Okay, writing this chapter almost made me cry because: Eden. I'm really content with this one, so I hope you like it too! All characters belong to Suzanne Collins except for Eden and Effie's mother. Please read and review, enjoy!
Note: 'Non hodie. Non cras. Non in perpetuum.' is Latin for: 'Not today. Not tomorrow. Never.'
Effie's eyes fluttered open, looking straight into a bright lamp that hung above her head. She was blinded for a moment. Then she sat up slowly, ignoring her enormous headache, and quickly examined herself. All wounds had healed, and all scars were gone, even the ones she had gotten from her imprisonment: The word 'traitor' on her thigh, that only she knew about, was gone. Her hair was soft and cut shorter, but it still fell past her shoulders. An IV drip was attached to her arm. She shuddered and chose to ignore the needle. Then she took in her surroundings. She was sitting on a metal table in a sterile white room, separated from the outside world by a one-way mirror, and she was wearing a thin hospital gown. Once the headache got unbearable, she lay down again, staring at the ceiling.
Where was she? Why was she here? How long had she been here? Where was everyone? She blinked upcoming tears away as she realized what had happened. She was a Victor now. A winner -no, a survivor of the Games. Her brother Eden was gone without a trace. She didn't know what had happened to him, which made her head ache even more in frustration. She couldn't accept the fact that maybe, just maybe, he had died and she would see him soon enough. Cold and stiff, eyes closed, in a peaceful sleep.
She closed her eyes for a moment thinking about all the terrible things that could have happened to her brother, when her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door closing and footsteps. Familiar footsteps. Once she smelled the faint stench of sweat and a tiny bit of alcohol, she opened her eyes and looked straight into the Seam gray eyes of Haymitch Abernathy. "Hello princess." he smiled. She didn't mind him calling her princess. Not this time. She lifted her head slowly as Haymitch leaned in closer and closed the small gap between them, her lips on his. Oh, how she had missed this.
"Effie!" she heard a male voice saying. Haymitch and Effie pulled apart and saw Peeta and Katniss standing in the door opening. Effie tried to hide her blush and sat up, genuinely smiling as they walked up to her and hugged her tightly. "My victors." she whispered hoarsely as she let Katniss go and smiled at them both. "You're our victor now, Effie." Katniss said. Effie's smile faltered. "What happened to Eden?" she asked. Haymitch shortly looked at Peeta and Katniss, who were shaking their heads disapprovingly. Then he turned to Effie. "I'll tell you later." Effie didn't even bother protesting. "How long have I been here?" she asked instead. "Three days." he answered. "You're a sleepyhead, Eff. We came here every day asking if you had woken up already." Effie grinned at that.
Then Peeta showed her a small box that apparently had been placed under the table and gave it to her. "A dress and heels for the coronation. I believe you missed those." Effie smiled. "The heels? Oh darling you have no idea." Strangely, her feet hurt from walking in flat boots, so seeing the stunning, 9-inch heels was a small exhilaration for her. "We're lucky you woke up today, the coronation is in three hours. Otherwise we would have dragged you out of here." Katniss said as she and Peeta exited the room. She mimicked Effie's accent: "We have a schedule to keep!"
As soon as a prep team had done Effie's hair and makeup in the preparation room, Magnus helped her into a long, soft pink dress. The colour complemented her bright blue eyes and blonde hair. She took a deep breath and toyed with the silky fabric, waiting until she was needed on the balcony. A man clad in a black suit appeared, led her to the balcony and made her sit down in a chair that looked like it belonged to a wealthy king or queen. The other chairs were occupied by Haymitch, Katniss, Peeta and president Paylor. Paylor sat next to her and stood up as soon as she was told to. She gave a short speech. "Beloved people of Panem. Today we celebrate the closure of a chapter in our lives called 'the Hunger Games' by crowning the final victor. I'm glad to be given the honour of crowning her. She is a respected and celebrated young woman from the Capitol; Euphemia Trinket!"
President Paylor turned around to find a young Capitol boy holding up a soft cushion with on it, the victor's crown. She picked up the crown and carefully placed it onto Effie's head as Effie stood up. The crowd went crazy, chanting her name, cheering and whistling. Effie smiled and took her place in front of the microphone. It made her nervous. A microphone was not something she wanted to be reminded of, bringing her mind back to the reapings. She didn't get time to prepare anything, but she felt like this should come from her personally. It was time to not stick to the cards for once in her life. "People of Panem," she spoke. "You are citizens of a nation that is now finally free. The war has ended. The fights have been fought. And the Mockingjay," she turned to Katniss, "can finally spread her wings and fly."
A loud applause interrupted her speech for a moment so she tried to calm the crowd down. After the people were silenced, she continued. "I am honoured today to receive this crown. But not only that, I am glad that I survived these Games and that I can return to the people I love so dearly." She smiled at Haymitch quickly before continuing. "My heart is with the families whose beloved have passed away. I want to thank those, who have saved my life more than once. Lucius Crane, for example. And my beloved brother Eden Trinket. I respect these people, and I mourn their deaths. Also, I mourn the deaths of my dear friends and allies in the arena: Octavia, Flavius and Felix. And I know that in no way I can make up for all of your losses." Effie gulped once. "I hereby declare that the Hunger Games will never be held again. Non hodie. Non cras. Non in perpetuum. We are, and will always be a free nation. The nation of Panem."
Effie excused herself from the talking group of people who were drowning her in questions, and tried to find her mother. As she finally saw a glimpse of curly, grey hair and a blue dress she ran towards it. "Mom!" she squealed. The woman turned around, politely ending her conversation with president Paylor, and took Effie in her arms. "My little girl! I am so proud of you!" she said. Effie then let her tears take over and started sobbing into her mother's shoulder. "I missed you so much! And I don't know –I –I… Eden –and daddy…" Effie sobbed like a little girl. The woman softly stroked her daughter's hair. "I know, it's okay honey." Effie looked in her mother's eyes and nodded. Then she plucked the victor's crown off her head and placed it on her mother's head. "You deserve this more than I do." she said, smiling faintly, and wiped her tears away.
"Effie, are you alright?" she heard Haymitch say. She turned around and motioned for him to come over. "Mom," she said, "this is Haymitch." Haymitch politely kissed the woman's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Trinket." he said. Effie's mother let out a giggle. "You're such a charmer." she said. She turned to Effie. "So this is the man you lived with for the past year?" Effie nodded, trying to hide her now crimson face. "Oh darling, don't be shy." she giggled. "He seems like a good man."
Effie smiled. "I guess this is the right moment to tell you that we are in a relationship, sort of?" Haymitch nodded approvingly and took her hand in his. "You are?" Effie's mother gasped. "Oh dear, do I hear wedding bells?" she squealed. Effie shook her head, blushing even more. "Mother!" Haymitch couldn't hide his grin. Effie's mother giggled softly behind her hand. "I'm sorry darling." Then she straightened her face. "On a different matter: Do you want to see your brother?" she asked. Effie widened her eyes and turned to look at Haymitch, searching for an answer he couldn't give: whether or not to go. "Yes." she said after a few moments of silence.
Effie's mother led her into a narrow corridor inside the Training Center. She knew this place. She had been here countless times to mourn the deaths of her tributes. This is where they kept the corpses, one behind every door, before they were sent back to their families in the districts. Each door was marked with a District number and a small card with a name on it. Two doors for District 1, two doors for District 2, and so on. Once they reached the door that said 'Eden Trinket', Effie took a deep breath. She wanted to remember him as he was when she last saw him. Telling her that they were safe on top of the Cornucopia. Effie's mother opened the door to the room and let Effie in. The room was small but beautiful. Not painted in sad and drab colours, but in white. A sign of respect and honour in the Capitol. She slowly walked over to the coffin to see her brother. She had to suppress the strangled sob that threatened to come from her throat as she saw him. It was real. He was dead.