A/N: Get ready my lovely readers, you are in for a treat...review, review, review! I am not going to dwell on the Quarter Quell but rather summarize to get to "Mockingjay".
Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games.
Chapter 14
It's finally here. The Quarter Quell. Nothing can prepare me for it, sooth me. Peeta has been trying all morning as we waited for the train to come in. Effie greets us and brings us up to speed with our schedules. Peeta is sullen. Won't let me out of his sight. Even tried to go to the bathroom with me. This entire event has him petrified of losing me. Haymitch is relatively calm. He sits me down at dinner time and explains that we need to make friends with the other Victors. That we will probably need some allies this time around. I roll my eyes at him "Haymitch, what do we need allies for? We're just going to have to kill them in the end anyway. It'll be better if it's the two of us. I don't know if I can trust anyone else." Haymitch nods "You bring up a valid point but as the more experienced Victor and Mentor, I say we need allies. Peeta, care to weigh in? Peeta nods his approval "I'm with Haymitch on this Katniss. I think the more hands on deck, the safer you'll be." I give them both a dirty look.
We get to the Capitol and Peeta and I quickly realize that we have separate bedrooms. We didn't think this far ahead. Keeping with nostalgia, they are the bedrooms we had last year. Haymitch declared that his bedroom was awesome and wasn't going to part with it for us. We didn't care because ours were right next door to each other anyway. Peeta and I glance at each other while we are at our doors and he smiles at me. He slips right into my room.
The following morning, Effie bursts in to get me up and starts having convulsions at seeing Peeta and I in bed together, naked and entangled in sheets. My prep team is right behind her and she smacks right into them while trying to escape. She's probably off to tell Haymitch, even though Peeta is the Mentor this year. They back out the door and Peeta uses that as his cue to get dressed and let them get started.
He leans in for a kiss and is out the door. The three of them come filing back in and all start jabbering at once.
"When did that happen?" "Are you engaged?" "Did you use protection?" "Does Haymitch know?" "Forget Haymitch, does Cinna know?" "Is he any good?" Flavius asks. Octavia smacks his arm and shakes her head. The all crack me up. "I don't kiss and tell and it's also nobody's business anyway. Don't ask again." I respond to all inquires.
Before I know it, the next couple of days have whizzed by. The parade went as planned. Haymitch and I rode the chariot, steel faced, holding hands in our costumes. Haymitch as dressed in black pants and a short sleeve shirt that defined his muscles. It was black with a metallic shine to it, appearing three dimensional. Mine was more sexy and meant to attract sponsors. Peeta loved the dress but felt it was too revealing. It was all black shear and stopped very low on my hips. The bottom flowed out in black waves to the ground. Strategic black beading was placed to cover my breasts and the beading was also scattered throughout the mesh to offer a metallic shine as well. My hair was left loose to blow behind me and my make up was very dramatic and dark. I took everyone's breath away.
Haymitch and I have been to the Training Center and have now aligned with Districts Three, Four and Seven. I'm not too happy about it but I can live with it. Today was a big day, our personal sessions with the Game makers. While we eat dinner with Haymitch, Effie, Portia, and Cinna, Peeta's curiosity gets the better of him and he brings it up and asks what we each did. Haymitch gives a grunt and says "I didn't do anything." Peeta's eyebrow arches and asks "What? What do you mean you didn't do anything?" Haymitch shrugs " I just stood there, still as possible, locked eyes with the head Game maker and never even blinked. I think I scared the shit out of him." Effie shakes her head "What is wrong with you Haymitch? Years of booze have screwed you up." Haymitch dismisses her. Peeta looks at me and says "How about you Katniss? Please tell me you didn't stare them down or shoot at them this time." I can't meet his eyes. It makes him nervous. "Let it out Katniss. What did you do?" All at once it comes out in a horrible rush of words.
"I didn't know what to do and they weren't paying attention to me so I got really mad and did something without thinking and I just grabbed the dummy in the back and tied a knot and just strung it up over the rafter and then I grabbed some red paint and wrong Seneca Crane on it's chest."
There, it was out. Seneca Crane was last years Head Game maker who was executed because he didn't kill Peeta and I when we took out the berries to commit suicide. Everyone stares at me, not knowing what to make of my outburst. Peeta turns red and tries not to smile. Haymitch claps his hands and says "Good job sweetheart. I wish I was a fly on that wall." Effie's mouth is hanging open and she has no idea what to say so she carefully says "Well they should have been paying attention to you from the start. Shame on them for being rude." Cinna just gave me a thumbs up and laughed. We watch the review later that evening. Haymitch scores a 10 and I score a twelve. We all gasp. The Careers will be out for the both of us.
The following evening, are the interviews. Caesar Flickerman asks how Peeta and I are doing in our relationship. It's been planned that I will admit to us being engaged. I am wearing a white wedding dress and Haymitch is in a suit, posing as the father of the bride. When Cinna motions to me, I spin around and my dress catches fire to reveal the look of a Mockingjay, my token symbol. I've gone and literally ruffled feathers, even when I didn't mean to. These whole games are sabotaged.
Peeta spends the night with me again in my room. We awaken to an avox girl with a message from Effie indicating that we have the day off. We spend the entire day between our room and the roof. Just enjoying each others company. We just don't want it to end. Tomorrow the games begin. While watching the sunset together on the roof, I stare at Peeta. He rubs his thumb over my mouth and I confess my fears to him. "Peeta, I can only imagine what you're feeling right now. I'm petrified that I won't make it back to you. I don't know what I would ever do without you. You're my whole world. Please promise me that we will always be together. That you will always stay with me. Forever Peeta. Promise me that. No matter what, we will always fight to be together." Peeta leans his lips closer to mine, our eyes never breaking contact. "I promise Katniss. Until my last breath, I will stay with you, always. Nothing can ever break our bond. Nothing. We will always be together." It's all I need to hear to feel better about the situation. We seal our promise with a longing kiss.
Morning comes, time for the games. I wake Peeta by encircling him in my arms. He immediately snaps too and realizes that this is it. Our time is up. It's like slowly suffocating. Any minute, Effie is going to be at the door and it's going to begin. Less than five minutes later it happens. We both panic. Peeta and I are touching each others faces, crying, kissing and finally embracing for what could be the last time. "I love you Katniss. God I love you. Please never leave Haymitch. Just trust me. Don't leave him even for a minute. I love you, I love you, I love you." I'm crying hysterical now. "Peeta I love you. Please get me out of there. I only want to be with you. I love you so much. You'll be all I'm thinking about." I kiss him one last time before Effie grabs his hand. Her mascara is running all down her face. An hour later I'm dressed, trembling, trying to eat breakfast. Cinna brings me to the launch center. As the glass encloses around me, two Peacekeepers enter the room and beat Cinna to death. The countdown minute begins. The arena has the Cornucopia in the middle of a small ocean. The gongs sounds. This is it as I think to myself. Sink or swim.