Disclaimer: Yeah... see these characters... I don't own them. If I did... Axel would be.. not in KH. He'd be... otherwise occupied. So yeah, no KH-ownage here.

Relena put down her book and stretched her arms. The sun that beat upon her was slightly uncomfortable, but she was in a lazy mood. Moving from where she sat would take too much effort. She uncrossed her legs and swung them up on the bench next to her book. Sitting the same way was beginning to give her cramps.

Ooooh, the lake looked so pretty. Daydreaming, Relena gazed out at it. All of her books said that a prince always came to take you away to a gorgeous castle of your own. Where was her prince?

"Hmm… what's.. this?" A rough, curious voice broke through her thoughts.

Relena spun around, swinging her legs down from the bench. She was no longer alone. A man with hair only possible in the darker, more abstract tales was perched on the arm of the bench, on the opposite side from her. In his coarse hands he held her book. He flipped it open and paged through it, making a face at the title.

"A romance novel? What horrible taste."

Relena shrank away from the man with her book. What kind of person just came up and scared someone like that? Or just picked up someone else's property and started looking through it?

"Er... excuse me. May I have my book back, please?" Relena asked politely. Her courtesy was forced; it was hard to mask the irritation this stranger was causing her.

"Oh, your book? I assumed it was someone else's, the way you were just sitting there ignoring it." His bright red eyebrows raised themselves doubtfully.

Relena looked around the park as she brought her knees up to her chest. It was nearly deserted at this late time of day. Everyone was at their homes, eating their dinner or relaxing. She looked back at the man as she noticed that the sky was beginning to darken, turning a darker blue and purple mix.
"Yes, my book. Do you see anyone else it could belong to?" Her annoyance seeped into her voice, her request almost a snap.

"Nah… no other pretty girls around." As he cocked his head in her direction, a smirk crept across his features. The light breeze picked up the flame-like spikes of hair.

She turned towards him again, and rested her chin on her knees. Did he just call her pretty? No one had ever called her pretty before… He was the first.

"Do you have a name?" She asked, seemingly ignoring the fact that he had called her pretty.

"Yes.. do you?"

"I asked you first!" Relena unclenched her fists. She didn't even know she had clenched them in the first place.. He made her uneasy. This man looked like no threat, but who would just come up and take someone's book, and strike up a conversation? What did he want?

He sighed and ran a hand through his brilliant red hair. "The name's Axel… got it memorized?"

Relena giggled. What an odd way to introduce yourself! Then again, it was quite an odd name.
"I think so!"

"And you? What's your name?" Axel asked.

"I'm Relena… nice to meet you," she said, pulling her knees away from her chest. She had subconsciously curled up into a slight ball, a defensive position.

Axel held out one of his hands to her and scratched the back of his neck with the other. Relena slowly extended her own hand and clasped his, looking over his attire. Simple clothing, just a normal pair of blue jeans and a black sweatshirt. She had expected something more fitting for someone with such bright hair… something more like one of her stories.
A cloak perhaps? She thought, teasing herself.

"So, is there any reason for you being out here while no one else is, Relena?" Axel dropped her hand and pulled at one of the silver strings on his sweatshirt. He said her voice carefully, with a kind of respect. She liked that.

"I… I guess I like the quiet. I've been out here nearly all day though.. reading.. why are you here?" Relena looked up at the sky as the first raindrops began to fall.

"Well, you looked pretty lonely sitting here… thought I'd give you some company." Axel waved a hand about, as if to emphasize that the park was empty.

Relena wrinkled her nose and continued to look up. "It's starting to rain…"

Axel looked over at her, and then up at the sky. He slid off the arm of the bench and stood up straight, still holding her book. "Do you melt in the rain, or something?"

Relena shivered and rubbed her arms as the thunder began to rumble in the distance. Axel looked at her oddly, like he didn't understand, and she began to get up. "I don't like thunder… it… scares me."

"It's not so bad… fire is much worse, so much more destructive. Thunder's just noise." Axel leaned forward, invading her personal space, and lifted her chin up to the sky. "Does that look scary?"

She shivered again. Relena shrunk back from his touch, pressing herself against the hard back of the chair. It was quite terrifying, but it wasn't exactly bothering her. She felt the fear, and knew that she didn't want to be outside in the storm, but it wasn't scary enough to make her run… yet.

"It looks horrible… like the Gods are fighting over our heads…" Relena crossed her arms over her chest and pulled her chin down close to her neck again. She thought of the black tumult of clouds above her. "I would much rather see fire."

"Here." Axel extended his hand to her, and she looked at him blankly.

"What?" Relena asked, rubbing her arms and looking at his hand. Boooom. Thunder shook through the air around them as a lightning bolt hit the ground across the park. Relena looked over at the lightning, strangely fascinated.

"Your book, my dear. You don't pay much attention to me, do you?" Axel said, following her gaze to across the park. "Oh, so you don't like thunder, but you adore its lover? Is that it?"

"Hmmm? No, that's not it… it's just pretty…" Relena reached out for her book without looking, her hand brushing against Axel's. "Oh!" she gasped, snatching her hand back and dropping the book.

"Oh, I'm sorry." A look of annoyance flashed across his face and he picked up her book, handing it to her carefully. He avoided any contact with her skin this time.

"Er… I really should get home…" Relena said, turning around and starting back down the rock path. The place where their hands had touched seared, as if he had struck a match against her skin.

"Talk to you later, then, Relena." Axel waved a hand in her direction and went the opposite way before she had even risen from where she sat.

"Mmmm…" Relena sighed as she stood up, holding the book to her chest. The thunder didn't seem quite so scary now that she had met Axel.

And there's chapter one! Reviews are better than chocolate... so share? :)

Axel *omnomnomnoms*

Thank you for reading, and this chapter was edited by NightxBlossom