The Lady of the Lake

So...we come to the second filler chapter of the story. Basically the reason for this is...not much happens in the six months between the end of the games and the Victory Tour. I still wanted to show you guys Sky's life at home, so this chapter is this. Next chapter will have more action.

Thank you to the people sending the funny questions to the TUMBLR.

Also! I'm doing one of the Hunger Games memes, on Tumblr for Lady of the lake. I'm taking requests for graphics of things. The list is

One colour, Two capitol citizens, Three brotps, Four locations, Five otps, Six deaths, Seven outfits, Eight scenes, Nine quotes, Ten characters.

So tell me your requests! Either here in a review or PM or on the tumblr either on the post or in the Ask box. As always the Tumblr is located at

thgladyofthelake

Review responses are at the end of the chapter

Enjoy!


Chapter 24

Life in District 4 is not how I remember it to be.

But then in the wake of being a Tribute of the Hunger Games, I had always doubted the likelihood of just slotting back into my life like I hadn't left.

I did leave, and I'm a different person now on returning.

I notice it first with my parents, my mother with her sweet face, holding me tight and crying into my shoulder. My stoic father just pats my shoulder and kisses my head, tears silently rolling down the weathered creases of his cheeks. They are happy to have me home, but when I offer them room in my large new house in the Victors Village, they both refuse.

They know, as I know. I stopped being a child the instant the 74th Hunger Games began.

I am, however, required to come to family dinner every Sunday Night. Finnick too was told in no uncertain terms that his presence was expected, and he, Victor that he is, meekly agreed under my mother's stern green gaze. He doesn't really seem to object to being considered part of the family however, and indeed he even appears to revel in it. He has no family himself, and so I think having this surrogate family is new and exciting to him.

However the institution of this tradition also meant that Mags insisted on me, Finnick and sweet Annie Cresta, the Victor who Finnick had likened me to, joining her for dinner on Wednesday evenings.

People in the District, in Panem, call Annie mad; speak of her in quiet pitying voices. And they are right; the games unhinged something in her, broke something deep inside. But she isn't raving, she doesn't froth at the mouth or roll around making terrible noises.

Most of the time she just seems lost, and she clings to the small touchstones of her day to day life. Routine is a comfort to her, grounds her, and brings back some lucidity to her lovely dark green eyes.

I make time for Annie, and its not only because I genuinely feel for this girl, because I had felt something in me fracturing in the Games as well, and I know that without Teesa, without Cato, I could have very well shattered like her. I had been lucky, lucky in my friends, in the people I could rely on. Annie had not been so fortunate.

But that is not the only reason.

From the moment Finnick saw Annie, at that first 'family' dinner in Mags' pale blue kitchen, I knew exactly what the slender Victor meant to my friend. He gazed at her with an expression that I'd seen on my fathers face when he watches my mother cleaning the house, warbling some nonsensical tune under her breath. I'd seen it on Peeta's face when talking about Katniss, when she joined him at the stations in the Training Centre. I'd seen it on Marvel's face when watching Darrien in the Arena.

He loves her, adores her. It's the look someone has when they see the love of their life.

He doesn't need to say it to me, even though the eager, slightly nervous way he introduces her to me, is absolutely adorable. He cares about me, I'm the little sister he'd always wanted, and she's the woman he loves. I think it would kill him if we didn't at least like one another. So I make an effort.

It's not an effort for long.

Annie seems to respond well to me, and soon enough Monday becomes her Sky day. She always has a fish put aside to eat, because she likes what I can do with salmon. And she likes watching me cook, her eager green eyes memorising the familiar actions, mouthing words. Sometimes she reminds me, quietly nudging my arm, when I miss a step.

I always go on Monday, because one week I dropped in on her on the Friday, meaning to be back on Monday as well, and the action threw her. She thought she'd lost two days, had made a mistake, and her panic as she couldn't find the fish, which should have been bought for us to cook broke my heart. I reassured her, and cuddled her close, and after that I made sure I always came on the Monday. I'd become a part of the pattern holding her to us.

Because when she's calm, when she's grounded and safe, Annie is amazing. She's bright, playful, and she has a lovely way with flowers. They grow all around her house in the Victors Village, bright with white, pink, red, gold and blue blossoms that wind up and cover her house like a bower for a fairy queen.

She loves to hear me read, and it's our other activity on the Monday, curling up on the couch and reading a story. Finnick joins us for dinner and the stories when he's here in the District, and to see him so happy, so content, gives me a warm feeling.

So Monday is for Annie, Wednesday nights is dinner with Mags, Finnick and Annie.

And there is also Friday nights, because there is one other family I've been accepted into.

She corners me in the marketplace two weeks after my triumphant return to my home District, and I know who she is instantly. She couldn't be anyone else with Darrien's blue eyes and dark almost coal black hair. Darrien's mother is named Shia, and she enfolds me in a tight embrace the instant she's made sure I'm Sky, the right girl.

It's hard joining the Macmurras for dinner. Shia is sweet and gracious and makes me feel like I'm a part of the family. Darrien's father, Verdor is quiet, and he seems lost in the wake of losing his eldest son.

It turns out Darrien has two younger brothers, one who has turned 14 and the other who is only 12. Leadan and Riam are two bundles of energy, but it's Leadan who breaks my heart because he looks like a little Darrien, a Darrien in miniature, with large blue eyes and dark silky curls. Riam takes after their father, green eyes and brown hair, but the way he cocks his head and grins, painfully reminds me of his brother.

Both are of Reaping age, and it is another thing to add to the nightmares that fill my evenings. Images of little Riam or Leadan called up, their eyes filled with fear. Knowing I would have to mentor them, knowing that I would have very little chance to bring them home. Watching them die, perhaps like their brother, a huge chunk of metal impaling them on a field, or like Zara, slowly bleeding out, or Clove, her skull crushed by a stone. I see their little faces, and the tributes who did die, as well as Annie, Finnick, Peeta, Katniss and Cato.

The dreams make me scream and cry, and sometimes Finnick hears, when he is home, and he comes over to hold me as I retch into the toilet, sobbing and whimpering names, like saying them will keep me safe, remind me of reality.

But Finnick isn't home all the time, in fact he seems to be regularly in demand in the Capitol, escorting fabulously wealthy socialites around. He hates it, I can tell he loathes it with a passion, but he never complains, and the first night he returns, he always spends it at my house, bathing in my bath, and sleeping in my bed.

After that he's fine to return to the routine of being a Victor at home, but he needs that first night, to scrub himself clean, and to be cuddled asleep. He doesn't ask Annie, not because he doesn't love her, or because he loves me more. No he stays with me because he knows I understand, and because he can have a night of pain, without worrying about hurting Annie, who has already been hurt too much.

I do not forget Cato or Peeta, my love and my friend who are now so far away from me. It seems like a dream, Cato's strong arms, our desperation, our bond. But every morning I wake early, and go for a walk around the lake of District 4 and go for a swim. There, floating, I allow myself to remember, and long to see him again.

I talk to them both, since Victors have telephones. The conversations with Peeta are lively, full of chatter and news. I tell him about District 4, about the sea, and about Annie who, feeling confident with me, has come over and started redoing my house over.

It was too dark and heavy before, opulent in that horrible Capitol way. Annie seems to thrive on her project, and her first assignment is the kitchen. I now know why Mags' kitchen is a pale blue, Annie clearly did hers as well, but mine is painted a warm sand colour.

Peeta tells me about the autumn season and how the leaves are turning gold, red and orange before falling. Our District has few seasons, so I can only imagine the beauty of such a sight. He tells me about warm fires and the fact that now he has all the time he wants, he spends most of it painting or baking.

He doesn't talk about Katniss, and the one time I bring her up, the pain in his voice makes me regret it.

"She's fine," he says, and all I want to say is, but you're not.

He calls almost every second day, and I suspect he's lonely.

Cato however calls sporadically and proves that once again, communication is not his forte. The thing about Cato is his physicality, he expresses through contact, through body language. Listening to his voice, although soothing, is disconcerting, simply because most times, I don't know how to respond, because I don't know how he means it.

It makes conversation awkward and stilted and we hate it.

But we determinedly push on through and he always asks me,

"So… what are you wearing?" At which point I laugh. Sometimes I tell him wild fanciful things, sometimes I don't answer at all, sometimes I profess that I am naked, running through the house like the strange person I am.

My answers make him laugh, and when I ask the question back, the answers are equally outrageous.

Before I know it three months have passed, three long months of relative calm and peace.

I never expected it to last.


"The Rebellion is going well," Finnick informs me, leaning back in the prow of the boat.

We are currently out in Mags beloved little sailboat, and Mags is there with us, her hands lovingly caressing the wood hull. With us is another one of the Victors of 4, Kallian, who is around 35 years old. He's a tall man with a raucous head of curls, touched by the sun as almost all of us 4's is. He's strong, but incredibly lackidasical, and he has a habit of falling over things. Including, once today, the side of the boat.

Finnick fished him out.

He doesn't seem to mind his clumsiness, even informing me in his slow drawl, that it had saved his life in the arena. He'd won a year when almost the entire Arena was marshland. He told me he'd fallen over in the reeds, avoiding an arrow to the throat and the Tribute had been unable to find him.

"Unconventional," he tells me seriously hazel green eyes dreamy, "But effective."

He knows about the Rebellion, in fact he's amazingly well connected. Apparently he has a knack for procuring things. Mags calls him a bloody thief but Kallian just gives her a long, sleepy grin.

"I liberate goods from the Captiol clutches," he informs me, "They are grateful."

"The Capitol?" I glance at Finnick who is shaking his head in bemusement.

"The goods." Kallian smiles and lapses back into smiling silence.

But back to the current discussion. The Rebellion.

"Define 'going well'," I say carefully, "Specifics would be helpful."

"We haven't been caught and publically executed," Kallian points out, "Snow isn't using our skulls for tea lights. Our our pelvic bones for decoration."

"You are so weird," Finnick mutters at him, but Kallian just smiles, chewing on something. He's always chewing on something. I suspect it's some kind of mind numbing substance. A lot of Victors are addicted to such things.

"Being caught and strung up is a worst case scenario, " Mags agrees, and lashes a rope around a holder.

"It is," Finnick agrees, "By going well Sky I meant that the people are growing ever more resentful. Katniss is hope to them, and they are all itching to see her. In this case the Victory tour benefits us. Everyone will see her, and you."

"Districts 11, 8, 7, 4 and 3, are ready," Kallian murmurs, "They're simmering, just waiting for the pot to be tipped on the heads of those Capitol scum."

"And 13?" I ask.

The existence of the presumed destroyed District 13 had been a huge shock to me. I'd been so furious at Finnick for keeping something like that from me, I'd shoved him overboard. He didn't hold it against me, in fact he had found my actions hilarious, even as he apologised for lying to me.

Having the backing of a good sized organised force made me feel better about the rebellion.

"Prepared," Mags replies, "They're stockpiling supplies and weapons."

"What about 2," I look at Finnick, "Once everything kicks into gear you know that the Capitol will force all those children from their training Academies to serve as armed Peacekeepers. Especially when they realise the numbers we have. We have to do something about that."

"Cato is handling it," Finnick pats my arm as I huff.

It rankled that Finnick had seen Cato where I had not, but my mentor stopped off in 2 to have a little talk with my lover, and to give him some of the Rebellion news. Cato still struggled with loyalty to his District, against his hatred for the Capitol, whom he blamed for the deaths of Marvel, Darrien and Clove.

So he was subtly trying to recruit from within the Capitol's own pool of forces. It was beautiful, but Cato was born to inspire loyalty. He didn't have that magnetic quality that made Katniss a symbol, but he was without a doubt a leader. He was gaining followers, who were devoted to his side.

It makes me proud, but it doesn't make me miss him any less.


Four months have passed since the end of the Hunger Games when Cato cracks.

"That's it," he barks over the phone, making me jump. I'd been halfway through a story about Finnick murdering my only watermelon in my vegetable patch. He'd offered to mow for me…and mowed right over it.

He'd tried to hide the evidence, but with only one solitary watermelon, it hadn't worked.

"What's it?" I ask, concerned, wondering if I'd broken some taboo in 2. Maybe watermelons weren't accepted there.

"I can't stand it." He growls the words, "You're all the fucking way there, and I'm here."

"We live in different Districts," I point out, "It was your idea to go to our homes for a while remember?"

"It was the worst plan ever, why did you agree?" he mutters the words, "Fuck, forget it, you're coming for a visit."

"What?" I blink at the phone, "Cato you can't just…"

"Can't just what?" he barks back.

"Order me to your side," I glare at the wall. It's pale green, apparently Annie thought my study should be pale green.

"You don't want to come?" he sounds hurt.

"Of course I do," I huff a sigh, "You know I do."

"Then it's settled."

"You could just ask," I roll my eyes, "You know…like a civilised human being?"

There is silence for a moment and then he mutters into the phone, tone vaguely mutinous.

"Please Sky, come visit me."

"Alright," I say equably, already wondering how I'm going to explain to Annie where I'm going, "When?"

"I'll book you a ticket for Tuesday." He says, "Two days. Day after tomorrow is Monday after all. You have things to do then."

Annie.

I give the wall a sappy smile, "You know…you're actually kind of sweet under all that crap," I inform him.

"Fuck off," is the eloquent reply, "I'm not sweet."

"You are…" I grin, and flop on the couch.


Next chapter: Features Sky and Cato reuniting! Sky meeting Cato's family! Sky meeting Cato's friends at the Academy...and Sky and Cato getting a bit of alooone time.

Reviewer08 – There is more to Cato than just the front he puts up, I'm glad I'm showing that right. Katniss and Sky are more like...at a truce. Friendship may come later. Hope you enjoy Annie in this chapter. And you KNOW I can't spoil the Quell.

WonderGirl556 – Saying goodbye is sad But luckily she had Finnick and Peeta there.

MoonlightDiva – They are scary huh, too much temper in a confined space, eep.

EGilly – Reuniting will be next chapter! For Sky and Cato at least.

MoonlightShine – Yes the Quarter Quell will happen…but I can't spoil the happenings unfolding yet.

Physiologyfan – Aw thank you lovely! That's a big compliment.

Bluetigers – Not so much crying, I don't think my fragile heart could take it. But later…as events start unfolding…yeah…tears…

Loopyloola – She's going to join him! Sans Finnick…which Cato is kind of pleased about…jealous man that he is.

Ravenclaw Slytherin – Thank you! Here is an update!

Blackraven88 – Her family love her, even if they are kind of…letting her tread her own path now.

Coco2008 – I don't think so…so much animosity…and TEMPER! Thank you for the lovely words xoxox

Livea – Thank you!

Germany1 – I'm sorry you've found the last few chapters a little dull, but that's sadly the reality of the world at the moment. The Games have ended until the Quell, and until the Victory Tour there is going to be less blood, death, guts, dying. I'm spending quite a bit of time on the Sky/Peeta friendship because it's important later. This is a long story…can't be all action all the time sadly. Don't worry…I'm not insulted…I just hope you can see my reasons

Caella – Thank you so much!

Aumack – I figured they had to have it out at some point, so much temper. Goodbyes are sad It was sad writing the scene, but I enjoyed writing the following one with Finnick and Peeta. Their relationships with Sky will be important later.

RoseMaple – I'll always reply! Glad you liked the arguments and the conversations and the farewelling of Sky and Cato. Annie as you can see is totally in this story..and will be there even more in the aftermath of the Victory tour. Yay Annie/Finnick.

SophiaLily1990 – Missed you! Hope your internet is all fixed up again now lovely!

Guest – Aw thanks! I don't think it's the best ever. But I'm having fun writing it.

Luli Cullen – I was sad too! Cato wouldn't cheat, he's far too stubborn. xox

Katie – More Finnick and Annie? They were here!

Eve – He needs someone platonic for him, which was why Sky was never going to have feelings for him. She can appreciate his hotness...while still having no sexual feelings at all. He is a funny one isn't he.

Germany2 – I listen to all reviewers, And thanks for the review love.

CatoSkyOBSESSED – I MISSED YOU! I'm glad Finnick cheered you up and you enjoyed Brutus indulging in some District 2 affection. Writing their farewell was sad but yay! Reunion next chapter! Don't leave me for so long again!