Don't Look Back—The Finale (or, Epilogue Part III)

A/N: Oh my gosh, guys.

We did it.

We made it.

This story—it's been amazing. Your support has kept it alive. I love each and every one of you.

I mean, I was writing Panem's Darling, right? I thought it'd be a little fanfiction with ten or so chapters and five people who really like it.

I got at least thirty of you asking me for a sequel, and then constant, constant support. Do you know how much that means to me? It means more than I ever thought it would.

Watching Prim and Ian grow up and fall in love with each other has been amazing. I love writing those two POV's, because they're both so absorbed with each other and reading what goes through their brains is really quite fantastic.

The last book changed a lot. I initially was going to have them murder Snow, but then Prim got hijacked (oh, a little backstory about that: that wasn't going to happen AT ALL. It was so spur-of-the-moment. I was like, "I need another big event." And then Elly and Prim were walking along a dark road at night and it came to me: a kidnapper. But then I omitted Elly getting kidnapped, because how would they signal the others? What a cliché, sending codes and letters to get help. No, Elly was going to run off and find the others and warn them). So I just had President Snow die. I don't think anyone was expecting it, and plus I thought it'd be a nice touch for the rest of the country to see how evil he really was. They finally "woke up".

And then the epilogue came. I initially thought of just showing an epilogue not unlike the one in Mockingjay, but I realized I wanted more. So I came up with three key parts of Prian's future: a proposal, a wedding, and now, children and a family.

This might seem like too happy an ending, but after death and destruction and heartbreak, don't you think they deserve it?

Please, please, please, enjoy the finale of Don't Look Back.

The Finale—Endless

Prim's POV

I guess I should've guessed that it'd happen eventually.

Two years ago, she was born. Her smile is so adorable, her teeth almost fully developed. Her eyes are a spectacular green—something I'm so happy she got. She's a little, feminine Ian. And he's so incredibly fond of her. It's lovely.

This was hardly six months after the wedding. Using the old rule in Twelve—"grow up fast or don't grow up at all"—we really wanted a kid. I mean really. He was practically begging.

Finally, I stopped being afraid and I said okay.

We're sitting outside, on a grassy hill, Ian's arms around me. She's running around like mad in the sunset, using her delicate little hands to gather dandelions. The whole gang is here: Elly and Cassia, who've decided they're going to adopt a child; Effie and Haymitch, who are currently arguing over some aspect of their new house; Katniss and Peeta, their two kids playing with her; Shirley, who's chatting with Cass and Elly; and Mom, cooking something outside on a grill.

Fireworks have burst through the sky tonight, and all across Panem people are celebrating "The Miracle Couple". Us. Ian and I.

It's our little girl's birthday.

"Look at her go," Ian laughs.

I lean up and kiss him tenderly.

It's just like it's always been: explosions of energy, like wind and water colliding; our lips nearly numb from the pressure. When I pull away, smiling serenely, we watch our daughter toddle around, giggling at butterflies and tumbling after Katniss's son.

The thing about our daughter is that her hair is as tumbled red and gold as possible, like a sunset streaking across the sky, dancing flames. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

"Come here!" I call out to her, and she turns around, giggling. She tumbles into my lap, squealing and shrieking as she goes. "Oh, you little weirdo," I coo, and she gives me a "Ha, ma!" in response. I run my fingers through her hair, letting them slip through the gentle curls.

"Win! Win!" she says.

"That's right, that's your name!" Ian says affectionately, tapping her nose once. She bubbles with laughter and flounces away, singing a song to Katniss's son.

That's right, that's her name.

Ian leans in to kiss me.

That's her name.

Quinn.

A/N: That's it, that's the end, that's a wrap. This story was absolutely incredible thanks to each and every one of you who supported me—or criticized me. Anyone who read it. Anyone who glanced over the title and decided to click on it. Anyone who was involved in the slightest.

I do plan on writing more fanfictions, presumably a Harry Potter. I'd love to get some requests, however. I also do have a Wattpad account, LuckyJo2, where I'm currently writing The Avox—eerily similar and chock-full of references to DLB—and Treehouse, an original murder mystery. But I'll be taking a small break from fanfiction to think up ideas.

I think I'll leave you with a favorite quote of mine from this story—what it was all based on.

Y'know, sometimes you just gotta run, and don't look back. Just gotta run till there's nowhere left to run to. Don't ever look back. Don't look back."

Don't look back.