As requested by Everlarks75, an update! (This may turn into a three shot, just saying!) I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, its characters, or the world. All rights are Suzanne Collins's.
Prim admires the way her new dress flows around her waist as she eagerly awaits her sister's escort and the promise of fun she made the day before. As the clock strikes seven, there's a prompt knock at the door, and Prim rushes to open it. She yanks it open eagerly to see Effie stood before her, wearing a thick purple coat over a long skirt, a huge bag on her arm, and a smile on her face. "Hello, sweetie!" she exclaims, putting the bag down to hug Prim close. "How did you sleep?"
"I slept fine, thanks," Prim murmurs, eagerly hugging Effie tightly. "And you?"
"Like a log, darling," Effie says. "Come now, sweetie, have you eaten?"
"Yeah, Mom made oats," Prim says. "Have you eaten?"
"I don't eat in the mornings," Effie says. "My breakfast is made entirely of coffee. Since you've eaten, shall we pop upstairs? I brought the styling tools, I do believe I promised you curls. And there may or may not be some extra special things for you and your mother awaiting you in my goodie bag."
Prim grins and says "Come on, I'll show you where my room is. I think Katniss is out walking right now, she likes her early morning walks."
Effie chuckles softly and says "Your sister would live her life in the outside world if she could. It's like she plugs herself into trees to recharge."
"I'm not sure she doesn't," Prim giggles as they walk up the stairs. She leads Effie into her bedroom and says "I know it's not perfect."
"It's beautiful," Effie tells her quietly, looking around at the room. A shelf of little wooden toys, a little bookshelf of books about herbs, plants, and medicine, a fluffy rug, a little single bed with a pink canopy above it, pink bedsheets, and pink curtains around the window. "This is what I wish my childhood bedroom had looked like."
"What did your bedroom look like?" Prim asks.
"Nowhere near as pretty as this," Effie says softly, then she smiles at Prim. "And never before did I see a girl as pretty as you, darling. You look even more stunning in that dress than I thought you would. Shall we add the curls? You'll be Sleeping Beauty after she woke up."
"Who?" Prim asks. "Is that a friend of yours?"
Effie's heart breaks at Prim's words, and she asks "Did you never hear that story, darling?"
"No," Prim says. "Mom only ever told us the stories of what would happen if we misbehaved, and Dad used to sing, but I've never heard of a sleeping beauty."
"Then I shall tell you the story while we do your hair," Effie says decisively, giving Prim a bright smile. "It was a story told centuries and centuries ago, by the people long before us, even before the Dark Days. Sit down, dear one."
She plugs in the curling wand, places it on the top of Prim's bookshelf, and starts to brush Prim's hair. "Who told you this story?" Prim asks quietly.
"My mother," Effie says, gently detangling Prim's hair. "You have such beautiful hair, dear. Would you like me to start the story?"
"Sure," Prim says quietly.
As Effie brushes out every knot in Prim's hair and begins to style it, she tells her the tale of a princess in a long lost land, who was cursed at birth by a witch her father had wronged to prick her finger at the age of sixteen on a stick of flax and die. Another witch, a member of the royal court, would counter it to say that she wouldn't die, but be caught in an enchanted sleep for a hundred years. Her father didn't want this fate for his little girl, so he ordered the whole land to rid themselves of flax and hemp in order to protect his daughter, but to no avail. On the evening after her sixteenth birthday, the witch offered the princess a bag filled with sticks of flax as a birthday gift. The princess accepted the flax, and no sooner had she taken it than a sharp point of flax jabbed at her finger. The princess crumpled and fell into a deep, deep sleep. Her father, believing his daughter dead, had servants dress her in her finest clothes and jewels, and had her placed on her bed, where she remained for a hundred years. Nothing could wake the princess from her deep sleep. Here, Effie pauses and says "She didn't even wake up for the invention of cheese."
"Wait, really?!" Prim gasps. "She had to be one hundred and sixteen to taste cheese?!"
"I'm afraid so," Effie tells her sadly.
As the story continues, Effie relays how, though so many in the land tried, not one could awaken the enchanted sleeping princess. The people began to lose hope, their princess was not returning. On the day of her one hundred and sixteenth birthday, after all the people had given up hope, the princess stirred. After all their waiting, the people rejoiced. The princess had awoken! "She must have been really happy," Prim says. "By then, she probably could have got cheese."
Effie laughs, running her fingers through the newly formed curls to separate them, then sprays them over once with hairspray. "That's very true, darling," she says, beaming. "It was one of my favourite stories growing up."
Prim smiles as Effie steps in front of her to get a good look at her. "It's a nice story," Prim says. "Did your mom ever say you could have been the princess?"
"No," Effie says softly, smiling a little. "I didn't sleep very well at all. I could never have been a sleeping princess. You're beautiful, darling. Have a look at yourself while I pack this stuff away."
Prim gets up and looks at her reflection, beaming as she sees her hair curled into loose rings around her face, the golden hue complimenting the rosy pink of the dress perfectly. "I love this, Effie, thank you!" she gushes.
Effie smiles warmly, then says "Here, sweetie. I brought this for you too," and hands her a rather large, flat box. "I'm just going to pop downstairs and see if your mother has any coffee she wouldn't mind sharing. Come down when you're ready, sweetie."
She leaves Prim alone with her box, and Prim curiously opens the lid. Inside is any child's dream: Candies of every imaginable flavour, chips, chocolates, a fancy games console, a charging wire, instructions, and a selection of games, along with a piece of pink paper. She opens the paper, carefully setting the box down, and reads the note.
Dearest Primrose,
You are a truly wonderful, truly special child. I do believe you will go on to do great things. While I will not always be able to stay around to watch you blossom into the amazing woman you'll become, I want you to know that I think of you too. As great as you will be, please remember that you are great in the here and now, and there's nothing an amazing woman needs as much as a childhood she can look back on with fondness for the fun she had. Have some fun too, dear one, childhood is so short.
All my love, Effie xxx
As a quick note, I'd just like to say that I mixed the Disney version and the original version to make it a little less traumatic (Prim is a child, and I don't see Effie wanting to ruin Prim's innocence, despite what people of the past have done!), and I found out, researching the cheese comment, that specifically Gouda cheese was invented in the Netherlands in 1697. I know that Sleeping Beauty is a German story, but Germany is (relatively speaking) pretty close by, east of the Netherlands, who's to say they wouldn't try to get their hands on that to try to shock their royalty awake? (At least in the universe where someone survives 100 years without food, water, or oxygen in a coma) People have done weirder for their royalty.
As always, please let me know what you thought of this, if you have any requests, constructive criticisms, or questions, drop it all in the comments below. Much love and happiness to you all. Cat xxx