Chapter 4

And neither of them do return. Emmanuelle's motorized chair is useless from a pedestal surrounded by water. She bravely and serenely rolls the chair off and into the water before the gong rings out, drowning herself and blowing several Victors near her in the process. Haymitch puts up a fight, barely making the Final Eight before he falls to Daniel Bernhardt, a male Victor from District 9. A peer of Haymitch, Brutus Gunn of District 2, actually wins the whole thing; he apparently volunteered for Cato, the previous year's champion, eagerly.

The following year is my last Reaping at 18 years of age. The odds are not in my favor, and I am Reaped for the 76th Hunger Games, now with no mentor to help me. Gale and Madge, Mother and Prim bid me tearful goodbyes. But my sorrow quickly turns to nervous awkwardness and embarrassment when I realize that Darius will be guarding me and accompanying me and my district partner to the Capitol.

We have been acting strange around each other for the better part of two years now. By now, I feel terrible for the way I treated him and deeply regret that I ever tried going to Cray's that night. The night I ended up spending with Darius, drinking away my sorrows like an idiot.

Throughout our wait in the Capitol, neither of us speak to each other. Even if I feel I need to, if for no other reason than to clear the air between us before I likely die. Darius sees us tributes off on the hovercraft. I can only nod to him in farewell, like the coward I am. He looks like he wants to embrace me, and I almost tell him to kiss me and get it over with. If it would make him feel better. But he doesn't.

I become the Victor of the 76th Hunger Games, becoming Emmanuelle and Haymitch's heir and reclaiming the mantle of hero for my people.

Panem descends into chaos after my win. Even as I give my final interview and am prepped to go home, bombs fall on District 12, taking many lives.

On the train ride home, I am accompanied by Darius alone. Visiting me in my quarters one night, I gasp in shock as she suddenly pulls out a ring. An engagement ring.

"I've been saving up for this for the better part of two years," he explains. "Katniss Everdeen, I love you. Will you marry me... again?"

I give an awkward laugh at the inside joke, even as I splutter like a fish. So Greasy Sae's theory was right. But even she had no idea just what Darius was saving up for.

"Why... why didn't you ask me... before the Games? You might not have seen me again."

Darius smiles. I love his smile. "I was hedging my bets. I had a feeling you were going to win."

I think his proposal over for a long moment. I'm a Victor now, and Victors usually don't marry. But even so... our accidental Toasting may not have meant anything to me, but it may have meant something to him.

So I slip the ring on my finger.

I debate whether to wear my blue Reaping dress to get married, or something else. Mother owns a wedding dress, but I don't have access to it at the moment. I decide to pull the whitest thing I can find from the train's wardrobe - a white blouse and white tights.

Darius Toasts a piece of bread over the fire, and we marry in my chambers on the train as it still races back to District 12. As I gaze into Darius's eyes and as he holds me gently, my gaze softens. When he kisses me, its power leaves me breathless and I gasp so that his tongue slips down my throat. It is a kiss of apology, a kiss of promise, and a kiss full of deep, deep love. Even so, I kiss this man who is hereafter my husband from the moment our lips joined... tentatively. I kiss him with a part of me still hesitant. I am wary, fearful, as I enter this marriage. But in a scary new world of likely war and possibly revolution, it would be nice to have a partner.

District 12 is eerily deserted when we return. My home in the Seam is still standing, but abandoned and empty. I don't know what happened to Primrose or Mother, and sadly have to presume them dead until proven otherwise. Ever practical, I don my mother's wedding dress, and Darius and I break into the Justice Building. We steal and sign some marriage documents, sealing it with a kiss. Then back at my house, we hold another Toasting and seal it with another kiss, just to be sure.

My husband and I live through the war in our decimated district. After Snow's regime is overthrown and a democracy is installed, some of our neighbors return and begin to rebuild. My family are not among them, and neither are Gale and Madge.

It takes me five, ten, fifteen years for me to agree to have children. But Darius wants them so badly. I lie with him and make love to him until I fall pregnant. We welcome a daughter. Carrying our son was easier, but not by much.

The Games are abolished, and as my husband and children and I play in the Meadow, I appreciate that there are much worse Games to play.