Chapter Twenty-Eight: Homecoming

The interview had been going well overall, the easy repartee that she had established with Caesar carrying over. The man seemed genuinely thrilled that she was alive and had been crowned this year's Victor. Maize swallowed the guilt behind a blank expression, refusing to dwell on Annie Cresta while the cameras were on her face.

"So, my dear, I've been so curious since you first came across Annie Cresta during the arena and said that phrase: 'walking wounded.' Would you care to explain it to me, dear?"

Of course, he would ask that.

Maize smiled softly as she let a pondering look bleed onto her face, "Walking wounded is a phrase we use back in my District to describe someone that had nothing left to lose only themselves. When I saw A-Annie walking through the forest, her face and demeanor just screamed that she was walking wounded. I remember her and Waverly during training. They were very close."

"Ah, like you and Cana?" Caesar interrupted as he made the connection.

She swallowed a lump in her throat, "Exactly. Waverly was Annie's Cana. When he was killed, she must have lost her mind."

"But not you!" Caesar proclaimed, in an attempt to change the morose subject, "No not you! You persevered through your grief and was able to overcome adversity to be here today!"

She sent the man a smile, "Yes, I was surprised when I woke up. I didn't think that I would survive the flood."

"But you did!" Caesar chirruped, "Now that you are going home, what are you most excited about?"

"Well definitely seeing my family again. I've really missed them," she answered honestly.

Caesar hummed for a moment, "Ah yes, you've spoken of them before! You have a large number of siblings. And you are the oldest among them correct?"

"Yes." she agreed, "But that is only if you don't count my cousin Amla, she is a year older than I and has been living with my family since she was six. She is like the older sister I have always wanted and loved, I am proud that I volunteered in her place for the Hunger Games and would do it again in a heartbeat."

Caesar laughed, it was not unkindly, "You are a very loyal person Maize, I admire that! I really do! I hope one day, we get to meet this family you speak so highly of!"

Hell no.

"As do I." she responded gently even though the lie seemed to burn her throat on its way out.

The back and forth continued for a while, Caesar asked her what she would miss the most about the Capitol and she responded the mango nutrient shakes (which was true), Caesar asked what she found the most fascinating about the Capitol and she would respond the citizens (also true, but not for the same reason she gave Caesar, Capitolites were fascinating in the same way a strange bug was under a microscope, everything about them was strange and abnormal from the fashions to their culture and customs). And it went on like that for another half an hour before Caesar gave her a hug and congratulated her once more for her Victory and signed off.

It was finally over.

Seeder throws her arm over Maize's shoulder as Goldie chatters on in excitement about the interview and the Victory Tour that would be occurring in six months, as if Maize wasn't already completely dreading it. They allow her to collect anything she wants from her room, Maize ends up deciding to take the nightgown she had been wearing since arriving to the Training Center before making sure that Cana's necklace is firmly tied around her neck and that her Nyanya's ring is in it's place around her index finger before striding out once more of the room.

She is peppered in hugs and kisses from her prep team in goodbye, before they are escorted to a car with blacked-out windows to the station where the train is waiting for them. Orion hugs and plants a kiss onto her cheek before Goldie loops her arm with Maize's and leads her onto the train. Seeder and Chaff seem to visibly relax once the train finally takes off.

So does Maize.

Despite being in the dress Orion had made for her, Maize was slowly starting to feel like herself as she sat down for dinner. Goldie had apparently instructed the Avoxes on the train to keep a supply of the nutrient shakes she'd come to enjoy in the Capitol, she thanked the naïve escort for thinking of her earning a bright smile from Goldie as tittered happily. After their meal, they all sit together in the lounge car and watch the replay of the interview. Seeder once more compliments Maize for keeping her head and for how calm she was during the whole process. It made her feel better to know that the role she had created for the public was solid and that she was as good at acting as she'd hoped to be during the interview process. Seeder said she was believable, that her mask was almost perfect. Only her eyes, occasionally, didn't reflect the emotions her face and smile portrayed. Seeder promised that not many people would be able to spot it, but the woman would help Maize fix her mask before the Victory Tour.

Seeder tells her that it would be better not to change out of the dress until after they arrived back to District 11, besides, Maize was too tired, mentally and physically, to put up a fuss and only sipped on another shake –chocolate, because that was Cana's favorite- as she lounged on the couch with her Mentor's. Even now they were still mentoring her, telling her what she should expect when they arrive at the station and what the Victor's Village is like, how it feels to have the eyes of people on you at all times.

The grimy station for District 11 has been decorated with the extra flowers that had bloomed during the season and the platform itself is full of cameras waiting to get a picture of the newest Victor in her home District. Even her homecoming couldn't be something for just Maize, no it had to be for all of Panem. Cheapening the feelings of love and relief in her heart as bitterness stung her.

She retouches her lipstick, and Chaff being uncharacteristically stoic and gentle pulls an errant curl behind her ear before he offers both of his arms to Maize and Seeder. She locks her arm around his and Seeder does the same on his other side as well before they are escorted by a self-important Goldie onto the platform. Flashes and clicks fill the air as Maize smiles -falsely- softly for the lenses.

Maize is home...

Well, almost.

Words: 1,142

Edited April 10th, 2020