I'm back on track! The winter solstice chapter is being published on the winter solstice (at least in my time zone). Yus!

Eight Maids-a-milking

Katniss had dreamt that night. She and Peeta hid beneath a bridge of ice, snickering and clutching at each other as Cato paced its length in search of her, occasionally slipping and being overrun by a bustling gaggle of geese and swans.

'He'll find us soon!' Katniss protested.

'No way, Katniss. People come here in order not to be found.'

'Well, what if those people come find us then?'

'This is our spot. Cato can't get to us here. No-one can.'

And suddenly they weren't under a bridge but inside a forest, leaning against a tree trunk instead of an ice wall. She recognised this place, even in the clutches of winter. There was the old shack that had once been her hideaway, garbed in white. There was the lake in which her father had taught her how to swim, frozen over and crowded by skating swans.

Katniss tensed for a moment. Peeta couldn't be here in the most sacred of all places. The woods may be a shrine to living, but this place was a memorial for the dead, her father. This was his space. But Peeta sensed her unease and wrapped his arms around her, stroked her face, kissed her forehead until she was thoroughly defeated. And for once, she couldn't resent losing. She embraced it, embraced him and held on tight.

When Katniss awoke, she couldn't remember a thing about her dream, but the feel of it lingered long after, like a pair of warm, intangible arms cradling her mind.

…

'Good presents yesterday?' Prim asked that morning.

'What?'

'You've been in a good mood since you came back, smiling to yourself, humming. If the last few days hadn't happened, I'd be tempted to ask who you were and what you had done with my real sister.'

'The gifts were lovely,' Katniss said quickly.

'Swans, how romantic,' Prim sighed.

'Everything's romantic to you,' Katniss pointed out. 'Even that guy hiding an engagement ring in that bowl of poisoned berries on that weird Capitol drama you like.'

'It was really sweet!'

'I'm sure some other people somewhere think so too. Right, I'm going hunting.'

'Already?'

'It's the shortest day of the year today. Better get it out of the way now while there's daylight. Besides, who knows when Peeta will arrive today? These gift-giving ceremonies are getting longer and longer.'

'All right, if he comes here, I'll tell him where you've gone. He is,' Prim hesitated, 'allowed in the forest, isn't he?'

'Been there done that. I thought I told you.'

'You hardly tell me anything about what you two do. It's like he's a secret that you're hording all to yourself.'

'Then come along with us next time,' Katniss said, though the suggestion was one she regretted immediately. 'You'll see that there's nothing worth reporting.'

'Anything that gets you humming around the house is definitely worth reporting.'

'Whatever, I'm going to get my stuff. I'll leave you to your speculating.'

'I'll relay you with my theories later if you want,' Prim called after her. 'It'll probably involve a lot of you two making out beneath The Bridge.'

Katniss's outraged 'Prim!' carried easily down the stairs.

…

She heard him approach a good minute before she saw him. Katniss had seen Peeta move with speed and grace during his wrestling tournaments, but his tread was so heavy out here. She would have to train that out of him. Why was she speaking as if he would be coming here often?

'Thanks Peeta for scaring all the game away,' Katniss said to him with a bright smile. Peeta wasn't a secret, but their combined victory over Cato yesterday felt like one. It had a special grin, a knowing crinkle of the eyes, and when Peeta saw hers, he stopped – spellbound – in his tracks before returning it tenfold.

'I'm just that popular,' he responded good-naturedly.

'So, what's on the roster today?'

And his smile fell.

'What's wrong,' Katniss asked cautiously. After all, it took a lot to cull that irrepressible smile completely.

He quickly plastered a faded imitation of his usual beams across his face. 'Nothing, well, not nothing. To be honest, my employer is starting to piss me off with the gifts he's sending.'

Katniss touched his arm, handling him as if this big, blond sweet boy was a rogue fox. 'Remember, they're all based on a song, a carol.'

'When has that ever excused the gifts in your eyes?'

They coolly met each other's challenging stare, then Katniss said, 'I need to take these back,' she gestured to her generous catch of squirrels and rabbits, 'and then we could go and see this gift.'

'Ok, fine.' This half-hearted version of Peeta unsettled her. She could only hope that he'd be restored to himself soon.

…

Today's gift was eight cows from District Ten, each under the charge of an adolescent girl. Katniss didn't see any immediate problems with this; that was until Peeta started talking.

'Could you tell Katniss what you told me about the milking?'

'To be brief, we can't,' said one girl.

'They're dried out. We calve these cows in the winter, meaning soon, and we can't milk these cows a good two months before they breed. It could damage any future offspring,' another girl elaborated.

'So no milk. The one thing we were meant to achieve today and it's not happening. Sometimes, I wish my employer would take a moment to really look at the world instead of making thoughtless commands based on the fleeting glimpses he does manage to see.'

A disheartened Peeta was one thing, but this agitated side to him was even more unnerving. It edged him with humanity where before he had been an incorruptible dream. Katniss found their roles reversing and herself trying to employ the optimism she so deeply linked to him.

'They are very lovely cows though,' she murmured.

The District Ten girls nodded uncertainly; Peeta looked unmoved. Katniss marked up her first try at positivity as a failure. Still, she tried again.

'At least they aren't birds again. We've sure seen enough of those in recent times.'

Peeta looked at her to continue, one eyebrow raised. It looked very much like a stare that she would aim at him.

'Erm, do I have to keep these?'

'No, sorry, these cows belong to District Ten farms. We were just told to come down for the day.'

'That's excellent,' Katniss said. 'Truly fantastic. No hassle, no frantic search to find them a home. Well, you can stay around for a while or head back to Ten. Whatever you fancy. Peeta and I will…just go over here and…yeah.'

'What is your problem?' Katniss asked as soon as she had led him aside.'

'I just want it to be good for you, ok? I want you to enjoy it. And this ass who claims he loves you acts like he can't even see you, what you like, what you need. He just struggles on blindly, churning out gift after awful gift, expecting to swoop in at the end of the process and collect your adoration like it's his birth right. It genuinely pisses me off, Katniss.'

A storm didn't belong in those sky-blue eyes, and yet Katniss didn't think she was capable of allaying it. 'Hey, forget about the gifts. I don't care about the gifts, ok?'

'So this is all just a big nuisance for you?'

'No, not anymore. I…' Katniss took a deep breath before baring her soul, 'as much as I complain about everything, I do enjoy this. Just not because of the gifts.'

'Then what could possibly–?'

'You, meathead! Did you have to be so slow on the uptake that I had to spell it out myself? You make this whole crazy thing' fun, absorbing, exhilarating, 'bearable. You make the crappiness of the gifts so much easier to deal with. Look,' she held up her hand, 'you've even got me wearing that mockingjay ring. You always put your own spin on something that I would just see head on. So who cares what your employer sends as long as you're there to make sure it turns out all right.'

Peeta's smile was back, its corners peeking up insubordinately from behind his scarf. 'Thanks, Katniss.' His arms came up, stuttered back to his sides, repeated the motion. Then he garnered some courage from somewhere and pulled Katniss into a hug. It took a while for Katniss to find that same well of bravery, but when she did, she let her hands rest against his broad back. Peeta was at the perfect height to cradle her forehead with his clavicle, but he had to duck slightly to speak into her ear.

'Er, Katniss, you know we have loads of milk and butter and cream at the bakery. Maybe we could head over there and make something out of them.'

Katniss drew back and looked at him soberly. 'I don't want to set fire to your kitchen.'

'No, you wouldn't. I'd be there the whole time. Just call me damage control.'

'All right, I mean, if isn't making any trouble for you. Your mom–'

'Forget about my mom. I want you to go, and you'll find at least half of my family are decent enough people to welcome you there. That makes three against two. Do you want to go?'

Despite herself, Katniss laughed. 'What about the other half?'

'You've gathered how much of a sweetheart my mother is, and Ry can be all right. Do you want to go?'

'All right, all right. Let's go and bake things.'

'Sweet,' Peeta said with a giant grin, neglecting to remove one of his arms as he guided her off.

'Very amusing. Oh yes, where's your hat?'

'I left it behind with the signing sheet. I didn't know if today counted.'

'Every day counts.'

…

The bakery had always been one of the more inviting Merchant shops, boasting a generous store space and wall-to-wall shelves stacked with sweet delights. Still, Katniss had always felt like a criminal when entering it at Prim's urging, undeserving of the little luxuries that taunted her eyes and nose. Being frogmarched in by the baker's son did little to help, especially when the numerous browsers turned to greet him.

'Good morning, Mrs Coyle. How's the knee? Excellent. Mr Cartwright, hello. The tart or the muffin. That's a tough one, they're both delicious, but the muffin will definitely be warmer in your hands if you're planning to head back into the cold right after your purchase.' All the while, he had his hands on Katniss's shoulders, steering her toward the counter.

'Peeta!' a mob of excitable children huddle around his, and consequently Katniss's, legs.

'Hey guys, are you here for the cupcakes?'

'Yus!'

'All right.' He leaned over the counter and called to the back of the bakery. 'Bran, you actually keeping shop here?'

A young man, who looked remarkably like Peeta with a beard, hurried up to the counter with a tray in each hand. 'And the prodigal son returns,' he remarked as he set them down. 'Move out of the way, Peeta. I've got people to serve, lives to improve.'

'I'm glad you've finally realised that,' Peeta retorted.

'Button up, baby brother. We'll talk about you, and her,' he pointed at Katniss, who folded her arms, 'later. Especially her. All right, kids. What will it be today?'

The kids all began clamouring at once, gesturing at the cupcake designs and rationalising their decisions in raised voices. Katniss almost stepped back, overwhelmed, but remembered that Peeta was right behind her.

'All right, a rainbow for Poppy, a sunshine for Demeter, a lion for Jaq and a dragon for Mason.'

The children were too small to reach with their coins, so Peeta collected them and transferred them onto the counter. Katniss drew the short straw and tentatively handed out the cupcakes to the grabbing, chattering children. She frowned long before they did. Even she noticed that they weren't up to their usual calibre.

'This doesn't look like a dragon,' Mason said, lips trembling as he eyed the red icing blob that sat atop his cupcake.

'That's what makes him so dangerous,' Peeta hissed as he knelt beside the little customer. 'He's the rarest of all dragons and the cleverest. Because when you don't look like a dragon, you can trick people into thinking you aren't one. Those people stop being suspicious; they stop being scared. They don't send knights after this fella, no sir.' Mason giggled at this. 'And when he gets close, they don't even notice, until he pounces!' He grabbed Mason around the stomach, and the boy shrieked with laughter.

'All right, very good,' Bran piped up as the rest of the store's patrons turned to look at them.

Peeta released the laughing child, who quickly went on the brandish the cupcake at his friends and declare: 'I've got the best cupcake ever!'

The others quickly contended this, chasing him out of the shop where they could wreak havoc somewhere else. Peeta, still on the floor, chuckled after them before looking up at Katniss with the most brilliant smile. Katniss didn't agree with how much it affected her. How much of that dragon story was made up, Peeta, and how much of it was you? I forget myself around you. I stop being scared. I'm letting you close. Will you pounce?

'Everything ok, Katniss?'

'Yeah.'

'Let's go behind the counter.'

'We're missing you in the kitchen, buddy,' Bran told Peeta as the pair slipped into the back of the store. 'None of us ham-fisted manly men can ice those cupcakes like you can.'

'I'll get onto it. Come on, Katniss.'

Katniss was dragged into the kitchen, a realm of metal and flour and heat and glorious smells. It was surreal to delve inside Peeta's world after he had spent so long inside hers, had become a fixture in it. Just being here, enfolded in the workings of his daily life, made her perspective of him deepen.

'Hey, Dad.'

Peeta's father, yet another blond and brawny Mellark, looked up from the oven he was currently depositing pretzels in.

'Peeta,' the man nodded.

'This is my friend, Katniss. You know, the one I told you about.'

'Hello.' He nodded again.

'Man of few words,' Peeta said. 'I guess that means I take after my mother.'

'Thank the heavens that you damn well don't,' Bran said as he rushed in. 'Those brownies ready yet, Dad? I'm rushing about like a loon because my two considerate brothers are always disappearing when I need them most,' Bran told Katniss.

'Another five minutes,' Mr Mellark said.

'Do we have a dearth of Mellarks?' Peeta asked.

'A full-on drought. That's something I'm working on fixing. Get to work, Peet. You too, Katniss. As you have set foot in this kitchen, you're now a Mellark.'

'I…'

'Let me get Ry.' He rushed out into the small corridor before calling up a set of stairs that Katniss supposed led to the living quarters. 'Ryland Mellark! Get your ass down here and man the counter like you're supposed to.'

'Is Peeta back?'

'Yeah, just arrived.'

'Get him to do it.'

'Peeta's artistic flair is needed in the kitchen.'

The middle brother thundered down the stairs and squinted into the kitchen. He was slimmer than his brothers but just as toned with Mellark ash-blond hair that was tousled a bit too artfully for Katniss's acceptance.

'Who's that? Wait,' a devious grin spread on his face, 'isn't that the girl Peeta–?'

'No!' Bran and Peeta chorused, Bran clapping his hand over his brother's mouth and wheeling him out of the room.

'Coat off,' Peeta said, looking relieved for reasons unknown.

'Am I the girl that what?' Katniss asked, shrugging off her jacket.

'The girl I'm delivering to? Yes you are. You can wash your hands over there. You're going to be helping me ice some cupcakes.'

'I don't think you should entrust me with that. I'm not what you'd call the creative type.'

'Now I doubt that,' Peeta said as he hung up the coats and proceeded to wash his hands as well.

'Brownies.' Peeta's father removed them from the oven and placed them on the kitchen island

'Brownies. Fetch us a couple of aprons please, Katniss. By the door, yeah.'

By the time Katniss had returned with the aprons, Peeta had finished off the whole batch with a flourish of chocolate frosting. When he saw her awestruck expression, he grinned and said, 'I grew up doing this instead of playing with my toys like normal children. Thanks.' He accepted the apron. 'Brownies, Bran!'

'Brownies!' Bran's bellow preceded him. 'Got them.' And he charged out again.

'Is it always this crazy?'

'This is a busy hour. All right, icing.' Peeta laid out the piping bags while Katniss struggled with her apron. He laughed. 'Here.' He tied the apron for her, deft fingers pressing lightly into the small of her back. 'Ok, I'm going to start needing some red, some dark green and some light blue in a few. That means we need to make them now. Here, I'll show you what to do. First, you'll need butter, icing sugar and milk, funnily enough.'

Under Peeta's patient guidance, she measured out ingredients, sieved, stirred, folded, divided, tinted and sloppily loaded the mixtures into piping bags. Still, she couldn't help being distracted by the beautiful designs Peeta piped onto the cupcakes, elaborate flowers and animal figures. Many told a story. The cupcake's surface could become a mirror-smooth pond that exotic fish chased each other through; it could be the inside of a bird's nest populated with delicate, dappled, perfect eggs. One of them became an icy lake with ungainly swans struggling across its surface.

When Katniss saw the finished result, she laughed and Peeta did too, causing Mr Mellark to look up from his work with a curious stare.

'What are you kids giggling about?' Bran asked, swaggering over. 'Oh Peety, what beautiful cupcakes.' He pulled Peeta against him with an arm around his neck and gave him an exaggerated kiss on the cheek.

'Gross, Bran! Get off!'

Katniss laughed at their antics, settling into relative comfort among the Mellark clan.

'What's this one?' Bran asked, gesturing to the swans on the lake.

'You wouldn't understand,' Peeta said grandly.

'Oh, is it one of your cosmic metaphors for life?'

'Let's go with that.'

Ry burst into the kitchen. 'Capitol alert! I repeat, Capitol alert!'

'Go, Peeta.' Bran shoved him in the back. 'You're our sacrifice.'

'Why me?'

'You're the patient, diplomatic one,' Bran called back. When Peeta had left, muttering furiously about brotherly violence, Bran turned to Katniss. 'He's the eye candy,' Bran admitted, grinning when Katniss clamped her mouth shut and fought down a flush. 'So, Katniss, we've been hearing a lot about you recently.'

'You have?'

'In other words, Peet won't shut up about you, or that mystery employer of his. Though that unlucky man only receives highly inventive bitching these days. Easy on the sugar, that's it. You're pretty good at this. First time?'

'Yeah.'

'Last time?'

Katniss chuckled wryly. 'Maybe not, if he'll have me.'

'Oh, he'll have you,' Bran muttered to himself.

'What?'

'Look, Katniss,' and his gregarious nature had completely dematerialised, 'you seem like a very nice girl beneath all the…the protective front, but I'm going to be honest with you here. I don't know what you're planning with Peeta. I don't think you know yourself. But if you're waiting around for that "true love" character of yours, don't let Peeta get caught in the crossfire.' Katniss looked like she was about to protest, but he pushed on. 'Yeah, I know you have your own problems, your doubts and insecurities, but I have to say this because I've known you a couple of hours and him for his whole life. I still remember when he'd come running to me every time he scraped his knee or burnt his hand on the oven. I freaking miss that kid who relied on me so much, but the man he's growing up to be is better than I could have ever thought. So for both of your sakes, choose. Choose him or leave him. No giddy in between. You deserve him, I think, and he deserves you. I'll, er, leave you to think over it.'

Katniss spent the next half hour stirring her icing and gnawing absently at her lip, trying to decipher the first thing Bran had said to her. Caught in the crossfire? A female figure appeared in the kitchen entrance, sporting shoulders just as broad as any of her three sons. She glared at Katniss in true distaste before walking on to enter the storefront.

'The scariest woman alive is the Capitolites' new chaperone,' Peeta said as he strode back into the kitchen.

Katniss allowed herself a small sigh of relief at the sound of his voice.

'She was tiny, but vicious,' Peeta told her, coming to stand beside her. 'I'm pretty sure she was carrying knives in her belt.'

Katniss's laugh was shaky at best.

'What happened?'

I don't know. 'Your mom's pretty terrifying herself.'

Peeta grew serious. 'What did she say?'

'Nothing! Nothing, she just…the way she looked at me…'

'I understand that,' Peeta said with a humourless smile.

'I think I've outstayed my welcome.'

'Katniss,' Peeta beguiled her with his eyes so she couldn't look away, 'please don't pay any attention to how she looked at you. It doesn't matter. I want you here, and I think that's enough.' When she said nothing, just gawped at him, he said, 'Do you want hot chocolate?'

'What's that?'

'You've never heard of hot chocolate? I'll have to rectify that immediately.'

'Immediately,' Mr Mellark repeated, and Katniss almost jumped off of her seat.

Hot chocolate was the most beautiful thing known to man, but the cupcakes Peeta had made for Katniss to take home were a close second: dynamic, vivid renderings of butterflies and birds and slinking cats.

'It's so dark out. Do you want me to walk you home?' Peeta asked.

She should say no in light of all she had heard today: candid tales of hidden dragons and talks of choosing, leaving, losing. But what she could remember most about today was the way he had looked when he thought he had failed her and the way he had held her when she convinced him otherwise.

'Yes. I'd like that.'

AN: Originally the cows were going to be goats, one of them ending up in Prim's possession, but I got so absorbed by the Mellark bakery that I changed my mind. I also tried to find some alternative names for the Mellark brothers. I think the fanon names are pretty much as good as they're going to get.

Passionismywriting: Thank you so much! I'd very much like to know where this is going as well! Anonymous: Cato was fun to write. I just imagined the most uncomfortable, trite things for him to say and typed them out. The swans make a funny mental image indeed. I YouTubed. Yes, had to establish Katniss's role as the action queen, even in this universe. I had half a mind to set this chapter at her father's pond like you guessed, but I didn't think Katniss was ready yet, and I'd be hard-pressed to spirit Cato there.