ME: Time to conclude Redemption with a final chapter, readers.
When Gale awoke, he was surprised to see his father for the first time in over a decade.
"Dad!"
"Gale!"
His father no longer wore the coal-stained mining outfit he had undoubtedly perished wearing, but instead wore hunting clothes that did not have as much as a single stain of dirt on them.
Gale hugged him when they finally met. "Father, I'm so sorry I haven't been a good son! Why am I even here?"
"Calm down, Gale," his father replied. "Yes, in my absence you committed grievous sins against humanity. But unlike monsters such as Hitler or Stalin, you saw the price of your moral errors and repented. I would have preferred that you never committed those crimes, but what matters is that you atoned for them. Because of that, my son is alive once more!"
The two walked throughout what had to be heaven, Gale realized. The afterlife was teeming with people enjoying themselves through various forms of recreation. Some of the dead were fallen Tributes from the Production Districts or civilians who had perished in either of the Rebellions; others were dead Career Tributes/Victors and veterans from both sides. It was heartwarming to see that there weren't any hard feelings between the Careers and their victims, the former of whom Gale recognized for what they were; ordinary people deceived into supporting the Hunger Games.
Surprisingly enough, he ran into Romulus Thread playing cards with Darius and Purnia. All three Peacekeepers wore immaculate Dress Whites, and when the now-deceased Head Peacekeeper looked up at Gale he simply nodded.
LAURA:
It was remarkable to see the fraternal twin children of her brother playing with Finnick Odair, Junior, considering how the two fathers had fought on opposing sides of the war.
It had been painful to deal with losing Lawrence at first, the former Peacekeeper reflected, even more so than her parents, but her nephew and niece were therapeutic in a way, as they were for her in-laws. Similarly, Annie had recovered from her post-traumatic stress disorder and could live the rest of her life in peace.
Things truly had improved since the Second Rebellion. Paylor had genuinely changed Panem for the better; no more altruistic Career Tributes would volunteer in the place of younger and weaker children Reaped and likely die for their sacrifice. While the Loyalists had taken a pounding because of Coin, after her well-deserved demise Paylor had granted amnesty to those who fought in the Peacekeeping Force and Loyalist Militias; it was only not extended to those who genuinely were corrupt and/or abused their authority, and even those scum got trials. Freedom of speech and expression also applied to the losers of the Second Rebellion; honestly, it was more than Laura could've hoped for.
She glanced at the news report on her tablet: THE BUTCHER IS DEAD.
The now ex-First Lieutenant remembered the event vividly. After being electrocuted, she had watched as the guard put a bullet through Gale Hawthorne's skull. After a trial similar to that of Soghomon Tehlirian, the assassin had been found not guilty by the jury. Regardless, he had lost his job as a guard at Sugar Island; not that it mattered, for he had moved back to his home of Pueblo (formerly known officially as Sub-District One) in District Two and now worked as a private security contractor for the local dam.
"It's over," she said softly. A smile came to her face when Enobaria Fisher managed to playfully tackle Finnick. "It's over."
ME: A/N: Given how the main story is over, I figured that I may as well give you guys a short but sweet epilogue. My afterwords will come later.