(Acknowledgements are once again in order: R, your friendship means more to me than I can express, as does your honesty and advice. S, a constant in an ever-changing world, a rock and veritable goddess of a friend, where would I be without you? Shulik, your kindness to a virtual stranger was lovely to see, and I thank you for it (and must add that I love your work terribly!). My muse, may we continue to weave many tales together, for you are the fire that burns in my heart. And, of course, everyone who has read, favorited, followed, and/or reviewed this. Thank you for taking this journey with me. :) I hope you have enjoyed it. For me, it was fifty days of bliss and seven days of wonder that I will treasure forever. Once again, thank you, and please enjoy this last chapter. :D)

The last week and a half of filming goes by in a blur. Effie flits from base camp to Peeta's house and back again, relaying messages and coordinating the crew's return trip and the editors' schedules. Katniss makes it a point to go with Peeta into town for every trip he makes, which become more frequent as the date of the crew's departure draws near. The builders work as fast as they can to finish a house near the Marshes', and the film crew split up for three days for one last tour of the land around the town and Victors Village. Only Haymitch seems unaffected, except in how he spends more and more time in Peeta's house as the last day of filming draws near.

On the night before the last day, Peeta bakes enough for a banquet, Katniss replicates the few recipes she knows, and they invite Effie and Haymitch for dinner. Like the first time they had done this, Haymitch brings two bottles of wine, and unlike that first time, Effie brings a pitcher of iced tea.

"Spoiling us to the end, I see," Peeta remarks as he sets a basket of mixed rolls in the center of the dining table.

Effie laughs and tells him, "Oh, I'm sure you'll manage without me." She looks at Katniss over the steaming rolls, and Katniss nods, smiling.

This time there are no hostile exchanges. Effie shares with them the plans for the next few weeks.

"There'll be interviews with Quintus and some of the others, and I've been asked to make a few appearances also. All this will happen while the editors are at work." She sighs as if she's in the middle of it all this very moment. "I can't believe there's still so much to do."

"What did you settle on for a title?" asks Katniss.

Sitting up as straight as she can in her chair, Effie shakes her head. "That is a secret. You'll find out when it premieres."

"There are all of two working television sets in town, and one of them may as well be a radio," Peeta tells her.

"And all those people aren't going to fit anywhere too comfortably even if we split them among the sets we have in our houses," Haymitch adds.

"Well..." Effie lets the sentence trail, sighing. "I wasn't going to tell you this for another few days, but I suppose now is as good a time as any." She waits a beat, grinning. "We're going to hold the premiere here. We'll bring in a big screen and all the crew members. Plutarch suggested we have it catered, but we're still working that out. He also wants to make the half hour before the premiere part of the show."

"Always thinking big, that Heavensbee," Haymitch remarks, snorting as he drains his glass of wine.

"Yes. Anyway, we're still ironing out the particulars, but we are coming back once the documentary is ready."

"How long will it be 'til then?" asks Peeta.

"A good few weeks." Effie's excitement wanes a little with that, but she smiles regardless. "Barely any time at all. Quintus has put a few seconds of material together already, and there will be so much to do that I'm sure the time will just fly."

No one is very convinced, not even Effie herself, but they accept it because it is all they have.

Haymitch walks Effie to Peeta's house at the end of the night. Once at the door, they stand facing one another in a silence that drowns out the cicadas in the grass.

"I'm not going to the train station tomorrow," he tells her.

She nods. "I thought as much. This is it, then. Well, until I come back."

"You sure you'll be all right on your own back there?"

Pressing her lips together, she shrugs. "There's always the phone."

"Right," he says, nodding.

"You could come with us." When he frowns, she continues, "You're very good with making sure the right image is presented, and I'm sure the perspective of someone from here will be highly valued during the last stretch of the process."

He laughs, shaking his head. "Nah. I'm done working in television. You'll all be fine without me."

"Of course." She forces a smile, but it's shaky at best.

He doesn't bother with one of his own, only nods and sighs. "Bring me something back."

"Yes," she says, nodding, and half a moment later, she throws her arms about him and holds on tight.

His embrace is firm without crushing her. Into her blue curls, he says, "I'll call you every night."

And she answers, grasping his shirt and shutting her eyes, "You'd better."

The next morning, after the crew's equipment and luggage are ready and waiting at the train station, they and the residents have a late breakfast together. Katniss and Peeta attend, baskets of pastries in hand, and Effie tries her hardest not to cry as she kisses them good-bye.

As she watches the district fade into the distance, she reminds herself that this is not the real farewell.

In the Capitol, Quintus sets to work with the editors at once, and Effie deals with publicity and accounts. Plutarch's push for the half-hour pre-premiere show in District Twelve gets the segment approved and funded. It's nothing short of miraculous, but he shrugs any praise away.

"You're the face of this, Effie," he says to her when he declines the offer to appear on an afternoon talk show with her. "It's your brainchild. Enjoy it."

Caesar Flickerman's successor is his daughter, Cleopatra, who inherited her father's charisma and stage presence. She left much of the set of his daily show intact, only adding a banner for every district when she took charge. Her purple-and-gold striped irises sparkle beneath the spotlights on the day of the interview, but Effie's attention is with the editors in the studio and the builders back in the district.

"In your opinion, how have their lives improved since the rebellion?" Cleopatra asks, toning her gleaming smile down just enough to appear serious.

"Oh, immensely," says Effie. "I can't even begin to describe how different it is now from how it was just over a year ago. They are such strong and lovely people. I can't wait for everyone to see that for themselves."

"And we're all very excited to see the show. It's such a shame you won't be here to share it with us all, but we'll be just as happy to watch you live from District Twelve! The anticipation is almost too much to bear, isn't it?"

The studio audience breaks into applause. Cleopatra leads them along with her smile, silencing them with all the skill and grace of her father when she turns to face Effie again.

"Now, I heard that returning for the premiere was not in your original plan," Cleopatra prompts. "Is there anything we should know, anyone we should be especially grateful to?"

"That person would rather remain unnamed, but I will say this: I think it's a fantastic idea, and the crew and I are so happy to go back and see all these people we got to know during filming."

Effie does interviews for print media and radio shows as well, as does Quintus. Capitol TV promotes the documentary with a fervor it had once reserved for the Hunger Games, and by the time Effie, Quintus, and the crew are set to return to District Twelve, there is a crowd at the train station, eager to see them go.

"I must say, I'm very happy that people are so enthusiastic about it, but I'm not very comfortable with this." Effie glimpses out the window at the crowd, wishing the conductor would hurry and start the train.

"It's too much like before," Quintus says, nodding. "At least now, they're not celebrating death. One step at a time."

In District Twelve the time has passed more slowly for Katniss, but not drearily. She has been making the weekly trips into town with Peeta and fielding the occasional phone call from the Capitol, happy to hear Effie's voice as she delivers updates she needs not give. Between those days, she visits Haymitch, taking him lunch and bringing him game from her trips into the woods. The routine becomes comforting quickly, and eventually, the absence of life in Peeta's house starts to fade.

Then she is back, Effie with her bright blue wig and her simple floral dress, the film crew with equipment to set up for the viewing in the evening.

"You brought a suitcase," Katniss tells her, arching her eyebrows.

"Well, Plutarch says we've earned a few days off," Effie says. "I was hoping Peeta wouldn't mind allowing me to invade his guest room again."

"He won't. Come on." Katniss leads the way to Victors Village. "I want you to try the iced tea and tell me what you think."

A mid-morning snack with Peeta and Katniss turns into an early lunch that includes Haymitch, who has bothered to dress up a bit for the day.

"But it's not for another few hours," Katniss tells him, frowning.

"Katniss, shush," Effie hisses good-naturedly. "I'm just impressed he's going at all."

Peeta laughs, and Haymitch rolls his eyes.

"Don't get on my case if my clothes are all wrinkled later," says Haymitch. "I'm going, but I can't promise I won't fall asleep at some point between now and then."

Almost as if to spite Effie, Haymitch helps her with her suitcase, enduring her admonitions against dirt and mud the entire way there with surprising patience. Katniss looks at Peeta, shrugs, and helps him clear the table.

Effie leaves for the town square before sunset. Katniss and Peeta get ready, leaving themselves ample time to get Haymitch. Luckily for them, he has managed not to spill liquor all over himself before the premiere.

They arrive early at the square. Effie spots them quickly and waves them over. "I reserved seats for you," she says, indicating them.

Before long, the residents start to take the rest of the seats. Effie hovers by the front of the assembly. They have decided against a stage, leaving the screen as the only elevated piece tonight. No more looking down on District Twelve: tonight, they are the ones above the rest.

Just as Quintus starts to call everyone into place, Haymitch comes up beside Effie.

"So how many days are you staying for after this?" he asks.

"Just a few." Effie shrugs, hoping to hide her disappointment. "Cleopatra Flickerman would rather I go back tomorrow, but Plutarch made sure we have some time to breathe after all this work."

"Shame," Haymitch says. "It'd be nice if you stayed longer. Katniss really missed you."

"Did she?"

"Wouldn't shut up about you. Begged me to tell her how you were."

"I'm sure."

"Threatened to call Heavensbee to see if he couldn't figure out a way to keep you over here for good."

"Oh?"

Haymitch shrugs, nodding in the direction of the cameras. "But you can ask her about that tomorrow. Your fans await."

She laughs, swatting him gently. "Walk me home later," she says as she starts for the stage. "Katniss' ideas simply cannot wait until morning."

It isn't until she's standing in front of the microphone with Quintus that she realizes she called Peeta's house 'home.'

The scripted introduction she and Quintus worked on all week saves her from an embarrassing silence, and soon she forgets the implications of the suggestions attributed to Katniss and the word Effie used to describe the house in Victors Village. For thirty minutes, she acknowledges the builders and residents she spoke the most with during filming, and Quintus brings others' names to the spotlight. Then they bring several of them up to share their thoughts about the project. Effie fills with pride for them and how they embody the very opposite of what the Capitol had taught her and countless others. They are not fools with no manners. They are the most excellent of people, honorable in the utmost.

"Well," she says, smiling, as Oliver joins the audience again, "the time has finally come for you to see the culmination of so many wonderful people's hard work. They are, all of them, as the sky to me. They have touched my life, and I hope they do the same for you.

"For your edification and enjoyment, I am proud to present to you, As the Sky."