An Extra Tribute

-never truly win-

I wake up in a room I recognize. No. No. I'm in the President's mansion. It can't be.

I shoot out of bed and run to the door. As I do, I pass a full-length mirror and notice that I'm not in my suit. I don't have ridiculous makeup on. I'm in a nightgown similar to a hospital gown. And I'm clean.

There's a white bandage wrapped around my head and wrist. I look around and spot my swords on a table in the corner of the room. A crisp black suit lays folded next to them, and fresh boots sit on the floor. Some clothes have been set next to my suit. My door swings open quickly and I turn with my hands up, my fingers moving to press the button Beetee designed in my gloves, only to find that I don't have my gloves on.

It's Peeta.

I lower my hands and run into his arms. He hugs me tightly.

"We won," he whispers. "We won."

I pull away. "How? What happened?"

"The kids were bombed. And a second bomb killed the medics who went to help them. Snow's people turned against him. It was pretty much over after that," he explains.

"Who bombed them?" I ask. He sighs. That clears it up for me. I've been in the meetings, I've seen the plans, I've helped write the strategies. It was Coin. "Where is everyone?"

"Katniss is in the other room with Effie. You've been out for about a day. Coin's required a meeting for all the victors tonight," he answers.

"What time?" I ask.

"Six."

"What time is it now?"

"Five."

"I have someone I need to see," I tell him. "After I change."

"Who?"

"Snow."

—

As I approach the doors, the guards put their hands out. "Ma'am, you're going to have to leave."

"Let her in. By my authority, she is allowed anything behind those doors."

I turn and find Paylor standing on the steps. I smile at her and she does the same. The guards open the doors and I walk into the rose garden.

"Snow!" I call. "Come on, Cory, I know you're in here."

The very man turns the corner with a grin. "Ah, I knew you'd come to see me."

"I do have unfinished business," I reply. He sits at a small bench, smiling up at me, waiting.

"Go ahead," he says.

"You have caused me so much hurt. You've killed my family. You've tortured the people I love the most. You have abused this country. You've used me for money and good standing with sick people. And you attempted to rape me," I tell him with a sickly sweet smile. It feels good to admit it outloud. The only person who knows that he tried was Finnick. I never spoke of it with anyone else. "You're a sick, twisted old man."

He chuckles dryly.

"And I hope you know that, because everyone in the country does now. I promise that you will get what you deserve, whether it be by my hands or the hands of another. You have ruined too many lives to get away with it, and you'll finally pay."

"And who will you get to replace me? Coin? You know she'll do just as I did. Except, she's smarter. And you know that too. You know that the minute I'm gone, the country will be just as destroyed as you think it was when I was in power. Except I brought everyone together. Through pain and suffering comes unity. I built your rebellion. It serves me."