Author's Note: Thank you so much for the feedback so far! And don't worry, this is not the end! The full flashback will be next chapter.
Peeta bit his lip and Katniss knew he really had to think about his answer. "There was a camera in the hall of our floor in the Tribute Center. They showed me the footage of you pulling me into your room and told me that it was you manipulating me again. That you wanted to distract me and keep me awake all night so that I'd be easier to kill in the arena."
Katniss's heart pounded. "There were cameras in the hall but there weren't any in my room or bathroom? You didn't see any footage from those places?"
Peeta shook his head. "No. The rest of that night is a blur. I remember being exhausted the next morning so I can only assume you did keep me up all night."
They both blushed when the double entendre registered but Peeta didn't take back how he'd phrased it.
"I did pull you into my room but not for any of the reasons the Capitol may have suggested," Katniss told him. "I was afraid if you showered in your room that they'd lock us apart. I didn't want to be alone. And more than that, I didn't want to be without you. That could have been our last night together."
Peeta fidgeted in his chair and Katniss had to wonder if it was the handcuffs, the Hijacking, or the strangeness of her being so emotional that was making him uncomfortable.
She pushed away from the desk and talked as she walked over to the door, taking her chair with her. "Once we got to my room you, being the gentleman that you were, told me I could shower first," she said as she jammed the chair under the door handle so it would be harder to interrupt her conversation.
Peeta was gaping at her again when she turned to face him. He was trembling when she pulled out a small key and used it to uncuff his hands. "Before I went in to shower I asked you to unzip my dress."
In what Katniss knew was her stupidest move yet she turned her back to Peeta. Peeta, the man who had tried to strangle her just two weeks earlier. She could only imagine the chaos going down on the other side of the mirror.
"I…why…I could kill you! Why are you doing this?!"
Katniss looked over her shoulder. The muscles in Peeta's neck and shoulders were tensed and his hands clutched the arms of the chair. "I have to try and save you and returning your memories might do that."
"But˗"
"Peeta, you are an artist. That means you are very visual. Maybe if you see…" she trailed off when he stood up.
Katniss looked straight ahead, not wanting to see the conflicted expressions on Peeta's face. Plus, she hadn't been confident enough to look at him on the night he'd unzipped her wedding dress and saw what was underneath.
His hands were unsteady when he reached for the buttons and she had a split second of panic at the thought that they might end up around her throat. Then his hands brushed the top button and he gently pulled it through the buttonhole.
But after three buttons he drew back. "That would be enough for you to slip this off if it were really the dress. Since this isn't sparking any memories you should probably re-cuff me before I go crazy."
"Then undo however many buttons it takes for you to figure out why I'm having you do this," Katniss spat.
Peeta did as he was told but he wasn't very gentle about it. Katniss was half-expecting fabric to tear or buttons to pop off when he suddenly stopped again.
She looked back over her shoulder and saw that his face was white as a sheet and his eyes were wide. "This can't be right," he murmured. "I would have remembered…"
"What are you remembering? I'll tell you if it really happened," Katniss whispered.
Peeta reached out and ran his fingertips along the exposed skin of her back. And then he very nearly repeated exactly what he'd said the night of the interviews. "Sunset orange. Your…undergarments are sunset orange."
Taking her cue from Peeta, Katniss echoed her past self. "Cinna knew it was your favorite color. He thought it would only be appropriate if my bridal lingerie would be something you'd appreciate. And since I had to wear my wedding dress for the interviews…"
"So the garments are only orange because Cinna designed it that way. Not because you had a say in the matter."
Katniss shook her head. "Actually no. When they got me ready for the interview Cinna had two sets for me. Traditional white and this. I chose this."
Peeta tensed and she second guessed herself. Was he recreating the moment like she'd been trying to do or was it just a coincidence? But then he undid the rest of her buttons and stepped away. "Well you better get in the shower or I won't get a chance to take mine."
Katniss took a deep breath and spun around so she could look him right in the eye. "They can probably lock the bathroom door and separate us that way. So you should probably just join me."
The smile, a look of wonderment and surprise, crossed his face. "I remember everything!" he murmured.
They stumbled towards one another, her arms around him and his around her and he whispered it all in her ear so nobody else would hear. And she nodded and cried into his shoulder because he remembered it all exactly like it had happened.