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No matter how badly he ached to go to her, his body wouldn't move.
He could only stare.
She was as beautiful as the day she first laid eyes on her, the real her.
And, in keeping with his crystal-clear memory of that fateful day, the first thing to pass through her curious, unsure lips was his name.
Only now, she did not falter.
"…Roxas."
Her mouth curved into a little smile. His entire chest wretched. It felt to him as though his heart had literally just burst.
And, as such, a sharp pain overcame him. His vision went blurry as his eyes began to water with tears, and a hitched, shaking gasp was the last thing that escaped his mouth before he reflexively clamped his hand over it.
Still, he did not move a single step towards her.
So she stepped towards him.
"…It's hard to believe, isn't it?" her voice was soft and sweet, like the chime of a bell. "That this is even real…"
Her raven locks shifted as she turned her head down with the words, and by the slight quiver of her chest it was clear she was overwhelmed with emotion, too. Only as she got closer to him did it seem to well and truly dawn on her just how much she loved him.
"Say it again," he suddenly blurted, tone strong and true despite the tears that now flowed freely from his eyes.
The girl raised her gaze to meet his and cocked her head just slightly at that, causing a single, thin streak of moisture to cascade down the side if her cheek. She quickly fell her face to her hand, hoping to wipe it away before he could notice, but of course she was too late.
"My name…" he breathed, forcing himself to move towards her. A single step was all he could manage, but it was something.
"…Xion," finally he choked out her name, throat growing painfully tight as he did so. "Say my name."
She blinked, shielding her glimmering crystal irises from view for but a splitsecond. Then, the bridges of her cheeks swelled as a pure, genuine smile overcame her sad expression.
"Roxas," Xion called to him now, outstretching her arms and wordlessly offering her embrace. "This is real, Roxas."
With her words, life and all its meaning had found him once again.
Then came a dreamless blur, closely followed by the sharp crisp of reality. None watching knew exactly how Roxas closed the space between them so fast; all they knew was that the second he reached her, an otherworldly calm descended upon the space like a blessing from Kingdom Hearts itself. There was not a single eye in the entire room that did not instantly brim with tears.
Xion mirrored the shaky exhale of their audience, but they truly stood no chance at fathoming what it was the two of them felt for each other. That wave of emotion, whatever is was, proved as much.
"…Let's go," Sora said quietly. "They deserve this moment to themselves."
-What they did not stay to see was the blindingly powerful display of true love to come immediately after.
Once again cucooned in his strong arms, all trace of nervousness and remorse left her. She did not feel even the slightest suggestion of fear, and thus had no reason to resist completely falling apart in his arms all over again.
Her knees buckled as she whimpered softly and began to sob, but of course he caught her. In fact, the ravenous way in which he pressed his lips over hers seemed to hold her together in spite of the fact that she had readily and completely given in.
Xion received him like a ray of light, induling in the warm sensation he radiated against her skin and then deep, deep into her very core.
She pulled away for a splitsecond to laugh elatedly and attempt to catch her breath, but he clutched her cheeks and pulled her back before she ever got the chance.
It's not as if she cared, anyway. The taste of air was no where near as vital to her as his essence.
"I love you so much," Roxas moaned out in a drained voice, dragging his lips against her own as he spoke. Breaking the kiss seemed to actually physically hurt him, so he wasted no time in crushing their lips together once again.
Xion's lips curved into a lazy smile, struggling to keep in time with both expressing her perfect happiness and receiving his hungry, loving kisses.
Since she could do nothing else she gently brought her hands to his wrists and rest them there as he continued to shower her with his affection. But as she idly stroked his bare skin, she realized a subtle ache between her fingers.
How desperately they wanted to intertwine with his.
"Roxas…" she whispered his name quietly now, and immediately he froze when it graced his ear. He pulled away to stare pryingly into her glazed eyes, searching them for signs of discontent.
He didn't know what he would do if he found it. He was sure his heart would shatter all over again.
Thankfully, the geniune, loving expression on her face did not so much as waver.
"Please…" pleaded Xion as she clutched one of his hands to the side of her face, rolling her head over to it and placing a needy kiss on his palm. "…Don't let go."
Roxas would have choked on his own breath had he tried to speak in that moment, so he simply set his teeth and knit his brow, so lost in his affection for her that he really only had a loose concept of reality.
"Promise me…" she prompted him to reply by swiveling her crystal eyes to the side to meet his. With her words, she clutched his hand a little tighter.
"Promise me you'll never let me go again."
"Never," he breathed out all at once, lurching forward and taking her small frame completely in his arms. "Never again."
She returned the embrace, exhaling a petite sigh of relief as she flattened her palms to the plane of his back. Her hips settled comfortably in his capable grip.
"Nothing and no one will ever take you away from me again," he swore to her, not hesitating to make promises he had no idea whether or not he could keep.
Then again, he simply didn't care. Beyond his love for her, nothing else mattered.
"I love you, Roxas."
When she finally returned his impassion declaration, it came out as nothing more than a mumble cause of the way her lips were pressed tightly to his collar.
"…Say it again," the demand passed his hips in a gentle, pleading way.
"I love you," Xion repeated, even louder this time.
"Again." His hand found the small of her back, and held it tight.
"I love you!" she practically shouted, following with an elated giggle as she threw her head back and stared up at his face.
Tears were streaming from her cheeks, and again his hands returned to wipe them away before he ducked his lips to hers.
She would have told him how she felt a thousand times if she had the chance, but instead she settled on the heavenly taste of him, meshing his rough lips to her plump ones.
She comitted every last detail of the moment to memory, from the way his fingers stroked against the skin of her lower back, to the quivering rhythm of her legs because she had to stand on her tippy-toes just to meet his face.
Even as it was happening, she knew this moment would become the most important memory she would ever have in her new heart.
It would be the first kiss they shared before spending the rest of their lives together.