This is the end of this story, but not Terra's. I have been working on a sequel that will be published very soon, and I hope you like it just as much as you've liked this one. Thank you so much to everyone who has followed and favorited and reviewed this story; your support means the world to me. I've loved writing this story, and I hope you loved reading it. Watch for when More than Chance gets posted, which will be sooner than you think!
Thank you all!
Chapter 67- Terra Coppersmith
I shield my eyes from the sun as I watch the train pull away from District 8, taking my mentors and this year's tributes with it. It's thanks to Shuttle and Woven that I'm not on it as well.
Iry tugs my hand and I turn away from the vanishing silver train, looking at my little sister instead.
"How have I not noticed how much you've grown?" I say; she comes up to my shoulders now. She grins, her braids bouncing as she jumps up and down.
"I'll be as tall as you soon, you'll see," she says.
"I don't doubt it. Come on, we have some free time; what do you want to do?"
"Terra!" she says, grinning. "We have all the free time! School's out and we don't have to work!"
"That's true, and the Games don't start for a few more days, so we don't have to watch that tonight," I say.
"We don't have to, but we will; we have to watch Jessa and Terron," Iry says, suddenly worried.
"We'll cheer them on, and we'll even put some money into the sponsor's donation plate, how does that sound?"
"It's perfect," Iry says, brightening immediately. Nothing keeps her down for long, and that's just one of the things I love about her. How can my little sister be nine already? She's growing up so fast.
"So, again, what do you want to do?"
Iry looks up at me, perfectly serious. "Let's visit Mumma and Papa."
"Okay."
The factories have a day off today, because it was reaping day. I didn't have to worry too much, since I am no longer eligible, of course, and Iry is too young. I only had to worry about Deecey, and she came out unscathed. Iry and I are going to a celebration dinner at Deecey's house tonight, but until then it's just her and me. I hold her hand in mine as we walk, and I barely even notice the missing finger on my right hand as I do so.
People don't look at us any different on the street, which is nice. Shuttle and Woven pulled some strings in the Capitol, convincing their sponsors that Iry needed me more than the Capitol did. So now I can just be Terra Coppersmith again, without the Victor title attached. At least for now.
The cemetery is on a hill, a rare sight in District 8. Instead of snow, the graves are covered in July flowers and vines; the tall grass is periodically cut back by an old man now retired from the factories. I see him sometimes when I come up here. He likes to wave to me, and I always wave back.
"There they are!" Iry says, pulling my hand over to the twin stone graves in the middle of the cemetery. With some of my winnings, I bought my parents proper headstones, and now they look as respectable in death as they did in life.
I pull a rose from a bush, handing it to Iry, then pluck one for myself. Solemnly, we lay the flowers at the base of the graves and stand back to read what they say.
Maria Coppersmith
Beloved Mother
Murdo Coppersmith
Beloved Father
"Do you think they're watching over us?" Iry asks in a small voice.
"I don't doubt it. They probably helped me come back," I say. We stand at the graves of our parents for a little longer, then Iry looks up at me, a smile quivering at the edges of her mouth.
"Can we go play hopscotch outside the house?" she asks.
"Let's go," I say, and she grins. On the way towards the gate, I pluck one last rose. "Go ahead without me, Iry. I'll be right there."
"Kay!"
As Iry runs down the hill, I go over to the stone grave covered in the lilies that I planted in April. I lay the rose down on the gravestone's top and step back a ways.
"I'm doing better, Fletcher," I say. "The flashbacks aren't as often now, but I think about you every day. Things are getting easier; my legs don't bother me as much as they used to. Shuttle and Woven have made it so I don't have to go to the Capitol as a mentor. I can just be me. And I'm getting happy, Fletcher," I say. I look for Iry and see her dancing down on the cobblestones below.
"I won," I whisper. "I won for both of us, Fletcher, just like I promised."
I smile down at my ally's grave, remembering only the good, sweet moments I had with him. I'm working on forgetting the others.
"I'll be back, don't worry. I have my whole life to visit you," I say. I leave Fletcher and the graveyard then, shutting the gate behind me as I go. The summer sun gives a gentle warmth to the day as I stand on the top of the hill, looking down over District 8.
The Games will never go away for me, I know that. I might be called to the Capitol next year, or the year after that. But for now, I am just me, Terra Coppersmith, age seventeen. And yes, I am the victor of the 36th Hunger Games. For this summer at least, I can just be a sister and a friend. I'm free.
"Terra!" Iry calls, hands on her hips at the bottom of the hill.
"Coming!" I call back, and then I go down the hill to join my sister.