A/N: Katniss's POV inspired by 'Witchwood' by the Strawbs. Sexual content featured.

PEETA POV

The Games were a few days away and the tributes had been training for the last couple of days. Haymitch and I were dining with them one night while Katniss had dinner with the girls, Annie Cresta, Mags Flanagan and Glitter Pash to discuss strategies for the arena. "What're you two kids good at again?" Haymitch asked the two of them.

"Nothing," said Lucas hopelessly.

"Well, that much is obvious, but you done anythin' useful in training?" Haymitch asked him.

"I've been trying out the plants," said Lucy, spooning some soup into her mouth. "And some of the weapons."

"You good at any of them?" I asked her.

"I'm not bad with a knife, I suppose," she replied.

"Well, you're small, so that ain't gonna help ya in case ya meet with one of the Careers," said Haymitch. She shrugged.

"The Careers seem to like me. Or at least, Odysseus does," she replied nonchalantly.

"Does he?" I asked, although I already knew the answer to this. "That's surprising for a Career. What makes you think that?"

"On the first day of training, he was doing the same stations I was, and when I saw him doing it again on the second day, I confronted him and he said he 'admired' me," Lucy told me.

"Hmm," said Haymitch, exchanging a knowing glance with me. "We can work with that."

"Work with that?" asked Lucy.

"Develop a strategy for gettin' you home. The love story that this idiot was involved in?" said Haymitch, referring to me. "Highest viewin's in history. The Capitol will eat up another star-crossed lovers story."

"But we're not 'the star-crossed lovers of District Twelve'. The Capitol won't buy that," Lucy replied, setting her spoon down.

"You're right, you ain't. You're the star-crossed lovers of the districts," Haymitch replied.

"Wait, what about me ? Don't I matter at all?" Lucas chimed in, now angry. It was obvious to him that Haymitch and I had chosen to save Lucy over him, and for obvious reasons, that infuriated him.

"Of course you matter, Lucas. We're going to try everything we can to get you out of the arena, too. We just... need to think of a different strategy," I told him.

"Sure you will. Only one gets out, and it's going to be her and not me, isn't it?" said Lucas, and he shoved back his chair and stood. "I'm going to bed, since it's obvious that I've already lost the Games." He then stormed off, and Lucy, Haymitch and I sat there in an awkward silence.

"He really is a nice boy," Lucy said after a moment.

"Doesn't matter. There's been lots of nice boys and girls that have gone into the arena," Haymitch told her. "Only one comes out."

"You see, Lucy... one of the hardest parts about being a mentor is knowing that you can try everything you can to bring home at least one of your tributes, but in the end, there's only one victor," I explained to her.

"Unless it's you and Katniss," Lucy replied, picking up her spoon again.

"We're a rare exception. We got very lucky that the gamemakers had any mercy on us. If they'd wanted to, they could have sent more mutts on us or caused some kind of natural disaster like they did last year for the two tributes in the cornucopia... or they could have waited for me to bleed out and die. I'd been bitten by a mutt on the leg, and would have lost it, too, if it weren't for Katniss's medical expertise," I told her. "Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen again. The purpose of the Games is that there's only one victor, and, well... Haymitch and I want that one victor to be you."

"It must be hard to look at two children, so full of hope and looking to you to get them back home, and know that you can maybe - just maybe - bring one of them home," said Lucy.

"Been doin' it for twenty-six years, sweetheart. I've only succeeded once," Haymitch told her, pouring liquor from his flask and into his cup of coffee. "It ain't easy. It ain't never been easy."

"It... takes a lot out of you, yes," I replied. "If I could save every tribute I've had to mentor - if Haymitch could save every tribute he's had to mentor - hell, if his mentor could save every tribute-"

"I didn't have a mentor, only my escort. The only other District Twelve victor before me died a long time ago," Haymitch interrupted me.

"All right, if the escorts for District Twelve were anything like Effie, then if they could-"

"They were never anythin' like Frills."

"Haymitch, I am trying to make a point here," I told him, somewhat frustrated he kept interrupting me, and he raised his hands in surrender. " Anyway, my point is... if any of us could have brought home both tributes, then we would have. Every mentor of every district has the same desire, to bring their kids home. But they just can't. It's not how the Games work... Yes, I know that Katniss and I are extremely fortunate and as a result, we are eternally grateful to the gamemakers of our Games and to President Snow for allowing us both to live, but it wasn't supposed to be like that. There were... punishments... for that..."

"Oh," said Lucy, setting her spoon down again. "I understand, I guess... Still, I can see why Haymitch drinks all of the time. It's amazing that you're so well put together, Peeta."

"I have my family to keep me together," I told her. "Now, down to business. It's evident that Odysseus likes you. I could even see that in the parade recap, he couldn't take his eyes off of you. I think you should use that to your advantage."

"I don't think playing with someone's heart in a death match is a very good idea," Lucy told me, cocking one eyebrow. "If he finds out it's fake, he'll just kill me."

"What's it matter? He'll be dead anyway. Love's a weakness in some, ain't it, boy?" Haymitch said, elbowing me in the arm.

"Wouldn't know anything about that, Haymitch," I told him, then I looked back at Lucy. "In the end, Haymitch and I won't be in the arena with you, so what we tell you to do doesn't matter. It's your choice whether or not to listen to our advice. We watch you carefully when you're in the arena and we work with what you give us to try and get you sponsors, but in the end, it all comes down to you. The only thing we can do is send you supplies and advise you before you go into the arena." She nodded, and a moment of silence passed between us. "Give it some thought, all right? If you have any questions before you head off to bed tonight, Haymitch is gonna stay here for the next hour or so, but I've got two daughters under the age of three and I need to get back to help Katniss put them to bed. I'll see you tomorrow." I excused myself from dinner and made my way back to the Hotel, which was just down the street from the Tribute Tower. I could have taken one of the black cars that was waiting outside, but I chose to walk instead.

The Capitol was a big, tall, bustling urban environment that could only be described as a concrete jungle. Instead of trees, there were buildings everywhere, and they were shiny and ostentatiously coloured outrageous and unnatural shades of pinks, oranges, blues, yellows, greens and violets. The Capitol was like a scene of a psychedelic nightmare, and kind of looked like a page in Lark's colouring book - it was like a child was given the brightest, most vibrant colours of paint and a giant canvas to play with. At night, however, it was more muted, but the garish colours still stuck out under the lights of street lamps.

As I walked, I mused on Lucy's and Haymitch's words. Lucy made a valid point about not wanting to fake love in the arena, but isn't that what Katniss and I did? Well, she did. Kind of. She told me once that her kisses may have been for the cameras, but her words and their meanings were not - those were meant for me. I knew Katniss loved me, even though she fell in love with me after we had already kissed and expressed words of love and even made love the night before the Games even began. It was a weird backwards way of forming a relationship, but what Katniss and I had was strong, and there was nothing in the world that could destroy us and our love for one another.

Haymitch, on the other hand, called love a weakness. In my opinion, love was my greatest strength, as my love for Katniss and our daughters was what kept them, and the rest of our families, safe. My love for them forced me to make decisions that, if I had my own free will, I would never have done, but I loved my family more than anything in the world and I couldn't risk anything happening to them. The things I've done for my family... they would break people, but thankfully, I was strong. I'd had years of loving Katniss from afar to help me build up my emotional strength and as a result, I could handle anything thrown at me, whether it was Snow forcing me to impregnate Katniss again or being forced to pleasure people of the Capitol in secret to protect my family. I hadn't been forced to do it again, as Snow did not want to disrupt the image of our love for one another, but the memories were still fresh. Of Serous Magnificent's stupid purple hands on my flesh, touching me in ways that only Katniss should.. Of the other buyers undressing me and taking me into their hands. I would never forget the feeling of being invaded, but thank God for the fact that Katniss will never know that feeling, thanks to the sacrifices that I had made. No, love was not my weakness... it only made me stronger.

When I returned to mine and Katniss's room in the hotel, she and the girls hadn't come back from dinner yet, so I simply sat on the bed and turned on the television to watch recaps of interviews and try to see what the Capitol thought about our tributes. It was true that they were intrigued by Lucy Greyson, and they mentioned rumours about her seeming to develop an alliance with Odysseus. Now, I didn't know if that was true - Lucy seemed like she wanted to handle this all on her own - but the fact that the Capitol was talking about her and Odysseus was a positive for us. Maybe about ten minutes after I arrived in the room, the door opened and Katniss entered carrying a sleeping Maevis and behind her was Glitter Pash, who held a sleepy Lark on her hip.

"Thank you again for helping me get them back," she'd told Glitter, unaware of my presence yet, so I got up and met her at the door.

"Oh, it's no problem, Katniss," Glitter had said as I approached the door.

"I can take over from here," I said, surprising both of them.

"Peeta! I didn't know you were back yet," she told me, kissing my cheek and passing Maevis to me.

"Just got back a few minutes ago," I told her.

"I'd best get going, it's my turn to send the tributes off to training tomorrow. Dinner was fun and we should do it again sometime! I'll see you soon, Katniss," Glitter said to the pair of us, handing Lark to Katniss, and we both wished her goodnight and closed the door to our room.

"So, how was dinner?" I asked my wife as she carried Lark to the attached second room, where Lark and Maevis slept; she groaned in response.

"Women bore me so much," she said. "It's no wonder I hardly have any female friends."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," I told her.

"They were talking about the latest in Capitol fashion almost the whole time. Well, Annie and Glitter were, and then we were joined by Delectra Altra and Cashmere and Gloss Horne, and all they could talk about was Capitol this and glitter and glam that and going on and on about some new tradition they heard a rumour about that Snow wanted to start which has something to do with a party and the victors and tributes as guests," she replied, changing Lark into her pyjamas and settling her into bed. We continued our conversation after we got the girls settled and kissed them goodnight.

"A party with the victors and tributes, hm? Where'd they hear that from?" I asked her as we started to change out of our clothes.

"Cashmere said she heard it from some Capitol official she met with," Katniss told me. "Can we shower? I feel all... gross and sticky." I chuckled gently to myself, finding amusement in her still trying to find excuses to shower with me even though we'd been married for almost three years now.

"You know you don't even have to ask to get me into a shower with you," I told her, allowing her to drag me into the bathroom with her. We stripped down and got into the shower together, Katniss starting by lathering up her hair.

"How was dinner with the tributes?" she asked me.

"Not bad," I answered. "Lucy says that the boy from Two seems interested in her, so see? I didn't make that up. It could work, if we try to sell that story. We might be able to bring her home."

"I still don't feel right about exploiting their hearts..."

"Why's that?"

"Too close to home." She rinsed the shampoo out of her hair and then picked up a soapy loofah, which I snatched from her hand. "Peeta-"

"Allow me." Pulling her from the water and pressing my front against her back, I started to rub her - somewhat erotically - with the loofah, making sure to tease her perky nipples with the roughness of the loofah.

"Peeta," she groaned, reaching behind her with her hand to cup my face.

"You like that?" I asked her. "I can... do it again..." I teased her nipple again with the loofah, and she shuddered. "I can do this one, too..." I teased her other nipple with it, causing her to tense up and grab at my hair. "Or... I can do this ..." I moved the loofah down to her pelvic region just above the area that I knew was craving my touch, and she squeezed her thighs together in response.

"Your hands... are so much... better..." she muttered breathlessly.

"Well, then make room," I whispered into her ear, dropping the loofah and parting her legs with my hand. My hand slid around her thigh to rest in between them, and then I ran a finger along her folds, resulting in a noisy moan coming from her throat.

"Oh, Peeta," she moaned with delight, and I smiled against her neck as the pad of my thumb found her sensitive little nub, causing her to writhe in my arms. " Peeta... Oh, God, Peeta..."

"Does that feel good, baby?" I whispered into her ear, and she nodded fiercely.

"Yes... More, Peeta, more ," she told me, her eyes shut tight and her face scrunched up with pleasure. God, it made me hard as a rock when I could take one finger and melt this woman into a puddle in my arms. Shifting my hand, I slid two fingers into her entrance, my palm taking over for my thumb on her little nub, and my other hand found its way to her breast to tease her nipple. She came apart in my hand, nearly collapsing as she reached her climax and came into my hand, and I chuckled as I caught her before she fell.

"Damn, that good, huh?" I asked her, and she playfully smacked my thigh as she tried to catch her breath.

"We should do this more often... There's something... erotic... about ravaging each other in the shower," she replied breathlessly, then she freed herself from my arms and got down on her knees, her hands sliding up my thighs and her silver eyes, with a mischevious glint, met mine. "My turn..."

KATNISS POV

In the early hours of the following morning, I stirred from my sleep, opening my eyes and letting them adjust to the dawn that broke through the small slit in the curtains that blocked out the light. My chest felt heavy - that's because there was a head lying on it. My Peeta slept peacefully on my bare chest, his arms holding me tightly, never daring to let me go. The light from the morning sun created almost a halo around his honey golden curls and made him look like a slice of my own personal heaven. I smiled down at him, peaceful in a dreamless sleep, and softly brushed a curl from his eyes; he stirred slightly, and as he shifted, his brilliant blue eyes fluttered opened and as they landed on mine, he smiled sleepily, then closed his eyes again and settled into my chest. "Good morning, beautiful," he muttered sleepily, pressing a kiss to my sternum.

"Good morning to you, too," I said, running a hand through his curls. When I was with him, in a moment as intimate as this, it was easy to forget that we were in the hell that was the Capitol, fighting to save the lives of two children who were the sacrificial lambs to atone for the sins of people who were long dead. "We have to send them off to training again today..."

"Yeah..." Peeta sighed, relaxing against my chest to listen to my heartbeat. "We've still got some time, though. We could always..." I felt him drag one of his hands down my side and pause at my hip, and I chuckled gently.

"I would love to... but we should start getting ready. The girls take longer to get ready than we do," I told him, disappointed in my own response. As if on cue, I began to hear a cry coming from behind the door to the adjoining room, where Lark and Maevis were supposed to be sleeping. "Duty calls..."

"I'll get her," Peeta said, pushing himself up and pressing a kiss to my lips. "You start getting dressed." I nodded and kissed him one more time before he slid off of the bed, pulled on a pair of trousers and went to tend to our daughters. He was such a doting father, and it only made me regret not seizing the brief moment we had to ourselves. Not too long later, as we were about to leave, a knock at the door disrupted us, and I answered it while Peeta finished cleaning up Lark's face from her morning meal, almost surprised to see the peacekeeper at the door.

"President Snow requires your presence, Mrs. Mellark. And your husband, too," he said. "Care will be provided for your children." Thank God Snow didn't want us to bring our children.

"Very well," I replied. "We'll be down shortly." The peacekeeper nodded and left, and I turned to Peeta as I shut the door, my eyes wide with worry. "Snow wants to see us..."

"I heard," Peeta replied neutrally. The both of us always tensed up when Snow was near, mostly because it meant that he would be exploiting us again by holding the bargain I had made with him when I was still pregnant with Lark over our heads like a whip.

"We... we'd best not... keep him waiting," I told him. When the Avox arrived to watch our children, Peeta and I made our way down to the lobby and into a black unmarked car. We didn't like leaving our children alone with anyone other than Haymitch or Effie when we were in the Capitol, but if we weren't going to send our tributes off to training, then both Effie and Haymitch needed to be there. We arrived at the Presidents' Mansion and were brought to Snow's office, finding ourselves very much alone. Peeta and I exchanged a glance, then sat down in the chairs opposite of Snow's at his desk, holding each other's hands tightly. "What have we done now?" I whispered to Peeta.

"I don't know... We've done everything we've been asked to do. Maybe we're not being punished?" Peeta suggested. We both knew that, somehow, we were being punished for something, but I couldn't possibly guess what. Perhaps it had something to do with Snow being suspicious about Peeta being with Haymitch all the time, or maybe he didn't like Peeta and Haymitch spending so much time with Finnick Odair, Beetee Latier and Johanna Mason. Our thoughts were interrupted by the door opening and Snow entering the room, and Peeta and I both stood as he made his way to his desk.

"Mr. and Mrs. Mellark, what a delightful surprise," said Snow, mocking the two of us.

"You wanted to see us, sir?" Peeta asked him, skillfully knocking aside Snow's barb. Snow sneered at him, then motioned for us to sit, which we did, and he didn't say a word at first. We sat in an uncomfortable silence, and I was the first to break it.

"President Snow... we do need to... return to our tributes soon. Every second they can get will help them-" I began, but Snow raised a hand to cut me off.

"My dear Mrs. Mellark, you and I both know that your tributes will likely not survive. The tributes from Districts One and Two are quite strong this year, I'm afraid, and your tributes are... not," he said, his eyes falling on Peeta, who stared back firmly. "I'm sure you are wondering why you've been called here. There has been some... rumours... that involve District Twelve potentially starting an... uprising." My eyes widened.

"Absolutely not," I said, my voice starting to shake. "President Snow, District Twelve could never -"

"Mrs. Mellark, do calm down. I assure you that I know you are not the cause of it," Snow replied, interrupting me again, and then he looked again at Peeta. "Mr. Mellark, you have a lot of... friends... among the other victors and, I hear, at home as well. Have you heard any such rumours?"

"Not a single one. But I don't really talk to any of my friends from school anymore. I don't have the time," Peeta replied, his voice steady and firm. Snow nodded, then eyed the both of us.

"There has been some discontent here in the Capitol since Mr. Mellark commented on the fate of younger tributes," he said.

"President Snow, he meant no harm. He just wanted the younger tributes to have an equal chance," I said, gripping Peeta's wrist tightly with both hands.

"Younger tributes are generally not violent and therefore, pose no chance for entertainment. They are simply an unfortunate sacrifice, and a harsh lesson, for their districts. Mr. Mellark's remark has certainly caused a stirrup among the people of the Capitol. I need you both to be a... distraction... again for them. Do you know what that means?" Snow asked us, glancing between the two of us; neither of us answered. "You need to have another child." My stomach clenched, and I gripped Peeta's wrist so tightly, his hand likely went numb.

"But... you said we had a year and a half..." I muttered quietly.

"Circumstances have changed. You will conceive a child while you are here in the Capitol, and to refer back to our prior conversation, Mrs. Mellark, there will be extra steps taken to ensure that this child is male. Once again, the Capitol will choose the name, and you will select it from the list. Do keep in touch with Ms. Trinket, who will ensure that you choose a name more suitable to the Capitol's liking," said Snow. So we were being punished, this time for selecting Maevis's name, and we were still being punished for Peeta's interview last summer after Vick died in the arena. Snow then leaned forward onto his elbows, the scent of roses and blood permeating our faces. "And there will be patrons who wish to witness the conception of your next child. When the Games begin, you will both be brought to the hospital to receive fertility treatments, and you will remain in the Capitol for as long as it takes you to conceive. You will be checked daily, Mrs. Mellark, to see if you have conceived, and like young Miss Maevis, this child will be born in the Capitol. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," Peeta replied, his face pink with fury and his eyes raging with fire, but he never let that anger come out in his voice. Snow smirked, then sat back in his chair.

"Excellent," he said. "The night before the Games begin, there will be a celebration in which the victors and the tributes will attend, as well as prominent high-paying Capitol citizens. Do spread the word. Oh, and next year will be the first centennial since the birth of Panem." I didn't like that he mentioned that, especially not when he was looking at Peeta the way he was. Snow was planning something, and it wasn't going to end well for us.

The ride back to the Hotel was quiet between Peeta and I. I was furious he'd given that interview now, even though I completely agreed with it. That interview was getting us punished again and again and there was nothing I could do about it. I hadn't even had anything to do with it! "Katniss," Peeta said when we were finally in our room.

"Why did you have to do it?" I snapped at him. "Why couldn't you have just kept quiet and kept your opinions to yourself?"

"Katniss, I know this is my fault. I'm sorry-"

"No, I don't want to hear it! It's too late now for that to do anything!" I turned my back to him. "We have to have another... They're going to watch us... together..." I fought hard to prevent the tear from slipping from my eye, but nothing I could do could stop it.

"I... I'm so sorry, Katniss... I didn't know... I thought if I could say something that maybe... maybe kids like Vick, or Rue, could stand a chance for once..." At the mention of Rue, the dam behind my tear ducts broke and I began to sob, and Peeta pulled me into his arms and held me tightly. "Shhh... It's going to be okay... We'll get through this..."

"When is it going to end?" I asked him.

"When our children are old enough to age out of the reaping, I suppose," Peeta replied. "But at the rate we have to have children..."

"We'll never be free," I finished for him. He was silent for a moment.

"No..."

Three years ago, everything was perfect. Prim hadn't been reaped, I was a huntress who vowed never to marry or fall in love or have children because I feared what it could do to me. The girl I was three years ago would hate the girl I was today - weak, spineless, afraid of her own shadow. Snow's bidden slave, until a casket from the witchwood he's created from me bears my body to the grave. It seemed that the strong love that I held for Peeta, which I claimed now I could not live without, had made me weak.

I believe it was then, in that moment, that the embers that had gone cold long ago began to feel the warmth of the flame yet again. It was small, but it was there, but it would be many months before I would feel the heat of rebellion ignite me once more.

A/N: Katniss was fearful of stepping out of line under Snow's watchful eye, but will this be the final straw?

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