A/N- Another Christmas oneshot! I'm sure you have all read enough of these, so here's another one to occupy your time.

Disclaimer: This is my story, but I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters.

Christmas with the Prince

Special Circumstance

"You what?!" Sakuno choked as the water she was drinking trickled down her mouth.

Sumire frowned. "I invited the Echizens for Christmas. And," she pointed at the puddle on the floor. "You are going to clean that up, right?"

"Y-Yeah," Sakuno immediately wiped up the water with a towel. "I can't believe you invited them."

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes. I-I mean no. I mean, why?"

"Well, I've known them for so long and never had them over for dinner. I thought it'd be nice to invite them on Christmas. Like a celebration of friends," Sumire explained.

"But they…" Sakuno sighed. "Never mind."

"Is it Ryoma?" Sumire teased.

Sakuno quickly turned her heated face away from her grandma. "N-no. Of course not."

Sumire laughed. "Okay. Well, they should be coming over at about seven. That means we have a good solid eight hours to prepare."

Sakuno nodded. She knew she would need at least eight years to get rid of her nervousness around Ryoma. However, Sakuno shook off any thoughts about him and began brainstorming a suitable Christmas dinner that she shared with her grandma.

With all the work they needed to accomplish, Sakuno barely had time to think anymore about Ryoma anyway. By the time the desserts were being prepared, Sakuno had forgotten entirely that Ryoma was even coming over.

"Play seriously!"

-Pok-

"Hey, Ryoma." Nanjirou caught the tennis ball in his hand. "You don't have any dates tonight, do you?"

Ryoma flung his racket at the old man. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Nanjirou easily dodged the racket and walked around the net to meet his fuming son. "We're going to dinner tonight. I just wanted to make sure you didn't have anything else planned."

Ryoma rolled his eyes. He walked to the other side of the court to fetch his racket. "I don't want to go."

Nanjirou smirked. "But you have to. It's at Ryuuzaki's house."

"Ryuuzaki?' Ryoma picked up his racket and fished another ball out of his pocket.

"Yea. Your little girlfriend." Nanjirou said.

Ryoma slammed the tennis ball across the court. "I don't want to go and she is not my girlfriend!"

"Whoa," Nanjirou canceled all power in the ball with his racket and bounced it into his hand. "Who said you had a choice?" He walked out of the court and into the house. "If you ever want to play tennis with me again, you will go to the party."

Ryoma glared at him murderously.

"Unless, of course, you have another date planned." Nanjirou popped his head out from the door.

Ryoma shot another tennis ball towards Nanjirou and broke the glass door as Nanjirou tried to close it as a shield.

"So are you going?" Nanjirou called from in the house.

"Shut up!" Ryoma shouted.

"Okay!" Nanjirou replied. "Be ready by 6:30."

Ryoma didn't bother shooting any more tennis balls or shouting any more curses. He could never beat his father. Not in tennis, not in height, heck, not even in eating.

Drearily, he trudged back into the house. "Ryoma, your father already told you right?" Ryoma's cousin peeped in from the kitchen.

Ryoma nodded.

"Well since they're going to be preparing the dinner, your mother and I thought it would be nice if we brought them presents. And because Sakuno-chan is about your age, we thought it would be better if you picked out her present." Nanako smiled.

Ryoma plopped down on the couch. "Doesn't matter what you get her. I don't care."

"Aw, come on. There's got to be something that you want to get her. She is your coach's granddaughter and your first girl—," Nanako saw Ryoma's eyes darken and rephrased her sentence. "I-I mean, your first friend that is a girl."

"I don't care." Ryoma repeated.

"Okay, okay." Nanako shook her head. "I'll pick out a present then." She called down Ryoma's mother and the two headed out the door. "We'll be back around six."

Ryoma turned the television on and took his mind off the party as he began watching a tennis tournament.

She had finally finished the dinner and placed all the proper utensils and plates on the table, ready to serve the guests.

But now she panicked.

Sakuno emptied out all her drawers, shoveled out her entire closet, and spread all the contents across the floor.

"I have nothing to wear!" Sakuno banged her head against the bed. "Ryoma-kun's coming and I have nothing to wear!" she screamed into her pillow.

"Sakuno?" Sumire called from downstairs. "Are you okay?"

Sakuno quickly took a deep breath and collected herself back together. "Y-Yeah." She went over her outfit choices and found nothing suitable for the dinner. Everything was either too casual or too dressy. She glanced inside her closet again and spotted a cardboard box on the top shelf. It was hidden from the piles of clothing Sakuno stored there, however now that everything was on the floor, Sakuno could clearly see the box jammed in the corner. She reached for the box and brought it down. On the label, it read: Ryuuzaki Sakura.

"Mom?"

Sakuno opened the box and found a neatly folded shirt on top.

She picked it up and smiled. "Perfect." The shirt really emphasized the holiday spirit with its metallic jade color. It was short sleeved with a cinched front top and draped bodice. Sakuno found some black leggings to put under the shirt and then moved on to take out her long braids. She combed her hair and put on a green and white striped headband. She found matching jewelry and carefully picked out the colors to match her look. Sakuno finished applying some simple eyeliner and lip gloss just as the doorbell rang. She gave one last look at herself in the mirror and silently thanked her mother for the shirt.

"Merry Christmas!" Nanjirou chirped as Sumire opened the door.

"Merry Christmas to you too." Sumire replied.

Sakuno rushed down the stairs, ready to greet the guests. "Merry Chirstmas, Echizen-san."

"Merry Christmas!" Nanjirou smirked. "My, my. You sure look cute, Sakuno-chan!"

Ryoma suddenly shoved himself through the door and glared at his father.

"Merry Christmas, Ryoma-kun." Sakuno bowed.

"Merry Christmas." Ryoma replied, still shooting daggers at his father.

"You must be Sakuno-chan," Nanako hugged Sakuno. "Nice to meet you and Merry Christmas!"

"Oh, Merry Christmas to you too." Sakuno said, surprised at how much Ryoma's family contrasted with him.

"Everyone in the kitchen!" Sumire led the group to a neatly set table covered with all types of holiday dishes.

The guests were all amused by the huge platter of sushi placed in the middle of the table. Each individual sushi was shaped into little Christmas trees and its rice was died with either red or green food coloring. The platter itself was decorated with snowflakes and snowmen and in the middle of the circle of sushi was a toy Santa Clause.

"Wow." Ryoma's mother exclaimed. "That is beautiful."

"Arigatou," Sumire smiled. "Sakuno made it."

Ryoma's mother smiled. "Well isn't that amazing? What do you think, Ryoma?"

Ryoma rolled his eyes. "It's Christmas themed sushi."

Nanjirou smacked Ryoma's back, grinning. "I think it's very creative. Great job, Sakuno-chan!"

Ryoma winced. "Oyaji…"

"A-Arigatou, minna-san." Sakuno bowed. She hoped the sushi would have impressed Ryoma, however he remained just as stubborn and ignorant about anything she did.

For the duration of the dinner, Sakuno received compliments from everyone on her cooking, except for Ryoma. The best thing he said about one of her dishes might have been that her smoked eel was "a very popular dish." By this, Sakuno inferred that "popular" meant that many people enjoyed it, which probably meant he liked it too. However, Sakuno also had the conscience that maybe the dish was "popular" which meant it was "common" and then connoted to "boring."

Sakuno did not spend much time eating; instead, she tried translating Ryoma's comments into positive or negative and lost her appetite as a result.

"That was really good, Sakuno-chan!" Nanako smiled after she finished the little Castella cakes that Sakuno prepared for every individual.

"Arigatou." Sakuno counted the sixteenth "arigatou" she had said so far.

Ryoma placed his chopsticks down and stood up. "Excuse me."

"Oi, where you going?" Nanjirou held on to Ryoma's arm.

"I'm finished." Ryoma replied.

Sakuno looked at him and stood up as well. "W-what do you plan on doing?"

"I don't know." Ryoma began walking towards the living room.

Sakuno wiped her sweaty palms against her legs and walked around the table to catch up with Ryoma.

Nanjirou whistled from the kitchen as his wife quickly smacked a hand over his mouth. "Let them be." She smiled.

"I-I.." Sakuno began as she caught up with Ryoma in the living room.

"Why are you following me?" Ryoma asked.

"Well," Sakuno bit her lip. "T-this is my house, a-and I-I didn't think y-you knew where you were g-going."

"I'm fine." Ryoma said

"Oh, o-okay then." Sakuno inched away from Ryoma. "I-I'll be going—."

"No." Ryoma grabbed her arm. "Stay here."

"Ryoma-kun.." Sakuno whispered, as she felt her face reach over one hundred degrees.

Ryoma led her to the front door and began putting on his sneakers. "I'm going for a walk, you coming?"

"I, uhm.."

"You can go back if you want." Ryoma reached for the door handle.

"W-wait," Sakuno found a pair of flats and stepped into them. "I'm coming."

Ryoma smirked and headed out the door.

"We'll be right back!" Sakuno called into the kitchen and quickly followed Ryoma. She could hear snickering and whistling as she shut the door behind her.

Ryoma watched Sakuno catch up with him, smirking as she fell down every two feet. He couldn't help but notice her appearance. He had to admit that in the two years he had met her, she had grown into a very beautiful woman. She had a perfect figure, a perfect face, and a perfect personality. But Ryoma knew he wasn't ready for a relationship. His tennis career took up a good chunk of his life and he barely had time for school, let alone a girl.

He knew she liked him. And he knew he liked her. He admitted that fact in his second year of high school and had actually resolved to ask her out his third year. However, now in his third year, Ryoma realized how hard it would be to take care of her. He would need to find some type of balance between tennis and love, which Ryoma knew, was the same thing as saying five equals seven.

"Where are we going?" Sakuno asked.

"I don't know." Ryoma replied.

"Do you know anything?" Sakuno blurted.

"What?"

"Never mind."

"No, tell me."

"Never mind."

"Fine."

"Fine."

Snow began fluttering from the sky, delicately landing on the ground. The sky turned into a gray color as street lights flickered on and cars slowly disappeared from the road.

"Snow…" Sakuno whispered. "Come on, Ryoma-kun!"

Sakuno grabbed Ryoma's hand and led him to the middle of the street, which was slowly being covered by a white blanket. Sakuno stared up at the snow clouds and laughed. Puffs of white fog floated out of her mouth as she closed her eyes and took in a breath of winter air.

Ryoma glanced at his hand in hers. He felt the warmth surging through her fingers, despite the cold air around them. Ryoma squeezed her hand.

Sakuno suddenly opened her eyes and looked down at Ryoma's hand in hers. She quickly released it, however Ryoma shook his head and took hers instead.

"Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno whispered.

"The answer to your question before is no. No, I don't know anything." Ryoma said.

Sakuno looked at him curiously. "W-what does that have to do with--,"

Suddenly Ryoma reminded himself of self-control. "Never mind. Forget it." Ryoma dropped Sakuno's hand and walked over to a nearby bus stop. The bench was dry and he motioned for Sakuno to come over.

The two sat in silence. Sakuno still didn't understand Ryoma's actions, and surprisingly, neither did Ryoma. They sat, confused and scared to say anything. Sakuno, however, grew sick and tired of the constant tension between Ryoma and her. She was annoyed with herself for being so shy all the time and she was angry at Ryoma for always shooting down any form of conversation she tried to start.

She clenched her hands into a fist and stood in front of Ryoma. "Are we friends?"

Ryoma looked up at Sakuno. "Friends?"

"Okay, maybe not even that deep. Are we at least acquaintances?" Sakuno argued.

"Acquaintances?"

"Do you even know who I am, goddamn it Ryoma!" Sakuno snapped.

Ryoma stood up, towering over Sakuno. "Yes, Ryuuzaki Sakuno. I know who you are and I would hope that we were friends."

"Really Ryoma? Friends?" Sakuno, still angry, forgot to be shy and polite. "Well that's what I was hoping too. But from the way that you are acting, I doubt that anyone who saw us would even count us as acquaintances!"

Ryoma stared at Sakuno in astonishment.

Sakuno took a deep breath. "Sorry, I-I don't know what happened just now."

"You want to be friends?" Ryoma murmured.

"Yes, I do." Sakuno replied.

"Then why are you always so shy around me?" Ryoma asked.

"Why are you always so arrogant around me?" Sakuno retorted, dodging his question.

Ryoma remained silent.

Sakuno sighed. "I'm sorry for acting so weird around you all these years."

"Why were you always so uncomfortable around me? Was it something I did?" Ryoma asked.

"No, not really." Sakuno shook her head. "But I promise not to act that way anymore, only if you start treating me like a friend."

Ryoma smirked. "Are you bribing me?"

"If you don't want to be friends—.."

"That's not it." Ryoma sighed. "Fine. I accept your bribe."

"Friends then?" Sakuno held out her hand.

Ryoma shook it. "Friends."

Sakuno smiled. "I hope you don't really consider that as a bribe. I really want to be friends with you."

"Friends don't bribe eachother."

"Ryoma!"

"Just kidding," Ryoma smirked. "…friend."

The atmosphere Sakuno and Ryoma returned to in the Ryuuzaki residence was much warmer and joyful.

There was no nervousness; no cockiness; no frustration; and most importantly no more tension between Sakuno and Ryoma.

After Sakuno and Ryoma both reassured the adults that absolutely nothing happened, the Echizens gave their gifts to Sakuno and Sumire.

Sakuno received a necklace with a heart pendent which said on the card that it was from Ryoma. Ryoma, however, reassured her that he did not buy her any presents and that the necklace was so ugly he would not have picked it out anyway.

Sakuno thanked him for his honesty and made a note to never wear the necklace.

"Sorry I don't have a gift for you." Sakuno frowned. She and Ryoma had snuck up to her room while the adults were all playing cards and getting drunk.

"I didn't have one for you either." Ryoma reminded her.

"I'll get you a present next year." Sakuno said.

"And I'll get you one too." Ryoma agreed.

A cold draft filtered through a slight opening in one of Sakuno's windows.

"Stupid window," Sakuno muttered. "It never closes."

"Here, let me help." Ryoma walked over to the window and pressed down. A few pieces of dirt and rust chipped off the sides while the window slowly began screeching down.

"Thanks." Sakuno smiled at Ryoma.

"Betsuni." Ryoma replied.

The two looked out the window at the snow that was still gently falling from the sky. They remained in silence, watching each snowflake carefully.

"Do you know why we have Christmas?" Ryoma suddenly asked.

"No." Sakuno faced him. "Do you?"

"Yeah. I learned it in America." Ryoma said. "Do you want to hear it?"

"Sure."

"It's the birthday of a guy named Jesus."

"Jesus?" Sakuno thought aloud. "I've heard of him before. He's that Christian guy right?"

"Yeah. According to Christians, today is his birthday."

"So?"

"They all call him a miracle from God."

"Kami-sama?"

"No. The Christian God."

"So you're saying that today is the birthday of…" Sakuno's voice trailed off.

"A miracle." Ryoma finished.

"A day of miracles." Sakuno said to herself.

Ryoma smirked. "If that's how you want to put it."

But they both knew this was not just a day of miracles. This was their day ofmiracles.

And though there were no diamonds or over-priced electronics, they both knew that they had received something far more extravagant than a paper wrapped present.

And it was to this that they created their Christmas wish lists for each other in the next year.

They both yearned for a gift that could not be manufactured and sold; a gift that could not be seen, heard, tasted, touched, or smelled; a gift that could be labeled as their own; a gift that would be waiting for them next year, on the day of miracles.

A/N- Trust me, this ending is far better than an alternate ending I had planned. I hate adding mushy fluff in my stories [even though I do it all the time, so I tried my best to keep the marshmallow out.

Nevertheless, it is Christmas time, and any Christmas story needs to have a happily ever after ending.

Special Circumstance's Christmas Wish List:

1. Reviews

Gosh I hope I've been a good writer this year…