Epilogue

Seven months later

Arden Goldenrod, 15

They had said her wounds would scar.

Right when the Capitol pulled her out of that arena, there'd been a team of white-cloaked doctors, one of whom had said something along the lines of, your injuries are serious, but we'll have you fixed in no time if we operate right away.

Arden had freaked out, drenched in Angelo's blood and clutching the very pen that had ended his life. They'd knocked her out, and Arden couldn't have blamed them.

She woke up three days later, alone in a hospital ward with the pen washed and resting on her bedside.

So they hadn't taken the pen from her.

As strange and maybe even psychopathic as it was, the pen gave her a sense of purpose now.

It was a sense of safety, a reminder of how it had saved her, how it had been the lucky ace up her sleeve that saved her in that final fight against Angelo.

Beetee and Wiress had checked in with her later that day, but though they were sweet people, Arden didn't have that connection with them she had with Dei. Dei, who was dead and never coming back.

She'd fought for Dei, crawled out of hell for Dei, all for it to be ended in one cruel trap set by the District 9 girl, who was now also dead.

Yet Arden had somewhat come to peace with this, because in the end, the girl from Nine only had one kill while Arden had three. If she tagged Nine as a monster, what was she?

Her fifteenth birthday passed without much notice- not only by her family, but by Arden as well.

After all, she was deemed safe to be released from the hospital in mid August and moved into her house in Victor's Village days later, completely missing her birthday. Yet people she didn't even know left all sorts of gifts outside her door when she returned home to District 3, and maybe to atone for the birthday she'd missed on August First: flowers, casserole, even a writing journal probably from someone who knew her well.

They reminded Arden of what day it truly was- August 30th, and a day to be thankful for being alive, when she'd gone into the arena determined to die anyways.

Everyone else deserved it more- they wanted to come out alive, wanted to be the next Victor.

And Arden?

Well, she sure hadn't wanted to be their perfect little Victor, their doll. Arden had never known a more unattractive prospect than such, because fuck them all, she had a life to live now.

That mindset was certainly different than the one she'd had upon entering the arena. Deiondra had changed that, and a day didn't go by without Arden wondering what it would've been like if Deiondra had been able to survive.

But she was dead and buried six feet under, and as much as Arden wanted to change that, it wasn't possible. So it was probably best to just accept that and move on.

But it's harder than it looks, really.

Ironically, Arden and her parents hadn't spoken much since she returned home-well, they'd waited at the train station for her, but soon after returned home. It was all fine with Arden, because honestly? She didn't have the room to care about their opinion anymore. Even though she still tried, she'd tried hard enough in the arena. Wasn't her being alive and well enough?

The Victory tour had commenced in February, with a harsh start at District Four. The Trinidads and Angelo's father greeted her harshly, and it only made Arden feel more out of place.

District Five was next, which was a relatively safe spot for Arden given she hadn't known either tribute. District Six, however… the man Arden assumed had been Audi's father and probably a close friend, a boy a few years older than Arden herself, didn't yell nor curse at her, and their quiet, resolved sadness somehow made it worse. District Seven and District Eight passed solemnly, but District Nine was outraged at Arden for killing their star. Obviously, it had been Angelo who had killed her, but they were right- Arden had simply stood by and watched, but she could have saved Demeter.

District 10 didn't pay much attention to her, mourning the losses of both of their tributes. District 11 was a whiplash from this, because as Arden was supposed to give a tiny little tidbit on the district's bravery at the end, Deiondra's sister who she supposed was the girl Arden had seen in the mementos, led the crowd in a rousing bit of applause.

She tried to return the photos to Deiondra's sister after the tour, but she had refused to take them, instead introducing herself as Amber.

They decided to keep in touch.

District 12 was in mourning as well, and gave Arden respectful attention which only made her feel all the more awkward. District 1 and District 2 were relatively tame spots for Arden, except meeting the Leblancs in the former district. The fact that they told Arden they didn't blame her for Lux's death was only worse, especially as it was her fire that killed their daughter. Sure, the Gamemakers had definitely sparked the fire to nearly blow up the whole arena, but Arden still felt at fault.

She finally returned home for the grand finale to her victory tour.

Even though she'd grown up in District Three, it simply didn't feel like home anymore. As messed up as it was, Arden would be content spending the rest of her days in the Capitol, because she didn't feel comfortable in her district anymore.

She was forced to meet privately with the Millers after the celebration, and it had been more awkward than all the other stops put together. As a matter of fact, the Millers congratulated her for killing Lux, gave her a round of applause for it.

It only made Arden feel more like a monster.

She now spent her days in solidarity, writing.

While it wouldn't wash the horrors of the arena away by any stretch of the imagination, it was something that made Arden feel safe.

And she always, always wrote with her Capitol pen.

Fin.

A/N

And there we have it.

To start off, shoutouts need to be given.

To ladyqueerfoot, david12341, chcolate, platrium, methefanatic19, slytherindauntless, my-mental-mind, 30777, lc-it-gets-better-alt-account, goldie031, tyquavis, averyrandomauthor, marie464, cartierscrown, setfiresjust2watchthemburn, firedawn'd, and optimisms- thank you so much for trusting me with your tributes. I enjoyed every second of writing them.

To everyone who reviewed, followed, and gave me encouragement: you are absolutely awesome. I was new to this, and every review made my day, as did concrit, which helped me grow so much.

Special shoutouts to Marie, Raf, Trish, Ben, Cart, and Remus: you guys are amazing. Thank you so much for being awesome friends.

Submissions for Stars Around Scars will open soon- more info on profile- and the prologue will be posted soon.

This has been an amazing journey, and I am so glad that I got so much support on it.

Until next time,

-Tia