Chapter Text
I stumble out towards the bed and fall onto it. Peeta chuckles sleepily and pulls me closer to him. We settle down together and he reaches out to turn the lamp off.
We both fall asleep almost immediately.
Safe in the comfort of the other’s arms.
Finally!
We are on the way home. Back to District Twelve. Back to Prim, my mother, the Hawthornes, the rest of the Mellarks, and Madge! We will see them all tomorrow when we pull into the station.
Haymitch has disappeared somewhere, not a surprise, and Effie is probably micromanaging some poor avox or worker, also not a surprise.
Peeta and I are in the last train car, sitting together but silent and looking out at the world as we are sequestered back to our little cage. Not that it’ll keep either of us in. We will be going into the woods regularly. More than regularly actually, now that neither of us have to go to school.
I can’t help but think about what else we have to do, to prepare for. We made loose plans before the games but needed our concentration to be on surviving the 74th again this time around, so now planning will begin in earnest. Not only for the quell, but for when we arrive in Thirteen.
I have no idea how I will react when I see Coin, the one who killed my little sister. Sure, others played their parts as well, including myself, but she’s the one who sent Prim there, knowing what the plan was and knowing she would die. I could never allow that to happen again. It is going to take a lot of convincing for me to not slit her throat right then and there the “first time” I see her.
Not to mention Peeta. He is not going to be captured by the Capitol, we just need to have a plan on how to stick together and still get our trackers out, and still not hint that we know the rebel plan, both to the rebels and to the Capitol. Not to mention we have to survive until then. I want to make our alliance even bigger, bring in Seeder and Chaff, hopefully save Blight from Seven and Cecilia from Eight, though as much as I hate to say it Woof is not a contender, especially not when we already have Mags. I just want more Victors to survive. ANNIE! What are we gonna do about Annie?!
It’s like Peeta can read my mind. He squeezes my hand firmly and pulls me from my slowly growing panic at the thought of what is ahead of us.
“I’m nervous too.” he says quietly, drawing me closer to him. “Just take it one step at a time. We can worry about everything else later.” I give him a nod and lean back against his chest.
“One step at a time.” I repeated back to him.
“Exactly.”
The train ride goes quickly.
Dinner last night was exceptional, less protein consumption for both Peeta and I though we still asked to have more than usual, which definitely got us some weird looks, even weirder than on the way there. We all had roasted chicken with rice, though Peeta’s and I had a brown type and Haymitch, Effie, Cinna, and Portia had a blinding white one, a side of vegetables, a side of potatoes, and for dessert we had something called tiramisu. It tasted like a very sweet version of the coffee my mother inhales when we can get it. I still prefer hot chocolate, but if coffee always tasted like this, I’d drink it.
Breakfast was buffet style. Peeta and I had waffles with bananas, peanut butter, and walnuts, and a side of pineapple and bacon.
Peeta and I are being dressed now. Our prep teams are still back in the Capitol, they will not visit until it is time for the Victory tour, but we have a few press things to do back home so Portia and Cinna were sent to help. Something I am grateful for. I still love Cinna so much, and I am happy to introduce him to everyone. He will get along well with my family.
I am wearing another rendition of a little girl dress and the matching outfit for Peeta. This time though, they are both a light blue color, not far off from my reaping dress. My dress ends slightly above my knees and flares out widely from my hips. My white flats complement the bow in my hair, a braid pulling back the top portion and the bow tied at the end of it. I have light jewelry, and I don’t doubt I will be the only one in the District with it on anyway. At least my makeup is super light as well, barely having anything more than mascara and light blush.
Peeta’s blue shirt is half unbuttoned, giving him a slightly messy look with his tousled hair but that just means I can run my fingers through his curls without being yelled at, so I am more than happy with it. His khaki shorts fall to his knees and I can see his two healthy legs. I find myself looking at them more than I should, as if amazed. Peeta just gives me a big goofy smile when he catches me looking. He also has on coal black shoes.
We should pull into the station at any minute now. Just as I think that, a ringing sound starts as the brakes to the train slow us down. Cinna adjusts my hair one last time and I take Peeta’s hand tightly in mine. The doors open to loud cheers and many whistles, something not often heard in the District except at certain sports events, usually by said athlete’s family. Now, the entire district must be here, raucous as ever before and finally proud of something.
When Peeta and I step out, holding hands the whole way, the cheering gets even louder and I scan everyone, trying to see my loved ones. I spot a few of the cameras first, their glass pieces reflecting the midmorning sunlight, the heat already slightly oppressive as is normal for this time of year around here.
That’s when I see her. Prim is sitting perched on top of Graham’s shoulders. He is one of the tallest people in the whole district, so Prim sits well above most others and her waving arms draw my attention. Her wide beaming smile and her excited little face a healing balm to my wounds. This is why I am doing this all over again.
My mother is standing beside the Mellarks, Mrs. Mellark nowhere to be seen, the Hawthornes are also with our families, along with Madge.
We wave and when Peeta raises our hands together in a victory pose, the crowd gets even louder.
Eventually, Haymitch gestures both of us to the side. When we get off of the platform, Prim immediately runs towards me. Peeta lets go of my hand and puts his shoulder just behind mine, helping to steady me because when Prim finally reaches me, her little jump almost has both of us spiraling towards the ground. I just wrap my arms around my baby sister and she buries her head in my hair. Peeta has moved now that I am stable and when I peek at him I see both of his brothers wrapped around him tightly. That’s different.
My mom is standing beside both of us, looking on with longing. I just gesture with my head and immediately her arms wrap around both of us. She squeezes for a moment before one of her hands runs down the back of my head, a gesture she had done all of my life to comfort me.
“I am so happy you are here.” She whispers, overtaken by emotion.
“Me too Mom.” I give her a smile.
Prim finally comes out of my hair and I gently set her back down on the ground.
“Hi, Little Duck.” I gently pull one of her braids. She quacks back at me and then grabs my hand, dragging me towards the Mellarks and their reunion. My mother follows along behind us, laughing slightly.
“Hi!” She announces our presence to the bakers.
“Hello, Prim.” Peeta smiles lovingly, an older brother smile, as he runs his eyes over her, checking to make sure she is okay. And I love him all the more for it.
“I know we have the victory banquet and dinner tonight.” She begins, and I immediately know where she is going with this. “But will you all pleaseeee one day soon come over for dinner?” She whips out her puppy eyes and I know for a fact they are goners.
“Woah. Put those away!” Rye jokes, shielding his eyes. “We will. As long as those stop.”
Prim immediately drops them and smiles brightly. “Okay! Katniss can tell Peeta and he can let you guys know when and whatever.” She has grown up more in the last month than I could remember.
“Hey Prim,” Graham bends down to her height.
“Yeah?” She asks.
“You gotta tell us when they do something embarrassing alright? We won’t be there to see it all the time so you gotta tell us so that we can make fun of them.” Graham conspires.
Prim’s brow furrows. “What do you mean? Won’t you be in the new house with Peeta?”
The older Mellark boys share a look, leaving the youngest out of it.
“Likely not Primrose.” The baker says quietly, softly as if embarrassed. Good. He should be.
“That’s dumb.” She says with a roll of her eyes. “Peeta needs you. And none of you need to be in a house with her.” She puts emphasis on her last word, but nobody could misunderstand her meaning anyway. “Haven’t you been away from Peeta enough?” Oh. She’s good.
I join in with her searching gaze, hoping to change that this time around. Peeta doesn’t need to be in that big house all alone. I want to stay with him, sure, but even still, he needs his family. Plus, maybe they will be in the village when they fire bomb Twelve, maybe they can be saved.
The baker fumbles for a moment but Graham and Rye immediately look cowed and duck their heads. Then as if a switch had flipped, they look at one another, to Peeta, to me, and then to Prim.
“We’re in.” They say together.
Peeta perks up immediately. The baker looks at them in shock and then is obviously trying to work out whether he could or not.
“I want to. I just don’t know how that would work with the bakery?” He says almost under his breath as if trying to work it out himself.
“Dad. Just open the bakery an hour later and I could probably get you a bike or something to get there quicker in the morning. You won’t need as much money, you will have everything you want at my house, food, clothes, anything.” Peeta is obviously trying to contain himself, not get his hopes too high, but I can tell he would be crushed if his dad said no.
“Alright Peet. I am not saying it will work, your plan, but we can try it. If it is too hard, I will have to go back to the bakery, but we should be fine with that plan.” The baker compromises.
Peeta crashes into his father in a tight hug, the joy showcased in his large grin. Graham and Rye join the hug and when they separate both Rye and Graham pick up Prim and set her between them, on their shoulders. She giggles and pats both of them on their heads. They all start moving towards the Seam. I guess we are packing up our things first.
The cameras are still following us and we have a whole procession. The Mellark boys, the Everdeen girls, all of the Hawthornes, Madge, Haymitch, Cinna and Portia, and Effie.
Peeta and I catch back up with Madge on the walk there, mostly just her making suggestive jokes and sending us looks. She really wants to talk to us, and I don’t blame her.
Effie is in raptures, thanking everyone for coming to help move everything. I don’t have the heart to tell her that just the Everdeen’s could have carried all of our belongings to the village. We really don’t need this many people, especially because we don’t need any of the furniture.
When we do, eventually, get to the house you can see the minute her face falls. Even Portia and Cinna look surprised and send pitying looks in our direction, or not pitying, sympathetic might be the better word. I don’t even look at the camera men and their reactions.
Effie is almost completely silent as we pack up our belongings. Prim and I share one of the bags they brought and Peeta takes that from me to carry, not even asking, just throwing it over his shoulder as he grabs my hand. Mr. Mellark is carrying one large box of my mother’s healing things, Graham has the other smaller box with the rest of it. Rye has all of my mother’s things in one bag, and Haymitch grabbed the last remaining box with all of our nicknacks and things, not that there were many of them. Just a few pictures, and some family heirlooms passed down through the generations on dad’s side. Prim pulls her little wagon behind her, and though she told everyone to put their things in, they all refused. Rye even asked if she wanted to ride in it while he pulled her. She almost said yes, I could tell, but I’m guessing she didn’t want to look like a little kid on television because of the cameras. Instead, she places Buttercup into the wagon and pulls him. Lady is being led by Portia who was immediately taken with the goat… why? No idea.
We have to walk all the way back through town to get to the village and we make a stop at the bakery. Peeta quickly packs his stuff, and so does Rye, into one bag, though they share most of the same clothes anyway. Graham grabs his stuff and shares a bag with his father. I have no idea where the witch is, but I haven’t seen her once today and I can only hope this streak continues because I have no idea how I’ll react when I finally do. They pack up a few of their sentimental things, Peeta grabs his old used drawing pencils, Rye grabs his almost completely worn through football, Graham grabs an old looking kite, and Wheaton, as Mr. Mellark told me to call him, grabs a little box from one of the cabinets. They don’t touch any of the feminine stuff or anything they would already have at the new house like kitchen things or living room stuff. They pile most of the heavy things, the clothes bags and the healing supplies, in the wagon which Wheaton pulls, and then Graham carries one of the remaining boxes, and Haymitch carries another. Prim carries Buttercup because she is the only one he will let do that. Gale, Rye, and one of the camera men all got scratched when they tried. Portia still had Lady.
We have to split to get the “best footage of us moving in” as Effie says. Peeta gives me a quick peck and a smile before we both walk into our new old homes. Prim and my mom are in awe of the house, multiple floors, four bedrooms, four bathrooms, two living rooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a study, an extra room, which is supposed to be for my talent but will be turned into a space for mom’s healing, and an attic for storage, along with a basement that has the second living room, a wine cellar, a storage room, and laundry facilities that are machines and not for hand washing. All in all a certifiable mansion compared to our tiny house back across the district.
Prim has already run upstairs, hoping to claim the best bedroom. She will end up with the one facing the back, it gets all of the natural morning light and we will paint it a light yellow color in the coming weeks, or pay somebody from town to do it, most like Cooper's family or a family from the Seam, wanting to spread the wealth. It has white wood furniture, a full dresser, a wardrobe, a double bed, a chair with blue velvet fabric stretched across the cushion, white bedside tables, and a little window seat with the same blue color fabric cushion, but this one isn’t velvet, just plain fabric cotton. We will order decorations from the catalog Effie will leave on the kitchen counter. We have money set aside exactly for this purpose, and an unlimited budget for the month, pertaining to the house.
Mother will end up in the back bedroom, this one faces the entrance to the village and out towards the district. It has plain walls that will become a tasteful blue color, as well as white furniture, the same as Prim’s just with darker blue cushions and her chair isn’t velvet and she does not have a window seat.
I will end up in the master bedroom. The biggest room in the house that has its own bathroom attached to it. It also has a walk-in closet, along with the dresser. I have light brown colored furniture but my bed is absolutely ginormous, even bigger than I remember from last time. Did I get a different bed?!
My room has a window seat, but it faces the house next to me. When I pull back the curtains, I can see Peeta moving around in his own room. He spots me when he turns around on the way to his dresser, a few shirts in his hand. He gives me a goofy grin, crosses his eyes like a dork and sticks his tongue out. I return the face and give a wave. He gestures with his shirts and I know he wants to hurry up with unpacking so we can get back together, though I doubt I will see him until a few hours from now. We have to get ready for the dinner being held in our honor tonight. The only good thing about this is we will be together and Madge will be there as well as our families.
I pull my curtains back into place, blocking myself from interacting with, and getting distracted by, Peeta. I quickly unpack my half of the bag. I pull out my hunting jacket, hanging it on one of the hooks in my closet. I stuff my few shirts into one of the dresser drawers and my pants into another one. My undergarments and pajamas go into the third drawer. I hang the two dresses I own and place my pin onto the top of my dresser, ready to be put on when I am done getting ready. My few toiletries go into my bathroom and I am completely unpacked.
Just in time too. Prim comes bursting through the door, talking a mile a minute about how excited she is and how Buttercup will love her room and the bay window and how Lady will have so much room to roam but how they will have to build a fence or some sort of housing for her. I mostly nod along, just trying to keep up with the words per minute flowing out of her mouth when Cinna walks in.
“Hello Girls!” He greets us with a smile.
“Hi, Cinna!” Prim chirps back, both excited and shy.
“Hi.” I smile back at him.
“Prim, I need to start getting your sister ready but I left you a little something on your bed if you want to go have a look?” He suggests.
Prim lights up and gives him a quick hug, thanking him all the while, before running out of the room and down the hall, obviously heading straight for her room.
“Okay. I have a few surprises for you later too, Girl on Fire.” he winks at me. “But first we need to get you ready.” He gestures to the bathroom and pulls a bag from out of nowhere. It has a bunch of the Capitol toiletries and things that I know have been on my body, but never paid attention to the reason for them nor how to actually do it myself.
After a real struggle trying to figure everything out, I am finally done with my shower and Cinna gestures to the electrical looking box. I definitely didn’t have one of those the last time. I press my finger to it and immediately my hair is dry and falls perfectly into place.
It takes another hour and a half but I am finally ready. I am in a black dress, but when I move the bottom flares and red, orange, and yellow are showcased. I love it. My hair is pulled up into a bun, but there are so many little braids that go into it. I know they will be a pain to get out later. My makeup is mostly light, but I have dark eyeliner which makes my light colored eyes stand out against my skin.
Prim has been trying to get in for the last half hour and Cinna finally walks to the door when she knocks this time. She almost falls in the room because she wasn’t expecting the door to open but when she sees me her eyes get huge.
“Woah.” She scurries to stand in front of me. “I wish I looked like you.”
“No. You look beautiful, Little Duck!” I smile at her. “Spin for me?”
She twirls in her new dress. Cinna made her a light purple dress and she has matching ribbons braided into her usual two braids and they tie into bows at the bottom. Cinna must have given her those too. She also has on white flats with tiny bows and her lips look shiny. Where she got lipgloss is anyone's guess but I would bet my money on Effie.
“Well, I think both of you look amazing.” Cinna smiles from his spot by the door. “Are you ready to get going? We need to walk to the justice building.”
Prim gives him a wide smile and a nod before she skips out of the room. I nod nervously. I still hate these events. At least I get to see Peeta.
We quickly got to the bottom floor. Effie is standing in her bright pink outfit and her wig is a dark blue. She is standing next to my mother who is very much the opposite of her colorful appearance. She is also in a new dress but she is in a dark green one that reaches the floor and flows like a river. I assume the Hawthornes will be there, as my cousins and aunt, which did happen again this time around., I asked Prim, and we will meet Haymitch, Portia, and the Mellarks there as well. Everyone gathers their final things, I slip my feet into a pair of black heels, thankfully not super tall because I have to walk across the district and back. Prim grabs a white sweater with pearl-like buttons. Mom grabs an over the shoulder wrap thing, I don’t actually know what it's called but it is a golden color. Cinna reaches into his pocket and he pulls out a familiar golden pin. I had forgotten it upstairs. He gives me a smug look but I don’t get a chance to reply because Effie claps her hands and ushers us out of the door.
When we finally get to the Justice Building, Peeta is the only one waiting outside. He was in a dark suit with a dark shirt. Due to his unbuttoned jacket you could see that the inside of his suit jacket was flame colored and seemed to move as he turned and gestured. He was quite a sight with his slick hair and fitted suit.
Effie quickly ushers everyone inside of the justice building and I know they will announce us any second now.
“Shall we?” Peeta asks as he offers me his arm.
I take it gracefully, trying not to laugh and answer back. “We shall, but not until Effie says so. You know she’d have our hides.”
Peeta throws his head back in a real laugh and I just giggle as I watch him. Last time we both just walked in separately and were awkward as can be. Now we are truly in love and fully caught up on everything happening around us, a lot of our knowledge even surpassing those plans.
“May I invite you to welcome the newest Victors, our very own star-crossed lovers, and Panem’s new favorite couple… Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark!” Mayor Undersee introduces us. A few miners who were obviously hired for the event, based on their actions and their dress, open the door for us and we both smile as we step past them.
Most people in attendance have blue eyes and blonde hair, though there are a few who don't, namely the Hawthorne bunch and myself, along with the few hired miners who are working the event, likely making more in one night than they do in a week in the mines.
But when Peeta and I walk in, everybody rises and starts clapping, truly happy for both of us and Peeta and I wave as we walk to our table in the front of the room.
“Now, we have a short speech today and then we can let the festivities begin!” He gets cheers for that. After a long winded speech, likely mandated to him by the Capitol based purely on the language used, it is time to eat. They have managed to get quite a nice spread for us. When I look closely, though there are others as well, the main options are the same as that parachute from the cave.
Peeta and I make our plates and sit down to eat. Throughout the meal we are approached by several people at different times. Townies who had never once acknowledged my existence, except to mock or belittle me, were now opening singing my praises and congratulating Peeta on “finally pulling” me. Strange. Very weird to see everyone’s reactions. Yes, people were excited last time and even tried to get in our good graces then, but this is overwhelmingly more positive than that, I can’t figure out why. Is it because they know we were already together before the games? Or is it something entirely different?
The night moves quickly. We are officially presented with the keys to our houses, and have to endure multiple jokes about moving in together eventually, and the Mayor announces the date of the first parcel day for next Saturday, five days from now. District Twelve even breaks out our dancing, something usually only seen during the harvest festival or toasting celebrations. The rhythmic twirling and stomping creates a symphony that compliments the band well. I can see that Vick and Rory both are looking longing at the stage, they want to be playing as they usually would be, but tonight they are here in an official capacity so that is not available to them.
When the celebration eventually winds down, Peeta and I plant ourselves next to the door and wish everyone a good night and thank them for coming, like we were the ones hosting this and not required to come against both of our wishes. When it is finally only our team, Haymitch, Effie, Cinna, and Portia, along with our families, not including the Hawthornes, we are finally allowed to leave. The cameras still follow our every move and likely will until after parcel day which is when Effie, Cinna, Portia, and the cameramen board the train back to the Capitol.
We all walk back to the village, the older Mellark boys head straight to bed, they have to get up early in the morning. Rye and Wheaton for the bakery and Graham to head to the grocer to work with his future father-in-law. My sister is one minute from falling asleep, her excitement finally catching back up with her, so mom leads her into the house, telling everyone good night. Cinna, Portia, and Effie are all staying in Haymitch’s recently cleaned house in his guest rooms. I think the camera men are staying in one of the other houses, but I find I don’t care enough to find out. That just leaves me and Peeta outside. We sit on the edge of the fountain in the center of the village and I lean my head on his shoulder.
I don't want to part with him. Not to go to my empty bed with only nightmares waiting for me.
“We can’t stay together tonight.” I whine softly.
“I know, but as soon as these cameras leave we are going to be together every other night. It's just a little while.” Peeta rubs his thumb across my upper arm where his arm is wrapped around me.
“I don’t want to.” I say, turning even more into him for comfort.
“Me either.” He whispers, pressing a kiss on the top of my head. “But we do need to go to bed. Tomorrow we have some stuff to do. Effie said she is going to meet with us to show us how to order things and to help us with our orders for the decorations for the houses.”
I groan. That is not at all what I want to do tomorrow. I just want to get my bow and bring Peeta to the lake. That’s it.
“I know.” He whispers gently pressing into the bottom of my back to tell me to stand up.
“Okay. I will see you in the morning because there is no way I am doing that alone.” I wrap my arms around his neck and he wraps his arms around my waist.
He gives me a small shy smile and leans down to kiss me.
“Deal.” He whispers against my lips before he kisses me again.
He walks me to my door like the gentlemen he is and gives me one last gentle kiss. I burrow my face into his chest. I don’t want to let go.
“I love you.” My voice is muffled.
I can hear the grin in his voice, the lingering disbelief we both share at how easily those words slip from my lips.
“I love you too.” He gives me one last kiss on my head and walks back to his house.
I watch him halfway through the door and he waves at me as he shuts his door. I give him one back and step inside.
Now, I just have to convince myself to sleep. Something much easier said than done without him.
But now I know tomorrow and the next day and every day after that I will wake up right here. I am truly back in this place, back with my people, and nothing will be the same as last time. Not if I have anything to say about it.
And let’s just say, we are making sure the odds are in our favor this time.