Here's the epilogue, guys. It's not a lot, but I figured I should probably try ending it on something less mysterious and dark. If you liked the Chapter 9 ending, you don't even have to read this. It's literally nothing important.

- Razz

Skyler huffed as she glared at the young boy, obviously trying not to pout as she tugged at his flamboyant green hair. He let out a howl of frustration – grabbing her own violet colored locks with narrowed eyes.

"Stop it!" She squealed, not enjoying the way his grip only tightened on the curls; tightening her own in turn. The pair glared daggers at each other, both hissing out their frustrations like cats until the teacher approached and broke them up with a sigh.

"Enough, Skyler." The girl frowned, then smirked smugly when the teacher turned to reprimand the boy. She stuck her tongue out at him behind the elderly woman's back. "And you, Cael, need to calm down. You're three years older than her – act your age." Skylers' feathers were only mildly ruffled as she turned her narrowed emerald eyes on the teacher, pouting. Cael smirked in response to her expression, with his blue eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Now, go wait for your parents – the Games will be starting soon." Both turned their attention to the older woman, a discomfort they couldn't quite place flittering between them. Neither noticed they gravitated closer to each other. Their entire childhood was filled with talk of the "Hunger Games" and though neither fully understood what its purpose was yet, they could agree that they disliked the idea of it. Of course, they weren't in any danger – being from the Capitol and all – but there was something distinctly… frightening for them. Skyler held a great deal of empathy for the Tributes.

Particularly when she heard stories about the 25th Hunger Games – nobody wants to be sent to die by your own District, after all. It hurt a part of her deeply, actually, to imagine it; though when she told her mother, the woman simply giggled and responded: "Oh, Skyler, honey, it's just a game!" before ruffling her hair.

"Cael?"

"Skyler?"

The pair glanced towards each other than navigated towards their parents – who just happened to be together at the time. Skyler smiled up at her mother – who was currently wearing her hair in bright green rings. It was always Skyler's favorite, when she wore it like that.

"We're going to watch the Games with Mrs. Blanchard tonight, isn't that lovely?" Skyler glanced to said woman curiously, who Cael frowned at noticeably before smirking at Skyler. Oh, that was never a good sign.

"Yes, I can't wait." She said with over-the-top sweetness, earning a squeal from Caels' mother as she wrapped her up in a warm embrace. It was as if the woman didn't see her every day of her young life.

"Oh, I can't wait to see who District 1 sends this year – oh! Or District 7 – they've never been able to top Terrell and Cypress, but – " Skyler glanced at her mother curiously before turning her attention to Cael, who was equally bored with the conversation before they were piled into a car and the four of them drove towards Caels' mothers house.

Well. Mansion.

Pekin sighed deeply, rubbing the bridge of his nose was he sat on the edge of his bed. The 30th Hunger Games. He couldn't believe he had already been doing his for six years – mentoring people just to watch them die in the arena. Well, not always, as District 1 had a high Victor rate, but even so it was nerve-wrecking. Spinel, of course, was always his partner in crime when mentoring, but even she was becoming weary with these games. Thinking of his lover, the older woman loosely wrapped her arms around him from behind; planting a soft kiss on his shoulder.

"We need to go wake Thalia." She murmured into his exposed skin, and the boy let out a heavy sigh. His daughter was one of the reasons he was so pained by this. She was barely five, now, but even so he was having trouble imagining her competing in the games. Not that all District kids competed, but the very idea made him sick to his stomach. He didn't have the luck or pull necessary to keep his daughter from being drawn; that was enough to make him shudder.

"Alright." He sighed, running his fingers through his longer blond hair before the woman released him and rolled back over; trying to enjoy a few more breaths of sleep as he stalked towards his daughters' room. The door squealed when he opened it, though the tired bundle of blond curls didn't budge from her place. He walked towards her with some effort before gently waking the child – who immediately wanted to be held and forced her way into his arms – before digging out her nicest clothes for the day's events. She didn't understand yet what the purpose of the games was, but she was forced to watch them with everyone else.

At least he had the privacy of suffering in the Victors Village alone.

His sister's death had worn him down for a time, but with the help of Spinel the trauma had slowly began to fade away. His heart still ached for the girl who never got to grow up, but he had long laid her memory to rest in favor of making new ones. Much like the rest of the games, excluding his night-terrors and occasional panic attacks. The woman he now called his wife had assisted him in gaining some control of his life, and he wasn't entirely sure he would ever be able to properly thank her.

"Daddy," Thalia murmured sleepily, rubbing her eyes slightly as she glanced towards him. "I don't wanna go." He resisted the urge to sigh as Spinel came around the corner – already dressed, to his surprise – and smiled at them.

"You have to, baby." Pekin said softly, setting her on her feet before helping the tiny girl change.

"Why?"

"The Capitol says so." Spinel chimed in as she took over – brushing the girls' mane of blond as they sat in the floor before pulling it into a braid. The tiny girl was easily distracted from the conversation by her mother before Pekin left the room to make breakfast.

And it's over, folks! I may or may not make a sequel [I will eventually do some more polishing and add some content one day], but I probably will do some drabbles involving Cypress and Terrell. Maybe their reincarnated versions. I don't really know.

I didn't get enough feed back in the poll, so I just went ahead and used the ending I had intended to in the beginning - though it is a teensy bit different than it was going to be. It's not exactly a "happy ending" but it isn't really tragic and heart-breaking either, so I figured it would be my best route.

Thanks to everyone who stuck with me through it, I appreciate your support.

Stats Upon Completion

Words: 27,074

Chapters: 10

Reviews: 72

Favs: 30

Follows: 36

Started: April 6th, 2012

Ended: January 7th, 2014