A garden full of roses
A/N I own nothing, it all belongs to Suzanne Collins
'Are you excited Grandpa?, Imelda asks the white haired man quizzically. She looks up at him, brown eyes full of glee. He smiles down at her.
'Of course dear. It is the Quarter Quell. Why wouldn't I be?' He hopes this is the right answer.
'I am going to see Katniss again!' She giggles, and skips ahead. His heart plummets. He thought she had got over her adoration of Katniss Everdeen. The girl on fire.
He comes level with the little girl again, as she stops to look at a bush of white roses. Imelda tells him a story, about how a beautiful princess was saved from her imprisonment by a handsome prince. He smiles, but only on the outside. Inside, he knows how truly dangerous these tales are in the Disticts. Not this one in particular, but things like the Ugly Duckling. If some intelligent District found the true meaning of it, there could be an uprising. The Ugly ducklings could be supreme over the little yellow ducks.
Aren't they beautiful? She says. He agrees with her, but then freezes in horror as she screams softly. A small drop of blood runs off her finger from where the thorn cut, and onto the biggest snow white rose. The red stains the white, leaving red stains wherever it goes. She watches in fascination.
Perhaps she says, the cut was a good thing though. I got to see the beauty of the Rose in a different way. I never knew it had thorns.
He thinks about this, watching her, and then says,
My, dear every rose has its thorn. We just have to be able to see them.
She seems satisfied with this answer as he takes her inside to put something on the cut.
District Twelve
Katniss sits by the small pond, waiting. The wind howls through the trees, making her shiver. She is waiting for somebody, somebody who is unknown to her now.
She stands up when she hears leaves rustling, and looks around her, scanning the trees in a way that only a hunter can.
He steps out into the light, looking at her impatiently. She runs forward but stops short. He talks to her, very quietly, so the camera cannot pick it up. Then she sits bag down on the log as he turns, and she begins to cry.
Gale,acting on a rash decision, runs towards her very fast, then bends down to kiss her. The kiss lasts longer than he expected, because she will not let him leave.
But then he does, melting away as quickly as he came and Katniss is left alone, in the cold, memories bearing down on her, a weight she is unable to carry.
The little girl watches the camera feed directly from District Twelve, shocked. She cannot believe Katniss would do that to Peeta. Of course, President Snow did not show her the pain and despair Katniss felt, only the crucial moment which would hopefully serve to extinguish her fascination with the girl on fire.
She looks up at him, big bold eyes open, upset that her idol is not as she assumed. He worries that he has overdone it. She is only 11, after all. But that cannot be helped.
I'm sorry you had to see that, he tells her, bending down to hug her. She cries freely, but looks at him to say something more.
My dear, he says, every rose has its thorns. Even the more beautiful ones.