Apple Cider

Every story, he mused to himself as he sat in the small restaurant waiting for his 'date' to arrive, begins somewhere, with someone.

First day in junior high school; it was possibly the worst thing that could happen to a boy his age. Looking around, he knew quite well that he just didn't fit among the mass of students that slowly gathered in small groups of friends or simply classmates. He, as a new student, belonged to none, and to say he felt out of place would be an understatement.

"Hi." He jumped slightly, so engrossed he'd been in his study of those around him that he had missed this particular student. He turned and looked at the female student with guarded eyes. She looked about his age, and ported the female version of the uniform of the school. Her bright hazel eyes hid nothing from him as she met his own with a tender smile.

"Hello." He responded quietly. A quick look behind the girl told him that she had not been alone, judging by the small flock of other girls that were whispering and looking in her direction.

"I'm . Pleased to meet you…." She started in a nervous babble, before realizing that she didn't know his name.

"Sanada Genichirou."

She grinned, red lining the rise of her cheeks. "Pleased to meet you, Sanada-kun."

He inclined his head down politely. "Same here."

He sighed heavily, looking down into the warm cup of brown-colored clear liquid. That had been the beginning of their story, even if at the moment it had felt like some random encounter to him.

But , with her gentle personality but iron will, had taken it upon herself to make frequent appearances in his life. She was usually around the tennis courts when they practiced, gazing at the team when they practiced. Her growing bond with the members was an expected thing, after all was quite a friendly girl. And she usually brought treats with her, something that only served to give points in her favor.

Before he himself realized it, he'd come to expect her presence most of the time. Be it during classes, walking to classes, or when she sat quietly during their practices. She'd become a constant in his life.

It took a while for their 'just classmates' situation to evolve into 'friends' but when it did, he found it hard to stop his growing affection for her.

After that, it took a considerably shorter time for his feelings to grow into something else he could not quite name. Yukimura noticed the change in his feelings shortly after, and he still remembered the laughing voice in which his Captain had told him. 'You are smitten.'

He remembered the first time he kissed her.

"Thank you, for walking me back home." told him when they were walking back to her house from a gathering at Yukimura's.

"It was the least I could do." He told her with his usual serious voice. He suddenly felt her grab his arm and burrow into his side. He looked down at her, startled.

smiled up at him.

"It's coooold!" She told him, shivering but it was hard to judge if the pinkish hue that had taken residence in her cheeks was because of the cold or because of embarrassment.

The rest of the walk was continued in silence, but the streets were alive with lights for recently passed Christmas and the upcoming New Year.

They stopped at her doorstep, and turned to him with bright eyes and a cheerful smile. "Thank you, for inviting me to the party in the first place."

"It was nothing." He shrugged carelessly.

"To me it was," She told him with a secretive smile. "I had a great time."

She remembered the dances; how she had taken it upon herself to match Kirihara's as they danced to a quick tune, staring in wonder at Yukimura's knowing smile, and the outmost care which Sanada had guided her through the slow-paced song. She remembered the karaoke, in which everyone had talked them both into singing a duet. "Happy New year, Sanada!"

"Genichirou."

"Huh?"

"Call me Genichirou."

Then he had bent down and kissed her; slow and tentative at first, barely touching her lips as he waited for her to respond. She didn't disappoint him, she pressed her lips against his, seeking a little bit more of contact. She tasted of ginger cookies and apple cider.

He let go of her lips, but remained close enough so that their noses touched. "Happy New Year, ." Then covered her lips again, this time with more confidence and more passion.

The next time they met with the rest of the team, he was holding her hand unabashedly. As his teammates cheered and made absurd cat calls, he had met the knowledgeable eyes of his smiling buchou.

After that they had started dating, taking it slowly at first, both looking for something that was not skin-deep like the usual teenage passions. They wanted something deeper, that lasted longer and had more meaning. It took him several years after that kiss to realize that he was no longer smitten with her, but had actually fallen in love with her.

When he told Yukimura of these newly found feelings, his one time buchou, now unchangeable friend wasn't surprised at all.

'I saw that coming since the day you became friends.' He told him with that same knowing smile from all those years ago.

After years of dating, just before they finished college, he thought about 'popping the question'. He bought the ring one Friday in winter, and waited between Christmas and New Year to ask her out to dinner.

After they had finished eating, and just as she was drinking what was left of her cup of apple cider, he took out the small black box and met her wide eyes with his own. 'Will you marry me?' He'd asked, completely serious, but he knew he'd let a begging undertone escape in his voice.

She'd cried then, reaching across the table to kiss him. 'Yes.' She said, smiling between her overflowing tears.

But every story that began was fated to end.

He looked down at his cup, and raised it to his lips. He tasted the sweet flavor of the apple drink, and smiled sadly when it reminded him of her.

"Sorry I'm late, Genichirou."

Came the gentle female voice he'd come to know so well. He looked up, his eyes meeting bright hazel ones. She was dressed in a suit, looking professional, tidy and impersonal. She looked nothing like the girl that had greeted him once, or the girl he had kissed one winter. He knew the woman that he had married, the same he had loved in the dead of the night, hidden underneath the businesswoman that stood before him.

The kiss bestowed upon his cheek in greeting felt cold, achingly devoid of passion, full of bitter longing.

A waiter came, and asked her what she desired to drink. She smiled upon looking at the menu. "A cup of hot apple cider would be fine, thank you."

His eyes searched for a shred of the woman he had loved once, in a time that now seemed so far away. New Year had always marked the end of one thing and the beginning of another when it came to . Friendship, to love, to marriage and lastly…

To separation.

"Genichirou," Her quiet, sad voice made him look into her hazel eyes, eyes that had lost some of their shine, of their gentleness and vulnerability. "What happened to us?"

"I wish I had an answer."

sighed, the glow of tears in her eyes. The waiter came and left her cup in the table. She took a sip, and the drink tasted of tears and apples. Letting the cup down she met his eyes again, one teardrop shattering on the beige mantle that covered the table. "What went wrong?"

"I don't know." He looked down at his hands.

"We had been together for so long; I thought we would be together 'til death do us part'."

He remained quiet, looking at the finger where once possessed a ring, looking then at his own hand that also lacked that similar piece of jewelry.

"I wish you happiness." She smiled, tears clinging to her lashes. He studied that look with painful care; it was different from that one watery smile in just one thing: her eyes were sad. Terribly sad.

She stood up and walked towards him. He expected many things; a part of his mind even wished for her to bent down and kiss him. But he never expected her arms to come around him and embrace him tightly.

When she let go, the warmth she'd planted within his heart started dying, slowly ebbing away with the fading echo of her steps as she left.

He looked to her side of the table, and there resting next to her half-empty cup of apple cider, was her wedding ring.

He grabbed the ring before walking out the restaurant.

It was true that all stories came eventually to an end, but he was not willing to let their own story end like that.

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December 23, 2007
Written by: Yoru
Edited by: Linchpin