Prompt : if you like the idea & when you have time could you do a fic where effie is living in 12 post-mj and maybe one of her worse scars is on her cheek or something and a little kid asks her how she got it or what that mark is on her face or something along the lines. This is basically a scene from a book i was reading and i just thought it would be interesting to see how you thought effie might react. also maybe she talks to haymitch about it afterwards or he's there at the time? thanks! (:

Of Scars & Clean Slates

"That's a beautiful drawing, darling !" Effie beamed, kneeling next to the kids' daughter on the carpet in front of the coffee table.

On the couch, Haymitch rolled his eyes because there was nothing beautiful about the blobs of colors Willow had spent a long hour working on. Clearly, she hadn't inherited her father's talents for painting.

"For you, Grandma!" the six years old grinned. "You like it, Grandpa?"

What else could he do but nod? It would have broken her tiny little heart of tiny little girl if he had told her the truth and there was no way in hell Katniss and Peeta's daughter was having her heart broken.

Effie flashed him a knowing smile but instead of teasing him, she chose to have a closer look at the drawing. The collar of her dress was slightly loose and Haymitch could only watch, helpless, as Willow spotted the swollen white scar between her neck and her shoulder. Before he could act or, at the very least, signal the girl not to say anything, the child had placed her hand on it, tugging on Effie's collar to get a better look.

"What's that?" she asked innocently. "It looks funny… Do you have a booboo?" The last question was added with a gasp. Her lips were already wobbling when she rushed to Haymitch, grabbing his knee and tugging at his leg in the very same fashion she had used since she had learned to walk and she wanted him to do something with her. "Grandma has a booboo!"

Effie scrambled up on her feet and self-consciously fixed her clothes so nothing would show. She didn't meet his eyes and Willow looked so distressed that he grabbed the child under the armpit and settled her on his lap. "It's not a booboo, sweetheart. Grandma's fine."

"But it looks like a booboo." the girl frowned with a stubborn pout that was identical to her mother's.

"It's nothing, darling. I am fine." Effie promised in a cheerful fake voice. It seemed to calm Willow down but Haymitch could hear the cracks in it. "It's just an old scar, nothing to worry about."

The pout predictably turned into a sulk.

"That's not a scar!" the child countered with all the authority of her six years of life, pulling her sleeve up and twisting her arm so Effie could get a good look at her elbow. "That's a scar. It's all tiny and flat."

"Sometimes, scars are big and swollen." Haymitch shrugged. "Depends of how big the booboo is. Your Mom and Dad have their share."

"Haymitch." Effie hissed. "I don't think…"

"But Mommy and Daddy are different." Willow argued, folding her arms over her chest and swinging her legs in irritation – who cared that she was hitting Haymitch's shin in the process, right?

"Yeah? How?" he scoffed. What had the kids told her? Because there was no way the topic of scars had never been tackled. Katniss alone had enough scars from her burns that hiding them from her own child would have been impossible. Willow had never seen Effie's before because the former escort viewed them as imperfections on her best days and reminders on her worst days. She was always careful to cover them up.

"'Cause they're Mommy and Daddy." the girl replied, the d'oh was implicit but quite perceptible.

"You're too much like your mother." he grumbled. "Anyway, if you get a huge booboo you will have a huge scar so just be careful when you climb trees."

"You had a huge booboo because you climbed a tree, Grandma?" Willow asked.

"You know very well I think tree-climbing should be left to monkeys, darling." Effie huffed. "I simply had an accident. Nothing to worry your pretty head about. Now, I am sure your father is back by now so why don't you pack your toys and I will walk you home?"

Haymitch was amazed at how easily the girl obeyed her when he had to repeat himself three times before getting something out of her. It always made the kids laugh how whipped he was for their child.

While Willow dashed to the kitchen to gather her things – and probably steal one or two cookies – Effie sat next to him on the couch.

"You're okay?" he asked, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck. His thumb slipped under the collar and retraced the scar. It was one of the worst ones, probably only comparable to the burned patch of skin above her hipbone.

"I didn't want her to see." she admitted. "I like being her grandmother. When she looks at me she doesn't see a former escort or a war prisoner or the Capitol… Even with the children, there is always… As much as they love me, as much as you love me, there is always a part of all of you who can't forget who I used to be. With Willow… I am just her grandmother, nothing else, and I love that. I wish it would stay this way forever."

He was dreading the day the girl would have to learn the truth about the Games too. None of them had a particularly glorious role in that story – not in the real story anyway, whatever the history textbooks were claiming nowadays wasn't as accurate as he wished it would be.

"Clean slate." he agreed. "I can relate."

It was good not to be the old drunkard victor anymore. To Willow he was simply Grandpa, the old guy who wasn't quite her parents' father.

"They're not as upsetting as they used to be." she hummed. "The scars, I mean."

"'Cause you finally got into in that thick skull of yours that you're beautiful anyway." he snorted. "Seriously, sweetheart, I think too much hairspray damaged your brain."

"You are so sleeping on the couch tonight." she hissed.

"Aw, come on, Princess… You would miss me." he winked.

She pursed her lips, tilted her head and shot him the annoyed glare she had perfected over the years. Still, there was a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Perhaps." she granted.