Before too long, there she stood, staring at him. He wasn't sure what had changed, except that the smile on her face would suggested that their fear and dread from earlier had suddenly turned to a soft, warm happiness.

Denny: "I...don't get it!"



Candi: (still smiling) "Sit in that chair...and I'll tell you!"



He couldn't understand the sudden change in mood, but he knew that Candi rarely kept anything a secret from him for long.

Denny: "So...what is it this time? A centi-tickling...again?"

Candi: "Not quite...Romeo! Feel under the table! You won't surprise me, but you can still make my night!"



He wasn't scared of commitment, but he was alarmed by being put on the spot. Nevertheless, he knew the moment was bound to happen. This was the woman he had always wanted! And as the velvet of that ring case brushed against his hand under the table, he knew that this was to be an extra-special moment in his life!



Candi: "This is a replica of the ring my father Stan got for my mother Shalia...cut the same way and everything! I've kept this in my private jewelry collection for a long time, along with the male counterpart, so that I could always remember the made-perfect love that made me possible! Now, I want to wear it...for you!"



Denny: "Quite true then. And I will do the honors! But I will warn you, my bride-to-be...you are a Centhuen Prototype! I am a former supplier, a man of many sins! We already saw our clothes get roasted after trying to cover up the remains of someone trying to kill us! If anything happens to me, I want you to promise me that, like Donte before me...you will move on!"



The reality of the message was almost too much, but Candi knew that she had to face it. Her life; his life; were both uncertain. And they could easily both die!

Candi: "If you were to die, as I have lost so much already, I should be honored to go with you! But if not...like with Donte before me...you have my word! I will not let that my sister Erin may have died in vain! That Donte did not die in vain either...I shall give my best to love you as I loved him!"



There stood the box, right in front of Candi. It was not like she had never seen such the box before; but it was also now more meaningful. What was once just a rock in her collection now symbolized everything she had hoped for: a new life!

She had failed to get a new life by way of hiding under the name of Stevens. She had failed to get a new life by every other method. She had lost the job and was certain to quit the pom squad.

But finally, finally...could this be what she had sought? Everything short of seeing the day when her crimefighting antics would pay off? She knew that the road ahead was plagued with more responsibilities, and that what she had fantasized about earlier was not quite accessible to her.

But she was confident that now...she could at last be with hope that her long-awaited new life was not far away.



That evening, though she felt it wrong, she was convinced that she simply had to peek at her prize resting on the sofa: her new fiancé! How peacefully he slept on the couch!

Before heading back to bed herself, she relished the moment observing him there, and thought giddy thoughts about them being able to, at long last, share a bedroom without awkward feelings.