Title: 56 Days

Game: Kingdom Hearts

Rating: T

Pairing: Axel/ Kairi with a hint of Sora/ Kairi ;D

Author: DearJournal-HeBrokeMyH3art

Summary: It took one day for him to kidnap her, three days for the realization of being kidnapped to sink in her mind, thirty eight days for her to stop missing Sora, and fifty six days for him to capture her heart.

Day 1

It was just like any other day. She got out of school and walked over by the beach to sit on the warm, tan sand. She closed her eyes thinking of her two lost friends when she heard an unfamiliar voice. "Sorry, to wake you up princess. I'm going to have to take you with me now." said the voice. The last thing she remembered seeing before blacking out was fire and emerald green.

Day 3

She woke up not recognizing her new surroundings. 'Where am I? I swear, I was just at the beach…' she thought when a male voice interrupted her mid-thought. 'No way, so that wasn't a dream!' she panicked when she realized that she indeed was kidnapped. "Rise and shine princess. Here, I brought you some food." said the voice. She looked over at the cell doors. A tall man with fiery red, spiked hair with emerald eyes, wearing a long black leather cloak-like jacket stood in the doorway bringing in what seemed to be food and coffee on a metal tray. "Wh- who are you?" she stammered. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" he answered. "As for you, Kairi, I brought you some food. You must be hungry. You've been asleep for about three days now." he said as he unlocked the cell door and walked closer to her. She backed away. "Stay back! How do you know my name?" she yelled. "Don't get all feisty Kairi." he said calmly. Right as he was going to place the food down on her bed, Kairi pushed the tray into his chest causing the food and beverage to smear all over his jacket. She felt guilt for a moment, but that feeling went away soon enough when Axel grabbed her wrist. "Bad move, doll. You'll regret it later." he hissed with a smirk spread across his lips. She swore she saw jade flames crackling in his eyes.

Day 6

Kairi hasn't seen Axel in a while. After the incident, Axel hasn't even bothered to show up. Kairi was starving. She's been keeping tallies of how long she was in captivity with a small piece of chalk she found underneath her bed. If what Axel said is correct, then she's been unconscious for three days and conscience for another three. That made it six days since she been kidnapped and six days since she's last ate. She was surprised that she was still alive after starving for six days. Her lips were dry and she had no strength whatsoever, but she was alive. Just as her stomach started grumbling for about the twelfth time that hour, she heard footsteps coming down the stone-floored corridor. She saw a black, gloved hand reaching out and lighting the torch in front of her cell. "Are you ready to cooperate with me now?" she heard the familiar voice say and looked up. There stood Axel with the same metal tray with steaming, fresh food and coffee on it. Only difference was that he wasn't smiling, or smirking. Or whatever he usually did. Kairi, obviously starving, stared blankly at the tray of food. "Here." he said. "I'll leave the food here. Eat it if you want. I'm not gonna force you to do anything. If you want to starve to death, fine. It doesn't really make a difference to me." he said with a stoic face as he unlocked the caged door and placed the tray gently next to her. He left quietly without giving her a second glance. As soon as she heard the footsteps fade away, she dove into the tray, eating as fast as she could. Concentrated on the food in front of her, Kairi didn't notice Axel walk back to her cell. Axel stood silently, back leaning slightly on the cell next to hers, peeking at her eating. It took a lot of courage on his part for him to act so cruelly towards her. Oh, how it took so much courage to be cruel towards such a kind, gentle girl. But he had a duty to carry out. 'There's a reason you're doing this Axel.' he thought to himself. 'Don't you dare forget why you're doing this.'

Day 7

Kairi woke up that morning less tired than usual. She woke up to see another tray of food next to her. Axel was no where in sight.

Day 11

Kairi woke up again that morning. For the past five days, Axel was nowhere in sight. He made sure to drop in her food three times a day, but that was usually when she was asleep. She hasn't been outside in eleven days now. (She made sure she kept count of each and every passing day) She had one small window at the back wall of her small cell. The moon outside was her only company. Kairi has been thinking of a lot of things these days. Being alone and all, she didn't have much to do anyhow. She thought about how she missed Riku and Selphie, how she missed Sora, and how she should probably apologize to Axel. 'Weird, isn't it?' she thought? She loathed that man for many reasons. Kidnapping her, acting to cruelly towards her. Well, maybe it wasn't that much reasons. But it was wrong of her to express such anger towards him. And she never thought of this, but there's a chance that she could have hurt him when she practically pushed that tray on him. Ouch. She winced while imagining the burning feeling of the hot beverage pouring on her skin. She decided that she should apologize to him. 'I'll pretend to sleep. If he comes in, I'll apologize to him!' she decided as she climbed into bed and pulled on the covers, preparing to carry out her plan.'

Day 11.5

Axel walked down the stone floored corridor, carefully walking so he won't wake her up. When he walked in, she was sleeping soundly in fetal position, her blanket fell on the floor and she was slightly shivering. 'Why is she shivering? It's hot in here… wait, is it just me? …' he thought. 'Oh wait. Pfft, right. Of course it's just me, duhhh.' he thought. He chuckled as he laid the tray down next to her bed. He picked up the thin blanket and covered the small girl. He crouched down and leaned in closer to her sleeping face. 'Gosh, she looks so peaceful when she's sleeping…' he thought. "She's… precious…" he whispered to himself as he brushed away her bangs that fell on her face. He let his fingers trail down to her lips. He took off his gloves revealing a scarred, light-skinned hand and gently touched her lips. He leaned in closer to her, their lips barely touching when he stood up again. 'Don't forget your plan Axel, you took her away for a reason. Axel quietly slipped on his glove as he turned back to the sleeping Kairi. 'Sleep tight princess, I hope your dreams will last just a bit longer…'

Day 12

"NO WAY!" Kairi exclaimed. "I FELL ASLEEP?" she looked towards her side to find a food-filled tray next to her. She picked up the cup of tea. "It's still warm… he must have been here recently…" she said as she peered out her cell bars to see nothing but a dark hallway lit by only a few torches. 'Hm…' she looked around and saw the small piece of chalk on the ground. 'Aha! I'll write to him on the tray!' she thought, clearly pleased with her own idea. She picked up the piece of chalk and scribbled a note on the tray with her girlish handwriting. "There!" she said. "That should do it!"

Day 13

Axel walked down the corridor at his routine time to get the tray from Kairi's cell. He delicately unlocked the lock and let himself in. Once he was in the cell he glanced down at the sleeping Kairi again. His hand reached out, wanting to experience the touch of her lips again, but he stopped himself from doing so. When he bent down to pick up the tray, he saw her message, written neatly in chalk. 'I'm really sorry, Axel. If you'd give me the chance, I'd like to apologize to you in person. Sincerely, Kairi.' it read. At that moment, Axel felt a churning motion in his stomach and a fluttering sensation in his chest where his "heart" would be. He forgot about his plan for just a moment. "Stupid girl…" he said as he looked down at her sleeping face while placing a free hand over his chest- the place where she spilled the hot coffee on. "What are you doing to me?" he asked her sleeping figure as he took off his glove and caressed her cheek once more.