Author's Notes: Back to short chapters, I guess. Just thought you'd like to know that this story is now planned chapter by chapter until the end of it, so I hope everything goes according to plan. For those of you who have doubts conceived by the last chapter and this one – worry not, I will keep the original couples in their canon order. The Ianto/River thing is a bit of a story arc into the big story arc and I rather enjoy it, and it'll soon be cleared up, because from now on chapters will be pretty much connected to one another without big time spans between them.

Day Fourteen: Dancing

Ianto and River were the stars of the show. The whole dance floor had cleared up so people could watch them waltz around the room, and Jack couldn't really blame them. It was a captivating sight and the couple whose union they had came to witness had demanded to see them two dancing as a gift.

An Arionian waltz lasted fifteen minutes and went through three different phases, all of which had different rules for the dance, the rhythm and the dynamics of the two partners. They were currently in the middle of phase two, and Jack was already getting twitchy.

"I hope you're feeling just as uncomfortable by this as I am," Jack said snidely, leaning closer to the Doctor without actually taking his eyes off them. "This is all your fault."

The Time Lord looked at him, annoyance written all over his face. "How is this my fault?"

"It was very thoughtful of you to not bring a present," Jack hissed. "Seriously, you knew the dress code, but you had no idea that they still did wedding presents here?" He himself had never visited the planet – nor had he heard of it, really, so he supposed it was too far away from the colony where he'd grown up – so he'd had no idea what was to be expected of them. The Doctor had no excuse, though.

"It doesn't matter now, does it? And plus, it's just a dance. You're reading too much into this. You humans and your caveman– has nobody told that boy to keep his hands to himself?"

Jack smirked triumphantly, even though his heart wasn't in it. Actually, if he looked very carefully, he would most likely find that River had stepped on it with her five inch heels about an hour ago.

He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much. It didn't look like anything had actually happened between them and yet, there was some sort of easy, comfortable feeling that reigned between her and Ianto that troubled him. Ianto had never been truly open around him; not even now when there was little left to hide between them.

Jack had waited for so long. No one had any right to steal that from him. Not even devastatingly pretty Time Ladies he had known nothing about until an hour and a half ago.

The song finally ended and, under deafening applause, River and Ianto returned to their seats, both flushed but apparently pleased with themselves. "Are you up for a dance, Doctor Song?" The Doctor immediately put in and River raised her eyebrows, then shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

"Ianto?" Jack asked as the dance floor slowly filled again. His lover gave him an intrigued smile. "You want to dance to this?" Ianto asked sceptically. "You?"

"Yes, c'mon." Jack stood up and offered him a hand which, after a moment more of hesitation, Ianto accepted.

o.O.o

"I know what you're doing," Ianto said casually as they waited along with the other couples for the second part to begin. "And you really don't need to, you know." When there was no response, he continued, his voice gentler this time, "You do know that, don't you?"

Jack wasn't sure how to form the words; how to tell him that seeing Ianto lose all of the human memories that had once defined him was scaring the hell out of him and that, no matter how selfish it was, he was afraid that one day he'd look at his lover and he'd realise that Ianto Jones was gone and that someone else entirely had taken his place. He apparently didn't have to say it, though; Ianto seemed to have picked it up anyway, if the almost-unnoticeable smile was anything to do by. "I know how you feel," Ianto continued as the music started and they began dancing again. "I know that it's – hard for you, but trust me, there is nothing for you to worry about."

"I'm not worried," Jack said at last, trying to preserve the last remnants of his pride. "It's just... She's in prison, Ianto. She never said what for, and I suppose you know that Stormcage is one of the best guarded prisons in the known Universe." Ianto just nodded. "Are you sure that being friends with her is that much of a good idea?"

"The Doctor trusts her," Ianto threw in, his voice as off-handed as it could get, and yet Jack caught the hidden meaning. "And you tend to trust him more than you trust me, so I don't see the problem."

"Don't make this about me," the Captain returned tersely, then the betrayal that was gnawing at his insides made its way to his mouth. "She knows more about you than I ever had and she's known you for, what, a year? Even now, you didn't share with me half the things you have with her. And you two... even the Doctor noticed that..."

"If you're going to tell me off for flirting, Jack, then you'll be even more of a hypocrite than I thought you were. And that's saying something. And plus, what does it matter?" Ianto asked mildly as they swirled around. "It's just a way of communication. You two are completely different people. I mostly talked to her about Gallifrey. It was supposed to be her home world, and she's never seen it; it was only fair." Ianto's crystal blue eyes locked with his. "So you can calm down now."

The Captain didn't break the eye contact for a few more moments, searching Ianto's face and finding it as closed as it always was and yet somehow honest, as if he was asking him with his whole being to believe him.

Jack pressed his lover closer to himself and spun them around as the music reached its crescendo and the lights above them started shining brighter all of a sudden, bathing them in the light of a thousand suns.

"Yes," Jack whispered, pressing a kiss to Ianto's cheek. "Yes, I suppose I can."