As for Axel's final words, and whether or not Sora understood them -- well, no, of course Sora didn't. (In Space Paranoids, Tron hugs Sora as a way of saying goodbye, and Sora goes rigid and gets very uncomfortable. When asked if this isn't how Users say goodbye, Sora replies awkwardly that it's the first time it's happened to him.)
But Sora isn't Roxas. And the fact that Roxas chooses to duel with Sora some five minutes later gameplay-wise (you go through only two rooms, but they're full of enemies), kind of says something. I think that Roxas was probably struggling against Sora for both of those rooms, and at Memory's Skyscraper he finally wrenches enough of himself out to attack Sora.
Basically, I'm saying, it would be a huge coincidence for Roxas to just DECIDE to fight Sora right after Axel's death if that wasn't part of what motivated him to want to do it.
But I don't think there WAS necessarily romantic inclination in Axel's words, either. I'm not squealing over omg he said HEART it must be LOVE. Because for Axel, for all Nobodies, discussion of the heart means so much more than just "I like you, tee hee."
I think Kay-san's mentioned to you that in the novels Axel does a monologue about how Nobodies DO have feelings; they feel incomplete, and they identify this incompletition as lacking a heart. (And some of them, like Roxas, clearly do feel that Nobodies are incapable of emotion. Axel just isn't one of them. In fact, in the Japanese, he kind of throws feelings around -- intead of "I would [miss you]," what he says is "I would be sad," and instead of "I'm so flattered," he says "I'm so happy.")
So what does it mean that Roxas made him feel as though he had a heart? It means that Roxas made him feel whole. Someone like HIM. Someone who did all of this murdering with this devil-may-care smile on his lips.
no subject
But Sora isn't Roxas. And the fact that Roxas chooses to duel with Sora some five minutes later gameplay-wise (you go through only two rooms, but they're full of enemies), kind of says something. I think that Roxas was probably struggling against Sora for both of those rooms, and at Memory's Skyscraper he finally wrenches enough of himself out to attack Sora.
Basically, I'm saying, it would be a huge coincidence for Roxas to just DECIDE to fight Sora right after Axel's death if that wasn't part of what motivated him to want to do it.
But I don't think there WAS necessarily romantic inclination in Axel's words, either. I'm not squealing over omg he said HEART it must be LOVE. Because for Axel, for all Nobodies, discussion of the heart means so much more than just "I like you, tee hee."
I think Kay-san's mentioned to you that in the novels Axel does a monologue about how Nobodies DO have feelings; they feel incomplete, and they identify this incompletition as lacking a heart. (And some of them, like Roxas, clearly do feel that Nobodies are incapable of emotion. Axel just isn't one of them. In fact, in the Japanese, he kind of throws feelings around -- intead of "I would [miss you]," what he says is "I would be sad," and instead of "I'm so flattered," he says "I'm so happy.")
So what does it mean that Roxas made him feel as though he had a heart? It means that Roxas made him feel whole. Someone like HIM. Someone who did all of this murdering with this devil-may-care smile on his lips.
It really...it's just stunning.
[continued...]