Disclaimer: Not mine. Suzanne Collins has all the rights. Just love the characters and do this purely out of fun.
A/N: Written for the Everlark Fic Exchange Spring 2018 Edition over at tumblr. My prompt was:
#Prompt 38: Katniss and Peeta are destined for each other. But when destiny is tired of the countess fail attempts, she makes one last attempt for them to get their happily ever after. Does it work this time? [submitted by animekpopxx]
I'm already working on the next chapters, but who knows when I'll be able to finish that. We'll see ...
Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading.
Ta-ta!
CHAPTER ONE - ROGUE, THE SHITHEAD
At the beginning of the universe-
No, wait. That's reaching too far back. I don't need to start with the beginning of everything. Actually, I just have to start with Saturday two weeks ago. Everything else will simply be too far fetched. I'm sorry, that stuff tends to get away from me.
So, let's start again.
Saturday, two weeks ago I found myself and my brother sitting at the counter of a bar somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Connecticut. We sometimes do that, choose some random town, search for a bar and play our game If we'd interfere there.
Now you're probably asking yourself what the fuck I'm talking about. Who the fuck we actually are.
Well, my name's Destiny. In other regions of the world I'm called Destinée, Schicksal, Destino, Ventura, Ming, Sina, Los and so on. Although I look like a twenty-something, I'm actually much older than any human brain could ever comprehend. When everything started, I was already there, together with my brother Rogue and my parents, Faith and Time. There are some uncles, aunts and cousins as well, but you know how it is with family. You talk once in a while and only meet when someone marries or dies.
While we had a lot of business during the Ancient Times and the Middle Ages, nowadays we hardly interfere with mankind. They're pretty self-sustaining. But now and then, we have some fun with the smaller stuff, like weather forecasts. Rogue, for example, loves to mess with big sporting events.
Ever asked yourself why suddenly an outsider won Olympic Gold? Well, now you have the answer. It's because my brother has no self control most of the time.
Back to the story. So, Rogue and I were sitting at the counter at the bar. It sounds like the start of a bad joke, but it's actually a monthly occurrence.
"So, anything new happening?" he asked while eating the peanuts from the bowl in front of us. I'm not sure he's aware what they say about peanuts and their hygienic state when it comes to bars.
"You're trying to deflect," I simply ignored his nonchalance. "Don't think I don't know what you did with the Super Bowl."
Rogue just shrugged and took another handful of the snack, but his smirk said enough.
"Why exactly do you constantly mess with this stuff?"
"Hey!" he exclaimed, somehow offended although I was laughing. "At least I use my gift once in a while. When was the last time you 'bestowed someone with their fate'? You're getting rusty, sis."
"Not fair!" I shouted; a couple of heads turned in our direction. "I try to let people decide their own destiny, you know that. I only interfere when they stray too far."
"Like the two over there?"
His mental leap gave me whiplash, but I couldn't help turning in the direction my brother pointed. As soon as my eyes rested on the group of people, the different colors invaded my sight.
At this point I should probably explain a little how this fate-business works.
So, imagine a huge field filled with people - all different ages, sizes, characters, skins - and every single one of them has his own color. There are blues and reds and greens, mixed with yellows and pinks. Violets and browns, occasionally even a grey or black. The colors swirl around them like dust against the sunlight. Or mist rising at dawn. Sometimes, they show how the person is feeling at the moment, if they're ready for a change, or stuck in a situation. Similar colors mean a better understanding between people.
We call them soul-colors.
Sometimes, you can even tell if they met the soul they're supposed to meet. The colors of the two people start to draw them to each other, then. Like someone pulling you on a string in the right direction.
And sometimes - very seldomly - you actually get people with no color. A kind of white light surrounds them. In the rare cases that this happens, the soul is waiting for their destined companion, and once together, they erupt into the same color.
If you ever wanted an explanation for soulmates, I guess that's is the closest thing there is.
Well, that's the basics, more or less. We don't have to go into the details now to understand how it works. Back to that Saturday evening …
At first I had no idea what my brother was talking about.
I saw a couple a little to the back, both wrapped in a similar strawberry red. He was tall, dark and handsome, and his hands were buried in the blonde hair of the girl while she held onto his waist as they kissed. But it wasn't the strawberry red couple my focus was on, but the two people standing near them, one on either side, backs to each other.
The young woman vibrated in a dark forest green. It was intense, showing she's very down to earth, knows her place in the world. Her dark hair was in a braid over her shoulder and her silver eyes flashed with mirth. She was on the petite side, but had strong shoulders and toned arms and legs. I supposed she did some kind of endurance sport.
The guy she was talking to flashed in the prettiest gold I'd ever seen, it made his bronze hair shine like a crown and his green eyes shimmer like the ocean. An amused laugh escaped him, and the smirk that adorned his features afterwards brought out the dimples in his cheeks.
Seriously, even my cousin Beau (short for Beauty, which he hates and is a constant source of amusement within the family) isn't this ridiculously beautiful. But back to the story.
Facing away from them, a little distance away, stood a guy. He was talking to a busty blonde and her boyfriend, their different shades of turquoise intermingling. The guy himself was surrounded in a swirl of sunset orange, making his blond hair look like a burning flame. His sapphire blue eyes though beamed, unaffected by his soul-color. He wasn't especially tall, but his shoulders were broad, his torso forming a delicious V.
And then something fascinating happened. Forest green-girl turned slightly to grab her drink at the same time sunset orange-guy turned to order another beer from the bartender. As they briefly glanced at each other their colors started to fade.
I gasped, looking wide-eyed at my brother. "Did you see that, too?"
"Yup," he shrugged, making the P pop, and took another sip from his whiskey. When he put the glass down, I punched him in the arm. Hard.
"Fuck!" Rogue yowled, immediately rubbing the spot where I hit him. "What's wrong with you?!"
"Fucking fading colors! That's what's wrong!" Even to my own ears I sounded slightly hysteric.
For explanation: fading colors isn't an everyday occurrence. Quite the opposite. In all my time walking this realm not once had I encountered this before. There were rumors. Legends. Fairy Tales. People with missed opportunities mysteriously meeting again, abandoning their own colors. Creating something special: Multi-colors.
"I need to get to the bottom of this." Surely my face showed my determination, because my brother didn't even try to stop me from walking over for the End Titles. That's how we refer to one of my gifts. When I allow it and somehow touch a person, I'm able to see all the fate-altering encounters they've had so far, just like credits after a movie.
Pretending to walk over to the old fashioned jukebox to switch songs, I concentrated and allowed my fingers to brush the hair at the end of forest green-girl's braid.
Time slowed to a standstill. I turned and the current location changed to another scene.
A church. At the front, surrounding the organ, gathered a bunch of people. All of them held a sheet of paper in their hand. In the center front stood a little girl. She was maybe five or six. She wore a red dress, and her dark hair was in two braids instead of one.
Forest green-girl. But at this point in her life she didn't have her forest green color yet. She was surrounded by white light. Interesting.
"Katniss," the man at the organ turned to her. "As soon as the choir stops after the first verse, it's your turn to sing the chorus, all right?" The little girl nodded enthusiastically, making her braids bounce up and down.
The organist started to play, the choir set in. Then they finished the first verse.
Katniss, as I know now, took a deep breath, opened her mouth and started to sing. Her white light flashed once, and I turned from watching her to observe my surroundings. At the hall's entrance stood a little boy. His blonde hair was an inch too long, constantly falling into his eyes, which were fixated on the singing child.
No soul-color for him either. Huh.
"Peeta!" a harsh whisper interrupted his staring, his eyes immediately averting towards his toes. "I told you to keep close. Why do you never listen?!" A woman appeared beside him, grabbing his upper arm and pulling him away.
"I'm sorry, Mom," he apologized in a whisper, before my surroundings blurred and I found myself in the next memory.
A graveyard. A bunch of people, all wearing black clothing, surrounded an open grave. A priest was reciting some verse from the bible. Katniss stood together with a smaller girl and a woman who, I assume, was her mother. They were directly in front of the casket, their heads bowed. She was still colorless.
When her light flickered again, I discover Peeta on the other side of the graveyard, a bouquet of flowers in his hands. I blinked once and watched as he put the flowers in a vase beside a gravestone inscribed with Gregory Mellark. By the birth date shown on it, I assumed it must be his grandfather. The boy looked up and I saw his light flicker when his eyes turn to the procession at the open grave, which by now was slowly trickling away. The only one who remained was Katniss, still standing there staring down. On instinct Peeta grabbed one of the flowers from the bouquet and started walking in her direction.
I blinked and was standing again behind Katniss. The provisional cross at the grave read Caleb Everdeen. With a deep sigh, Katniss turned and stepped away from the casket, brushing away a single tear from her cheek.
After a couple of steps she turned back, by instinct maybe, just in time to see a blond boy placing a sunflower at the food of the cross.
My surroundings blurred again.
This time, I found myself in a hospital. Doctors and nurses rushed around, everyone was busy. I discovered Peeta walking with a slightly older version of himself who was hobbling on crutches towards the exit. An older, blonde man walked on the other side. Peeta was not yet an adult, but definitely in his teens. The baby fat had melted into a slim waist, strong shoulders and defined arms. Again, no soul-color.
"How was physical therapy today, Rye?" the older man asked the teen on the crutches. The boy answered, but I wasn't interested in his reply, because Peeta's light flickered when he turned his head just slightly. His eyes skimmed over a young, dark haired woman frantically calling for a doctor. Her arm was wrapped around the shoulders of a blonde girl with tears in her eyes, clutching her arm protectively. A few dark strands of hair had escaped the braid falling over her shoulder.
Peeta stepped through the sliding doors with his family and the scene disappeared.
Next I was in the middle of a frat party. Beside me, a shirtless douche, wearing a loincloth, played tonsil hockey with a slutty nurse. Ah, it's Halloween. Fucking great, I hate that stupid holiday.
It took a little while to find Katniss in the costumed throng. She was dressed in a long, white robe, a golden holster filled with arrows strapped to the back, together with a golden bow. Her feet were in gladiator sandals.
Well, at least she got that right about cousin Artemis.
She was with a friend, who I recognized as the strawberry-red girl from the bar. Strawberry-red guy was just making his way over to them. Figures they met on Halloween. Katniss smirked when she saw him approach, and excused herself, muttering something about needing another drink. She turned and headed in the direction of the kitchen.
It's the same as every time before: Her light flickered and instinctively she turned her head. Her eyes fell on a guy, and it actually made her stop. He wore a military green jumpsuit with sewn-on badges and aviator sunglasses.
Peeta must have sensed her eyes on him because he turned in her direction as well. For a split second their eyes met, their white light becoming distinctly brighter. But then a blonde Victoria's Secret's Angel wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed her tongue down his throat, which he reciprocated wholeheartedly.
Katniss didn't even blink, and continued in the direction of the kitchen.
I couldn't hold back my frustrated sigh. We were four near interactions in, and they hadn't even exchanged a single word yet. It was one of the longest searches I had encountered so far.
And then we were at it again. Blur, new scene. This gets me fucking dizzy.
Lecture hall. Rule of thumb estimate about 200 people were sitting and listening to a pudgy man talk about the economy or something. This went on for some minutes in which I had time to find Katniss and Peeta in the crowd. They were sitting surprisingly far apart.
The professor upfront announced for the second semester all of them would be paired up for a project they would have to present before finals and which would make half of their grade.
For the first time since I started End Titles I felt giddy, because I knew this is when they were supposed to meet. I knew, because I'm Destiny and stuff like that is my business. They'll get paired up and everything will be fine.
Only a second later I realized the mistake in my thinking: If they really met that day, why didn't they know each other in the present?
Movement behind the professor caught my eye, and my eyebrows knit together. On top of the huge chalkboard, feet dangling and smirking mischievously, sat none other than my idiot brother.
"Are you fucking serious?!" I grumbled under my breath, and saw the disaster unfold in front of me.
"Katniss Everdeen," the professor called out and she straightened, her white light flickering like mad. From the corner of my eye I recognized Peeta's light doing the same. The professor reached into the bowl to draw another name and the moment he grabbed for the piece of paper, Rogue flicked his wrist.
"Thresh Montgomery."
Nearly bursting into tears I had to watch how the white lights flashed once more and then went out. A moment later, Katniss started to shimmer a soft green and Peeta's aura turned into the first hues of sunset orange.
That was it. There were no more encounters planned for them. Their opportunities missed, their souls no longer waiting for each other, they gained their own individual soul-colors.
And still, somehow they ended up in the same bar, at the same time. Maybe not all hope was lost yet.
Once again, my surroundings became indistinct and the blink of an eye later I was back in the bar, reaching for the jukebox.
For the human brain, my brushing by happened in a split second.
I chose a random song before making my way back to my brother, silently vibrating from my anger.
"Rogue!" I barked when I was within hearing distance, throwing mental daggers at him. "This is your fault, asshole!"
"Moi?" he pretend gasped, looking bored and taking another sip. He can be such a fucking dumbass. I snapped my fingers and sent him the memory.
"You intervened and they didn't meet when they were supposed to!" My teeth were grinding and I was seconds away from jumping at him and scratching his eyes out. Was he for real?
Rogue let the memory play out in his mind, nodding along in agreement. Then he turned to me with a single eyebrow raised. "Hello?! You wanted me to risk not messing with the Southeastern Conference?"
"What?!"
"Southeastern Conference. College Football? If Thresh Montgomery had failed Heavenbee's course, he would've been benched and Vanderbilt wouldn't have beaten Missouri. What would've been the fun in that? Kitty-Kat there had been the best in that course, Thresh needed the grade. D'oh!" He had the nerve to roll his eyes, which was the last straw. I felt myself growing, again time came to a standstill. The lights around us dimmed and I knew my whole body was illuminated in a dangerous flaring aura. Rogue likes to call it my Special Effects.
He's fucking petrified of me whenever I explode because he's gone too far. Sometimes he forgets I'm the older and much more powerful sibling.
"Sis …" he raised his arms in a placating manner, and avoided looking directly at me. Last time I was in that mood, he spent a decade with blistering burns all over his body.
(Ever hear of Troy, the Greek city state? Well, guess who had his fun there …)
"I know you have that thing for soulmates and all that shit, but seriously. It's just one pair-"
"Rogue!" I growled, and he knew that's even worse than me screaming my head off. "Listen now, shithead! You messed this up and once again it comes to me to fix it. And you will help, are we clear?"
"Des-"
"I asked if we're clear?!"
"Crystal," he replied without hesitation, nodding eagerly. I growled once more to ensure he understood I meant business, before I returned to my regular 5'2" and stopped the flaring of my aura. Special Effects indeed.
Dad calls it dramatics.
Semantics.
With a satisfied nod and a half-formed plan in mind I turned around - ready to fulfill my name and all that shit - only to discover that Katniss was no longer standing beside the strawberry-red couple.
Her Shimmering Goldie date was gone, too.
Fuck.
Frantically searching the place, I spotted them making their way over to the exit.
Double fuck!
I had to stop them. I had no idea how, but I had to think of something. Quickly. Katniss' green was already showing some flecks of golden sparkles. My brain was frantically searching for a solution when I spotted a young woman at the bar, auburn hair softly curling around her head, green eyes shining warm, smiling softly. Her aura shone silvery.
Okay, close enough. Better than the not-destined gold/green combo for sure.
"Intervene! Now!" I hissed at my brother, pointing at the leaving couple and silver-pixie.
Rogue is a lot of trouble, but leave it to him, he's a quick thinker and has exceptionally fast reactions. The blink of an eye later, Silver's drink spilled all down Katniss' front. In the hustle that followed, neither Katniss nor Goldie were thinking about leaving.
I patted myself on the shoulder. At least I had stopped the immediate danger of Katniss ending up with the wrong guy. Next step: Getting Goldie and silver-pixie to talk and realize that they're way better suited anyway. Then I would make Katniss and Peeta finally cross paths.
Ha, when the evening's done I would once again have proved that I very much live up to my name, thank you very much.
To ensure that the first part of the plan went accordingly I sent Rogue over to have a couple more mishaps happen. Because I was in a forgiving mood, I even let him decide what he wanted to come up with.
With traces of amusement I watched silver-pixie try to assist Katniss in the clean-up, only to somehow mysteriously slip on a piece of lime. Which resulted in her ending in Goldie's arms. And all of them sprawled together on the floor.
By now, strawberry-red couple had stopped their smooching and joined their friend to assist. The golden sparkles from Katniss' color had already started to vanish.
Okay, Rogue had everything under control over there, it was time for phase two.
With a broad grin, I turned around to start the next step and somehow get Peeta and Katniss to finally meet for real.
But my grin froze on my face. When I looked at where I'd last seen them, turquoise couple was gone. And Peeta with them.
Well, fuck.
TBC