Hey guys! I had a GREAT birthday weekend! I'm really sad it's over LOL. Now it's back to life, back to reality! Before we get started with our week though, I wanted to post another chapter, as well as respond to a couple of Guest reviewers:
One, the Jabberjay's issue was to show how irrational the hijacking makes Peeta. Logically we know why Katniss heard who she heard. Since this is from Peeta's POV I was trying to show how he might have felt in regards to the fact that she heard Gale's voice. It probably bothered him a little.
Anyway, to the other Guest who asked me to flash forward and show a pregnant Katniss—this story takes place between the ending and the Epilogue—so you'll get your wish and see a pregnant Katniss. I won't give away how far you have to go, but do know it's coming!
Another welcome to the newbies of the story. I heart you all. And to those who have remained faithful and continue to Follow, Review, Favorite, etc… you guys keep me going.
-thamockingjayandpeeta
When we arrived back in 12 I sighed with relief.
I literally felt the stress of the Capitol leave my body, and I wondered if I'd ever be comfortable there.
"Why don't you head home?" I asked Katniss. "I wanna head to the bakery and check in."
She frowned, her eyes dark, and I pulled her into me to let her know I wasn't avoiding her completely. I gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back by sunset, I promise."
"Will you pick up a frame for Cinna's letter?" asked Katniss.
"Sure. I—" I paused. "How'd you know about my letter from Cinna?"
"Your letter?" Katniss rummaged around in her coat and pulled out a piece of paper. I did the same and pulled out my own. "He left you one too?" I nodded.
"I guess I'll pick up two frames, then."
"Okay. I'll see you later." She kissed me again. When we parted I waved goodbye to Haymitch and headed towards the bakery.
"Hey, Boss," my manager said when I walked in. "Nice coat." I looked down at the coat I was wearing. It was from the Capitol, so it wasn't in a muted tone of grey or black, like most of the clothes in 12. It was periwinkle blue, with white buttons down the front.
"Oh, thanks," I said, shrugging out of it. Lord knows this wasn't an appropriate outfit for 12.
Katniss was doing worse with me, with her fashion-forward canary yellow coat on.
I spent a few hours at the bakery, and news of my return had people flocking in, begging me to make something.
They never got tired of my baking, and I never got tired of baking for them. Baking calmed me in ways nothing—or no one, not even Katniss, or Delly, as Katniss had reminded me—could or did.
Speaking of Delly, her husband came in as I was starting to leave.
"Peeta," he said warmly, his brown hair shining. "How are you?"
"Good, and you?" We shook hands. "How's Dill?"
"Growing every day. You headed out?"
"I am, unless you needed something?"
"No, but I did want to personally thank you for baking for Delly and I for Valentine's Day. The cupcakes were great."
I smiled. "Anytime," I told him. "See you later. Give Delly and Dill my love."
I put my coat back on and made my way to a home goods store where I bought the picture frames for our letters from Cinna.
Everywhere I went people complimented me on my coat.
When I made my way to the memorial I was greeted with surprise and disappointment that I didn't bring any baked goods with me.
People asked about the coat, too.
"I don't know where I got it," I said for the millionth time. "It was some shop in the Capitol." People stood around me, as if they'd never seen anything so nice, and it dawned on me that they hadn't. Granted the Capitol sent us nicer clothes now, but nothing with color. "Okay, guys, that's enough," I told them. "We need to call a meeting. I'm making some changes to the memorial."
Inside one of the conference rooms, one that was way smaller than the one Paylor had used, I pulled out the original sketch, the one that Haymitch and Paylor, Effie, and Plutarch had decided on, and started adding to it.
"Is this change going to set us back?" asked Captain Lao.
"Hopefully not. We're so far ahead that I think we'll be fine. But if I need to I can ask President Paylor to bring in more men."
When I was finished I pushed the drawing to the middle of the table.
"Oh my God. It's perfect," the junior captain said. "When'd you think of this?"
"President Paylor said that she felt like something was missing, and I knew what she meant as soon as she said it. I thought this would be a nice touch."
"And to think I had dreams of getting home to my wife and child early," Captain Lao said, but he was smiling. "Call President Paylor to add in more men. We're going to need them."
I made one last stop to the post office before heading home, and my heart hammered in my chest when I pulled out the letters.
I rushed home, calling Katniss' name once the door was open.
I found her and Haymitch in the living room, putting up a picture.
One of my pictures.
"Oh. You're home earlier than I thought."
"What are you doing?" I asked, walking up to them.
"Remember how I said I thought you should display them?"
I eyed the picture of us in the cave and then turned to Haymitch. "You were in on this?"
"I was," said Haymitch defiantly.
"Just proves neither one of you have an eye for art. The picture over the fireplace is the conversation piece in this room. This cave picture can't go in here." I removed it from the wall and looked around. "It can go here." I hung it on the wall next to the stairs. "Where are the rest of the paintings?"
"I couldn't figure out where to put the picture of us on the beach," Katniss admitted.
"Maybe our bedroom?" I asked.
She shook her head. "No. I feel like everybody should be able to see it."
"I don't," I told her. She looked at me.
"Oh. Okay. The bedroom it is, then."
"I'm not helping you hang it up in there," Haymitch said, and I laughed. "Call me when dinner's ready."
When he was gone Katniss turned to me. "You should paint a picture for him. I think he'd love to have a Peeta Mellark original. He'll never ask, but I took him down to the basement—I hope that was okay—and he was awed."
I stared at her and a smile fell across my face. "I have the perfect idea," I told her. "But first…." I pulled out the letter and handed it to her. "Sage responded."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
We sat at the table and began to read:
To Peeta and our Mockingjay,
Forgive my sloppy handwriting. I'm actually shaking while writing this. I cannot tell you how surprised I was to have actually gotten a response. I never thought you guys were ignoring us. I just thought you were too busy doing things that were of much more importance than writing back to me.
Your kind words about Rue, and Jay, made me cry. But don't feel bad. They were happy tears. Rue is still with me, too. Everytime a Mockingjay sings out here I know it is her, her spirit, her purity.
I'm not sure that I can come to the ten-year anniversary. I think with it only being a year away from the memorial being built here in 11 that I'll probably have a break down. I can say I will think about it. I promise.
You two will definitely see me in 11, though, if I don't make it to 12.
Please send Haymitch my love. He probably doesn't know this, but Chaff was a constant comfort to my family and I. He told me that Haymitch was one of the bravest men he knew, and that he was the best mentor two Tributes could ask for. Chaff also said that you nor Peeta would ever kill Rue. It took me seeing you with her, protecting her, to believe it.
Tell Haymitch that I respect him very much, the same way I respect you two, and can't wait to hear him speak in 11.
Take care of each other.
Always stay a team,
-Sage
"I want to write back to her," Katniss said, and that went without saying.
"Ask her if she won't come to a memorial service, if she'd come to a wedding ceremony," I told her.
Katniss stared at me, and something flickered in her eyes, briefly, and then it was gone.
"Will you write to her? There's something I need to do," said Katniss, standing.
"Where are you going?" When she put on her father's hunting jacket I stood up. "Katniss, it's dark out."
"I won't be gone long, Peeta, I promise." She kissed me and I watched her leave, knowing it'd be useless to try and argue wit her.
To pass the time I started on dinner. She had caught squirrel. While I waited I wrote back to Sage, and then went upstairs and added her letter to the desk, next to the letters Cinna had written us. I'd get a frame for Sage's letter tomorrow.
When I had finished making dinner and a loaf of bread I sighed and made my way to Haymitch's, trying to calm my nerves.
"She's fine, Peeta. She knows the woods like you know bread." As if to make his point he took a large bite out of his slice of bread.
"Rue's mom sends her love," I said, and that nearly made him choke.
"What?"
I pulled out the letter and let him read it. His hands brushed the bottom of the letter, where I knew he was re-reading the passage about Chaff.
He pushed his plate away and stood up. "I'm not hungry anymore," he muttered, the letter falling out of his hands and fluttering down onto the table, and he walked away and headed upstairs.
I made my way outside and stopped in my tracks when I saw Katniss, in the front yard.
She was digging.
Suddenly I knew what she was doing.
I walked up to her and then lowered myself next to her.
"Katniss?"
"I'm okay," she said, looking up at me, and her eyes were clear. "I'm sorry I left like that. But you got them last time. I had to do it this time." She paused and looked at me. "What you said reminded me that we needed to plant the primroses and dandelions."
"What did I say?"
"You said that if Sage couldn't come to a memorial, maybe she could come to a wedding ceremony. You're still that dandelion, Peeta. Not just for me. For all of Panem. Sage will come. She'll come because you gave her something to look forward to."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When we were all showered and cleaned up, after planting well into the night, Katniss sat down and ate a late dinner while I munched on some bread. While she finished up I went down to the basement and grabbed the Quarter Quell painting, hanging it above our bed.
When I got back downstairs I saw Katniss in the living room, at the window, looking at her ring, the fireplace blazing.
"Do you not like it?" I asked her, coming up and wrapping my hands around her from behind.
"I love it," she told me, looking me in the eye.
"Then what is it?"
She sighed. "Do I really deserve you?"
"Oh, Katniss." I turned her around to face me.
"It's just… you're perfect."
I scoffed. "No I'm not."
"Well you've certainly never been imperfect."
"Maybe I'm perfect to you because you love me, because you've always been perfect to me."
"Then maybe I've loved you since the day you threw the bread at me, because you've been perfect since then. Even when I saw you in school, I noticed how popular you were, how you always laughed…."
"You noticed me in school?"
Katniss looked at me, shocked. "Of course I noticed you in school. I knew who you were. Everyone knew who you were. You were the baker's son, the boy with the bread. My boy with the bread. And you've been perfect for as long as I can remember. The only two other people in this world who were perfect in my eyes were my dad and Prim."
I kissed her on the nose.
"I love my ring. It's as perfect as you are. I love it so much that I want you to sketch me wearing it." She paused for a few moments, staring into my eyes. "Wearing only the ring."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
We went upstairs to the bedroom, and I staged the room. Katniss changed into a robe as I did. I could really just paint Katniss and be content, but I've asked her to let me sketch or paint her for several years now, and she'd always said no. Now that she's finally said yes, I had to make it perfect.
I fluffed the pillows, pulled back the comforter, added candles and brought in flowers from downstairs. I eyed the room, and then lit the fireplace. I opened the window, allowing the cool breeze to ruffle the curtains.
"Okay… disrobe and lie across the bed."
"Where?" I looked at her and saw the blush creeping on her cheeks.
"Anywhere you want. Just act natural."
"Should I undo my braid?"
"That's up to you."
Maybe she was stalling, but she undid her braid, letting her hair fall in waves around her.
She slithered out of her robe and I sat in the chair, diagonal to the bed, and opened my sketchbook.
"I better be the only woman you ever draw naked," I heard her mutter, and I smiled. I looked at her, laying across from me, her feet at the headboard, her head at the foot of the bed, her body diagonal.
I stood up and tilted her chin a little, slightly to the right. Then I put all her hair over her left shoulder.
"Can you put it over my right? I don't want you to draw my scars."
My eyes flickered to her. "Your scars are part of what make you beautiful, Katniss, and they'll be drawn, even it's from memory."
She blushed and I kissed her brow.
"Don't be nervous." I positioned her hands, making sure the ring was the center of attention. I stepped back at her and admired her. "Perfect."
I sat down and started to draw her. She was surprisingly still, but not like when she was having one of her episodes. Her eyes were focused and clear as she stared at me, though her cheeks were kind of red, as I'm sure mine were as well.
I drew the curve of her breasts, the lines in her hands, the rise of her hips, the curl of her hair.
It was her eyes that gave me the most trouble.
I couldn't fill them with enough love as she looked back at me.
Still, I drew, my eyes flickering from her to the paper in my hand, and I drew my bride.
And once again, she set me on fire.
This, of course, was stolen from Titanic LOL I just wanted a chapter where Peeta draws Katniss. Hope you liked it!