In the eyes of a sarcastic, pugnacious boy, he is strong and clever and witty and far too immature. That boy sneers at him, telling him you need to grow up Axel and get serious, Axel and if you keep this up, you'll never make it in the Organization, Axel. Always, always, that boy says his name and tells him what to do, and he never, never listens to that boy, because that boy lost touch with things like fun and just because and hilarious a long, long time ago.

In the eyes of his backstabbing, derisive coworkers, he is odd and wild and a necessary evil and far too independent. They scoff and mock him, muttering things like that traitor, number eight and number eight's not trustworthy and we need to do something about number eight. Always, always, they say his number and avoid him, and he always, always returns the favor, because he doesn't like his coworkers and they deserve to get their just desserts at the hands of someone else they underestimate.

In the eyes of a pretty, scared princess, he is dark and scary and demanding and far too untrustworthy. She rejects his offer and runs away, shouting at him I don't know you and I won't go with you and save your offer, you creep. Always, always, she mistrusts him and he never, never disabuses her of the notion that he's some fearsome demon come to kidnap her instead of the valiant not-quite-hero who's come to take her back to Sora because maybe, just maybe, that'll get him his sarcastic, pugnacious friend back and it's at least worth a shot.

In the eyes of a valiant, true hero, he is weird and confusing and helpful and far too familiar. That hero frowns at him, saying who are you and why are you doing this and no, Axel, don't do that you don't need to die! Always, always, that hero looks at him wide, too-innocent eyes, and he always, always feels a tug to keep those eyes too innocent, because that hero is like his sarcastic, pugnacious friend but so much more fun and childish and maybe, just maybe, this hero will be able to save everyone and maybe this hero will fall flat on his face and fail every single useless person in all the worlds.

But in the eyes of someone who really truly never should have existed, he is great and shining and kind and not nearly as bad as his coworkers. That one looks up to him and tells him that the others don't matter, they're just jealous and you're much better than all the others and you really mean it? I can be a real person? Always, always, that one follows his orders and he never, never gives that one an order he can't follow, because damned if the kid wouldn't try to follow it anyways, because the kid is programmed to do what people tell him to but that only works if he likes the person who's telling him to do something.

In the eyes of someone worse off than anyone else, Axel is a hero, Axel is a knight in shining armor, Axel is a savior, Axel is a friend. In the eyes of the first person he ever really truly failed, Axel can do anything but can do no wrong, and in the eyes of the only person who ever died because of him and mostly him and him alone, Axel will never, ever let that person down.

In the eyes of Axel, Roxas is far too young and Organization XIII is far too wrong and Kairi is far too stubborn and Sora is far too heroic but the Replica is far too trusting and willing and determined, because the Replica trusted Axel and was willing to do what Axel said and was determined to do the best he could. And Axel thinks that maybe, just maybe, if he had done something different the Replica would have lived, and the Replica could have saved Roxas and beaten the Organization and rescued Kairi and helped Sora, because the Replica was Riku's and if Riku ever got a reality check and a healthy dose of dark power, he could be the strongest person to ever grace the universe with his existence.

But the Replica died, felled by Soul Eater and Riku's need to destroy his past, and Roxas became Sora who defeated the Organization at the cost of a few Nobodies and one of the most brilliant assholes to ever get 'Wise' tacked onto his name, and Riku went ahead and rescued Kairi because Riku wasn't totally useless after all.

And Axel died, killed by his own attack on mere Dusks and his grief for Roxas and his guilt for the Replica, with Sora there watching, and Axel really never did much of anything besides kill people or let them die.

In the eyes of Axel, Axel was a failure. And his viewpoint was the only one that he never, never disagreed with.

-fin-