Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games
Wedding Bug
"Effie! Hey Effie!" she paused and turned around at the sound of the voice. She'd avoided Haymitch like the plague since their argument or in a better way, her shouting at him to get out of her room. Several days had passed since then and he'd avoided her, she'd heard from Katniss that he was spending majority of his time in Headquarters, she'd made the wise decision to avoid there and had instead been to visit Peeta once more.
"Hello Finnick," she said as the handsome District Four Victor finally approached her. He was smiling and she couldn't help but smile in return, with Annie now here in District 13 Finnick had instantly returned into that cheeky smiley happy man she'd met a few years ago. Something she was eternally grateful of.
"You're a hard woman to find," he told her as he lent against the wall, "I've searched throughout the entire District looking for you."
"What is it you need dear?"
"I think it's great what you are doing for Peeta, Katniss just told me that you're helping him!" he started and Effie smiled.
"I had too, he's the nicest boy you could ever meet and what the Capitol have done to him, and how District 13 have tried to help is poor. I just couldn't stand by and do nothing." She said, "I intend to find Madge Undersee and speak to her about helping, she's always been a kind girl I'm sure she would help."
"I'm sure she would, and I'd love to help as well but I believe he sees me on Katniss' team and I don't want to hurt him." Explained Finnick, "But I wasn't searching for you because of Peeta,"
Effie frowned a little but waited for him to continue, his entire posture had changed and she found herself curious.
"I've asked Annie to marry me."
"Oh Finnick that's lovely!" Effie gushed clapping her hands, "Oh I do love a good wedding!"
"That's why I'm here. I've approached Plutarch and he believes a wedding would be a great for a Propo and we need someone with an eye for design and style to plan the wedding. I need you!"
"Finnick I'd love too, oh to plan yours and Annie's wedding would just be a dream. Grey will be banned! And we shall have colours, greens and blues for District 4, are there traditions you'd like to uphold, what about music? Or food, Peeta! Oh Peeta he could bake the wedding cake! It could be part of his therapy… bakings always calmed him, Annie will need a wedding dress of course and you will need a suit…"
"Effie, wait take a breath!" laughed Finnick, "The date's in four weeks. I doubt you can just ban a colour, the entire District is to attend and they own nothing but grey."
Effie pulled a face, "Fine. I'll include that hideous shade but as little as I can. Oh Finnick I am truly so happy for you!"
"Thank you, I wanted you to be the first to know of our engagement."
"When do I begin planning the wedding?" she asked as she hurried down the corridor, silently listing off the things in her head that she would need to arrange and in such a short time to achieve it.
"Well Annie is currently sat over a piece of paper with nothing more than the word wedding written at the top."
"Now is perfect. There's so much we need to discuss, take me to your Annie!" she demanded and Finnick laughed, he linked her arm with his and steered her in the direction of his and Annie's dorm room.
Annie was exactly how Finnick had described, sat on her bunk an empty piece of paper in front of her and a half chewed pencil in her mouth. "Annie!" Effie called as she entered the room. At the sound of her voice Annie looked up and smiled sweetly.
"Hello Effie!" she said quietly.
"Congratulations on your engagement," she sung, "Finnick has asked for my help for your wedding!"
"Lovely, I could use your help Effie. I've not thought of anything yet." She admitted and Effie waved her hand.
"Don't you worry dear! Now have you got another pencil?" she asked hoping that the pencil in Annie's mouth wasn't the only one. Annie sat silently for a moment before she climbed off the bed and picked up another grey pencil.
Relieved, Effie pulled out the chair and carried it beside Annie's bed. Neither noticed Finnick disappear but there were far more important things to discuss.
"You really don't have anything," said Effie with a shake of her head. "Well firstly we need a theme."
"I miss home," Annie admitted and Effie nodded.
"I'm sure we can decorate to look as much like District 4 as possible," Annie nodded and Effie quickly wrote it down, she would speak to Plutarch about getting significant decorations like large nets and seaweed, anchors and pebbles. Sand! They definitely needed sand, and water! As each idea crossed her mind she wrote it down. Annie peered at the list and a grin spread across her face.
"Now we'll need to get you a wedding dress and I refuse for it to be grey!" Annie nodded.
"I've always wanted a wedding cake that was around three tiers high with Victoria sponge cake and icing in the shape of ocean waves." Admitted Annie ad Effie grinned.
"Perfect, I'll see what I can do for that! Now colours? What colours do you want?"
Annie shrugged, "I don't mind," she admitted and Effie tapped the pencil on her knee. She glanced around the room and stopped as she looked at a picture of Annie and Finnick dressed in District Four.
"How about Blues and Greens with the colours of pebbles and the sand scattered about?" Annie nodded her head, the idea sounded amazing to her.
The two women continued to design Annie's wedding, it was important to Effie to make the day as special as possible while still including the rest of District 13. It would require a lot of fine tuning, and planning but Effie was certain that she had finally found the one distraction that was needed in her life.
"I recall Katniss saying that in her home the residents create music. I'll speak to her and Gale and see if they can point me in the direction of musicians. What I need to know, are there any traditions that District four use for their wedding celebrations?"
Annie nodded and Effie smiled patiently at her. "We always have children in the District sing our ancient wedding song, we also make a net woven from long grass which drapes over the bride and groom. Before the couple kiss they touch each other's lips with salt water."
Effie nodded her head as she wrote down traditional wedding song, grass woven net and salt water. These three were key to the entire wedding and whether she was able to get everything else as long as she could bring those three elements to the wedding then she knew for Annie and for Finnick it would be perfect.
"Thank you for doing this Effie, I always hoped that Finnick and I could marry but I never believed that it would be possible," Annie told Effie and Effie frowned.
"Why not?"
"Because he was the capitol Darling and he was under President Snow's orders, he couldn't be in love nor could he settle with me. I should have never survived the… but Finnick was my love and he sacrificed so much for my survival." Effie frowned.
"Sacrificed?"
Annie nodded. "You know what happens to Victor Effie, you know what Snow makes them do?" but Effie shook her head. Her hand automatically flattened against her stomach. "He sells them, to the highest bidder. Why do you think Finnick was the most popular victor? He's been forced to sell himself to Sponsors and I knew Snow would never stop, so being here knowing Finnick is free is the best thing I could ever hope for."
Effie said nothing as her mind continued to repeat the word sold over and over in her head. of all the years she had worked in the games never had she known about that! She felt sick, and her anger at Haymitch from earlier suddenly disappeared. Had Snow forced him to do the same?
"I'll speak to Heavensbee about all this and see what he says?" Annie nodded with a grin.
"Thanks for this Effie," and Effie nodded. She bid Annie farewell and she left the room. No matter how much she wanted to go to Haymitch and demand him tell her if Snow had ever forced him to do anything he didn't wish to do, she was stubborn and she couldn't bring herself to approach him but she knew she would eventually have to.
A flash of blonde hair caught her eyes at the far end of the corridor. "Madge!" she called wincing as she did, her mother had often told her not to yell for a person as it was bad manners but she knew if she didn't call out to her she would lose her.
Madge stopped at the sound of her voice and retraced her steps. She looked at Effie with a smile.
"How are you Effie?" she asked as they approached one another.
"I'm very well thank you dear, yourself?"
"I'm good, you called me?"
"Yes, yes… you might have heard that I've been helping Peeta since he returned to District 13? Well I believe I'm making considerable progress and I'd like your help!"
"How can I help?" Madge asked, Peeta had been one of her only friends back in District 12, he was one of the few people who didn't resent her for being the Mayor's daughter. He had accepted and befriended her for who she was and their friendship had continued to strengthen even after he returned from the games. She was devastated when she heard he had been captured by the Capitol, she'd seen the interviews and had been horrified more and more upon seeing his once healthy demeanour disappear. She heard the rumours around the District when the Victors had been rescued, that he wasn't the same as before. And upon seeing Katniss after that horrifying attack she knew the Peeta who she had befriended hadn't returned from the Capitol, and in his place was a boy who'd had suffered so much pain had transformed to someone unrecognisable.
"His memories have been altered and he's been brainwashed into thinking that Katniss is the enemy and I've had a break through, every so often he becomes Peeta again. The boy who we all love. I can break through this misleading judgment of his by bringing up topics that President Snow knew nothing about and I need your help. I only know so much of him and I know you two were good friends as children I thought that you would be able to reminisce your childhoods and we can find a way to repair Peeta's broken mind."
"Effie, I'll do anything I can to help Peeta and if this is the way to bring him back then I'll gladly help you with this." Effie smiled down at Madge.
"Speak to Plutarch he will grant you access to Peeta's holding facility. Thank you for this!" Madge nodded and quickly went off to find Plutarch. Effie looked down at her slightly bumped stomach and sighed. Now all she had to do was tell Haymitch about the baby growing inside of her.
I'm sorry it's been so many months since I had updated this, I went through a very difficult writers block where I wrote half the chapter and then there was nothing... I am hoping you like this! Thank you for all those who have already viewed and reviewed :D