[For years, he never really gave much thought to smiling. He did it, sure, but he mostly wrote it off as an involuntary muscle memory sort of thing. Smiles didn't mean much when you had no heart, right? More recently, though, they're a lot more important. There's a lightness in his chest when he's really got something to smile about, so seeing that expression on other peoples' faces, it must mean they feel that too, right? It's a good feeling, and it's kind of nice to know he can evoke it in the people he cares about. Even if he's still fumbling and trying to get the hang of this.]

Ahh, that's the thing, though: [He wags a finger at her.] Failing doesn't make you weak. Not getting back up when you fall makes you weak. The people who keep trying when stuff is really bad? Those are the strong ones. [He could name a few of those.

[He chuckles then at her little confession and shakes his head.]

Honestly, if someone had told me a year ago that a day would come where I would consider anybody but Xion and Roxas friends, I prolly would have laughed. Considering somebody to be like family? That... I probably would'a passed out.

I spent a long time alone. [Well, he had Saïx, but that's basically like being alone, in most cases.] Almost forgot what it was like to trust anybody.