Right, I am super proud of this chapter and I personly think I did a good job with Peeta. I would like to say in advance, I am sorry. You shall understand when you start reading. I still have spots open, I am looking for more males as I only currently have two. Thank you, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Peeta made his way through the rusty, broken fence at the edge of District Twelve. He no longer had to duck through like Katniss used to many years ago, he simply walked through the large hole he, Katniss and Haymitch had created with a set of pliers. In his hand, he carried a small wicker basket filled with Katniss and Haymitch's favourite food and a small picnic blanket held tightly in his other hand.

He stopped once he saw his beloved, District Twelve just visible in the distance and smiled. He placed the blanket down, pulled a small bouquet of primroses from the basket and fixed his flat cap. "Hello dear, and Haymitch," he said cheerfully as he placed the bright, happy flowers in front of her, the dew that coated the grass being transferred to the white petals. "I know it has only been a week but I have a lot to tell you...some happy and some sad but you should know either way," Peeta sighed. He steered at the gravestone abstinently mindedly in front of him which he had placed the flowers on, almost like he was expecting a reply. Neither of them ever gave one.

Haymitch had passed away in his sleep twenty-three years ago. One day he was laughing and joking, a drink of vodka in his hand and the next, he was being covered by a sheet. Katniss was not so lucky. One of the things that attracted Peeta to her in the first place was her will to fight. She truly did have a fire inside of her and with that, she took down The Capitol. However, even the Mockingjay could not defeat cancer. She lived many years past what the Doctor had told her but it got her in end. Nineteen years she had been gone yet every Sunday, Peeta would make his way to her's and Haymitch's grave to keep the two company and inform them about current events. Even if they could not hear him, it made him feel better about their loss.

"I bought your favourites," he laughed, pulling free a pot dish full of lamb stew and dried plumbs. He then pulled out a pomegranate for dessert, one of Haymitch's favourite fruits and last he placed a flask full of hot chocolate on the picnic blanket. On Sundays, he made sure to eat a selection of Katniss' and Haymitch's favourite dishes along with the hot chocolate he loved so much. It also counted at something in honour of Katniss as in her later years she had grown to love the drink. The act made Peeta feel close to them once more after years of being alone.

"The children are doing well, Ryka is a personal bodyguard for the president and Amira's eldest, Suki, has had a child, making us great-grandparents...I don't know the little one's name yet but I am hoping they bring her to see me, it has been so long," Peeta said with sadness, thinking back to the last time he had seen his children. It was just after their mother's death and then they only stayed for a few hours. Peeta offered to put them and their families up for the night and cook them dinner but they both had jobs they needed to go in the morning. They both worked in the Capitol, Ryka as a security guard and Amira as a soldier. Their absence had never bothered Peeta before but after Katniss went, it became a crushing weight. He only got to see his grandchildren once a year if he was lucky. They just did not seem to care for him anymore.

Things got worse when Ares started a rebellion. While Peeta did not agree with Ares ways, his children did and decided to go off and fight alongside him. Their political beliefs pulled them further away from their father, leaving him alone in Twelve. "I also got a new dog, I called her Rue...I am hoping she helps keep me company, her love for life certainly brings a smile to my face," he had taken in the puppy earlier that week, a stray in what used to be the town centre of District Twelve. She was small with dark, curly hair and big chocolate brown eyes. She was bouncy and happy but still well behaved for a pup. She reminded Peeta of rue in looks and in spirit and he didn't even mind the extra work he put in to raise a puppy. It gave him something to do.

"But anyway, for the bad news," Peeta sighed, knowing he could not run from it with happy thoughts forever. He looked around the meadow where he and Katniss used to sit and watch their children play. It was also the place Katniss informed him that she and Gail used to spend there time, just talking about everything and anything. Peeta had never found out what happened to Gail. They lost contact after the second rebellion but he still wondered. There was a high chance he could still be alive. However, the meadow was so beautiful that it was hard to think of past comrades and friends. The sun was bright and warm and the air was full of bird song as they danced overhead, far too pretty for what today had brought.

"They are bringing the Games back...they assure us it's it only one more time but you know how these things go. And even more worryingly, they want me to come back to mentor, being the only living victor and all," he paused when he said this, his carefree smile vanishing from his blue eyes focused on Katniss' name that was engraved the stone, along with how she was beloved wife, mother and grandmother. "I wish you was here," he said with a lump in his throat, "you always knew what to do in this situations...you would have also been a better mentor, I only survived both Games because of you," he bit his lips when he felt the tears trying to spill over his bottom lid as he looked at the silent grave. It was times like this he wonders why he put himself through coming to Katniss' grave every week but the alternative felt like he was forgetting her, pretending like she didn't exist. The world might have forgotten her in fifty-eight years but Peeta never would.

He grumbled as he wiped the tears away from his eyes and pulled some bread he had baked that morning from the basket and violently tore some off and dipped it in the steaming lamb stew, scooping up some dried plum. He ate and drank his dinner in silence, thinking about the poor children he would be forced to watch die. He was not sure weather it was bad or worse that these children had no idea what The Hunger Games were or that the Games would only span twenty-four hours. He expected most of the children to refuse to kill, maybe even rebel. There would not be enough time for any of them to be pushed over the edge by infection, hunger or thirst but maybe the looming time frame would drive most people towards killing. Peeta knew one thing, no one like him would win this year. No one will be able to wait it out. The victor this year might be cruel, twisted or maybe just desperate to survive but they would be strong and ready to kill. He could not see anyone else winning such a Game.

After he was finished, he gathered up his belongings, left his scrap pieces of bread for the animals and bid his loved ones goodbye. He walked through the meadow and past the rusty, old electric fence once more and walked through the rubble that resembled the ghost of the Seam, the square and where his family bakery used to be. He stopped for a few moments and looked at the rubble, sprinkled with small saplings and grass. He closed his eyes and thought back to when it was a tall, looming building with black smoke billowing out of the chimney, the heat from the ovens and the smell of fresh bread filling the air and making the mouths of Twelves citizens water. Sometimes that mouth watering smell was replaced with the stench of the pigs. "Those disgusting animals!" he mother would growl as she handed him and his brother Watson and Falco, shovels and told them to clean it up. His brothers, being older, would tease him about throwing him in their waste only to be tripped head first into it by one of the large pigs. Their mother would always be watching, ready to beat them for their trouble making. Peeta loved the pigs and he loved his family.

Although his mother hated the animals and gained a name for herself about being the witch of Twelve but she was still his mother and she did have her kind moments. Peeta's father once went to the market and bought a small piglet for dinner, not being able to afford any other meat. He left Peeta and his brother's to play with the piglet but when he came back with an axe, the siblings cried out for him to let her live. Despite their argument, their father took the piglet and got ready to kill it when he was hit over the head with a rolling pin. "Let her grow, she can have many piglets and then we will have more meat that whatever is on that scrawny thing," she snapped, scooping up the small animal and handing it back to her sons with a smile on her face. Peeta made sure to remember these moments when she punished him or people in the District's muttered under their breath how cruel she was. She was outspoken, arrogant, stubborn, loud and strict but she was still his mother. They all had their faults but they were his family. They were still grandparents and uncles his children never met and parents and brothers he would never be able to spend time with or say he loved again. He would play his first Games a thousand times and take a hundred beatings from his mother if it meant he got to spend a few moments with them all. Hug them, tell them how much they meant to him and how much he missed and loved them. You don't get second chances like that. They didn't even get a real burial like Katniss and Haymitch, they were still under the rubble, looking on at their son and brother who tried every day to gather up the courage to dig them out and give them the funeral they deserved. Sadly, like every other day, he did not have it in him.

He tore his eyes away from the scene and continued to walk towards the victor's village, the only place untouched by the fire bombs. It used to look amazing when Peeta was younger but as he got older, he was only able to tend to his own garden and even that looked terrible, currently. Rue kept digging it up.

As he walked up to his door, he looked around at the upturned flowers and multiple items torn to pieces all over the garden. Peeta looked up at the open, green door, his blue eyes widening in fear. "Rue!" he screamed as he raced through the door, throwing the basket and blanket on the floor and racing through the house, looking for the little puppy.

He found her when he came to the kitchen, the black, curly furred dog tearing apart a brown, leather shoe. Rue stopped when she saw him, cocking her head to the side, her tongue dangling out. "Where did you get that-"

"Ah, that's mine-" the voice did not have time to finish as Peeta quickly turned on his heel, pulling a knife free from his pocket and throwing it at the intruder. The blonde haired man looked at the knife that flew through the air and pinned the sleeve of his raised, left hand to the door frame. "Good shot Peeta-"

"Who are you?" Peeta demanded, pulling another knife out of his pocket. The blue eyed male pulled the knife free from his sleeve, kneeled to the floor with his hands in the air and scooted it back to the old man.

"I am Luxen Valor, think of me as your escort to The Capitol," he said raising an eyebrow as he kept a careful watch on the knife in the man's hands. He was much taller than Peeta, about the same height as Cato but was far more lanky with long, elegant neck and a slightly crooked neck. His fitted, shirt and blazer along with his skinny pants seem to add to his height.

"You sure don't sound like you are from The Capitol, you are from the west,"

"Well, yes I am, I was born and raised in District One but I live in The Capitol with my brother, President Valor. Now, come on, we are already running late and I would rather it was not my head on the chopping block,"

"What about my stuff-"

"Already packed,"

"Can I take my dog?"

"Sure, don't see why no...just tell her to leave my shoes alone, right little guard dog you have there," Luxen laughed, walking past Peeta and picking up his shoe.

"Forgive me, a war and The Hunger Games will do that to you," Peeta scowled as he bent down to pick Rue up and passed her over to an amused Luxen.

"Trust me, I understand...wait until you see my dog," he chuckled, Rue licking his cheek with excitement as he threw a big bag towards Peeta and exited the house. However, before leaving, Peeta ran into the living room to pick up one more thing, a small scrap book with everyone he cares about inside and placed it deep in his bag. Sometimes it was best to not forget the past and he was going to need all the help he could get.