The day Kizuna was born, her parents would say, was the happiest day of their lives. She came into the world smiling and giggling, and grew to be a well behaved, albeit clumsy, child. She was adventurous, courteous, and curious. Around the age of six, she was watching television when the channel it was on played an old black and white movie about ninjas (the name of which Kizuna had long forgotten). This changed her life, and from there she longed to be one herself. Her parents were happy their daughter had found something she was so interested in, but soon it became her entire world.

Kizuna insisted her birthdays be ninja themed. She wore ninja costumes for halloween. She read books upon books about the culture, engrossing herself in not just ninja history, but Japanese culture as well. She hogged the tv to watch ninja movies and shows, covered her walls and filled her room with ninja posters and memorabilia. She'd fashion her own throwing stars from paper with instructions she found online. For career day in elementary school, she said she was going to be a ninja when she grew up. Everyone laughed at her, but it didn't deter her.

Then Kizuna reached middle school and things started to change. Slowly at first, but as time went on something new began to take center stage in her mind.

Boys.

She found a lot of boys cute. Mike and his athleticism and intelligence, Paulo and his confidence and boyish charms, and other boys for various reasons. But above all, the boy she found herself pining for the most was David. He was so free, so cute, so funny. Every day with him was something new and exciting. He could never remember her name, but Kizuna didn't care. One day, she knew they'd be together.

Unfortunately for her, that day never came. She never became that ninja, and David never fell in love. And now, she was dead.

But not for long.

White. Nothing but white. This is what Kizuna saw when she opened her eyes. At first her mind was blank, but she regained her thoughts and tried to get her bearings. This was impossible, she found, as it appeared that she was floating in an endless white void. All sense of direction was lost. A quick inspection of herself confirmed her body was still there. She attempted a spit test to see which way was down, but the glob of saliva merely floated around aimlessly away from her.

A sense of unease began to creep up over Kizuna. It was so quiet, so unimaginably quiet. In her ears, she could hear her own heartbeat. Was she dead now? Was this the afterlife? Purgatory? She couldn't really feel her body.

"Kizuna."

The voice was all around her. Kizuna swiveled around, slowly spinning in place. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates, trying to find the owner of the voice. It sounded a lot like who was speaking to her over the headphones. "Where are you? Show yourself!"

"Take a deep breath." Said the voice.

"No! You tried to kill me! And…" Kizuna looked around at the gentle void. "I think I am dead."

"I didn't, and not exactly." Said the voice. "But, in a manner of speaking, you are. It's just a good thing I was able to get to you before it was too late."

Kizuna flapped her arms in an attempt to stop moving, and out of frustration. "What is going on here?! Why won't you show yourself?"

"I won't until you're relaxed." The voice replied. "There is a lot to take in."

Kizuna closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She focused on happy thoughts, which meant David, David, and David. The pudding at lunch came to mind, and she smiled. It was the first time that David really cared about her. And now she'd never see him again. A lump formed in her throat.

"Do not fret, Kizuna."

The girl was really starting to get annoyed. "Just leave me alone, okay!"

"If it makes you feel better, you definitely aren't dead."

"But you said I sorta was…" She sighed.

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"GrrrrrAGGH!" Kizuna yelled in frustration. "You know, you aren't doing a good job at helping me relax!"

"Sorry. I never really was good at this sort of thing." The voice said, localizing itself to a few feet in front of here. "Here then, allow me to introduce myself."

Kizuna folded her arms expectantly as a figure faded into existence in front of her. He was a tall white cat with jet black hair, and a green striped shirt. He looked very polite, and smiled warmly at her. "Hello, Kizuna. My name is Liam."

Kizuna blinked. Was she supposed to know him? He seemed to know a lot about her. Maybe he was a secret admirer. "Wh-who?"

Liam laughed softly. "Don't worry. You won't know who I am."

That was a relief. Kizuna was terrible with names and faces. "Alright…" she said. "What am I doing here? I was on my way to my home planet- that YOU told me about, by the way." She leaned forward and raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"Ah, yeah. That." Liam rubbed the back of his neck anxiously and looked away. "I… I'm very sorry Kizuna, but I don't know where your family is."

"WHAT?!" Kizuna started trying to swim through the air toward him frantically but she wasn't making much progress. "YOU HAD ME COME OUT ALL THIS WAY ON A LIE?!"

Liam drifted out of the snarling dog's reach. "I don't know where they are, but I do know what happened to them!"

"I BET YOU TOOK THEM!" She yelled. "TO LURE ME OUT HERE!"

"What reason would I have to do that?" Liam asked, floating just out of Kizuna's reach.

"To kill me!"

"Then why haven't I done it yet?" The cat asked calmly.

"Because!" Kizuna yelled, but as she tried to put the pieces together, she couldn't make a picture where Liam wanted to kill her. "Because…"

"If you're referring to the incident with the spaceship, I had nothing to do with that. It seems as though I'm not the only one with their eyes on you."

Kizuna calmed down. "Can you please just tell me what is going on?"

Liam drifted over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Kizuna… the world you belonged to no longer exists. Your friends don't remember you."

"I… I don't understand…" She said, but deep down she knew it made sense. How her friends didn't know who she was, why the bus driver passed her by and why her parents were gone. "It doesn't exist?"

Liam nodded solemnly. "I can't really explain it. Your time in the world… it was just up. It's been replaced."

Kizuna drifted back, turning away from him. It was unreal. Had to be unreal. Her mouth went dry. She shook her head. "That's impossible. None of this is possible."

"Kizuna…" Liam said softly, sensing her panic coming on.

"No!" She yelled, spinning back around. "You are a liar! This is a dream!" Her voice cracked. "I-I'm g-gonna wake up in my b-bed! And my family will b-be there! And my friends will r-remember me!" Tears streamed from her eyes.

"I told you it was a lot to take in." Liam said flatly. "You just need some time to let it sink in. I understand how you feel."

"No you don't!" She hissed. "How could you! I don't even know you, how could you possibly understand me!"

"Because the same thing happened to me!" He fired back. "But instead of having someone there to help me, I was on my own!"

Kizuna hugged herself and sobbed. She wanted to wake from this nightmare. How could she have been so stupid, at least if she had just stayed home she would still be with friends. She'd have a warm bed to sleep in. Now she was floating in an endless void with a stranger of dubious trustworthiness. Liam, on the other hand, was beating himself up inside for snapping on her. This was s very delicate thing to approach. "So all that about my home planet… th-that was a lie?"

"Yes. I'm truly sorry, Kizuna." Liam floated closer to the crying girl. "But it was the only way I could save you. And you… could save everyone."

Kizuna sniffled and Liam poofed a tissue box out of thin air. She graciously accepted it and wiped her tears away. "S-save everyone?"

"If you're ready to continue." He said.

"Y-you mean there's more?" She whispered harshly. "How could there possibly be more?"

"When you're ready for it." He said calmly.

Kizuna covered her head with her hands. "I don't want this. I don't want any of this."

"I'm afraid neither of us has a choice in what's to come." Liam said gravely. He knew he was dumping a lot on the girl, but there wasn't a lot of time to grieve.

"And what," Kizuna said floating back around, "Is to come?"

Liam sighed. "Something terrible has happened. Is happening. Will continue to happen."

"Which is…?" Kizuna said with a 'continue' gesture.

"Kizuna, the world you came from, it's not the only one." Liam said as the white void faded away and in its stead was a massive colorful galaxy. It filled her entire vision even though it was lightyears away from them. There were small clusters along the arms, and in the center, a massive white light. Kizuna felt a little dizzy. "Give yourself a moment to readjust your bearings."

The universe in front of her was far more intricate than anything she'd seen on her space trip. She noticed more and more of the details as her head stopped spinning - or was it the universe that was spinning? Liam drifted across her view and gestured to the cosmic display behind him. "This is the Candyverse. It is a collection of everything that has happened, is happening, and has yet to happen."

Kizuna gasped at the majesty of it all. "Is this like seeing all of time? Like the past and future of my world?"

Liam shook his head. "It's all worlds. Are you familiar with the multiple universe theory? Well, I guess it's not so much a theory as it is reality."

"Yeah…" Kizuna said breathlessly, soaking the view in. "My teacher talked about it."

"Good, good." Liam smiled. "You have a leg up already." He floated next to her, smiling at her awe. He remembered what it was like the first time he saw all of it. He pointed to a fading cluster on the edge of the large spiral. "Do you see that?"

Kizuna followed his finger and squinted. "Yeah, I think so."

"That's your world. Your… story. It's going out." He explained. As the cluster dimmed, it floated off of the cosmic arm and disappeared from view. Kizuna backed up a bit in horror. Her friends… her entire life… it was gone. "It used to be there." He shifted his point to the center of the universe. "But it has been replaced. That's why your family was missing. Why your friends didn't remember you."

"Would I have…?" Kizuna asked, unable to stomach the idea of blipping out of existence.

"Yes." Liam said gravely. "While your friends would have merged with the center, you would have been left to the void."

"How could this happen? Why?!" She cried.

"It wasn't anything personal." Liam said.

Kizuna looked at him. "How would you know? Did you have anything to do with this?"

"I didn't. I suppose more of an explanation is in order." Liam floated away with his hands behind his back as he solemnly looked over the universe before him. "It is my job to watch over everything. To keep everyone safe. One day, the two who created our universe, named Taeshi and SuitCase-"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!" Kizuna flitted over. "Created? You mean like gods?"

"In a way, yes. Taeshi, specifically, created the universe. She nudges things in a certain direction, if you understand what I mean."

Kizuna furrowed her brow, trying to sort it all out. Finally she shook her head. "Not entirely. But, continue."

Liam took a deep breath. "Their visit wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I was accustomed to them stopping in to adjust things. They left, as usual, but came back not too long later. This time, however… things seemed… off." A look of fear flickered across Liams' face before he continued. "They… were doing some experimentation. Moving things around. Small at first. Thoughts, ideas, dreams. But then they started moving people around… and not putting them back."

Kizuna tilted her head. "Why?"

Liam didn't break his thousand yard stare into the abyss. "My job isn't to ask why. Only to report if something wrong happens. And something very wrong is happening. I attempted to restore these worlds back to normal, but they stopped me."

Kizuna nearly asked why again, but she had a feeling Liam would draw another blank. He continued. "I think something is up, but I can't do anything myself. That." He smiled at her. "Is why you're here. I know this is going behind their backs, but something is seriously wrong."

Kizuna looked from Liam to the universe beyond. "What do you want me to do? Save the world?"

"No, Kizuna. I want you to save all of them." Liam produced a black business suitcase "You have to go to all the worlds that have been affected, and set them right. You'll use this to help you along the way." He pushed it forward gently and it floated over to Kizuna, who took it and looked it over.

"What is this?" She asked. It looked like a normal suitcase to her. "Is there something in it?"

"This will allow you to travel across the Candyverse, and provide you with any items you might need, within reason. No world ending weapons, can't summon others. But need a glass of water? It's got you covered." He floated next to her. "All you need to do is hold it in front of you, think about what you want, and open the case. Try it."

Kizuna thought about something she would want right then? Comfort. She only wanted comfort. She focused in on an idea, and opened the suitcase. The inside was infinitely deep, but from the darkness came a framed photo of David smiling. "Wow…" Kizuna said breathlessly.

Liam gave the dog a pat on the back. "See? Easy." Kizuna let go of the case and grabbed the photo to look it over. "You have to be careful, though. It has a limited amount of power. Once it's used up, it'll become useless."

"Is there any way to recharge it?" Kizuna asked, looking at the suitcase.

Liam laughed. "Yeah, if you've got about a megaton of TNT lying around. You'll have more than enough power and then some."

"Ah… so is that all?" Kizuna asked, now fully expecting there to be even more to deal with.

Liam rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmm… no, I don't think so. Do you have any questions?"

Kizuna thought of one last thing. "What about that guy that attacked me?"

Liam drew back, concern on his face. "I… am not sure about that. Best to stay away from him."

"I figured that much out for myself, thanks." Kizuna closed the suitcase. "Am I supposed to do this all on my own, then?"

"I never said that, now." Liam smiled. "You can get help, you just have to be careful. Did you have anyone in mind?"

Kizuna looked back at the photograph of David. "I… have an idea, yes."

"Well then it's settled!" Liam clapped his hands together. "You best get started! The Candyverse is counting on you! Just think of where you want to go and open the suitcase!" He paused a moment, and then continued. "Oh, and best to brace yourself. The first time is always the roughest."

Kizuna nodded and closed her eyes and focused on where she wanted to go. 'I want to see David… I want to see David…' There was a little rumble. With a deep breath she opened up her eyes and the suitcase. Liam waved goodbye and said something else, but she didn't hear it. She was sucked into the darkness and saw nothing more.