Hi! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/favourite-d/followed, it feels awesome to know there are people who like what I write :) Anyway, *throws confetti* we've made it into double figures! Yay! Chapter 10 coming up!
I wake as the sun rises, and get dressed, because I know I can't go back to sleep now. I throw on a robe on top of my normal clothes, because it's pretty cold here. Yawning, I pull the door open and walk into the long corridor, no real purpose in my mind. Slowly, slowly, I make my way to the gardens deep within District 13. I sniff the fake lilies happily, because someone somewhere took the time to spray each flower with its individual scent. There is a faint sound of birds chirping, probably playing on some sort of sound system. I sit on the wooden bench where I finally learned to understand Gale, and replay our conversation in my head, letting my gaze wander from flower to flower. Suddenly, I hear the pitter-patter of footsteps coming towards me, and look up.
"Can't sleep either?" Katniss whispers softly, wrapping a robe similar to mine tightly around herself.
I smile and shake my head. I know I probably look a mess right now, but I don't really care. All I'm aware of is Katniss and flowers. Pale pink light filters in through the windows on the ceiling, showing us how tantalizingly close we are to the other people above ground. The light casts a breath-taking glow around Katniss' face, bathing her features in a pool of colour. She looks even more beautiful this way.
"I come here nearly every morning when the sun rises, you know," she says, bending down and cupping a fallen flower in her hands. It is a Rue flower. Even I know that with my lack of knowledge of plants. I know that because of the time that one couple asked me to ice rue flowers on their anniversary cake, and I had to go to the meadow to know what they were talking about. Katniss sits down next to me on the bench and looks around, her eyes filled with joy.
"I like it here, too," I say.
"Do you think we'll be allowed to go to District 8?" she asks. "You did a really good job of convincing Coin, Peeta. Thanks."
"It's okay. I hope we'll be able to go. I've been wanting to go above ground for weeks."
Katniss leans closer towards me. "I don't really trust Coin. There's something about her."
"I know what you mean. She seems ruthless," I admit, pretending to observe the rue flower in her hand. This whole scene reminds me of something… Yes. It reminds me of the night before our first Hunger Games started, when we were on the roof, watching the people of the Capitol partying in the streets. Celebrating our misery. We both have the same fear of being watched here as we did back then. This makes me reconsider President Coin altogether. It's not that hard to compare her to President Snow, now that you think about it. And they have a lot more similarities than they do differences.
"I'm still nervous about this whole thing failing. What if the Capitol crushes the rebellion?" Katniss grimaces.
"I don't know. I guess it'll be back into the arena for us. I think I'm becoming friends with the arena, now. I know it quite well," I chuckle. "And with the Mockingjay, we have quite a good chance."
"Oh, please. How am I supposed to fuel a war?"
I laugh quietly. "You have no idea, the effect you can have."
Katniss looks up at me suddenly. Her eyes study my face, until she looks into my eyes. Her brow is furrowed and her lips pursed, as if she wants to say something but she doesn't know what to say. There is a long pause, in which I watch Katniss run her fingers through her hair. I don't know how to react, and I don't think she does either.
"You've said that before," she murmurs, "or something like that."
"I have?" I reply absent-mindedly. "When?"
Katniss braids her hair slowly. "Before the 74th Hunger Games. You said it to Haymitch. At first I thought you were trying to demean me, but then I thought it was a compliment, in some way…"
"It was. It is," I assure her, holding her gaze. I don't know if I should do this, but I cautiously reach out, take the small, perfect rue flower from her hands and gently place it in her glossy, dark hair. Then I quickly withdraw my hand, just in case. Instead of scolding me, Katniss gives me a very, very small smile. I return it, glad that I'm not in trouble for that somewhat risky move.
"When do you think I should tell Prim?" she asks. I know Prim is the only thing she really, truly cares about.
"About 8? We don't even know if we're going yet," I remind her, waiting to see if she will make a move to take the flower out of her hair. She doesn't, and it makes me smile.
"I'm sure we will."
"You have that much faith in me?" I laugh.
"I have faith in your abilities. We all told you, you were the smoothest talker out of all of us. You had the audience from the get go. Paired with Caesar Flickerman, your interview stole the show." I can tell Katniss is trying to avoid the topic about my declaration of love for her in front of all of Panem.
"Are you saying I can talk better than THE Finnick Odair?" I gasp in mock astonishment. Katniss gives me one of her 'it's laugh-worthy but I don't laugh all that often' smiles. I wonder if she knows that I'm falling for her all over again. Oh Peeta, I think. You're like a lovesick puppy. I wonder if she's still as indifferent towards me as ever. No. She was never indifferent, she just never loved you. She never will love you. So stop it.
I sigh quietly and decide to listen to the stern voice in my head. If I keep thinking like this then the tracker jacker venom will have something to target. And I do not want Katniss' blood on my hands. No, sir. I hear voices in the distance and know that the rest of District 13 is starting to waken. Which means our conversation is over. Realizing this, I get up and tell Katniss that breakfast should be ready by now. So we leave the gardens and make our way towards the dining hall, where the smell of freshly baked bread, eggs and sausage wafts through the air. The bread reminds me of home.
As soon as I enter the dining hall I realise that I'm still in my robe, and so is Katniss. I shrug away the thought, at least we have normal clothes on underneath. We grab the flimsy plastic trays and wait in the queue for the cooked breakfast. As I watch other people carry away the juicy sausages, warm eggs and buttered toast away my stomach gives a low growl. Breakfast looks good today. We grab the plates and cutlery and choose a table. It's the table farthest away from everyone else; the one we always choose if we're in early. I take a sip of the diluted concoction that is District 13's equivalent of orange juice.
"This looks good," Katniss remarks, taking a sip of her 'juice'.
"Yeah," I agree, "and I'm ravenous."
"Me too." And at that we dig in, both of us eager to get started.
"The others are late," I tell her, dabbing at my face with a napkin. "It's already nine o'clock."
"Maybe we can get second helpings and pretend it's our first when they get here," Katniss shrugs, but we both know this is impossible. With so many people, there's never enough for second servings. Poor Greasy Sae (as Katniss and Gale call her) can't get many supplies from above ground, or else it might get the Capitol's attention. And we don't exactly have loads of money. Just enough for basics; food, water, clothes, beds, weapons and training facilities. That's all we need. Although the previous victors and those highly involved in the rebellion get special treats, like an en suite bathroom.
A man in a uniform comes towards us just as Gale and Beetee file in. "Have you been stamped yet?" he asks, holding two different stamps in his hands. Usually we get stamped after breakfast, and I see nobody else who has been stamped.
"No," I reply anyway. The man motions for us to hold our wrists and we do. Then, once we're stamped, he walks away from us and towards Gale and Beetee, who are in the queue. I see why it's just us who've been stamped when I look at the schedule. At eleven thirty, when breakfast ends, Meeting with President Coin is there on my wrist in black ink.
"I think this is when we're going to find out if we're going or not," I say. Katniss nods. We finish the last of our toast just as Gale and Beetee sit down next to us, their wrists stamped too. But at eleven thirty, they have Training for Mission. I look up at the queue, to see if anyone else going to 8 is there. Finnick and Annie are, but only Finnick has been stamped. I assume he has the same stamp as Gale and Beetee. Johanna has only entered the dining hall, and the man with the stamps seems to have noticed her too. Soon the rest of Squad 451 is in the breakfast queue, and Stamp Man has approached all of them to stamp the slightly altered schedule on their wrists.
Johanna, Finnick and Annie sit down next to us. We greet them with smiles.
"So, what do you think Training for Mission will involve?" Johanna asks, her mouth full of toast.
"I have no idea, but I'm sure it won't be too different from normal training," Finnick replies, running his thumb gently against Annie's hand as he holds it. Annie snuggles closer to him and rests her head against his shoulder. It's images like these that remind me of my first Hunger Games with Katniss; the scenes in the cave when she was just pretending. To me the feeling was as real as it is now.
"Our stamps our different," I say nodding my head at Beetee, who is sitting next to me.
"Our?" Johanna looks at me questioningly.
"Katniss' and mine. We have a meeting with Coin, which I assume means we're finding out if we're allowed to go to District 8."
"Good luck," Beetee smiles.
"Any news about the weapon development?" Katniss asks, referring to Gale and Beetee.
"Yeah, it's going pretty well actually," Gale answers, sipping his makeshift juice.
"We've come up with- well, not a new weapon exactly, but something of the sort," Beetee adds.
"Cool. I can't wait to show the Capitol that we kick butt," Johanna grins evilly. The buzzed off haircut makes her eyes look more prominent, and with her evil expression, she pretty much looks like a diabolical schemer. The thought of Johanna wearing a white coat and goggles in a lab combining chemicals together in a flask makes me laugh.
"What?" she hisses.
"Nothing, nothing…" I grin, "I can really imagine you as an evil genius."
"Except without the genius part," Gale smirks, and Johanna slaps him semi-lightly on the arm.
"Hey! You should have seen me in my games. I was lickle babykins Johanna, got a 3 in training, and then I got my hands on an axe! Those kids didn't stand a chance," Johanna laughs, almost sadly.
At this point, I feel almost sorry for Johanna. They killed everybody she ever cared about. This makes me remember that my family's dead, too. I look around at the people sitting with me. They're basically all I have left. I have a brief feeling of homesickness. I miss my father, my brothers, and maybe for the first time, my mother. I wonder what will happen to the ruins of my home district. Will it lie there forever, a mass of rubble and debris? Or will people try to gather what they can and rebuild it?
I look at the time on the large clock hanging on the wall. It's ten past eleven; twenty minutes left till our meeting with President Coin. Butterflies soar in my stomach, resting on my stomach lining for the briefest of moments before taking flight again.
"We should probably get going," I say to Katniss, gesturing towards the clock with my thumb. She nods and we pick up our trays and bid the other goodbye. They send us on our way with "Good luck!", "It'll be fine," and "See you later,".
Fifteen minutes later we are standing in front of Coin's door, after dropping off our robes and tidying ourselves up a bit. Katniss decided to keep the fake flower in her hair, which made my heart pound in my chest so loud I thought she would hear it. I rap lightly on the door, hoping she wouldn't be angry that we're five minutes early. Maybe she'll appreciate the punctuality.
"Come in," comes Coin's voice from inside, calm and cool as always.
"Does she live in there!?" Katniss whispers quietly so only I will hear it. I give her a smile and then walk in to Coin's office. Coin is sat in her black leather chair, wearing a black suit. Her grey hair falls to her shoulders and her pale grey eyes show no emotion. She motions for us to take a seat and we do.
"Hello, Peeta. Hello, Katniss," she says, looking at us and smiling.
"Hello," we reply nervously.
"Well, I'm sure you both know what you're here for," she continues. She reminds me of a headmistress calling in children who are in trouble. We nod. "I've had a long talk with Haymitch and the film crew, and we have all decided that… it would be very useful for the rebel districts if you both went to District 8."
"Thanks, you won't regret it," I grin, exchanging looks with Katniss.
Coin tells us we can go. Katniss and I leap out of our seats and leave the office. Just before I close the door, I hear Coin's voice.
"I better not," she says bitterly.
I hope you liked that chapter! Sorry if it got too mushy. Please tell me what you think in the form of a review! :)