OK, so here's the next Rue Returns chapter. I'm extremely excited for this, and I'm sure that this is the longest chapter I've ever written... 8 pages (4 front and back) written out. Awesome, right? I can't wait for you to read!
"Lilac, up! Now!"
I groggily open my eyes to see Damien standing by my bed.
"Come on. We land in 11 in about an hour and a half."
"Where's Rue?"
"Already getting ready. Move!"
I quickly get up, brush my hair and teeth, and throw on a robe. Then, just in time, Cinna comes in.
"Good morning, Lilac!"
"Good morning, Cinna! What am I wearing today?"
Cinna hands me a sleeveless, sky-blue dress with a white blouse to go underneath. He braids my hair into two braids and ties a sky-blue ribbon at the bottom of each braid. Then, I slide on a pair of white sandals. Cinna applies a little bit of blush and some clear lip gloss, and pronounces me ready to go.
Suddenly, the hovercraft lands with a jolt, and I fall into Cinna's arms. "Careful, we don't want you getting hurt." He then leads me into a small room behind the stage. "All right. In a minute, you'll pass through these doors onto the stage. Just say what you prepared earlier and be natural. Got it?"
"Yeah."
"Go."
I walk through the doors, seeing all of District 11 staring at me. Rue's family is on a raised platform directly in front of the stage. There is a smattering of applause, and I begin to speak.
"Citizens of District 11. Today we are here to welcoming home a girl who has been through a lot more than someone her age should go through. She was brought back to life only a few days ago, and has proven incredibly resilient in that time. I present to you, Rue McClellan!"
Rue emerges from a door in the back. She's radiant in a sparkling white dress that falls to the middle of her calf. She wears 1-inch sparkly heels and sparkly make-up. Her hair has been straightened and pulled back in a sparkly white headband. She approaches the microphone and starts to speak.
"It is so nice to be back here at home. The last time I left, I never thought I'd see home again.
"First, I realize that some people here were probably not even alive when I was in my Games. Allow me to introduce myself.
"My name is Rue McClellan. I was reaped as the District 11 Female tribute for the 74 th Hunger Games. I allied with Katniss Everdeen, made it to the top 8, and then got killed by the District 1 male.
"When I was 5, I went into the apple orchard and sat under a tree. I laid down and saw the way the sunlight shines through the leaves on the tree. It was so pretty. I told myself that, when I become an adult, I'd come back to that tree. I think I'll go back today.
"To the people of District 11: Thank you for your support during the Games. Your sponsor gifts were incredibly comforting, and really made me feel like I was sort of at home.
"To the government of 11: Thank you for being so caring to my family after my death. I do appreciate the help.
"And to my family. I would not be the girl I am today without you. I love you."
Rue takes the three middle fingers of her hand, kisses them, and reaches them out towards her district. They do the same in return.
As Rue steps back, I approach the microphone.
"I am sure you all know me. My name is Lilac Laurel-Ember, and I was the Victor of the 84th Hunger Games. I have been assigned as Rue's caretaker. I would like to explain what will happen to Rue after she leaves District 11 later today.
"Rue will return with me to 12. While in 12, she will visit 11 (a) on Reaping Day and (b) when a special event happens in her family, such as a birth, marraige, or death. Rue will stay in 12 until her body regains control of herself. Then, she can choose to live in 11 or 12, but she must be in one of those two districts. Should she select 12, she will still visit 11, with the aforementioned rules applying. Should she select 11, those rules will obviously not apply.
"As Rue's caretaker, I will do everything in my power to keep her safe and sound. Thank you for trusting me with her."
Everyone applauds as Rue and I are led into a room to meet with Rue's family.
First to enter the room is Rue's mother. She looks at Rue, Rue looks back, and they embrace.
"I never thought I'd see you again," Rue's mother says.
"Same, except..."
They embrace again.
Rue motions to me. "This is Lilac. She's so nice, and I really appreciate her helping me over the past few days."
I step forward to shake her hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. McClellan."
"Call me Willow," she replies. "I'm so happy that my little Rue has someone to take care of her."
Next, Rue's father comes in. He picks her up and spins her around, with Rue giggling like a little girl. "Daddy, Daddy!" she squeals.
"Oh, Rue," he says. "I so missed doing this," he says, pulling her into a hug.
I approach the two.
"Oh, Daddy, this is Lilac," Rue says.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," he says. "I'm sure that you'll be like family to us very soon."
Then, 4 of Rue's siblings come in. All of them seem to be older than her.
"They were all younger than her when she left for her Games," Rue's mom says, startling me. Ivy is now 21, Dalia is 18, Iris is 16, and Poppy is 13, so about your age."
Rue embraces each of her siblings in turn. Then, she suddenly looks confused.
"1, 2, 3, 4... I had a brother!"
Ivy looks at her mother.
"Flan was reaped for the 81st Hunger Games," Willow explains. "He was 15."
Rue looks sad for a moment. Then, Ivy says, "Rue, guess what! I'm getting married next month!"
"Really? Wow! I can hardly believe it! I remember when you would have imaginary weddings and make Iris be the groom!"
They all laugh.
"I've survived 2 reapings," Poppy proudly announces. "Dealing with the tension is so difficult," she adds.
"I'll help you out for the rest of your reapings, Poppy. Been there, done that!"
"Will you be eligible anymore now?" Dalia shyly asks.
"No; I'll be mentoring now. Ironically, sometimes, I may have to mentor kids older than me!" Rue says.
"Oh, one more thing. Guys, this is my friend, Lilac. Poppy, she's 13, like you," Rue says. All 4 of them turn to me. Poppy runs right up to introduce herself.
"Hiya!" she enthusiastically exclaims.
"Hi," I reply. "I'm Lilac."
"Poppy."
Poppy and I sit down on the couch. She seems really open and nice. I can't wait to learn more about her.
"If you want, I can tell you about all of us," Poppy offers.
"Why don't you tell me the basics now and tell me the rest later," I suggest.
"OK! Ivy is the leader, Dalia is shy, and Iris is smart. Good?"
"Yup."
"Now, Rue, I had 5 more kids after your Games," Willow says.
"How did your body put up with it?" Rue asks, amazed.
"Well, Daisy will most likely be my last. Daisy, honey! You can come in now!"
A little girl in a yellow sundress skips in. She is the only sibling of Rue's that I've seen with white skin.
"Actually, Daisy was adopted," Willow admits, "but don't tell her that. My real 5th child is in utero."
"And she wants ME to deliver him!" Ivy exclaims.
"Hi, I'm Daisy!" she exclaims. "Who are you?"
"I'm Rue, your sister. I was on a long(underline) trip, but now I'm back."
"OK!"
Daisy hugs Rue, and then snuggles up to Poppy. Suddenly, it seems, she notices me.
"Are you my sister too?" she asks me.
"No," I reply. "I'm just one of Rue's really good friends. Maybe someday I'll be like a sister to you, too!"
"OK!" Daisy exclaims.
"Daisy is very easygoing and sweet, as you can tell," Poppy says.
Next, a girl who also looks about Rue's age cautiously enters the room. She says, "I'm Rosie. I was born right after your Games. I've heard the most about you of the younger half, and I know where you went."
Rue and Rosie embrace, and Rosie sits down right next to Rue.
"Rosie's 11, and very sensitive. She knows a lot for a girl her age. But, she can also be spunky sometimes. It's an interesting combination."
"I bet!"
Next, a third girl, in between the ages of Rosie and Daisy, enters.
"This should be interesting," Poppy whispers to me. "That little girl is also named Rue. She may be the sweetest of all of us."
"Mommy and Daddy named me Rue, after you. They said you were very brave, but they never told me why, or what happened. Now what? There's two Rues!"
Rue looks up at her parents with glistening eyes. "You named one of your kids after me?"
"We couldn't not. We missed you too much!"
Rue looks at the young girl. "Do you have a middle name?"
"Lily."
"So, we'll call you Rue Lily and me Rue. OK?"
"OK!" she replies.
"Oh, Rue Lily, Rosie, this is Lilac. She's really nice.
"I know who you are," Rosie says. "You won last year."
"I did," I reply. "I can't wait to get to know you as well."
Willow looks around, confused. "Scythe," she says, addressing Rue's father, "where are Thresh and Vine?"
"Let me go find them."
Scythe runs out of the room to find the boys. After about 5 minutes, he returns holding 2 boys, a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old, by their collars.
"Rue, this is Vine and Thresh. They're your brothers. Vine is 8 and Thresh is 6."
He lets the boys down and they run to her.
"Hi!" Vine yells. "Do you want to play with us? We're being cowboys."
"No thanks," Rue says.
"Do you want to, Lilac?" Thresh asks me, in a more subdued way.
"Not right now, but maybe later, OK?"
He nods.
"Those two are very active, but not too bright," Poppy remarks. "Thresh is the smarter, more logical, and more cautious one, while Vine is more dangerous and less smart."
"Rue, do you want to go home?" Willow asks. Rue nods. "Let's go, honey."
Rue hops up and holds her mother's hand as we head outside into the awaiting car."
When we get to the house, Rue, Poppy, and I head to Poppy's room.
"How'd you get your own room?" Rue exclaimed.
"Well, I was with Rosie, but she wanted to be with Rue Lily and Daisy, so she moved to their room, and I ended up with my own."
"Lucky," Rue says.
"So, do you want me to tell you about what happened after your death?" Poppy asks. "And Lilac, this will give you an idea of all of our siblings' personalities."
"Sure," Rue and I say in unison.
"Well, after Rue's death, Ivy knew immediately she would have to take over your role as caretaker. She started to really work hard in the fields, and earned a bit of extra money in the process. That money she gave to our parents. She also began to help get everyone to and from school and such. She became like a third parent at age 11.
"At age 12, she became eligible for reaping. As you can obviously tell, she wasn't reaped, but she came pretty close."
"How so?" I interject.
"Well, when she was 15, so Dalia's first reaping, our escort accidentally picked two slips and dropped one. Instead of replacing the slips and repicking a name, which is proper protocol, she used the slip that she didn't drop. The escort got in a lot of trouble and was demoted to 12. meanwhile, after the reaping, Dalia went up and checked the slip. It had Ivy's name on it. She came that close to being reaped.
"Dalia was always shy, as I'm sure you remember. After you were reaped, she suddenly became even shyer. She eventually got over it, but we had no idea why that happened.
"Iris has always buried herself in books. After your death, she started to read more and more and more. One day, her IQ was tested: 145. That's considered genius. The Capitol found out and now wants her in the Capitol. So, when Iris turns 18, she will be headed to the Capitol - that is, if she isn't reaped first.
"Of course, you know little, energetic me."
"Of course I do!" Rue says. "Once, when you were little, I had to chase you around the house. You were one heck of a crawler."
"Rosie actually has an interesting backstory. She was born about a month after Katniss won, but our mother was too heartbroken to name her Rue, but she still wanted to name her daughter after you, so she became Rosie. The day of the Victory tour, Rosie was just a few months old, so she stayed in a daycare with other children who couldn't yet walk. She had never even seen your coffin. Meanwhile, Mom was still quite depressed, and
"Vine was born next. We could tell he was going to be an active baby, as he never stopped kicking! When he came out, he started kicking immediately, and he's been moving ever since. When Ivy goes to the Capitol, she's going to take Vine and get him tested for something called ADD.
"When Thresh and Rue were born, Mom had gotten over your death fully, and was ready to name a daughter after you, Rue. As a result, Rue Lily was named Rue. After literally 5 days of puzzling of the male's name, we came up with Thresh, your district partner.
"And then Daisy. One day, Ivy was doing some volunteer work at an orphanage here about 2 years ago. One day, a mother brought in a little white baby girl and said that she couldn't care for her. Ivy fell in love with the baby and asked Mom if we could adopt her. Mom said yes, and we did. And that's how Daisy joined our family.
"That's all for now, except little Peanut in Mom's uterus."
"Peanut?"
"We don't know the gender yet, so we've been calling the fetus Peanut."
"Aha."
"Girls, dinner!" Willow yells from downstairs. We head down and Rue's mother feeds us some nice, home-cooked mac-and-cheese. It's really, really good. Then, Cinna fetches Rue and me and we go back to the hovercraft to go to 12. Rue hugs each of her family members before heading out.
"Your family is really nice, Rue."
"I know. I'm so blessed to have them."
We board the hovercraft, head to our rooms, and fall asleep.
So, what do you think? I hope you liked the chapter, the longest so far, and I can't wait to finish the story - 2 more chapters! Anyway, school started today for me, so updates may be more spread out, and due to the Jewish holidays, I lose 7 writing days. But I'll work on it. The next updated chapter will be in either OTWT or Triplets. If you haven't checked those stories out, please do! Oh, and review please. I haven't really been pressing for reviews, and I won't hold off updates, but I really want reviews. It would make my day. Please?
-goldie031