I don't know why I deleted my old story. Do you?

Disclaimer: CLAMP is a group of four people that live in Japan and write manga. I am only one person. Who doesn't live in Japan, and the only manga I ever wrote was one page long.
In other words – no way do I own Cardcaptor Sakura!

Chapter 1 of 'My Life'
Twin Bells

In Tomoeda, a woman of about 26 stopped in front of the Twin Bells shop, peering in. The two bells, painted 15 years ago, were still intact, and the owner was still around. It wasn't a simple general store anymore; it was now a bookstore.

Chiharu blinked. There were a lot of people in the store, so it was a good thing that Maki-san had decided to expand it a few years back. She peered through the windows displaying the new releases. Her eyes widened in excitement.

Her favorite author had released another story! Chiharu pushed in the door, and entered the shop, ignoring the gust of wind pushing half of her long hair aside, making it seem separated into 2 pigtails, the way she used to wear her hair so long ago.

Sakura sighed happily as she pulled a set of pink cards out from a small, denim case that she had been given from Tomoyo. It was worn out, but it still worked. The cards had an intricate star design on the back of each card, and an image of some sort on the front. Her fiancée, Syaoran, had kindly taken her back to Tomoeda for a reunion (of sorts) with her friends.

She loved these cards. They were the whole reason she'd ever met Syaoran.

Li Syaoran, with his brown hair and brown eyes had met her long ago, chasing after the same cards she was looking at right now. His disdain for her had turned to love, and two weeks ago, he'd proposed to her. And she'd said yes.

Stopping in front of their meeting place, Sakura noted that the entrance didn't look much different, but the interior was. The 2 yellow bells on the door, the ones she and her friends had painted so long ago, were still intact. Sakura recalled long ago, when Maki-san had decided to transform the general store into a bookstore, when a rival store named Little Objects had opened. Maki-san lost most of her business to them, but she couldn't stand to get rid of the shop.

So she'd decided to convert the little shop into a bookstore, and it was an instant hit. In fact, last she heard from Rika-kun was that there had been a need to expand the bookstore, and Maki-san had finally gotten around to it in recent years.

There was supposed to be a new release today by one of Sakura's favorite authors. And there it was in the window! Sakura pushed in the door as a blast of wind blew her auburn hair into her face, making her wonder why she hadn't kept it short.

Naoko inhaled sharply when she saw all the people in the store standing around and reading books. Books Ikumo Arisu, the famous author who wrote under a pen name, had written. Her new book had been released today, and Naoko wanted to see it, but there wereno copies left on the 'New Releases' shelf, so she settled for a different book. She pulled it off the shelf and proceeded to find a chair.

Spotting one, she quickly sat and opened the book, paying little attention to the cover or the title. Minutes later, her reading was interrupted by someone.

"Oh! You're reading Stars and Night Skies by Ikumo Arisu!" Naoko, startled, jumped. Out of habit, she reached to push her glasses up the bridge of her nose, and then remembered that she didn't have glasses anymore. She looked up at her surprise visitor, who continued talking.

"Did you know that Arisu-sempai will be revealing her real identity today?" The girl asked, brushing invisible dust off her apron. There were 2 yellow bells on it, indicating she was an employee.

"Wow. Really?" Naoko asked. "Maybe I'll get to meet her."

"She wrote a new book, you know, and it's not that one."

Naoko nodded, returning to her book. "Okay, but I wanted to read her widely acclaimed book first."

"Oh." The employee, who couldn't thing of anything else to say, left Naoko alone.

"Hmm…" Chiharu paused. "This is it!" Tugging the book off the shelf, she stared at the title in surprise. What an odd title… she thought, staring at it.

Oh well, she decided, as she headed towards an empty seat, paying no attention to the woman sitting next to her with the long hair reading the same book.

She opened the book, and stared at the forward.

This story is a true story. Though the names may have been changed, the events that happened are true.

I took creative license in keeping my friends' names secret, so that they couldn't be identified for whatever they did in this book.

This story actually started as something different, but it slowly started merging with my life, so I changed details, transforming it from the story it was. Into my story.

What will happen when you turn the page? Well, you'll be sucked into my past, witness the pain I felt, feel my undying love, meet the friends I haven't seen for a long time.

Parts of this story which I haven't told anyone, not even my friends. But maybe they'll figure out who I am. And maybe they'll finally let bygones be bygones.

Chiharu wondered secretly who Arisu-san's friends were as she flipped the page, to the first chapter.

The long haired woman next to her suddenly jerked up, which made Chiharu cry out in surprise, dropping her book. Turning, Chiharu blinked when she saw those emerald eyes. Ones that could only belong to one person she'd met in her entire life…

"Sakura-kun?"

"Chiharu-kun?"

Well, needless to say, they were both in shock.

Flipping the page, Naoko could see why this was the most widely acclaimed book. How many authors killed off the main character, only for people to discover that the person killed wasn't the main character? It was an amazing twist that Naoko already knew about – most likely from the reviews that she'd read about the book.

"Konnichiwa, Yanagizawa-kun," a man's voice whispered in her ear. Naoko tensed. If this was him, she was definitely prepared to knock him out again… but it wasn't him. He'd never had glasses, or a distinct aura like this man did.

He smiled at her, a smile she hadn't seen in years, one that she recognized. It was a playful grin, and it looked teasing, as if it was hiding something he knew and she didn't.

Those familiar blue eyes… Like the depths of the ocean, her writing side supplied. And his hair was the exact same color.

"Hiiragizawa-kun?" His smile widened, proving that, in fact, he was Hiiragizawa Eriol.

"Nice to see you again, after all those years…" He said.

"Don't you live in England?"

"Hai, demo –"

"What are you doing in Japan?"

"Er… well, I'm here to meet someone," he replied uncertainly.

"Daidouji?"

"Hai, and others…"

"Everyone else?"

"Hai, demo I wasn't expecting you to be here," He replied.

"I'm here to read. I didn't know about the meeting you are here for," Naoko stated, suddenly reverting to her tone of voice reserved for formal affairs.

"Such a cold tone!" Eriol muttered, looking hurt, in a way.

"Are you also here to meet Arisu-sempai?"

"I'd heard that she was going to be here –"

"Get to the point," she interrupted.

"Hai, that's why Syaoran-kun decided to have the meeting here – we're all eager to meet Arisu-san," he said quietly. Naoko didn't reply to this, refraining from saying anything else that might make her seem strange; they were getting enough looks as it was.

"Yanagizawa?"

"…" Eriol got the hint. He left in search of his cute little descendant.

Naoko breathed a sigh of relief. If only Eriol knew…

If only anyone knew…

But they'd all know soon enough…

The forward of the book was a little confusing to write for me, gomen!