I soon find myself sitting in a new room that is almost identical to the last. Warm lighting, furniture upholstered in rich dark colours and a rather extravagant chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. The main differences between this room and the last being the presence of a large bed and the absence of the snake eyed President Snow. The room is lush and comforting, but I am not a fool, I am aware that this current hospitality toward me is for a restricted time only. Snow's threats of torturing me should I fail in my mission of achieving a ceasefire only confirm that even though it isn't evident now, I am still a prisoner. I change into the clean clothing that has obviously been set out for me, glad to be rid of the paper hospital gown I found myself in when I regained consciousness after the explosion. I observe the sweater before putting it on, taking in its beautiful colour, Green. My thoughts instantly fall of Katniss, each of my conscious seconds since the arena have been taken over by questioning and being informed of everything I've missed that I haven't had a real chance to think about her. I wonder how she is doing, if she is hurt, if she misses me, or if what the Capitol are saying is true and she has completely dismissed me and left me behind not only in reality but also in her thoughts.
Upon my request a Capitol attendant brings me the footage of the last moments in the arena, I watch it in hope that I might be able to put more pieces of the puzzle together and finally determine whether or not Katniss was in on the rebels plan. I watch Katniss and Johanna notice the cut wire then Johanna using the coil to hit Katniss over the head to knock her out whilst she cut out her tracker. I see Katniss cling onto consciousness and attempt to make her way back to me, or the tree, I'm not sure. Beetee attempts to shove his knife connected to the wire into the force field and fails, and Katniss finds his limp body and analyses the situation, then I watch her string the wire to her bow and shoot it straight into the force field just as the lightning strikes. It really does look like Katniss was trying to piece together the situation and was acting in the moment when she destroyed the arena, and from experience I am aware that Katniss' acting skills are not her strongest trait. I suddenly recall the kiss we shared on the beach and I feel my heart begin to race, a huge part of me is certain that the kiss and all the emotions behind it were real but I am painfully reminded that I have been fooled by Katniss' kisses and her acting before, who is to say that I am not being fooled again.
I feel completely pathetic as I come to terms with the fact that uncertainty is something I cannot bear and really I am uncertain about everything. I feel a pit of despair begin to form inside of me so I do my best to think of the things I do know for sure. There is a District 13 and they have been able to survive on their own for 75 years but I am unsure as to how they managed to do so. I recall the days we sometimes spent without profit, and therefore food, at the bakery due to the fact that the Capitol was late in delivering our purchased ingredients. It was then I truly realized that our entire life was in the hands of Capitol and if they chose to never deliver our supplies again we would most likely starve. How has 13 done it? I think of Katniss hunting in the woods, I guess 13 could have hunted food as well but enough to feed an entire district? Doubts about the sustainability of 13 begin to form in my mind, it is true that their existence is impressive in itself, but surely they are a population only just surviving, the rebels there can only be at a colossal disadvantage in a war against the Capitol. I remember Snow's certainty as he ensured that the rebels would lose against him and I am sure he is right. It is remarkable that they managed to destroy the arena and save tributes lives, but the advantage of having Plutarch and victors on their side would have played major roles in that. I feel fairly certain that no group could stand a chance against the Capitol, armed with its control over 12 districts and this makes me only more desperate in achieving my mission of getting a ceasefire. As much as I hate the Capitol and what they stand for with their overindulgence and Hunger Games, I do not see any point in starting a war where one side is certain to lose; it is only a waste of human life. I think of the one life I am most interested in protecting, Katniss, I honestly do not know if she was working with the rebels but I do know that I need to make sure she doesn't associate herself with the anymore or her death will be certain when they eventually fall.
Hours pass and I eventually tire of all the wild thoughts running through my head and decide to distract myself by exploring the room I have only just realized I am locked in. The drawers by the bed are empty of clothing but the ones in the coffee table are occupied, I pull out everything I find in the draws and search through them. I notice that most are filled with magazines, each with its cover occupied by a beautiful, but rather eccentric looking woman. Boredom gets the better of be and I find myself flipping through the pages of bizarre clothing until I see a familiar face in one of the pictures, Cinna. It seems the magazine has dedicated an entire section to Cinna and his fashion creations and as I turn the page I see Katniss, looking as beautiful as ever in the photographs, wearing Cinna's clothing. I am in the photos too, most of the time standing by Katniss' side and I am shocked to see that we actually look happy and very much in love. No wonder why the Capitol citizens never doubted us, they were constantly fed images and videos of Katniss and I looking joyful with each other, I would have believed it too. When the images become all to painful to look at any further I resort of building card houses with a deck of cards I found underneath the magazines. This act becomes a saving grace; it requires enough of my concentration so I am unable to ponder on my thoughts, so for two full days all I do is eat, build card houses, battle with my own thoughts and sleep.
I begin to wonder what is taking them so long in deciding what to do with me, but during an afternoon a prep team enters my room and I become aware that they are making me camera ready. So this was it, this was my only chance from Snow to send a message to Katniss and the rebels and also to convince the country that both she and I were not a part of the plan to outsmart the Capitol and destroy the arena. When the team is satisfied with my appearance I am escorted to training centre where I enter the all too familiar set of my interviews. I am surprised to see Snow waiting in the wings of the stage but I compose myself.
"This is your only chance to redeem her Peeta" he says plainly.
"I know" I reply honestly, "I'll get a ceasefire and I'll convince the country that Katniss isn't working for the rebels".
"Convince me" Snow orders firmly and on those words I am called onto the stage to be once again interviewed by Caesar Flickerman.