I find Ares waiting in the wings just out of view of the cameras. I walk up next to him and stare out at the stage crew making the final adjustments to the brightly colored set while the studio audience gets seated.
"You know, I lived here most of my life and I still cannot figure out what these people's obsession is with strange colors…." he chuckles. I'm still not in a very good mood. He definitely knows something is going to happen tonight. The real reason he's here is probably to make sure I don't make a scene.
"You know, Sir, I don't like surprises." He just turns towards me and smiles.
"Really? I thought you liked a little unpredictability in your life."
"Not when my face is being broadcast to millions of people." He chuckles again, this time even louder.
"You know, I finally got the courage to ask Katniss last year what she was thinking that night before her first games when Peeta announced to all of Panem that he was in love with her. Do you know what she said?"
"What?" I ask.
"Well, there was the standard shock and surprise…"
"And then?"
"And then she said she wanted to kill him." I actually find myself laughing at this statement.
"I guess Panem's most famous love story was a little more complicated than we were all led to believe."
"You'd be guessing right, but let me remind you, the two of them have now been married almost thirty years and have two children."
"I'm not saying it wasn't a happy ending, Sir, but what's your point?"
"My point is," General Snow says wrapping a comforting arm around my shoulder, "that sometimes the things that make us happiest in our lives are the things we never thought we wanted."
I don't have long to ponder his words, because the booming voice of an announcer echoes through the entire studio.
"And now, Live from PNN Studios in the Capitol…It's Primetime Report with your host, Cicero Cooper!" The audience is on its feet cheering as a tall man with jet black hair and wearing a suit covered with black and yellow swirls crosses out from the other side of the curtain and takes a seat in one of the two armchairs placed in the middle of the stage.
"Good Evening, Panem, I'm Cicero Cooper and we have a very, very special guest tonight. She just returned from bravely serving our country in Tripolitania…"
I admit, I tune him out at he goes over a brief synopsis of my deeds with Khalid's tribe against the pirates. Instead, I find myself going over General Snow's words in my head over and over again.
"Here she is," Cicero says pointing in my direction, "Command Sergeant Major Olivia "Hatchet" Hightower!" The audience is cheering again and a stagehand is signaling for me to walk out.
"Just remember," Ares says whispering in my ear. "Smile."
"I hate smiling for people I don't know," I say back to him.
"I don't care. Do it anyway. That's an order." he says giving me a playful shove.
I move out into the bright lights, my heels awkwardly clacking on the wooden floor of the stage. Just as instructed, I instantly put on a big fake stupid grin and start waving to the adoring crowd. I get the impression that the General is getting me ready for the most dangerous game of all…politics, and the thought disgusts me.
Before I know it, Cicero is on his feet and holds out his hand. I shake it as he gestures for me to take a seat in the chair next to his. I sit down, and immediately place my knees together and cross my ankles…very proper and very lady-like.
Cicero takes his seat again and immediately starts talking to me.
"Welcome to the program, Olivia. May I call you, Olivia?" I continue my huge, fake grin and stare right back him.
"No, you may not," I say gently shaking my head. The entire audience bursts into laughter and Cicero looks out to them.
"Well then!" he says in an over-exaggerated, sarcastic tone.
"Obviously, this guy grew up watching Caesar Flickerman interviews his entire life." I think as I turn back to look at Ares offstage. He's just looking right back at me, and holding back laughter himself.
"Ok," Cicero continues. "Than what I should I call you?"
"Sergeant Major, would be a good start," I reply.
"Alright then, Sergeant Major," he says as the audience grows quiet again. "I don't think there wasn't single man, woman, or child in all of Panem that wasn't brought to tears by your heartfelt reunion with your family when you arrived back in the Districts yesterday morning."
I look behind me and see the footage of Clint, Aurora, and me on the tarmac at Fort Sturm broadcast on a massive screen for the entire country to see. Inside, I'm furious that such a private moment is now so blatantly public, but realize that these are the sort of things that Ares is trying to get me prepared for. Sadly, he is now the mentor, and I'm his tribute.
"Yes," I say reaching down to find appropriate words. "It was amazing to finally hold them again." The entire audience sighs simultaneously and I'm sure the viewers at home are joining them.
"Your husband is, of course, Staff Sergeant Retired, Clint "Ratchet" Hightower, another member of General Ares Snow's famous Mockingjay team during the TEC War. In fact, General Snow…" Cicero looks offstage like he's trying to get Ares to join us, but to his credit, General Snow flashes him a look of stone and slowly shakes his head from side to side. "…sends his warmest and deepest regards to you. I spoke to him earlier today," Cicero says executing a flawless transition.
"I love you, Sir," crosses my thoughts as I reply, "Well, Sir, if you're watching out there. I send my regards right back to you." The audience starts cheering again. The corner of my gaze catches Ares and its obvious he approves.
"Sergeant Major," Cicero says immediately quieting the audience. "How did your experiences in Tripolitania compare with the TEC war?"
Damn, a serious question. Somehow I thought I'd be able to avoid those with these shallow people tonight.
"Well," I say trying to choose my words even more carefully. "In my experience, war is always horrific, but what I saw in Tripolitania struck me to my core. As soon as I hit the ground there, I was humbled by the incredible hardships that the people there go through every day.
I hope their stories will remind us what we fought for in the Revolution, and that it will remind us that just because we are happy, safe, and comfortable, that others can still be suffering. If we want to be able to get up in the morning and look at ourselves in the mirror, we have to share the blessings we've been given with others…"
Total Silence. At first, I think my little speech was totally inappropriate and over the top. Just as I start to fumble for some words to fix everything, I realize that the quiet I'm hearing is not consternation, and the people watching are genuinely moved. Finally, after what seems like ages, Cicero expertly breaks the tension.
"Well, Sergeant Major, your actions and experiences definitely reached someone who's here tonight. In fact, he wants to speak to you in person."
"Uh oh," The way he says that phrase makes the pit of my stomach drop. Suddenly, the UDP anthem starts blasting through the loudspeakers in the studio and I jump to my feet reflexively. I see a man walk out on stage and immediately recognize him. "Oh my God…"
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Cicero proudly yells. "The President of the United Districts of Panem, Fischer Reefs!"
The President briefly acknowledges Cicero before crossing straight to me. I immediately offer a sharp salute, which he returns with the limp wrist of someone who's never been in the military. We shake hands as two stagehands suddenly appear with another chair that they place in the middle between me and Cicero. Then, Reefs all motions for us to sit and the interview continues.
Cicero and the President exchange pleasantries with the tone of an experienced politician and a veteran journalist. It gives me the opportunity to view my commander-in-chief for the first time close up. He came to the Capitol many years ago from District 4 and, as a result, made the mistake of adopting their fashion sense as his own. His long hair and beard have been dyed a light shade of green and arranged in a series of tiny braids. Tonight, he also wears a matching green suit. It makes him very difficult to take seriously and I can't help but think he looks like a cross between a leprechaun and a Poseidon.
"Well, Sergeant Major Hightower," the President says finally turning his attention to me. "The United Districts of Panem are once again in your debt."
"No, Sir," I say as my artificial grin returns, "I was just doing my job." I glance back at Ares and grit my teeth. The look on his face lets me know immediately that he knew full well this was coming.
"This must be the same feeling that Katniss Everdeen had when Peeta Mellark confessed his eternal and undying love for her on national television," I think.
"No," President Reefs says gesturing broadly and shaking his head. "Your actions were pure heroism, far above and beyond the call of the duty. Obviously, what happened to you shows that we should have had a much firmer response to the Tripolitanian Piracy Threat. Therefore, I'm announcing tonight," he says turning back toward the cameras. "That I'm dispatching an entire amphibious task force to the Mediterranean led by the battleship, UDPS Polaris, to end any threat to those innocent tribes people and our European allies once and for all!" The entire audience is on their feet and clapping their hands as I think.
"Well, if you had done that in the first place…"
"Also," President Reefs says turning back to me as things quiet down. "You've shown once again how indispensable you are to the Defense Forces. Your courage and leadership are a shining example not only to those who proudly wear the uniform, but to us all.
I'm not sure you're aware of this, but the position of Sergeant Major of the Defense Forces is currently vacant, and it is my incredible honor, to offer it to you, in front of the entire nation, here tonight!"
The crowd is cheering again, but I don't hear them. They're totally drowned out by the horrible screaming inside my head.
"No! I don't want this! I don't want this…" Then, my gaze meets General Snow's once more. His face is like iron, and his eye burns right to my heart. He's sending me a message, one that I haven't yet been willing to hear.
It suddenly hits me went he meant by "Make sure you remember that tonight for me, ok?" If he hadn't forced the Chief of the Defense Forces to act, then the right decision wouldn't have been made, and many more soldiers and civilians would have died. Sending only one battalion to Tripolitania was down- right asinine, but nobody with any real authority was willing to say anything. My men and women were put in harm's way, and if it weren't for the sheer dumb luck of me falling out of the sky right on top of them, Khalid's tribe could have continued to suffer from lack of support. I knew all of this before we even left Fort Sturm, but I didn't have the rank to do anything about it…then.
There has to be someone responsible at the top. Someone who can look a General in the face and say, "You're wrong, Sir," and what Ares and Clint were trying to tell me that night at dinner was that person…is me. I'll never be SMDF because it's what I want. I need to be SMDF because it's what's required of me.
I snap back to the present and realize that the entire studio is silently staring at me, waiting for my response. The President seems confused that I haven't answered and Cicero looks like a hungry dog, anxious to be the first reporter in Panem to break the story. I take one final deep breath, turn to look Reefs directly in the face, and say one word
"Yes."
Cicero jumps to his feet and begins clapping and the rest of the audience follows suit. A relieved President Reefs suddenly grabs me and pulls me to my feet. With a hand on each shoulder, he positions me in the center of the stage, rips the Command Sergeant Major rank off my epaulets, and immediately replaces them with a rank that only one person in the whole of the Defense Forces possesses. Instead of star in the center of the Sergeant Major's Stripes, there is a Mockingjay, clutching an arrow in its beak.
"This is for you, my brother," I say as I think of Khalid's brave sacrifice, once again.
Then, my heart breaks for a second as I realize that I will shortly be leaving my soldiers back in District 2 behind and moving to this strange and deluded city that I cannot stand. However, as I look over to General Snow, grinning from ear to ear as he knows that I've finally seen the light, I smile as I remember that there will now be someone at the top who can fight for them more than they ever dreamed of.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Cicero shouts to the cameras as the audience now breaks into full-fledged pandemonium. "It is my pleasure to present to you for the first time, Olivia S. Hightower, Sergeant Major of the Defense Forces of the United Districts of Panem!" I find myself smiling again, but it is not the fake, forced grin anymore. It is real, genuine happiness.