So this is a short story about Katniss right after winning the 74th Hunger Games. It's all loosely based on Skylar Grey's (Holly Brook's) song Giving It Up. So I suggest giving it a listen beforeor after concluding this story. Okay well enjoy because this is the only chapter I'm writing about it. R&R!
"Giving It Up"
I had just got home from The Games. After a photo shoot among other things that needed to be done before I was allowed to go home. Not my home in the Seam, but my new home in the Victor's Village; the home where my only neighbors will be Peeta Mellark and Haymitch.
I wanted to spend one last day in The Seam so here I was all alone. I decided that if I was going to be here I might as well pack up the things that were most important to me. I grabbed my game bag from the closet and stood in the middle of the floor trying to decide what it was that meant the most to me. I was never one for material possessions.
"Hey there Catnip." A voice behind me bellowed. It sounded sad but happy at the same time. I didn't have to turn to know who was talking to me.
"How did you know I was here?" I asked as I turned toward Gale. He lowered his eyes so we're looking right into the other's eyes.
"I know you Katniss. I knew you would want to come back here. You don't need material things to make you happy. That new house isn't what will make you happy. Also, when I saw the glow from the hearth my suspicion was confirmed." Gale, while talking, had strided toward me. When he opened his arms I took a step back.
For the photo shoot and the other press events I had to go to today I was wearing a light orange sundress Cinna insisted I wear. My hair was pulled half up and the part that wasn't was curled in ringlets. I admitted it was a beautiful hair style. Just not for me. I felt vulnerable with my legs bare and exposed and my hair so fancy.
"What? Are you afraid he'll see us? He's with your mother and Prim." Gale whispered as he moved closer. I took another step back, nearly tripping in my high heels.
"I'm not afraid of anything. You know that." I said trying to give Gale a little more of the old Katniss.
Gale finally took notice of my clothes and gave me a look. A look it knew meant disgust, confusion. It's the same look he would get when he would yell about the capital.
"What do you think of me now that the armor is gone and I'm a celebrity?" I asked him as he dropped his head and looked away.
"What are you gonna do now that I'm taking down the shaving mirror from this wall and putting it on another?" I stepped toward him and placed my hand on his cheek. He jumped at my touch but then relaxed a little.
As he pulled me close the first drops of rain fell on the roof. It was the end of a month long drought that had worried many of the others.
Gale tried to lean into kiss but I stepped away.
"You know, you always do this." He said looking at me openly. "You shy away. Why? Is it that kid, Peeta? Or something else?"
"Why do always have to hunt? Why? Can't you just let something be something without looking for more in it?" I said walking over to my father's shaving mirror and taking it off the wall and putting it in the game bag along with the plant book.
"What Gale? What do you think about me now? This is my life now. What are going to do? I have to give up everything I loved and be Katniss Everdeen the Victor of the 74th Hunger Games. Do you understand what that means? It means I'm going to be in the public eye for a long time." And I stormed out into the rain and trudged my way to my new home in The Victor's Village. I was giving up my old life for Prim; for Peeta. I was not Katniss, Catnip, Everdeen the Hunter and Trader at the Hob. I couldn't be. I had to move on. . .