"You can forget what it's like," Riku defended, twining his fingers together idly, eyes on them. He thought a moment (what were the repercussions if telling Lea this?) "For a long time, I didn't get being happy after Roxas merged with Sora. I felt so guilty, I had no clue what to do. I think, when I met up with Sora--and he made this ridiculous face at me, because I wasn't sure if I should go back home--I remembered what it was like, to laugh." He shook his head. "If that's just me, maybe it could've happened to you, too."

He felt like hiding his face at Lea's gesture, looking at the ground.

"Maybe I'll speak up more often," he mused. "If it leads to stuff like this, maybe what I feel isn't that bad."

Nodding to the bullet, his eyes lidded. "New motto?"