Kingdom Hearts-Original Stories, Oneshots, & Reader Inserts[Discontinued]

Fragile Heart/A Story

     You stayed up late working in the workshop again. Your strict deadline neared, and that meant you severely needed to finish your glass piece for a Mr. Ansem, who asked if you could make a stain glass heart in less than a week. Having not had a commission in over a month, dumb you agreed and now you raced to finish the piece and prayed dearly that it looked good enough and not obviously rushed for his tastes. Not that you procrastinated, but sketching an idea from scratch, then preparing a pattern could take time—making you also realize that all your heart-shaped patterns from before were crap. So you started with a blank piece of paper and worked your way to the top. 

     It had been hard since the man told you silently with his unresponsive manner that he didn't care what the heart looked like when you had asked your normal questions. He didn't have a preference for what he wanted, so that left you with the hardest work. You had no idea what to do, and that didn't help.

     The man was weird. Both in looks and his demeanor—you weren't judging, of course—but the silver hair, golden eyes, and black hoodie just threw you off a little, since it wasn't common in your town. The weirdest? He didn't even give you a number; just told you he'd be here by Saturday to pick it up, and that day was tomorrow. It felt like some weird Craigslist crap—but minus the internet. Though you wondered if your brother had something to do with the creepy customer. Pranks were pretty common with him, and you wouldn't be surprised if he did post an article on some creepy website for you.

    For the heart piece—you chose an iridescent rough rolled with a more smoother bubblegum pink in the middle, forming two hearts with the iridescent on the outside and the pink forming the second heart in the middle. A golden edging formed the piece together and held it in place. The design featured a fancy heart with the best-curved edges you possibly could cut the glass into.

    All went well. Just now you were finishing up grinding the final few pieces to fit the pattern of your heart and set them carefully on your small workbench placed in the shed in your backyard, acting as your studio.

    You stepped before your drawn pattern and began moving the pieces around, putting them where they belonged; like one of those large-sized children puzzles.   

    After that, you took a small break for a snack and a drink. Washing your hands, you returned and began finishing up the piece. However, once your eyes drooped, you looked to the red numbers on the digital clock that you always had on in your studio. 3 A.M. You knew you needed to sleep, and bad. You'd just hoped that Ansem didn't have the audacity to come at six in the morning. A few hours was all you needed, then you could place the final touch-up—if you hadn't screwed it up already.

    You removed your apron and left your shed—locking it before entering your home and marching straight to your room—not even bothering to change as your bed beckoned you.

    Those short hours didn't last long cause before you knew it—your phone's alarm rang and you jolted straight awake, body aching from laying on your stomach all night. You groaned and looked at the time. 7 A.M. You peeked outside your kitchen window and stared at your driveway, expecting your customer to be there.

    Ansem wasn't there. Huh, what luck.

    You returned to your shed without even preparing yourself for the morning. The more important thing was finishing the heart in time. Caring for yourself could come afterward when you could take all the time you needed. To an extent.

    You slaved over the masterpiece for the next forty minutes before you placed it against a box, and took a few steps back to admire your work. You... smiled. It sparkled with the small amount of sun that shone through the window above your work area. It wasn't half-bad— for something made in about a week.