Falling
He doesn't realize how hard he's fallen for her until the day he brings her to the islands for the first time.
It hits him when she laughs at a seagull that caught her off guard and turns to face him, her face brightened by a smile.
Hits him hard.
He never realized how much he loved her smile until she was gone, how much he wanted to the the one who makes her happy.
Never realized how much he loves her.
Now he realizes that this is what he's been feeling—
He's been falling for her all this time.
Author: Kind of based off of both my drabble "Smile" in fragments (where it is Xion's smile that triggers Riku's memories of her) and the drabble "Love" from "One Hundred Suns" by Amatus. Especially her line "Love isn't truly sudden; catching on is." :3 I'd thought along similar lines myself, but never managed to put it into words until I read that drabble.
So, this time, it is Xion's smile that triggers Riku's realization that he's in love with her... and that he's been falling for her for a while.
And while I try to avoid apologies for erratic updates (I usually have good reasons) I do regret that I was especially erratic for the past few days... But I've been pretty sick with headaches for the past week and am finally feeling better enough to do some work again.^^;
Oh, and I got back into my old fandom of Avatar: The Last Airbender again as the new series Legend of Korra nears it's release date. (SATURDAY, YEAH!) Lol.
To my reviewers:
XIIIXV: Yeah, that scene (and the one-shots I read based around it) is what finally converted me from Roxas/Xion to Riku/Xion in the end. It's so sad, but so cute...
Espionage247: Glad you liked it! :D And yeah, I won't post spoilers in text here... But I agree. It WAS shocking, in a good way. I can't wait to see what's going to happen in the next game, either...
DMGSilverAirhead03: LOL, yeah... He was really confused about her (and his feelings for her) for a long time...
See you next time! ^^