Victory Tour
4 Months Later
I'm peeking from the kitchen in my home as Snow and his goons enter. My mind is still spinning from the blindsiding I got from him, as I watch him enter the Everdeen home in Victor Village. I replay the conversation in my head and worry about how Katniss will react to finding him in his home. I step outside and look toward Katniss' home, as she walks inside. Before I can ponder the possibilities, I hear a noise and look over to see Peeta and Gale walking up from the former's home.
"Hey Daniel," Peeta says. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Well, you're not far off," I reply. "Snow just walked into Katniss' house. I assume to have the conversation he told me about a few months ago."
"He spoke to you?" Gale asked.
"Yes," I reply. "We talked about his view of the end of the 74th Games and mine." I lean toward them and lower my voice. "There's unrest in the nation. People see the berry incident as an act of rebellion and Snow blames Katniss for it… and me, for starting the love story."
I back up and let them process the information, both clearly concerned about this news. However, I decide not to tell them about my sister, as I can't bear to share that, just yet. We stand in silence for several minutes, before anyone speaks again.
"So what can we do?" Gale asks, with a look of concern on his face.
"Nothing, yet," I reply. "He told me to let him handle what to tell Katniss, so I let him."
Peeta opens his mouth to speak but stops as we all hear the door to Katniss' home open. Not wanting to be seen as spies, we quickly and quietly scatter out of sight as Snow and his guards exit the village. Once we're sure it's safe, we walk back out and quickly decide it's best to go back to our respective homes.
1 week later:
This is the day. Today I get to see the mentor side of the Victory Tour, with Katniss and Peeta getting the Victor treatment. I watch with a bit of pride as Katniss comes out of her house, with Caesar Flickerman's voice heard from a speaker in the media setup before me talking about her. Peeta comes out next, looking sharp and happy to see his girlfriend. Neither one of them could be any happier after to see the other, as they walked down the steps. Katniss reaches out for Peeta… and trips on a cable, knocking both of them to the ground. While Effie's freaking out, I'm slightly amused, as I can tell they're taking this mishap is stride and laughing. They stare at each other for a few seconds before Caesar snaps them out of it and they stand up again to answer his questions. I'm still internally laughing about the incident when I hear Caesar address me directly. I snap myself back to reality fast as I notice the cameras are on me.
"What?" I ask, clearly caught off guard.
"I said, how does it feel to be the most popular mentor in Panem?" Caesar asked.
"Well… to be honest, I didn't know," I reply. "You also caught me off guard, as I wasn't expecting to be asked questions."
"I do apologize for that," he says. "Now that you know of your fame, can you tell us what you think of it?"
"Well," I begin. "I'm happy to see that people won't be forgetting me anytime soon. I mean I am the only mentor in Hunger Games history to have two Victors from the same Games."
"I highly doubt anyone will be able to forget you," he replies, before the cameras return to the Victors.
After a quick chat to inform us that he'll be checking in throughout the tour, Caesar bids us farewell and the camera turn off. After a few goodbyes to friends and families, we hurry to the station and board the train to begin the tour.
2 Hours Later:
I'm sitting in a comfortable chair, watching the scenery go by as we roll along the line. Effie is going over some of the basics of the tour with Katniss and Peeta, starting with our first stop in District Eleven, while I listen. Suddenly, Peeta asks Effie if he can have a few minutes to talk to me alone, prompting her to take Katniss to another car. The ladies gone, Peeta sits down.
"What's up?" I ask.
"I need to talk to you," he replies. "About Katniss."
"Okay," I say.
He looks around to be sure no one has snuck in on us, then looks back at me.
"I want to propose to her while we're on the stage for Caesar's show," he says. "Since her mom is the only parent, I talked to her and she approves."
"I can only guess how your own mother will react," I reply. "Not that you care."
"I don't care about her opinions, anymore," he says. "My dad and brothers are another story, though."
"Getting back to the topic," I say. "A public proposal will be a huge hit with your fans. Especially those in the capitol."
He opens his mouth to speak when we notice the train has come out of the tunnel… and into what looked like a prison camp.
"What the-" I begin to say.
"Where are we?" Peeta asks.
"Should be District Eleven," I reply. "But I don't remember it being like this."
We watch in silence as District Eleven's citizens were lead by Peacekeepers to the main square, where the speeches would be given. Soon, we arrive at the train station and are escorted off the train to the justice building. Once inside, we gather to sort out what we've seen and how the tour events are expected to play out.
"I can't believe what we saw," Effie says. "Why is this district on lockdown?"
"After the 74th Games," a nearby peacekeeper says. "There were riots in this district. By President Snow's orders, we cracked down on the citizens. Stopped the riots and established curfews. Order was restored."
This news has us all stunned to silence for a few moments. After several minutes, I break the silence.
"So," I say. "How do we handle this?"
"I have just the thing," Effie replies. "Cards for Katniss and Peeta to read off of. This way they won't take the chance of triggering any issues."
"Given what happened right before the tour started, it's for the best," Katniss says quietly.
"What happened?" Peeta asks with concern.
Katniss answers by leaning over and whispering in Peeta's ear, then doing the same for Effie and I. What she tells us confirms my suspicions: Snow gave her a warning similar to the one I recieved.
"Well," I say. "Let's start by doing things right for the first speech."
My Victors smile at me and head out to give their speech. Moments later, I hear a great commotion outside and I'm nearly knocked over as peacekeepers practically drag Katniss and Peeta back inside. I hear gunshots and screaming, as tears form in Katniss' eyes.
"What happened?" I ask.
"Someone gave the District Twelve sign and whistled Katniss' little tune she used to find Rue, during the 74th Games," Peeta replied. "Then peacekeepers took him and shot him."
I think about the news and decide that it's best that we keep trying. After some preparations, we're on our way to District Ten.
1 Week Later:
To say that the tour hasn't gone well would be an understatement. Every stop we made ended with us being escorted from the district quickly after the speech. Some of them were a repeat of the outcome of the visit to Eleven, with at least one innocent person shot dead. We're ready to get the last days over with, as we arrive at the Capitol train station.
"I don't want to do this," Katniss says.
"None of us do," I reply. "But we have to finish the tour. The Capitol citizens don't know about the madness we've seen, so we have to do this for them. Put on our happy faces and pretend nothing has gone wrong."
"As hard as it will be," Effie adds. "We must make sure they know that we're happy to see them. It will be nice to actually have some fun, for a change."
Katniss, Peeta, and I nod in agreement and we get off the train.
The Next Night:
"Ladies and gentlemen," Caesar says. "I present to you, the Star-crossed Lovers from District Twelve: Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark!"
I watch with pride as my Victors walk out on stage, holding hands and waving to the crowd as they reach Caesar. He, of course, is over excited about their arrival.
"It's so good to see you both," he says, as they all sit down. "How was the journey?"
"Interesting," Katniss replies. "We're so used to how things are in Twelve that seeing the other districts in person was a bit surprising… even if we already had an idea of what to expect."
"I can understand that completely," Caesar says.
The conversation continues with all kinds of questions from Caesar and Katniss and Peeta giving the best answers they can give. Finally, Caesar asks a question that would set Peeta's plan into motion.
"I can see that you're both so happy together," he says. "Any thoughts about where to go from here?"
"Actually," Peeta says. "Now that you mention it. I've been thinking a lot about it, lately."
He turns to Katniss.
"Katniss," he says. "You've been the best thing to ever happen to me. We survived the Hunger Games together." He drops to one knee, and pulls out a ring. "Will you survive the rest of our lives with me?"
Katniss is in shock, as Peeta had hoped for, and crying.
"Yes," she finally says, pulling him into her embrace.
The crowd erupts in applause and cheers, as Peeta puts the ring on his new fiance's finger. I hear various cheers from the crowd: "Way to go, Star-crossed Lovers!" "Whoooo!" "Everlark!" I find the last one interesting, as an amused smile crosses my face. Caesar shares his congratulations and ends the show in his usual cheerful tone, as the crowd continues to cheer.
1 Hour Later:
To say I missed the Victor's dinner at the President's Mansion would be a major lie. I didn't like my own tour's dinner, so it can be well imagined how I feel about being a mentor attending one. But it's for my newly engaged Victors, who have grown in popularity in just the last hour, so I just put on the best smile I can and deal. I'm walking around and meeting various people (including the new Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee) when I see my Victors about to take a sip of something in a small cup. I rush to them, realizing what the drink is.
"I wouldn't drink that, if I were you," I say, in a warning tone.
"Why not?" Peeta asks. "I'd like to try it."
"Then you'll be meeting your dinner all over again," I reply.
The look I get tells me all I need to know about what they know of the stuff.
"Are you saying it makes us sick?" Katniss asks, in horror.
"Yes," I reply. "It's a Capitol thing. They eat a lot, drink that to throw it all up, then eat more. I learned the hard way, so I thought I'd spare you the same fate."
Without another word, the pair discreetly dump the drinks onto the ground and put the cups back on the table. We all agree that this kind of thing is disgusting and wasteful… but it's not like the Capitol citizens care. We walk over to where Effie is talking to Cinna and Portia and join in on the conversation. In the time since the 74th Games, both have become popular in the Capitol and each have successful fashion businesses, which impresses me. As we talk, we hear the announcement that President Snow is about to give his speech, so we (reluctantly) turn our attention to the main stage. As usual, the Panem anthem plays, as Snow walks up to speak.
He talks about the bravery of Katniss and Peeta and makes note of how they looked after each other. He even commends me for all the work I did as their mentor. He concludes his speech with cheers and applause from the crowd… then turns to glare at us. I'm glad Effie's been distracted by one of her friends, as I doubt she'd understand the message being silently delivered: We've failed.
Did we really expect it to go any different from how it went in Catching Fire? Things are building toward some more deviations from the original timeline... but I will leave it there, because I don't have it all sorted out. Plus I'm not gonna spoil my own story! :) Until next time, May the odds be ever in your favor.