Points of View

Please note that the following section has a lot of my own speculation and opinions, and not everything stated here is fact. I am in no way saying I am correct, only explaining what I believe to be true.

I think that it is pretty obvious that Axel wants Roxas to be around, regardless if the reason is because he is lonely, is attached to him as a friend, or loves him. Roxas is important to him either way. When he believes Roxas remembers him, his face lights up and he gets really excited; so much so that his brain did not even comprehend what Roxas said to him at first. On the same token, he appears very disappointed and hurt when he realizes that the Roxas he knows is “long gone”. Up until now, Axel has only appeared to be cocky and easygoing, especially with everything he did in Chain of Memories. Roxas brings out another side of him, and even though Axel technically should not have emotions, he sure looks like he is feeling something whenever it comes to his best friend. When the two have to say goodbye on the clock tower, Axel again looks really upset and even has to look away from Roxas when he tells Axel he has to leave. There is the issue of the teardrop when the two separate as well. If it really did belong to Axel, that would only further prove how badly Axel wants Roxas to be around.

Theoretically Axel could simply just be selfish and want Roxas around because he is lonely and likes feeling like he has a heart. He “should” be happy that Roxas gets to be whole again, since that is what the primary goal of Organization XIII is, but he obviously is not. He would rather have Roxas around to talk to and be near. Axel is even willing to go against Organization XIII to fulfill his own wishes and attempt to see Roxas again, not really caring who gets hurt in the process. Saïx believed Axel could not stand the fact he did not have a heart, and that was the only reason he chased after his “friendship” with Roxas. I disagree.

When the remaining members of Organization XIII discuss what to do about Roxas, Axel is hesitant. He tries to cover for Roxas by saying that he is not a traitor and that he just has not been able to return yet. His reaction is much different than the ruthless way he acted in Chain of Memories, as he did not think twice about killing Vexen and wanting to punish Larxene and Marluxia for going against the organization. Even though Roxas turned his back on Organization XIII and Axel knows it, he still wants to defend his friend. Xaldin disagrees and threatens to destroy Axel if he does not punish Roxas for turning his back on Organization XIII. He refuses at first, but once Xaldin is about to attack him, Axel gives in a little by saying they can use the Dusks, and eventually says he will do it because Xaldin does not let up. He is not happy about it, and is outwardly annoyed they are forcing the job on him. Axel obviously did not want to harm Roxas, and probably knew he would have a hard time doing so even if he was forced to do it. Kingdom Hearts II made it look like Axel would rather destroy Roxas than be turned into a Dusk, but the extra scene in Final Mix shows that Axel refused to follow orders at first. Technically this could still be justified by only wanting Roxas around to make himself feel better, but I do not think he would have resisted as long as he did if that were the case. I also do not believe that Axel would have cried if he did not actually care about Roxas either.

Unfortunately the two of them do have to fight because Roxas still does not really remember being a member of Organization XIII. Axel seems rather irritated, definitely not the way he was in the previous two meetings. I believe Axel probably had to get himself in a mindset that he was angry with Roxas in order to actually go full out against him because their friendship meant too much to him. Axel was probably also angry at the way things turned out, with Roxas not really remembering him and now he was given orders to destroy his friend. Regardless of the reason, Axel appeared very angry. Once he loses the battle, he is back to his normal self, and throws a “joke” out, saying they should meet in the next life even though he knows he does not have one. I do not think Axel wanted to part with Roxas on a bad note, and was projecting his own wish despite what he believes can actually happen.

It is a little harder to tell how Roxas feels about their relationship because he is not as open about it as Axel is. Technically there have not been many scenes with Roxas and Axel when Roxas actually remembers the time the two of them spent together, so that makes it even harder to get a good feel of how he views Axel. From what we do know, I believe Roxas considers Axel a friend, probably a really good friend. I do not think, however, that Roxas feels as strongly for Axel as Axel does for him. This could be just because Roxas is not as open about his feelings as Axel is, but I am not swaying in that direction. Roxas knew that going against Organization XIII to find the answers to his own questions would mean leaving Axel behind, and regardless of if it was a tough decision or not, he still decided to do it. This is not to say Axel would not do the same thing, but I have a feeling that he would never leave Roxas unless he really had to. Axel seems a bit dependent on Roxas, where as Roxas is fine without him.

Axel was relatively satisfied with the fact that Roxas made him feel like he had a heart, but that was not good enough for Roxas, if Axel even made him feel that way to begin with. Roxas wanted to know the truth about himself, and even though he enjoyed spending time with Axel watching sunsets and talking, it was not getting him any closer to the truth. But again, there is nothing to say that Axel would not have done the same in Roxas’ position either.

I am not saying that Roxas does not care about Axel, because I think that is far from the truth. He seemed comfortable talking with Axel on the clock tower before he had to become whole with Sora, and if they did that frequently, I am sure he trusted Axel and enjoyed spending time with him. The members of Organization XIII are not exactly the friendliest bunch of people to be around, so I doubt Roxas talked to any of the other members like he and Axel did. Roxas probably confided his thoughts with Axel, and even if he does not need Axel to go on, his support during his time in Organization XIII probably helped him to where he was when he left. There is no doubt in my mind that the two were close, regardless of which side of the relationship you want to consider, but I think “inseparable” is going too far because Roxas did ultimately decide to sacrifice his ties with Axel to find what he truly wanted.

Like a few other pages under their relationship section, I hope the release of Kingdom Hearts 385/2 Days will shed some more light on Roxas’ opinion of his relationship with Axel while the two were in Organization XIII together. I am sure that this section will be updates once the game is released, even if it does not reflect a ton of information.

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