:DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN 'THE HUNGER GAMES':
:IT BELONGS TO SUZANNE COLLINS:
Thirteen
"Katniss Everdeen, everybody!" Caesar bellows on the microphone. I walk out form the backstage and face the crowd as I have faced them during my first interview in the Games. We were directed to a different building, close to the monument. The audience is seated before the stage, the Victors together with President Paylor on the first row. Caesar takes my hand and together we sit.
"Many things have changed!" he says.
"Yes" I agree.
"The Capitol no longer lies with the power of a dictator. The Games have stopped entirely and the arenas are to be demolished! Monuments will be built in your honor! District Two, now the capital of security and District Thirteen rises from below. All thanks to you!"
"It was a joint success." I answer.
"Of course!"
"Caesar, do you mind if I tell you the real story? My story." I ask. I glance at Peeta and he smiles at me and gives me a slight nod.
"By all means!" Caesar says with a smile across his face.
And so I do. The audience is in silence now, anticipating my words, eager to hold on to every last bit of what I will tell them. I start in the Clock Arena.
"The Quarter Quell came to everyone as a surprise but we were expecting something like it. We knew that Snow would never really allow us to live happily ever after. He would never allow a representation of defiance live as he does. In the Arena, my goal was to die. I would die to save Peeta though I knew he would never allow me to. All of you believed I was pregnant then; that was a lie. A strategy to play with the hearts of sponsors who would keep us alive. So yes, a great number of bread was sent to us almost everyday. Little did Peeta and I know that the numbers meant something; a date or time when the escape would take place." I look at the faces of the Victors. Most of them avoid my eyes, Beetee cries silently and Johanna with such anger in her expression.
"So the plan was executed. Peeta and I were separated; he at the top of the jungle, Johanna and I, uncoiling the wire down to the ocean. When chaos broke free, I looked for Peeta and came across Beetee. I saw the plan in his hands. The knife that failed to hit the forcefield. I rolled the wire onto my arrow and shot straight. The last thing I saw were the hands of Plutarch closing my own eyes. My last hope was that I was able to kill enough to get Peeta back home." I breeze through the hoverplane incident where Haymitch tells me the plan. The medication I received in Thirteen and proceed to the Mockingjay parts.
"Peeta was not saved from the Arena. So were Johanna and Annie. I was to assume the title Soldier in Thirteen and soon, the Mockingjay if I chose to. But I did not do so without an agreement. Coin was to save and give immunity to all the living Victors including those who were captured especially Peeta; else I will not be the Mockingjay. Such was done and when I finally had Peeta, he clamped his hands around my neck. He was returned to me drugged and poisoned."
"You are to make them love Peeta! Not hate him more, Katniss! What are you trying to do?"Effie's voice comes from the earpiece. Just wait, Effie, I'll get there. Somehow. I think in reply.
"We were sent to a mission to kill President Snow. Peeta among us. He begged us to kill him but I would not. He didn't want to hurt me anymore, you see but I forced him to grip on life."
"Why would you? Snow changed Peeta to a man who wants to hurt—kill you. He was a threat." Caesar says frankly. For the first time, Caesar does not search for the words that will satisfy the audience or bring out the beauty of his guest; he searches for the truth. I look for Peeta, pained by what he had to hear. It's hard for him to bear this from Caesar but necessary for him to know what I have to answer. I sit up straight, put my feet together and rest my hands on my lap. I look straight at the camera and speak.
"No one can take Peeta away from me. I stay with Peeta because no one else loves me like he does. I hold on to Peeta because I love him. No amount of tracker jacker venom will make me love him any less. In his heart of hearts, he fights to love me. He fights the fear and terror the venom brings every day, for me. He is no traitor of Panem. He was but a pawn, just as we all were, of Snow. If all of you trusted me enough to lead you into a Rebellion, trust me now."
Caesars takes my hand and we rise. "Katniss Everdeen, The Girl who was on Fire! The audience cheers and roars.
I am directed backstage where Effie waits for me.
"You did it again, Katniss! The audience simply loved you! I thought for a while you'd lost sight of our plan!" She pinches my cheek slightly and starts to walk and I follow.
"Where are we going now, Effie?" I ask as another round of prep team comes toward me and adjusts my make up and unties my braid.
"Up the highest floor for the private dinner!" she says and stops walking and so I do too. One of the ladies from the team places a metal ring around my feet and I start to step out of it when another says,
"Better dress in there than out here sweetpea." Smoke rises from the circle and something in it shines in the light backstage.
"Keep your arms close to you, Ms Everdeen." I hear her say. I tuck my arms close to my sides, not daring to move a muscle. The crystals that shine in the smoke start to form into a circular tube similar to those in the Games. They harden immediately and produce a black tint. On the glass hangs a simple white dress, much shorter than the one I wear now. I strip off my dress and the moment it drops on the floor, the dress disappears as if I stand on water. I take the dress and slip through it. The glass shifts and I see my reflection. The team did a good job with my face. They've managed to make me look simple but hide the scars as well. As I look closer on the dress, I notice that it is lined with golden thread and I see why I did not need a change of shoes. My face suddenly disappears and I'm looking at Effie who taps her feet impatiently on the floor. I step out of the circle and the team fixes up while Effie and I continue. I look back and say thank you to the three and they smile and bow their heads.
"Everything's rushed Katniss! I'm sorry to make you dress in the tube." Effie says as we reach the elevator.
"It's okay. It was quite fun really." She presses the button and the elevator shoots up so quickly that I have to grip the walls. I look at Effie and she doesn't seem to be shaken. After a few seconds, the elevator slows down and the doors open on the 70th floor. I bring my hair to my back and walk out.
The guards open the wooden doors and I see that everyone's already in. I wonder how they could have possibly made it before Effie and I did. She leads me to a table with all the Victors.
They serve wonderful food as usual and we eat our fill. Soon the table starts to empty. Annie is by the window pointing at stars for her son to see. Johanna's off dancing somewhere. Peeta's by the pastry table. Effie has gone who knows where. Haymitch and I are left. I take this chance to ask about Effie's scars.
"Haymitch." I say, moving a seat closer so that we're next to each other.
"What?" he says.
"What happened to Effie during the Rebellion? I heard that she had a hard time but I don't really know what happened." I say. One of the waiters passes by and I take two drinks. I offer the other one to Haymitch and he finished it with one gulp.
"I thought you'd ask soon enough. Nothing gets past that braided knot of yours."
"Tell me."