— GWYNETH —

NATALIA LEAVES with Lavinia, Jamison, and Jacob towards the hotel where they will be staying in, and I sip the last of my vanilla bean frappe before ordering a few more drinks. 

Hot chocolate for Eunice, lemonade for Kunboss and Zoey, caramel macchiato for Cadence, and milk tea for Aiden. 

I head back to the house - it's just a short 5-minute walk - and push the door open. 

My friends are gathered at the table with a fancy breakfast feast, and I set the drinks at each person's corresponding place. 

"Didn't know y'all could cook," I sarcastically remark, and they laugh. 

"Kunboss made it," says Zoey shyly. 

"Wow, Kun. Didn't know YOU could cook." 

"Ha ha ha," he replies dryly as if to tease me for being bad at cooking - which I am - "No need to say that, we all know you're superior."

"Y'all, dig in," says Aiden who's already been waiting to eat since I got home. 

"Okay, so what's the news?" asks Eunice. 

"We are going to be doing an announcement, and I need your help with that. The officials are going to be taken away today, and I will have the personal meeting with James tomorrow!" 

"Okay, sure." 

"Be ready by 2 o' clock." 

— EUNICE —

This isn't just some announcement. This is when the news that there are two more survivors of the 2nd Hunger Games is revealed. Cadence and Aiden have been staying at home ever since we got here, and being as low-key as possible. 

This is an important event, and I need to dress appropriately for that. 

I look through my closet and find nothing but casual clothes. 

And I remember that the trapdoor is smart. 

I walk to the back of the room and slide the door open, typing words onto the small screen. I wait for about a minute, then a yellow skirt and plaid sweater vest appears. I slip them on and go to the lobby to wait for everyone, before a car shows up and brings us to the City Square. 

— KUNBOSS —

"Welcome, welcome, people of the Adelaide Woods!"

"As you may all know, Prime Minister James and the New Regime he leads has been ruling over the Adelaide Woods for four years till now. And it's about to end." 

Everyone gasps. 

"Now, will we invite our special guests on stage please?" 

Gwyneth steps onto the stage and I follow, linking arms with Zoey, followed by the rest of the six.

The crowd breaks into commotion, and I can hear a faint shout coming from the crowd. 

"Good afternoon, fellow citizens," Gwyneth starts us off by saying this sentence. "I am Gwyneth Anderson, victor of the first Adelaide Woods Hunger Games." 

"And I am Eunice Seyfield, victor of the second Adelaide Woods Hunger Games, and these are Zoey and Kunboss, my revived allies." 

"I am Aiden Langston, and this is Cadence di Angelo. You may wonder why we're here, but long story short, we survived the Hunger Games, and all will be explained later, so don't worry." 

"Cadence?" A young woman rushes on stage crying, and tears start running down Cadence's face. "I thought you were dead!"

Cadence smiles as her sister caresses her face, wiping the tears away. "So did I, Cynthia. So did I."

— CADENCE —

Gwyneth decides to let us reunite with our families for a short while before continuing the talk, and we all rush down the stairs immediately.

I see a little girl go up to Zoey and I suspect it's her little sister Ella, but I have no time to smile at their happy family. I have to get to mine.

"Where's Mother and Father?" I ask Cynthia, and she gives my hair a little rustle.

"Home." Cynthia says softly. "Mourning. They haven't been out since you died in the arena without putting up a fight. They didn't know the real reason you died, and so they had no one to hate." she looked away. "So they blamed themselves."

I nod and purse my lips. "I don't have time to return right now. Phone them for me, will you? Show them me when I'm on the stage. A picture's worth a thousand words. I'm sure a video call screen will do the same."

"Look at you," Cynthia exhales and chuckles to herself. "You've grown so much, my little sunshine. You're like a young adult now."

Little sunshine. Cynthia likes calling me that, as my middle name, Aurora, means sunshine, and her name, Cynthia, means the goddess of the moon. Aurora and Cynthia, the sun and the moon, two opposites that would love each other forever.

I bury my face in her shoulder. "You know, I'd love to continue talking, but someone's waiting for you." I look up and see Aiden waving frantically at me from the stage.

I laugh and run back, not before squeezing Cynthia again. "I'll talk to you later!"

— KUNBOSS —

After that commotion, the real talk continues. We tell everyone our purpose, and that the government officials are being taken away as we speak.

"I believe that you all want life to return to normal, like before the Games, and before the New Regime took over. And that's going to happen," I say confidently into the microphone. 

"The hidden message in the arena twist was unity. Uniting with our allies and figuring out who the real enemy is. And the enemy isn't any of the people who killed your friends. It isn't any of the tributes in the arena. It is the New Regime, the people of Byrok's Rochbok. And we need to save those people who had no fault right away," adds Gwyneth.

"We desperately hope you understand and we need your cooperation to make things right. To unite and to build a better society from the ashes," says Eunice, ending our speech. 

— GWYNETH —

The audience breaks out in discussion, before one by one, they raise three fingers to their lips and hold it out. 

As a symbol of hope. A symbol of goodbye. And as a symbol of forgiveness. 

A smile drafts itself on my face, and I look out at the audience before looking back at my friends. 

I made the right choice after all.