Never Again

As she runs into his arms, he catches her and holds her close against him, as close as she can possibly be. But that still isn't close enough for them.

She buries her head into his shoulder, her body shaking as she sobs against him without making a sound, without shedding tears. She has never been one to cry, and never will be.

Riku just stands there, like a rock—like the land—and holds her.

He can't bear to see her like this.

Never again, he thinks.

I won't forget you... Not this time.

This time, I'll never let you go.

Author: This one is supposed to be about the first time they meet again after Xion returns. In this one, things happen a little differently than in "Fragments." (I'm thinking it'd be sweet to have Riku save her from the "World of Dreams" featured in KH3D. So for this drabble-fic, that's what I'm going with.^^)

Xion's name can be interpreted as "I won't forget you," so Riku's thoughts allude to that a bit. He's basically decided that not only is he going to remember her this time, he's not going to let anything happen to her again in the first place. (I get sad every time I read the drabble "Almost" in OHS by Amatus. The last line gets me every time. So this is the other side of that in a way, too, I guess.)

And on a related note, thanks to Amatus for reviewing! :D It's okay. I go off on tangents too. (All the time.) And I agree, that's sort of what I was going for. Sometimes, the person you hate the most is actually a lot like you... And that's exactly why you hate them. Because you don't want to see the aspects they have in yourself. :( I agree, too, that that would be awfully hard on Riku. I can only imagine how creeped out he'd be if he thought about that too hard. (DX The girl I'm in love with is basically a combination of my two best friends! The heck is with that?) But I like the idea that he gets over it and sees her as her own person. He loves her for who she is, not because she's like anyone else.^^ XP You're welcome. I remember reviewing OHS with a comment that I "preferred RoXion to RiXion" when I finished. I've got to say, somewhere between reading the rest of your stories and working on Fragments, that changed. RikuShi is now my favorite. :D So you effectively converted me. (Though I liked it all along, really...) As for the novella... It's called Two Hearts, actually. But it's a sequel to another, full-length novel by the same person. Which would be "The Last Unicorn," by Peter S. Beagle. You may have heard of it... and if you haven't you should check it out. (It has an animated film, too... Which actually follows the book for a change. The author wrote the screenplay himself, though, so that's why... XD) It's less well-known than other fantasy stories, but it's one of my favorites. When I first read Two Hearts, though, I cried my eyes out. (I'm going way off on a tangent here, see?) I'll leave off with that.

Enjoy the RikuShi fluffyness until next time~!

See ya then. :D