(22 parts! wow!)

I'm standing backstage, getting ready for my interview with Caesar Flickerman and consequently the rest of Panem. 

My dress is actually nice this time. It's gold with green and purple undertones, plus brown fringe at the bottom. I would say I look like a glammed-up tree, but I guess beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. 

"And now, the victor of the seventy-third Hunger Games, Amethyst Greenwood!" I step out onto stage and smile. The crowd cheers. 

For me. The crowd cheers for me. 

My smile becomes real. 

I sit down next to Caesar on the winner's throne, which honestly isn't very comfortable. I try to be nice. I don't want my last impression of these people to be horrible.

"So, Amethyst," Caesar starts. 

"Yeah?" I ask. I got mentored a bit from Johanna before this, but I don't think it really helped very much. 

"How did you feel when you won?" A smile crosses his face, but I recognize it as the same smile he makes every year. It's fake. He's jealous of the fame the victors get. 

Not that he'd ever want to endure the hardship they have to go through to get it. 

"Surprised, mainly," I say, with a lighthearted laugh that doesn't sound like me at all. 

"I really thought that when me and Oceania went down, we were both going to die. So when I saw that branch, I went for it. And... it worked." I hope I'm not too indifferent or antisocial. I also hope I'm not too friendly. I'm not used to public speaking, or speaking to people at all. 

"It worked very well! And how would you like to see your accomplishments over again?" He asks. A pit of dread piles up in my stomach. I don't want to watch my games over again. Never, never again. 

But I nod and smile. I can't be rude in front of the whole population of Panem. 

"That sounds amazing, Caesar!" 

Someone backstage switches on the giant screen that was currently broadcasting the interview. 

They show my whole journey, starting at my eight in training. Then I'm in the arena, killing Aegis,  watching Victor die, starving in the desert, watching Lee and Lea fall, and killing Rylie. 

They show me Aegis's point of view. He mutters my name in his sleep, which I honestly find kind of creepy. They show me save him, then me telling him I like him only as a friend. 

Someone in the audience boos, and I shrink back into my chair. Is it really that bad not to have a crush? 

Then they skip to Amber's point of view, and then her death. Me killing Byte and Aegis. They show Oceania killing Gleam, which is a lot more gruesome than I want to see right now. But I sit through it. 

And finally, they show my fight with Oceania. She knocks me off the tree, and I somehow manage to look brave when I say "If I'm going down, then you're coming with me". But I can still see the pure fear on my face as I plummet towards the ground and my death. 

It ends with me climbing onto the hovercraft, face full of relief. 

The audience claps and cheers. I feel like I'm in the arena again, in shock about what happened. I won. And everyone loves me. 

President Snow walks up to me and crowns me a victor. 

"May I present, Amethyst Greenwood, victor of the seventy-third Hunger Games!" His voice booms out through the stadium like he's wearing a microphone. Which he probably is. 

The billboard turns to district seven. Everyone's celebrating. Sure, they may not like me, but at least they get more food now. 

It focuses in on my mother, and I get a good look at her. She doesn't look happy, or proud, like some might think. 

In fact, she looks devastated as a single tear falls down her cheek.