Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis.

PLEASE LISTEN TO Frank Sinatra's Something Stupid while reading this.

Swing and Sway

A guy and a girl can be just friends, but at one point or another, they will fall for each other.

Maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late, maybe forever.

– Dave Matthews

Ryoma frowned as they kept on walking. And as time continued to lapse in that seemingly endless vortex, he kicked a pebble with the tip of his shoe in irritation. Behind him, Sakuno whimpered.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to bring me anywhere anymore. Really."

The young man merely threw her a glare over his shoulder.

"It's too late for that now, isn't it?" He told her with a bite on his tone. It's too late to back out now. Especially since they've actually dressed up. Since he actually dressed up in a polo shirt and slacks. Yes. It was definitely too late. He didn't know if he looked good, or if whatever he had on was worn right, but hell, he was dressed up. And he, Ryoma Echizen, hated suiting up. But the fact he did, for her, in just one say, incredibly irked him. He could only fathom why he did it so voluntarily.

Unable to find an answer, he shot Sakuno another glare. And frankly, Sakuno was close to breaking down, fearing the beast she'd unknowingly angered in her friend.

They have been walking around the city for over an hour, looking for somewhere decent to have dinner since they had no reservations, since Sakuno suddenly sprung out from the blue in front of him, since Sakuno came up to his apartment room, a-knocking, greeting him with her dazzling smile of hers. Not even her stupid stupid fiancé bothered to warn him. And by all hospitality's sake, oh was he hospitable, he sprung up from his couch, earning a reprimanding cry from Karupin, the old cat just kept refusing to die, and looked into his peephole. After he opened the door, his handsome face greeted her with a shocked expression.

The back of his mind, whispering, this wasn't just an epitome, right?

As he was about to usher her in, with a slowly forming smile, Sakuno told him,

"Let's go downtown?" in such an ecstatic manner that Ryoma would forever feel guilty for had he not complied.

Eventually, it brought them upon such a state.

"Dearie?" An old woman suddenly called out from a dark alleyway. Sakuno turned her head in surprise. And in front of her, Ryoma's scowl could only grow darker.

"Let's go, Ryuzaki." He told her irritably. Sakuno, though, wouldn't budge, and after a few seconds, took a few steps towards the old woman. Ryoma caught her arm before she could get any nearer the suspicious old woman in the questionably dark alley, an alley that gave him this ominous feeling that they were being watched from the shadows. Oh, the streets of New York were suspicious all right. "What do you think you're doing?"

"She needs help."

For the nth time that night, Ryoma's scowl deepened.

"So you're an expert in English now, are you?" He gritted out at her. "Dearie translates to I need help, does it?"

"Let go, Ryoma-kun." It was Sakuno's turn to frown. Tugging her arm off the young man's hold, she approached the old woman wearing a comfy-looking; brightly-colored dress.

"I need a date for tonight." The woman told her with a warm wrinkled smile. Ryoma was on guard beside her as the old woman rattled on. His eyes were more vigilant now than during his matches. He thought, if he lost his friend's fiancée just a week before their wedding, who knows what the bastard, who actually let loose his bride, would do to him. "My husband's gone ahead," she pointed up to the sky. "And my son is too busy to take me out dancing. If you don't mind, can you lend your handsome companion to a poor old woman?"

At this Sakuno blushed. Ryoma just raised a brow in disbelief.

How daft could Sakuno get? He thought to himself in defeat. "Hey, old hag, whatever you're pulling won't work on me at least." He told her frankly, pulling Sakuno towards him. "Let's go, Ryuzaki."

Still, Sakuno wouldn't budge. Her eyes were now staring out into something other than the old woman tapping to the tune of some unheard song. Following her gaze, Ryoma's brows creased further at the sight of an opened door down the dark alley where two old aged couples walked out of, humming to an unknown tune, swaying to an unknown song.

Sakuno, deemed now as the curious cat, took the old lady by the hand and led her slowly to the door, as if an entrance to some mysterious mystical realm. Ryoma's eye twitched as he left himself to follow after his friend, unknowingly caught in the enchantment as well. When they reached the door, what greeted them was something he's never seen before amidst all his travels. It was as if they were brought back in time. As if they were in a place where the old and wrinkled were young and alive, dancing, swaying, laughing. It wasn't a club, a disco, a retro whatever- it was something else entirely.

"Care to dance with me, young lady?" An old man suddenly bowed, reaching out an opened hand to Sakuno who blushed as the old man's companions cheered him on. Still in shock, Ryoma nearly jumped when old women flocked over to him.

"Aren't you that tennis star?" One of them had said. Soon after, the following laughed and cooed about how handsome he was up in person. "Dance with me, laddie." One of them teased, causing Ryoma's cheeks to flush deeply as the crowd around him grew.

Eventually enough, Ryoma joined Sakuno on the ballroom floor, dancing with the old woman he so skeptically snapped on. It didn't seem to mind the old woman though, because there she was, laughing at how easily flustered and stiff Ryoma was compared to her gracefully steps. Eventually, after dancing with a number of flattered elders, giving him tips on how to be more in tune with the music and what to do to get the woman he wants, to which he suddenly stared at them in shock, stopping himself from looking if Sakuno was hearing any of this.

As the night went on, as they continued changing partners casually, laughing here and there, with Ryoma finally a little better than he was over an hour ago, he suddenly found Sakuno seated on a chair, her face flushed, embarrassed from being caught watching him. Smiling in understanding, Ryoma turned to his dance partner and excused himself. The old woman nodded, rooting inwardly for the two love birds. Or what had seemed to be something close to it.

Not a man of words, Ryoma simply held out his hand in front of Sakuno who in turn just looked up to him with hazel eyes that bade him with a twinkle that spoke of a long-forgotten past. He took her hand and led her to the stage filled with happily dancing elders. He wore a small smile on his face as he glanced at the glittering floor. Raising her hand, he let her lead him as she laughed warmly. He didn't notice the grin on his face as he struggled to complement her footwork. Her laugh seemed mute as it sailed with the loud bouncy music that made their feet skip, that made their feet light in step. But the brilliance of her eyes and the radiance she emitted told him she was more than just happy.

The old couples swaying alongside them were naturals. All seemed born during the age where everyone was a romantic, where everyone was graceful and simply content with these simple joys. For the first time in his life, as he laughed, as Sakuno laughed, as he danced, as Sakuno continued leading him, he realized he was happy, filled even with bliss taken from something other than tennis. And not that he was counting, but this was only Sakuno's first night at America, with him, alone with him. And with only him. Who once had been nervous, anxious, then pissed by her sudden visit was now utterly and foolishly happy.

He was grinningly like a fool now. But in this crowd of quick blurry movements, of blissfully laughing faces, of sincere romantics, foolishness wasn't alien. Truthfully speaking, maybe all of them were foolish youngsters, enjoying the night dancing, reminiscing the times where life was simple and without the stress people call work and bills. Tonight, he wasn't even Ryoma Echizen. He was just another free soul, spending the night with those just like him, spending the night with the beautiful young lady in his arms, keeping him close, keeping him near.

He liked this place. He mused to himself in a far off thought as he held on Sakuno's hands and gently swayed with her. If he were to be honest, if he were to be truthful, at least to himself, as he breathed in her light sweet scent, as he felt the warmth of her cheek lightly touch his cheek, he'd say he has always been in love with her. With the girl who has stuck with him for more than a decade now, stuck with him through Japan, France, and America.

If he were to be honest to himself at least, he'd never let her go. He'd never let her marry.

The swinging jazz music died down later that night. But even as the light dimmed, even as the room cooled, and even as the people dwindled in number, the pair stood there, swaying with the light music playing amidst the screeching of chairs being pulled up and kept.

"Ryoma-kun." Sakuno had whispered lightly to him that night. Her eyes were dropping in front of him. Her fingers were cool against his neck. "I think we should leave."

"Hn." Ryoma grunted lightly, effortlessly. His eyes were dazed as they stared into the hazel lights in her eyes. "I guess we should then." He managed to utter with a tune groggy from the calm ambiance.

"Yes." Sakuno breathed in reply, although instead of stepping away, she closed her eyes and placed her head on his chest. A small smile etched its way into the corners of Ryoma's lips as he gently buried his face into the crook of her neck and softly whispered into her ear as if the most natural thing in the world.

"I love you, Sakuno."

And just like that, the scene crumbled. As the music kept playing in that light far away tune, Sakuno and Ryoma were pulled apart, their expressions still serene and their bodies immobile as the hands of fate tore them from one another. The platform they had danced on shattered into piles of wood. The alluring soft lights now flickered and popped dead. And the building vanished from plain sight.

A moment is only magical because it is fleeting.

A/N: I think this is the sweetest story of them I've made so far. I think.