#victoryp2

I sit silently on the train, my legs are brought up so I can rest my chin on them and I stay there for almost the whole night. I didn't think I'd be coming home and when I saw my fields fade into the background that would be the last time. So as morning comes and I arrive back home I half expect there to be no one there. They all hate me there and before I'd been through this, I never cared but I've been through too much and seen too many things to be as naive as I once was. The train pulls up and I hear cheers, I look over to Vivian who gives me a small smile and I step out of the train. People are smiling, cheering and it's almost as if they're happy to see me again. We haven't had a Victor in so many years and after Clifford's repulsive demise, I was the only one they had. I return their smiles and wave at the people that have taken the time out of their day to welcome me home. It's harvesting season for the majority of our fields and for them to be here is a pretty big thing.

I take a few steps out of the train and the sun beats down on my face again, after being inside for those few weeks for so long, this much open space is almost foreign. I shake hands with the people and a small girl offers me a bunch of jasmine flowers. I'd never been fond of small children, and for all I knew, she could have stolen them from my fields. The car journey to my house was a long one but I knew the man driving so it wasn't a silent one, a lot of the crops had been infected with a virus and almost 50% of them had to be burned, luckily for me my flowers were fine as were my cane. But, from this I was my Districts last hope from another famine and I hadn't let them down.

When I finally arrive back home breathe a sigh of relief when I see my fields are exactly how I left them, they were as beautiful as ever and when I step out of the car everything finally feels so real. The familiar smell of roses and sugar cane come to me and it makes me feel like the happiest person alive. It was good to be back. She around the field, first of all noticing the absence of a lot of the workers, perhaps they'd taken the day off to celebrate with their families, a luxury that went unpaid if she remembered. The few that were working looked up at their boss as she walked to the outskirts of the field. A few of them simply looked back down to go resume their work, others kept looking but one girl puts down her sheers and walks up to me. The other workers are somewhat astonished by this, almost as if she'd said she was going to do it but nobody believed she had the guts to do it. I was surprised she was so willing to come near me, after seeing the games and realising what I was capable of, if I was them, I'd be scared of me too. As she neared I look her up and down. She was tall, about the same height as Allyn, very tall for a girl and had a petite frame and delicate features. If she scrubbed up a bit, wore some nice clothes she'd be beautiful. She's the type of girl Jude would like. But above everything, she was new. She wore a somewhat happy expression on her face, something I hadn't wiped off of her with my leadership and she also had a spring in her step, needless to say, she wasn't scared of me at all.

"It's good to have you back boss" I raised my eyebrow at the girl and looked her up and down, a look that would usually make my workers cower in fear but with this one, she only stood straighter almost making me take a step back. So instead, I smiled at her kindness and bowed my head a little, a respective custom in District Eleven, not something I frequently gave.

"It's good to be back... You're new here. I don't remember your face. What's your name?"

"Rosa, mam" Rosa, a pretty name for a pretty girl.

"Jasmine... Jasmine will be fine. How old are you?" she looked at me nervously, she'd lied about her age to get in this plantation and I gave her a scrutinising look, I dared her to try and lie to me.

"15"

"That's awfully young, why are you not at school?" a sad expression washed over her face and I regretted it almost immediately, there weren't many reasons why young girls dropped out of school to work.

"My brother was Reaped two years ago and died, three years before that my other brother was Reaped. Its just unfortunate really. It's my duty to help put food on my food on the table for my mother and two little sisters and I can't achieve that sat behind a desk." I left education out of choice, I felt sympathetic for the girl. She reminded me of Jarel, doing whatever they can to help the people they love. And just like that, I felt a lump in my throat and I wanted to cry again. "I worked at the old apple orchard bu-"

"The fruit was all diseased, so I've heard. You're fortunate enough to have a job here although I don't understand why you're working today. You should be celebrating. After all, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you view me, I am still alive"

I look around at my workers who have all stopped their work and were listening in on our conversation. I turned to face them all and cleared my throat.

"Go home. All of you, take the rest of the day off. Spend time with your families and be grateful that you'll spend tonight with them because I know twenty three families in Panem don't have that pleasure anymore." They all look at me incredulously and one pipes up and says

"Will our pay be reduced if we go"