Disclaimer: I own neither Hetalia nor the Hunger Games.

His Mockingjay

By ObsydianDreamer

"I really am spectacular, am I not?" Panem thought proudly as he looked over his beautiful capital city. The light cast by the colourful and bright neon lights below illuminated the city below, making it shine against the night sky.

The Capitol really was Panem's crown jewel. It was a place of indulgence and pleasure, where people spent their mortal lives in comfort and bliss.

But underneath the beauty and majesty of the apparent heaven lay something sinister. Something everyone in the Capitol apart from Panem seemed oblivious to.

The pain and suffering of the Districts.

He was their nation, and as such, he felt all of their pain. Most of the time, the causes couldn't be helped; a failed harvest that lead to malnutrition, an illness that tore through the poorer districts leaving many dead. As sad as it was, there was never anything that one could do.

Well, never anything that he could do. Coriolanus Snow always kept him confined to the Capitol.

It was a horrible feeling; always sensing the suffering of his people, all the time, and being unable to do anything to help them. It had driven him mad a long time ago, destroying any sense of sanity he had left after the Independence Wars and the Dark Days that had followed.

In order to save himself, Panem had long since learned to block it all out.

The famines, the illnesses, the disasters, all of it. Call him sociopathic, but he knew it was the only way he could survive. He would just disregard it all; Ignorance is bliss, as they say.

And most of the time, it worked. Most of the time, he carried on like everyone else in the Capitol; happy and content in their own sheltered little worlds.

Most of the time.

But not all of the time.

There was one source of sorrow that was always constant, always there.

The Hunger Games.

Panem let his mind wander back to the memory from over seventy four years earlier.

The Dark Days had just ended, the rebelling districts conquered and defeated, at the mercy of the
Capitol. The war generals and politician's were celebrating, congratulating each other on a fantastic victory.

But not Panem.

Instead, he sat quietly in the corner of the meeting room, nursing his injuries. He felt torn and broken; his own people had risen up and fought against him.

Some had even tried to destroy him.

He didn't even understand why. He always did everything he could for them, trying to make life better. He felt a wave of anger and jealously pulse through him as he thought back to the previous nation-tan, America. From the day they were born, his people had loved him unquestioningly, proud to be part of the nation. And when the final battle between Panem and America came, many of his citizens died for his cause, even though they fought on the losing side that could not have won.

"Why can't my people be the same?" Panem often thought, bitterly.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Cygnus Snow called for attention. He was a lean, tall man with strikingly white hair and more ambition than anyone else Panem had ever seen.

"If I can have your attention!" Cygnus called, and everyone went silent. "We have won our greatest victory in the history of the nation-"

The President's speech was interrupted by cheers.

"I know. It is indeed great. We may have beaten our foes, but we cannot let them forget about what they've done. They threatened the stability of the country, and for that they must pay."

"What are you proposing?" One of the army commanders asked.

"A game." The President replied.

Murmurs broke out among the crowd.

"A game, in which twenty-four teenagers, a boy and a girl from each remaining District, compete against each other in a death match until one remains." Cygnus explained, rather calmly. "The one survivor gets to go home."

The quiet murmuring stopped and everyone instantly went silent. No one had any idea what to say about the idea.

"Think about it." Cygnus continued, undaunted by the silence. "Just one game and they'll never uprise again. They'll see what we can do to them, and how lucky the rest of them are for our mercy."

"But...But...They're just children." One of the politicians countered.

"The children of terrorists, dissidents and criminals." Cygnus shot back. "One game and they'll never forget. Now, let's vote on it."

Rather reluctantly, all of them apart from Panem voted.

The results were tied.

Cygnus turned to Panem, a mildly frustrated look on his face. "It's up to you, Panem."

Panem wasn't sure what to say. Morally, it wasn't right to execute twenty-three children just to make everyone else suffer.

He never was one for morals though. He was one for vengeance.

And he craved revenge, even if it was against his own people. They had fought him, tried to destroy him, just to benefit themselves. They had no faith in him at all. And after all, they weren't really his citizens if they didn't like him, were they? And if they weren't his citizens, why should he care?

A vicious smirk crept onto Panem's face.

"I think it's a good idea, Cygnus."

Panem always felt guilty over the day where he let his rather petty grudge interfere. He had hurt his people, and he would never forgive himself for that.

Perhaps because of his guilt, no matter what he did, he was never able to escape the emotions that the Game caused. He felt the distress and despair of the parents that had their children taken away, and the torment of having to watch them compete for their own lives.

He felt the grief of having them come home in wooden boxes.

It was the same every year. For weeks after the games had finished, the people felt miserable, sad and hopeless.

And, as consequence, so did Panem. He avoided the after-games parties and presentations, preferring the solitude of his apartment.

But this year, something was different.

For the first time in 74 years of games, there had been two victors. He remembers watching in on the TV vividly. The announcers had said that only one of them could be a victor. Rather than killing each other viciously, like the Gamemakers had hoped, they both put deadly night-lock berries into their mouths.

If both couldn't go home, then no one would. They were playing the Game on their terms, not the Capitols.

It was the first public act of rebellion Panem had seen in a long time.

Of course, the Gamemakers quickly revoked the rule and announced that they had both won. Seneca Crane had lost his life because of it, and the Capitol quickly went into damage control. The Capitol reported to the Districts that the two were star-crossed lovers, who were so completely in love that they couldn't bear to live without each other.

The Capitol bought it.

The rest of Panem knew better though.

This time, the aftermath of the Games had a different feel. No longer were the people scared, hopeless and miserable. This time, they were angry, rebellious, and for the first time in a long time, they were hopeful.

And that gave Panem hope as well.

The spark that was Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire, had the power to set everything ablaze. And now, it was only a matter of time.

Coriolanus Snow however, was doing everything in his power to quell the flames before they started. Coriolanus was a ruthless man, even more so than his father, Cygnus. He would let nothing get in his way and take away his power, going so far as to kill potential rivals with poison.

Panem knew this first hand. More than once the President had tried to poison him, but to no effect; Panem's healing factor took care of that.

While he need not worry for himself, Panem was worried for Katniss. Like every other human, she was mortal, susceptible to injuries and sicknesses. And after her rebellious act in the Games, Snow was no doubt planning something to get her out of the way.

Panem couldn't allow that to happen. If Katniss was indeed the start of a revolution, then she would need all the support she could get to start the rebellion. She's changed the people, and she's changed him too.

That's why Panem was at the banquet tonight.

For the first time in seventy-four games, Panem had decided to attend the Victors Banquet, which this time was also doubling as an engagement party for Katniss and Peeta.

He never attended the banquets, but this time, he had to. He had to meet the Girl on Fire, the Mockingjay, for himself.

Turning around, he walked back into the great banquet hall of President Snow's mansion. It was decorated extravagantly, even for a Capitol event. The high roof was painted to look like the stars above, and tables were lined with delicious and exotic foods.

Panem scanned the room, looking for the girl. He spotted her on the dance floor in the centre of the room, dancing with someone, surrounded by other couples.

As he moved toward her, he noticed that the man she had been dancing with was none other than Plutarch Heavensbee, the new Head Gamemaker. Rumour had it that Plutarch was a rebellious man; Panem was sure that he could be a trustful ally if a rebellion was to occur.

Panem arrived just as Plutarch went to leave.

"May I have a dance?" Panem asked confidently. She looked bothered for a moment, but then smiled a fake smile and replied.

"Of course."

Nodding in reply, Panem took her hand and they started to dance to the slow, dreamlike music. She was wearing a vibrantly red dress, multilayered at the bottom to resemble flames. On her sleeve, near her shoulder, the famous golden Mockingjay pin resided.

"Who are you?" Katniss asked, rather bluntly. Panem could tell that she didn't want to be there, surrounded by the crowds of Capitol citizens.

"Ares Jackson." Panem replied, using his human cover-up name. "A high up government official."

"High up?" She continued, slightly curious.

"Technically, I'm higher than the President." Panem said, casually.

Katniss looked straight at him in disbelief, like he was a crazed madman. Panem couldn't help but smile at her response.

"It's true! He likes to think that he's the one in power, but really, this is my country."

Katniss, however, seemed unconvinced. Instead, she turned her attention back to dancing. They didn't talk for a minute until Panem continued the conversation.

"You've set everything ablaze, you know." He said, thoughtfully.

"What?" Katniss replied, doing her best to look surprised.

"Don't play dumb. You've started a rebellion."

Katniss' eyes went wide, and she looked around at the other dancing couples frantically, checking to make sure that no-one else had heard.

"Don't worry; I'm on your side." Panem said, and he meant it.

This girl was going to lead the Revolution, he could feel it. Katniss Everdeen, the Mockingjay, was going to unite the rebels and overthrow the Capitol, he knew it. Katniss, meanwhile, looked like she was summing him up, not sure whether to trust him or not.

"You really think so?" She asked quietly. Her voice was level, but had a tinge of doubt to it.

"I know so. You're going to change this country. I can feel it." Panem whispered as the music started to stop. Twirling her one last time, he beamed with happiness; things really were going to change, and hopefully for the better. "I'll let you get back to your fiancé now. Until next time, my Mockingjay."

Without another word, Panem turned around, walking away from the dance floor and out of the hall. His head was full thoughts, and for the first time in a long while, he opened his mind to the emotions of his people. He felt the usual spectrum of emotions; sadness, misery, anger, the occasional twinge of happiness. But the people were changing, he could tell, and they all agreed on one thing.

There was a rebellion coming.

The Mockingjay was going to lead it, liberating the Districts from the cruel Capitol.

His Mockingjay was going to stop the Games and save them all.

He knew it.

AN: Thanks for reading! Please review, I like to know if I'm doing well, and if I'm not, where I need to improve.

Thanks to Bendsy for Beta-Reading.