"And now, may our beloved sentinel emerge?"

The cue to salvation, I lifted from my seat on a box, and came bursting through those works of fabric art like I was being born once more, only stopping at the edge of the stage. I looked around, and was met with the view that could sum up a lifetime's work with guardianship.

A crowd of almost everybody who could cram themselves in the seats, a few sitting besides those rows as well. Their eyes all darted to me, my one claw emerging from the white cape to give a gentleman's bow. It felt artifical to perform, as if I was just using reflex from a show, but with that, the applause had begun. A symphony of greetings. To the left side, stood somebody almost never seen, but certainly talked about -- the governor of Sugarteara, the one man who could only be outperformed by Sea Fairy herself. He was shorter in person, old, frail, but still with the aura of strictness.

And he spoke up once more after the cue, reading off lines.

The world's eyes set upon me while he told of my duties, my rise from my birthplace in trenches, my adoption into the sentinelism, my excellent duties once more, and then what had occured on fate's night. How, even with such a grevious injury, I kept hope, and belief in what was right. The praises read like salvation. I was wanted, loved. What more could a man want?

And now, he called somebody else on stage, and, as all meetings of lovers are, the coincidence of her role in my ceremony could never make the heart pound harder. From the other side of the stage, rised Mocha Ray, making her own way towards that covered table.