This story is about what if things happened different at the end of the 74th Hunger Games. The story starts at the end of the 74th Hunger Games and ends at the end of the 75th Hunger Games.
Chapter 1:
Peeta and I are standing on top of the Cornucopia and then Cato's cannon fires. Though it's a sad moment I realize that Peeta and I get to go home. Peeta and I jump off of the Cornucopia and he gives me a sweet smile. We are supposed to be in love, but since the Games are over I suppose I don't have to keep up the act. However, I lean over to give him a kiss and then the announcer's voice comes over the speaker.
"There has been a rule change to the previous change we made a few days ago. The previous rule saying two victors from the same district may win has been...deterred. Only one victor may be crowned. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor."
The speakers click off and I know all of Panem is on the edge of their seats, just to see what happens next. I think of my mother, Prim and Gale as well as Peeta's family and how everyone back home must have felt so much happiness and optimism, just to have it snatched. I also think of Haymitch and how he must be feeling. I'm almost positive that he's on the edge of his seat too, though about to go into a depression when he realized he could no longer bring two tributes home. I look Peeta in the eye, and start to say something, but he shakes his head and speaks.
"We've should've known better, Katniss. The Games have been going on for seventy-four years and they've never brought two tributes home. Why would they change now?", he takes a deep breath and then holds my hand. "You deserve to go home, Katniss.", he says, looking down. "Without you, I would've died anyway. You won these Games, and you deserve to be the Victor." He looks at me again and then says, "And you will be." I speak loudly, as if he was going to interrupt me and say, "No Peeta, you deserve this as much as I do and-" He stops me with a kiss and grabs my face with his hands. He whispers to me, something only for my ears, though I'm sure everyone can hear. "I love you, Katniss Everdeen. I always have, and I'm not saying this for the cameras or anyone else, I'm saying this because I mean it. And I love you enough to die so you can live." Tears start rolling down my cheeks, as I'm shaking my head and he uses his left hand to wipe the tears from my face. I don't notice until it's too late, but his right hand reaches into my pocket and retrieves the nightlock we got from Foxface earlier. He motions for me to look down and I see the berries in his hand, more than enough to kill him. I start sobbing now. I'm not sure if I mean it in the same context he does but in a barely audible whisper I say, "I love you too." He smiles and grabs my hand. "That's all I ever wanted Katniss. Make District 12 proud." He looks up at the sky and mumbles something, perhaps a final prayer. Peeta still looking up, puts the berries in his mouth and swallows them. He starts to cough a bit, and falls to his knees. He looks at me one more time, and a tear falls down his face. He falls completely over, and lands face down in the ground. His body twitches a bit, and then I hear the cannon.
I started a crying scream and kneeled to his body to hold him. He was gone the moment I touched him. I closed his eyelids and sobbed into his dead chest. What seems like only a few seconds afterwards, I hear the announcer, Claudius Templesmith on the speakers saying, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN MAY I PRESENT TO THE VICTOR OF THE 74th ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES, KATNISS EVERDEEN!"