MommyTomoyo has written another story! An X one. Anyone, she'd like to remind everyone that she does not own any part of CLAMP's X/1999, nor can she even do an adequate fanart of their stuff. With that in mind, she asks you please enjoy the story she has written.

For Kotori.

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Dance of Angels; Chapter One

It was a year since it had happened. Kamui still felt the pain of losing everyone, and had nightmares of killing his best friend. The only person from those battles not appearing in his nightmares was the one he loved.

"Kotori. . ."

Whispering the name brought pain to his heart. He still got angry with himself for letting her die. He knew she was in Heaven, which made him all the more convinced he'd never see her again, even in the afterlife.

"Kamui, are you alright?"

He looked at the dark-haired girl beside him who was bubbling over with energy. The girl, Masumi, was his friend, Takeshi's, girlfriend. Prom was coming up, and with Takeshi in the United States for wrestling this week, he had been roped into accompanying her on finding a prom dress. She'd claimed she'd need a male opinion before purchasing.

After carrying around at least half the dress shop's selection to the dressing room for Masumi, he sat in an over-stuffed chair, faking enthusiasm for a few of the dresses. Sure, they looked great, but Kamui was getting extremely bored just looking at all those fancy gowns. Muttering something about using the lavatory, he slipped out of the waiting area for a moment's peace.

Taking a quick walk around the shop, over flowing with fancy gowns, Kamui's eyes darted around. All the silk and satin surrounding him was making him feel ill. He needed to leave-

And then he saw it.

The dress was relatively simple with a scooped neckline accented with a ribbon of pearls, as well as pearls around the waist. The flowing skirt was topped with a shimmery, translucent fabric. The pale blue of the dress was perfect, and Kamui knew the person who would look perfect in that dress.

Kotori.

Kamui could picture her, the dress floating lightly around her as she stepped down the walkway of her shrine home, to meet him at his car. Holding her close as they danced together to the slow, delicate songs echoing around them. And how beautiful she'd be.

"Would you like your girlfriend to try that on sir?"

The voice shook Kamui from his daydream, and he turned to the shop's manager.

"She's not my girlfriend, but," Kamui paused a moment before selecting the dress, "Could you hold this for me. If I come back for it tomorrow?"

The manager merely smiled knowingly and took the dress from Kamui's arms, heading to the reserved rack behind the register, leaving Kamui to make his way back to the dressing room to assist Masumi.

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The next day, in the late evening, Kamui sat on his bed and stared at the dress in his closet. He kept thinking, "Why did I buy it? What good does it do?" Watching the dress hang silently in his closet only made him think more about Kotori.

The phone rang, but Kamui didn't more to answer it. The answering machine picked it up, and Kamui heard Takeshi's voice saying, "Thanks for taking Masumi dress shopping, I know you couldn't have enjoyed it. Listen man, you should go to Prom with all of us. Eiji and Hajime have already promised two girls each, and are going to need some assistance. Call me back, or we'll talk when I get home tomorrow."

Kamui continued to sit after the answering machine clicked. He didn't want to go to prom, among all the happy couples, with him alone. With no Kotori.

Something, though something in the back of his mind, some inner voice was shouting, "Go! Go!"

Deciding, he picked up his phone, pressing redial and waited. When Takeshi picked up, he said quietly, "I'll go."

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Short, ne? MommyTomoyo hopes you like it, and will read on to the next chapter, which will be up tomorrow with luck. The prom theme seems to fit in with the time of year, ne?

Tell MommyTomoyo what you think, she loves knowing the reader's opinion!