Which is not to say that Axel doesn't care about Xion. He obviously does. In the above clips, his reactions to Roxas and Xion are nearly identical.

Then there's the way that Roxas and Xion react to Axel. Here, Roxas lets Axel pick him up and carry him. Sure, he's in the middle of a memory attack, but he accepts Axel's help. Meanwhile, Xion is like, no thanks, I can stand on my own.

We'll end on two of my favorite shots from each scene. Once again, Axel dashes up to Roxas, overcome with worry, their silhouettes overlapping. But with Xion, they are again framed in opposition, standing apart from each other.

So, what can we draw from this? Well, as an Akuroku shipper, I know what I would say. I've always seen the subtext between these two. There is a level of intimacy between Axel and Roxas that is simply not present between Axel and Xion. To me, Axel and Xion behave like friends who are having a disagreement. But with Roxas, Axel is like, "overprotective boyfriend mode, activate."

But I can see the argument in the Xion scene, Axel still feels conflicted on the whole "puppet" thing, explaining some of his standoffishness. Also, that scene happens first chronologically. So by the time he takes Roxas to CO, Axel knows how it went with Xion (aka, poorly) and is more inclined to intervene. All this to say that I think a platonic reading between Axel and Roxas is valid as well.

I know which one I prefer, though ;3