A/N: Last warning. This story contains major spoilers for "Sunset" ... as in it tells you how the 25th games ended .
My sister and I don't want to go to school, but we have to. Maysilee and I stay together as always. Aster and Neal are the only two that don't mind being seen with us. We expected it to happen. Usually those who have a member of the family in trouble with the Capitol are temporarily turned into pariahs.
Each day afterwards, Neal walks us over to Aster's first so we can see our father for a few minutes. There's no need to make sure he's comfortable, the Stauntons have seen to that without effort. But there is a different type of pain in his eyes. The Capitol did take his brother… but what sort of person was he really?
I watch the games again. It's not hard considering they're playing repeatedly since it's the only Quell. That part where the building collapses on the girl from Five… I can see now where it was edited. So, what did happen that day?
There's only one person I know I can go to for answers. Neal's mother and I go for a walk around the district under the pretense that she's getting to know me. After all, there's a good chance in a couple years I'll be her daughter-in-law. She is so wonderfully clever the way she will talk about my uncle and then midsentence switch over to mundane things when an official or Peacekeeper is near.
From the broken conversation I learn several things. The Capitol cut more than just the fact that Falon pushed him out of the way.
The first few years, they were a pair of star-crossed lovers. They'd highlight Colvin and Falon's growing relationship and basically ignored their district partners. Colvin's concern was clearly for Clea, but it wasn't hard to see he was falling for Falon. When their district partners both died, they spent the rest of the games protecting the other.
"It happened as your father said it did. They were running for their lives when a building started falling. Falon saw it, Colvin didn't, and she pushed him out of the way. She just saved his life and to my shame I thought with her gone he'd be able to win. With her alive, I knew that wouldn't happen. If it came down to the two of them I know he would've let her win. But he was better than me and spent the rest of his life trying to remove the rocks to try and find her… to try and save her. That was the sort of person your uncle was."
"Then why did they vote him in?" I ask.
Mrs. Undersee looks around clearly able to see how far everyone is around us and says, "I was just old enough to vote. Before things got really heated, Amaranth went up to the Reaping bowls, picked a name from each and declared he voted on those two."
I imagine Amaranth, our only victor so far in forty-nine years staggering up to the bowls. Ever since I could remember, he's been a horrible drunk and keeps to himself up in the Victors' Village. But would a drunk be able to come up with a plan so clever? Maybe he wasn't so bad in the early years.
Mrs. Undersee continues, "The voting went rather smoothly from there since we all agreed. And then they opened the papers and found out who I just voted for. It was pure bad luck that either of their names were chosen."
With Father recovering, Maysilee and I have to pull double duty to make sure all the sweets shop stays top notch. Neal comes over every day and buys something. But the problem is that the Capitol Officials and their families are our best customers, and they haven't been coming by lately.
When Father comes home his movements are stiff. The smallest task hurts him. Aster said it would be some time before he'd be back to normal. Normal? He's not here at all. Occasionally I hear him saying 'that's not what happened.'
One night, Father goes to bed early. Maysilee finishes up the dishes with Mother and I go upstairs to talk with him. He sits on the edge of his bed holding his gold pin. "Maddy. Did you need something sweetheart?"
"I-I went to see someone the other day about Uncle Colvin. I know what happened to him. I know he was a good person, that he planned to save Clea. I know that Falon pushed him out of the way so they both wouldn't be buried under that building. I know that even then he tried to save her and it cost him his life. I know."
His eyes weld up with tears. As I'm about to leave he calls me back. "There's something I want you to have."
He takes my hand and places his gold pin in my hand. I look and it's beautiful bird in flight. This is it! This is the solution to our problems. We can trade this pin and feed our family until the whole boycott of our store blows over. But what he says next tells me there is no way on the face of this earth that I could ever sell such a beautiful pin.
"Two pins in Five and two here in Twelve. I don't know what the Wolf's have done with theirs, but I'm certain the two in Five are treasured keepsakes. Look on the back."
Inscribed on the back is the letter 'S'. Father smiles, "The others have a letter too. B, W, S, and T… 'Because we stayed together'. They are a promise from her that she would make his death count."