Disclaimer: I do not own the world of the Hunger Games, and many of the characters in this story. They belong to the lovely Suzanne Collins!
Chapter One
I can hear them when I sleep, but I don't think they know. So I just lie in my bed and listen. My father murmuring words to my mother, her scared breaths. Then it all goes silent. I wonder what happened, what really happened, to cause these nightly epidemics. The only explanation I've ever received was so fluffed up, it was close to being a lie.
I roll onto my back and look up at my ceiling. It's painted a midnight blue and used to have little stars hanging from it. I took them down. The rest of the bedroom is fairly simple, with the exception of a few Capital gadgets and what not. I hear something, probably a door opening up.
" Dad?" I ask. I can't bear it anymore, not knowing.
" Rose, aren't you supposed to be asleep?"
" I can't," I respond blankly.
" What's wrong?" he questions, his voice threaded with worry.
" I should be asking you that," I mumble. His blue eyes dart up at me, from their spot on the ground. They're filled with hope, worry, and sorrow so deep it makes my heart ache.
" I'll see you in the morning, Rosemary," he say's and closes the door.
That night I have trouble sleeping. Colorful visions cloud my thoughts. I can still hear the mumbling, panicked voice my mother has when she remembers, still see the way my fathers eyes squeeze shut when he's having another spell. I know whats happened after, but why can't they tell me the story of before?
When morning comes I am filled with the smell of blueberry pancakes. It drifts all the way up here, temporarily making me forget the problem at hand. That was probably the intention, I think.
I swing my legs around, and stand up, grabbing my ivory dressing gown from it's designated spot on the floor. Puckering my lips together I check my reflection in the mirror, and run a brush through my wavy blond hair. Once satisfied I trot downstairs. We live in one of the large Victor Village homes, which barely have any residents. However 'Uncle Haymitch' lives next door where he is happy to spend his days getting wasted and tending to his Persian cat, Meow. Sometimes I stop by to see him, but he's too drunk to tell me anything, so I've given up.
My parents seem more sullen at breakfast than usual. Mum pushes her food around the plate, and Dad eats very, very slowly. It's painful to watch.
" Rose..." my mother says, her voice trailing of into the distance. She stares at the ground, as if contemplating what to say. " A few years ago we had something called the Hunger Games. It was to remind the districts of the previous rebellion's cost, and to provide entertainment for the Capital. In the Games children fought to the death, and the last person alive would be crowned the winner.
Both your father and I took part in the 74th Hunger Games. They unleashed fires and tracker jacker venom on us to make it more interesting to watch. During the Games I became ally's with a little girl named Rue..." she pauses, swallowing a cry. The whole thing sounds very monotoned, very speech like. She's probably said this before, to crowds and audiences. I may not know what happened during these so called 'Games', but I know my mother's famous.
She's frozen now and breathing into my fathers shoulder. His hands rub her back, and slowly it stops. Her heart rate becomes less intense and her whole body relaxes. Determined to continue, she lifts her head up and catches my eyes with hers. They're a stormy gray color, similar to mine, but harder.
" Rue and I became ally's, but one of the other tributes shot her. That's when they announced that there could be two winners from the same district, not just one, so I sought out your father. His leg was badly injured and I tried to take care of him, but we didn't have the resources to do much else. I waited with him, and eventually fell in love with him," she pauses and my father smiles at her. " But the final battles had yet to come. We defeated the last tribute, Cato, and waited to be crowned victors. Only that didn't happen because they had changed the previous rule. As an act of rebellion your father and I threatened to take poisonous berries at the same time, so the Capital wouldn't have a winner. They weren't happy with us, but crowned us winners anyway," she finishes.
" But that's not all of it!" I protest. And it's still pretty fluffy, although it's better than the version I got last time.
She smiles at me, as if to say that's it for today. My thirteen year old mind is too ambitious, and desperately wants to learn more.
Time to do some hunting, I think.
Authors Note: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I'd always wondered what Katniss and Peeta's child would be like, so I decided to create Rosemary. I know that the girl is supposed to have brown hair and blue eyes, but I decided to switch it up. Also I'm aware there is supposed to be a boy as well, but the for the direction of this story let's just say that he died a tragic death after a bad fight with a unicorn:) I'd love it if you'd leave me an honest review (I really want to hear what you think! Tell the me the truth.) , but please don't be rude.