Authors Note: This is my first fanfic, so please review!I may or may not add more chapters...feedback?
DISCLAIMER:I do not own Hunger Games or any of the characters
I'm burning, burning, burning. I'm on fire and the burning won't stop and... "Mother!" The tiny voice broke through my nightmare. "Mother!" Rue said again. "Mother, are you okay?" I look at her face, so beautiful, so innocent, so much like his. She does not yet know about the nightmares, of how those horrible memories are repeated over and over in my mind. She does not yet know about the world before me, or the how I was The Girl On Fire, the symbol of the rebellion, and about me before I was a... "Mother!" Rue once again broke into my reminiscent reverie. "Sorry Darling, I'm fine." "Well, get up! It's almost time for the Feasting!" I sighed. Although the Feasting was supposed to be a time of celebration, for me it is a time of mourning. Meant to celebrate the overthrowing of the Capitol, the Feasting is a holiday taking place on the day that the Reaping was formerly held. For me, I mourned the ones I have loved and lost, whether to death, change, or otherwise. Rue, Cinna, Gale, Prim, and sweet, sweet Peeta, all gone. He wasn't like the others, though. We didn't mutually grow apart, and weren't torn apart. No, he left me. At that thought, my eyes prickled with the hot sting of tears that threatened to come pouring out. "Will you do my hair?" Rue asked. Without responding, I sat down and started braiding her long, blonde hair. Beautiful hair, so much like his...I shook my head to clear the thoughts away. "Snap out of it," I mumbled to myself. He's gone, he left. Left you, left both of you. I finish braiding her hair, then get dressed and do my own. When we are ready, we head outside and start walking towards the square. Once a desolate and dreary place, the square is now a beautiful public gathering space. There are beautiful flowers, lush green grass, and stone paths with a stone plaza at the center of it. Just for today, there are many round tables on the plaza. Lining the stone area are many long tables containing an absurd amount of decadent food. Creamy soups full of meat and potatoes, whole chickens, pigs, cows, and platters of fish. There are many baskets full of fresh fruits and large silver pots of cooked vegetables in sauce. And there was bread, so many loaves and rolls of bread, some from each district. Desserts, cakes and puddings and sweet rolls and cups of hot chocolate and cookies, all so numerous you couldn't count them all. And all of it for us, the small population of District 12. Usually the Feasting is on a different day for each district so that family or friends can come from other districts to join in. This year, Annie is coming from District 4. We see her across the plaza and hurry over to see her. I hug Annie, then Finn. It was a shock to all of us when Annie announced she was pregnant, only shortly after Finnick's death. It's sad he never got to meet his son, or never even knew he had one. Now 16 and mostly grown, he looks exactly like his father. "Have you seen Haymitch?" I ask them. They shake their heads to indicate that no, they haven't. I wandered through the square, leaving Rue with Annie, to look for Haymitch. I saw Delly Cartwright standing with her husband and children. "Hi Delly, have you seen Haymitch?" I asked. "Yes Katniss, I saw him head towards the Hob a few minutes ago." I sighed. "Thanks Delly." Even though many things sold at the Hob were no longer illegal, it had still become a general marketplace where people could set up stands to sell things. There was only one reason Haymitch would be there, and especially on this day. I ran to the Hob and went straight to Ripper's stall where, just as I suspected, Haymitch was. He saw me and cursed under his breath. He quickly regained his cool and changed his look of surprise into one of calm. "How's it going, sweetheart?" "You promised you'd try." "I did try," he responded. "And I failed," he added with a cocky grin. "You need to stop. If you keep drinking like this, it's going to kill you." I don't know whose horrible idea it was to make alcohol legal again, but ever since, the drinking has gotten worse. Even more so since Peeta left. "Come on, back to the square." I grab Haymitch and make him walk in front of me so he doesn't sneak back to the Hob. We arrive back at the square and find Annie Finn, and Rue just as the festivities begin. The mayor, my old friend Madge, gets up on the stage to make her speech. "District 12," she begins. "We have had to endure many hardships in the past, from starvation, to the Hunger Games, and even the annihilation of our home. But some were able to escape, and we grew back, stronger than ever. No more hunger. No more cruelty. No more injustice. No more oppressive Capitol. This, my friends, is why we celebrate on this day. Enjoy the festivities, but also remember all it took to get us here." She steps away from the podium and people start lining up at the tables for food. I get in line for the table as far away from the dessert table as possible. Nothing has been quite as pretty since he left. The cookies no longer have pretty flowers on them, and the cakes are merely mediocre. Madge comes over and gives me a hug. "Hello. How are you?" The concern in her eyes is deeper than that in her voice. Along with the concern, I could also see pain in her eyes. Peeta touched a lot of people, and was loved by all. Nobody ever thought he would leave. In response, I manage to muster up a small smile. "Better. That's all I can hope for." Madge gives a small smile in return. "Hang in there," she says, patting my arm before she walks away. I ponder all of the thoughts roaming freely in my head. Haymitch's drinking. This sad holiday. Rue, now that her father left us. But the most prominent though of all was why? Why did he leave me? I need to go, to go and see him. I leave Rue with and head towards the woods. Haymitch catches up to me. "Do you want me to come with you?" he asks, suddenly sounding sober. I shake my head. "I need to go alone," he nods, understanding in his eyes. I continue walking. Although I have never gone to see him before, I know exactly where to go. I walk over to it, intimidating marble, cold and dark. A fire at the bakery, that's how it happened. If you think about it, quite a fitting death for The Boy with the Bread. "But you promised," I whisper. "You promised to stay with me,….."
"Always"