*I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of it's characters, though Heavyn is mine.

"I'm sorry, Heavyn dear. I know how much this job meant to you, but I just can't afford to keep the shop open anymore. I'm going to have to let you go," said Heavyn's boss, old Mrs. Lemanski.

"Isn't there anyway I can help you stay open longer?" asked Heavyn, not liking the thought of leaving the little retail shop that (along with playing Kingdom Hearts in her free time) had kept her sane through this past year. Panicking, she thought aloud, "Maybe if I could convince the lawyers that handle the life insurance money to give me enough money to…"

"Heavyn, honey, even if you managed to get the money that the life insurance is giving you to continue living in your family's house to help pay for the shop, it still won't be enough. With the economy down the toilet, people just don't want to shop in little stores anymore. They would rather save money, and big department stores can afford to work at a loss, unlike us. I'm sorry, but I would rather you keep using the life insurance money to keep your family's memory alive instead of wasting it on this poor, outdated place."

"But, but… what about you? What are you going to do?"

"I've decided to retire and move in with my daughter's family. After all, having newborn twins is hard on any new mother, and my daughter is no exception. She'll need all the help she can get, and with the passing of my dear husband, lord rest his soul, I've no need to keep living in my old home. I really do appreciate all that you've done, especially with what's happened with you this past year. Unfortunately, however, as much as I'd like to, I can't help you to find a new job. Since that new department store came in, all of my other friends have gone out of business, and the only employers left are perfectly horrid in my personal opinion."

Heavyn sighed, not disagreeing with her, but not liking what she was hearing, either. She needed this job to keep her mind off of what happened. She asked with despair in her voice, "Is there really nothing I can do?"

Mrs. Lemanski nodded. "Unfortunately, there isn't anything you can do." She put a hand on the poor girl's shoulder, saddened by the look of utter defeat in those violet eyes. She remembered how those eyes used to light up the entire room when Heavyn laughed, and the poor girl would never know how much joy Heavyn used to bring to other people. In fact, she would have gone out of business much, much sooner, but many people would still come in just to hear Heavyn's laughter fill the room. Even after the accident, Heavyn had still managed to warm people's hearts by solving any problem that she could. Recently, that warm laughter had just started to come back also, but unfortunately it was unlikely that Mrs. Lemanski would ever hear it again. "I do wish you the best of luck, Heavyn. I hope we can still keep in touch! After all, I want to hear more about that lovely game that you're playing!"

"About that game, Mrs. Lemanski…," started Heavyn.

"What? Don't tell me you finished it already?"

"Yup. I finished it late last night. I just couldn't put it down! It's definitely one of the best games of the series," stated Heavyn with obvious pride in her voice.

"You finished that game in, what, six days?"

"Actually… it was five days. It's a new record for me!"

"Well, then I know what to get my grand-nephew for Christmas, don't I?" chuckled Mrs. Lemanski. "I know how much of your recovery from the accident was due to playing those Kingdom Hearts games, and I hope you never grow too old for them, Heavyn. Oh dear, look at the time! I promised my daughter I'd be at the hospital as soon as I closed up the shop!"

"Whoops! I guess I kept you here too long talking about Kingdom Hearts, didn't I? Well, I better get out of here so you can keep your promise, Mrs. Lemanski! You know what I always say about promises- you should never break a single one you make! Good-bye!" Heavyn said as she dashed out the door.

"Wait! I didn't give you my daughter's phone number… oh it's no use. Once she gets going, there's no stopping her," sighed Mrs. Lemanski. "Oh, well, I'm sure she'll remember and come running back in here for it!"

"Phew… I think I'm far enough away now," thought Heavyn as she slowed to a walk. She was grateful that Mrs. Lemanski had brought up Kingdom Hearts. If she hadn't, Heavyn knew that she would have burst out crying right then and there. She hated to let others see her cry, so she always tried to keep up a cheerful façade to make sure that no one ever saw the tears. It had become easier as time went by, but now…

"What am I going to do? As much as I'd like to, I can't just sit around playing Kingdom Hearts all the time. Sure, the insurance money will let me do that if I want, but having a job meant that I wouldn't have to worry about a thing even if the economy went down the drain," she thought aloud as she slowly walked home. "Plus… it enabled me to keep my mind off of what happened last year. Now, though… what am I going to do?"

"Well, that was a whole lot of nothing!" grumbled Heavyn as she brought her trash to the curb. She had just finished talking to various potential employers who all told her the same thing. No jobs available. She sighed. It had been two days since she was laid off, but to her it seemed like two years had passed.

"Oh, well. I guess I'll stop looking for the day," sighed Heavyn as she started to walk back up the driveway. "Maybe tonight's the night I'll unlock the Blank Points video in Birth by Sleep!"

Suddenly, she heard a groan of pain. She froze, for no one ever came here unless they had to. Thanks to the unfounded rumors that her house was haunted, not even her supposed friends came anymore. She wanted nothing more than to run back inside the house, but she knew that she had determine whether someone was really in trouble or if it was just the wind.

"H-Hello? Is anyone there?" she called, half-hoping no one would answer. The groan of pain came again, this time from the side of the house. She ran over and stood in shock. Sitting against her house was a boy no older than she, bleeding from several wounds. Blood stained his platinum-white hair. He wore a strange, organic-looking black, blue and red body suit with what looked like a white half-skirt. He looked up, revealing blue-green eyes that did not look like they were seeing anything through the pain, then immediately passed out.

Heavyn gasped, for she recognized this boy. Impossibly, one of the characters from Kingdom Hearts was sitting there right in front of her. What's more, this was a character that was thought to have died.

"It couldn't be… the Riku Replica?"