Disclaimer: I do not claim any ownership over The Hunger Games whatsoever. I do not gain anything, profit or otherwise, from writing in this universe.

See below for author's notes.

"But Katniss-"

"No, Peeta! I want it dirty! I like it dirty!"

"Katniss! Stop it!"

"No, Peeta! I said I like it like this!"

Maysilee Donner, the new kindergarten teacher, ran outside the minute she heard two little voices start arguing. She loved children, but with the way this first day of school was going, she was seriously considering getting her tubes tied.

"Katniss, stop it, that's yucky!"

"Peeta! Leave it alone!"

Maysilee reached the children just in time to see them yanking on either side of a pie tin full of dirt and muck. Before she could react, though, she watched as Katniss pulled hard on the pan, catching Peeta by surprise and sending him tumbling to the ground. "Katniss!" she scolded, hurrying to the young boy and helping him up. "I think you need to apologize to Peeta right now, please."

To Maysilee's surprise, however, the little blond boy jumped up and angled himself between his teacher and the girl in a well-worn red plaid dress. "S'okay, Miss Maysi," he said, holding his arms out as if he were shielding his classmate. "I'm not hurt."

"Are you sure?" Maysilee checked his extremities quickly, wanting to be certain he was telling the truth. She smiled to herself when she noted that he still had a little baby fat here and there. Kids with pinchable cheeks were her weakness. "It looked like that fall hurt."

"No," he insisted, shaking his head back and forth quickly. "I'm fine, I promise."

"Well, all right, then." She sat on the ground, not worrying about her new skirt that she was wearing for the first time, and motioned for the children to move closer to her. When they settled down again, she spoke in a soft voice. "So would you two like to tell me what happened?"

Katniss sighed and looked at the grass around her before answering. "I wanted to show Peeta how to make a mud pie, but he said there's no such thing."

Peeta's lower lip trembled as his gaze swung from Katniss to Maysilee. "My daddy's a baker, and he never made anything like that."

"It's made of dirt, Peeta," Katniss explained with a hint of exasperation in her voice. "You're not s'posed to eat it."

The look of confusion on the boy's face made Maysilee bite back her laughter. "Mud pies are fun to make," she told them. She smiled when they both glanced back at her. "But they're not for eating."

"I tried to tell him, Miss Maysi, I did," Katniss implored, "but then he tried to take it away from me."

"I didn't know!" Peeta's lip quiver became more pronounced, and Maysilee couldn't help but reach out and pat his shoulder in comfort. "I just…"

"You what, Peeta?" Maysilee prompted.

He looked down, not wanting to meet either female's eyes. "I didn't want Katniss to get her dress dirty," he admitted in a soft voice. "It's pretty."

Maysilee couldn't help but smile as Katniss's jaw dropped at Peeta's confession. "That's a lovely thing to say, Peeta. Katniss, don't you have something you want to say in return?"

Instead of acknowledging her teacher, the little girl jumped up and hurried away.

"Katniss!" Maysilee was torn; she didn't know if she should run after the girl or soothe the boy sitting next to her, whose eyes had teared up after the exchange. "It's all right, Peeta. I'm sure-"

Almost immediately, the dark-haired girl returned, her little fist clutching a dandelion and holding it out. "Thank you, Peeta."

The boy got to his feet and shyly took the offered flower. "You're welcome, Katniss."

"Do you want to go play on the swings?"

"Okay." He waited a beat as she took off again. When she was far enough away, Peeta turned to his teacher, grinning widely. "Miss Maysi?"

"Yes, Peeta?"

He offered the dandelion to Maysilee. "I'm gonna marry Katniss."

Maysilee giggled as the boy turned and ran after his friend. "I hope you do, Peeta," she murmured to herself, cradling the yellow bloom in her hands. "I hope you do."

This was written for my lovely friend iLoVeRynMar, who gave me a drabble prompt of "Katniss wants it dirty" on my fiction Tumblr. I took it in a different direction from what she had probably intended, and this was the result. I hope you liked it.

Due to overwhelming support from Tumblr, this one-shot has become a series. I have some tidbits for the next couple of installments

I have some Tumblr-only material if you'd like to read more. Details are on my profile page.

Please review!