Imperfect Desires

-At Fallen Leaves Cemetery-

A red car stopped at the foot of the mountain and the passenger seat's door pushed open. Xiu's slender figure jumped down and ran towards the driver's side as she pulled open the door and started tugging at Nora's sleeve.

"Calm down, Xiu'er! Let me unbuckle the seatbelt first," said Nora while she struggled to unbuckle her seatbelt which seemed to be stuck or maybe, she was just in a hurry and that's why everything was going wrong. However, at her side, Xiu was still as impatient as she was before. Nora didn't know what happened but since the time she mentioned that Darren went to the cemetery to look for her, she had been like a hyperactive kid who insisted on taking her to the cemetery.

Even when Nora told her that she had something else to do, Xiu didn't bother listening and kept saying, "We have to go to the cemetery. It's really important." And since Xiu was the only person who could haul Nora around at whim, she could only comply with her wishes and willingly became Xiu's driver for the day.

Dragging Nora along Xiu went up the small hill and trudged around before finally making a stop before a tombstone made of black, sleek marble. The words written on it were: 

"In loving memory of Carina Novell..." Underneath was written her date of birth and date of death along with, "A beautiful lady, the most caring and the most amazing person. Forever in our hearts."

And at the bottom right side was written a quote in a barely readable size:

"Death: A tragedy we call the end.

Life: A tragedy we call the journey." 

Nora noticed Xiu frowning as she kept staring at the tombstone. She didn't know what she was thinking. But it gave her a strange feeling for some reason. It wasn't the first time that Xiu was here, but then why her gaze seemed so different.

"Now, would you like to tell me why we are here?" asked Nora as she shook Xiu's shoulders gently to break her trance-like condition.

Xiu blinked at Nora before lifting her finger to point at the tombstone before her. "...because this is the answer." Nora's brows knotted together. "The riddle's answer is a tombstone."

Nora's eyes widened in surprise as she stared at the tombstone again before asking, "How did you come up with that conclusion?"

Xiu softly quoted the riddle left in Destiny's mystery box...

"I say nothing yet you know

I have a name but I have to let it go

I have no mouth yet I tell a tale

I make you smile

I make you cry

I make memories come alive."

She looked at Nora and continued, "Everything fits. Tombstones don't talk, tombstones have names but they are not often called tombstones. Because the name carved on them is someone else's. These stones can't talk but we can hear a tale by reading what's written on these stones. Standing before a tombstone, people cry and people smile because the rush of memories becomes unbearable."

Nora couldn't find any fault with Xiu's conjecture. It seemed to sit perfectly well. Soon, she heard Xiu murmuring, "Besides, this is where it all started. This is where someone lost life and someone else got a second chance. This has to be the place of the answers."

Nora was perplexed, not knowing what Xiu's murmuring was all about. And something told her that she wasn't supposed to question either. Xiu was lost in her own world. Nora was the oblivious one but Xiu wasn't. She knew very well what she meant. When she first opened her eyes as Bai Xiu, she had found herself right here. In that cemetery, right before that very tombstone. 

Her beginning was right here...

"So, how are we supposed to find the key here? Are we supposed to dig around?" asked Nora in a baffling tone.

Xiu frowned at her words before rolling her eyes. She pulled out the mystery box from her purse and showed it to Nora, "Let's admit it, you and I both are idiots. This is not an ancient box that needs a key to unlock like we originally thought. More like, this is a digital box that needs a passcode to access it. A four-digit passcode. That's the key we are looking for."

"Oh..." Nora had a look of enlightenment as Xiu pointed at the keypad that had been hidden within the carvings of the box on the lid. "Shall we try your mother's birthday then?"

Xiu thought about it before nodding her head. Since there was nothing else on the tombstone that could be used as the key, both of them pressed the date of birth of Carina Novell. However, it failed. The box only gave a beep sound and did nothing else. 

Both of them shared a look before Xiu said, "Let's try the date of..." Xiu didn't have to continue, Nora knew what she was saying. Therefore, she instantly pressed the date of death of Carina Novell. However, they ended up with another defeat. They tried the different patterns alternating, year, month and day but eventually, everything was a failure.

"What the hell!" exclaimed both Xiu and Nora simultaneously.

They both stared at the box with an almost identical look of helplessness and anger. It was a wonder how they both had to keep themselves from throwing that stupid box away that was becoming like a headache. It had been only five days since both of them came across this box and yet, it seemed like it had been centuries since they were trying to solve this mystery.

Nora sighed at the side, "Now, I get it..."

Xiu whipped her head around to look at Nora, "What? Did you get the answer?"

Nora shook her head as she replied, "No, I understood what Ralph Waldo Emerson meant." Xiu quirked her brow at Nora inquisitively while the latter answered, "He quoted, 'All is a riddle, and the key to a riddle... is another riddle.' This quote finally makes some sense to me."

Xiu hit Nora's head saying, "Is this really the time to be philosophical?"

Nora shrugged her shoulders. "I know it's not the time for this but something is better than nothing." Xiu didn't react and allowed Nora to continue, "We haven't found the right key but at least, now we know where to look. The first riddle's key is 'tombstone' then it's a definite thing that right now, our next riddle is this 'tombstone' itself. And our key is right before our eyes, we are just not able to see it in our exasperated states." 

As much as Xiu would have liked to retort back, she couldn't. She felt like Nora's words made sense. The answer was really before them, they were just looking at it from a completely different angle. As for what it was, they both couldn't tell at the moment.

"Let's leave now. Since we have already waited for so long, let's wait for a couple more days," suggested Nora as she held out her hand to Xiu. Xiu took her hand and stood up from the ground while patting her clothes.

"Alright, let's come back later," said Xiu as she followed Nora to descend the small hill.

While both of them were only a couple of meters away from the tombstone, a pair of a tall man and a slender female came to stop right before the tombstone where Xiu and Nora had just been.