I read Mockingjay recently and couldn't get the epilogue out of my head. This is either a short one-shot or a long drabble. For your information, Theron means "hunter", Kimber means "forest", and Aryden (a-RYE-den) means "fire". It'll make sense when you read it.

In Their Favor

Lots of things I have said I wouldn't do, I did anyway.

I said I wouldn't start a rebellion. I was the cause for it. I said that I would let Peeta win the Hunger Games, yet we both came out winners. (Turns out to be better than I imagined.)

But then again, there are things I said I would do that I didn't.

Run away with Gale. Try to tone down the districts. Make it home from the Quarter Quell. (Because, honestly, a hovercraft isn't home. Sure, I was alive, but it's not home.)

So when Peeta asked me to marry him for real, I couldn't say no. We'd been through so much together. Gale wasn't what I needed. We were too alike. Both sultry, dark, and we both run off hatred and the need for revenge. Peeta was like sunshine, a dandelion, a fresh piece of bread that's still warm. He was (and is) excactly what I need.

We were married for over five years before he started wondering about children. I had always promised to myself that I would never have kids, so as to protect them from the harshness of the world. From the Hunger Games. From the Capitol.

But as I thought about it, Snow and Coin were gone. Gone as the traces of the bombs that killed my sister and savagely burned Peeta and I.

I gave in.

Our first child was Kimber. Kimber Rue Mellark. She had dark hair like me, but eyes that matched Peeta, right down to the flecks of silver. Her dispostion was just like her father, though. Kind, loving, and gentle. Right away Peeta wanted to teach her to paint and bake and frost cakes. Now, at the age of thirteen, she's a mini Peeta in every way except her face and hair. She has my build, and she's tiny for her age.

She reminds me too much of Rue and Prim. Too much.

Next came Theron. Theron Gale Mellark. Peeta's hair and my eyes. When he gets old enough, girls will come breaking down our door. As soon as he was old enough to walk I took him out hunting. He caught on quickly. He's a hot-head, reckless, yet quiet to the point of being creepy. Theron is now ten and he wishes more than ever to know the people I show him every day. He knows the names by heart. Prim, Rue, Gale, Cinna. Prim, Rue, Gale, Cinna.

Haymitch drops by sometimes. Theron calls him Uncle 'Mitch, but Kimber dislikes him. Like father like daughter. But she tolerates him.

Gale got married. A girl named Marie. She reminds me of Madge, my old friend. A sweet girl. He seems happy and I'm happy for him. They have a daughter, Fawn. She's Theron's age. Blonde hair, grey eyes. She's very bubbly. They come by every once in a while.

Annie and Finnick's son Finn is a year older than Kimber. He is Finnick reincarnated. They stop by sometimes, and it makes me laugh to see Finn and Kimber interact. Reminds me of a twelve-year-old girl who met her best friend hunting one day.

Then, Aryden came. Completely unexpected, but we were happy anyway. She just turned one and is looking like me more and more each day. Aryden Primrose Mellark.

One day my children will have to learn about the Panem I grew up in. They'll have to face the things I did, and they'll have to learn the way of the world before them. They'll have to realize the importance of not repeating what their parents did. But I hope (as all parents do) that they'll be strong enough to make the right desicions and live happy lives.

The odds are ever in their favor.