Finally, it's Saturday. After breakfast, mother sends me to work on the festival's preparations on the roof of the headquarter. Almost everyone is present, and those who aren't, like my mum and Len, are busy working at home. I aid in spreading the tables, hanging the lights, and pinning the flags. We joke, laugh, and play music. Neal teaches me dancing, and Zaher and his mates teach us their Dabkeh, which we all join. A festival already.

By the afternoon, preparations are done. I return home to find that Lennie and mother have finished the baking, and that the bags have been placed by the door. Surprisingly, I also find Julie in the house. Apparently, she's been giving a hand in the kitchen.

I shower and put on the clothes I bought with Neal. I tie my boots, place my cap, splash cologne, and voila! When I go out my room, I find Lennie dressed in a white dress and white laced boots. Her golden ringlets are tied with white ribbons on the sides of her head. "Newt, how do I look?!" she asks excitedly.

"Like a princhesh," I answer while munching a biscuit. Julie then comes out. Her dress is less ornate but not less in beauty. Her white top with puffed sleeves appears from under a knotted black waistcoat, and underneath that is a bi-layered white and green skirt that shows her heeled brown boots. Her dark curls are in a red ribbon, and golden chain and earrings give her the final glamour. "I don't know what Neal's dressed me in, either," she blushes.

"Ireland," mother explains when she comes in. "We left Ireland people for each other."

Mother is dressed in a maroon skirt, a white top, and a golden broch on her high collar. Her hair's in an ornate up-do with only few strands framing her face. "Now, it's impolite to keep others waiting."

...

It's crowded, and the gurgle of the company is reaching the sky. Snow is falling, but the air is still warm. The odors of food and perfumes fill the place. The lanterns are lit, but the actual light of the night is the moon up high.

When I'm done helping in fixing our things, I observe the ones present. Neal's dressed in white trousers, black waistcoat, and a green coat that matches Julie's skirt. I notice Zaher's family and their mates. The males are dressed in black sweatpants, white shirts, open vests, black boots, and black turbans. The females are in long dresses embroidered with threads of the same color, along with white headscarves covering their hair. Their girls and boys are in costumes similar to their parents.

"Syria, Palestine; that area," Neal explains. He then shows me the other ones: Japan and Korea, Germany, America, Portugal, Mexico and so many others I can't count. Their dresses are all colorful, and their looks now instead of the white coats or plain uniforms gives life to the place.

"Your mother is about to give her speech," Neal suddenly notifies me. I look where he's pointing and see that mother is standing on a podium. She clears her voice and starts her word.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you here today to celebrate our differences, similarities, and most importantly, our unity. Just a few hundred years ago, wars had raptured our lands, the brother killed his brother, and everyone was blinded with ego. It was believed that the only way for us all to unite would be through a threat from from space, and that did happen in the form of the Flares and the illness that followed thereafter.

'We all mention WICKED in disgrace for its inhumane deeds; however, we should never underestimate one thing: WICKED has united us all. In that place, everyone was working as one for a major goal, not to save a person or two, a nation or two, but humanity as a whole. We learned to accept each other and befriend each other despite our differences. And now, even after WICKED is gone, we are proud to celebrate this achievement many of our ancestors believed to be impossible."

Applause and whistles break the air.

"And now, after all those arduous years, it gives me pleasure to announce that our tire has been crowned with success in the form of our very first Flare survivors. Our dream is now close at hand. We've found that light after we believed it was lost. Newton and Julie, please, if you may honor us on stage."

I don't catch mother's last words, but I suddenly feel Neal pushing me and Julie. Loud roars and harder applause break. I feel my skin turning hot and my ears deafened. Julie's holding my hand tightly with her trembling one. I tighten mine on hers and we both stand on the stage. I feel everyone's eyes on us.

"In what we see here, we learn our greatest lessons. The pride they've brought is not only for themselves, their names, or their nations, but for all of us. Every single one here: from the highest doctors to the smallest workers, has a major hand in the success we celebrate today. Even those who couldn't make it today, they're to be credited. For those who've sacrificed themselves so we can stand today and have this moment, your sacrifice shall always be remembered in our hearts and carved in our history. For all those who couldn't make it today, thank you."

The shouts break even louder, and cameras' flashes shine from everywhere. I find mother taking out a glass trophy carved in it my name and Julie's under the silhouette of flames, and she hands it to us. "I'm no queen and I can't knight you, but know that what you've done deserves more than shiny medals and swords of valor," Sorcha whispers.