"Hey, Mom?" Garnet asked, as he straightened up his papers prior to the second round of eliminations. "How will I know when I find The One?"

"What do you mean?"

Garnet tried to explain more clearly. "Like, how do you know the person you're supposed to marry?"

Ruby stopped for a second. Her son had asked her some tough questions in his lifetime, but this one might have taken the cake. "You know, Garnet? I'm going to be honest. I don't know for sure. I might ask your aunts and cousins to answer that, because I had an arranged marriage and they didn't. Why do you ask?"

"Because I think I know."

"Who you're going to marry?"

"Yes," Garnet smiled. "There was something last night that I… it just felt so, so right to me with one of the girls. I think she's the one."

"If it feels right for you, then I think that's it. You know? If you want, you can totally ask Cerise or Violet or someone. But you've always known what was right for you, ever since you were a little kid. I think that, if you know, you should trust your gut." Ruby paused. "Question for you, though. What does this mean from a competition timing perspective? As in, when am I making a formal announcement?"

"I don't know. Because I do feel kind of bad of just cutting them all loose. I feel like I want to have a reason that I'm eliminating them."

"I mean, you don't need a reason. This whole thing is subjective anyway. Whatever; if it makes you feel better, I'm OK with it. How about you… I don't know… do some sort of challenges? Talk to Violet. She has a good mind for this kind of stuff. Do you think you'll be done by August 25th?"

"That's nine days away. No shot."

"September 25th?"

"Maybe doable. Let's see how it goes, but I don't want to make any promises I can't keep."

"A boy after your own mother. All right, good luck today, Garnet. I'll see you later."

Ruby left the room through the back door as Violet came in to the front, translucent purple clipboard in hand. "All right, Garnet. Let's double-check the order again?" Garnet skimmed the list. "It's a bit easier today because we only have four girls, I think."

"But it's got its harder aspect; these girls might take it harder."

"What you did last time worked. Keep doing that." Garnet nodded. "First girl coming in. Good luck, Garnet!"

The first girl to enter the room was Nadina Spencer from Seven. She tucked her hair behind her ear nervously as she came in and sat across from Garnet. "Hello, Garnet," she said. "How are you?"

"I'm good, Nadina," said Garnet. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you. Why did you call me here?" She asked, not intending to sound nearly as rude or as pushy as she came across.

"I have, in fact, called you here because I have not selected you as my wife."

Nadina was stunned into silence. It wasn't that she liked Garnet all that much, but she was definitely hoping to succeed in order to provide better for her family. In fact, she'd told Garnet as much the day before at the Victory Ball.

Maybe that was why he'd sent her home.

"Well, thank you so much for the opportunity," Nadina said, deciding to get up and leave before she could say anything else that would screw her over.

Violet came in after Nadina went out. "Are you gonna do anything about that?"

"No. She's not really my concern anymore. I've noticed that Nadina has a tendency to not always say the best thing at the right time, which she proved to me at the Ball when she told me that she was really more in it for the money. That's a liability as the President's wife, and I don't want to deal with it anymore. I don't think either of us wants to say anything one of us will regret."

"OK. Next girl."

Garnet knew as soon as the other girl came in that he'd need to take a different approach with her. Because unlike Nadina, who came in completely confidently, Honey Voltas slunk into the room and took a seat in the chair, very careful not to mess anything up in the room or to do anything that could be a problem. This was going to be much tougher.

"Hello, Honey," said Garnet gently. "How are you?"

"I'm good, Mr. Garnet sir. How are you?"

"I'm well, thank you. I know that you've had a rough go of it, so I think it would be best for you to be with your family. I'm sorry, but I have not chosen you to be my wife."

A small smile creeped onto Honey's face before she closed her lips; she seemed to be kind of happy to be going, but also thought that it was wrong to seem happy. "Well, thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Garnet sir."

"I noticed that you made friends with Andrew Chaff at the Victory Ball. If you'd like to write to him, I can make that happen."

"That'd be very nice, Mr. Garnet sir. Thank you."

"No problem. Thank you, Honey."

The girl cautiously stood up, then allowed Violet to lead her out. No explanation was needed; Honey was clearly uncomfortable in the situation, and it was better for everyone involved for her to go home. Violet shut the door, waited two seconds, then poked her head out to indicate to the next girl that it was time to come in.

Euodia Grove was a smart kid. She'd noticed the pattern in the visits to Private Room G, and with the pattern continuing through that day, she knew she was going home. But, procedure and politeness would dictate that she let him break the news, and so she came in, knowing exactly what would happen.

"Hello, Euodia."

"Hi, Garnet. How's it going?"

"It's good. You seem like you know exactly what's about to happen."

"I think I do."

"So, tell me."

"I think you're about to tell me that you're not choosing me as your wife."

"That is a perfect analysis. How'd you figure that out?"

"Every other girl that has been called into Private Room G has been sent home. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing to be sent home, but that's happened to everyone. But, thank you very much for the opportunity, Garnet."

"Of course, Euodia. And by the way, my mom asked me to tell you to give your father her regards."

"No problem. As I'm in the political sphere, I'm sure I'll be seeing you again."

"Goodbye, Euodia."

Violet led Euodia out, then closed the door. "Euodia seemed to be a frontrunner to me. I kind of liked her, especially knowing her family. Explain sending her home?"

"Euodia is already too involved in politics and too much of a debater to be a calm wife. If I'm President and I'm making decisions, my wife needs to be someone much, much softer and more soft-spoken, that the nation can love and get behind a lot more."

"Fair. Do you need a break before the last one?" she asked.

"No. Let's finish up to get everyone home."

"All right. One more girl." Violet stepped out yet again, then let in the last of the day's eliminated ladies.

"Hello there, Thyra."

"Hi, Garnet."

"I hope you've been enjoying your time in the Capitol?"

"I have, thank you. It's been nice."

"Very good. Unfortunately," Garnet continued a bit more harshly, but not that much, "I have not selected you to be my wife."

"Oh. Well, thank you very much." Thyra stood up to leave, then, almost as though she couldn't control what she was going to say, turned back. "Garnet?"

"Yes?"

"I wanted to thank you. I didn't know that some men didn't look down on women, which was always a bit of a problem for me at home with the male trainees. But you've really made me feel better about the way I can be treated, with how nice you were to the younger girls and all of the things you tried to do for us, especially because you didn't have to be and were kind of forced into it. I really appreciate it. Maybe there is hope for your sex."

Garnet smiled. "Thank you, Thyra. That means a lot."

Thyra stood by awkwardly, then quickly and abruptly walked out of the room.

"That was nice of her to say," Violet said as she came back in.

"Yeah. Thyra is usually a little bit more brash, and also has a tendency to say things that she'll regret. That was a bit out of character for her, but I wonder if some thought she had softened her a bit more than normal...

"Anyway, Violet! Before you go. We have to talk about some stuff. I have some ideas and I need some help."


Lavender and Carissa stood in front of the Training Center, awaiting the cars that would drive Lavender to the train station and Carissa back home; as one train was needed to take Honey east to Three, and one was needed to loop a bit west and then north to hit One, Four, and Seven, everyone decided that it would be easier to just have Carissa take a car home as Two was due south of the Capitol. But that meant that the Victors would be splitting up for the first time in about three weeks.

"Well, this is goodbye, I guess," Carissa said, a bit of sadness in her tone.

"Yeah."

A small pause followed before Lavender launched herself into Carissa's arms. "I'm gonna miss you! You're like my big sister now!"

"I know, Lavender. We'll see each other soon for the Victory Tour. And maybe we can visit each other in between."

"That'd be nice."

The first car pulled up. "That's my ride. I love you, Carissa." The girls embraced one last time, before Lavender got into the car and it drove off.

Carissa felt a bit lonely. She had no Janari and no Lavender. For the first time in weeks, there were no other girls her age around; it was just her.

A moment later, the elevator dinged. Carissa recognized the stunning blonde as Arabelle Pick, Victor of the 123rd Games. "Congratulations," said Arabelle, coming up to Carissa. "I don't know if I ever introduced myself to you. I'm Arabelle. I'm really glad that you won; the last time that a girl from Two won was Smash Hatch, who is now 36. And that's a long way off from 20. It's nice to have a girl so much closer to my age. The boys just don't get it."

Carissa took Arabelle's outstretched hand and gave it a strong shake. "Carissa. It's nice to formally meet you! You know that I'm a bit of a package deal with Lavender, right?"

"Yeah, we've all been talking about Lavender," Arabelle admitted. "I do want to do my best to help her through the next few years because she is so young. It's hard to be a lot younger than your counterparts. You probably remember when I won because it was nine years after Orion did; 18 years old to 27 years old doesn't seem like a large age difference but it really is, especially when I was just coming off of the Games. So I'm sure that it's gonna be hard for her until some other Victors around her age win. But we'll do our best to help, and I'm sure the older Victors will think she's like their daughter or granddaughter, so they'll like her." Suddenly, a car pulled up. "You ready to go home, Carissa?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"I'll be escorting you back; Mesa has some other stuff to deal with. And honestly, I think that the older Victors wanted us to bond."

"I don't mind that."

The car ride home was fast; Carissa was driven right to the train station in Two. When she got there, she exited the car proudly and strongly, like the Victor she was. She first wen to hug her father, who gave her a tight hug. "I always knew you could do it."

"We're thrilled. Over the moon," her mother added, embracing her daughter next. "How's Janari doing?"

"She seems OK," Carissa replied. "Still in the running for Garnet, but I'm not sure how much longer that'll last. We'll see."

Carissa then greeted her friends, Dari and Sandiva, before going back home with her parents to the Victor's Village, in the house right next to Arabelle's. As different as her life was now, there was still something nice about being home.


The train headed to One, Four, and Seven was about to make its first stop. Lavender stood at the door, ready to receive the crowds that were waiting for her. Her reception at the train station was big, as it had been eight years since One had brought home a Victor. The Selection girls watched through the train's tinted windows as Lavender turned into a twelve-year-old for the first time that they could remember, hugging her friends and simply acting like a kid, something she'd never really been allowed to do. Then, she gave her mother a tight embrace, and as the train pulled away behind them, the two moved towards their home in Victor's Village, across from Jasper; Lavender was immediately greeted by Jasper's six-year-old daughter Jada who was thrilled to have a new playmate.

The train's next stop was in District Four, where Thyra disembarked with her suitcase, her family waiting for her at the station. Immediately Margaery, Thyra's younger sister, ran into her arms; though Thyra was hardened by life, she burst into tears at the sight of her little sister, whom she had missed more than anyone. Now, Margaery (and all of Thyra's other siblings) were safe from the Reaping, and would only enter the Games if they wanted to, which was a huge weight off of everyone's shoulders. Her family escorted her back home, where Thyra gave them all big hugs, returned the things they'd sent her in the suitcase, and told them all about her time in the Capitol. For years, Margaery would brag about her "big thithter" who got to go to the Capitol and came back, and even got to meet Garnet!

For Thyra, returning home meant a return to an age-old argument she'd had with her parents: what Thyra would do with her future. Her parents wanted her to marry a sailor and stay home to care for their children, which is what their family had done for generations. A few tense weeks followed before the solution fell in their laps. District Four realized that it was extremely beneficial for them to have a chosen volunteer return without the responsibilities associated with Victory; Thyra would be able to spend the whole year, most likely, working with trainees, and wouldn't have to worry about going back and forth to the Capitol when called. When the Career Academy came to the Sereno house to ask Thyra to take the post, she couldn't exactly say no, and so moved to the center of the district to begin her career as a trainer.


The first train's last stop was District Seven, where Euodia and Nadina got off, gave each other a cordial handshake, and retreated to their respective areas of the district. Though the two were different girls, they would forever be bonded by their experience, and made sure to check in and say hi on each subsequent Reaping Day.

Nadina returned home to her family, who for some reason didn't know she was coming back. She made sure to embrace her siblings and stepfather first before giving her mother Violet the biggest hug of all. Lila even let Nadina hold her teddy bear for a little bit… until she began screaming and demanded it back.

As Nadina and her stepsiblings Roderick and Sabria weren't eligible for the Reaping anymore, they were all able to get steady jobs to help the family. The three ended up employees for the same logging company in Seven; Sabria and Nadina chopped down the trees while Roderick helped move them. With five people bringing income to the Spencer home, they were able to get a slightly nicer house and keep Lila in school for longer, meaning more comfortable living conditions for everyone.

On the richer end of the district, things looked good for Euodia. She arrived home to discover that President Emerald had gotten to the bottom of the whole Reaping mess and that it had been rigged for her by Mayor Lafe; deeper investigation by the President and her people led them to discover that there had been bribery involved leading to a fudging of the vote count. The news of these scandals was never formally announced to District Seven, but well-placed rumor spreaders by the President had caused an uproar in Seven, with early elections called for a few months later. It was almost a guarantee that Cyprus Grove would be Mayor before the year was out.

In deciding her career path, Euodia was torn. She wanted to go into debate and politics, but was reluctant to. Firstly, she was concerned that rumors might spread that her father had had influence in getting her elected. And secondly, she knew that her reputation in Seven wasn't the greatest after the scene she made at the Reaping. But, she'd spent her whole life preparing for debate and politics. In a slightly unusual move for her, Euodia elected to wait and see what opportunities fell into her lap.

And fate didn't disappoint.


Honey Voltas was the last of the four eliminated Selection girls to return home, getting back to Three in the middle of the night but not getting off the train to go home until early in the morning. She was not thrilled to be returning home to her mother without her brother to support her, but knew that Andrew Chaff was always just a letter away. The next two years of Honey's life would be nearly torture for her, as Bea insisted on reminding her incessantly about "Sugar's bravery in the Games" and "her slow and painful death." Honey's much more supportive father, Vespa, would do his best to help her through things, but even he was only so powerful against the woman known as The Vulture on their street.

Honey would return to the Capitol four times before she became an adult: once for the announcement of Garnet's wife, twice for events relating to the the Victory Tour, and once to "help mentor tributes" for the 126th Games. All of those occasions were really just ways to get her back to see Andrew. They weren't able to see each other for all that long, but valued the little moments they spent together. The two would keep in close contact via letters for the remainder of the years that they spent apart, and they were so detailed that the twins felt like they lived next door to each other.

The biggest goal of the time after the Selection, during which she couldn't be Reaped, was to lay the groundwork for Honey's future. The girl planned and worked, dealing with her mother's critiques all the way through. Then, when Honey turned 18 on March 14th in the year of the 127th Games, she (with her father and brother's help) left home. She got a job working in one of the bigger tech companies in Three, and, as time went on, began to embody more of her brother, even coming out of her shell a little bit

Because, out of her mother's shadow for the first time, Honey felt truly free.


Farewells

18th Place: Nadina Spencer, District Seven

Nadina was a really nice, family-oriented tribute who didn't always stick out much, honestly, but in a story like this that's kind of to be expected. I loved to play with someone fearless and brave like she is, but had fun playing with her softer side too. Thanks, Dreamer, for Nadina, and I'm sorry I didn't showcase her as much as I could have in a smaller story; I hope you stick around to see who wins!

17th Place: Honey Voltas, District Three

With all of the craziness surrounding Honey earlier in the story, I always knew she'd leave the Selection early; she just isn't Garnet's type. It was so fun for me to play with Honey and Drew, and I know that their whole plotline is going to come back to the universe in a big way. Thanks, Mik, for Honey, and I'm sure you'll stick around till the end!

16th Place: Euodia Grove, District Seven

Like with Honey, I knew Euodia couldn't win the Selection. She'd had her time to shine at the beginning of the story, and that was definitely enough for me, but as I'm sure you gathered, she'll be coming back later on. Fun fact about her, though: Euodia was my original Games Victor. Yeah, that changed a lot. Thanks, Tigris, for Euodia. I really enjoyed writing for her and showcasing her a little early on, and I'm excited to still have her in my universe.

15th Place: Thyra Sereno, District Four

Thyra was one of those characters that had great qualities that kept getting overshadowed by others with similar qualities. She was a Career with a good backstory, but there were other Careers with good backstories. She valued family, but other tributes also valued family. It was sometimes hard to distinguish her, but I think a life of training other tributes suits Thyra well. Thanks, LokiThisIsMadness, for Thyra, and I hope you stick around to see Dania's fate!


Whoo! Bit of an overdue chapter, but I've been busy preparing to be a counselor at camp. In about two days, I'll be responsible for the health and safety of 15 girls. So that's a bit frightening.

Anyway, I don't think any of these eliminations were too surprising. I know that I didn't go so far into the future with Lavender and Carissa, but that's because we're still going to see more of them as major characters in the universe. Were any of you surprised about who got eliminated? What kinds of things do you think Garnet will do to get a basis of elimination for the girls!

I also want to introduce y'all to my mentor Mik! Mik was super helpful in figuring out the progression of this story to get to my endgame. The FanFic Writers' Mentor-Mentee Network is still open to new people, just send a PM to Wetstar for more info!

I think that's it for the chapter. No promises on the timing of the next one, because I get my campers soon!

Thank you for your continued support!

-goldie031