Carissa Lovarre, Victor of the 125th Games

Even before Chloe won, Carissa had begun to feel a strong maternal pull toward the little girl. It had always been in her nature to take others under her wing and protect them, as she had her sister, Janari, and her co-Victor, Lavender. Despite the fact that she had not mentored Chloe, Carissa knew that the little girl would need to be protected when she returned to Two no matter the result of the Events, and Carissa was fully prepared to volunteer for the responsibility. She wasn't entirely sure if Chloe's Victor would make it easier or harder. On the one hand, now she didn't have to protect Chloe from her parents. But Chloe was now an incredibly public figure in Panem; considering the newness of the Events, especially in Two, nobody could predict just what the pitfalls would be. And Carissa was ready to face them along with Chloe.

Nearly as soon as the broadcast ended, the Victors were rushed over to the President's mansion, where they divided up by district to get ready. Naturally, the largest room went to District Two, which had the largest number of living Victors at fourteen. Delphine, Two's member of the Victors' Council as the oldest functional living Victor, insisted that everyone get ready quickly so that the Victors could quickly meet. Once they were all ready, they sat around the table in the room.

"All right," opened Delphine. "We need to discuss as a council of Victors how we are going to approach Chloe winning. How do we present this to the district? How do we recognize Chloe, if at all? Are we in favor of the Events? Let's discuss."

Instantly, Carissa was up in arms. "I don't understand why this is a question. Chloe is a Victor! She won the Events. She will have a house in the Victor's Village. She is recognized by the Capitol as a Victor. Why don't we count her as a Victor?"

"She didn't kill," Mesa responded matter-of-factly. "No Two Victor has ever won without killing."

"Yeah, that doesn't matter," Orion Terminus chimed in. "It's more of an image thing. The cultural change that the Events will bring to Two will be radical. It will totally deconstruct the Academy system that we have to date. If we accept Chloe as a Victor, we accept the Events, and the cultural change that comes with them. And that's incredibly dangerous."

"But… but she's a Victor! She's earned being a Victor. And she did it not because she was a good killer; she literally won because people liked her. That has to count for something."

"I agree with Carissa," pointed out Arabelle. "I wasn't Chloe's mentor personally, but she is potentially more likeable than anyone from Two who has ever won any Capitol competition. She's really lovely, and I think we would all benefit from her presence just like we benefit when we see Jada, Jasper Hematite's kid."

"Not to mention that, if Ruby is buying into the Events, going against Ruby by not supporting the only Victor would be imbecilic," Hannibal pointed out. "We get the funding we need to have nearly every kid in Two in the Academies from the Capitol. If we go against her wishes, we could lose that funding. And we do not want to be stuck in a no-volunteers quell with anybody who isn't at least a little bit trained."

"But she goes so far against the image we've been trying to create for ourselves in Two!" Deidre exclaimed. "Everybody wants to be like me and Demetrius, and we wanted to be like Mesa and Orion. Where does Chloe fit into this?"

"Maybe she doesn't need to fit into the old mold," Carissa offered.

The debate continued for a few more minutes, Carissa coming out more strongly than any other Two Victor on Chloe's side. They had no right to discredit the little girl! She had earned her Victory just like all of the rest of them, just in a slightly different way. And Carissa was prepared to fight for this little girl for as long as necessary until they accepted her. She would do whatever it took, even if she angered so many people that she had to leave the district.

"I think we should put it to a vote," Delphine posited. "So we'll go around the table. An aye vote means that Chloe should be counted as a Victor for all intents and purposes, and a nay vote is that she shouldn't. I will not vote on this matter. Mesa?"

"Nay."

"Mason?"

"Nay," said Mason, borderline incoherently.

"Crash."

"I vote with Smash." Crash rarely voted on his own.

"Smash?"

"Aye, on the condition that she does not mentor for the Games."

"That's a given, I'd say. So that's two in favor, two against. Carissa?"

"Aye."

"Arabelle."

"Aye."

"Hannibal Lector."

"Nay."

"Hannibal Oriot."

"Aye."

"Zareth."

"Aye."

"Deidre?"

"Nay."

"Demetrius?"

"Nay."

"Orion?"

"Nay."

Delphine counted on her fingers. "Six and six. Ares, you're the deciding vote."

Ares thought for a moment. "I could never do something that put someone outside of the gender binary in danger; we go through too much in Two already. I vote aye."

"So that's seven in favor, six against. As far as we are all concerned, Chloe has all of the privileges and rights that come from being a Victor from Two. And no word of this to her."

Carissa was finally able to breathe. Chloe had all of the rights that she deserved. But Carissa had a hunch that Chloe's battle was not over yet; she was, after all, radically different from any Two Victors who had come before her. It could be years before she was fully accepted by the whole district. But Carissa was prepared to fight tooth and nail against traditional Two sentiment for the little girl's acceptance. After all, Chloe deserved nothing less.

Chloe Antoni, Victor of the First Events

Chloe was incredibly confused when she woke up. The last thing she remembered was getting on the Ferris wheel; now, she was back in her bed at the training center. Hestia must have brought her back home somehow.

That was very nice of Hestia.

Chloe stretched and got out of bed, finding herself still in the shiny overalls from the night before. When she went to the bathroom, she found her makeup all smudged and her ponytails askew, one way higher on her head than another. She knew to take her ponytails out, but she had no idea how to take her makeup off. So she went over to Myranda's room and knocked on the door. "Myranda?"

"Yes?"

"Can you help me take off my makeup? I don't know how to do that."

Myranda, only in a towel and hair sopping wet, opened the door. "Come here." She led Chloe into the bathroom, then took a towel, put something on it, and rubbed it all over Chloe's face. "There you go. All off."

"Thank you."

"Can you do my hair too?"

"Maybe after I get dressed."

"All right," Chloe shrugged, going back over to her room. But before she could do anything with her hair, or get changed, her escort, Boebette, knocked on the door. "Chloe! Myranda! We gotta go. Trains begin to leave in ten minutes."

"But I didn't eat breakfast yet!" exclaimed both girls.

"We can get food later. Right now, you need to get dressed and get downstairs."

"Can you tackle Chloe's hair?" asked Myranda. "Or Arabelle or someone?"

"Got it. Chloe, you go run and get dressed. We have to get moving."

Obediently, Chloe went back to her room, where she changed into the outfit laid out for her: a pink dress, a nice white coat with pink accents, thick white tights, and white Mary Janes. Chloe smiled, realizing the color scheme of the outfit. She took her token, Minnie's pink barrette, and brought it into the common area, where Arabelle was waiting to do her hair.

"Do you want anything special, Chloe?"

"I just want to wear this barrette."

"I can do that." Arabelle softly brushed through Chloe's hair, then pulled a few pieces of her hair from either side of her head and clipped them up in the barrette. "There you go."

"How are you so good at this?"

"I've had long hair for a long time."

"I barely even know how to brush my hair."

"You'll learn."

"Come on everyone! We have to go!" yelled Boebette. Swiftly, Chloe went back to her room to look at it one more time and say goodbye, then followed Boebette to the train station. Once they got there, Chloe ran straight to Winslet, to make sure that she could say goodbye.

"Hi Chloe."

"Hi Wins."

"I'm going home now."

"I know. Me too."

Wins looked Chloe in the eye, then gave her girlfriend the biggest hug she'd ever given in her life. "I'm gonna miss you a lot."

"I'm gonna miss you too. Will you write to me?"

"Yeah, of course. Will you write to me?"

"If you write me first." The two hugged again.

"Come on, Chloe!" called Boebette. "We have to go."

"One more hug!"

"Fine. One more hug and then we're going."

Chloe looked at Wins, tearing up. "Maybe I can visit?"

"Maybe. I'm gonna miss you. I love you."

"I love you too." Boebette practically had to drag Chloe to the District Two train; the little girl didn't take her teary eyes off of Wins until the doors of the train were shut in front of her.

As the train began to move towards District Two, carrying not just Chloe and Myranda but also all of Two's Victors, Chloe suddenly realized what was going to happen when she got home: she would have to face her parents.

Like magic, all of the confidence she'd had the night before vanished. She was suddenly incredibly nervous to face her parents. On the one hand, she wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing her parents again. After all, they had done nothing but reject who she was, and force her to do things to earn her identity. That wasn't an appropriate way to treat anyone, much less their own child. But, something deep in Chloe still wanted to make her parents accept her, for them to be proud of her, to love her. And now, she had the chance to do that! It was as if she was being pulled in two different directions; her head was scared to see her parents because she knew the damage that they had done to her, but her heart was afraid that she still hadn't made them proud.

Plus, it would be pretty lonely living alone in Victors' Village.

Before Chloe could get too deep into crippling internal debate, she heard a knock at the door. "Come in!" she called, expecting it to be someone like Arabelle or Boebettee. But the last thing she expected was to see Hestia at the door. "Hi Hestia!"

"Hi there, Chloe. Can I come in?"

"Of course!" There was something about Hestia that was naturally warm and nurturing; Chloe intrinsically trusted the older girl. She scooched over on her bed to allow Hestia to sit next to her.

"So, I have a question for you, Chloe. What are you planning to do about your house in Victors' Village?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you planning on having your parents live with you?"

"I was just thinking about that," Chloe admitted. "Like, on the one hand, they haven't ever been very nice to me. But on the other, I still want to make them proud of me."

"Well, there are so many other people who are proud of you, you know. Like Myranda and Arabelle and Boebette and me!"

"But… but I still want them to love me."

"Why?"

"Because… they're my parents. And I'm supposed to love them."

"But do they deserve your love?"

"Huh?"

"Your parents. Have they ever done anything to warrant being loved by you?"

"What does that mean?"

"Have they taken care of you? Have they supported you? Have they shown care?"

"No. They really just me feel like something was wrong with me, like I didn't have a right to be who I am."

"So you don't need to love them."

Chloe nodded. "I never thought about it that way. So it's OK for them to not live with me?"

"Absolutely."

"But then I'll live alone and be all lonely and stuff."

"Well, what if I came to live with you?"

Chloe looked up at Hestia. "Will you? Are you?"

"Yeah, I can. Would you like that!"

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" Chloe exclaimed, flinging herself excitedly into Hestia's arms. "Of course you can live with me. You can be like my mommy!"

"Yes, dear. I could be like your mommy."

"I bet you'd be a better mommy than my mommy… my mother was to me."

Refusing to let the sadness she felt at that statement show, Hestia gave Chloe another hug. "I hope I can be."

"Are you as old as my mother? How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-one."

"Wow. That's old."

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by Boebette's voice from the corridor, calling, "Five minutes to arrival!"

"Are you ready for this?" Hestia asked. "They're all waiting for you."

"Yeah, I think so."

Hestia led Chloe to the main doors of the train, then gave her a pat on the head. "I'll see you in a bit."

"Can you stay with me?"

"I'm not really supposed to."

"But I want you to."

Hestia looked down at the little girl, who was practically trembling. "I'll be right behind you."

As soon as the train stopped, the doors opened, and Chloe walked out to a polite-to-loud amount of applause. Many people were there, including the mayor, all looking happy to see their new young Victor come home. As confidently as she could, Chloe took a step out of the train towards the mayor, to shake their hand and receive congratulations. But as she scanned the crowd, she suddenly caught sight of her mother.

Her father didn't even come.

Hestia placed a comforting hand on Chloe's shoulder, encouraging the girl to continue towards the mayor, who officially presented Chloe to the district with some great fanfare. Chloe wasn't given the traditional gladiator helmet presented to Victors; instead, she was crowned with a golden olive wreath, which was considered fitting as Chloe had won in peace rather than through warring. (Plus, the gladiator helmet would have been way too big for her head.) Once the short ceremony had concluded, Chloe looked back at Hestia who gave her an encouraging nod. Chloe made herself as tall as she could to give herself a bit more confidence, then walked over to face her mother.

"Hi, Mom."

"Hello."

"I did it! I came back as a Victor."

"You did." Junia scanned Chloe up and down. "But I don't see a gladiator helmet on your head."

"What?"

"You didn't win the Games. You're not a true Victor."

"So… so you…"

"But, even though you have not earned it, I will honor your wishes. If you want me to call you Chloe, I guess you can be Chloe."

That was the last straw. "No."

"No? You don't want to be Chloe?"

"No, I mean you don't get to dictate my identity anymore. You have spent my entire life forcing me into things that you wanted me to do, without letting me do what I was interested in, all because of the things you didn't get to do. And you don't get to piggyback on my Victor's Village and Victory prize just because you birthed me. You can either truly accept me, not just call me Chloe but understand that I am Chloe, or you can leave."

Juna wasn't used to her child being so bold. She scanned Chloe up and down, then turned around and walked away.

That was the last time Chloe saw her mother.

The little girl didn't know whether to laugh or cry or both. On the one hand, it felt as though a weight had been lifted off of her chest. But on the other hand, she had now formally broken her bonds with her only family.

Someday very soon, she'd be grateful for her courage. But for now, she just needed another hug from Hestia. "Can we go yet?"

"One moment. I need to go talk to Dania Lidano really quickly."

"Who is Dania Lidano?"

"Myranda's trainer," fibbed Hestia. "Are you OK waiting here for a moment?"

"Sure." Chloe watched as Hestia went over to Dania. After Hestia introduced herself, Dania pulled her aside, away from the crowd.

Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Hi, Chloe."

Chloe turned around to find Carissa, the latest Quell Victor, standing next to her. "Oh. Hi!" Chloe wasn't used to someone this important talking to her.

"I wanted to congratulate you personally on winning the Events! It's really something to be proud of."

"Oh. Thank you!"

"I know you're in good hands with Hestia, but if you need anything from someone else, I live pretty close. OK?"

"All right. Thank you!"

"I have to go now. But I'm excited to get to know you better and be your friend!"

"Thank you."

Chloe smiled. Carissa seemed so nice and kind. She would be an awesome friend to have.

"All right, Chloe," said Hestia, coming up behind the young girl. "Are you ready to walk over to Victors' Village for the first time?"

Chloe took a deep breath. "Yeah. I'm ready to go home."

Well, after a year and four months, this is the final chapter of The First Inter-District, Inter-Disciplinary Events. I think this is a pretty good place to end things, don't you? I did toy with adding another epilogue, or more of this chapter, but something about where this ended just… felt right.

I can't finish this story without thanking all of my submitters, who sent me the incredible characters that made this story possible, and of course a huge thank you to my spoiler buddy/planning helper/proofreader Lauren (TheEngineeringGames), without whom this story would not have happened nearly as quickly as it did. And of course, thank you to all of you! I'm so grateful that you've all read and enjoyed the story, and I hope you all submit to the sequel, IDIDE2! I posted an updated prologue after finishing this story, so go check it out!

I'm going to leave you with one last question: Why would Hestia need to go talk to Dania Lidano?

Yours,

Goldie031