A/N: Canon-typical violence depicted.
KATNISS POV
It was not easy to watch the Games from this perspective. As a mentor, my job was to help keep these tributes alive and that was already difficult to do when all I could do was send them things. Now that Peeta and I had a mutual understanding, it was easier to cope, but we couldn't talk about them. Instead, I just let him hold me when we were alone together, and I held him when it became too much for him.
He was very upset when Penelope died. She was found by a couple of the District Two careers and had been brutally killed, and Peeta had gotten very emotional. He'd stormed out of the command room, going off to God knew where. "I'll watch the kid. Go after him," Haymitch said, and I handed him Lark and ran off after Peeta. I caught up to him in the lounge, where a couple of mentors were hanging out together watching the Games, and sat down beside him at the bar, where he was already nursing a drink. We didn't say anything to each other - he just buried his face in his hands and I held him in my arms.
"It's okay," I whispered to him. "It's going to be okay... We have two left..."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" he asked me, and I let out a sigh.
"No... but it makes it more bearable," I replied. Annie Cresta was one of the mentors that was in the lounge, having been sitting by herself while the other District Four mentors were either hyping up their remaining tribute (the boy's mother died on the second day after a run-in with the boy from District One, so all that remained from District Four was the girl's mother). She saw how upset Peeta was over the death of our tribute and she came over, standing on Peeta's other side and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry about your tribute," said the red-haired girl, but Peeta didn't look at her. "She seemed like a nice girl..."
"She was," I said in response, giving Annie a soft smile. On the second day, the faces in the sky were of the boy's mother from District Four, the boy and the boy's mother from District Five (now eliminating District Five), and the girl from District Seven were killed. On the third day, the girl's mother from District Three, the boy from District Nine (now eliminating District Nine), the boy and the girl's mother from District Eleven and Penelope from Twelve were killed. The fourth day saw no deaths, thankfully, leaving the surviving seventeen tributes safe for at least the day. On the fifth day, Sage was up to something, probably trying to steal food from the Careers, which was very dangerous. In total, there were eight Careers - the three surviving tributes from District One, all four tributes from District Two and the surviving tribute from District Four - and they were all strong and capable of tearing Sage apart. But one thing we didn't count on was exactly how clever Sage Darcy was.
"The hell is that boy doin'?" Haymitch asked us as we watched him on the screen. It was night in the arena and the Careers were sleeping, and Sage was sneaking up on their campsite, which was in the park by the cornucopia, where all the food and supplies they were hoarding was. He snuck between each of them, then climbed up the mound of food. "This boy's stupid! He's tryin' to get killed!"
"Wait..." said Peeta. I was holding his hand very tightly as I nervously watched Sage, trying to figure out what he was doing. He snatched a bag and filled it, then very quietly took a couple of weapons that lay beside the Careers, switching up which weapon lay beside which Career. He also took an apple, took a bite out of it, and set it beside the District Two girl, who was supposed to be keeping watch, but was dead asleep. It was very risky - any one of them could have woken up or been awake, but Sage was very lucky, and all eight of them were out. He quickly snuck off, but not without throwing a stone at the cornucopia, making a loud noise and running back off into the streets of the urban arena. This thump woke up some of the Careers, including the District Two boy, who glared at the District One boy, who was now holding his knife.
"The hell do you think you're doing? Stealing my weapon when I'm asleep?" the boy from Two hissed at his ally, and the District One boy appeared very confused.
"What? No! Cyrus, I swear I didn't-" the boy from One exclaimed, but the boy from Two, called Cyrus, lunged at him, and the boy from One's mother launched herself at Cyrus, taking a stab in the abdomen.
"Go! Go, Gideon, run!" the woman cried to her son, who took off running, followed by the girl from One's mother. At least District One was staying together while District Two viciously killed the boy from One's mother.
"Good one, Cyrus!" the girl from Two exclaimed when the cannon went off, announcing the woman's death, but Cyrus turned on her.
"You! You were supposed to keep watch!" he shouted at her, cornering her up against the cornucopia.
"Cyrus!" shouted the girl from Two's mother. "It was supposed to be Fairbelle's watch!" Fairbelle was the girl from District Four's mother, the only surviving tribute from Four left.
"It wasn't! I swear it wasn't! It was supposed to be Medal's watch!" Fairbelle exclaimed, referring to the District Two girl, and Fairbelle started backing away. "Look! She's even taken a bite out of that apple!" Cyrus and Medal's mother looked at the apple at Medal's feet, and then both of them looked up at her with a nasty glare.
"Stealing food, are we? When nobody's watching? You know I taught you better than that!" Medal's mother exclaimed angrily, and I gasped quietly. Was Medal's mother turning on her own daughter?
"What? No! I swear I didn't! I don't even know how this got here!" Medal exclaimed, now being cornered by her mother.
"The Hunger Games are an honour, but you, girl, ought to be ashamed," Medal's mother said to her. I had to look away as the girl's mother slit her own daughter's throat and I grabbed Peeta around his midsection, burying my face in his shoulder as he held me and rubbed my back.
"Shh, shh... it's okay..." he whispered into my ear, holding me tightly. The cannon went off, and for a moment, there was silence - and then a third cannon. I picked my head up out of Peeta's shoulder and turned to look at the screen, seeing that Cyrus had thrown a spear at Fairbelle anyway, killing the final District Four tribute. She should have run while she had the chance - the Careers had no loyalty with her. Fourteen tributes to go, and the Career alliance was now reduced to just the boy, his mother and girl's mother from District Two, going from eight to three in an instant.
"That fuckin' boy... He's clever as hell. He just tore up the whole Career alliance!" Haymitch exclaimed with surprise. "District One's off runnin' somewhere, District Four's now out of the Games, and District Two's just got them three left."
"She killed her own daughter..." I muttered quietly, resting my head against Peeta's chest and listening to his heartbeat to bring my breathing back to normal. Peeta rubbed little circles on my back in an effort to help me calm down.
"It's the Games. You two are a rare exception, refusin' to kill each other... Most alliances end up this way one way or another," Haymitch replied.
On the sixth day of the Games, Peeta and I were in the lounge again sitting with Annie Cresta, Finnick Odair, Glitter Pash and Johanna Mason as we watched the remaining District Seven tribute, the boy's mother, try to climb a tree to escape the boy and the girl's mother from District One. Despite breaking off from their alliance with District Two, they were still incredibly violent, being Careers. Unfortunately for the boy's mother from Seven, a branch broke from underneath her and she fell fifteen feet to the ground, straight onto her back. Smirking viciously, the boy from One took his spear and shoved it through her chest, killing the remaining tribute from District Seven. Johanna groaned impatiently.
"She's from Seven! Can't she climb a fucking tree without falling?" she hissed at the screen. I tried not to be bothered by her seemingly uncaring attitude towards her tribute as I looked down at Lark in my lap, who was playing with my braid. I gave her a smile, and then she reached for Peeta's offered finger when it appeared in front of her.
"I'm gonna get a drink. Do you want anything?" he asked me.
"Glass of water would be nice," I replied, and he nodded and kissed my cheek, then stood and went over to the bar. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Finnick Odair stand up as well, and he followed Peeta to the bar. I looked over my shoulder curiously, wondering what on Earth Finnick wanted with Peeta.
PEETA POV
"Just a cosmopolitan and a water, please," I said to the bartender, taking a seat as the bartender prepared the drinks. I was joined soon by Finnick Odair, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
"Gin and tonic on the rocks," he said to the bartender. "That was some clever stuff your tribute pulled, wasn't it?"
"Tricking the Careers into fighting each other? Sure was," I said, trying to keep the conversation to a minimum.
"That was brutal, watching Medal's mother kill her like that," Finnick replied.
"Yeah, well... that's the Games, isn't it?" I said, mirroring Haymitch's words, and Finnick chuckled.
"Shouldn't have to be that way, forcing mothers to kill their children," he said, glancing over his shoulder at Katniss holding Lark on her lap.
"Shouldn't talk like that. People are always listening," I told him neutrally, refusing to engage with this bronzed fool, but Finnick just seemed amused.
"You'd be surprised how little they care about what we do as mentors when the Games are going on," he told me. He opened his mouth to say something else, but then an Avox approached him with a silver tray and a white card on it - a card similar to the one I received with Serous Magnificent's name on it some seven months ago. He let out a sigh, then picked up the drink from the counter that was placed in front of him. "Duty calls. We'll talk soon." He winked at me, and then he walked off, leaving me sitting there wondering what the hell that man was on about, until I ultimately decided to rejoin Katniss on the couch and hand her the cup of water, which she thanked me for with a kiss.
"What was that about?" she asked me when I sat down beside her.
"He keeps trying to talk to me. Don't know what his goals are but I'm perfectly fine just being around you and Haymitch," I replied calmly. "But mostly you." I looked up at the screen. "Did something happen?"
"The girl's mother from Three just died," Glitter told me.
"Who all's left now?" I asked.
"The boy and the girl's mother from One, the boy and both mothers from Two, the girl from Three, the boy from Ten, the girl and the boy's mother from Eleven and your two tributes still," Glitter replied. Eleven tributes left.
"What about the tributes from Six?" I asked again.
"They were killed this morning. Two got 'em," Johanna told me. On Day Seven, Eliza got very ill, and Katniss and I wanted to send her an expensive medicine, but Haymitch wouldn't let us.
"Don't waste what little money we have on a dyin' woman. She ain't gonna make it," he told us.
"Hmm, and that's why you didn't send me any medicine when I was dying by the river, wasn't it?" I asked him, and he waved me off.
"Hush up, the girl got you out," he said to me, and I shook my head with mild amusement.
"Maybe you should go out and get more sponsorships. We won't send any medicine, we promise... but can we at least send them food and water? Sage hasn't eaten in two days," I said to him.
"Little bit of food, let the boy find water," Haymitch said, and then he pointed at Katniss, who was holding Lark on her hip. "Don't let him send that woman any medicine, I'll be watchin'!"
"I won't, Haymitch," Katniss replied, and then Haymitch left us alone. I was tensely standing over the table trying to think of something edible to send them when Katniss stood beside me and started rubbing my back, Lark now in the little portable playpen that Effie had gotten us. "You okay?"
"I shouldn't be bothered that he chose you over me. I told him to. But I guess I can't shake the feeling of hurt knowing that I've never been anyone's first choice," I told her.
"You were mine," she replied.
"No, I wasn't. You only noticed me when I was dying," I said firmly.
"Peeta... I told you, we would have happened anyway... If the Games didn't happen to us, and life continued the way it had before... I know that eventually, I wouldn't have been able to stop myself from kissing you." I glanced up at her.
"What?" I asked, now confused, and she blushed.
"Some of those... times... we... bumped into each other in the halls weren't... accidental..." she confessed. "Sometimes they were! But sometimes... Sometimes, I just... wanted to touch you... and I didn't know how to ask without sounding like I wanted you to take me to the Slag Heap." I smiled then, loving hearing this little private confession. "At the time, I didn't understand it... I just knew that... a part of me wished more than anything that I hadn't given up on love, because of you."
"But you didn't give up on love," I told her.
"Well, I had given up, but... when Haymitch said that we'd have to stay together for the rest of our lives, I thought... Why be miserable? I decided to just let myself be happy, and with someone that, subconsciously, I wanted to be the one to make me happy, who happened to also be the person I am now stuck with for the rest of my life." I chuckled and wrapped my arms around her waist, lowering my lips to hers to kiss them.
"Damn right you're stuck with me for the rest of your life. Even if it wasn't all for show... even if we could have a normal life... I wouldn't leave your side." I embraced her tightly, holding her in my arms until a cry from Lark got our attention.
"She's probably hungry... Do you mind if I feed her?" Katniss asked me, pulling back from the embrace.
"Have I ever minded you pulling your boob out in front of me?" I asked her, and she playfully smacked my chest and left my arms to feed our daughter.
Eliza died in the early hours of the eighth day, and the Careers from Two got into another scrapple with the Careers from One. The girl's mother, who had brutally killed her daughter, was killed by the boy from One and the girl's mother from One was killed by the boy from Two, Cyrus, leaving just eight tributes left. By the end of the eighth day, there were seven, with the boy's mother from Eleven dying from a rabid rat bite she'd received a couple of days earlier. All that remained now were Gideon, the boy from One, Cyrus, his mother, Orelia, Ryss, the girl from Three, Lonestar, the boy from Ten, Willow, the girl from Eleven, and Sage.
"The boy's doin' good," said Haymitch. "Hasn't done much killin', just a lot of fuckin' around."
"Good for him," I said, my arms crossed against my chest. The ninth day didn't see any action, so on the tenth day of the Games, the gamemakers created a fire to draw out the tributes, which ended up burning poor Willow to death and forcing Lonestar into the path of Cyrus and Orelia, leaving only five tributes left - Gideon, Cyrus, Orelia, Ryss and Sage. As a result of being down to the top five, some of the mentors of the surviving tributes were giving interviews about their tributes. Katniss and I were sent down to the lobby with Lark to give our interview about Sage. "She gonna be okay?" I asked Katniss, referring to Lark.
"I'm sure she'll manage... Maybe you should hold her, though. You're warmer, stronger, and I certainly like being in your arms when I'm in big crowds," she told me, handing Lark to me.
"Hey, honeybun!" I said to my daughter, who giggled at me as I kissed her little cheek. "Right... Let's go and get these interviews over with."
"I know you don't like him but we have to talk him up," Katniss told me.
"It's not that I don't like him... I definitely respect him after he tricked the Careers into taking half of their own group out," I replied.
"Then comment on his cleverness. You're the one with the golden tongue. Be nice," she said, and I fake sighed.
"Fine," I said, kissing her cheek, and we got on the elevator to take us up to the lobby, where Effie was arranging our interview.
"There you two are!" Effie exclaimed, rushing over to us. "You two are late! And sweet little Lark has food on her face!" Effie licked her thumb and wiped the food off of Lark's face. "Get over there, sit in your light on that sofa and remember to sit up straight and smile because you're on camera! I'm talking to you , Katniss." Katniss scowled at her and I chuckled gently, taking her hand in my free hand and kissing her cheek; that made her smile, and it was genuine. We went to where we were told to go, which was a seating area, and sat down with Lark sitting between us on our laps, and our interviewer, who ended up actually being Caesar Flickerman, sat down in front of us, and then the cameras were rolling.
"Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen! Our victors from the 74th Hunger Games! They won through the power of love that these star-crossed lovers of District Twelve possessed for one another and made Hunger Games history! And here they are, one year later with a tribute in the top five and their beautiful little baby girl, Lark! Hello again, Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen! Tell me, how old is little Miss Lark now?" Caesar asked us.
"She's five months now, she was born in February. On my birthday, actually," I said with a smile, and Caesar smiled wide.
"How exciting, what a wonderful birthday gift indeed! And how is parenthood treating you both?" he asked us.
"We're finally starting to be able to catch up on sleep again. For a while, Lark didn't really sleep through the night, but now that she's a little older, she finally is," I told him. "We love it, though. We're very happy to be here, Caesar, and we're grateful for all of the opportunities we've been given! If we hadn't won the Games together, well... Lark might not be here."
"Is it true, Katniss, that you got pregnant with Lark before the Games even began?" Caesar asked, and my eyes widened a little bit. Of course the Capitol knew about our first time together. Was nothing private in the Capitol?
"Er..." Katniss began. "Ah... All I know is that I learned I was about... pregnant... for two months in... an t-Sultain ... Peeta, what is word for... that month we..."
"Wh-... September?" I said, trying hard to read her mind.
"Yes, yes, I... I did learn that I was pregnant in September. It's... what is word... comasach ? No... it starts with a P... The one where... it can be done..."
"...possible?" I asked her.
"Yes, possible... It's... possible... that Lark was... fàs torr-" She scowled as she thought, then spoke again. "...conceived... before... Games..." Katniss sometimes struggled with English when she got nervous, so I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her shoulder a firm squeeze. It was amazing, actually, that she didn't struggle so much when she was trying to tell me that her feelings for me in the arena weren't all fake, which really solidified my belief that she was telling the truth, or that she trusted me, or both.
"Oh, goodness! Yes, Katniss Everdeen is from Hebridia, like a couple other of our victors, which must account for her stuttering!" Caesar said, addressing the camera.
"Yes indeed, she didn't know a word of English when she came to Panem," I said in defence of Katniss. "She's come a long way, though, but they say that English is a difficult language to learn!" I smiled at Caesar, glancing at Katniss's flushed cheeks, before I returned to our previous conversation. "Anyway, Lark was born in February and Katniss was about seven months pregnant. Count seven months back and that puts her conception at sometime in July, so you can draw conclusions from that, Caesar."
"Yes indeed!" said Caesar cheerfully. "Now, about your remaining tribute. Sage Darcy is a very clever boy! We loved all the sacrifices he made for his mother! The poor woman did succumb to illness, which was quite unfortunate, but Sage has trudged on and here is, now in the top five remaining tributes! He has survived forty-three other tributes and hasn't killed anyone! Isn't that remarkable how he broke up the Career alliance?"
"It was definitely very clever," I said. "I like to think he took some inspiration from Katniss last year in attacking their food supply."
"Although he was certainly more clever about it," Katniss chimed in, putting the dummy that Lark had dropped back into her mouth. It was on a string attached to her dress and kept her from fussing.
"It was certainly very clever and really made him a Capitol favourite quickly! You know how we love drama! With Phoenix taking out her own daughter, Medal, in the ultimate moment of betrayal! And your tribute caused that! You must be so proud of him!" Caesar exclaimed, and I feigned a smile.
"Oh, yes. Absolutely delighted," I said.
"Did you have any inclination of how he was going to be in the arena?" Caesar asked us.
"Truth to be told, all of this has come as a surprise to us. Sage was very quiet and more on the moody side of things when he was reaped and he didn't really want to hear any advice from any of us - me, Katniss or Haymitch. We knew his end goal was to keep his mother alive, but now, we just want to get him home to his family. He has a lot of brothers and sisters. They've already lost their mother, and if we can bring their big brother home, then they'll never want for anything again," I replied.
"Excellent! Well, we certainly hope Sage gets to go home to his family! Do you have any parting words for Panem regarding your tribute?" Caesar asked, finally getting to the final question.
"We'd like everyone to know that we believe that Sage has what it takes to win the Games. He's ambitious, he's proud, he's strong and he's incredibly clever, and he's got everything that it takes to be a Victor. We hope that the people of the Capitol will help us bring home yet another tribute from District Twelve," I said.
"We hope so, too, Peeta. It was great to see you both! Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen - oh, excuse me, Mellark , considering I attended your wedding in January - the star-crossed lovers from District Twelve!" Caesar said to the camera, and Katniss and I smiled and waved and even waved little Lark's hands in the air, shared a kiss for the camera and then the cameras were off.
With five tributes, the Games were coming to a close. Cyrus and Orelia prowled the streets searching for the remaining three tributes, but they were nowhere to be found. Gideon stupidly fell into an electric trap set by Ryss from Three and the cannon went off, signaling that there were only four tributes left - Cyrus, Orelia, Ryss and Sage. Cyrus was sizing up Orelia, his own mother, and we could see easily in his eyes that if it came down to it, he would, indeed, kill his own mother, and Orelia saw that, so on the tenth night, she abandoned him and set out on her own. Orelia came across Ryss and when Ryss tried to set off yet another electric trap, she was killed by Orelia, now leaving only three tributes. Cyrus was manic now, and the sponsors were pouring in. There were people fighting to sponsor either Orelia, Cyrus or Sage, and for the remaining days of the Games, we sat on edge just waiting for something to happen, and then it did.
And Sage was dead. A fireball was sent into the building that he was hiding in, and it was too late for him to get out. The moment it happened, Katniss gasped and held her hands over her mouth, tears starting to leak from her eyes, and I pulled her into a firm hug as we watched the building that housed the burning body of our final tribute blew up into flames. "I knew they were going to kill him... Snow wanted him dead... It isn't fair..." she muttered into my chest.
"Shhh, I know..." I told her quietly, rubbing her back and holding her tightly. Haymitch frowned and kicked the chair, sending it flying into the wall.
"Well, that's it, then, ain't it? The Games are over for us," he said, a hint of frustration in his voice. He was correct, the Games were finished now for District Twelve. We lasted a lot longer than we had initially thought we would. Most tributes from Twelve die in the initial bloodbath at the cornucopia, but not Sage. Penelope lasted all but a day, and Sage kept Eliza alive for as long as he could, until she succumbed to her illness. And Sage himself, well... if Snow hadn't been out to get him from the start, Sage very well may have won the 75th Hunger Games. It was completely and totally unfair what happened to Sage, and needless to say, I was pissed.
When it came down to the final two - Orelia and Cyrus, mother and son from District Two, Cyrus showed his mother no mercy. He struck her down, and in a last bid, she begged her son to be kind, but in a blind rage fuelled by winning the Hunger Games, he sliced off her head with a machete, and then the Games were over. Cyrus Tyranny had won the 75th Hunger Games.
In the lounge, when the mentors were saying their goodbyes until next summer, Finnick raised a glass at the bar. "To District Two," he said. "The odds were certainly in your favour this year." He smiled that stupid charming smile and drank to the victory of yet another vicious victor from District Two.
The train ride home to Twelve was solemn. Katniss sat in the back car holding Lark on her lap, and I joined her after having lunch with Haymitch and Effie, who were also quite quiet. So this was what it felt like to come back with no victors. On the same train were four pine coffins, each with a bronze plate that bore the name of whom it carried. Thelma Ruewood, who died on the 10th of July, 2160 - Day One of the 75th Hunger Games (District 12). Penelope Ruewood, who died on the 12th of July, 2160 - Day Three of the 75th Hunger Games (District 12). Eliza Darcy, who died on the 18th of July, 2160 - Day Eight of the 75th Hunger Games (District 12). Sage Darcy, who died on the 22nd of July, 2160 - Day Twelve of the 75th Hunger Games (District 12). Four tributes, four coffins. Four more names for Haymitch to add to his seemingly never-ending list of tributes he'd lost. Four names for Katniss and I to start our list with.
Finally, the 75th Hunger Games, and the Third Quarter Quell, were over, and there was no fanfare this year in District Twelve. As we left the train, solemn eyes met ours, the fires seemingly quelled once again, but they didn't blame us. They couldn't. I couldn't do this again. I understood why Haymitch was always drunk now. There was no way I could do this again.
When we got back home, Katniss and I didn't speak to each other for a couple of days, save for when we had to communicate something about Lark. When we laid in bed, it was as far away from each other as we could get, our backs facing one another. On the third day, I'd had enough, and I told Katniss that I wanted to go to the lake, and she agreed, and we strapped Lark to my chest, packed a picnic and headed off into the woods. "We need to talk about what happened," I told her when we finally got to the lakeshore, and she sighed.
"I'm sorry, really... I didn't mean to take out my stress on you... Snow being so close to Lark like that at brunch, well... it just set me off... And you didn't deserve to be at the end of it," she told me, and then she looked at me, her chocolate brown hair flowing freely down her face and catching the subtle summer breeze. "I'm sorry, Peeta... Really, I am. I know it's not enough..."
"You forgot that we were in it together, Katniss. Still are in this together. We have to do this again and again, every year for the rest of our lives. We can't argue," I told her.
"I know... I don't want to argue with you," she replied solemnly.
"I haven't heard you tell me you love me since before the Games..."
"I do love you, Peeta. You know that."
"You just couldn't say it in the Capitol."
"...no..."
"Why?"
"...I don't know... I find it... hard to... to talk there, I suppose." She looked away, back out at the water. "I love you, Peeta... and I'm sorry I haven't said it in a while."
"You didn't feel safe... that's probably why."
"Where I am doesn't change how I feel about you." She looked at me again, her silver eyes meeting my blue ones. "I hope you know that." I gave her a gentle smile and I nodded.
"I do, but sometimes, I really need to hear it," I told her, and then it was my turn to sigh and look out over the lake. "We're seventeen years old, and already, I feel like I'm forty. How does Haymitch do this?"
"By being drunk all the time. So drunk, he doesn't even know what day it is half the time."
"I don't want to be like that... but I can't do this. I can't cope with this. I can't cope with having to bring Lark there every year, where she's around a mass murderer... where she's around people who buy victors for sex." Katniss looked at me, her eyes wide. I hadn't meant for that last part to slip out, and I tried my best to hide my fear that she's found out my greatest secret.
"People... people buy victors for..."
"Yeah." I looked down at my hands in my lap, wondering if I should confess or not. I couldn't tell her. It would destroy her to know. She would be angry with me for allowing it to happen, for not fighting back and for not letting her participate, but there was no way in hell I was letting any of those horny Capitol fucks touch her. She put a hand on my shoulder.
"Peeta... how do you know..."
"Haymitch told me," I said, and it wasn't completely a lie. "And I saw... Finnick Odair, he... he got a little white card on a tray one day, in the lounge... I didn't see the name, but... I was warned that... it..." I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry. "...that it could happen to us..." I whispered, and I heard Katniss gasp.
"When were you warned?"
"When I was in the Capitol... filming that stupid art supplies commercial." I was kind of warned, wasn't I? I looked at her and took her free hand in mine. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I didn't want to scare you, not when you were so sick when you were still pregnant... But I won't let it happen, Katniss. None of those brightly-coloured peacocks are going to lay a single hand on you, not if I have anything to say about it."
"And they better not lay their hands on you , either!" Katniss told me firmly, giving my hand a squeeze. Oh, my sweet love, they already have... "You're all mine and I'm not up to sharing... and it's absolutely horrible that they'd do such a thing..."
"It's a way for them to make money. They've proven that they already don't care what happens to twenty-three children every year. Why would this stop them?"
"It's just... it's just so dreadful... this world... and Lark..." She was in tears now, and she held Lark close to her chest tightly and sobbed. I pulled both of my girls onto my lap and held them tightly in my arms as Katniss sobbed, and Lark pulled at her mother's hair. "I feel like... I-I can't protect her... This... th-this was why I... I didn't want... children..."
"I know, honey. I know," I told her. "It's not going to happen to Lark, either... We'll do what we have to do to protect her, so that nothing we went through ever happens to her... They're the sacrifices we have to make so that Lark can live a better life."
"If anyone else from the Capitol puts their filthy hands on our girl..."
"Shhh, I know..." I didn't let her finish that thought; It wasn't her. "The Games are over... Now all we have to worry about is the Victory Tour, which shouldn't be a lot on our part, and then we have a year until the next Games... We survived this year, and we can do it again, and again, and again... We do it for her." Katniss and I shared a glance before we both looked at our daughter, and Katniss then rested a head on my shoulder.
"I don't know where I'd be without you, Peeta. I need you so much... I love you so much..."
"I love you, too. We need each other, and we have each other. I won't let Snow take that away from us." I held her on my lap for quite a while as she cried herself into a nap, and Lark, too, napped in her arms. Carefully, I laid the two of them down beside each other and pulled out my sketchbook, sketching mother and daughter fast asleep with Katniss's lake in the background. Using watercolour pigments, I painted it, and when she awoke, I would show her, and she would cry tears of joy instead of tears of sadness and fear, and take my face in her hands and kiss me. Given our dreadful circumstances, we would do everything we could to steal every moment of happiness we could get our hands on.
A/N: Will Peeta's first Games as a mentor change how he tries to protect Lark and Katniss?
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