First I get a glimpse of the blonde braid down her back. Then she yanks off her coat to cover a wailing child, I notice the duck tail formed by her untucked shirt. I have the same reaction I did the day Effie Trinket called her name at the reaping. At least, I must go limp, because I find myself at the base of the flagpole, unable to account for the last few seconds. Then I am pushing through the crowd, just as I did before. Trying to shout her name above the roar. I'm almost there, almost to the barricade, I think she hears me.
"Katniss!" Prim cries. "Prim!" I shout. I finally reach the barricade and I kill two Peacekeepers who get in my way without hesitation. I bounded for my sister. "Prim!" she is still trying to help the wounded children. I reach her side in a second. "Prim, we have to leave before the rest of the parachutes go off!" I said pulling her towards safety. "But we can't just leave them here, Katniss!" she shouts. "There's no time, those parachutes could go off at any second!" I yell. "No! I have to help them!" At that moment, Peeta comes hurdling in our direction. He scoops up Prim, grabs me by the arm and starts running towards the barricade. I free my arm and shoot at Peacekeepers who are containing us. Prim was screaming at Peeta to put her down. We had just made it to safety when the rest of the parachutes go off.
Chapter 25
Real or not real? All the children in the rectangle are becoming human torches. Balls of flame that erupt from the parachutes that shoot over the barricades, through the snowy air, and landing in the crowd. A couple almost reach us and land a few feet away sizzling as the snow melts. Prim is crying. She knows there's nothing she can do now. All the children have either ignited or gotten trampled if they had survived the explosions. Peeta is hunched over, breathing hard. He had just saved Prim's life and my own. Will I never stop owing him? I just stand there unable to move. The rebels fill the Circle. They are tending to the wounded, and infiltrating Snow's mansion. The mission was a success.
I blacked out after the first five minutes the mission was completed. All I could remember before passing out was seeing a single dandelion in the snow. I wake up in a strange room with Prim's arms around me. "Prim." I whisper softly. "Prim." She opens her eyes. They're filled with worry. "Katniss, are you alright?" I'm shocked. "Am I alright? What about you? You almost burned with the others..." I trailed off, not wanting to think of the implausible. "But Peeta saved us." Prim whispered. "Peeta... Where is he?" I asked Prim. "He's in the room next to us." "He almost went mad worrying about you." "And Gale?" "Oh, Gale is fine; just a few bruises." I feel a wave of relief.
Prim filled me in on everything while I was unconscious. When they had invaded the mansion, they caught Snow and imprisoned him. He was awaiting trial where he would most certainly be found guilty, then be publicly executed by me (I won the coin toss). Coin took over power when Snow was captured. Gale is in District 2 taking out what was left of the Peacekeepers. Our mother was working in a hospital, taking care of the injured. Cressida and Pollux were sent into the districts to cover the wreckage of the war. And Haymitch... he was as drunk - or as hungover - as ever.
I get up and dress. Once I finish I go to Peeta's room. He is still sleeping so I walk over to his bed. "Peeta." I shake his shoulder and he rolls over onto his back to face me. "Katniss." He said. "Are you and Prim alright?" He gets up. "Yes, we're fine. What about you?" "I'm okay." He said. "Prim said you were worried about me..?" "Well, yes because you just saw defenseless little kids burst into flames." This brings tears to my eyes. Peeta instantly regrets saying anything. "I'm so sorry." He said pulling me into his arms. "All those children, they didn't stand a chance..." I choke, tears streaming down my face.
"It's okay, it's okay. They're in a better place now..." Peeta whispers comfortingly. He leads me back bed and sits down with me on his lap, just like our interview after our first Hunger Games. We spend the rest of the hour like this until I calm down. Then I go to the washroom to wipe of the damage the tears have done to my face. When I come back into the room I can't see Peeta. All of a sudden I get hit in the back of my head. I skitter a few steps before I turn around just in time to duck Peeta's next blow. "Peeta!" I scream trying to bring him back. He blinks and I see the rage disappear from his eyes. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" No, I'm fine." I say. "Good."
After two days word came to me that Snow's trial was over. He was found guilty and was going to be publicly executed. On the day of execution my prep team came in to remake me to Beauty Base Zero. Venia places me in front of the mirror to see how they've done. There is a small tap at the door and Gale steps in. "Can I have a minute?" he asks. In the mirror I watch my prep team. Unsure of where to go, they bump into one another a few times and then closet themselves in the bathroom. Gale comes up behind me and we examine each other's reflection. I'm searching for something to hang onto, some sign of the girl and boy who met by chance in the woods and became inseparable. I'm wondering what would have happened to them if the Hunger Games had not reaped the girl. If she would have fallen in love with the boy, married him even. And sometime in the future, when the brothers and sisters had been raised up, escaped with him into the woods and left 12 behind forever. Would they have been happy, out in the wild, or would the dark twisted sadness between them have grown up without the Capitol's help?
"You're supposed to be in 2." I say. "Yeah, I know. I came back. I brought you this." Gale holds up a sheath and a bow. When I take it I notice it holds a single, ordinary arrow. "It's supposed to be symbolic. You, firing your last shot of the war." "Thanks." I say awkwardly. "Was it your bomb?" "I don't know. Neither does Beetee." he says. "Does it matter? You'll always be thinking about it." He waits for me to deny it; I want to deny it, but it's true. Even now I can see the flash that ignites them, feel the heat of the flames. And I will never be able to separate that moment from Gale. My silence is my answer. "Shoot straight, okay?" He touches my cheek and leaves.
Effie comes in to usher me into some kind of meeting. I collect my bow and arrow. When I open the door to the bathroom, I find my prep team sitting in a row on the edge of the tub, hunched and defeated. I remember I'm not the only one whose world has been ripped away. "Come on." I tell them. "We've got an audience waiting."
Instead of Plutarch instructing me where to stand and telling me my cue for when to shoot, I find myself sent into a room where six people consisting of Peeta, Johanna, Beetee, Haymitch, Annie and Enobaria are sitting around a table. "What's this about?" I ask. "It seems to be a gathering of all the remaining victors. "We're all that's left?" I say. "The price of celebrity," says Beetee. "We were targeted from both sides. The Capitol killed the victors they suspected of being rebels and the rebels killed the victors whom they suspected of being allied with the Capitol.
"That is quite true." says Coin as she enters behind me. "Sit down, please, Katniss." she says, closing the door. I take a seat between Annie and Beetee. As usual, Coin gets right to the point. "I've asked you all to come here so we could settle a debate. Today Katniss will execute Snow. In the previous weeks, hundreds of his accomplices in the oppression of Panem have been tried and now await their own deaths. However, the suffering of the districts has been so extreme that the measures appear insufficient to the victims. In fact many are calling for a complete annihilation of those who held Capitol citizenship. However, in the interest of maintaining a sustainable population, we cannot afford this."
I look up at Peeta. I look into those blue, blue eyes. Those same eyes that used to meet mine then flit away at school. Just as they do now. "So an alternative has been placed on the table. Since my colleagues and I can come to no consensus, it has been agreed that we let the victors decide. A majority of four will approve the plan. No one may back out of this vote." says Coin. "What has been proposed instead of eliminating the entire Capitol population is that we have a final Hunger Games, using the children directly related to those who had the most power. There is a shocked silence. "Are you joking?" asks Peeta. "No. I should also tell you that if we do hold the Games it shall become known that it was done with your approval, although the individual votes will be kept secret for your own protection. You may cast your vote."
"No!" bursts Peeta "We can't have another Hunger Games!" "Why not?" Johanna retorts. "It seems fair to me. Snow even has a granddaughter. I vote yes." "So do I." says Enobaria. "Let them have a taste of their own medicine." "This is why we rebelled! Remember?" Peeta looks at the rest of us. "Annie?" "I vote no with Peeta." she says. "So would Finnick if he were here." "But he isn't because Snow's mutts killed him." Johanna reminds her. Then Annie put her hands over her ears and got that distant expression she gets when she's trying to forget everything the Capitol's done to her. "No," says Beetee. It would send a bad precedent. We have to stop viewing one another as enemies. At this point, unity is essential to our survival. I vote no." "We're down to Katniss and Haymitch." says Coin.
Was it like this then? Seventy-five years or so ago? Did a group of people sit around and cast their votes on initiating the Hunger Games? Was there dissent? Did someone make a case for mercy that was beaten down by the calls for the deaths of the districts' children? The scent of a rose curls up into my nose, down into my throat, squeezing it tight with despair. All those people I cared about, dead and we are discussing the next Hunger Games in an attempt to avoid wasting life. Nothing has changed. Nothing will ever change now.
I weigh my options carefully. "I vote yes...because I want to avenge everyone who's been affected by Capitol's wrath." "Haymitch, it's up to you." says Coin. Haymitch takes a moment while Peeta is furiously trying to persuade him that it is a horrible idea and that we are no better than the people who decided to have the Hunger Games. "I'm with the Mockingjay." he says.
I'm guided to the front doors of the mansion. The City Circle is packed with rebels and Capitol people alike. The others take their places outside. I hear the cheers that indicate Coin has stepped onto the balcony. Then Effie taps my shoulder, and I step out into the winter sunlight. I walk to my position as the crowd roars. As directed, I turn so they can see my face, and wait. When they march Snow out the door, the crowd goes insane. I am surprised by how unchanged he looks, even after capture. He is still well-groomed and still has the same unforgiving, snaky eyes. They tie his hands behind a post, which is unnecessary. He's not going anywhere.
I feel the bow purring in my hand. Reach back and grab my arrow. I position it, aim it at the white rose someone has put in his lapel. He coughs and a bloody dribble runs down his chin. His tongue flicks over his puffy lips. I search his eyes for the slightest sign of anything, fear, remorse, anger. His face is blank, but I see the pain in disguise and I see the guilt beneath his pride. The point of my arrow stays on target. I release the string. And President Snow, former ruler of all of Panem, slumps to the ground, dead.
Epilogue
After Snow's execution there was no more use of me. Peeta, my mother, Prim, Haymitch and I returned to 12. I have nightmares where I'm at the bottom of a deep grave, and every dead person I know by name comes and throws a shovel full of ashes on me. It is such a long dream because of how many people and the deeper I'm buried the harder it is for me to breathe. I try to tell them to stop, but they either won't listen or can't hear me because every time I open my mouth ash pours in. I go hunting and visit Peeta to keep me sane. One time I found Buttercup meowing at the front door trying to get in. He must have come all the way here from 13. How he survived throughout the journey is beyond my comprehension. Prim of course was thrilled to have him back which in turn made me happy.
I tell Peeta about an idea I have about a book. The next day a large box full of parchment sheets arrived on the next train from the Capitol. I had gotten the idea from our family's plant book. The place we recorded those things that you could not trust to memory. The page begins with a person's picture. A photo if we could find it. If not, a sketch or painting by Peeta. Then, in my most careful handwriting, come all the details it would be a crime to forget. Madge, giving me her pin. My father's laugh. Peeta's father with the cookies. The colour of Finnick's eyes. What Cinna could do with a length of silk. Boggs reprogramming the Holo. Rue poised on her toes, arms slightly extended, like a bird about to take flight. On and on. We seal the pages with salt water and promise to make their death's count. Haymitch finally joins us, contributing twenty-three years of tributes he was forced to mentor. Additions became smaller. A small flower named Rue preserved between the pages. Strange bits of happiness, like a photo of Finnick and Annie's newborn son.
Former coal-miners go through the ruins of 12, looking for bodies; Madge and her whole family had died. After all the searching is done the Meadow is dug up for a mass grave. With the mines closed they plow the ashes into the earth and plant food. Machines from the Capitol will be brought so that we can manufacture medicine. Even though no one had seeded it, the Meadow turns green again. Peeta and I grow back together. There are moments when he has flashbacks, but he holds onto something until it's over. I wake screaming from nightmares of mutts and lost children, but Peeta's arms are always there to comfort me, and eventually his lips.
On the night I feel that thing again, the hunger that overtook me on the beach, I realize this is what would have happened anyway. What I need to survive is not Gale's fire kindled by rage and hatred, what I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction; the promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses; that everything can be good again. Only Peeta could give me that. So after he whispers "You love me. Real or not real?" I tell him "Real."
After ten years everything had ended up okay. Prim eventually married Rory, Gale's brother. Gale ended up with Delly and Peeta had convinced me to have kids with him. My children play in the Meadow. The girl, Emily has brown hair and blue eyes while the boy, Jacob has blonde hair and grey eyes. The arenas were obliterated, the memorials built. There were no more Hunger Games. They taught about them in school and Emily knew we played a role in them, Jacob would learn in a couple years. They take the words of the song for granted:
Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when again they open, the sun will rise
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you
THE END