A/N: Hey all! Just wanted to say, my apologies that updates are coming a bit slower than typical. I'm in the middle of my university finals and things are very hectic! But I should be done by the end of next week, and the things will get back to normal as I have more time to write. I love you all and your reviews keep fill me w happiness and keep me motivated. I hope you enjoy what we've got coming up! :)
A few weeks later, I wake up on the morning of the Harvest Festival feeling a sense of genuine excitement that I truly cannot remember feeling before. Today represents both the chance to see months of hard work come to fruition, and an opportunity to have real fun with the people of my district that hadn't been possible in the past. It will undoubtedly be a busy day, but I think in a good way. We're going to head to the factory opening right after breakfast and walk through on a tour after it's opened. Around lunch time, Peeta is going to set up a stand in the town square and give out these ridiculously good pumpkin cookies he's made. There will be food, drinks, dancing, and music going on until late into the night.
When I wake up Peeta's already out of bed, and I can smell that he's cooking something good downstairs. I get out of bed and dress quickly. I know it's cold out and that I'm going to be spending a lot of time outside today, so I put on jeans and a burnt orange colored sweater, along with my hunting jacket. I think vaguely that Peeta will probably like the color of the sweater, and I smile to myself a little bit against my will.
I head downstairs soon after and am greeted by a stack of pancakes and a cup of coffee. Peeta's already eating his pancakes, perfectly dressed for the weather in a thick knitted sweater.
"Thank you for this," I say, grabbing the plate and sitting down at the table with him.
"Of course," he says, yawning before forming a sleepy little smile. "I'm excited for today."
"Me too. I'm -" I start, but I'm cut off before I can get much further by Haymitch lumbering through the door. He's stopped hiding so much from us since everything worked out with Effie, and generally he's doing very well by his standards, but his sobriety is still inconsistent and he is nowhere near a morning person. He doesn't say anything, just pours himself a mug of coffee and grabs a pancake in his hands without a plate before sitting down.
"Well you look utterly refreshed this morning," I say sarcastically. He scowls at me and rips a chunk off his pancake.
"Shut up sweetheart," he says while chewing. "I can't believe you two are making me go to this stupid thing." I roll my eyes because I know he's complaining for no reason. He cares about this, he just wants to pretend he doesn't. He's been just as excited as everyone else about the medicine factory and what it means for 12, and I know he's at the very least looking forward to the plethora of food and drinks that we'll find at the festival tonight. He just likes to pretend to be disengaged from it all.
"I'm so sorry we dained to think you could wake up before noon on a weekend," Peeta says jokingly. "Our mistake." I giggle and Haymitch just rolls his eyes. The three of us finish up breakfast and head out soon after.
I hold hands with Peeta as we walk through the cold fall air and into town. Once we pass the boundary of Victor's Village and reach the more populated areas of the district, I see a lot of people out and about, many more than normal. Everyone seems happy, going about their mornings with that same sense of busy excitement that I've been feeling too. It's nice. We're really happy here now, and that is something entirely new.
When we reach the medicine factory a sizable crowd has already gathered. I know Thom is planning on giving a speech - just like he has with the other major reopening projects, like the school and the clinic - and then having everyone head in to do tours throughout the day. Peeta, Haymitch, and I make our way towards the middle of the crowd, saying hi to Sae and a couple other familiar faces as we meander our way forward.
"Katniss!" I hear a voice call out to me just as we've found our spots in the crowd. I turn my head and see Leevy coming towards me. "I'm glad I found you! Thom wants everyone on the project team up in front with him." I feel myself getting a little nervous at that; I don't like stages and attention, all of it reminds me too much of the Games. I try to remind myself though just how different of a situation this is. I'm proud of the work that I'm representing, and the people here want to hear about it, not hear me talk about what it was like to kill other children. Besides, I shouldn't really have to talk at all, at least I don't think I will. Peeta senses my anxiety, I think, as he squeezes my hand and smiles at me.
"You're gonna be great," he says, kissing my cheek. "You've done the work, you can be proud of it." I smile at him and head off with Leevy, who leads me to an area in front of the crowd where all the members of the factory planning team are standing. Once the crowd has grown to an extent where I feel as if almost every resident of 12 must be here, Thom heads to the microphone that has been set up and starts speaking.
"Good morning everybody!" he starts enthusiastically. "I'm incredibly glad to see you all here today, because this project that we are celebrating is incredibly close to my heart. As any of us who lived in 12 before the war know all too well, our coal mining industry here in 12 was not something that belonged to us. We may have worked there, day in day out, year after year, but not one person felt a sense of ownership in that work, a sense of pride. All we really felt was fear, of our own death, our family's starvation, or of retribution from the government. Now, as we prepare today to start work in our trade of producing medicine, not only are we creating an opportunity for every resident in 12 to work a job they can feel pride and a sense of identity in, we are also changing our work from a place of death and fear to one of life and hope."
Thom pauses for a moment, and I am genuinely struck by everything he has said. His words are absolutely true; our people were never allowed to have an identity beyond mining coal, and yet that job brought no sense of identity or dignity at all, at least not when we were working in dangerous conditions for next to nothing wages. This change is going to mean something to everyone who lived here before, something with significance going beyond a safer and more stable way of living.
"I'm incredibly proud of what we've done, and beyond excited to see how 12 only continues to grow and flourish as we get started on the real work," Thom continues. "I want to thank each and every one of you for your eagerness to get involved and dedicate yourselves to this project, especially the people standing up here with me. The factory crew has spent months now helping us figure out every single aspect of this project, from construction to hiring to medicine formulation and plant identification, and the project would not have been able to happen without each and every one of their help."
People in the crowd clap, which makes me uncomfortable. I don't really want to be lauded for this, because to be honest, I still feel like in the grand scheme of things I have done less to help rebuild 12 than most of the people who moved back to this district. In these recent months I've helped out consistently with the factory, sure, but I don't necessarily think that makes up for all of the early months in which I sat shut up inside my house - my overly large, deeply empty house - while so many worked tirelessly to rebuild their homes that had been destroyed. I didn't do any of the hardest work in our district, the work of clearing away bodies and digging graves and trying to give an honorable resting place to so many people. I know I couldn't have done it; at the time that this work was being done I was still lost within myself, and I think trying to do any of this emotionally charged work may have broken me beyond repair. It would have just been too much, it wasn't possible. Still, I don't think I deserve that much praise for helping with the easier parts.
I realize though, as Thom continues to speak and I look out at the crowd, that every single person here has helped in their own way, and that there is something good in that. We can't all do the same things because we all have different stories and traumas that make certain tasks so much harder than they should be. No one in 12, no one in Panem was left untouched by the war. We are a nation of broken people, but we can support each other by picking up the pieces where some of us fall short. My eyes find Peeta in the crowd, and I know that is what he and I do for each other. This is what the people of our district do for each other too, the people of our country.
Thom finishes up talking soon after that and opens up the factory for people to start walking through. I find Peeta and Haymitch in the crowd so I can go through the tour with them. I've been inside already with the planning team, but I want to see their reactions. When I meet them, Peeta immediately pulls me into an embrace and plants a kiss on my lips.
"I'm so proud of you," he murmurs softly against my lips, and I kiss him again.
"You two better keep moving or we're gonna hold up the line," Haymitch says, gesturing for us to keep moving into the building. As we all go through and tour, people's reactions are even better than I could have hoped for. Haymitch and Peeta are both thrilled, and everyone around us seems to be as well. I'm touched by everyone's reactions, but I think the one that will stick with me the most is seeing an older man, who I recognize from the Seam and from having worked in the mines for decades, tearing up as he walked through with his son. This is why we fought, why we suffered, and why we rebuild: to make a better future.
We finish up at the factory a little bit before lunch, and Peeta, Haymitch, and I head to the bakery. We grab a quick lunch there before helping Peeta load up crates of the pumpkin cookies he baked yesterday and bring them to his stall in the town square. Most people haven't arrived yet when we reach the square. All of the food and drink vendors are setting up their stands, but the majority of the festival doesn't start for another couple hours. Haymitch wanders off, I'm sure to peruse what drink options he'll have for later, and I help Peeta get situated.
"Just in case you're wondering, I'm immensely proud of you and everything you've accomplished," Peeta says, lightly and nonchalantly, while unloading a tray of cookies.
"Oh really?" I respond, keeping the same light tone as I fix the sign on the front of his stand.
"Yes, incredibly so," he says.
"Well, then you have to know that I'm proud of you too," I say, making eye contact with him. "So damn proud. In case you're wondering." Peeta chuckles before pulling me into a kiss. I wrap my arms around his neck and revel in the feel of him, the way his lips taste against mine. I take his bottom lip between my teeth for just a moment before releasing him. He gives me that stupid little grin and I know he wants more, but I just smile and return to setting up.
About an hour or two later, the square starts to fill with hoards of people. Normally crowds like this make me nervous, but it doesn't feel bad today. I think that is in part because so many of the faces I see are familiar; there are the people from 12 who I've known my whole life, as well as the newer transplants here, many of whom I've met in one context or another. All of these people make up my home, both new faces and old. Another reason I'm at ease right now is just because of the general feeling of happiness that absolutely pervades every aspect of the festival. My experiences in crowds in the past were not like this. It was reapings, mostly, then Capitol parades and parties, then battlegrounds. This is the opposite of all of that. This is good.
I stand with Peeta at his stall for a while, helping him hand out cookies and chatting with people as they come by.
"Katniss, you don't have to wait for me," he says, about an hour after the festival seems to have kicked off in earnest. "You can go explore and have fun, I really don't mind." No part of me wants to leave him, but I also know he'll feel bad if he thinks I missed out because of him. I do want to just make a loop around and see everything that's here, I think.
"Ok, I'll just take a quick look around" I say. "I'll be back soon." He smiles and kisses me quickly before I slip out from behind the stand and head into the crowd. It's really nice, in every way. Someone's playing music on a fiddle and a couple of other instruments, and people are dancing around in the middle of the square. There's all sorts of wonderful smelling food from all the vendors who are usually set up at the market or at shops in town. The whole thing just has an enamoring feeling of vibrancy and life. I like seeing 12 like this.
As I'm making my way across the square, I run into Delly and Maxwell. They're dancing to the music, arms wrapped around each other. It's funny and a little awkward, because neither of them are very good dancers and they keep bumping into the people around them, but it's also incredibly endearing because they are so clearly in love and so obviously enthusiastic about their clunky dancing.
"Katniss!" Delly says when she spots me, unwrapping from Maxwell for a moment to give me a hug. "Congratulations on the factory! It looks absolutely fantastic. Max is going to be starting work there soon, we're both so excited about it."
"Thanks Delly," I say. "I'm glad you're excited. It's great that you'll be working there, Maxwell." He smiles at me brightly.
"Oh I can't wait to get started," he says. "I really liked the idea that in my work, and in our district's industry as a whole, I could be doing something that would actually help people. I think it's going to feel really rewarding." I smile very genuinely. That's been my thought process behind this whole project as well.
"That's exactly what I was hoping," I say, nodding. Delly takes Maxwell's hand in her's and beams, and the three of us chat for a few minutes before they return to dancing and I continue exploring.
I enjoy myself as I move through the crowd of dancing people. I actually like dancing, which is not something very in keeping with most other aspects of my personality. I like music, it's always reminded me of my father, and Prim and I used to dance around the house together either to songs I would sing or music we could find on the little old radio we had when we lived in the Seam. I decide that, at some point in the night, I need to get Peeta out from behind the bakery stand and dance with him.
I stop at a stand with a large variety of drinks, and unsurprisingly find Haymitch. He's engaged in conversation with Bristol, but he nods and lifts his drink to me as I pass him and go to the stand to order. I decide to try the fermented apple cider that the man behind the counter tells me is a harvest special, and am surprised when I sip it to find that I like it much more than I do most of the other forms of alcohol I've tried in Haymitch's company. I end up picking up another one for Peeta, and then head back to the bakery stand to meet him.
When I reach it, I'm not shocked to see that Peeta is passing out cookies while also talking to a very enthusiastic looking Albie. They seem engaged in some sort of discourse about the various uses of fall spices in their recipes. Peeta's face lights up when he sees me.
"How was it?" he asks.
"It's great," I say. "I want you to come out and enjoy it with me."
"I'd love to, but I shouldn't leave the stand alone," Peeta says. "At least not until I've finished giving out all the cookies." I roll my eyes a little but I'm not surprised. I'd figured Peeta would have this concern.
"I can work the stand for you, if you want," Albie offers. "If it's just watching over everything and handing out the cookies, I can do that. You should have fun at the festival." Peeta looks touched.
"Don't you want to enjoy it too?" he asks.
"I have been!" says Albie with a little laugh. "Plus, it's no trouble for me to do this sort of thing, really. I like this stuff." I smile. Again, it's all incredibly obvious.
"Well, alright! Thanks Albie," Peeta says, walking out from behind the stand and letting the younger boy slip behind it. He looks incredibly excited and at peace.
"Thanks Albie," I repeat. "We'll see you in a little bit." Peeta and I start to make another loop around the festival. I want him to see everything.
"Here," I say, handing him the bottle of cider I had picked up for him. "It's good." He takes it and since one of my hands has now been freed up I slip it into his. He makes an approving sound as he sips the cider, and I smile a little bit.
Walking with Peeta, the loop around the festival takes a good deal longer, not because he's slow but because he has immense fun talking at length with each of the food vendors about their various products and recipes. I want to laugh, but honestly I enjoy watching him do it, the way his face lights up when he connects with people about something they are both passionate about. We end up eating some squash soup from one of the vendors, which is ridiculously delicious, and we stop by the cider guy a second time to pick up another round of bottles. As the sky begins to darken, the lights that have been strung over the town square are turned on and glow a warm yellow. The music seems to pick up as the afternoon turns into evening.
"Dance with me?" I say to Peeta. He nods, smiling and setting down our empty bottles before taking my hand and letting me lead him into the middle of the square. He wraps his arms around my waist and I wrap mine around his neck, and we start to move to the music. It's an upbeat song at first, and I laugh wholeheartedly as Peeta does some stupid little shoulder jive as he dances. The warm feeling from the cider makes this seem like the funniest thing in the world to me.
"You're so dumb," I say through laughter, and I wrap my arms tighter around him to pull him in for a kiss. We stay dancing for a long while, and I forgot how familiar the feeling is. We had to dance together plenty on the Victory Tour, as it was a staple part of the receptions in both the districts and the Capitol. I forgot how natural it feels to move our bodies together like this, how much I can anticipate the false steps he sometimes makes because of his prosthetic, how I consistently giggle despite myself when he spins me around. I love it, every part of it.
As the evening goes on the songs get slower, and we end up just swaying back and forth, locked in each other's embrace. I'm not sure if I've ever felt so at peace.
"I love you," I murmur, before planting my lips on his. I don't remove them for a long time, and we just kiss and sway together until we run out of air. When we finally part, he has a smile on his face that is more beautiful to me than anything else in this world.
As the festival starts to die down, Peeta and I head back to the stand to relieve Albie, and find him still there, having finished passing out all of the cookies but seeming to have decided on his own accord to organize and stack all of the trays he had used.
"Hi!" he says happily when he sees us approaching. "The cookies were a hit, Peeta, everybody loved them. I figured I might as well tidy up too, just to save you some time." Peeta beams at him, clearly incredibly appreciative of what Albie decided to do. I can see it in Peeta's face that he's thinking back to our conversation about Albie not too long ago, and that he knows I'm right.
"Thank you so much Albie," Peeta says. "You really did amazingly. You know, if you wanted - and only if you wanted to and didn't think it would interfere with school or anything else - I'd be happy to have you work at the bakery with me. I could use some extra help and I can tell you'd work hard." The look on Ablie's face is absolutely unbelievable.
"Really?" he asks, eyes wide with shock and joy.
"Yeah!" Peeta says with a laugh. Albie wraps Peeta in a hug, and I smile at the obvious joy of both boys.
"I would love to!" Albie says. "Oh my God, I'm so excited." Peeta laughs and after a few minutes of excited chatter Albie runs off to tell his mother. I smile and kiss Peeta on the cheek.
"Good decision," I say, and he smiles.
"I think so too." I help him load the trays into his arms to carry them home. We're about to start heading back when I realize we should pick up Haymitch and make him come with us, he's undoubtedly drunk. I scan around for him and find myself proven right, as he's still by the bar stand.
"Haymitch!" I call out, beckoning him over with my hand.
"What?" he asks, stumbling a little as he reaches us.
"Come walk home with us," I say. He nods and the three of us set off back to Victor's Village. As we walk home, Haymitch makes stupid jokes and commentary about everything we see as we pass. He's really wasted and normally I'd find it all annoying, but Peeta and I are tipsy in our own right and it helps it all seem funnier to me. Really, as we walk back I find myself enjoying just about everything. I feel incredibly happy, content, and at peace. I'm not sure if I've ever felt more comfortable with the world I inhabit than I do in this moment.
As we near the Village, Haymitch runs ahead of us in an utterly ridiculous way, in an effort to do an impersonation of the way one of his geese likes to zig zag when it runs. Peeta and I are nearly keeled over laughing, and it's all Peeta can do not to drop the trays he's holding. Haymitch continues his zig zag run until he's put quite a deal of distance between himself and us, as he's crested the hill leading up to Victor's Village before we have.
"Haymitch, wait up!" I call out through a laugh. Peeta laughs too and he and I speed up a little to catch up with Haymitch. We find him sooner than I'd have anticipated, though, as he's stopped in his movements and is standing still, his eyes narrowed as he looks at my house in the distance.
"What is it?" Peeta asks, looking at him.
"Who is that?" Haymitch mutters.
"What do you mean?" I ask, not sure what he's referring to.
"Someone's on your porch," he says, and as I focus onto my house I realize he's right. There is someone sitting on the porch swing outside my house. At this distance I can't quite tell who it is. I would guess a man based on the frame of the figure, but I could be wrong.
The happy, peaceful feeling left over from tonight seems to evaporate from the air very quickly as the three of us start making our way up to my house, more slowly and cautiously than before. While there is no need to feel at risk by default, we all do. It is in the nature of a victor to be wary of unexpected arrivals and strange parties. It all feels vaguely like a threat.
As we get closer I can tell that I was right in thinking that the figure was a man. I still can't quite make out the face through the dark, but I can tell that the man has a round, heavy-set frame. When we reach the bottom of my porch steps and his face becomes clear in the porch light, I feel anxiety mount in my chest. I know I was right to be wary. This visit cannot be without an agenda.
"Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch! So lovely to see you all," says an all too jovial Plutarch Heavensbee.