Really quick shoutout – thanks to Sakura Scout for reviewing! (I broke someone's heart! I feel kinda like Larxene now.)
One thing Xion finds when she awakens is that Riku is lighter. His heart seems freer, almost shining now.
At first, though, it doesn't show. He's the Riku that she's always known – quiet, mysterious to most, one of the strongest in her new family – except for that one difference.
She stumbles into the other new change.
He pulls her behind a column at Beast's Castle one night, while no one pays any attention, and stares at her for a moment, breathing heavily. Before she recovers enough to ask, his lips are on hers.
. . . She can get used to that change.