The Lady of the Lake: Behind the Scenes

So here we are, the final part of Without You.

There were so many more things I was planning on including in this chapter, but didn't work for flow. I'll tell you about them at the end of the chapter.

It's been very cathartic writing this mini universe, and I've actually enjoyed delving into the minds of Finnick and Peeta.

If you have any questions, please join us on the Discord server, the link is on my profile. I always love chatting to you all.

discord. gg / MsRt5Pd (remove the spaces)

Thanks everyone for sticking with me during this.

Enjoy!

Without You pt 4

Peeta III (cont.)

"No."

Katniss glares at him, grey eyes stormy as her jaw works with irritation. Behind her, her mother looks shocked, and her hands clutch at her youngest daughter.

"Look just hear me out…" Peeta rushes to add, and sighs internally as Katniss' eyes narrow, "We're leaving...Haymitch and I and others from other Districts. We've got a way out of here and we're...going beyond Panem...to start a new life together."

"They'll kill you." Katniss' voice is harsh in the stillness of the house, "Or worse they'll make you an Avox. You saw the redhead Avox back in the Capitol, I saw them catch her in the forests. There is no escape."

"We're not just running blind and hoping for the best." Peeta insists, "This is a full scale plan...we're going, and I have every reason to think we'll escape with our lives...it's you I'm worried for."

"Me?" Katniss snorts derisively.

"Haymitch lost his entire family because he did something in his Games the Capitol saw as subversive. They were all killed...as was the girl he loved." Finnick had told him this after Peeta had expressed his frustration with his irascible fellow Victor, "They don't just punish you...they punish everyone you know...everyone you love."

Katniss winces, thinking of Snow and his visits, and his threats. Peeta's blue eyes stay locked on hers.

"When I go…"

"You selfish bastard," Katniss snarls, shoving at him and he stumbles back, "You're putting me and my family at risk."

"You put mine at risk when you didn't share the details of your deal with Snow!" Peeta snaps back, stiffening his spine, "And you didn't have the decency to feel bad about it."

"Oh for-!" Katniss shouts and steps threateningly forward again, "You've been complaining about what a terrible person I am since the end of the Games! I am so sick of your sanctimonious bleating!"

Peeta clenches his fists, and stops himself from retorting, "I'm not here to shout with you Katniss."

"No? What are you here for, you coward." Katniss sneers.

Peeta glares at her and turns to look at Mrs. Everdeen and Prim.

"Snow can't touch Katniss...she's too popular…but you are her family, her weak spot. Especially you Prim. They already know she'd rather die herself than let harm come to you. They can use that."

"You're the one putting the target on them!" Katniss snarls and shoves him again, "If you weren't leaving…."

"Haymitch is leaving too. As are Victors from all the Districts." Peeta rebuffs her with a push of his own, "You'd still be a target. You'll always be a target. But this way...if your mother and Prim come with me…"

Katniss' face goes sheet white, "You want to take my family away from me."

"To save them!"

"From you!"

"That's enough Katniss," Mrs Everdeen's voice is quiet but firm, "Peeta has been very kind to come and warn us of the danger. He didn't have to...and by the sounds of it we'd be in danger if he was or wasn't going."

"But-"

"You're inviting Mom and me to go," Prim says quietly, speaking for the first time, "But not Katniss."

"That's right…" Peeta sighs, "Katniss...can't come."

"Why not?"

Peeta winces and his shoulders hunch slightly, knowing his answer is going to be unpleasant, "Because this escape was organised by District 4."

Prim's eyes widen with understanding as Katniss explodes.

Finnick III

Finnick is pacing his kitchen when the door swings open and Mags slips in, packages in her hands and Kallian following close behind.

"I really wish you'd both reconsider," Finnick murmurs as they shove the packages into his bags, "We can make extra room…"

"No dear one," Mags gently brushed her fingers over his hair, a motherly gesture that makes tears sting the corner of his eyes, "My place is here. And besides...you shouldn't be taking an old woman with you to begin a whole new society Finnickin."

"Your experience and wisdom would be of immeasurable help."

"Always the charmer," Mags laughs softly and cradles his cheek, "I am so proud of you."

"I'm running away…"

"And you think that is an easy thing to do?" Mags scolds him lightly, "You've made a brave step, and the right one for you. How could I be any less than proud? It's not in your nature to give up Finnickin. And escaping a seemingly inescapable foe is not giving up…"

"I feel like...I'm abandoning you."

"No." Mags smiles at him softly, "You're saving yourself, and Annie, and all those other people who are going with you. You'll be free. For the first time in all our lives…I envy you that."

"Then come with me...please…"

She smiles at him sadly but softly, "It has been the work of my life to bring us to a point where we might be able to rebel against the oppression of the Capitol. And much as I love you like the son I was too afraid to have...I cannot give up my life's work."

He bows his head, and nods and she presses a soft kiss to the top of it.

"When will the ships arrive?" Kallian asks softly, tucking more fishing equipment into Finnick's bags.

"Morning, late Dawn." Finnick's fingers flex with anxiety, "We're the most southern point. We're all meeting here…There are comm units on the ships...they're in communication. They have to rendezvous here within ten minutes of each other or we have to leave without and hope they can follow."

"Hopefully there won't be any problems." Kallian tries to be soothing, and as always kind of misses the mark.

Finnick buries his head in his hands and tries not to hyperventilate.

Peeta IV

They refuse.

It's disappointing, but Peeta can't afford to wait and try to argue with them any longer. If he's not there in the dark light of pre-dawn then the ship will leave without him.

The forest is eerie, and it reminds him uncomfortably of the Games, that final night where the muttations chased them down, herding them to the cornucopia. But this time there are no mutts, and there are no footsteps beside him, no teammate, no Katniss.

For a moment he pictures Sky, and can almost see her picking her way carefully through the wooded dark before the crack of a stick shatters the illusion and he walks out into the small glade they'd chosen as the rendezvous. 18 nervous people look up as he approaches and he smiles at them all, hoping he looks reassuring.

His brothers smile back weakly, but the others just cling to each other. Delly is nowhere to be seen but that's not surprising. They'd organised for one person to keep a watch just in case and she'd volunteered, saying it was better to be doing something than just waiting anxiously.

Slowly he makes his way over to Haymitch, who is watching all of it from a position leaning against a tree.

"Finnick would never have forgiven you if you'd brought her." Haymitch drawls quietly after a moment, "Neither would I."

"I thought you liked Katniss." Peeta glances at him in surprise, and sees Haymitch's lips quirk up in response.

"I do. But...I also believe in their rebellion. She's still their best chance."

Peeta nods, "I didn't invite Katniss. I invited Prim...and her mother."

Haymitch's expression shifts into surprise before his usual apathetic mask returns, "Bold. Still didn't go for it huh?"

"No." Peeta shakes his head.

Suddenly something moves overhead and Peeta's head snaps up to see a ship in view where clear skies had been seconds before. It moves to land and he grins in relief, clapping Haymitch's shoulder.

"Get everyone and the supplies on board as quick as you can, I'm going to fetch our lookout and then we need to be out of here."

Haymitch salutes, giving him a considering look, "Yessir."

Peeta heads back through the woods towards the fence where he knows Delly will be hiding, keeping a look out.

He's five steps to the tree line, leading to the electric fence, when two things happen in rapid succession.

Prim comes barrelling out of the woods, gasping, grabbing his arms and wheezing out

"They're coming!" She hisses at him, "They know!"

"What!" he stares at her, "But-"

"Katniss…."

Horror floods him as suddenly Delly drops from a tree, white as a sheet and almost incoherent with panic.

"I saw them! They're on their way, moving quickly, we don't have long!"

For a moment he's frozen, brain scrambling with panic, before something cold slips through his mind, like water, allowing him to think clearly.

"Come on!" he grabs both of their hands and they bulldoze their way over logs and rocks back to the glade, clutching at each other the whole way.

Once again he's forcefully reminded of that final night in the Games, running through the forest, chased by the monsters of the Capitol, Katniss' hand in his as they ran for their lives.

They burst from the trees and see half the supplies have already been packed, Haymitch having organised a swift line of people passing supplies.

A few of them look over as they burst from the trees, and something about the way Peeta and Delly look must alert the others, because it turns into a mad dash as everyone starts throwing supplies in as fast as they can.

"Go!" Peeta hisses as loud as he dares, and the last few bags are desperately hauled up the ramp, Delly grabbing the last one as a thin, long fingered man pokes his head around the door.

"I'm Zeron," he nods, "Peeta Mellark, it's-"

"No time!" Peeta shoves a bag at him, "The Peacekeepers are-"

"Peeta!" Prim yanks at his arm and he looks down at her, seeing her blue eyes full of terror, "I have to go! I came to warn you but-"

He wants to argue with her to stay but knows they've got no time for that. "Thank you Prim…."

"HALT!" A voice bellows from the other side of the clearing and Peeta twists to see white figures with blinding white torches and bristling with weapons.

It's a moment Peeta will remember for the rest of his life, the feeling of being cornered, hunted like an animal in a maze. He looks down and sees realisation bloom on Prim's face, as it does on his own.

She can't leave now.

She's been seen with them.

She has no choice.

The Peacekeepers raise their guns and Peeta turns so fast he almost slips, grabbing Prim bodily into his arms as he flings them up the ramp.

The hatch closes as fire burns into Peeta's leg and back.

He screams. The world twists, and goes black.

The first thing he feels, returning to consciousness, is the hum of the walls and floors around him. They vibrate, very, very slightly, and a low hum fills the air. Slowly he opens his eyes and sees two blond heads looking down at him.

One is a teary Primrose Everdeen. The other is a stranger to him.

"There you are." the man smiles as Prim hugs him tightly, making his body twinge with pain, "Welcome back to the land of the living, Peeta Mellark."

"Thanks," he rasps, patting Prim's back lightly, "What happened?"

"They shot you." Prim mumbles into his shoulder, "Your leg gave out and...you hit your head."

"Good thing it did," the stranger muses lightly, "If that second bullet in your back had been just a little lower, we would not be speaking right now. You're very lucky."

"Thank you…" he swallows and then squints at him again, "Who are you?"

The man laughs and shakes his head, "My apologies, I forget that where we all know you, you don't know any of us. I'm Fells, a former Victor of District 9. And a Healer."

"He's going to teach me!" Prim enthuses to him eagerly, "Can you believe it?"

"Her quick intervention saved that leg of yours." Fells smiles again, he has a mouth made for smiling, and his brown eyes are gentle, and kind, "She has a talent, and we're all going to need healers where we're going I think."

Peeta nods weakly, before looking at Prim again, "Prim...I'm sorry."

Her face falls, and tears glitter in the corner of her eyes, "It was my choice, to come and warn you. Katniss...she panicked after you left, trying to think of a way she could save us…"

Peeta's stomach drops, he'd known but he didn't want to believe it, "She went to the Peacekeepers."

Prim nods tearfully, "Mom begged me to stay but...you sacrificed time, and secrecy to warn us. And she chose to betray you." there is a potent grief to her words, but she lifts her chin and it reminds him of Katniss at her best, determined and fierce and beautiful, "I had to come and warn you."

"Thank you…" he squeezes her hand softly and looks over her shoulder at Fells, whose face is remarkably unreadable, "And thank you Fells."

The man's golden brown eyes soften, and he smiles down at him softly, "You're most welcome Peeta."

Word goes out across the ship network.

A warning.

The Capitol knows.

The ship at District 7 never makes it out, and they scramble one of the others to pick up the stranded, desperate, escapees in District 8 which had been that ships other stop.

They can't risk going to District 7 to see if any of their would-be allies are left.

Peeta hears the news in the cockpit of their own ship, and guilt eats at him.

"It's my fault…"

Fells simply grips his shoulder and shakes it gently, "No it's not. You did the right thing...we all knew the risks, knew that with every person we tried to save there was a chance the Capitol could find out…"

"But…"

"Did you know that Katniss would go to the Peacekeepers?"

"No! I never thought-"

"Exactly." Fells squeezes his shoulders again, "We all have enough grief and guilt on our shoulders without adding the burden of others' choices. Those deaths are on Katniss. Just as yours would have been...should her plan have been successful."

Grief pricks at his heart and he bows his head.

Grief at the loss of a dream. Grief at the loss of the Katniss he'd thought he known. The Katniss he thought he'd loved.

He doesn't cry but Fells stays with him anyway.

Finnick IV

They regroup on a small island they find half a day south of Panem.

Far enough away that they feel like they can redistribute people and supplies, but not close enough to be worried about the Capitol immediately descending on them.

Everyone disembarks and begins to look over the supplies they have and meet each other as Lucan organises everything, clipboard in hand.

Finnick meanwhile goes to find Peeta.

He finds him by the shore with Haymitch, Fells and most shockingly of all, Primrose Everdeen.

"What happened?" He asks them bluntly, because he's heard enough over the comms between the ships to know the loss of District 7's escapees can be laid at the foot of whatever went down in District 12.

Peeta looks exhausted, white faced and eyes red rimmed, and Finnick doesn't want to put the boy through any more pain than he already has...but he has to know.

This was his plan. He has to know all the consequences he can.

"Peeta came by the house to ask my mother and I to go with him." Prim says quietly, and he glances at her, meeting those soft blue eyes and determined little mouth. He'd once thought there was little similarity to her and her sister, but he can see it now, something similar about their jaws, "He was worried...that after he escaped, the Capitol would hut my mother and me to hurt her."

There is a lot of truth to that, and Finnick is a little ashamed to realise he hadn't really thought of it that way. Other people yes, but he hadn't considered Katniss, other than the bitter and vindictive feelings. Of course the Capitol would target Katniss' family.

It's what they did best.

Sky would have thought of it, like Peeta had. The both of them were too compassionate for their own good.

"And then?" he asked, biting down his instinctive anger.

"And then," Prim falters, looking over at Peeta helplessly before her spine straightens and she is every inch the sister of the Girl on Fire, "And then Katniss began to think about how she could save us from the fallout of Peeta escaping."

Ice lances down his spine.

"She didn't…"

"She did," Peeta's voice is a whisper, and he can understand now why it looks like the boy has been through the emotional wringer, "Prim rushed to warn us, but there wasn't time for her to leave before…"

"They saw me." Prim bit her lip. "There was only one choice."

For a moment he thinks he can see Sky, hands on Prim's shoulder, her green eyes locked on his, determined but also pleading for understanding.

She'd been brave, the little sister of Katniss, brave and loyal and honourable, and she'd lost her entire world, her mother, her sister, with barely a goodbye.

"Looks like there's a little bit of fire in you too Prim," He says kindly, and is rewarded by that sweet smile, "Thank you for helping Peeta."

She gives Peeta a warm smile and Fells curls an arm around her shoulders, protective.

"I'm going to take little Miss Everdeen on as an apprentice if you don't mind Finnick?"

He arches an eyebrow in surprise but nods, "You'll learn a great deal from Fells, Prim. He's one of the best at his craft."

Prim nods seriously and Fells winks at him discretely before leading her off, "You'll stay with me then. And there's someone very important I want you to meet…."

Silence falls and leaves Finnick and Peeta alone.

"Are you angry?" Peeta asks quietly, and Finnick is uncomfortably reminded of the boy's age. He's not a man, not truly. He's 17, young and idealistic and gentle, but with so much still to learn and grow into.

"No." He answers and finds that he's speaking the truth, "You couldn't have known what she would do. Hell I wouldn't have expected it from her…"

"She'll do anything for her family." Peeta's voice is reed thin, and his blue eyes are so tired it makes Finnick's water a little in sympathy, "Even...even this."

"The irony is that instead of protecting her family, she lost the person she loves most." Finnick laughs but there's no humour in it. "Ah...irony."

"You hate her that much?"

"I didn'thate her…" Finnick murmurs, shrugging, "Not really. I don't like her. Her lack of compassion is down to her upbringing...and some flaw in her nature. But I didn't hate her...but this…" he lets out a sharp breath, "Good riddance."

Peeta looks down and Finnick wraps his arms around him before turning them to face the hustle and bustle of people carrying supplies into 5 ships. They don't know when they'll be on land again, so everyone is separating the food and living supplies into all the ships, and people are moving between them.

"Come on," Finnick tugs on his hand, "You'll stay with me and Annie. There are some people I want you to meet."

Deccia shouts at Finnick for half an hour straight when Peeta is presented to her.

Septim however takes one look at the blond boy's face and wraps him in a blanket, showing him a little partitioned corner of a room that has a pallet and clothing. This is his home for the duration.

Lucan watches him distrustfully, but as the days pass and he sees Septim fuss and Finnick's determined protectiveness, he slowly accepts the boy.

Annie adores Peeta, and vice versa. The pair of them sit for hours and sketch shapes on the pale metal walls, until the entire ship is filled with murals and stories.

Finnick loves the one tucked in the back of the ship, where a girl with golden-red hair stands in a lake, sword in her hand, green eyes seeming almost to follow him, gentle but determined. He knows Peeta painted this one.

And the day they find land, he finds himself back there after the celebrations, inebriated and tears glittering in his eyes.

"Thank you," he whispers, brushing his fingers down the cool lines of a face too beloved to forget, "For everything."

And he thinks he can see her smile.

Epilogue: Three Months Later

The land they found had once been part of a bigger continent, though no one seems too sure as to which one.

It's deserted but huge, and they conserve their remaining air fuel for exploratory flights. Eventually they find another huge island and here they find another society.

Trade links are established, and their little colony of 200 people begins to thrive.

It takes years for them to feel fully established, but with everyone working hard, under Finnick's careful eye, slowly the campsite shifts to ramshackle village, and then prosperous town.

Cashmere and Fells get married almost immediately, having already waited far too long to have their lives together, and they unofficially adopt Prim, looking out for her. They have twins soon after their marriage, called Jasper and Pearl, who see Prim as an older sister, and who she adores.

Fells becomes the best healer of the region, and often visits the other islands they find to share his knowledge. In time Primrose Everdeen founds the Academy of Healing Arts, and becomes its first Medical Officer, advised by her mentor until his retirement.

Deccia and Haymitch shift from snarky sass, to outright hostility, to passionate….something. Slowly it deepens into love. They end up having two children, a girl Maia and a boy Favian. Maia takes the world by storm and becomes leader of the Victory Islands as they've come to be known, after her uncle Finnick retires . Fierce, determined, with her mother's bravery, her father's wits, and her own brand of charm.

Peeta simply has a little bakery of his own, content to simply see everyone as they come in to buy bread and pastries. He loves living on the island, near the sea, and he finds a gentle peace and contentment in his life.

Sometimes he wonders what might have happened if he'd stayed...if the rebellion had gone ahead. Sometimes he wonders what might have happened...if that night on the cornucopia had gone differently.

But they are simply dreams, and idle ones at that. His life is good, and he is happy, and so the shadows that haunt him, as friendly and warm as they are, simply vanish in the warmth of his wife's smile and the laughter of their children.

It's not always easy, life on the Victory Islands, and they lose people along the way. The heartache of it is eased by the knowledge that they died free of the Capitol, something all of the Original 200 remember and pass on to their children.

Finnick remains as the leader of the Victory Islands until he's sure that Maia is more than ready to take over the mantle. He and Annie heal together, grow together, and learn to be together, without the Capitol tearing them apart.

His life...is everything he could have wished for.

They have a daughter.

Her name is Sky.

So there we have it, the end of Without You!

There were so many things I wanted to have in this last chapter that didn't work with the flow of the story and had to be cut.

First off, many of the familiar faces you know and love from the Quell in Lady of the Lake are part of the escape plan. Cashmere and Gloss, Enobaria, Sefir, Ria, Theo, Adria, Enrid, Sigrin, Rilka, Seeder all of them definitely made it out.

Johanna wasn't a part of the escape plan, she wanted revenge, so thankfully she wasn't among the District 7's captured by the Capitol.

Another thing I wanted to show was...Katniss' perspective. I wanted the last bit of the story to be Katniss telling the story of what happened next. But it didn't fit. Better that it end with the hopeful note of Finnick and Annie's daughter.

Thank you everyone for reading.

Requests for the next Chapter are now OPEN!