When I opened my eyes, I was utterly shocked. Thresh had just killed me… I had just been in Cato's arms, and I remember hearing my canon fire off in the distance, right before the blackness took over. But now… now I'm here, now I'm laying in a bright landscape.
I slowly sat up and stretched out my arms, when suddenly, a very tall figure appeared in front of me. He was perfectly white, and he looked down at me with a smile.
"God?" I asked. I was surprised when I heard my voice; it wasn't scratchy or hoarse how I thought it would be. It was sweet and smooth, almost angelic.
He smiled down at me and helped me to my feet. "Welcome home, Clove." He said. My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.
"Why am I in Heaven? Shouldn't I be burning in hell?" I asked. He chuckled and patted my shoulder.
"Clove, you were born a sweet, innocent little girl. When you were young, you were terrified by sharp things and you were disgusted by blood. You weren't born to kill, Clove. You were brought up to kill by your parents. They forced you to do things you didn't want to do, until they had you brainwashed enough to think you liked doing those things. In your heart, you hated killing those children. You felt remorse after you killed. I heard the prayers you gave me late at night in the arena, you begged for forgiveness. And I forgave you. You have a good heart. It was just corrupted by the country you live in."
Tears were running down my face, but for some odd reason I didn't feel the urge to wipe them off. I didn't feel the urge to cover them up. I knew that here I would be accepted and loved, and here crying wouldn't make me weak.
"What about Cato?" I whispered. "Is he going to Heaven when he dies?" I silently hoped for a yes. I would be miserable if he had to burn and I didn't.
"I think you know the answer to that, Clove." He said with a wink. I felt relieved. I would be able to see him again, I would be able to spend eternity with the boy, no, man, that I loved.
"One more thing before you go," God said. He disappeared, but a few seconds later he reappeared, holding hands with a small boy.
"This is your son, Clove." My jaw dropped and my hand flew to my stomach.
"My s-son?" I stuttered. He nodded his head, and the small boy smiled. He had dark brown hair like mine, and brilliant blue eyes just like Cato's. When he smiled, he exposed two rows of milky white teeth.
"Shouldn't he be a baby?" I asked in a whisper. I didn't take my eyes off the small boy once.
"No one is a baby in Heaven, just as no one is elderly. Everyone is an adult, a teenager, or a child. You're in the same form you were when you died, Clove, and your son is in the form he would've been if he were five." Fresh tears sprang to my eyes.
"He's perfect," I whispered. The boy smiled shyly, and God gently nudged him to come to me. I bit my lower lip as the boy walked the short distance to me. I pulled him into a big hug and stroked his dark brown hair.
"Hi, baby. Hi," I said in a choked up voice. He hugged me back, and his head was nestled in my shoulder.
I looked up to thank God, but he was gone. In place of him was the exact same house that I wanted to have when I was grown up. It was one in Victor's Village, the yellow two-story one with a white picket fence in front. Except it wasn't sitting on grass. It was sitting on a puffy white surface, which I could only guess was a cloud. I grabbed onto my son's hand, and we walked up to the house together.
"Welcome home," I said in a whisper. With that, we walked inside the perfectly white door.