76.

Peeta looked up, and of course found Katniss looking at him.

She was standing with him, of course. She and Gale had been inseparable for many years now, and still he couldn't contain the pang of jealousy that coursed through him at the sight of the two of them together. But he did his best to push it aside, because for only the second time since their weird new routine had been established, she was actually meeting his gaze.

After Rye was reaped two years ago, Peeta had found himself the focus of hundreds of unwelcome stares, and one welcome one. More than once he had looked up to catch a pair of silver eyes, dark with sorrow, quickly flit away from him. It seemed the tables had turned, after so many years. Now she was the one surreptitiously watching him.

He still couldn't manage the nerve to actually speak to her, of course. At first he had been too broken up over Rye's death in the Games to do anything. Once he had finally been able to grieve and try to live again, it felt like too much time had passed. They had already fallen into this new routine. They never spoke, they never even met each other's gaze, except once. At the next reaping, they had caught each other's eye while waiting in line to check in, and had not looked away. After a moment, they had exchanged small nods. Unspoken well wishes.

And now they were doing it again, as neither looked away from the other. Slowly, deliberately, Peeta nodded at Katniss. After a moment, she nodded back. A silent hope that they would both survive their final reaping.

After another moment, Gale stole her attention, wondering what she had been staring at. Peeta was sure to disappear into the crowd before Gale could follow her gaze.

…..

76.

It's over.

Katniss rolled her eyes at the ridiculous thought. Of course it wasn't over. Prim had four more reapings to try to survive. Gale's brothers had more reapings to survive. Posy wouldn't even begin the reaping for another six years.

But for Katniss, this small part of the struggle was over. She had survived her last reaping. Now she had to face the rest of her life.

As her final reaping had approached over the past few months, the prospect of planning for her life after had become more and more daunting. Currently all she had to do was attend school and hunt in every moment of her available time, but now that she was done with the reapings, that was all about to change. Soon school would be over, and she would be expected to have a trade or job of some sort. Most likely a job working in the coal mines along with nearly every other able-bodied adult from the Seam.

It's not like any of this came as a surprise. She had been mentally preparing herself to work in the mines for years now. But as her future in the mines had come closer and closer to reality, her mental state had deteriorated. She hadn't had a decent night's sleep in months, her dreams plagued not by horrible visions of the upcoming reaping, but of her life afterwards. Of mine explosions and tunnel collapses and elevator falls. Of pleading for her father to run before he was consumed by a disaster; of Prim pleading for her to do the same.

Eventually she'd had to admit to herself that she didn't think she could do it. Somehow Gale managed to consign himself to that black grave for twelve hours every day, but she didn't think she could do it without completely losing her mind. She wasn't strong enough. She hated to admit to any weakness, she hated feeling like she was no better than her mother, but her instinct for self-preservation was stronger than her pride. There was no way she could work at the mines.

Of course, she was the only one who was disappointed by this. Prim wanted her to train as a healer with their mother, or at least tell people she was while she continued to hunt. It would probably work, too; the Peacekeepers here in Twelve didn't care enough to call her bluff, not when they were some of her best customers. But Katniss was afraid that such an obvious lie would leave her too vulnerable to exposure. It would only take one grumpy Peacekeeper, or self-important busybody, to ruin everything.

Gale had his own solution. He wanted them to get married. It wasn't uncommon for only one member of a family to work in the mines while the other worked in the home; as Gale's wife she would be free to spend her days hunting without her lack of employment being conspicuous. Of course, while Gale presented this as purely a practical solution, she knew he wanted more. She knew he wanted a real marriage, with love, and sex, and children. Katniss wanted none of that. Not with Gale; not with anyone.

She looked across the square, and caught a particular set of blond heads heading back to town. This was Peeta Mellark's last reaping as well. Of course, he never had to even consider a job in the mines, or a marriage of convenience. Katniss wasn't normally one to join Gale in his anger at merchants for the crime of simply being merchants; and she knew that even among merchants, Peeta Mellark was one of the kindest people in Twelve. But in this moment she couldn't help but envy the boy with the bread. He would walk straight out of the reaping and into his job at the bakery. He would never fear for his life while at work. He was free to marry whichever town girl caught his fancy, and there were certainly more than a few who had their eye on the handsome baker's son.

For just a moment Katniss felt like she envied those girls, too. Living in a nice house in town. Training to work as a butcher or a tailor or a shoemaker, not a coal miner waiting for the roof to cave in, or a hunter waiting to be caught and flogged. Free to pursue relationships for want instead of for need. Free to pursue Peeta Mellark.

She quickly shook her head. What was she thinking? She had no interest in any of that. She didn't want any relationship. And why had she thought of Peeta? It must have been just because he was already on her mind. Must have been. What a ridiculous idea, her and Peeta Mellark, in a relationship. As if either of them wanted that.

…..

Next chapter: 78th Games. And for people who have been waiting, the second half of Chapter 3 is the first new material that wasn't part of the original Prompts in Panem submission.