Epilogue

District 8 did not win the 33rd Hunger Games. In fact, District 8 would not have a single win since Indigo's for decades to come.

Early one morning, the Peacekeepers rapped on Indigo's door. "Weaver! Wake up! It's reaping day. We want you dressed and ready in half an hour!"

Indigo groaned and rose from bed. Of course. Today was the reaping for the 61st Hunger Games - had he really been mentoring for three and a half decades? Now at 52, Indigo still could move the way he once did, but only slightly slower.

The man emerged from his house and was escorted by Peacekeepers to the fountain in the center of the village. There waiting for him were Woof Casino and Savera Inchcape. Both were aging and their hair had begun to gray. At 70, Savera now seemed more like a grandmother than an adopted mother; she now walked with a cane. Wrinkles had recently begun to appear in 61-year-old Woof's face. Both hugged their surrogate son warmly. The trio began the march to the district square; Indigo chanced a look at the District 8 tribute graveyard as they passed it. Among those headstones was the grave of his long-gone friend Adara. Every year after the Games, he had made it a tradition to lay flowers atop her final resting place.

The reaping in the Square took all of fifteen minutes. Quaillen had been replaced a while back by none other than Mr. Nadiri, Adara's father, having been promoted from his job at the factory. Though the old man played his part well, Indigo could trace a hint of resentment in his presenting - the only able expression over his daughter's death oh so long ago.

"Yoryu Gating!" he called, and a boy of 18 took the stage. "Cecelia Sanchez!" The girl, also 18, joined him.

"We're gonna lose…again," Indigo groaned, earning a swat from Savera.

"Don't say that when they're standing right there!" she reprimanded angrily.

"Mom, I've been doing this for so long, I can tell a losing tribute just by looking at them!" Indigo countered. "Neither of them are going to be able to hack it!"

"Then we train them as best we can in three days and cast our lot with whoever seems better prepared!" Woof snarled as he leaned across them. The entourage was quickly led to the train.

It would come as a total shock later to District 8 when Cecelia Sanchez went on to win that Games, delivering their first win in over thirty years. It would be a shock when, eight years later, Indigo Weaver would die of a heart attack at the tender age of 60. And it would be an absolute shock when, for the Third Quarter Quell, victors would be forced back into the arena, including Cecelia and old Woof. And the greatest shock of all would come when a girl victor from District 12 named Katniss Everdeen would lead Panem to revolution and destroy the Hunger Games forever.