A/N: hey guys so I just finished Mocking Jay and everyone lied! They said that the series ended terribly, but you know the ending we might have wanted a little bit more details, but that's what lovely sites like fanfiction are for, to unleash our imagination (pun most certainly intended) I personally hate puns, don't you guys? It's right up there with driving through mountains, cool but annoying. (My ears keep popping and I have to keep yawning to hear right! *so exasperating!* :P) I like Florida, it's flat. They're just sooo, lame! Puns that is, for all of you who got lost in my rants. O.k. well on with my first Hunger Games Story!
Time: Fourteen years after epilogue of Mocking Jay.
It had been one of those slow, boring days. It was raining, so I couldn't go out hunting. It was a real shame; I couldn't use the beautiful new bow I got last week. It was days like this that mom and I would just sit and catch up, but she was having severe headaches today. It was also frustrating, since I had no one to talk to about my current "boy problem" as Haymitch once called it. I couldn't take it to my dad, and certainly not while he was down at the bakery with my brother, I wouldn't be able to live that one down with the cause of my problems there. That and me being banned after nearly burning it down last time I went to help… So I needed a plan to get Tyler and Fin out of there so I could talk to dad about an even more important question. I left a note on my mom's door saying that I went to the bakery to get some more bread. That wouldn't fool her on a normal day, dad always kept us stocked up, but when she had her headaches, I could get away with almost anything. It would be a tougher time convincing Tyler to leave, and for Fin to let me in. I grabbed my jacket out of the closet, and pulled on my boots. I opened and closed the door as silently as I could. The slightest noise could set mom off. After clearing the house I took off down the street. This was the same way that Fin and I took back home two days ago. It was after the Reaping Festival, to celebrate the end of the Hunger Games, on the day that the Reaping would have taken place if the capitol hadn't fallen, and if it weren't for my parent's votes. It was weird how my parents were in it but they never seemed to talk about it. I didn't even know when they were in it. They never talked about their past I only knew about people in this old book I found when I was six.
I had been playing in the office, a place forbidden to me with no reason why, so of course I played in there often. I pushed the chair that was under the desk over to the shelf and pulled out a really dusty book. It had pages filled with pictures of plants. I still don't get why they have it, but it bored me, so I slid it back into place. There was another book right next to it that I pulled out and immediately recognized my father's work. Beautiful, realistic pictures of people I have never seen before. I got down from the chair I was precariously perched on, and took the book with me. I settled underneath the desk, and just looked at the pictures, making out the little words, and trying to sound out the bigger ones, I was just learning how to read. The one that always stuck with me was a picture of a girl named Primrose. She looked like my mom, sort of. They both had the same bone structure, but this girl had blonde hair. I loved her name it was the same as those flowers that my mother loved so much. I was about to put the book back when I heard a gasp. My mom caught me putting the book back she walked over slowly as if in a dream, and took from gently, as if it could break at any second. She then started sobbing over it. I had never heard her cry before. My dad rushed in to comfort her. The sound of my mom crying broke my heart, and I don't know why. Dad was in their telling her it was o.k., so it would be right? Dad was never wrong. I just laid in my bed that night, unable to go to sleep, feeling terrible about mom until, after what seemed like forever. Dad came in to tuck me in. He came and sat on my bed like he does every night, and I crawled into his lap.
"Daddy?" I asked him.
"Yes, honey?" he replied, wrapping his arms around me.
"Is mommy going to be o.k.?"
"Yes, mommy's going to be fine." He said sighing, getting ready to stand up. I crawled off of his lap and laid down on my bed.
"Why did she cry?" I asked, close to tears myself.
"You know what?" he asked leaning down to kiss my forehead and pulling the comforter up over me.
"What?" I asked sniffling, watching him head to the door.
"We will explain everything when you're older." He turned off the lights
"Promise?" I asked, snuggling into the blanket, still sniffling.
"I promise," he answered, shutting the door.
So I would know soon enough right? If not I would ask as soon as I could. I took off down the road, the same one Fin took off down two nights ago. We were at the festival when one of the guys from our grade asked me to dance. On any other day, I might have even said yes, if it weren't for the smell of alcohol on his breath. Panicky I looked around, there was no one around who could help me. The guy took my hand and started dragging me away when Fin appeared out of nowhere.
"There you are." He said casually to me, totally ignoring the brute that was hauling me off.
"Hey Fin," I responded deciding, probably stupidly, to trust him and play along.
"Come on," he said, "you promised to dance to me." He said sounding whiny.
I rolled my eyes. He was certainly cutting it close, I should have been gone hours ago, before things really picked up, but I'm not known for my great sense of judgment. Now I was stuck with only Fin to help me, who isn't exactly known for being the greatest source of judgment either. This was hopeless.
"Come on," he tried, breaking me out of the other guy's grip, which wasn't too hard in his drunken stupor.
"Tease!" the brute called over his shoulder as he walked away to find another girl. Fin just laughed at this last comment made about me. I gave him a deserved kick to the shin.
"Oh, is that anyway to thank the gentleman that just saved you? " Fin had asked teasingly.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry! How can I ever make it up to you?" I asked mockingly right back.
He laughed before answering, "hmmm, I can think of more than one way…" that comment followed by a smirk that set me off. I gave him a hard and REALLY deserved kick to the shin this time.
"Owww! What was that for?" Fin demanded
"Having a dirty mind!" I replied, giving him a smirk of my own. His face broke out into a ridiculous grin. I hated how it made me smile in response. Fin was the son of my mom's best friend, so we had pretty much grown up together. We both learned to hunt and bake, and there is a reason he's still allowed in my dad's bakery, while I was not. My mom taught me and Fin how to hunt. I seemed to have developed my mom's skill, as well as both of my parent's arts. It was too bad, Fin was a good shot, but preferred to help out in the bakery, couldn't take the silence, which was just so, Fin.
"Can I walk you home?" he asked, almost sincerely and just a tad bit gentlemanly. ", a party like this is no place for an innocent girl like you." He scolded. Of course, I replied with a simple eye roll of annoyance.
"Seriously, can I?" he asked, I normally would have said no, but there was something compelling about his voice.
"Sure," I replied. He jokingly put his arm out, like a real gentleman would. Being his best friend, he took it.
"So, no girls killing each other to get a chance with the magnificent Fin?" I asked. I knew something was up because; the joking atmosphere was suddenly gone. He scowled at me.
"You know what I mean," I sighed, after getting no response from him. He untangled his arm out of mine.
"Look," he said, commanding my attention. "You know I'm not like that." He demanded
"I know." I said, stopping to face him.
"Are you sure?" he asked. Did I really believe he was like that? Of course not, if he was we wouldn't be best friends.
"Yes, Fin what is this about?" I asked getting nervous now. We started walking again, I remember being thankful that my house would be coming up in a few seconds.
"There's a girl… and she needs to know this," o.k. I'll play along.
"Oh, and why does this girl need to know?" I asked trying to sound casual.
"Because, if she knew this, than she wouldn't doubt how much I loved her." He replied simply, jamming his hands into his pockets. We climbed up the steps to my front porch, making it into what everyone calls "The Village"
"And who might this lucky girl be?" I asked with genuine curiosity. His eyes flashed, something I wish I didn't knew.
"God, Posy! I should have left you to tease the other guy instead!" his out lash stung, even the memory brought tears to my eyes. He huffed away, going across the street to his house. I turned opened the door, and slammed it shut.
So now, Fin has been avoiding me, and it's killing me. How is it my fault if I didn't want a relationship with someone I wasn't sure I liked, let alone loved? I finally got to district square, and was standing in front of the bakery. Mellark Bakery, as the sign read. I practically lived here. I peered inside the window, hoping not be noticed, but it was empty, so of course, I walked in to check it out.
"Be right with you!" called my dad from the back. Great, he could be back there. I gave him the signal, one he said mom and him had used for a long time, asking if the coast was clear. I was relieved when he repeated it right back. Where would I be without good ole dad? He came around to the counter after a minute.
"It's so weird with no one else here," I commented.
"It's the rain," he replied.
"Did Fin show up today?" I asked, a little too hopefully for comfort.
"No, why?" My dad asked in sudden alarm. Great, he was here.
"Did he ask about me?" I knew from the look on my dad's face that it was a lot more to it than that.
"He told me everything," my dad had replied.
"When?" I demanded. I wouldn't usually talk to him this way, but this was really important.
"Three days ago," now he was icing a cake to put on display.
"Wait… Three days ago?" Now I know why no one asked me what was wrong.
"He's a good kid Posy." He replied simply, and I knew I wouldn't get anything else out of him. So I decided to get what I really came here for.
"Dad?" I asked timidly, there must be a reason they never talked about this.
"yes…" he asked, not even looking up from the cake he was working on.
"How did you and mom meet?" I asked. This got his attention.
"We were in school together," he answered carefully.
"So how did you know you were in love with her?" I asked. He got a dreamy look in his eyes.
"I knew I loved your mom the second I heard her sing and everything held its breath to listen." Still not exactly what I wanted, but it was a start.
"Need anything else?" he asked laughing, holding up a bag, which I knew was filled with cheese buns.
"Thanks dad!" I called over my shoulder as I took the bag and headed out the door.
"Tell your mom I'll be home soon!" he called after me. I'd have a lot more to tell her if she was awake when I got back
A/N: hey guys, so this took me over three days, I almost puked trying to type while driving the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. If you're ever up there in northern Georgia, check out Fort Mountain it has an amazing view, and a cool story behind it. Well now I'm back in good ole flat Florida. It's too late to go to sleep, and too early to be awake, so yeah. Hope you guys like it. I'm proud of myself, almost 2,000 words of actual story, and about 4 and a half pages, I'm doing pretty good if you consider 4 chapters of my last story had close to 400 LOL! So please review and let me know if it was terrible or not. I just finished the last two books about two days ago, and have been reading Meg Cabot and Maximum Ride Manga ever since. Tell me if you like the names, and if you can guess the parents of everyone! If you have a problem with the ages, it works out in my mind and that's good enough for me so Thanks for reading! Please review!