Disclaimer: I own the burt's bees chap stick sitting in my pocket, not The Hunger Games
The only thing I could make sense of through all this chaos was Peeta's hand, strongly guiding me towards wherever it was we needed to go. He pulled me down with him onto a plush red couch, protectively wrapping an arm around my shoulders. All of a sudden the constant buzz of noise ceased. I lifted my head to the sea of people, all eyes were on me. I turned my head towards an amused Caesar Flickerman. I just now noticed his bubble gum hair and matching pink suit. He gave me an expectant look.
"I'm sorry, am I missing something?" I asked. Caesar chuckled at my confusion.
"You haven't changed a bit." He shook his head. "I said you're looking very pretty, as always. You've really grown up over the past few years."I blushed at the compliment.
"Thank you. I really like your hair by the way. Pink suits you."
Peeta interrupted "Alright that's enough flirting you two!" My eyes widened in shock.
"You've got to be kidding me! You're threatened by Caesar Flickerman? He could be my dad!" I held back laughter.
"Hey, I'm not that old!" Caesar argued. "Besides, I have better pick up lines than that if I'm interested in someone."
Peeta and I simultaneously raised our eyebrows.
"Okay like what?" Peeta asked.
Caesar thought for a moment and then spoke, looking directly at Peeta. "Baby, you're the next contestant in the game of love." As if some one pressed play on a soundtrack, the whole audience erupted with noise.
"That's bad. Like really bad." I said in between fits of laughter.
"I've got one." Peeta spoke up. I turned towards him. "Do you believe in love at first sight or do I need to walk by again?" He looked at me longingly while I was practically crying. What happened to the shy awkward Peeta I know and love?
"Katniss, you're turn!" Caesar said. I shook my head 'no' but the audience started chanting my name. Did I even have a choice?
"Ugh fine. This is the only one I know." I sighed. "Do you have a bandaid? I scraped my knee falling for you." I glanced over at Peeta who had nearly fallen out of his chair. I buried my face in my hands as I let my laughter die down.
Eventually the room got quiet again, with an occasional giggle here and there. Caesar straightened out his tie, as if getting down to buisnes.
"So where have you guys been the past few months?"
This question I could have answered easily but Peeta beat me to it.
"After the war Katniss moved back to District 12 and so I joined her. We haven't really done much, we're kind of isolated there. Our only neighbor is Haymitch and maybe a couple other people. It's actually a really weird situation. But I guess there's a lot more work to do. Maybe we can rebuild some of the homes, get some people back there. I mean, our kids are going to need some friends!" Peeta took a second to glance at me. I had no idea he had given it much thought, but I guess I was wondering the same thing. Our kids needed a town to grow up in.
Caesar smiled at me. "So you guys are expecting another baby?!" I quickly shook my head.
"Not yet. I mean I'm not pregnant Caesar. What would my mother say? We still have a lot to figure out but hopefully...in the future...you know, we'll be able to settle down and..." I shyly looked at Peeta. He took my hand in his, as if to reassure me I said the right thing.
"You guys are so cute." Caesar sighed. "I don't want to push things or anything but I think we all would like to know what exactly happened? We don't know much about the war but if you don't want to answer it's okay."
And here's the question we've all been waiting for. What happened? I tried coming up with some sort of answer but my thoughts couldn't form the words. My brain was working a thousand miles a minute, what could I possibly say to a room full of strangers? What could I possibly say to all of Panem? Peeta always knew the right thing to say... As if on que, he spoke up for the both of us. Maybe he hasn't changed that much after all.
"Well a lot's happened over the past couple of years. I think that could be said for everyone. But I guess it all started with the berries. I didn't know it at first but apparently Snow saw it as an act of rebellion, and it sparked a revolution. It was bound to happen eventually, things were never good for people in the Districts, especially District 12. My second time in the arena, things got tense. Rebel groups were growing larger and their leaders were hidden in the capital. A few of them were in our career pack during the games. One of them managed to break the force field that kept us trapped in the game. Katniss got out but...I didn't. I don't want to go into much detail but the Capital tried turning me into a weapon. Rewiring my brain, altering my memories so that I hated Katniss. They wanted to use me to get to her because they know how much I mean to her. It almost worked, but not quite. Katniss was hiding in District 13 and then managed to break me out of the Capital. Things were bad at first. I wasn't myself. But I was sent to the Capital anyways along with Katniss' group during the end of the war and I was there when Snow went down. Afterwards, they didn't know what to do with me. After a few months under supervision the doctors said I was stable enough to move back to District 12 and I've been there ever since. It hasn't been easy, but Katniss helped me find myself again. True love does conquer all."
The crowd was silent. Soaking in all this information. I had no idea he would say that much, but now I realize how important it was for people to know the truth. They're always kept in the dark. If things were to change, we needed to be open with them. So I guess I needed to speak up too.
"Being in District 13 was hard." I started. "Possibly the hardest thing I've ever been through was seeing the person I love so hurt and I couldn't do anything about it. I felt helpless, I felt useless, I felt weak. Snow is good, really good. I almost broke, but instead of feeling sorry for myself I chose to make things right. I made it to the capital, I watched my friends die, my sister die. I nearly lost it. My only request was to kill Snow. Right before the execution, the soon to be president, Coin, called a meeting for all the remaining victors. She wanted to vote on whether or not we have one last Hunger Games for the children of politicians. That's when I knew what I had to do. I had to kill her because all the people who died, the whole war would have been for nothing if we went back to the way it was before. So I shot her, and Snow died too. It all worked out in the end. I was in a really dark place after that, alone in District 12. But Peeta came back and by some miracle we've managed to fix things between us."
I took a deep breath. I said more than I'd ever thought of saying, but it needed to be done. These people deserved to know that happy endings aren't impossible. It started with a few people, but slowly people started lifting three fingers to their lips and raising their left hand up at us. It means thank you, it means admiration, it means good-bye to a loved one. I mimicked their action and Peeta followed. After lowering my fingers I spoke one last time.
"We've all been through a lot this past year. We've all lost loved one's. I admire every single one of you for your bravery. It's not easy for any one of us but if I've learned anything it's that we can't let the grief win. You have to be strong and you have to try to be okay about it or you'll never get better. I'm confident that Panem will be okay. We've got a great President to help us. And I'll always be around to kick some ass if you need me."
Caesar had tears in his eyes but tried to pull it together for the camera.
"I'm afraid that's all the time we have today folks. Thank you Katniss and Peeta, for coming out here today. Hopefully we'll see you guys soon. Good night Panem!"
He finished and the camera's turned off.