It turns out that the medics weren't the only people from Thirteen to suddenly show up. Coin's here too, along with some reinforcement soldiers and the rest of the Victors. Even Effie's come back to the Capitol. Sure enough, they work with the Peacekeepers to storm the mansion and bring Snow into custody. He gives in without a fight, because there's nothing he can do anymore; no one believes his lies anymore.

We've finally won.

But it truly doesn't feel like we won, not to Peeta and I. The final explosion, it killed so many...The hardest part about it is knowing that Primrose Everdeen was among the dead and knowing how hard it's going to hit Katniss when she finally wakes up. I can see the pain in their mother's eyes when she's not busy with treating the wounded and again when I give her my condolences. Everything feels so wrong. The rebellion, it was sparked because Katniss wanted to protect her sister. For the girl to die at the very end of it...it's going to tear her apart.

I feel a horrible guilt when Peeta and I tell Annie Cresta about Finnick. She quickly falls to hysterical sobs once we break the news to her. I leave Peeta to comfort her. He's rather good at that sort of thing. I go to Johanna and hope she has something sarcastic to say that'll get my mind off of the shame and regret of what happened to Finnick. She and Beetee silently mourn him too when they hear the news. Finnick had been more than an ally; he'd been a friend.

My wounds are properly treated by Thirteen's medics and begin to heal. The physical wounds, anyway. As the Capitol slowly transitions back to day-to-day life, I slip by a shop and buy myself some liquor to drown out the memories and the survivor's guilt. Effie openly disapproves of it, not that I care.

I'm at Katniss's side with her mother when she finally awakes. I'm surprised the woman is allowing me to be nearby, considering that the last known footage of us was in the courtyard where I nearly killed her oldest- and only, now- daughter.

"Fight was over after the Capitol dropped those bombs." I tell her from where I stand at the foot of the medical bed. "The rebels walked right in."

She tries to sit up.

"Don't, Katniss. The ointment's working." Her mother says, referring to the Mockingjay's many burns received in the final explosion.

She reluctantly lays back.

I remember patting out the flames on her outfit, crouching by her side in the middle of the panic, hoping a medic would spot her as I tried to console Peeta.

"Everybody felt it. Peacekeepers, palace guards. They had kids in there too." I explain, trying not to meet the girl's gaze. It hurts to think about the scene that followed the explosions. "It was...It was over after that."

It's silent for a moment as Katniss processes my words. Then she turns her gaze to her mother. "Mom."

The woman doesn't reply, probably not wanting to focus on the topic of Primrose.

"Haymitch?" The Mockingjay turns back to me. "Is Peeta okay?"

"Yeah. He and Gale are both fine." I assure her.

I stay with them a little longer, until the silence and heaviness in the air become too overwhelming.

*X*

The next months go by slowly as the Peacekeepers and rebels alike work on rebuilding what was destroyed and repairing the connections between themselves. Winter falls. I've never seen the Capitol covered in snow, but it looks odd. The streets are deserted, as everyone's trying to stay warm. It doesn't feel like the place that I've despised all of my life.

I spend most of my time in the presence of at least one of the other remaining Victors. It's comforting to be near them, for they understand the need to be silent or to talk away the memories. We're survivors of the worst form of punishment, and so we stick together. The Games aside, we get to know each other on more personal levels. It feels nice to have friends, to know people with the same problems as me.

We hold a private funeral ceremony in honor of Finnick. I can see that some of us want to talk, to give words about him, but no one has the willpower to step up and actually say anything. It doesn't matter though, because we all know what the others want to say.

I learn that Annie is pregnant with Finnick's son. The reality of the boy growing up without a father weighs down on all of us, but I know that he'll understand one day; that he'll know how courageous his father was, even in the darkest and most hopeless of moments; that he died to make a brighter future for those yet to come.

I decide to drop by Snow's rose garden to visit him because, despite the end of the war, I still have a lot of unanswered questions that I need to know the answers to.

I walk out the back of the mansion, shoulders drawn up against the cold of winter. It's not difficult to convince the guards to let me slip inside the large greenhouse. They know who I am, and they seem to hold us Victors in higher authority than most others.

The warmth inside is almost welcoming, but there's something about the atmosphere of the place that makes me feel like I don't belong. Perhaps it's all the green. Maybe the grand size of the garden. The trickling of the fountain in the center, perhaps. But the main reason is probably because I know that Snow is inside. Anything about the man makes me feel unwelcome.

I've stopped to watch the water flowing down the fountain when I hear his voice behind me.

"Mr. Abernathy, what a pleasant surprise. It's been quite some time since we last spoke."

I turn to face him. He appears somewhat frail, but otherwise looks to be in decent health. He wears blood colored robes overtop white clothing. A white rose is pinned to his chest, no doubt plucked from within this very garden. He holds a cloth in his hand.

"There are so many things we should discuss." He coughs as he sits down on a bench, holding the cloth to his mouth. It comes away with a splatter of red soaking into it. It's from those sores Finnick had once said the man got from all the poison he'd drank. "But I imagine you wish to talk about something in particular. So, first, I wish to congratulate you on your victory. So strategic. So perfectly planned. Flawless. But I ask you this: Is it worth the blood that was spilled to pull it off?"

I regard him coolly. "It will be. People don't have to live in fear anymore. Not of the Games, of if their brothers, sisters, daughters, or sons will have to fight to the death. Not of execution at the hands of your Peacekeepers."

"I am truly sorry for the deaths of your loved ones, Mr. Abernathy. But actions have consequences, each move a countermove. It's what we love most that destroys us, one way or another." Snow says.

"You bombed your own people." I point out, not buying his sympathy. "What did you hope to gain from that?"

"Miss Everdeen hasn't told you?" He appears the faintest bit surprised for a moment. "I did not give out the order to drop those bombs. I may not be above killing children, but there was no reason to destroy a pen full of them. Such a waste of precious life."

I frown, struggling to believe him. "If you didn't have those bombs dropped, who did?"

After I leave Snow to cough up his own blood alone, I approach Katniss to hear her perspective of this. If what Snow told me is true and that it was Coin's plan...I need to know more.

I can't shake his statement about Coin intending to take his place as the sole leader of the nation. I want to believe he's lying, but he has never lied. Not directly. The violent end to the war, it was all Coin's doing. I knew there was something about her I didn't like, but this. This is too far.

She can't be president. If she is, then everything'll be back where it started.

I can't let all those deaths go to waste like that, because of a cruel trick of manipulation.

Katniss tells me that a big part of it was Gale's doing, that a plan of his had been twisted and thrown in our faces. I can tell that she blames him quite a bit for what happened. I find that I can't speak up and try to convince her otherwise. "They're militarists. It's what they do."

As we finish talking, we're summoned to a meeting with Coin and the other Victors.

Enobaria's here too. It's the first I've seen of her since I chased after her and Brutus at the end of the Quell. And I was throwing a knife at them then. But she seems to hold no ill towards either Katniss or I; not to any of us. In fact, she looks to be in fairly good health.

We join Coin in sitting around a circular table.

"I have invited you all here for several reasons, but first, I have an announcement." She tells our little group. "I have taken the burden and the honor of declaring myself Interim President of Panem."

It's silent for a moment as this sinks in with the others.

I scoff, unsurprised, because I have the knowledge of the truth. "Interim? Exactly how long is that interim?"

I can see the anger that she holds back at my questioning, though her calm front is strong. "We have no way of knowing for certain. But it's clear that people are far too emotional right now to make a rational decision. We'll plan an election when the time is right.

"But I have called you here for a far more important vote. A symbolic vote. This afternoon, we will execute Snow. Hundreds of his accomplices also await their deaths. Capitol officials, Peacekeepers, torturers, Gamemakers. But the danger is, once we begin, the rebels will not stop calling for retribution. Thirst for blood is a difficult urge to satisfy.

"So, I offer an alternative plan. Majority of four may approve it. No one may abstain. The proposal is this: In lieu of these barbaric executions, we hold a symbolic Hunger Games."

My jaw drops and I know now more than ever that Snow's right; the whole nation's been played for fools. What? She can't be serious. There's no way we would ever agree to this.

Johanna laughs in her mocking way and closes her eyes. "You wanna have another Hunger Games with the Capitol's children?"

Peeta's frowning, dead serious. "You're joking?"

"Not in the slightest." Coin says, looking a tad puzzled at our reactions.

Does she not understand that it's not revenge that we're after?

"Is this Plutarch's idea?" I manage to ask, hoping that it is and knowing that it's not.

"It was mine." She replies, appearing almost hurt at our apparent disapproval. "It balances the need for revenge with the least loss of human life. You may cast your votes."

"No." Peeta blurts out almost immediately, voicing my thoughts. He shakes his head. "No, obviously not. This is crazy."

"I think it's more than fair." There's a familiar murderous glint in Johanna's eyes as she adds in a fact about Snow having a granddaughter. "I say yes."

Peeta holds his hands out before him in disbelief.

"So do I." Enobaria voices her agreement. "Let them have a taste of it."

"You guys, this way of thinking is what started these uprisings." Peeta argues pointedly.

"I vote no. With Peeta." Annie's voice cracks. "So would Finnick, if he were here."

"Well, he's not." Johanna reminds us. "Because Snow killed him."

You would think that a group as tightly knit as ourselves wouldn't argue like this. But the Games are rather personal to each one of us.

"No." Beetee firmly says as he looks at Coin. "We need to stop viewing each other as enemies."

I nod in approval of his last statement.

"It's down to Katniss and Haymitch." The Interim President quietly observes, prompting us to give our thoughts on the matter.

After a long moment, Katniss is the first to speak up. "I get to kill Snow."

"I expected no less of you." Coin assures her.

I can see the plan building in the Mockingjay's head when she says,"Then I vote yes. For Prim."

"Haymitch?"

Katniss looks at me with the same intensity as when she made me promise to volunteer for Peeta. And I know what my answer has to be.

"I'm with the Mockingjay."

Because if I know Katniss, there isn't going to be another Hunger Games. She won't let it happen.