Warning: Very little focus on the actual swans. A certain character's potty mouth.

Seven Swans-a-swimming

'I'll be upfront with you today,' Peeta said.

'Ok.'

'Your gift today is seven swans. I've also been informed by my employer that they have to be swimming.'

'Sounds classy.'

'It is. The only problem is that all bodies of water have frozen over. I don't think he's quite accounted for that.'

'We could try a bathtub.'

Peeta laughed. 'Somehow I doubt that would be satisfactory for you or the swans.'

'I'm very flexible on the issue. I'd even be pretty satisfied if there were no swans at all.'

'But there are and I'm trying to make this work here.'

'Of course.' Katniss hesitated before lightly patting him on the shoulder. 'I'll let you think.'

What Katniss had meant as a small, inconsequential action was uncomfortably amplified and cross-examined when Peeta looked up at her like that, as if she had done something far more ludicrous like kiss him.

'Appreciate it,' he said.

Katniss nodded absently, forcing all thoughts of kissing, no matter how indirect, from her mind. She wasn't even sure why it had been the first thought in her mind anyway.

'All right, there's nothing to do about it.' Peeta slapped his knees and stood up. 'We can try the river. Meet you at the bridge in twenty minutes?'

Katniss nodded again. 'Oh yeah, sure. Sounds great.' She wasn't sure what to say next, didn't have a little phrase in her inventory to say "goodbye" to him and "see you again soon".

'So, er, see you then,' Peeta said.

'Yeah, see you.'

Prim was in the room, leaning on the back of Katniss's seat as soon as Peeta had left. 'Rendezvous at the bridge?'

'Shut up.'

'Rude! I'm on your side, remember?'

'You're on my "true love's" side.'

'If you paid attention to anything going on around you, you'd know whose side I was on. Better get walking soon. Love you, Kat.'

Prim kissed the top of her head and breezed out of the room.

…

The residents of District Twelve carelessly called it The Bridge because it was the only one in town. It was an old piece of architecture, a noble stone and mortar creation that arced over The River. Yes, the Twelve natives were the stylish masters of nomenclature.

As it came into view, Katniss was struck by the simple majesty of it. She'd never really had time to admire it before. She supposed that most of her peers didn't either as they hurried over it to school or made out beneath its arch. Thankfully, only Peeta was there right now, standing on the centre of the bridge, leaning on its ledge.

'Got the swans,' he said as she walked up to join him.

'Good.'

'And a frozen river. Not ideal, but it's worth a try.'

'I think you care more about this than the actual sender does,' remarked Katniss.

'I just want you to be happy with what you get. Spread some Christmas cheer, as the boss called it.'

'Well you're a natural. Is that why you took the job?'

Peeta looked away, pulling up his scarf to hide a smile. 'No.'

'Why then?'

He shrugged. 'You know I'm the third son. As much as I love baking, it's very unlikely that I'll get a share in managing the family bakery with two older brothers. So why not branch out?'

'Into delivering things?' Katniss sounded doubtful.

'Yeah sure, why not?' It was obvious by now that Peeta was jesting and that his real motives would remain a mystery for a while longer. But as the snowflakes began to gather in his absurdly long eyelashes – she'd only just noticed them now – she couldn't bring herself to be annoyed for long.

'Ok, the swans are down there, so I'll go sort them out. Stick around?'

'We'll see,' Katniss said with a wry smile.

Peeta grinned in return, shaking his head as he made his way down.

'Hey, Katniss, what are you doing up there?'

Sometimes, she couldn't believe her luck, especially when it came to Cato. He had this unnatural habit of lurking on the fringes of her life, silent as a forest predator, and showing up at the most inopportune moments.

'Shouldn't you be working?' Katniss murmured restlessly, trying to appear casual as she scanned the colourless landscape for Peeta. His bright blue cap, his orange scarf, his black coat, anything.

'Nah, you don't have to worry about that anymore.'

'I never started.'

Cato laughed and came too close, his folded arms shuffling to rest inches from hers on the bridge's wall. 'And that's why I like you, you aren't too scared to not give a damn. Other girls, they're so eager to say the right things when they think that'll get me interested.'

'That's because I don't want to get you interested. But look at you, you don't even think that's possible.'

'I'm not going to lie, Katniss.' He pushed away from the barrier and extended his arms, holding himself up for inspection. 'I mean look at me, then think back to all those rumours you must have heard around and about, the talk. The girls come to me because they heard all the talk and know I can satisfy.'

Excuse me while I chunder. 'Good for you,' she said, sidling backward, her search for Peeta getting frantic, 'and for them. Don't let me stop you from…from satisfying them all over again.'

Her discreet, backward steps turned out ineffectual when Cato prowled towards her on long legs. The boy had the audacity to rest his hands on her shoulders, selectively oblivious to the way she tensed up and shot him a stony-eyed glower.

'Come on, Katniss. There's shy and then there's sly. Don't think I don't know what you're doing. But maybe this will make you change your tack. It's my last day here. Let me make it the happiest of your life.'

Katniss tried to squirm away. Cato leaving would definitely be a key ingredient to immediate happiness, if only he would hurry up and get that part over with. 'Why is it your last day?'

'Who cares about that? Humour me here.' He teased Katniss's plait from the inside of her collar. 'I like your braid and everything, but you need to let your hair down once in a while. I can help.'

He thinks he's a real wordsmith, Katniss griped to herself. 'Tell me honestly why you're leaving or I won't even consider your offer.'

She had him there. For a fragment of time, there was a chink in Cato's cocksure demeanour, allowing Katniss to peek right through into childlike shame. Then the fissure closed and the boy played himself again. 'The tour guide company let me go, no problem.'

'Why?'

'Those oversensitive Capitolites at the top, they had a bit of an issue about how I was running things. What can you do? They need to cover their asses if they want this to continue.'

'Oh crap, did you satisfy your clients?'

'What? Hell no. Do you think I'd be into women who inject jewels and other gross shit into their rainbow skin?'

'Then what did you do?'

'That minor coal mine collapse ages ago came back to bite me in the ass. I had nothing to do with it anyway. It was that woman with the pink hair, the one obsessed with manners, but no-one's calling her to court.'

'They're summoning you to court?'

'Nothing major. I'm heading back to Two to be tried and what do they care about a tiny cave-in in a shitty little mine somewhere, no offence? I wouldn't have even been called out on it in the first place if that crabby old lawyer hadn't encouraged those miners to sue.'

So, Mr Abernathy hadn't been lying when he'd said that he had things to do. Katniss allowed herself to feel some guilt for a short moment.

A hobbling, white shape on the murky grey of the river surface drew Katniss's eye.

'So, Katniss, what do you say?'

She extricated herself from his pawing grasp, leaning on the wall and watching as an unsteady procession of swans slipped and slid out from under the bridge. Katniss couldn't hide a giggle, her mirth stealing out of her mouth in crystalline clouds when she saw how those universally graceful creatures waddled on the ice. A human figure emerged after them, looking very much in danger of falling over himself, driving them coaxingly upstream.

'Sorry,' Peeta called to at her once he was far enough out of the bridge's shadow to be seen clearly, 'this was the best I could do.'

'Your dedication to the job astounds me,' Katniss remarked flatly, though she hoped that he could see the small smile on her face from all the way down there.

'Who's that?' Cato asked.

'That's Peeta.'

'Yeah, the bakery brat, but who is he?'

'Who's that?' Peeta called up to her. 'Is that the tour guide guy that got the mine blown up?'

Cato rushed to the edge of the bridge and sneered down at him. 'There was no blowing up. A few rocks fell over and the miners had a hissy fit. What the hell is it to you?'

'Whoa now.' Peeta held his arms up in a placating gesture. 'No need to be belligerent.'

'Belligerent, what the hell did you just call me, squirt?'

'Trust me, he wasn't insulting you,' Katniss told him tiredly. 'If he was, he'd be courteous enough to make it easy so you'd know about it.'

'I don't have time for this blue-eyed pretty boy getting in the way,' Cato growled, and suddenly he was too near Katniss again, his hands finding their way to her waist. Katniss clenched her hands together to stop herself from whirling around and clawing his eyes out.

'Do I have to spell it out for you? No, no way, no chance in hell, begone.'

'Don't touch her like that,' Peeta called up.

'Butt out, baker boy.'

'All you have to do is look at her and see she isn't interested.'

'As if you know what–'

A compacted ball of snow arced through the air and landed perfectly between Cato's eyes. Katniss covered her mouth, partly out of shock, partly out of hilarity.

'What the hell man?'

'Thought you needed to cool off,' Peeta told him.

'Oh yeah? Cool this off!'

Cato charged to the end of the bridge and skidded down the slope to the water's edge. Peeta swore and ran in the other direction, clumsy as a new-born foal until he made it back onto firm, snowy land. The river divided them, but it went unnoticed as the two boys stared each other down, even with a flock of trumpeting swans sliding about on its surface.

From her elevated viewpoint, Katniss marked their discrepancy in size. Peeta was by no means short – he had a healthy, medium-height stature – but Cato was a giant. To quiet the rising anxiety somewhere inside her, she reminded herself of how strong Peeta was. 'I'd be careful if I were you, Cato,' she yelled. 'He's a wrestling champion.'

With dexterous hands, Peeta began to assemble an artillery of snowballs. Cato, after shrugging off Katniss's taunts, opted to pick up a great handful of snow and lob it at Peeta. It scattered like powder metres before it reached his adversary, coating the frozen no-mans-land with a light layer.

Peeta laughed. 'Quick tip, buddy. Compacted snow travels further.' He caught Cato square in the jaw with his next throw. 'Why do you think people take the trouble of rolling snowballs in the first place?'

It only took a short rally of offensive snowballs before Cato snapped.

'You smug little dick. Fight like a real man fights.'

He lunged across the river, the swans hissing at him as he passed by, but Peeta darted away.

'Hey, let's not let this come to real blows. I don't want to fight.'

'Worried you can't handle me?'

Peeta briefly looked up at Katniss. 'I can handle you just fine.'

'Peeta!' Katniss screamed as Cato dove for him.

Cato must have drastically outweighed him, and there was no doubt that he was extremely strong, but it only took a brief moment of struggling before Peeta had him pinned. Katniss slammed her fist down on the bridge's barrier with a fierce grin.

Then Cato whispered something in Peeta's ear and his iron grip loosened. Cato seized this slip in concentration and reversed their positions. He threw a punch, which Peeta caught, and Katniss didn't stick around to see what happened next as she was running, down the bridge and towards the fight. Cupped in her hands was a heap of snow she had gathered from the ledge, and when she got in close enough range, she launched it at Cato's face before launching herself onto his back. Peeta wasted a couple of seconds gaping in awe as Katniss tackled him to the ground, but after that he was helping, staying Cato's thrashing arms.

After Cato lay vanquished, there was a breathless silence between the three of them that Peeta broke with a vibrant blue gaze and quirked lips and a: 'My hero.'

Katniss laughed elatedly. 'You were dying out there. Good thing I was around.'

'Like I said, lifesaver.'

'Oh please,' Cato said from the ground. 'You and Lover Boy better stop before I barf all over myself.'

Katniss patted his head, 'You can hardly talk. Your nauseous flirting has always made me want to kill myself, or you, violently, no offence.'

Katniss and Peeta laughed, the latter sounding rather dumbfounded. Meanwhile, the swans were flying off. Neither of them noticed.

AN: I am grateful to every single reader of this story that I initially thought couldn't really go anywhere. You make this all so worth it.

Ahschung: thank you for your continued interest! Trude: I'm glad you thought I pulled it off. Halenahaloway: I'm so glad you liked it. I've only recently worked out who the true love is myself! Hope he doesn't disappoint. Wandering princess: I know right? Critical recruitment error. The Capitol talent thing just...happened, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. About Haymitch's wife, I reckon it's the girlfriend he briefly mentioned that was killed by the Captiol after his defiance in the 50th Hunger Games. The Haymitch we know and partially love - the alcoholism, the innate hostility, the self-imposed isolation - was almost completely formed by that experience, but in this alternate world he's free of all that. I'd like to think that as a regular Twelve citizen, he could have settled down with his childhood sweetheart and raised a family.