I sat on a luxurious couch day dreaming, and holding my sleeping baby.

My father was dead, and I would become the president of Panem in a week. Even though I missed my father, and grieved over his death, I felt free, like a bird let out of its cage. He had been a very strict man, and it was almost a relief to have him gone.

When I became president, I would change everything. The Hunger Games would end. I hated watching them, and the thought of playing a part in them made me sick. Innocent children killing each other for amusement is barbaric.

Money, food and other supplies would be sent to the poorer Districts. I would sneak out on a train to see the different Districts when I was a kid, and District 12 was awful. Almost no one had enough to eat, even the well-to-do people didn't have too much to spare. I saw a little girl huddled in an alley, beside her dead mother. I gave her the lunch I had packed.

Everything wrong with Panem would be fixed. People in the Capitol would hate me for taking away their fun entertainment, and wasting all their valuable jewels, but honestly, I didn't care. This would not only save people's lives, but it would also stop another rebellion.

I confronted my dad once about all these things, but he told me to "Stop meddling in other people's business," and went off on a whole lecture about how I had to "Keep honor to the family" and to "Never question the system."

I thought about my father, President Sanguis White, he had chocolate brown hair and dark brown eyes that were almost black, just like me. I had the same porcelain-white skin, and the same build as my mother. She died when I was eleven, some rare disease that wasn't curable yet had killed her.

"Miss White- I mean Miss Snow," she corrected herself. Ever since the day I got married, she kept forgetting to call me "Miss Snow". I looked at my maid from the couch. She had green eyes, and red hair. She wasn't an avox, actually I had to specifically ask that her tongue wasn't cut out. She was sixteen, and seven years younger than me. She had been serving me ever since she was twelve.

"Yes, Tezaled? You can call me Rose, you know." "Yes, Miss White. I mean Miss Snow. I mean-"She sighed. I smiled a little bit. "Your husband has requested that you meet him in what he called, "the place." I assume you know where this is," she said this with an almost childlike curiosity. "Yes, I do, did he say if I should bring Aster?" I rocked my seven month-old son, who had started to cry. "He said to leave him with me." I kissed Aster's cheek, nuzzled his brown curls, and looked into his dark brown eyes. "I'm going to see daddy, I'll be back soon," I whispered softly. "Here, Tezaled, I'll be back." I handed him to her, and started to walk down the hall.

I came to the door, so many memories were here. My best friend, now my husband, and I would stay in here. He was such a rebel, who always got us into trouble. When we got older we would rant on and on about how awful our fathers were, how the districts were treated, and the Hunger Games. His father was the head gamemaker, and my father's good friend. When we were eighteen his parents were killed in a freak accident.

I sighed and opened the door. The room had white walls, a royal blue carpet lined with gold, and a sofa that matched. One wall was covered in a magnificent array of swords and knives.

There he stood his blond hair catching the last beam of sunlight coming through the single window, his blue eyes had a mischievous glint, which I found extremely attractive. "Hi, Cory." His real name was Coriolanus, but I always called him "Cory". "Hello, Rose," he said in his silky voice. My full name was Roselyn, but we both had our nicknames for each other. "What did you need?" "I needed to tell you..." He trailed off. "What?" My stomach dropped. "Remember how your father was poisoned, and no one knew who killed him?" I played the events through my head.

Just five days ago.

It was us three Coriolanus, Father, and me. We were laughing and joking, an unusual occurrence when it was just me and Father. He was very fond of Coriolanus. Then Father took a drink of his wine, and immediately started convulsing. He collapsed on the floor, I got down beside him. "Cory, get someone, anyone!" He ran out of the room. I held on to my father's hand as he shuddered. "Cory is getting help," I said in a quiet voice. He had managed to look at me. "Rosy," he gasped. The nickname my father and mother had given to me as a baby. He hadn't called me that in twelve years. I gripped his hand as silent tears ran down my cheeks. Then he stopped moving. I checked his pulse. Silent as a stone. "Dad? Please no. Dad?" He always insisted that I called him "father" instead of "dad", but right then I couldn't have cared less . "DADDY!" I had sounded pitiful, like a young animal that lost its mom.

I stared at Cory,"I remember," I said cooly, but I didn't know why, he wasn't an enemy. He smirked. "Well, I know who killed him." "Who?" I felt sick. "I did it, my dear." It was like someone punched me in the gut. I stumbled backward and was now leaning against a wall. My husband, Coriolanus Snow, had killed my father. "Would you like to know why?" I simply nodded, I couldn't speak. "Well, presidency runs in the family, which means I would have to kill the whole White family to become president." I gasped. "You're going to kill me!" Cory chuckled. "Smart girl." His blue eyes now seemed cold and merciless. "You greedy git! You will kill me, your wife, just so you can become president! What about our son, will you kill him too?" His expression didn't change. "Roselyn, I will not kill Aster. He is my son." He was putting a barrier between us. No more nicknames. Saying he was his son instead ours. Fine, I could play that game too. "I will not let my son be raised by a psycho, Coriolanus."  A knife appeared in his hand. This was the end. I would die.

I thought of Aster. No, I couldn't give up, I had to fight for him. I whipped around and grabbed a silver dagger. "You can't kill me that easy," I growled. I wildly tried to stab him, but he easily blocked it. I wasn't very good at fighting, but I was determined. I tried again, this time with more accuracy. Then I had a thought, would I really kill him? I still love him. Weakling! I should be able to kill him.

"If I get killed, you'll have to look into my eyes the rest of your life, because of our son." "I aware of that!" He yelled. I tackled him, and put the  against his throat. "You wouldn't kill me," he said with a laugh. I smiled,"Try me." With that I took the dagger and stabbed him. At least that was the plan in my head. Here's what really happened.

I gazed into his eyes, trying to find something that proved he was still my Cory. Nothing, he would murder me if I let him, but I didn't have the strength to stab him. I still loved him. I was weak and a coward for not killing him, but I had made my decision. I sighed, got off of Cory, and gave him my dagger. We were standing in the middle of the room. "Well, Miss Snow, you know what they say,"Nice guys finish last"." "Apparently they do," I whispered, sounding defeated. Cory ran the edge of the dagger teasingly down the side of my cheek. "You will die tonight, my sweet," he hissed.

I felt like crying but, no tears came. He took a step back, as if he was admiring a painting. "It's shame that such a beautiful rose must die." There was a pause.

"Coriolanus-" The dagger slid against my throat creating a deep cut. I stood there in shock. He had slit my throat, and I was going to die. Then I collapsed. I now felt the pain, and blood was oozing from my wound. He had a smug look on his face.

I chose a group of words that would cut deep, and were very true, even after all of this. "Coriolanus..." I coughed up blood. "I-I.... Still love you. Always." Cory's eyes had a mixture of shock and guilt in them.

The life was slowly going out of me. This wasn't the most honorable death. I didn't even get to see Aster one more time, but in the middle of all the grief and pain my life had brought, I felt very content. I might have failed horribly, and a psycho might be in office, but I was at peace. As everything started to fade, Cory came over to me. I felt him kiss my forehead, and say,"I love you too. Rest in peace my sweet rose." Then he took me into his arms and held me. Maybe, he still loved me. I smiled a little bit at my last thought. Then death claimed another victim.

Coriolanus's POV
"Coriolanus-" I took the dagger and slit her throat. She stood their dumbfounded for a few seconds, and then she collapsed. I felt undeniably and strangely happy. I was going to be president.

Blood spilled onto her white dress. Then she said something that cut like a blade. "Coriolanus..." She coughed up blood. "I-I... Still love you. Always."

Why hadn't  she said something with hatred. Something mean and full of malice, but instead she said something that made my debt to her un-repayable. She had always been extremely kind, loving and gentle.  I killed her, yet she still loved me, even going as far as sparing my own life.

She was still breathing. I had to do something good, just to return the favor and feel human, so I kneeled down beside her, and kissed her forehead. "I love you too. Rest in peace my sweet rose." I held Rose as her pulse slackened and soon stopped.

I felt tears of guilt and sadness. Her eyes were empty and unseeing. I closed them. She could have been asleep, except for the ugly wound. She had a slight smile as if she was having a pleasant dream.

Everything came crashing down. I killed her, and I killed Sanguis. Who else would I kill?

I held on to Rose, and screamed in agony. Sweet loving Rose was dead. I sobbed as I hugged her. "Come back to me, Rose, come back to me," I whispered in vain.

Finally I pulled myself together. Now for the business.I took a deep breath, and got out a metal box that contained a syringe. The serum in the syringe keeps things from decaying. If she started to stink the whole plan would be ruined. I injected Rose. It would be like she was frozen in time. I placed a white rose that would last as long as she did in her hands.

As I walked out of the room, I looked at her one more time. All those years, I had fallen in love with her, but my thirst for power now killed my love. I was a greedy git. Oh, well it's too late now, but the feeling in the pit of my stomach didn't go away.

I went to the room that controlled the TV channels. "I need to make a public announcement. This is mandatory, everyone in Panem has to watch," I said with authority.

My personal servant came up to me. "I need you to bring me Tezaled. Now!" The servant scurried away. Someone gave me a new coat to cover up the blood. A different person applied makeup to cover the fact that I had been crying. "Ready, sir." I prepared myself for the announcement. "Five, four, three, two." He held up one finger. "People of Panem, I tell you now with a heavy heart that Miss Roselyn Snow has passed away. May she rest in peace. away. I will take up her duties as president. We must work toward a better future that she died for."

They shut down the cameras. I sprinted to the security camera room, where a trembling boy sat. "Listen, if you tell anyone what happened, I will kill you, understand?" He nodded.

I walked out to met my servant. "Where is she?" "Sir, she's gone, the baby is still here, but Tezaled is gone.

Tezaled's POV
I watched the TV as Mr. Snow announced that Miss White was dead. I felt tears in my eyes. She saved me from being an avox. She had been my only friend for the last four years.

I had a bad feeling that somebody was going to die. My gut was telling me to run. I put Aster in his crib and did just that.

As I ran down the hall a figure came out of a door. "Tezaled, what a surprise." A shiver ran down my spine. "Good evening, Mr. Snow," I said in a shaky voice.  "It is quite a lovely evening, just not for you."  A gun shot rang through the air. The bullet pierced my skull and went into my brain. Dead.

~53 Years Later~
Rose kissed me. "You're back," I whispered. "I never left, I'll always be with you," she replied with that smile of hers.

A knife appeared in my hand. I couldn't control it. As if the knife had a mind of its own, it stabbed Rose. "No!" I yelled. "Cory," she gasped. "No, you can't die, please stay with me Rose!" I cried. She sank to the ground, I tried to hang on to her, telling her to stay.  She died in my arms.

I jerked awake. I didn't feel better when I realized it was just a nightmare, like every night.  Reality was the same. I was in my prison filled with roses. Today Katniss Everdeen would execute me. After today, I wouldn't have to live with anymore guilt about her.

I smiled at the soldiers coming towards me. "Take me away boys."

My final thought, before they took me away was, I'll be with you soon Rose.