Happy Memorial Day! I hope you all like this chapter. It is a bit short, I know, but the other chapters will be longer I promise. Please R & R. I love to find out your thoughts on the story as I post the next chapter!

Second Chances

Chapter 5

It had only been a few days since Serena's family and the Brief's family had learned about her condition. Everyone seemed to be taking the news a bit differently. Gohan had been much quieter than his usual self, Chi-Chi has been cooking more, Goku and Vegeta have been sparring more, and Amy had been studying more when not comforting her boyfriend, while Bulma had poured herself into her company to look for a cure, and the two young boys had been their self. Serena was in her room at the Brief's getting around for the day so she could leave to spend some quality time with her friends shopping. Amy had come to her the day before to tell her that they were now aware of her condition. Serena knew she had to speak to them about it, so she told Amy she wanted to get out for a bit. Amy said the girls had thought a good day of shopping was something they could all do, but wanted to make sure she was up for it. Serena stood in front of the mirror once more to make sure she looked fine before leaving her room for the day. Satisfied with her choice of clothing, which were a pair of jean shorts and a pink tank top, with her hand pulled back in a braid, she walked away from the mirror to head downstairs to grab something to eat for breakfast before heading out for the day. The young blonde left her room and was started to make her way down the hall when she suddenly felt weak, and a wave of pain go through her. She stopped walking to lean her back against the wall to support her as it continued. As she stood there Trunks was coming down the hallway to get breakfast as well, when he noticed Serena leaning against the wall with her eyes closes, her breathing slightly uneven. Trunks made his way down the hall concerned that she was having another episode like the other day and collapse again. He noticed as he approached her, her breathing was starting to get even again.

"Are you ok Serena?" Trunks asked her gently. Serena opened her eyes again to see Trunks to her left concern obviously written all over his facial features. Serena put on a fake smile as well as straighten her position in hopes that he would by her lie.

"Of course." She replied to him. However, he could tell her smile was not genuine her sapphire eyes held pain that she was doing her best to conceal from him. Trunks just look at her skeptically while speaking to her.

"Serena you don't have to hide the truth from me." He stated to her. Serena grew annoyed with him at the fact he would not leave the subject alone.

"I told you I am fine." She snapped back at him before turning away from him to go downstairs. As she started to move away Trunks reached out to grab her arm gently to stop her from going anywhere. She turned around looking at him angrily.

"Serena, please don't be angry with me. I am just looking out for you. You may be able to lie to the others, but you can't do it to me. You just had a small episode again, didn't you?" Serena sighed heavily knowing what he said was right and just trying to look out for her, and that she took her frustrations out on him. It was just so hard with everyone asking her constantly if she was ok every time they came into the room. She was just so tired of people asking her if she was alright and to rest.

"Yes, I did, but it was nothing, I swear." She told him honestly.

"Well, maybe you…" he started to say before he was cut off by the young blonde before him.

"I swear to god, Trunks Briefs, if you say I should go rest and not go see my friends. I will personally send you into the next dimension myself." She shot back angrily at him; her sapphire eyes holding a fire in them. Trunks was surprised by how swiftly she got mad at the idea of resting. Trunks put his hands up in a sign of peace to keep her from getting angrier at him.

"Ok, I won't, I'm sorry." He stated back to her.

"Good." she said coldly before turning around to leave again to head downstairs to eat breakfast.

After eating breakfast Serena heads over to the Shrine Temple where she is suppose to meet the girls to go shopping. As she made her way their Trunks flew with her to make sure she got there ok. The two flew quietly, Serena not really speaking to Trunks. Trunks decided to give her some space after he angered her earlier that morning. Luckily for both it was a short flight for the two and Serena could see the Shrine Temple steps coming into view. She smiled happy to feel her friends and also lose her escort too. The young blonde landed at the bottom of the steps before proceeding to make her way up them only to realize that Trunk was still following her.

"You don't have to walk me to the door." She said coldly to him.

"I know." Was all he said. Serena rolled her eyes out of irritation and continued to ignore him again. After a few minutes more of making her way up the stairs Serena finally reached the top and could see the front of the Shrine where all her friends were standing waiting for her. She quickly made her way to her comrades who were all smiling upon seeing her arrival.

"Hey guys!" Serena greeted them all cheerfully as she made her way over to started talking to them completely ignoring Trunks, which Amy noticed. Amy came up to Trunks with a smile on her face.

"Thank for coming with her." Amy said.

"No problem. Just let me know if you need anything." He told her.

"Will do." She replied back before he turned around to head back to home.

*Mall*

Everyone was in a store looking at cloths on some racks. It had been a decent day thus far for shopping. While looking at clothing the girls were talking back and forth to Serena, and she could tell, they were trying to find a delicate way to bring up her condition.

"So Serena how have you been feeling?" Lita asked while pulling out a top to inspect closer. Serena was tired at their attempts to bring up the subject and decided to just be blunt about it. She stopped looking at the cloths before her, turning her sapphire eyes to her brunette friend, which soften as Lita waited for a response from her.

"You don't have to tip toe around the subject. Amy told me that she explained to you all about what happened at the Bulma's house." She said with a small smile on her lips. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at their princess before them. Some looked shocked at Serena's bluntness towards the topic while some others couldn't look at her with shame in their eyes, and others held regret in their eyes. Serena smile faltered at seeing her friend's reaction to her comment causing a long silence between her and them.

"You aren't going to upset me. Please talk to me." She pleaded with them.

"We..we don't understand why you didn't tell us. We would have been there for you." Mina stated hurtfully.

"We have been through so much over the years and I love you all as sister, which is my reason for not telling you." Serena simply explained to them truthfully.

"You were trying to protect us." Michelle stated calmly. A look of understanding written on her face.

"Yes."

"Typical Serena, thinking we need protection from her." Raye muttered dryly with an amused look in her purple eyes trying to lighten the mood.

"But protecting us from what?" Hotaru questioned the blonde woman before her.

"From the pain of learning about my condition, which I knew it would upset you, and I did not want to bring that into your life when we had peace and happiness finally," She continued on "Besides I have tried everything to stop this, but nothing has worked and I did not want you to feel helpless." She finished with fresh tears in her eyes. The senshi each had a sadden look on their face and tears in their eyes as they listened to their leader's words come out. The first to speak was Raye as she put her hand on the blondes' shoulder, her own purple eyes holding unshed tears in them and an understanding swirling in them.

"We understand why you did it, but we are here for you know and you aren't alone in this anymore, meatball head."

"She is right Kitten, we are here for you." Amara stated firmly stepping forward.

"And there is no way of getting rid of us now." Mina added playfully with a bright smile on her lips causing all the other girls to smile and laugh. She smiled at her friend as fresh tears came down from her eyes at how their show of loyalty and understanding towards her. Serena felt overwhelmed by the show of support from them.

"Thank you my friends. Your friendship and loyalty means a great deal to me." She quietly said to them as she tried to hold back from breaking further down. The girls seeing Serena's reaction came into give her a hug and support her. After a few minutes of silence and hugging, the girls pulled away to pull themselves together, so they could go back to their fun day of shopping.

"Ok, now enough with this emotional crap. I thought we came to shop." Amara grumpily said as she quickly wipe a few tears off her cheek, earning a smile and a few laughs from the others. The women continued their shopping for the day, then taking a break to each lunch before continuing, onto more shopping. They day was long, but each of them had a nice time enjoying each other's company while shopping, joking around, and catching up in each other's lives at the same time.

After the shopping trip each of them had at least fifteen bags of their own to take home to put away that were full of clothes, shoes, and jewelry. They had returned to the Shrine Temple to enjoy a bit more time together just relaxing, before it was time to head out for home. Serena was on her way home, flying at a leisurely pace, enjoying the time away from everyone and the glint of sorrow in everyone's eyes when they look at her, when they thought she was not noticing it. As she was making her way through the air, Serena felt a ki making its way toward her much faster. She knew it was Trunks coming to follow her home and sighed in frustration that Amy had called him to notify him she was on her way home alone. She landed on the ground before his arrival to enjoy what few minutes she had left to herself. It was only a few minutes later when Trunks landed next to the young blonde, matching her stride as she walked home.

"Serena, I though you would wait for me." He stated simply as he followed her.

"Trunk I am a big girl and can take care of myself," She replied coolly, "Besides I needed some time alone."

"You know that mom does not want you alone." She glared at Trunks for pointing out the obvious.

"I am well aware of that, Trunks." She snapped back as she continued to walk past him her anger growing for every second he spoke to her. She was doing her best to keep it down, but he wouldn't leave the subject alone.

"Then why not wait for me?" He asked her again. The young blonde ignored him as she kept walking towards him hoping he would just let this go. Trunks started getting angry at the way she was treating him and ignoring him, just like she had done this morning. He grabbed her by her elbow, spinning her around to face him forcefully, giving her no way to stop it.

"Hey, I am not the bad guy here, Serena. So stop treating me like I am. I'm just concerned for you." He shot back at her angrily.

"You're concerned?!" She yelled at him before continuing ignoring any onlookers, "Yes, just like everyone else is to the point that every time I walk into a room, I get asked how I am feeling or see the pain in everyone eyes. Do you know what that is like? Knowing I am the cause of everyone's pain," She shouted at him, tears coming down her sapphire eyes. "That I am the one that shattered their happiness." She sobbed to him the anger completely vanished. Trunks anger towards her disappearing at seeing the blonde before him breaking down. He realized that she was taking her anger and feelings out on him because she felt she could even if she did not realize it herself. He also realized that she had been bottling up how she had been feeling towards her friends and family, feeling too ashamed to unleash it in front of them. Instead she wanted to show how strong she was at handling her situation so she did not cause them any more heartache. Realizing that Serena needed someone to support her, pulled her into his arms, to hold her as she sobbed into his chest, the tears hitting his black tank top, and wetting it. As she cried in his arms, he just said soothing words, while rubbing his hand up and down her back while she let out the emotions she had been feeling for the past few days. Some time passed before the crying ended, but it did eventually stop. After her crying had ceased, Serena just stayed in his arms, as she calmed down, enjoying his scent, and warmth. She finally pulled away missing his warmth, as she wiped the last of tears, that were lingering off her face before gazing up at Trunks. Trunks regretted letting the blonde go, as it felt so right to hold her, but hid it from her knowledge.

"I'm sorry for the way I treated you earlier this morning and just a little bit ago. I had no right to be angry with you."She sighed before continuing, "I am not handling this as well as I thought I could." She admitted to him honestly.

"Why are you hiding your feelings from everyone? I have notice the last few days of observing you, that you are not showing much other emotions in front of everyone other than happiness."

"Because I can see how they feel and it is my fault for putting them through this. I am just trying to make it less painful by keeping things to myself."

"I know this can't be easy for you, but for now on instead of hiding you feelings and bottling them up, please come to me. You don't have to hide them from me, ok?" He told her seriously. She nodded her head at him in agreement. "And for the record, it is not your fault for how you family and friends are feeling about the fact that you are dying. You did not ask for this and you did not plan this, so there is no reason to even think that." Serena smile at hearing the encouraging speech from him making her feel better about things.

"Thank you, Trunks, for everything." She said to him a small smile on her lips. Trunks was pleased to see her smiling again instead of crying.

"Now, why don't we head back home and go relax." He suggested to her hoping she would not bite his head off. Serena nodded her head in agreement before taking off into the air with him.

Serena and Trunks returned back to C.C. to the smell of food cooking. Trunks sat on the couch to turn the tv on, while Serena made her way to the kitchen to find Chi-Chi and Bulma chatting to one another while getting dinner ready.

"Hey Mom, Bulma." Serena greeted them cheerfully.

"Hi Serena."

"Hi honey, how was your shopping trip?" Chi-Chi asked as she chopped up some vegetables.

"We found some good deals in the stores, and the girls had a good time. So I'd say very successful" She told the two women before her.

"That is wonderful. I'm glad to hear that. Dinner should be ready here in about an hour or so. Why don't you go watch tv and I will call you when it is ready." She told her. Serena felt annoyed as her mother once again told her to go relax, acting like Serena was incapable of doing anything now.

"I'd like to help with the dishes." Serena calmly to her mother.

"We are fine Serena. You just go relax." Chi-Chi said kindly trying to push her daughter away from doing anything.

"I feel fine and I am not tired at all." Serena insisted her jaw tightening at the idea of arguing with her mother about just helping wash dishes. Bulma noticed the determination look written on Serena's features that she saw only a few days ago after Serena woke up from being in the infirmary room.

"Sure, Serena, you can wash the dishes, and I'll dry them, which will make it quicker to get done." Bulma said cheerfully. Serena was surprised that Bulma said yes about her helping them, she half expected for them to tell to go watch tv.

"Thanks, Bulma." Serena said as she made her way to the sink in the kitchen to wash the dishes that were already dirty. As she made her way over, Chi-Chi open her mouth to protest, but Bulma saw it and shook her head no with a deep frown on her lips, indicating to just drop the subject. As Serena started washing the dishes, she enjoyed listening to her mother and Bulma keep chatting, while watching her father spar with Goten and Chibi out the window. Every once in a while chiming in with her thoughts about the different topics they were discussing as they made dinner. Serena was happy to be able to be treated normally just for a little bit, forgetting the fact that things were not the same for her anymore with her family or friends.