Rated: PG-13
Pairings and warnings: secret, but I guess you know me...
Disclaimer: Some characters (C) Clamp, "Tango de Roxanne"
(C) The Police and Baz Luhrmann
Club Regina: Do You Remember Love?
Part 3
by Beth
Sakura seemed far more relaxed as she rejoined the group at the table.
"Simply splendid," Katsuhiro complimented her.
"Of course," Seishirou agreed as he pulled out a chair for the singer. He took the opportunity to lean against her and whisper, "Half-pint imitation? You cut me to the quick..."
Sakura let out a low laugh. "You deserved it."
A waitress came by and Casey grabbed a glass of wine for herself and Cokes for Sorata and Kamui. She reached for her drink, then noticed Sakura's glare and quickly switched it with Sorata's. Then she spoke quickly, covering the lapse.
"Sakura, meet Kamui and Sorata. It's their fist time here, and they love your singing - don't you?"
"Sure," Sorata said. He noted Seishirou's amused look and drank his drink nervously.
"I didn't know you enjoyed this kind of music," Fuuma commented to Kamui. He was already on his third daiquiri and was slurring a bit.
"I just like it," Kamui muttered defensively. He pointed at the stage, where the band leader was signaling impatiently. "What does he want?"
"That's my cue," Casey laughed. She came up to the stage and took over the microphone.
"If I may have your attention please," she called. "The next song will give you an opportunity to dance as well as listen - so let's tango!"
Fuuma turned towards Seishirou. "Do you-"
But the Sakurazukamori was already rising, dragging a reluctant Sakura behind him.
They stopped in the middle of the dancefloor as the guitar started the first simple chords.
"Shall we dance?"
A split second of hesitation before a white-gloved hand was placed in his. Beside them, other dancers gathered, but as the first steps of the beat sounded, it was as if they were alone. Seishirou's palm rested on Sakura's back, holding her within the embrace like a bird within a cage.
The first sound of the cello, and they took the first step. Sakura's foot retreated gracefully before her partner's advance. His eyes were trained on her face, and she shivered as his leg brushed against hers.
"More confidence," he whispered during the next step. "We'll out-dance everyone here."
Her lips twisted in a slight grin. "Show-off."
"But of course," he agreed. "Ready?"
A nod.
Onstage, the guitarist sang in a rough voice: "We'll drive you... We'll drive you... We'll drive you... Mad!!"
The light glittered among the diamonds in Sakura's hair as her head turned sharply. Seishirou led her through side-steps that brought them at first slightly apart, then together.
"Roxanne!" the guitarist roared.
In the next step, it was Sakura who brushed her leg sensuously against Seishirou's.
"You don't have to put on that red light."
He turned her in his arms, and as her head snapped to face him, the black strands of her hair brushed against his neck.
"Walk the streets for money..."
A step back and she turned to the left, and then with another step to the right, but there were no weak points in the hold he had on her.
"You don't care if it's wrong or if it is right."
He turned them again, against the line of the dance, and tapped the rhythm with a half-step before each step.
"Roxanne!"
This time they both turned to opposing sides, but their hands held them together throughout the motion.
"You don't have to wear that dress tonight."
He stepped back as she stepped forward, pulling her towards him.
"Roxanne!"
Side-by-side again as they danced. Her leg stepped between his for a moment, earning an admiring look and a wink.
"You don't have to sell your body to the night!"
She smiled back as they reached the middle of the floor. He stood almost still, only turning to face her as she moved around him, closing in with each step until they were flush against each other. His fingers caressed the outside of her right hand, and at one of the tables a gasp of realization issued from a suddenly tightened throat.
Casey smiled indulgently at the dancers as she began her verse. "His eyes upon your face..."
Seishirou was walking forward again, Sakura backing up but not backing down from the haughty pose. They both maintained absent half-smiles, and his fingers kept stroking her glove as they held it tightly.
"His hand upon your hand..."
Kamui tracked their moves with narrowed eyes, wondering whether his suspicions were correct. He was suddenly distracted as Fuuma moved a companionable arm around his shoulders and lost sight of them among the crowd.
"His lips caress your skin..."
A pair of inexperienced dancers almost collided into them, and Seishirou used the opportunity as he led Sakura to the side in an unorthodox twirl to brush his lips against her glove. She guided their hands to the proper position with barely hidden irritation, which earned her another playful wink.
"It's more than I can stand!"
A sudden stop, and they turned towards each other before turning to face the line of the dance again. Sakura's leg lifted off the floor in that movement, swinging behind her in a flash of satin as her skirt fluttered.
"Why does my heart cry?!" Casey sang, lengthening the notes, as the guitarist joined in with a growled "Roxanne!"
They had found their rhythm now, navigating expertly across the pitfalls of the dancefloor. Seishirou's hand moved slightly across Sakura's back, tangling in her hair.
"Feelings I can't fight..."
Heads turned as they passed, riveted to the glitter of diamonds in Sakura's hair and Seishirou's sure movements as he steered them through a diagonal pattern that all but caused three other pairs to collide. He ended it with a turn, and she hooked her leg over his knee for a moment to keep from falling to the floor.
"You're free to leave me,
But just don't deceive me."
The rhythm of the song changed slightly, becoming more waltz-like, and Seishirou matched it perfectly as he speeded up their motion, all but making them glide across the floor. Sakura tapped the floor in half-steps during each movement, resisting his lead slightly.
"And please, believe me
When I say I love you!"
Without warning, he dipped her low as Casey's last words echoed around the room. Sakura wrapped her left leg around his thigh, throwing her head back as her hair brushed the floor. He dipped his lips, brushing against her lace-covered throat, and she shivered. She didn't meet his eyes when he righted her up again.
"Sorry about that," he whispered as they stood frozen amid the muted music.
"No you're not," she answered, but she raised her eyes to his again.
At the next beat, they started to move again, simply drawing slow circles with the toes of their left legs. After a moment, they danced, far more gently, as if two strangers had met on the dancefloor for the first time in their lives.
"Y yo que te quiero tanto que voy hacer," the guitarist murmured in Spanish. "Me dejaste, me dejaste por un montón de monedas."
"What does this mean?" Fuuma wondered.
"El alma se me fue, se me fue el corazón. Ya no tengo ganas de vivir porque no te puedo convencer, que no te vendas corazón."
"Something about a woman who left him for money," Hiroshi whispered. "She was his heart and soul, and now he no longer wants to live because he can't convince her not to sell herself."
"Like in the song!" Sorata nodded as he grabbed another drink from a passing waitress.
Silence fell, and the dancers stood still, frozen as if under a spell. The illusion was broken by a soft wail from the cello. While some swayed to it slightly, none moved. The music grew stronger, louder, more frantic, but as if connected by a sudden telepathy, the dancers remained immobile.
"Roxanne!" the guitarist sang.
The spell broke, and the circle of the dance started again. Among the pairs, one stood out - Seishirou and Sakura dancing in perfect synchronization, gazing deeply into each other's eyes as their feet moved in complex patterns, twining with each other's.
"Why does my heart cry?" Casey joined in, at the same time that the guitarist continued with his line. "You don't have to put on that red light!"
Stepping to the side, he leading, she following him, her weight resting in his arms.
"Feelings I can't fight!"
"You don't have to wear that dress tonight..."
With an abrupt change of direction Sakura's full skirt fluttered in the air like the wings of a swan landing on a lake. Her hair cut through the air again, falling on Seishirou's shoulder, single strands clinging to the dark suit even after it all but slipped off.
"Roxanne!"
Turning to the sides, their feet lifting high from the floor. Seishirou's heels clicked against each other with each step.
"Why does my heart cry?"
"You don't have to put on that red light!"
Sakura's shoes drew dramatic circles around her and Seishirou as they changed direction again. Most of the others had stopped dancing, watching them instead as they lost themselves in each other's eyes.
"Feelings I can't fight!"
"Roxanne."
A diagonal pattern, and she didn't look around as she stepped back, trusting him to guide her through the crowd.
"You don't have to wear that dress tonight."
He dipped her again, never pausing in their steps, and she slipped behind him as she straightened, losing contact for a moment before he turned and caught her in his embrace once more.
The music changed
"Roxanne!!" the guitarist yelled.
The melody was frantic, feverish, punctured by the fast beat of the drum. Almost all still-dancing pairs stumbled, but it only prompted Sakura and Seishirou to quicken their steps. There were no pauses now as they moved in a narrowing circle around the dancefloor, not noticing the spectators.
"Roxanne!!!" Casey wailed.
They were almost in the middle of the floor, and each step was punctuated with a flourish of some sort - a tap of a shoe, a leg outstretched during a sharp turn, or brushing against the other's thigh.
"Roxanne!!!!" the two singers shouted together.
Seishirou's hold was broken as Sakura stepped back, but he caught her free hand and pulled her to himself; he placed his right hand upon her heart. Then he pushed her away so hard she almost fell.
The music ended.
Only now Sakura seemed to notice that everyone was watching them. She blushed fetchingly and bowed to the applauding crowd as Seishirou kissed her hand and leaned to whisper in her ear.
"Do you know the song, 'Come what may'?"
She shot him a sharp look, but nodded reluctantly.
"Good."
They made their way back to the table, where another round of applause and a long whistle (courtesy of Sorata) greeted them.
"You don't dance like a married couple," Katsuhiro noted.
"We... haven't danced for a long time," Sakura said slowly.
Seishirou smiled at her. "I've missed... dancing with you."
"So have I," she whispered, smiling at him.
Neither noticed the way Kamui's fingers clutched his glass, his violet eyes wide with disbelief.
~TO BE CONTINUED~
Author's Notes:
Kamui: You're sick -_-;
While I used to be an intermediate-level tango dancer, it's been a while and Larry Carroll's online book at
This version of Roxanne was featured in the movie "Moulin Rouge". To quote the esteemed Terrence David John Pratchett, OBE, "It's better than the original version." ^_^
I wasn't able to find a translation of the Spanish lines, so the one that Hiroshi gives was compiled from a variety of translation sites. If anyone can correct it, I'd be grateful; meanwhile I blame it on Hiroshi's poor Spanish ^_~
Why's Kamui acting like he is? No-one knows...
Beth: So you figured it out? Have a cookie ^_^