The Married Life
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story (although I did name Katniss and Peeta's children). All rights reserved to the awesome Suzanne Collins.
Summary: One-shot. Katniss has been having nightmares and flashbacks of the events of the Second Rebellion. Luckily she has her family to keep her sane. Set after/during the epilogue of Mockingjay.
The Married Life
The Perks
She tossed and turned as horrible nightmares plagued her mind.
"No Prim, no."
/Dream Sequence/
I trail close behind a pair of old men who take no notice of me. No one will expect me to be with old men. When we reach the end of the next intersection, they stop and I almost bump into them. It's the City Circle. Across the wide expanse ringed by grand buildings sits the president's mansion.
The Circle's full of people milling around, wailing, or just sitting and letting the snow pile up around them. I fit right in. I begin to weave my way across to the mansion, tripping over abandoned treasures and snow-frosted limbs. About halfway there, I become aware of the concrete barricade. It's about four feet high and extends in a large rectangle in front of the mansion. You would think it would be empty, but it's packed with refugees. Maybe this is the group that's been chosen to be sheltered at the mansion? But as I draw closer, I notice something else. Everyone inside the barricade is a child. Toddlers to teenagers. Scared and frostbitten. Huddled in groups or rocking numbly on the ground. They aren't being led into the mansion. They're penned in, guarded on all sides by Peacekeepers. I know immediately it's not for their protection. If the Capitol wanted to safeguard them, they'd be down in a bunker somewhere. This is for Snow's protection. The children form his human shield. There's a commotion and the crowd surges to the left. I'm caught up by larger bodies, borne sideways,
carried off course. I hear shouts of "The rebels! The rebels!" and know they must've broken through. The momentum slams me into a flagpole and I cling to it. Using the rope that hangs from the top, I pull myself up out of the crush of bodies. Yes, I can see the rebel army pouring into the Circle, driving the refugees back onto the avenues. I scan the area for the pods that will surely be detonating. But that doesn't happen. This is what happens: A hovercraft marked with the Capitol's seal materializes directly over the barricaded children. Scores of silver parachutes rain down on them. Even in this chaos, the children know what silver parachutes contain. Food. Medicine. Gifts. They eagerly scoop them up, frozen fingers struggling with the strings. The hovercraft vanishes, five seconds pass, and then about twenty parachutes simultaneously explode. A wail rises from the crowd. The snow's red and littered with undersized body parts. Many of the children die immediately, but others lie in agony on the ground. Some stagger around mutely, staring at the remaining silver parachutes in their hands, as if they still might have something precious inside. I can tell the Peacekeepers didn't know this was coming by the way they are yanking away the barricades, making a path to the children. Another flock of white uniforms sweeps into the opening. But these aren't Peacekeepers. They're medics. Rebel medics. I'd know the uniforms anywhere. They swarm in among the children, wielding medical kits. First I get a glimpse of the blond braid down her back. Then, as she yanks off her coat to cover a wailing child, I notice the duck tail formed by her untucked shirt. I have the same reaction I did the day Effie Trinket called her name at the reaping. At least, I must go limp, because I find myself at the base of the flagpole, unable to account for the last few seconds. Then I am pushing through the crowd, just as I did before. Trying to shout her name above the roar. I'm almost there, almost to the barricade, when I think she hears me. Because for just a moment, she catches sight of me, her lips form my name. And that's when the rest of the parachutes go off.
/Dream Sequence/
She awoke to the feeling of strong arms shaking her and a voice shouting her name. Groggily, she opened her eyes and realised that she had been having a nightmare. The same nightmare she'd been having since the end of the rebellion. Her husband, Peeta, staring down at her was the first thing she saw and after a few moments she noticed the look of fear and concern on his face.
"Katniss! Katniss, are you okay?" He asked alarmed.
"Yeah, I-I'm fine." She replied, sitting up in her bed.
"Did you have the dream again?" He questioned, already knowing the answer. This had happened too many times and he was growing more worried for his wife every time she woke up screaming.
A weak nod was all he received as an answer.
"Katniss, you need to stop blaming yourself for their deaths." He told her looking her in the eyes.
"Yes it was." She said, releasing herself from the grip he had on her arms. "I led them into battle, it was because of me they died. I couldn't even save my own sister, what kind of person a-"
She was cut off by her husbands lips crashing into hers in a heated embrace. She felt herself melting into the comforting kiss of her lover, quickly becoming relaxed.
"Katniss," Peeta whispered, breaking the kiss. "You were not at fault for their deaths. Yes you lead them into the war, but it was their choice to follow you." He said to her, making her look him in the eye. "You gave them something worth fighting for, something that would preserve a better future for the whole of Panem. And, you were definately not responsible for Prim's death, you hear me? She died trying to save her allies, there was nothing you could have done to help her."
"But I could have saved her!" Katniss retaliated, releasing herself from her husbands embrace. "I could have saved her and I didn't. I was her big sister, it was my job to protect her. I should stopped her from joining the rebel medics, I should have stopped her from getting involved in the rebellion at all! I'm a horrible person."
"No you're not!" Peeta shouted back, surprising Katniss as he rarely ever raised his voice. "You were an amazing sister." He continued, lowering his voice, trying to comfort her. "You practically raised her. You put food on the table, you protected her from anything that dared to threaten her. You were her best friend and her protector, you were everything that she needed. You were an amazing sister, and you need to stop beating yourself up about this."
"M-Mommy? Daddy?"
The adults jumped and turned to the source of the noise. In the doorway stood their six year old daughter. She stared terrified at her paarents, standing protectively in front of her three year old brother, who had tears in his eyes.
"Prim? Aidan? Did you get scared by mommy and daddy's shouting?" Peeta asked cautiously, receiving a small nod as a reply. He hated when this happened, but it happened nearly every time Katniss had a nightmare.
"Are you okay?" Aidan asked, scared of why his parents were shouting.
"Yeah, we're fine kiddo." Katniss said, crouching down to hug her children. "Do you want to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed tonight?"
"Yes, please." Prim replied.
They got back into bed, Katniss sleeping on the left, Peeta on the right, their children sandwiched between them. As Katniss snuggled up to her little family, she thought about how only a few years ago, she dreaded the idea of having a family. But now, she wouldn't trade it in for anything else. She guessed the married life had it's perks.
Hey guys, please review and tell me if you like this story. Some of you may have noticed that this story was on my old profile, 'Umbra, God of Darkness', as part of the story Secrets of District 12, but i realised that this would be good enough as a one-shot. Anyway, thanks for reading :)