Chapter 7: Peacekeeper Arena

I fall pregnant with Darius's child not long after our wedding. In February of the following year, I give birth to our daughter.

When the child is weeks old, disaster strikes.

The 75th Hunger Games, or Third Quarter Quell, announced it's special twist: "As a reminder that even the Capitol's enforcers are not immune to its power, the tributes will be Reaped from the leaders of the district's Peacekeeping forces."

Darius, my husband, will be going into the arena. With Purnia, the wife of my good friend. Even worse, I will have to mentor them both.

The morning of the Reaping, I wake wrapped in my husband's arms, both of us naked after making passionate love the night before. So it is all too easy for me to straddle him and take him in my mouth. My lips spring up his shaft desperately, as I attempt to swallow him whole. Darius jovially wakes to the surprise, curling his fingers into my hair, the digits sinking into my skull, as he writhes against me to completion. I finish him off, and then give him a lingering kiss so he can taste himself on my tongue.

It is our only bit of happiness all day. Sitting on the stage next to Haymitch, with my daughter in my arms, I watch as my husband and Purnia are predictably Reaped.

I do everything I can to save my husband. I mentor him with vigor, go to all the sponsors, try every angle. The Capitol is intrigued that I, a Victor, would marry a Peacekeeper, so Darius's story is intriguing to them.

But it isn't enough. Betrayed to the arena, most of the Peacekeeper leaders refuse to fight at first. The Gamemakers kill most of them off. Purnia and Darius get to the Final Four, but when these remaining tributes also refuse to kill each other at a Feast, bombs are dropped that utterly destroy the arena. The Capitol would rather have no Victor than one who might inspire the districts to rise up. My love is destroyed. I will never see him again.

Gale goes mad with grief at the loss of his wife; he is killed in a mine explosion. Although it is never proven, there is a suspicion that Gale committed suicide, in the form of a last act of rebellion.

The messy end to the Quell actually has the opposite effect on the districts. They all bravely rise up, and the critical difference is that the Peacekeeping forces rise up with them. Nevertheless, the effort takes its toll. Thousands of district citizens are killed, solider and civilian alike. Delly Mellark is among them. She was pregnant at the time too. Peeta is crestfallen.

Fall turns towards winter. Winter turns to spring. The seasons change like this with a rapid pace for the first several years after Darius is taken from me. The rebellion continues, eventually ending Panem's regime. I live from day to day, taking care of Darius's and my daughter, going hunting in the mornings and delivering what I can. Most of trades go towards helping the war effort. My last stop is always Mellark's Bakery, where I will sometimes spend hours with Peeta, comforting him, until I have to pick up Demelza, my daughter, up from school.

One winter's evening, about five years after the Quell, I stop by the bakery and ask Peeta if he would like to go for a walk. He happily agrees, and we stroll through Town and then the Seam, all decorated for Christmas. We talk and laugh, and I feel how Peeta's eyes are on me. It fills me with satisfaction that I am bringing him happiness after the loss of his wife.

At one point, I feel Peeta's lips brush my cheek. I stop walking and turn to stare at him. Peeta must think I'm displeased, and obviously remembering that encounter from the night before my Reaping, mumbles "Sorry."

"You missed," I blink, amused.

"What?"

"You missed," I repeat, and then I point above my head. "Mistletoe." A sprig is hanging in the doorway of the shop next to us. To show him what I mean, I pull him to me and kiss him full on the mouth.

It is like something has been awakened inside of me. And even though it is scary, even though I am not sure if I love Peeta or have reached the point of being in love with him yet, I feel that I could reach that place in time. I jump back into his arms, and soon we are kissing more furiously, caressing each other and gripping at each other's clothes. I plant open-mouthed kisses along his lips, his face, his jaw. Working my way along his neck, I whisper in his ear:

"I will marry you on one condition: you don't get to tell me what to do."

Peeta draws away, astonished at my impulsive proposal, even though he didn't ask me that himself. Beaming, he kisses me deeply. "Deal. Children?"

I think for a moment, and then smile up at him. "Very possible." And I would do it for him. Have his children. He lost his chance to be a parent when Delly died. Besides, Demelza would like to have a sibling, I know.

Peeta and I kiss passionately once more, before returning to the Bakery to plan our wedding.

I don Mother's old wedding dress for the second time. I feel fortunate to have both Mother and Prim here to witness me get married once more; Peeta lost his whole family to the Rebellion. His father and both his brothers fought, and his mother was ironically executed on suspicion of spying for the Rebels.

After Toasting the bread, Peeta and I share a tender kiss over the fire, with my daughter present. Then, that night, I let Peeta take me to bed and make love to him, to consummate our marriage.

For the first time in a good long while, I don't feel as lonely.