☞︎ℍ𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕤 ~ 𝔸𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕪𝕤𝕥'𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪 ☜︎

~Starting the journey~

I've been at home for maybe a month now. I decide I want to leave before the victory tour happens, in five months. 

And right now I'm packing. I don't bother to be careful about it. I doubt my mother would care. She'd probably encourage me to go, actually. 

And so I'm surprised when I start towards the door and she's waiting for me at the bottom of the staircase.

She pulls me into a hug that I don't return. When she pulls away, I notice she's crying.

"I'm sorry, Amethyst," She sobs. I'm surprised at her behavior, I never expected her to get emotional about me. I cross my arms. 

"I'm sorry I was a terrible mother. And I know you'll never forgive me, so I just wanted to give you this, before you go." She hands me a small leather bag. I stare at it for a minute. All fabric reminds me of Lee and Lea, now. 

"...thanks." My voice sounds wobbly, like someone's tugging on my heartstrings. I hold in my tears. 

I hug her one more time. One final time. She cries into my shoulder, and yet it feels like it's been only a few seconds when I pull away. I give her one last word before I close the door:

"I love you, mom." 

I shut the door and try to drown out my mother's muffled sobs. I'll never really forgive her, she's right. But she's my mother. I'll always love her. 

I start towards the forest, determined to walk until I find district thirteen.

I walk until my feet ache and the sun starts to set. The sky is darkening, making it harder to see, and so I decide to rest. 

I'll stay here for the night. I'm at a small clearing right now. 

I start towards a tree, ready to climb it, when I remember that I'm not in the arena anymore and there's no tributes hunting me. 

An owl hoots, making me jump. My eyes search the forest, looking for someone waiting to kill me. 

I imagine Oceania or Cassia leaping out of the bushes with a snarl, holding a bloody knife to my neck...

I push the thought from my head. No thinking about that. Those days are long over. 

I still do climb a tree, though. There's predators out here that could find me, and once the capitol realizes I'm missing, a tree will provide better cover. 

I curl up on a fork in the branches. This whole scene reminds me of my time with Lee and Lea. I can imagine that if I opened my eyes I'd see them sleeping below me, their hammocks slightly swaying in the breeze.

I wonder if any tributes have ever gone back to the arena. I can't imagine any of them would ever want to, but I know that the used arenas are open for vacations. 

I've heard you can visit the sights of the deaths, the final battle, etc. I can't really imagine some capitol person climbing up my tree, though. They'd probably install an elevator. 

I try to clear all the Hunger Games related thoughts from my head. It's over. I won. I'm never going back. And soon I'm starting a new life, in District Thirteen.