Kin and Penny kept their distance, huddling for warmth some ten feet back while Miranda knelt at Heather’s grave. The wind carried only fragments of her muffled voice, and it wasn’t clear if she was saying goodbye or explaining the situation.
In the original version, Heather survived to this point but when they arrived, she was in a hospital dying of cancer. It gave a moment for all the characters to be together and for Kin to seek forgiveness from her. My editor and I had a big talk about Heather's subplot, which included her getting remarried (to a Deep Space Nine fan named Carter) and having a life, which would then be shown from Kin's side as he processed this alternate timeline playing out for Heather.
Ultimately, my editor said it either needed to be longer or cut for space. We decided on cutting it (and thus, Heather dies early in act 2), but I knew she still needed some emotional redemption, a scene to show her impact on Kin, Miranda, even Penny. So some of the dialogue from the hospital scene was lifted and rebuilt into the graveyard scene. I've had readers tell me they were originally furious when Heather dies but felt happy with this resolution, which was a huge relief. :)
Also, Penny + Carter = Penny Carter, the original planned companion for Doctor Who season 4 before Catherine Tate signed on to come back as Donna Noble.
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