So it's been quite some time since I've been on this site. My apologies! I've been writing some original works and got distracted with that, but I had this idea that I just couldn't get rid of.
This is a one-shot I came up with while watching Bewitched. It's set in the 1960s, but that doesn't really matter much for the plot. I just thought I'd mention it.
Please tell me what you think, and I hope you enjoy!
"There you are," a voice announced from the doorway. "I've been looking all night for you."
Startled, Katniss peered over her shoulder at her unwanted guest. When she saw it was only Finnick, she turned back to watching the colorful rays from the sun begin to peek over the tall buildings, awakening the city below them. Sunrise was her favorite time of day because of the bright yellows meshing beautifully with the clear blue sky. New beginnings and new dreams, her father always used to tell her on their father/daughter trips, that's what sunrises mean. It was the perfect time to think about the future
Yes or no? Yes or no?
She just wasn't sure.
"What do you want, Finnick?" Katniss sighed, pushing off the rooftop's ledge she'd been perched on for the past hour. There was no point beating around the bush. Her cousin came here for a reason.
Finnick opened his mouth, but decided against whatever he was going to say and closed it. He did this a couple times before she threatened to turn him into the mindless fish he was behaving as.
"You can't do it," he proclaimed. "I can't let you!"
"So you found out," she said, not at all surprised by his announcement. Secrets were rather hard to keep in her family. And for centuries her family had always been on the predictable side. It was bound to happen the minute they found out about Peeta's marriage proposal.
Finnick scoffed at her indifference. "Found out? Katniss, your parents are so furious right now I had to volunteer to come get you to avoid any humans seeing something they shouldn't."
"Oh, I'm glad you did," she jokingly smiled. "The last time Dad was this mad at me he caused the Korean War. Remember? It took us how long to get everyone to believe that whole communism rouse?" He didn't find her joke funny. "How come they're so mad? I haven't said yes yet."
Finnick's eyes almost popped out of his head. "Yet?" he exclaimed. "Are you actually thinking about marrying…that?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. It's why I came up here to think." Her eyes narrowed at her cousin. "And I wish you'd call him by his name. He's human, Finnick, not an ape."
"Fine," Finnick sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to calm himself down. "Fine fine fine. I'll rephrase my question. You mean to tell me you're actually thinking about marrying…Peeta?"
Katniss smiled at the name and turned back to the sun. All night long she'd been contemplating what to say to the man she'd fallen in love with. Never before had she thought of marriage and all the domestic things it acquired. Never before had she imagined falling in love with anyone, and them returning her feelings. But here she was, daydreaming about what it would be like living together as Mr. and Mrs. Peeta Mellark. What would it be like being married to Peeta?
There would be lots of pastries, she was sure of it, and their house would always smell of warm bread and cakes. She would help him run his family's bakery during the day, and at night, when they had closed shop, the two would walk home together, talking about the funny things the customers said that day, like regular couples do. Their home would be near the woods, where they first met, with a huge fireplace to keep them warm in the winter. And maybe, just maybe, after many years of marriage, Katniss imagined a smaller version of Peeta running about their home, laughing and smiling just like his father. It was all so happy and simple that the answer seemed obvious, but whenever Katniss was on the brink of saying the three letter word out loud, doubt filled her mind.
Peeta was very different from her. He loved smelling the flowers while she picked them for home remedies. He always saw the beauty in things while she only focused on the task at hand. He was a romantic, a dreamer while she was a cynic, a realist. They were just so different from each other! How could things ever work out?
And then there was the fact that Peeta was a human.
"Mixed marriages have been happening since the early 1900s, Finnick." It's been something Katniss had been telling herself for hours. The fear of getting married to a human should not be her reason not to marry Peeta. "And it's not like it's hurting anyone."
"I hate to do it," Finnick warned, anxiously wringing out his hands, "but you leave me no choice." He sucked in a big gulp of air, preparing himself for what he was about to say. "Mixed marriages don't work out and you know it. Just think about Prim. Now I know it's been a few centuries, but don't tell me you forgot what they did to her!"
A painful jolt twisted tightly in her stomach, causing her to flinch at the remembrance of her sister's demise. Yes, it was an extremely low-blow of Finnick to remind her of that, but he didn't understand how different things were now. How different Peeta was to Marvel Goodthrop.
"Now you know as well as I do this is different," Katniss strained, aggravated tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. Couldn't Finnick and her parents just leave their noses out of her business? "The world isn't burning witches anymore, and Peeta is more of a person than that self-righteous holy man ever was. He would never do that."
Finnick shrugged and pulled out a cigarette from his coat pocket. Snapping his fingers, the cigarette lit up and he walked over to her, peering down at the early risers walking the sidewalks. "Humans are humans," he simply stated, flicking the ashes at the people. "They only like what can be explained to them."
"So?" she fired back. "I like things that can be explained, too. You don't see me sending people to the stake."
"No," he smirked, "But then again, you never were much of a typical witch." A small smile slipped before she remembered that she was mad at Finnick.
The two watched the sun rise higher into the sky and listened as the city grow louder below with cab horns blaring at each other to hurry up, venders beginning to shout out sales. It was the start of a brand new day, but after all these hours of mulling over Peeta's question, Katniss was still stuck on her answer.
"I love him," she quietly said to herself, but Finnick heard her and frowned.
"He's human."
There was that word again. Why did anyone care who was human and who wasn't? What made being human so bad? What made being a witch so bad? They were all just a bunch of labels. Katniss laughed at his judgment and pushed away from the rooftop ledge again.
"So?" she asked. "So what if he's human! So what if I'm a witch! Finnick," she pulled at her cousin's coat until he was looking her straight in the eye. "I have never felt this way before. It…it makes me so scared that I want to hop on my broom and never return. But I know I never could because….because I love him. I think I have for a very long time." Her smile was so big now, as she tried to explain her feelings, that she let go of his coat and covered up the smile to hide her glee. This must be her answer!
"I love him," she said again, the words muffled behind her hand. "I love Peeta Mellark." The more times she said it, the easier her answer became. It all seemed so silly spending all this time thinking over what to tell him when the answer had been here all this time. It was always going to be yes.
"I love him," Katniss said once more, more calmly now. "And there's nothing you or Mother or Dad can say that will change that."
Finnick nodded and took a step away from her. "I get that. 'Love is love,'" he recited. "Who am I to stop that?"
This was too easy. Raising her eyebrow in suspicion, Katniss asked, "You mean, that's it? You approve of my saying yes to a human?"
"Of course I don't approve!" he scoffed, tossing his cigarette over the ledge of the building. "Humans have been nothing but trouble to our kind for centuries. They think they're all high and mighty because they sent some men out to space. Big deal. Annie and I traveled to the moon for our one-year anniversary years ago. No one sees me bragging about it!" Katniss bit down her smile, waiting for him to reach his point.
"You're my baby cousin, Katniss," he said at last, grabbing her hands and giving them a gentle squeeze. "I've been looking out for you since you were just a little babe in the cradle, crying because those damn pilgrims landed us on the wrong rock." They smiled at the memory of those foolish settlers.
"Mother always says never trust a human with a compass," she laughed.
"And here you are, going to marry one of these humans!" Finnick laughed along.
"Well, Peeta's family came here in the 1920s," she defended teasingly. "They weren't anywhere near Plymouth when we landed." He shook his head at her defense.
"A human's still a human no matter the year they came."
Appreciating his sincerity, Katniss reminded him, "Peeta's different, Finnick. I know you want to protect me, but I'm a big witch now. You have to trust me when I say that Peeta can be trusted with this part of me. I just know he can."
Finnick tilted his head to the side at her choice of words. "You have told him you're a witch, right? Katniss, this human knows what you are, right?"
"Well, no," she confessed, pulling her hands out of his grasp. "I haven't told him yet, but—" Katniss rushed when Finnick opened his mouth to protest—"that doesn't mean I don't trust him! I just… Well, when would be the right time to tell anyone that?" she huffed indignantly. "'I love the meal, Peeta, and by the way, I'm a witch. Pass the butter'? Yeah, that would go by well."
All Finnick could do was shake his head at her and run his hands through his copper-red hair in agitation. "Just wait until your parents find this out! It was bad enough with them thinking you were marrying some human who already knew our secret. Now to find out he knows nothing and you're still going through with this thing?" He looked up at her. "They're going to kill him."
That was the last thing she needed. "Finnick, please," Katniss pleaded. Trying to express her emotion on the matter was hard enough without the knowledge of what her parents would do to Peeta once they met him. This seemed impossible. She closed her eyes for a brief second to try and gather her thoughts. "I don't want you telling Mother and Dad about this. Not yet, at least."
"You know I can't lie to them."
"Just for a little while," she said, hoping he'd understand. "I will tell them, but after the wedding. After I tell Peeta." After I figure out how to keep Mother and Dad from annihilating Peeta first, she thought but didn't say out loud.
Finnick didn't appear to believe her with his skeptic green eyes and pursed lips, but he didn't say he wouldn't lie to her parents either. That had to mean something.
"And when will you tell the human?"
"Peeta," she corrected. "And I'll tell him soon. I promise."
"Soon better mean today," Finnick bargained.
"Of course!" She pulled him into a grateful hug and mumbled into his chest, "As soon as he asks me to marry him. I promise!"
That threw him for another loop. "Wait, what?"
"I had a vision he was going to ask me tonight," Katniss explained, looking up at the now darkening sky. "Witch's powers, you know? But I should go before he wakes up. He thinks I'm still in Chicago."
"I'm sure he'd have a heart attack trying to figure out how you got to Paris so fast. Humans and their overthinking minds, it'll be the death of them."
She smirked and lightly punched him in the arm. "Watch it. That's my future fiancé you're talking about."
"And you're sure about this?" Finnick asked one last time, still doubtful on his cousin's decision.
"Of course I'm sure." She pushed back a strand of hair that escaped from her braid and her smile became more confident. "He's what I want."
"Well, good luck, I guess. With the proposal and telling him and all."
"Thanks." Katniss looked up once more at the darkening clouds. "Good luck with Mother and Dad. It looks like they caught wind I'm here."
"Go," Finnick encouraged. "I'll tell them I gave you some things to think about at least, remind them how stubborn you can be."
Katniss opened her mouth to say goodbye, but a crack of lightning struck near the rooftop, alerting her of her parents' soon-to-be arrival. With one last grateful smile and a flick of her wrists, she vanished off the rooftop.
"A human," Finnick chuckled, shaking his head once more in disbelief as he kicked back in a chair he magicked in and waited for his aunt and uncle to arrive. "Who would've thought."