it:

Things I Don't Remember:

Darien.

Amy.

Raye.

Andrew.

Luna.

The cat.

I have so many questions and so many remain unanswered. Who is Darien? What is our relationship? How did I even meet Amy and Raye? They didn't tell me when they visited how we met or became friends.

My friend Molly pokes her head into the room from the doorway, her red hair framing her pale face. She smiles. "Hey Serena!"

"Hey Molly!" I smile brightly back at her. She sits in the chair next to me, handing me a basket filled with all kinds of gifts.

"What's this, Mols?" I ask.

Molly shrugs, shaking her head. "Darien stopped me while I was on my way here. He wanted me to give this to you."

I start taking items out of the basket. There are ten coupons for the arcade, five chocolate bars, and a Sailor V comic book. The front cover showed Sailor V with a white cat perched on top of her head.

I pause. "There's a crescent moon on this cat's forehead."

"Yeah, so? It's just a comic book."

"The cat in my dream also has one," I say, intrigued by this odd little coincidence. I try to think about the black cat again, but my head aches whenever I do.

"Nice kitty…" I laugh nervously, backing away from the cat on the car. The cat glares at me with her red piercing eyes as if she is staring into my soul.

"Oh Serena, you've got to stop doing that," Molly says, concerned. "You just wind up hurting your head. Everything will come back when it's the right time!"

"Right now is the right time!" I snap. I lift the comic book and point at the cat's forehead. "I feel so lost Mols, and I can't help but think that this moon symbol is important somehow!"

Molly shakes her head. "I wish I had answers for you. All I know is the recurring dream is probably about your cat, Luna."

"So, do you think it would be safe for Luna to be around her during this time?" Amy asked Raye.

"Of course! She knew Luna before us!" Raye exclaimed.

There is something special about Luna. Raye and Amy were talking about her as if she were a real person. I grab the pen from my lap and cross out 'The cat.' Then I write 'My pet.' next to Luna's line.

"What is that, Serena?" Molly asks, pointing at my list. She tries to read the words upside down.

"It was mom's idea. She told me I should write down everything that I don't remember, that way I might be able to trigger something later."

"Your mom is so smart!"

I smile. "Yeah, she is."

"So, what else is in the basket?" Molly asks, excited to see everything Darien had sent to me, via her.

I pull out a bag of strawberry lollipops and show them to her, followed by a bag of cotton candy. I pick up a get-well card and take it out of the envelope entitled Serena.

It's a generic card with flowers on the front along with the brush scripted words, Thinking of You, and on the inside, Get Well Soon. What made the card stand out was the letter from the giver:

Dear Serena,

I want to apologize for leaving you in the hospital room. I can't stop thinking about it and how I let you down when you really needed a friend. If I had been in your situation, I would've wanted someone to be there, and I should have done that for you. I want to make it up to you. I want to be there for you, as your friend.

If you're willing, I'd love to start all over again and forget everything from the past. I want to be a part of your life! I hope you are feeling better, and I'm sorry I didn't have the courage to bring this to you myself. I hope you can forgive me.

Sincerely,

Darien Shields

His number is enclosed on a folded-up piece of fortune cookie paper. I read the fortune aloud, "Your smile is a treasure to all who know you."

"Wow!" Molly says with hearts in her eyes. "That is soooo romantic!"

"There's more," I said, taking a small box out of the basket. I opened it, revealing a pair of white pearl heart earrings that dangled from studs. "Oh wow!"

"Put them on!" Molly exclaims, shaking with excitement.

I quickly put them on and pull my hair back to show the dangling hearts to Molly. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful!"

I smiled to myself as my friend is giddy and squealing with joy about how "Darien Shields is so romantic!"

I consider his letter. Darien was right, he had abandoned me when I really needed support. Sure, memories slowly surfaced back over the week, but if he had just helped me to calm down or stayed to show that he had cared… maybe things wouldn't have been so scary.

And besides, with a gift like this, shouldn't he have? Jewelry was something you gave to your significant other, wasn't it? Were we more than friends?

"Serena? Hellooo, Serena?" Molly says, waving her hands in my face.

"Hmm?" I hadn't realized I spaced off into my own world.

"Your doctor is going to be here soon, and I still have to study for a test. Mind if I visit you again tomorrow?" Molly asks as she reaches over to hug me.

"Oh yeah, sure Mols." I accept her hug and wave goodbye as she leaves. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Molly has made a habit of coming to see me every day after school. Raye and Amy claimed to be my best friends, but they only came to see me that one time. They seemed to care so much, but were never here. What kind of friends were they? Even the dweebmeister, Melvin, had come with Molly with flowers and a big fat smile on his face, declaring that I was the most beautiful girl in our school.

Three bouquets of flowers sat on the windowsill next to my bed, all given to me by the biggest school nerd. One vase filled with magnificent pink lilies, another filled with white chrysanthemums, and the last one with yellow sunflowers. Beside each vase sat a card signed by Melvin with love poems in them.

He was really sweet for trying, but Melvin wasn't my type. I keep sending him hints that I'm not interested in his company that way, but he just doesn't seem to catch on.

There is a knock at the door.

Every day, at exactly five o' clock, my doctor checks on me to see how I am feeling. He opens the door, and closes it behind him with his elbow. He writes notes in my file hanging from a clipboard at the end of my bed.

I check the clock. It is four forty-five pm. He's early today. I can't help but wonder why?

"Hello, Miss Tsukino." He addresses me as he always does. "How are you feeling today?" he asks, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I'm feeling good. No more headaches, and no pain in my side anymore," I answer, avoiding his eyes. I put Darien's gifts back into the basket before placing his care package on the side table.

My doctor walks over and examines my side. He removes the bandage which is surprisingly white, considering the large gash from before. His eyes widen.

"You are lucky to have survived, let alone heal this quickly," he comments as he runs his hand over where the wound used to be.

"I am lucky," I say uncomfortably. He has been saying the same thing all week now. I can't explain how I healed so quickly. It was almost like magic, but that was impossible.

"You regained many of your memories in a short amount of time also-" he says, looking me directly in the eye. "You are very mystical, Miss Tsukino."

"I'm just lucky." I glare at him.

He lifts his hand from the wound, eyeing me suspiciously. After a moment of silence, he continues to talk. "Well, either way, since you have regained enough memory to function normally in your household and all your wounds are healed, I have to let you go. I of course expect you to keep checking in every week for the next couple months with your regular doctor. I have already called your mother to sign the release forms and asked your regular doctor to refer your case to me."

"Why?" I ask, shrinking deeper into the bed.

The doctor pats my head. "My dear girl, I only want to provide you with the best care. I am looking out for you."

"Thank you, doctor." He makes me feel anxious. I don't want to be near him.

He removes his hand from the top of my head and hangs the clipboard back at the end of the bed. I am relieved the moment he leaves the room.

It takes me a moment to register his words. Then joy overtakes me.

I squeal with excitement knowing that I get to go home. I throw the covers off my bed and get up to start packing up any belongings into the large suitcase underneath the windowsill.

I do a little dance. Even though my arm stings from the IV moving out of place, that doesn't stop me from singing the words, "I'm going home!" at the top of my lungs.

Finally, things were going to go back to normal.

Please Review! - Natasha