Chapter 1:

Life

Five years had passed already and she was twenty-four.

Tomoyo thanked her customers as they walked outside of her book store after having purchased a children's book of stories. Her lonely amethyst eyes stared at the back of the couple, who each held a hand of their small daughter. A small smile appeared on Tomoyo's face as she turned back to her work by organizing the new set of books she had received yesterday.

Walking past numerous shelves, she eyed the genres she had posted on each shelf. Fantasy. Non-fiction. Science Fiction. All sorts of genres she housed in this petite bookstore which she owned in Tokyo. From novels, poetry, and comic books, her store had become a hotspot for ages all around the city to enter in and look around. Though her earnings were average, she survived on an honest living of few enjoyable material gains.

Tomoyo's life was deemed utterly simple, but nonetheless enjoyable in it's easy way.

Pulling back some strands of violet hair to go behind her ear, Tomoyo struggled to reach for the top shelf to place a romance novel next to the other romance books. The author was Amuro Mina.

Great. Now I have to bring in the ladder from the back room. Sighing in frustration, she walked behind a corner and through a door to enter the back room.

Unbeknownst to her, there were already nicknames gathered about her and her store called Twinkle, Twinkle. Her lonely eye and figure already had some conjuring up ideas that the pretty, but undeniably single bookshop owner had been jilted. Over the course of five years, she had denied going into arranged marriage dates or even giving out her phone number to interested men—ranging from younger men to even much older men.

Her allure and mysteriousness had certainly been an added factor to the success of her petite bookstore.

He awoke to lips on his own.

Opening his eyes to the new morning, he was staring into his maid—Chieko—as she hovered over him on his large bed. She giggled and parted her lips from him as he stared at her blankly.

"What?" she wondered," Did you forget about last night or something?"

She ran her index finger down his bare, but muscled chest and giggled some more. "We were together the whole night when you came home from the party, Master Li. You wouldn't even let me go when I knew it was wrong for us to engage in such an activity." Though she voiced her concern and reasoning, her eyes continued to glow in delight.

Syaoran knew Chieko wasn't the least bit concerned.

"Get out," he muttered coldly. "You're fired."

Chieko's eyes widened," But-"

"I said get out, you whore!" shouted Syaoran. Chieko quickly stumbled off the bed and pulled the beige bed sheets over her body.

"You said you loved me!" she shouted back with tears in her eyes," You said you missed me! You said you'd never let me leave this house again!"

Syaoran sat up on the bed as the door closed shut. Her footsteps were drowned out by the sound of her loud yelping. It annoyed him and the huge headache he had this morning.

"What the hell happened last night?" he asked himself, as he rubbed his forehead. But he remembered those words he spoke. They weren't words for Chieko, the damn flirtatious college freshmen at Todai University whom he had hired because she was cute. Instead, those words had been meant for his woman: Sakura. She had passed away five years ago due to an illness that had been too late to treat.

When he arrived drunk at his house from a business party, Chieko had brought him in. Her voice was a slur to his dazed mind, but her face he swore was Sakura's. Overcome by the crazy perception that his deceased wife had come back to life again had fooled Syaoran into a state of frenzy and passion.

"You're an idiot for sleeping with the maid," muttered Syaoran, groaning in pain from the massive headache. "I'm a stupid idiot!"

As he took a shower and got dressed into dark pants and a white dress shirt, he walked down the stairs—the house which Sakura had been raised in by her father and older brother. Since her father had passed away and Touya was moving overseas in America, Touya had given him the deed to the house four years and three months ago.

"Take it. You need to live in this house to understand the kind of person Sakura was and why she would want you to let go of her. Seriously, I'd hate to see my sister come back from the dead because she can't rest in peace because of your grief," spoke a teasing Touya who was trying to make light of the situation. However, Syaoran could see the puffiness around his eyes and he had realized in that moment the reason Touya was leaving the country with Yukito was to escape from the pain of dealing with the loss of three beloved family members.

"In the end, we loved Sakura too much to have to deal with it," spoke Syaoran softly as he stared at the empty rooms around him. But Touya was giving Syaoran this chance to deal with the pain rather than run away from it.

"You are Sakura's special person so don't screw this up. I'm expecting you to be happy, Li."

But Syaoran wasn't ready to forget the pain—it was the only thing reminding him why his life was hell. Why he needed this hell in order to remember his Sakura always in his mind whether it was the most wonderful memories or the worst when he had to watch her suffer in her illness.

Using the key to open the door to her bookstore, Tomoyo was unaware of the figure standing behind her.

Looking up at the transparent door to her bookstore, Tomoyo jumped at the sight.

"Is that really you?" she wondered in amazement. Her body turned around and with a smile on her face she laughed. "It's been such a long time!"

Opening his arms wide, he smiled behind his glasses," Hello, Tomoyo. It's been a while. I finally found you. I heard you moved to Tokyo."

"Hiiragizawa Eriol!" exclaimed Tomoyo, embracing her elementary school friend.

Author's Notes: Thank you for the review, Bewinha. Also, I hope that readers interested in this story enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review!