Standing in front of Snow, he coughs and blood runs down his chin. This is the moment everyone's been waiting for, especially me.

And now with a single arrow in hand it's my turn to live up to the promise I made to myself and now even more for Prim.

What was she doing there? 13 years old in a battlefield.

I pull back the arrow looking at Snow's beady eyes, then release up to Coin. The arrow pierces her heart. She slumps down over the balcony and falls to the ground. Dead.

At that moment the crowd goes insane. It went from a frenzied mob to a cohesive swarm of bees knowing each others movements and working as a whole.

The crowd is coming toward me, but first enveloping Snow shackled to the post. I lose sight of him as he gets crushed to nothing more than the ground beneath the frenzied people racing closer.

I think they're going to crush me the way they did Snow but as they near, their pace slows to a stop. They all encircle me a few yards away. If I were looking above as the cameras are, this scene could resemble Moses parting the red sea or something from the ancient religions.

I just stand there waiting for them to take me, to crush me, to end the pain finally. There is nothing else I can do. Snow is dead. Coin is dead. The Games won't continue.

Coin won't continue the horrible death legacy everyone fought to stop.

Peeta was right when we were voting for or against yet another Game. We have to stop that cycle at some point. Now is the time. The old government has been over turned. There is a brand new one in place. We can't just repeat the pattern again. Haven't we really learned from our past? We aren't going to be the scrawny freshmen in high-school who got picked on all the time, only to finally become seniors and pick on all the new freshmen.

Just because it was done before us one way, doesn't mean we need to continue it that way. We can make things better.

But these thoughts don't mean much if I'm dead by this mob. But this crowd isn't against me. They are just hovering around me. I notice as I'm thinking of my impending death I sway and the crowd sways too. My movements ripple into the crowd. They are like drops of water in an ocean and I am stirring my foot on the surface.

I think, I could move my arm and the crowd would follow. I could point in a direction and the crowd would too. Where my attention goes the crowd follows. This is power. This is the power that Snow wielded for so many years. This is the power Coin coveted so much and strategized to get for who knows how long. And now it's here in front of me. A girl who never wanted more than to freely be, hunting in the woods, being in nature, feeling its warmth and following its seasons. I can see how the phrase 'power corrupts' is true. The thought that any impulse can be mine, any desire can be granted. But that isn't something I want. I want every single drop in that sea surrounding me to know they too have this power within themselves. They deserve to follow their own desires and impulses exploring life in a way that they trust completely.

That's when Plutarch says over the intercom and no doubt over the vids that are televising this to every district, "Katniss, well, what is your first command as our new rightful president?"

The crowd around me begins to repeat at normal speaking volume. They don't need to raise there voices, I'm right here, "Kat-niss. Kat-niss..."

I think about this moment. Of all the previous televised propos, all the preparation that went into them, and of the scripts and engineered situations to evoke the desired outcomes. I remember how the most effective results were from true spontaneity. All my thinking of the right way a better world should be won't help me craft the perfect present society. Maybe I am still just a figurehead. Plutarch could just be using me and sees himself as the one truly wielding the power. But even as a figurehead, an icon of hope, no one is telling me what to say or think right now. All I can do is express myself the way I do, honestly, "We are all free!"

The crowd roars.

I continue, "I've never wanted to be the leader of a truly free world. I just wanted to survive, and live a peaceful life. Somehow that has led us here now.

"I make a pledge to you all, that I will do everything to make sure our government speaks for us. I promise to make sure any decisions will be made and enforced that live up to the most basic rule: Does this rule enforce someone's personal freedom? If so I am for it.

"I promise to you all that the government's sole purpose and mission is to protect you and your personal liberties.

You have the right to a safe existence. You all have the right to basic needs to keep you healthy and strong so you can spend your efforts on reaching your ideals.

"I promise to serve you by giving myself nothing more than what we all have access to.

"We are all free."

By now I see a close up image of my face on the projection screens overhead. This time they aren't just showing the good-side of my profile. You can see the missing patch of hair the stylists couldn't quite cover up. The scars on my neck are visible as well.

Cloaked in Cinna's last gift to me, the mocking jay suit of armor that has been through so much.

28.

The days that follow remind me very much of that crowd surrounding me, but this time it's the busy work of government officials, policy makers, future planners. All seeming like drops of water making up the same ocean that surrounded me by Snow and Coin's bodies. All cooperating to create something new.

I'm no politician. I have never had that kind of ambition, but I do know what is right in my heart and I trust that. Gale, Plutarch, Beetee, Peeta, my mother, and even perpetually drunken Haymitch are my confidants, people I trust most. Yes, even Plutarch. He's arguably the most strategic of all minds here. If he is scheming for power, I think he has all he desires. He's made so many games with death and entertainment the primary goals. Perhaps the most challenging of all games is one with a happy ending: How to keep an entire population of humans, happy, entertained, challenged, and progressing forward toward what they were born to do?

I'm still torn up about Prim, but there's nothing else I can do. Everything I'm doing to help make all of Panem a better place, I have her in mind. I want to create a world where she would love to live. Where she could continue her schooling and become a doctor or anything she set her mind to. Everyone benefits by cultivating stronger more self-reliant people.

29.

Some of my favorite times are our brainstorming sessions with Plutarch, and whomever else want's to be present. The center of the room looks almost like the Hunger Games control center. It's actually the same technology.

This time the game isn't just a small sphere but all of our districts and the land between. Resources are shown in each area. Surpluses, shortages, infrastructure in place, new transportation routes, building plans for homes, schools, businesses.

Everyone in Panem can be there. It's all televised, and the records and plans are an open-book. People can even suggest what they want to see come to life. Like old company-consumer voting systems this time people can suggest more than a new feature to a product they like. Anyone can suggest a new idea, and when others see it and like it, the votes that rise to the top get planned out here in this room with Plutarch and the rest of us.

The world is now a Hunger Games, where the goal is for everyone to survive and thrive. Everyone has a voice and each voice is as loud as each other. More voices like candle power become brighter and brighter.

You might be seeing a new problem that can arise in this cooperative crowd-driven society: Those that influence the crowd, influence the world. It's true. At least now with the governing structure truly being in the hands of all the people, I don't see anyone voting themselves out of a home any time soon.

Just as there will always be people vying for personal gain, there will also be people who thrive on everyones' gain. I do my best to help like a big sister: Tough enough to protect you from bullies and kind enough to encourage the best in you.

Epilogue

Aside from the day-to-day of running a world, I teach children archery. The slogan is, "Helping people aim their skills at being more self-sufficient."

Just this year our daughter, Prim, asked if she could have lessons. It seems almost ridiculous since she's been holding a bow as long as she could hold a rattle. You're probably wondering, Who is the father? I know I've been holding out saying who I chose this entire time. I've got to leave a little mystery in this story.

And in the evenings, while these events are still fresh, I'm spending time writing these very words. Perhaps someday this can serve as a reminder of how our society came to be, what we had to go through to get here. Most importantly, I hope these words will serve as a reminder that I am definitely not anyone extra-ordinary except for maybe my use of a bow and my sense of pushing forward with what make sense to me, despite the pressures of a temporary empire.

One thing I'm not sure of is, where will the book end and my own personal journal begin? I suppose they are all one and the same. If you find it interesting to read, I'm more than happy to share what's going on in my head.

...