I don't want to believe it. But Peeta feels this is an opportunity. Ugh. Sometimes that man is way too optimistic.
"Think about it, Katniss," He says beseechingly, taking my hand. "We both knew this was coming. It's time to come out of this easy life we have been living and take control of this district."
He's right. Under Paylor's strange rules, and Coin's sudden assasination, people panicked. After I came out of my depression, I was surrounded by publicity. According to Dr. Aurelius, and (the deceased) Plutarch Heavensbee, I was a confused adolecent. No motive for killing Coin. Just a lunatic. As if. Word eventually leaked out about Coin and her plan to repeat the Hunger Games using Capitol children from a leaked survallience tape, and that I wasn't so confused after all. All hell broke loose after that. Protestors lining up the streets in Panem, brandishing signs like weapons. Some people wanted that Games, like me. Some people agreed that it was too cruel, like Peeta. But Paylor put water on that fire, saying that there would be no cruelty in this new age. We knew that it wasn't going to be like that. In the end, humans cannot coexist together. This is a fact. I might have to take over after all...
Aboard the train, we wait. I dig my hand in the plush fabric nervously, watching the trees and mountains whoosh by. It's just like I'm in the arena again. Fighting for my life. For everybody's life. Peeta is the same, eyes flickering back and forth, clenching his fists. And when a bowl of melting chocolate and rolls are placed in front of me from a servant, I can't stand it anymore.
"Peeta," I say, "We have got to get out of here." The memories are choking me.
He nods, unclenching his fists. "Don't worry, we will be off this thing in no time." And without further delay, I get up and hug him tight. And that's all I can tell him right now.
Soon, our train pulls to a stop. In front of the glimmering Capitol. The same fake rainbow is still high in the blue sky, and the glass buildings glitter with light. The orange pastel stones are just as gaudy as I remember them. It's all the same, except for one thing. The people walking around lack the "normal" plastic surgery that all Capitol people used to have. After Paylor was made president, she allows free transportation and communication between the districts and the Capitol, so most district adults found jobs in the Capitol. Now there are normal people walking around here. Thank goodness.
Peeta and I step out of the train, into the sunshine. When people spot us, there is excited murmuring and pointing of fingers. People walk up to us cautiously. But guards flank us on both sides, and we are escorted to the Justice Building.
We are stopped by the guards outside of a room. President's Suite, it reads. Peeta and I exchange a look as we are gestured inside. The room is beautiful, made out of marble and silver. Surveillance cameras glow red, fixed into every intricate corner of the room. Perched on a velvet stool, we see Paylor. I recognize those dark brown eyes, filled with unreadable emotions. When I see her, all I smell the smoke and see the bombs that killed the refugees. The moment that sparked my fight against the Capitol.
"Katniss?" I hear, jolting me back to reality. I blink, and it blurs into focus. "What?" Peeta and Paylor are staring at me. Peeta with a question in his eyes, Paylor with sadness. She motions for the guards to leave, and shuts the golden doors with a bang. Using a touchpad near the doors, she taps some numbers and the doors seal. The surveillance cameras stop glowing. She turns back to us. "Sit." We do.
"So, you feel your time is over, huh?" I ask sharply. Peeta nudges me, but I ignore his plea to shut up. Paylor opens her mouth, and shuts it again. "What the public don't know can't hurt them," she says, the authorative tone that I remember back in her voice. I bristle. "You're just like Coin," I say, "Just tell us why you've decided to resign. And have me take over." She just sits there, narrowing her eyes. After what feels like a decade, she sighs and leans forward. I can feel the age in her voice as she speaks.
"Do you know how our ancestors used to coexist peacefully?"
"No," I admit truthfully.
"Neither do I." She sighs again. "Something called democracy. No one in our nation will listen without a leader they all trust. Though," she adds with a glint in her eye, "they don't all have to trust her."
"Her?" I ask, understanding finally dawning upon me. Peeta, who until this point, has not said a word, finally speaks. "You are saying the person who everyone trusts, and will vote for leading Panem without a question is Katniss?" Paylor nods. "The people of Panem do not trust me to restore the nation." She gazes out of a stained glass window, at the mobs of frenzied people outside. "I am not the person who can bring democracy back into action. The girl who started the rebellion can finish it." How ironic. How confident she seems that I, a mother of 2, a girl who survived simply by accident, can restore her nation back to its former years of glory. "So, Katniss, do you agree to this job?" I hear Paylors voice distantly, and I am appalled at what I am about to do.
"Yes." I hear myself say.