square is transformed a banner with the seal of panem hangs off the roof of the justice building peace keepers in plain white uniforms march on the clean swept square. More on the rooftops with machine guns. Most unnerving is the whipping post and several stockades and a gallows standing neatly in the centre of the square.
"Thread's a quick worker" says haymitch. Several streets away I see a flicker of fire over the roof tops and all of us know that that is the hob going down in flames. I look over to katniss's "horrified face. She turns to Haymitch
"Haymitch you don't think they're still in there do you?" she asks
"Nah they're smarter than that you'd be too if you'd been around longer" he says "well, I better go see how much rubbing alcohol the apothecary can spare" he stumbles across the square and katniss turns to me
"what does he want that for?" her eyes widen "we can't let him drink it he'll kill himself or at the very least go blind, I've got some white liquor put away at home. In the back of the rice cabinet."
"me too I've got 4 bottles under the sink, that should hold him off until ripper finds a way to be back in business" I reply I'm worried about my family now, though mostly my dad and my oldest brother rye
"I've got to go check on my family now"
"I've got to go see hezel" says Katniss I was thinking the same thing. We expected her to be at the front door as soon as the snow stopped but we hadn't seen her. Katniss and we locate hazell in her house nursing posy who seems to have the measles
"I couldn't leave her, I knew gale would be in the best possible hands"
"of course" Katniss says "my mother says he'll be back in the mines in a couple of weeks"
"may not be open until then anyway" says Hezel "word is they're closed until further notice" she quickly and nervously glances at her empty washtub.
"you closed down too" Katniss asked concerned
"not officially" says Hezel "but everyone's afraid to use me now"
why wouldn't people use hezel its not illegal to have people wash your clothes, then I glance outside and see the horrid weather conditions
"maybe it's the snow" I say hopefully hezel shakes her head
"no Rory made a quick round this morning nothing to wash apparently" my heart sinks to my feet then Rory wraps his arms around Hezel
"we'll be alright" says Rory
i'm reaching for my pocket but Katniss beats me to it putting a fist full of coins on the table
"my mother will send something for posy" we step outside of the house Katniss glances at the smoke a few streets away I know what she is thinking she opens her mouth and looks at me I stop her with a kiss
"yes we can walk by the hob" I say
she squeezes my hand gives me a sad but sincere smile. I squeeze her hand and give her a gentle kiss on the forehead. We weave through the seam, Katniss on my arm.
Over the next few weeks are brutal. Half of district twelve is starving. Child after child signs up for tesserae, however sometimes they don't even get their grain. There are food shortages, and even those with money cant get food. Eventually the mines reopen and when they do, hours are extended wages cut miners sent to work in terribly dangerous places. When parcel day finally arrives the food is spoiled and defiled by rats. the stocks and gallows and whipping post see plenty of action people being dragged into the square for offences so long over looked we had forgotten they were illegal. Also Katniss told me one night that Rory signed up for tesserae and gale can't even speak of it, however its still not enough. Katniss has the idea to hire Hezel as a housekeeper for haymitch and we convince him. Katniss has nearly gone mad because with the security she can't go into the woods anymore and she has nothing to do all day. One morning I wake to another note
went to do my rounds be back later tonight
with love,
Katniss
Katniss's rounds are when she delivers food to some of the starving people in the seam. The day is quite boring, later I go see haymitch we are playing a match of chess i'm not paying to much attention because my thoughts are preoccupied where is katniss she should've been back by now? haymitch being haymitch grunts and says "boy its been your turn for 10 minutes make a move" I move a piece and he instantly takes it "hey" haymitch says snapping his fingers "is peeta still in there" "ya ya i say" in a hushed voice "peeta, shes fine! she survived the hunger games for christ sake" he grumbles just then the doorbell rings i walk to the door trailing close behind haymitch he opens the doors and two peacekeepers are there oh no katniss was arrested or shes dead or.. my thoughts were cut off when the male peacekeeper speaks
"we have to ask you both to join us at the everdeen residence.
"may i ask what for haymitch says the female speaks this time
"we have a message for katniss that we would like you both to be present for"
"is she at the house" I say
"no but according to her mother she shouldn't be out for much longer" says the male peacekeeper we follow the two peacekeepers to katniss's mothers house and opens the door to let us in. we walk in and me and haymitch start another game of chess keeps on nervously asking the peacekeepers if they need anything until finally after around three hours and 8 games of chess.
I hear the door swing open knowing it must be katniss i'm about to run to her and ask her a million questions but haymitch puts his hand on my shoulder giving me a disapproving look then mouthing 'this is all completely normal'. release a small sigh and nod i hear katniss say "hello" in a neutral voice "here she is just in time for dinner" says "can i help you with something" she asks the peacekeepers "we come with a message from head peacekeeper thread" says the woman "they've been waiting for hours" asks "may we ask where you have been" the woman asks "easier to ask where i haven't been" she says in an exasperated tone she walks into the kitchen i can hear every footfall which is very unusual for katniss but i shrug it off katniss looks over and sees prim me and haymitch. Prim standing stiffly by the hearth, "hello darling" katniss says i stand up and give her a quick peck on the lips realix=zing i haven't seen her all day and i missed her. then because of what haymitch says i retreat back to my seat "so where haven't you been" haymitch grumbles "well i haven't been talking to the goat man about getting prim's goat pregnant because someone gave me completely inaccurate information as to where he lived" she says pointedly at prim i smile a bit
"no i didn't i told you exactly!" prim says
"you said he lives next to the west entrance to mine"
"the east entrance" pim corrects her
"you distinctly said the west because then i said 'next to the slag heap' and you said 'ya'" she says
"the slag heap next to the east entrance" says prim patiently
"no when did you say that"she demands
"last night" haymitch chimes in
"it was definitely the east" i add haymitch and i guffaw. katniss glares and i shrugged sheepishly. "im sorry but its what ive been saying you don't listen when people talk to you" i say
"bet people told you he didn't live there today and you still didn't listen" haymitch adds
"shut up haymitch" katniss says with a sowl clearly pointing out that he is right. haymitch and i crack up again and i see that prim smiles a little too
"fine" katniss says "someone else can arrange to get the stupid goat knocked up" which makes us laugh even more. She looks at the peacekeepers
"what's in the bag" the female asks sharply
"see for yourselves katniss says dumping the contents of the bag on the table
"ohh good says" mrs. everdeen examining the cloth, "we're running low in bandages" i walk over to the table and open the candy bag
"ooo peppermints" i say popping one in my mouth
"they're mine" she says making a swipe for the bag. I toss the bag to haymitch who shoves a fistful in his mouth then tosses it to a giggling prim
"none of you deserves candy" she says
"what because we're right" i say with a smile i wrap my arm around her waist and she makes a yelp of pain but passes it off as a sound of indignation somethings wrong whats wrong im panicking now but don't let it show.
"ok prim said west i distinctly heard west and we're all idiots, how's that?" i say
"better she replies and I give her another peck on the lips and she accepts gratefully. she looks to the peacekeepers
"you had a message for me"
"from the head peacekeeper thread" says the woman
"he wanted you to know that the fence surrounding district 12 will now have electricity 24 hours a day"
"didn't it already" she asks a little too innocently i work hard to stifle a laugh or a smile
"he thought you might be interested in passing this information on to your cousin" says the woman
"thank you i'll tell him" i say "i know we'll all sleep a little more soundly now that security has addressed that laps" now shes pushing it but its harder to stifle a laugh. when the door locks behind them katniss slumps against the table oh god oh god she's hurt oh god oh god "what's wrong" i ask suddenly freaking out and trying not to show it
"my left ankle" she replies "and my tail bones had a bad day too" she attempts to walk to the sitting room resting most of her weight on me she makes it about 2 steps until i can't stand the awful look of pain on her face. so i just scoop her up bridal style being very careful not to hurt her tailbone. i lay her down on the couch propping up her left ankle with a pillow and another under her head. kneel next to her while examines the damage to her her ankle and probes her tailbone. she is put on bed rest and she must be feeling pretty awful to not argue. later offers us a room. i decline and end up carrying an adorable sleepy katniss home. I don't mind one bit, to me she doesn't weigh much more than a puppy. gave her some sleep syrup and she is nuzzled greatfuly into my chest with her arms around my neck as i walk up stairs. i gently lay her in the bed. had changed her out of her clothes and into pajamas. so all i had to do was tuck her into the bed. i threw on some pjs and climbed in next to her. even though she was half asleep she immediately curled up next to me with her head resting on my chest and my arm around her with hers draped over my stomach. i kissed the top of her head and whispered to my half asleep fiance "i love you" she surprised me by whispering back "i love you too" i held her closer if thats even possible when she whispered something else "stay with me". Katniss everdeen my fiance. how did we get here. But i know i will love her.
"always"
katniss's ankle has more or less healed along with her tailbone. we spent the days when she was on bedrest working on her family book and talking about the wedding. haymitch got the photo shoot pushed back a few weeks, after the whipping. I wake up to find katniss sleeping snuggled up against me just as i had left her last night i lay like this for a while it still being way too early wake up. i glance at the clock 4:00 am. i'm fully content with watching her sleep when she starts to move a little i think i've woken her up when i realize she is still asleep, in the midst of a nightmare. i hold her a little tighter "shhh katniss its just a dream shh come back to me shh i love you i'm right here you're safe you're safe" its not working. she starts to call out "peeta peeta" "shh katniss im right here im fine you're fine we're safe" she jerks awake and relief floods through me "peeta" she says "peeta" she screams this time not knowing where i am "shhh katniss im right here im right here shh its ok" she stops screaming and looks at me for a minute then breaks down into sobs on my chest i rub her back and hold her "shhhh im right here im right here" "y-you w-where d-dead" she says in between sobs. "shhh no im right here im right here" "i-i l-love y-you" she gets out between another round of sobs "i love you too im not going anywhere"
"peeta go away" says prim pointing her small hand towards the door "why" says katniss looking confused and upset. thats when chimes in "its bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding" she says calmly "oh" katniss replies looking down she looks to me i shrug and stand up and giver her a quick kiss on the lips "see you in a bit love" she gives me a pained expression i give her another peck on the cheek and whisper in her ear "it'll be ok ill just be across the street if you need me, alright" she nods and kisses me on the lips again. haymitch ends up coming with me he says its because doesnt want me to be alone but i think its really because he doesnt care at all about wedding dresses. the day was pretty normal haymitch passed out at around 11 so went back home. i made katniss some cheese buns because i know she must be miseable right now and cheese buns are her favorite. at around six-o-clock i have two batches of cheese buns and half a painting of rain water dripping through the cave cracks. when there is a small knock on the door and i know it must be prim. i wipe the paint off my hands an walk to the door where i find a smiling prim. "shes all done, mother wants to know if you can come for dinner?" "of course" i reply i let prim stand in our front hall while i wash my hands and grab a batch of cheese buns to share with everybody i leave the rest for katniss. Prim and i make our way across the street to katniss's mother's house where prim pushes open the door. I walk in and find katniss laying on the couch with an arm draped over her eyes, exhausted. i dont think she even noticed i came in to a walk over to her taking her other and in mine "long day" i say while bringing her hand to my lips "tell me about it" she replies.I smirk and lean in to whisper in her ear "i made cheese buns" she peeks out from under her arm to look at me. A trace of a smile on her lips i lift the basket of cheese buns so she can see it and she takes her arm off her face she sits up her lips crash into mine with such force im taken aback slightly when we separated she says "this is one of the perks of marrying a baker now is it" she says with a smile "well of course" i giver her another peck on the lips and stand up and walk to the kitchen where i see prim sitting at the table. i take a cheese bun out of the basket and hand it to her with a smile she returns an equally bright smile. she gobbles up one then reaches for another she must take after her sister. "kat" i call from the kitchen "if you don't get up now prim here will eat all your cheese buns" i hear a moan and feet dragging in socks across the hardwood. sure enough in walks a sleepy katniss. shes so adorable when she's tired. she slumps down in a chair then reaches weekly with her arm for the basket of bread a couple inches in front of her hand then waves her hand pitifully in front of it before dropping her arm then looking to me with big puppy dog eyes. I laugh and shake my head. i reach out and grab her a cheese bun which she accepts with a sleepy smile. she tends to her cheese bun with her head lying sideways on her arm. we eat dinner and i'm having a polite conversation with while we do the dishes when i hear katniss beginning to drift off right there in the table with half a cheese bun in her mouth. gestures to her with her head for me and says quietly "i'll finish these up you go on and take her home". i know "thank you for the dinner" i look over to katniss and go stand next to her i bend over and stroke her hair "hey kat, you awake" she mumbled something along the lines of "ya I…..walk"
instead I scoop her up bridal style in my arms and she snuggles deep into my chest. she lets out a soft sigh of indignation i smile down at her as we reach the front door. katniss everdeen soon to be my wife.
I push open the door and step into our warm house careful not to hit katniss's head against the door frame. I walk deeper into our house when i hear a noise from the living room i walk in to find awkwardly standing in my livivng room hands stuffed deep into pockets head down scowling at the floor
Gale Hawthorne
au
story is just getting into the good stuff theres gonna be a new quarter quell new arena new card new kids. FINNICK AND ANNIE! JOANNA! oh and we must not forget about THE WEDDING!