Imperfect Desires

"Shall I introduce myself for real this time?" 

Nora chuckled and nodded her head, "Sure."

Xiu held up her hand to her, "Hi, I'm Chen Xiu. Thank you for being the best-est best friend in the world."

Nora gave her a knowing smile, "So, my nagging feeling was right! You are Chen Xiu!" She held her hand and shook it heavily, "I feel so happy right now. It's my first time meeting a superstar. I feel surreal."

Xiu's brows furrowed up in helplessness, "Nora, are you okay? We've been together for over a decade now."

"It's different right now," argued Nora. "Right now, I'm meeting you as Chen Xiu, the superstar! It's different!"

Xiu shook her head as she asked, "Why did you think I was Chen Xiu?"

Nora looked into her eyes and told her, "Because that name seemed to have been following you everywhere. It's like no matter how you ran from this name, it followed you like a shadow. Just take today, for instance, even your son ended up somehow bringing this name back into your life."

Xiu couldn't deny those words. "I also thought this name followed me like a curse everywhere. But I realized that it followed me because I've been running from it for way too long. I have stopped running now though. I don't know how or when my son fell in love with Chen Xiu but I am feeling proud. It's a reminder that I didn't live my life as Chen Xiu as a waste. I had something in me to inspire people. Even if the one person I managed to inspire was my only son, I still think my life as Chen Xiu was worthwhile."

Nora took her hand in her own and patted it saying, "Everyone has a role to play in life. You played yours perfectly. Don't ever think your life wasn't worthwhile."

Xiu smiled at her genuinely, "I have another identity though."

"Huh? There is another one?" Nora was dumbfounded.

Xiu nodded her head, "Hi, I'm Xin Xiulin. It's nice to meet you my youngest sister-in-law."

Nora gaped at her and almost cursed out loud. "No way!"

"Yes, way!" responded Xiu. "I really am Xin Xiulin. I also got to know a few months before Rowan's birth."

Nora scratched her head, "No wonder, my husband is so respectful towards you. And loves you like crazy."

"I think he loved his daughter more," argued Xiu.

"That is hard to say," replied Nora. 

"Don't say it like that. I don't want to compete with my own niece. I'll feel petty."

"Aren't you petty enough?"

Xiu glared at Nora, "No, I am not to that level yet."

Nora thought about something and asked, "Does Darren know? No, what am I even asking? I'm sure he knows."

"Yes, he does," answered Xiu. "He was the very first person to whom I revealed this truth."

Nora nodded her head, "Of course, he knows."

Xiu hugged Nora again and said, "I wanted to tell you even before him. But I was scared that you'd leave me. I didn't want to lose you."

"Now, you're just saying it," Nora pretended to be upset.

"No, I mean it," insisted Xiu. "I really mean it."

Nora knocked on her head, "Okay, I'm messing with you. Don't you dare cry! It doesn't suit you at all. You look ugly when you cry."

"So do you!"

Nora's shoulder shook with her laughter as she said, "When did I say I shed pretty tears? I'm the ugliest crier around here. But you're no better!"

Xiu pouted at her.

"Thank you for not pushing me away even after you realized the truth," said Xiu.

Nora wiped her face saying, "How can I push you away? I can never bring myself to push you away, Xiu. Unknowingly, from the moment you entered my life, you were Xiu and not Destiny. Even I don't know why I always kept the two apart. But I did. You're always just Xiu to me. I never looked at you like Destiny. I just couldn't do it."

"You're the best-est!"

"I'm not that great now," Nora pretended to be a bit humble, facing this compliment again from Xiu.

"No, you are," said Xiu. "At least, to me, you're what I needed in my life. And that makes you perfect to me."

Nora shook her head at Xiu, "I also didn't know I needed a younger sister like you who actually bossed me around like my elder sister."

"Well, actually, I am older than you," said Xiu.

Nora straightened up, "Your body is younger than mine."

"But my soul is older than yours," reminded Xiu.

"We don't follow things we can't see!"

Xiu laughed out, "Even if I stay as the younger one between us, I'll still be the boss between us."

"That's different!" said Nora. "You can boss me around because I allowed you to do so."

"That's true," replied Xiu. "You really let me do all sorts of crazy things." She sighed out, "I suddenly feel like having some wine tonight."

Nora's face paled, "No way! Not having any wine!"

Xiu looked at her horrified expression, "I'm not that bad of a drinker."

Nora rolled her eyes at her words, "Darling, do you and I have some different kind of definition of a bad drinker? You're not easy to handle even when you're sober. Wine Xiu is a whole new level of disaster I am not ready to handle."

Xiu tsked at her, "Spoilsport! Don't you miss the fun Wine Xiu?"

"I don't!" was Nora's response. "Even if I haven't seen her in years, I did not miss her even once!"

"Such a heartless person you are," said Xiu. "Do you know how many cupcakes Wine Xiu baked for you?"

"Yeah, so many that I had to give a box to each resident of our building to get rid of the mess she created!"

"It helped you in making friends," argued Xiu weakly. 

"Not like I needed that kind of help to make friends!"

And just like that, these two best friends drifted away from the topic of conversation that had been going on. But both of them didn't really care since they didn't think they needed to say anything else.