Hey hey hey! I loved writing this chapter for some reason. It was heartbreaking and -healing at the same time. I think there will be one more chapter after this one, unless you guys have any more ideas so that I can write more chapters. Thanks for all the reviews, people! I love you so much, I really do. Please read and review, enjoy! All characters belong to Suzanne Collins except for Eden.
Effie hesitatingly walked towards the beautifully ornamented coffin that contained her brother. She let her fingers glide over the wood: Mahogany, she realized. When her fingers reached Eden's head, she closed her eyes and forced a faint smile upon her face. "Hello.. little one." she said softly. He didn't respond. Of course not. Dead people couldn't talk. She sat down on her knees and started praying. If there was a God, she hoped he would hear her.
She talked about her brother. About his dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. About how he had always been so protective over her. He was barely two years older but he had always been a lot bigger than petite Effie, with her blonde pigtails and little blue dress, the girl he had one day nicknamed 'little one' as she couldn't reach the lowest shelf in their house with the cookie jar on it. About how they had always played with Effie's dolls together and how he didn't even mind that his friends teased him about it. About how he had always supported her when she had started going to Games School and how he was the reason she had graduated in the first place. About how she had always admired him. About how much she loved and missed him. About how much she wanted to know what had happened in that arena, that one night. About how much she wanted him back.
She didn't hear the footsteps behind her nor did she feel a hand being placed on her shoulder. "Effie?" a male voice asked. Effie opened her eyes slowly and turned her head. It was Haymitch. Katniss and Peeta stood in the door opening. Haymitch gave her shoulder a soft squeeze. "Your mother went back home. She got a bit emotional. Do you want me to tell you now? About your brother?" Effie nodded as Haymitch pulled her to her feet and helped her to sit on a chair. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Peeta asked Haymitch. "She is marked as emotionally unstable, after all." Marked as emotionally unstable. Effie shot Peeta an angry glare before realizing that he was just the messenger. He didn't do anything to her. It was not his fault.
"I'm fine." Effie said. Emotionally unstable. That was not the right word to describe how she felt right now. She was broken. Tormented. Shattered into a thousand pieces. Feeling like breaking down in front of everyone at any moment. No, emotionally unstable was far too weak of a statement to describe her state of mind. She admired Katniss. She did not cry, only when needed. She was strong and Effie kind of envied her for that. Which was unfair, seeing as Katniss went through much more. She wanted to stay strong for her family, what was left of it anyway, and for Peeta.
"It was really… heroic." Haymitch began. "You had been asleep for almost an hour on top of the Cornucopia when Tax appeared. He was followed by some kind of…" He couldn't finish his sentence because he didn't know how to describe what he had seen. "Some kind of lizard-mutt." Katniss finished. "The Capitol had used them before. The kind that had killed Finnick." she added, to explain to Haymitch what they had looked like, the hard way. "Yes." Haymitch said. "Anyway, the sounds woke your brother so he was, like, looking over the edge of the Cornucopia to see what was there." Effie nodded, a lump forming in her throat. "Tax spotted the two of you and tried to kill you both by climbing on top of the Cornucopia as well." Then Peeta continued. "Eden pushed him off and then jumped off the Cornucopia. They fought for a while, until the sun rose. Finally Tax had managed to stab Eden in the stomach and Eden broke Tax' neck, killing him immediately. Eden died somewhat later. A hovercraft removed them both before they announced your victory."
Effie's vision was blurred with tears, but she blinked rapidly to keep them from spilling. Not emotionally unstable. I'm NOT unstable. "Thank you, for telling me." Effie said. She stood up and walked over to Eden. She hesitated if she should take a look at the wound in his stomach, to prove his actions, but she didn't do it. She pressed the three middle fingers of her left hand to her lips and then placed them on Eden's lips. They were cold. As if he had just returned from an evening stroll through the cold of winter. His skin was white as snow. Just like Effie's skin, when she had put on her daily dose of makeup. That was silly. The old Effie would have put on all those inches of fakery to hide her small imperfections. The new Effie wouldn't dare to put any of it on, proud of who she was. With scars or without. They told her story. And Eden's scars, told his. "Goodbye." she whispered, and turned around for the final time.
Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch and Effie were sitting in the living room cart of the train that headed back to District 12. Effie had stayed in her room the rest of the day, trying to sleep. She had come out around 6 in the afternoon in a long dressing gown. Her hair was a mess and she had lines of fatigue under her eyes. She had sat down next to Haymitch at dinner. "That's it then." Katniss said. "No more Hunger Games. The Training Center will be demolished soon and transport between Districts is finally allowed." She talked to herself some more as the conversation slowly started taking place in her own head, until she was silent. "Are you sure you want to go back to 12, sweetheart?" Haymitch asked Effie and took a sip of wine. He had cut back on alcohol, that was for sure, but he couldn't do a day without at least two glasses. Effie looked at him. "Of course I am. Otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here, you horrible man." Haymitch laughed. "I knew you'd miss the mess of the Abernathy household." Effie grinned softly and took a bite of the perfectly prepared dish in front of her. "I guess I do."
Haymitch raised an eyebrow. "I was being sarcastic." "I know." Effie shrugged. "But I do miss it. I can't stay in the Capitol one more day, truly." She looked Haymitch in the eye and smirked playfully. "And I couldn't miss you either." Haymitch smirked and kissed her on the cheek before returning to his meal. "You make me a softie, you know that?" Katniss rolled her eyes. "I know that you guys are all lovey-dovey right now but I don't have to know everything, and surely you don't have to act like that in front of me, alright?" She stood up and left the room. "I'm sorry." Peeta apologized. "She hasn't been in a great mood lately." He excused himself from the table and followed Katniss.
"What was that all about?" Effie asked. Haymitch shrugged. "Katniss has lost a lot lately, we have to be careful around her. She was like this all the time when you were in the arena, you know." Effie nodded. He didn't need to say any more. She understood. "I know. And sometimes she just wants to forget those things. As do I." Haymitch then decided to change the subject. "What do you say we head back to your room and relive some of our favourite moments together. Wouldn't want to forget those, now do we?" he asked in a husky voice. Effie let out a giggle. "I'd say I would love that, Mr. Abernathy." She took his outstretched hand to stand up before Haymitch started carrying her in his arms towards her room. "I hope you don't mind my manners in the bedroom, Trinket." He added with a smirk. She grinned. This was something she didn't mind remembering.