Chapter Text
They play in the Meadow. The dancing girl with the dark hair and blue eyes. The boy with blond curls and gray eyes, struggling to keep up with her on his chubby toddler legs. It took a while for her to agree, she was so scared. So used to living in a world where having children meant watching them die. I promised her that they would be safe. We made the world safe for them. Haymitch had to force me out of the room when she was born, said I was causing Katniss more stress than the actual birth was. But I was nervous too. It was only being able to hold her in my arms that calmed the nerves, allowing me to know she was safe.
The questions are just beginning. The arenas have been completely destroyed, the memorials built, there are no more Hunger Games. But they teach about them at school, and the girl knows we played a role in them. The boy will know in a few years. How can I tell them about that world without frightening them to death?
My children, who don't know they play on a graveyard.
I promise it will be okay. I tell Katniss that we have each other. And the book. We can make them understand in a way that will make them braver. But one day she'll have to explain about her nightmares. Why they came. Why they won't ever really go away.
I'll tell them how we survive it. I'll tell them that on bad mornings, it feels impossible to take pleasure in anything because I'm afraid it could be taken away. That's when I make a list in my head of every act of goodness I've seen someone do. It's like a game. Repetitive. Even a little tedious after more than twenty years.
But there are much worse games to play.