I'm incredibly grateful to all of you that have stuck by this story from the beginning. I hope the wait was worth it to you. This is the last chapter, and although I am sad to say goodbye to these characters (some of my favorite ones that I have ever created), I am happy to put together a complete story and to have the readers who enjoyed it. Much love!

Chapter 15

"Hello."

The shock of seeing Katniss at my door leaves me speechless, but thankfully I quickly regain my composure. "Please, c-come in."

I step out of the doorway and allow the young girl to enter. She looks around somewhat disapprovingly, and I embarrassingly notice my room is less than up to my standards. The bed is made but unkempt. I have been lying on it since the interviews earlier in the day. The only other piece of furniture is a small dresser which has grown dusty from its lack of use. I have only three items of clothing and two pairs of socks, which I keep all in the middle drawer. I catch a look at myself in the mirror. My hair is falling out from its pins and my makeup is smudged.

I wonder what Coriolanus would say about me now, I think to myself, and a small smile emerges before I turn back to Katniss, who is staring at me strangely.

"Please, sit," I said, motioning towards the bed. "I'm sorry I can't offer you better accommodations. You certainly deserve them…as the Mockingjay."

Katniss smoothes the blanket before sitting, a frown crossing her face. I have seen her up close only the one time at the mansion during her victory tour. She was stunning then, of course, with her hair and makeup done and fancy clothing. But here in front of me without the benefits of stylists, her long brown hair braided down her back, her gray clothing the same as mine but hanging off her fit frame better, she really is a beautiful girl.

"I don't deserve anything," she said, her eyes keeping to the floor. "But I thought they might give you something a little better…being the former First Lady of Panem. This is the smallest room I've seen in District 13."

I laugh, enjoying the feeling it spreads through my chest. "Yes, well, I don't think President Coin likes me very much."

Katniss laughs along with me, shaking her head. "Yeah, I don't think so either."

The laughter feels good, and it feels even better to laugh with somebody else. It's been too long since I've had anybody to talk to.

"You must be wondering why I'm here," Katniss says after a few minutes, her laughter fading into seriousness.

I stay quiet waiting for her to continue.

"I was going to sit with you at dinner, but you weren't there, and I felt like I needed to tell you before I left, so I came out to find you but it took some searching because I realized I didn't know where your room was…"

She is rambling a bit, seeming to dance around the point. It wasn't something I was used to. Being the President's wife, most my contact was with the Avox servants who could not speak or those who worked directly with my husband who seemed to have too few words. Even Ian, who spoke the most freely with me, wasn't known for his many words. I smother my impatience, reminding myself she is still a young girl and I am no longer the President's wife.

"…Anyway, I really just wanted to tell you that I am sorry." Katniss pauses, glancing up at me out of the tops of her eyes. "I'm really sorry."

Out of all the reasons for her coming here, I never suspected apologizing would be it. I shake my head. "I don't understand. I see no reason for you to be sorry."

"I've been very unfair to you and said some incredibly mean things about you. I never realized how…difficult…things were for you. But I saw some of the footage you shot today, and…yes, I needed to apologize."

I lean my head back against the wall. "No, Katniss, I should be apologizing to you. I could have tried to stop it…all those years…but I didn't. You had to suffer because I was scared." My thoughts turn to Ingris. I force the lump in the throat back down. "So please accept my sincerest apology. I only hope I can someday make it up to you and the others in the districts."

Katniss is staring at me as a single tear slides down my cheek. I give her a slight nod before leaning my head back, wiping away the remainder of the them welling up in my eyes.

"You already have," Katniss said, her voice barely above a whisper.

We stay in companionable silence for awhile, her sitting on the bed, twiddling her fingers, while I stand, leaning against the smooth white wall.

"You must get lonely here," she suddenly said, breaking my thoughts.

I shrug, trying not to let on that the crushing loneliness makes me question my decision to come. "A little."

"Your bodyguard…he came with you, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Are you two friends?"

I press my lips together, remembering our brief kiss. "He's a very good friend."

"They are keeping you separate, aren't they? I think Coin is scared of him because he's a Peacekeeper."

"I don't really know."

Katniss pauses, a slow smile spreading across her face. "I know where he is."

I slip on my only clean pair of socks, hoping they will muffle my footsteps. No one is supposed to be out after lights out, but this might be my only chance. I must see Ian…tonight.

Katniss gave me as specific directions as she could, knowing I would be doing it in the dark with no points of reference. Ian was being kept on one of the lowest levels. There is a guard stationed at the entrance of the floor during the day, but at night, there is no one.

Thankfully, Katniss' directions are spot on, and I find my way down with hardly any problems. I go to the fifth door on the left and knock quietly.

The door opens and bright light floods the hallway, it takes my eyes a moment to adjust, but I am wrapped in his arms before I can even fully see his face. I grab tightly onto him, feeling his warmth, smelling his scent. It is Ian. I bury my head in his shoulder and cry.

I don't know how long he lets me stay like that. I feel him move slightly and I move with him as he closes the door behind us. I open my eyes briefly and look around to see we are in a room very similar to mine except with a cot instead of a bed.

Finally I lift my eyes to his, those comforting green eyes. His lips meet mine. And I finally feel like I am home.

"You aren't a Peacekeeper anymore. You don't have to follow orders." I sit on the cot, my arms crossed over my chest, angrily watching Ian, my love, move about in the small room. He is wearing a gray uniform, strapping a heavy vest over it. But hardly bulletproof. Not against the Capitol's weapons.

Ian looks over at me and smiles. "Did I ever really follow orders?"

I roll my eyes, thinking about how many times he broke protocol with me. How he saved me before I even knew I needed saving. My eyes travel over the cot, the sheets pushed to the end and the pillow rumpled. A smile briefly crosses my face, remembering our night together. But now it is morning, and reality has come yet again. Ian is being shipped out with the troops today. District 13 is going to try to storm the Capitol.

"Whether you followed orders or not was not the question. Why are you doing what they tell you to do? What she tells you to do?" I sigh heavily, thinking of the oppressive President Coin. I traded in one dictator for another.

Ian, hearing my frustration, sits on the cot next to me. He takes one of my hands in both of his and holds it tightly. "If I do this, and District 13 wins…you will finally be free. As long as the Capitol is in power, you can never leave these walls. Don't you see? This is our only chance to make that happen."

I look down at my hand intertwined with his. He's right but I hate him for it. As long as Coriolanus is President of Panem, he will always be searching for me. And as long as President Coin is trying to overthrow him, she will never allow me to be anything more than a ghost here in District 13. Every scenario ends with me still being a prisoner. And Ian and I never able to be together.

Ian checks the clock on the otherwise bare wall, and I know it is time for him to go.

"Just promise me one thing. Don't die for me, ok?"

Ian smiles at me sadly, remembering me making that request before we fled the Capitol. He pulls me to him and kisses me hard, his tongue searching deep inside my mouth. I kiss him back eagerly, my skin sensitive to his every touch. Then abruptly, he gets up and walks out the door, leaving to meet his commander. I am alone…and Ian again promised me nothing.

News trickled in slowly from the front. I was with Annie when the message arrived that Finnick was dead. I held her as she collapsed in my arms, her cries echoing against the metal table and chairs of the cafeteria.

Two days later we got word that the Capitol had fallen. Everyone in District 13 rejoiced, and President Coin boarded a jet to go to the city and celebrate her victory. The next day came the message that President Coin was dead, killed by Katniss. And Coriolanus had been killed in the resulting riot.

Still no word from my love, though. I fretted all day and worried all night. Annie would come to sit with me during the long nights, both of us unable to sleep. We didn't talk much, neither of us having the words to comfort each other. But it was nice to have someone there with me.

I had almost given up hope. Two weeks passed since the time we heard that the Capitol had fallen. District 13 was emptying out as others left to go to the Capitol or back to their respective districts. Even Annie had left to return to District 4 and be close to her family there. I thought about going back to the Capitol, but the thought of being there without Ian made me feel sick. And if he were to return somewhere, it would be here in District 13.

So I waited. And on an otherwise insignificant day, Ian finally returned, breezing through the doors of the compound like he had never been gone.

That was four years ago, but for me, it could have been a lifetime. There was a new president of Panem, one who despised cruelty towards others and immediately banned the Hunger Games. Districts essentially ruled themselves. The people were free, and the land thrived when out from the under the oppressive thumb of a dictator.

Since Ian returned healthy and unhurt, we have never left each other's sides. We have a lovely house on the coast right next to the water in District 4. I wake up next to my love and hear the waves hitting the shore gently through the open windows every morning. I always think it is a dream at first, but it's not.

Ian fishes, and I tend a garden. He makes fun of me for getting a tan on my porcelain skin. I make fun of him for the gray that continues to spread through his hair. The wrinkles around his eyes have deepened from being in the sun. But his eyes are carefree, and he seems younger than he ever did in the Capitol. I feel younger even as I age. I guess that's what happiness does for a person.

My womb is still barren, but there are plenty of children for us to love on. Annie and Finnick's daughter is one. We live only three houses down from Annie and get to watch the beautiful girl grow up.

I think of Katniss occasionally. I had heard she lost her sister in the fight, which sent her into a deep depression. But after she returned to District 12, she and Peeta found true love with each other, and she was doing better. She was still a young girl with so much life to live, and I wished her the best.

On this evening, like so many other evenings, I sit on the back porch with Ian, our hands intertwined, watching the sun set over the horizon. And I feel at peace.

My name is Analeigh Sunderling. I am married to a simple fisherman and we live a quiet life, but it is a life that I wouldn't trade for anything else in this world.