Lea
I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It is the property of Square Enix and the Walt Disney Studios. This is a creative work that I do not profit off of in any way.
Let it be said, my dear readers, that you'll always have a vignette to read from me. Like this one!
Lea. That had been his name, once upon a time. A time when he had lived in Radiant Garden. As a cocky teenager who was quick to pick a fight and quick to make friends, Lea had snuck into Ansem the Wise's castle. Ansem, to his credit, hadn't known it at the time, but his apprentices were taking part in twisted experiments, many of them centered on that one girl. Lea, and his buddy Isa, had resolved to free her, only for her to have vanished and then they were captured and then they lost their hearts…
It wasn't until Axel sacrificed himself, put his entire being into an attack to save Sora's scrawny neck from about a bazillion Dusks. He'd burned every last one of them to nothingness, because Axel was awesome, but he'd pushed too hard…and faded away. He'd thought that would be the end of it, but low and behold, he woke up. Him and the rest of Ansem's apprentices. They were people again. Ienzo and Even and Aeleus and Dilan.
Strictly speaking, his name was still Lea. He had corrected King Mickey and Riku and Master Yen Sid and Ienzo about this. A lot. But they still kept calling him "Axel," so he decided to hell with it. He couldn't really blame them for the mix-up. If you answer to something every day for ten years, how could you judge someone for failing to call you anything different?
Though Dilan certainly hadn't liked it when Axel had slipped up and called him "Xaldin," even if it had only been the one time. Once had turned out to be enough. After that, the apprentices hadn't slipped up calling him "Lea."
But then, Axel had trained with Kairi and although he tried to get her to call him "Lea," because that's who he thought he was, and because it was to help put distance between their somewhat rocky past. Which was a polite way of saying Axel had once kidnapped Kairi. Even if he had intended to give her back, he had still kidnapped her. And she had kicked and punched and bit him. A lot.
After they had smoothed things out…things were still kind of weird. Forgiveness aside—and Kairi it turned out was very forgiving—it was weird hearing her call him "Lea." And why was that? Lea was here, Axel was no more. Axel had been burned up and faded away into nothing and then his destroyed body reformed around his released heart.
But then again, it didn't change how he felt. And wasn't that a huge part of what a heart was? Being able to feel? Being able to contemplate and muse and wonder and want? And Lea realized he preferred it when Kairi called him "Axel." It just sounded natural coming out of her mouth. And when she said "Axel," it tended to make her smile, and he liked making her smile. And after all, weren't they trying to get Roxas and Naminé back? They didn't know "Lea," but they did know "Axel."
(This was probably the biggest part of it. The ones they'd lost knew him as Axel. Roxas and Naminé and though nobody realized it at the time, Xion too. And he had wanted them back).
That day in the Keyblade Graveyard…he'd He had stared down his old Superior…Xemnas. The one who had branded him with the Sigil, and told him he now bore the name "Axel."
You have any idea how popular I am? I got loads of people rooting for me. Sorry, boss. No one axes Axel. Got it memorized?
And then after that, Xemnas had knocked him down again. And it looked like Axel was gonna get axed after all, until a tiny hand grabbed Xemnas's ethereal blade. Xion…who got her memories back after Xemnas threw a fit and kicked her into Sora. And right before Xemnas was going to use his blade on Xion, Roxas had returned.
Roxas and Xion…the ones who had known him as Axel. His two best friends. The three of them together…they had stared down Xemnas. And from their chests…the Sigils. The same ones Xemnas had branded them with. The Sigils faded with Xemnas…but the name had lingered…
Really, when you got down to it, had Lea ever really gone away? The only reason he was called Axel was because he had been branded by Xemnas. It wasn't like with Roxas the Zombie. He had had his memories. And sure, the first days were fuzzy and huge chunks of it were so boring that Axel couldn't remember them specifically, but that had more to do with how much the Organization sucked then any real absence from Axel's state of mind.
Was he Lea or was he Axel? Both? Did it really matter?
"Hi Axel!" Roxas and Xion said in unison. "We're home!"
Axel…home…that was answer enough.
Axel was a cooler name than Lea anyhow.
I must admit, I go back and forth on whether or not Axel would actually go back to using "Lea" on a permanent basis. The events of Re:Mind however, put Axel as predominant in my mind. I swear, I didn't intend the pun.
Thank you for reading my dear, dear readers. Leave a comment if you're so inclined! I appreciate each and every one of you!