A/N This has most of the original character traits from The Hunger Games, but I am going to change a few things, so don't be surprised if someone is a year or two younger or older than they were originally.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the hunger games
Peeta and I sit in our home as we ready ourselves for the announcement of this years Quarter Quell. My stomach churns and the man who took everything from me now takes the stage with that evil little envelope in his hands. I have feared this day for many months and I know that Peeta is also not ready to prepare two children for slaughter. President Snow drawls on and on about the previous Quells and I don't even listen. All I can see is his moving lips and his body language. I see him open the envelope and announce "As a reminder that that even the strongest cannot overcome us, 24 tributes will be placed into the arena along with 8 victors from past hunger games. These 8 victors will be voted on by citizens of the capitol." My heart skipped a beat as I tried to process what I had just heard. I'm going back into the arena. Peetas broken face only confirmed what i had been thinking. These sadistic capitol people would love nothing more than to see us go back into the arena.
They want to see the star crossed lovers overcome the games again. I know how these people think, and with it now being an official rule that both victors can survive together I can almost guarantee that they will beg to see Peeta and I battle the odds together again. Peeta and I lock eyes and he puts his arms around me and for a moment I forget the world. Here I feel safe. A small choked sound escaped from my chest and Peeta holds me tighter.
"You think they will put us back in?"
"I know they will" he responded "But I also know that if anyone can do this, we can do it together. Two tributes, and us. That's a four person alliance that can all come out together. They thought Haymitch was a hero when he brought home the two of us, imagine what they will think when he brings home four."
These words almost bring a smile to my face. Almost.
There is a knock on the door and before I even move to answer it Prim and my mother burst in and the four of us are doing some kind of group hug deal where we are all intertwined and I can't tell whose tears are whose and whose arms are whose.
Prim muffles " They won't put you back in Katniss, they can't! They love you guys!"
Nobody in our hug has the heart to say what we all feel. When they leave Peeta and I go back to our room and I fall on him again. My body is overcome with that weird body hiccup where I cannot get enough breath in my body to support the uncontrollable sobbing. That's when I feel Peetas body suddenly pull away and I hear him raise his voice to just below a shout and say
"No. I will not have this attitude. We are going into this with the attitude that we will come out. We will mentor the two tributes from our district from inside the arena and we will all come back out . We will train like careers and we will give district 12 another year of food."
As my body accepts this news the tear flow stops and I realize that he is right. We need to go into this with the right mind or they will rip us apart. We did it once and we can do it again.
The next morning Haymitch comes over with a meal for us. Pasta and bread.
"Peeta called me last night" he explains "You are going to need to start putting good things into your body if we want to prepare you. We have the advantage of being able to prepare you. Peeta is right, careers always have the advantage, and now you will."
We finish our meal discussing our workout plan for the next few months as well as debating which tributes we will be thrown in with. Haymitch has a few ideas but I have only heard of a few of them, so I decide to quit worrying about my competition and start worrying about myself.
Peeta and I train by running everyday. We adjust our bodies by running for hours on end. We take lessons from my mom and Prim everyday on how to properly treat wounds and which plants will be able to help us. Peeta and I get sad eyes everywhere we go, district 12 would never send us back into the arena, but they know the capitol will. As the citizens realize that we are training we often get stopped by people who want to teach us things that might be useful, thing they think will help us in the arena.
A friend of Peetas father calls us over one day and claims that he has something to show us. We figure it can't hurt and we follow him. He walks ahead of us for a solid twenty five minutes muttering to himself and just when Peeta and I are about to ditch the man we wind up in a clearing. In the far corner is a small pond. The man shrugs. " You never know when you'll need to know how to swim." A smile instantly appears on Peetas face. The man walks back towards the district as Peeta throws his shirt off. He is laughing as he runs over to the pond. I take a moment to admire Peetas body. He had always been stocky, but with all of the recent training his muscles have become defined and to be honest, dead sexy.
He catches me staring and laughs "It's ok Katniss, I don't know how to swim either, but we can teach each other, it can be that hard!"
"I do" someone says as they step out into the clearing. Peeta and I both look at him with confused looks on our faces. "know how to swim that is."