Hi Guys!
This is it. The last chapter.
ARGH! I don't know what to say except this:
THANK YOU
And I mean that, too. I would not have finished this without you guys. The encouragement, the comments...everything was AMAZING. So thank you so much. I also wanted to share my total stats for the story:
Words: 45,506
Pages: 94
Paragraphs: 2,110
THAT IS AMAZING! And I wrote it in less than a month! *falls over*
I've never written ANYTHING this fast, and it's because of you guys! :)
Okay, so, time for the big reveal. My upcoming HG fanfics to look forward to:
Thorns: They said he had a granddaughter. They also said he loved roses. She is both of those.
I always wondered what happened in the final Hunger Games, so I'm gonna write it, with President Snow's granddaughter as the star. :D I don't know if it'll be good or not...but I have the first chapter, and I'm updating today.
Okay, second one. This will be a oneshot, and I got the idea from PiperPaigeP3 who wrote something about it in one of her comments.
The Questions They Ask: They ask. She will try to answer. But it's going to be hard.
That will be about, basically, the questions Ree and Abe ask and how Katniss and Peeta answer them. I should have it up sometime this month, so keep an eye out for it!
Other than that, I don't have much else that's going to be posted. For any House of Anubis lovers, I started a fanfic for that and posted the first chapter last night. Really, it's a series of oneshots following all of the characters ten years from now. :) So it'll be short.
I made it to 373 reviews, which is AMAZING. :D THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
To everyone who has ever commented, favorited, added me to their favorite authors, added this to their story alert subscriptions...thank you. Seriously, it's helped so much. The feedback...everything. I appreciate it! An author's greatest support are their fans, so this meant a lot. Well, coffee helps, too. Lots and lots of coffee.
ARGH! I DON'T WANT TO SAY GOODBYE! So...uh...*thinking of Teen Mom episode I saw last night* See ya later! ;)
*hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs*
-Homey :)
P.S. HAHA! I win for longest author's note EVER! ;)
P.P.S. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!
Disclaimer: I fell in love with a little book called The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins. So did the rest of the world.
You know the drill: ©HomeschoolGirl 2012, or at least this actual post is. The characters, not so much. But anyway, please don't use this as your own. Thanks!
She is eight, he is four.
They are twirling, holding hands, springing blithely through the grass in a dance that mesmerizes me. Peeta squeezes my hand as we watch them.
"It's time for lunch," I call at last, hating to interrupt them.
Ree brushes her hair back from her face and closes her eyes. "The sun feels so warm, mama. How come we don't go here more often?"
Because it's a graveyard, Ree. Because the dead our buried here. People I loved.
"I don't know," I say at last, managing to keep my voice even. "We should."
She grins, plopping down next to Peeta. Abe worms his way into my lap.
"You're too big," I groan playfully.
He turns around and offers me a smile. I pucker my lips and he leans in to give me a kiss, giggling when I tickle his stomach.
Ree springs forward to get him under the arms, and his laughter echoes through the woods. Peeta smiles, pulling her back and sitting her down.
"Okay. Time to eat."
We slowly snack on our picnic lunch of sandwiches and lemonade. Ree pulls some sugar cookies out of the basket and sets the plate on the grass. She made them by herself, no help from Peeta. She's been doing that a lot lately.
"These are delicious," I say, plucking a cookie from the tray and taking a bite. They really are. "They taste like your dad made them."
Ree raises her eyebrows. "I made them by myself."
I laugh at her disgruntled expression. "I know, honey. That's a compliment."
"Oh!" She furrows her eyebrows, considering. "Okay, thanks."
"Yummy," Abe says, taking the last bite of his cookie. "Thanks, sissy."
"You're welcome, Abe."
There's a long silence where we eat, enjoying each other's company. At last, Ree stands and bounds back into the center of the meadow, closely followed by her brother.
"It's so tall!" She exclaims, plucking a piece of grass from the ground.
"I know," I say with a giggle.
Peeta scoots closer to me as we watch them. His arm snakes around my waist, pulling me close, laying me down at the same time.
"So," he says, hovering over me. I smile up at him.
"So," I say back.
He brings his lips to mine. I wrap my hand around his neck to secure them there, and I can feel his lips as they pull up in a grin. I smile back.
"Kissing alert!" Ree suddenly yells.
I jump, bumping noses with Peeta. He grimaces and frowns.
"Well, that was a way to ruin a moment."
Ree comes over, puffing out her chest, and places her hands on our faces.
"You need to keep a distance of three inches apart, and no lip contact! None! Unless you want me to loose my lunch."
I giggle, taking her hand and kissing it. "Deal. I don't feel like smelling throw up right now away."
She grins and turns, sprinting away. "All clear, Abe! You can stop covering your eyes!"
Peeta chuckles and turns toward me. "Apparently we're going to have to be sneaky with this."
I smile back. "So we are."
We get in a few more kisses, but not many, before Ree interrupts us again. She really does look a little green, so I get up to go play with the kids. Soon we're playing a game of tag, all four of us, and I tackle Peeta.
"Tag," I whisper as he falls back, me on top of him.
He grins and kisses my nose. Then I feel his hand lightly tap my back and he's gone, left me laying on the ground by myself.
"You're it!" He exclaims.
I laugh.
"Peeta Mellark, you cheated."
"Did not," he says in a mock-child's voice.
I get up and lunge toward him.
As I'm running around, grinning, I realize today was a good day. The third one in a row. Earlier this week, though, Peeta had a hallucination and I had a nightmare. All in the same evening. I remember how I had to lock our door and hope the kids wouldn't hear any of it. That was a bad day. A really bad one.
We're not free like people think we are. The hallucinations have not stopped, and sometimes I still get the nightmares. After times like those, I can help feeling put-out for several days afterwards. Luckily, we've been busy, so I haven't had time to mull over it.
Every day is a battle. It's hard not to give in to temptation and lay down, let my misery swallow me. It's because of my kids that I don't. They make things worth it. But it's still difficult.
Then again, days like these make the world fall away, make the deaths slide off my shoulders. I feel happy, like nothing could ever hurt me. When things do get bad, though, I play a game. I make lists of everything good in my life. Oftentimes, I find that the good outweighs the bad, and that's enough to keep me going.
The questions are just beginning, so that brings back everything fresh. I don't know how I'll answer them. For Ree, I can be a bit more truthful, but at Abe's age I'll need to polish over anything too horrible.
But I want them to know. I want them to know about Prim, and my dad, and Gale. I want them to know it was him who kept me alive, and my sister. I want them to know that Annie used to have a husband named Finnick and he was handsome and kind. I want them to know about everyone who saved me. I owe that to not only my kids, but the ones who died. The ones who they won't ever know.
I know I'm lucky. I was one of the few to get out of the rebellion alive. Others didn't. But I'm not unscathed. The scars I see every time I look in the mirror are a reminder of that, as are the nights I wake up screaming.
"I love you Ree," I say suddenly, pulling my daughter close. I kiss her hair. "I love you, too, Abe."
He smiles, as does she.
"We love you, too," she whispers.
Peeta comes up behind me, placing a hand on my slightly swollen stomach, which will only get bigger these next few months.
I turn toward him, smiling, leaning forward to brush our lips together.
"You Love Me," I say suddenly, my eyes boring into his. "Real or not real?"
He doesn't even hesitate. "Real."