(I don't own either the children's book "The Velveteen Rabbit," nor the video game Kingdom Hearts. Enjoy.)
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were laying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and have a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
Axel shut the book, and laid it down thoughtfully, staring at the cover for some time. The book had been an odd choice—its placement incongruous among Vexen's scientific texts and Larxene's novels of sadism and cruelty. A simple children's tale, full of sweetness, love, and hope.
He sat down in an armchair behind him, staring heavily at the cover. What did he know of any of those? Axel, like his comrades, had been born from darkness, made of nothingness.
He lazily scanned the book's title again: The Velveteen Rabbit; or, How Toys Become Real. Axel smiled ironically at the title's latter half, running a hand through his flame-colored hair. "And would that apply to Nobodies as well?" he asked the room flippantly.
He chuckled richly, though the laughter died away slowly. "Real," he mused. "Real."
"Real isn't how you are made. It's a thing that happens to you."
Sapphire eyes flashed in his memory, unbidden, and Axel gripped the front of his coat. He knew there was nothing there, but for a moment, he could almost feel the weight…the shadow of the heart he once had.
The Nobody closed his eyes, slowly hunching down to rest his elbows on his knees. "Roxas." The name escaped softly, lovingly. Axel reopened his eyes, resting them upon the book.
"…if you loved me, would I be real?"
…your very presence makes me feel real. Like a heart beats inside this hollow shell. So stay with me. Love me. Make me live, breathe, bleed, feel. Stay with me, Roxas.
Love me.
Make me feel real.