Here is Chapter 9! Thanks for the reviews!
Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or any of its characters.
Chapter 9
Before Katniss knew it, the Victory Tour was here. Effie, Cinna, and her prep team arrived in District 12 a week early to prepare her for the tour. She never realized all the work that went into it. There were fittings with Cinna, speech practices with Haymitch, and etiquette classes with Effie. Every day was fully planned.
The day before her departure, Haymitch and Effie gave her the day off. She spent her day with her mother and Prim. That evening, she was spending time with Peeta after he was done working in the bakery. They planned on meeting at her house in the Seam. Katniss went to the back to start a fire in the fire pit her father built when she was young.
Even though it was December, the weather was still mild. In fact, it was the warmest December on record. There was a chill in the air but the fire would take care of that. She still brought out some blankets just in case. Peeta walked around to meet her.
"Hey, sorry I'm late." he said as he walked up and hugged her. That's what they did now.
"What's in the bag?" she asked him.
"Treats." he said. They sat on a blanket on the ground and leaned back on the log behind him. He reached into his bag and pulled out a bag of marshmallows. Katniss retrieved two thin branches from a nearby tree. She used a knife to clean the bark off the ends. They pierced their marshmallows onto their sticks and held them near the fire. Katniss' had gotten too close and ignited on fire. She cringed as it made her think about her time in the arena. Peeta pulled her stick toward him and blew out the flames. He removed the marshmallow from the stick and threw it into the fire.
"Try it again." he said as he replaced it with a new one. "So, how are you feeling about tomorrow?"
"How do you think?" she said giving him a look.
"You'll do fine. You've already have been through the worst."
"Yeah."
"Katniss, do you ever think about what it would have been like if we had gone into the Games together?" he asked her. She wasn't expecting this.
"No." she said honestly.
"I have."
"And?"
"I would have done exactly what he did."
"It's easy to say that now. You know me."
"I knew you back then."
"Not really."
"I guess it wouldn't have mattered anyway. I wouldn't have made it past the second day." he said before he ate the marshmallow off the stick.
"Yes you would have."
"I'm a baker Katniss. Those skills don't really apply." he said. She thought back to the train ride to the Capitol with Gale. He didn't think that Peeta would have lasted long but Katniss knew better than that.
"You're strong. I've seen those bags of flour you have to lift. And you're smart. You are also quite charming. You would definitely get the sponsors and would form an alliance with someone in the arena."
"I'm charming?" he asked with interest. She immediately regretted saying that.
"Yes, how else do you think everyone likes you?"
"I guess you are right." he said.
"Peeta, how much of the Games did you watch?" she asked him.
"A lot. Why?"
"I was just wondering what things they left out in the initial broadcast." she said. It was well known that sometimes some questionable scenes made it through the occasional live airings of the Games. On the highlights and rebroadcasts, they would be cut out once the Gamemakers knew what happened.
"Tell me what they are and I'll tell you if I saw them."
"The cliff jump."
"Yes."
"What about the rebellion song I sang near the end?"
"About three lines into the song, they had audio difficulties." he said.
"How convenient." Katniss said sarcastically. "What about what Gale said right before he died?"
"They didn't show that."
"Oh." Katniss said gazing into the fire. It must have been really bad if they didn't show it. They usually run the whole finale live. No wonder President Snow threatened her at the crowning ceremony. She felt Peeta's arm around her shoulder and she leaned into the side of him, resting her head on his chest.
"What's wrong, Katniss?" he asked her. She debated whether or not she should tell him about the threat, or about how much danger she could be in if the tour doesn't go smoothly. She decided not to. It would only make him worry while she is away.
"I just wish I didn't have to go." she ended up saying.
"It will be over before you know it." he said. She could tell he was trying to keep her optimistic.
"I hope." she said quietly. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths through her nose. This helped to relax her.
"Katniss…Katniss wake up." Peeta whispered into her ear.
"Huh?"
"You drifted off."
"Oh, sorry."
"Do you want to go inside?" he asked her.
"No, let's stay out here for just a little longer." she said. She felt him lean to the right, and then felt a blanket being wrapped around the both of them. She rested her head closer to his body so that her ear was level with his heart. She could hear it beating steadily. She wondered if it always beat that steady for him. He always seemed so calm.
He must have thought that she had fallen asleep again, but this time he didn't wake her. He gently laid Katniss on the ground before he extinguished the fire. Then she felt him lift her up and carry her into the house. She cracked open one of her eyes to see where he was taking her next. He opened the door to her room and brought her to her small bed in the corner. She was surprised he even knew where her room was. He then sat her in his lap as he removed her boots and then tucked her under her covers. She was a little disappointed when she heard his footsteps walk away from her. She wished he had stayed. A minute later her wish came true as she heard him return. He was probably just locking up the house. She heard his shoes clunk to the ground and then he joined her under the covers. She felt him wrap his arm around her waist as he pulled himself closer to her. She couldn't help but to smile in the darkness.
The next morning, they walked back through the Seam to Victor's Village. She noticed Peeta was quieter than usual. She knew he was going to miss her. It seemed that any free time they had, they spent together. She didn't know what she could say to him, so she just remained silent. When they got to Victor's Village, she took his hand. This seemed to have the opposite effect of what she intended.
"It's not like I'm going back into the arena, Peeta." she sighed. "It's like you said…it's only two weeks."
"Yeah." he said looking at the ground. She couldn't understand why he was acting this way. He had his other friends and his brothers. It wasn't as if he was going to be all alone. Before she knew it, she was standing across him in the entry hall inside her house.
"I guess this is it." Katniss said to him.
"I'm going to miss you." he told her.
"I'll miss you too." she said wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She felt his arms wrap snugly around her as he closed the gap between them.
"I know I've told you this a hundred times before but I just wanted to say thank you for everything. If it weren't for you, I'd still be up in that bedroom."
"I'm glad I could help." he said in response. Then, they stood in silence, still embracing each other, for what felt like forever. She could hear footsteps coming towards the hall from the kitchen followed by the clearing of a throat. She knew it was Haymitch.
"Time to say goodbye." he said to them. They both quickly dropped their arms and looked his way. "Ok, I get it. I'll be in the kitchen."
Katniss and Peeta kept their goodbyes short. Once he had left, she saw Haymitch return to the hall with a smug look on his face. Then, he started to chuckle.
"What's so funny?" she huffed.
"You like him too." he said with a wide smile.
"We're just friends." she corrected him.
"Does he know that?" Haymitch asked.
"Of course he does."
"You know, Katniss, I was young once too and I sure as hell wouldn't be spending as much time as that kid does with you just to be a friend." At this point in the conversation, Katniss wasn't sure if Haymitch was taunting her or trying to give her advice.
"We like spending time together. Is there anything wrong with that?" she asked him.
"No, but I think you need to make sure you're on the same page."
"We are."
"Ok…well you better get upstairs now. You have a lot of cleaning up to do." he said as he looked at his watch. "I'll see you at the station."
Katniss went to her room and was shocked to see it transformed into a mini version of the Remake Center. The process was just the same as it had been the first time her prep team worked on her in the Capitol.
As they worked on her, she couldn't help but think of the conversation she just had with Haymitch. She tried to think of anything she might have said or done that could be taken the wrong way. They did seem to hug a lot but he always seemed to initiate it. Plus, friends are allowed to hug. Then she thought about something that friends don't do. They don't fall asleep next to each other night after night. It's not like anything had ever happened between them. It was totally innocent…at least on her part. Ever since The Hunger Games, she had difficulty sleeping alone. It usually led to horrific nightmares. Having someone next to her helped.
After the prep team was done, Cinna came in and dressed her in knee length black dress that had some embellishments on the shoulders and a pair of matching flats. She said goodbye to her family and got into a car to take her to the station. They major gave a send off speech and then they were off.
Katniss had relaxed about halfway through the tour. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be apart from seeing the families of the tributes that didn't make it in the front of her in the audience. The days seemed to follow the same pattern. She would wake up, get ready, tour the District, have lunch with her team, be prepped by her team, go to the square for a speech, and then have dinner with the mayor. Cinna had worked his magic once again and created an outfit that matched the characteristics of the district she was in (without being overdone or gaudy). He even honored her request and had created some looks that weren't dresses.
When Katniss arrived in District 5, she grew a little wary. She wasn't sure how the people of that District felt about that meeting between her and Foxface. Would they be angry that she killed her or grateful that she ended her suffering?
When she stood at the podium on the stage, she could see Foxface's family to the left. They all had the same fiery red hair as her. They didn't look angry with her, which was a relief. After the mayor said a few words of congratulations and handed her a plaque, it was her turn to speak. As soon as she began to speak, the whole square went dark. She thought this was odd since this was the district that was in charge of providing power. She also found it odd that no one seemed alarmed by this. She heard a whoosh, like the sound of fabric falling. Then she saw a few spotlights come on. There was a spotlight on her as well as on the flag of Panem hanging to right of her from the top of the Justice Building. At least that's what was supposed to be there. She turned her body to see that a large stretch of black fabric with a Mockingjay sewn in the middle had covered the flag of their nation. What happened next shocked her even more.
The people of District 5 started singing…it was the rebellion song she had sung in the arena. She wondered how they could have possibly known the words if the sound had been cut off. Did someone in District 5 pass down the song, just as her family had done for generations? Maybe they taught it to other people in the district as well.
It didn't take long for the Peacekeepers to break into action. Katniss froze as she saw them firing their guns into the crowd. She heard the sound of women and children screaming and crying. They whole thing seemed surreal to her. She felt Haymitch grab her and lead her off the stage. The rest of her team followed.
"Haymitch what is that…what's going on?" she asked him in a panic.
"That, my dear, is an uprising." he said in a serious tone. The team quickly made their way to the train station to get out of the District as soon as possible to escape any of the repercussions.
Katniss sat watching the landscape of District 5 whirl past her through the window. She knew she was in trouble. President Snow would find out about this and then do something to make her pay. Her mind went straight to Prim and all she wanted to do was to be there with her now to keep her safe.
So...what did you think of that uprising?
Next chapter is the chapter you've all been waiting for! You'll finally know what happened to Gale :O Look for that on Sunday or Monday...
