Disclaimer: Suzanne Collins owns The Hunger Games. (I mean, this is FFn, it's not as if we claim to own the original work of an author.) The lyrics are from the song "Civilian" by Wye Oak.

Canard
(or, Wherein I worship Wye Oak)

ca·nard [kuh-nahrd;-nar]

n.
An unfounded or false, deliberately misleading story.

i – Gale

I wanted to love you like my mother's mother's mother did / civilian, civilian

When she kisses him that first night, you tell yourself it's for the Games. You tell yourself it's for the cameras and the Capitol and she only did it to stay alive and return to Twelve, to you.

When Haymitch sends broth, you convince yourself it was a ruse. Mrs. Everdeen agrees with you, but the edge of doubt in her voice is unmistakable.

You laugh at Mellark's foolishness; as if he has a chance against you. He will never have what you have with her.

As the days progress, your reassurances and hopes and dreams fall apart.

Because they sleep together and they kiss and it's honest.

And when she utters those words, you know you have lost her.

"You don't have much competition anywhere," she says and your weak heart dies.

ii – Katniss

I am nothing without pretend / I know my faults / can't live with them

You know that the audience loves you.

You can almost hear their delightful screams, as you lean in and kiss him that first night. You don't know why you did it. Maybe to quiet him. Definitely not to please them. They can have their laugh when you're dead.

You didn't feel butterflies in your stomach or fireworks or anything.

And then Haymitch sends the broth, and you know that that's what he needs you to do. But it's not enough.

Gale.

"I bet he's smart enough to know a bluff when he sees it," Peeta had said.

What would he think of you?

Betrayal. That's what you see in his eyes when you feed him the last of those berries.

iii – Peeta

I wanted yo give you everything / but I still stand in awe of superficial things

So, it was a game.

It's funny. You had told her that you didn't want to be just another piece in their games.

You ended up being a piece in her games.

You should have known, really. Would she have cared to find you if it weren't for the rule change? She did it to stay alive, to go back to him.

What about the feast? you ask yourself. What about the berries?

All an act.

You should have known. After all, the Games change everyone.

iv – Gale

I know my thoughts / but I can't hide them

She is back.

You remind yourself she is back, and she is alive, and that's the only thing that matters.

But you're her cousin now. You hate that. You hate that fiercely.

You hate it that she's not Katniss anymore. Katniss, with dirt under her fingernails, Katniss with her hair pulled in a messy braid, Katniss from those mornings back in the forest, when everything was so simple, so uncomplicated.

You try to avoid her at first. You know she is waiting for you. She's waiting for you every Sunday, but you can't bring yourself to find her.

In the end, of course you find her.

When she sees you, she runs into your arms, making some sort of wrenching noise, and you wonder what took you so damn long.

And then you kiss her, because, damn it, you're not her cousin.

"I had to do that," you say as you step away. "At least once."

And you leave.

Side Note:I didn't want to write this; the song made me.