Know That Your Place Is With Me (Part III)
Written for Prompts in Panem Day 7 – Black and White
Peeta was lost in a fog of pain so deep, he could barely hold onto where he was. He sensed a warm fire was roaring before him. He let his eyes drift to his left and saw Katniss curled in a ball at the very edge of the bed, wearing the same clothes she had on earlier. He could tell from the even rise and fall of her breathing that she was asleep. He wanted to pull her to him but even thinking about movement made everything ache.
He reviewed the events that got him to this point. He turned it over and over in his mind and realized that there was no way things could have gone differently because they had tempted fate too many times. His heart ached for Katniss most of all - how very alone she must feel in the world, cut-off from her family and he, insensible to anything but his pain and his thoughts. He tried not to think too far into the future. He needed to get better so that he would be in a better condition to take care of her.
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Earlier that day
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Peeta had done his best to arrive before Katniss. The cold was stiff and unrelenting and he wanted to get a fire going to warm up the cabin before sunrise. Once the sun was up, they would be forced to smother the hearth for fear of being seen. The only exception to this strict rule they imposed on themselves was when there was snowfall, in which they lit the hearth, knowing it would be hidden by the swirling white snowflakes that danced across the land. Some of those snowflakes would absorb the smoke from the chimney and become marred by the coal dust and ash. These made Peeta unbelievably sad because those particular snowflakes looked corrupted, the black overwhelming the white to result in that dull grey color that spoke of sadness and isolation from the rest of the white winter world.
He shook himself. He was having the strangest thoughts lately and he had to stop doing that. Only a little while longer was his constant mantra. There were things happening in wider Panem that alarmed him - shortages in supplies that they had always been able to acquire in abundance. He and Katniss had managed to bring things out to the cabin in these last few months - objects that they thought they might need - a small ax, extra quilt, matches, metal cups, razors - but electronics, certain fabrics and seafood, of all things, were getting harder and harder to come by.
Katniss had dried herbs stored away for different purposes. Peeta tried to tell her not to slave too much - there was only so much they could carry but Katniss insisted they could store things in their cabin and bring them up to the lake when they were needed.
She still hadn't told Prim and her mother about her plans. This was a source of argument lately between Katniss and Peeta. If her condition for leaving was to bring her sister and mother along, she had to tell them at some point but Katniss claimed it never seemed to be the right time to say anything.
"I'll tell them when the time is right." Katniss said.
"Are you waiting until we are packed up and ready to go to tell them?"
"No, but I want to wait a little more to give them less of a chance to change their minds."
"Katniss! They may need time to make up their minds! It's not fair to me, you know. What am I supposed to do if they don't come. Do you just say "Oh, well, why don't you go on your own and I'll catch up later?" Peeta said angrily.
But Katniss was as obstinate as a rock and insisted on taking her time. And Peeta had to resign himself to the fact that she was operating with more knowledge about her family than him. The truth was he couldn't even give her an ultimatum because he would never be able to follow through with anything he threatened. He was prepared to do anything for her so he had no other choice but to simply hope for the best.
The door of the cabin clicked open. Katniss entered with her bow and arrows and a small bag of game.
"I caught a squirrel. We can roast it for later." she said by way of greeting. They did not keep food in the house for fear of animals invading the cabin when they were away.
Peeta pulled out the small pouches from his pocket and showed them to Katniss.
"Seeds?" she asked as she pressed the hard roundness between her fingers.
"Yeah. We always keep a garden at home and I'm good at it," he said as she handed them back.
Katniss nodded and sat down next to the fireplace to warm her feet. "There are more Peacekeepers than ever before. There are actually more patrols in the Seam quarter," said Katniss worriedly. "Things don't feel right."
"Things were never right in Panem," answered Peeta as he set out breakfast. He'd brought cupcakes that he'd frosted just yesterday evening.
Katniss took the proffered dish with the cupcake and the cup of hot chocolate. "Well, they're a little bit less right than normal. I have such a bad feeling lately. Just be careful, okay?"
Peeta chuckled. "I only ever break the law to come out and see about this one girl."
Katniss shook her head. "Really? I hope she's worth it."
Peeta left a frosting covered kiss on Katniss' lips. "She's worth everything to me."
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It was twilight when they returned from the cabin, much later than usual. Well before the fence, Peeta pulled Katniss to him and kissed her, as if he had not kissed her a thousand times that very day. Instead of the excitement she felt in the cabin, it was dread that made Katniss' stomach curl, for she was terrified of letting Peeta's hand go when they reached the fence. The world had tilted on its side and she was sliding off the edge, searching the smooth surface for a way to hang on.
Anger had been building in her over the course of their year together. She felt imposed upon by every single thing that surrounded her - the simpering passivity of the forest, the brutal cruelty of the regime, the stupid pageantry of the Capitol, the obsequiousness of the downtrodden population. Katniss' body still sang from her afternoon with Peeta, every cell lit up like the lamps that illuminated the center at night. She was tired of withholding what was rightfully hers from the indifferent glare of reality.
Peeta was hers and she was his. This contrivance of castes and Districts triggered such a black fury in her, she wanted to tear away the false boundaries between her people and scream at the top of her lungs, "He's mine and you have no say in all of it!" But she knew it was suicide, that if they weren't arrested and thrown out on their asses, they'd at least be beaten. And it was only the thought of her sister, starving and alone, that caused her to reach out for the last shred of her sanity and pull herself together again. That and because the end was in sight.
Peeta went through the fence first, waving happily to Katniss and made his way towards the bakery. Katniss took a few moments to gather her wits about her but her thinking spun out of control. It was a compulsive thought that tortured her over and over - how would she persuade her mother and sister to go away with her? She hadn't told them about Peeta at all and he was right to be angry with her. She was trying his near infinite patience on this matter and she was ashamed of herself because of it. He'd thrown his lot in with hers and he asked so little in return, it was about time that she did something to resolve the situation.
Katniss was imagining different ways to start the conversation with Prim and her mother, her state of distraction such that she did not see the two Peacekeepers until she was already ducking under the fence. There was no way to hide where she'd come from.
"What are you doing there!" barked one of the masked men angrily.
Katniss froze in terror. Shit! She'd been through this fence thousands of times - it was automatic for her to carefully examine her environment before entering the Seam. She knew better than to barrel through the way she did. She'd relaxed her guard at precisely the wrong moment.
"Just curious," she said shakily, trying not to sound too guilty. Thankfully, she wasn't carrying any game or she would have already been in the stocks.
"Curious, eh?" said the taller one. His voice was rough, a compliment to his burly size and the hulking manner in which he stood, with one hand on his electric baton. He flipped his visor up and Katniss found herself being appraised by a cold pair of mud brown eyes. She couldn't help the shiver of disgust that raced over her skin as she recognized the Peacekeeper as the same one who had caught her in the square.
"We know the only thing you Seam girls are curious about," he said lewdly, while the second Peacekeeper chuckled.
"Now, the way I see it, you can come with us and get a couple of lashes for being outside of the boundaries of the District, a violation of code C12.69.82 or," he glanced over at his friend, giving him a knowing look, "you could come with us and persuade us to be a bit lenient, in which case we might just agree to wave your sentence completely."
Katniss' stomach clenched in fear but she wasn't going to give these two roaches the satisfaction of seeing her afraid. She was about to speak up and tell them she'd gladly take the flogging over their limp dicks any day of the week but a familiar voice interjected.
"Is "Go fuck yourselves" part of the menu of options? Because I believe that's definitely something that should be put on the table." Peeta's voice was calm but hardly peaceful. There was a belligerence in his tone that made Katniss' knees go weak.
"What's it to you? Do you know what the penalty is for interfering with law enforcement?" seethed the giant Peacekeeper.
"Well, I guess I have to pay the penalty because I'm interfering." Peeta stood between Katniss and the Peacekeepers.
"Peeta, no...you'll just make it worse. Go home!" she hissed, trying to pull him back.
"Peeta Mellark? You're the baker's boy?" said the shorter Peacekeeper. "Listen, we'll just forget that you opened your mouth if you turn around and go home. We have to take care of this Untouchable trash and you don't need to get mixed up in it. Just toss me an extra loaf next time we stop in." He laughed at his own joke but Peeta's eyes had shrunk down to two blue slits.
"She's not trash," hissed Peeta angrily.
"Well, what do you know? Baker boy's gettin' a piece of that tight little ass," said the Peacekeeper. "Well, we don't mind sharing, do we, Brutus? You can have her back when we're done." At this, he grabbed Katniss by the arm and yanked her towards him.
What happened next was so fast, even afterwards, Katniss had a hard time piecing together how it all fell apart, the moment when the road Katniss and Peeta walked became irreversible. Peeta had suddenly tackled the Peacekeeper who had grabbed Katniss, until they were both a struggling heap on the ground, fists flying and the sickening sound of knuckles against flesh filling the air. Katniss screamed and launched herself against Brutus, who had pulled out his electronic baton but the tip of the now buzzing instrument caught Katniss directly on her right side, sending a bolt of energy so powerful through her, she was sure she could smell herself being singed. She went down in a fit of pain and could do nothing to help Peeta as Brutus sent a bolt into Peeta's back, disabling him. The laughing Peacekeeper stood up and sent a kick into Peeta's side, making him curl in agony.
"You stupid little shit!" growled Brutus, pulling Peeta up just enough to get the cuffs on him. "You're going down for this. You should have just shut the fuck up and minded your own business." Katniss had suddenly been forgotten, Peeta's crime of attacking a Peacekeeper having eclipsed her now meaningless excursion into the woods. She rolled onto her knees and managed to stand up from her crumpled position, her side on fire from the impact with the baton and followed the Peacekeepers as they dragged Peeta in the direction of the square.
Katniss could barely keep up but her heart almost fell out of her chest when she saw the commotion in the square. A crowd began to gather as Commander Thread, who had been radioed, appeared with the flogging whip at the ready. Katniss experienced a moment of madness and thought that the scene before her could not be real - all of it was a sick illusion dreamed up by her sleeping mind and she would soon wake to find it was all a nightmare. But she was not dreaming, as the cruel voice of the commanding officer pierced the crowd.
"For the crime of assaulting a Peacekeeper, Peeta Mellark is hereby sentenced to 20 lashes, effective immediately."
Peeta was led to the flogging post, his hands untied long enough to remove his sweater and jacket before his cuffs were chained to the large metal links. Katniss was horrified when she saw his strong, fair-skinned back covered in her scratch marks from earlier today, as if they had been a premonition of this moment. Without thinking, Katniss ran out in the middle of the square between Peeta and Thread. There was an audible gasp from the crowd as she tried to block the Commander from reaching Peeta's body.
"Please, listen to me! He was provoked! He was trying to protect me. Don't hurt him!" she screamed, her tears blurring her vision.
"Katniss, no! It won't change anything!" said Peeta.
"Get this one out of my way," Thread said as he raised the whip over his head. A Peacekeeper put his arms around Katniss and easily lifted her out of the way even though she struggled with all her strength.
"Stop, please! He was just defending me! He doesn't deserve to be flogged! Please!" she continued, on the verge of hysteria.
Each time the whip fell, Katniss thought she felt it on her skin, burning away flesh and tissue. Peeta was so very brave, taking his blows at first quietly but soon his courage gave way to grunts that in turn became moans of agony, interrupted only by Katniss' sobs. Katniss' mother and sister fought their way to the front of the crowd and stared incomprehensibly at her.
When Thread had delivered his last blow, the Peacekeeper was finally allowed to release Katniss. She ran towards Peeta but was stopped by Commander Thread.
"Why would a Merchant take a beating for an Untouchable?" he said with a voice that sounded like a hissing snake.
Katniss stared at him with hatred but it did not deter him. "It's a crime for an Untouchable to have a relationship with anyone of another Caste. That is how we protect our bloodlines from impurity." He said this slowly and deliberately, as if she were too stupid to understand him.
Lifting her chin, Katniss said with a calm measure to rival his. "There's no crime in people loving each other."
Thread licked his lips, repressing a sneer. "Careful, scum. Let's not add "inciting rebellion" to your list of crimes." He turned on his heel, freeing her to rush to Peeta's aid as he pronounced his sentence:
"For the crime of Blood Contamination from the illicit union of this Merchant with an Untouchable, we hereby condemn them both to the severest penalty under the law. Henceforth, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark will be banished from Panem. Let no man, from this day forward, acknowledge their existence. Let no man lend them assistance. Let their names be erased from our ledgers for all of eternity."
Katniss felt lightheaded when she heard the sentence, though it was rage that focused her and fueled her actions. She searched the crowd, for she'd heard her mother's scream but even that was denied her, for all she saw were backs being turned to them, one after the other. Her resolve hardened and she focused on her only objective at this point - get Peeta to safety. There was nothing more she could do for her mother or sister. As she half-carried, half-dragged Peeta to the forest, she released them like birds into the sky, for she was certain she would never see them again.
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It took them three times as long as usual to get back to the cabin. By the time Katniss could get Peeta on their bed, he was semi-conscious. That's when the hard work started - she had to set the wounds by softening the now dried skin, a process that was so tedious and painful for Peeta, she cried as she worked for the way she made him suffer. To his credit, he stayed as still as he could and tried to obey her commands but he was in so much pain, he blacked out several times. She couldn't put a snow coat on him yet, for she did not have the herbs necessary. She looked outside - the sun would be setting soon and they had very little food - nothing but the few items Peeta brought when he was decorating and stockpiling the house for her, for her, as if she deserved them after her monumental stupidity.
To keep from spiraling into depression, Katniss set about to collect snow and find branches that were dry enough to start a fire. Her best bet was to forage high in the trees, where the ground snow would not have seeped in to make them irreversibly damp. When she'd collected the wood, she found the tinderbox and set the hearth to blazing despite the time of day. In Katniss' opinion, she couldn't imagine what more the authorities would want from them. Surely they would have bet against the two of them surviving the night so their vigilance would be very low. After a bit, the heat chased the deep chill out of their small cabin.
Peeta whimpered quietly but Katniss was sure, despite his pain that he would probably sleep a bit. She thought about her options - all the things she needed to make him feel better. As the night wore on, she watched Peeta, evaluating his every breath, each moan, for fear that his injuries were more than she could treat.
It wasn't until the deep of night when Katniss finally allowed herself to grieve - for Gale, her mother, and her sister. As much as she considered her life defective, there was so much she would miss. Though she had agreed to run away with Peeta, it had been a far-off objective that she had hoped she could prepare for. As Peeta lay sprawled and delirious, she had never felt more alone in her life, even during the worst of her mother's depression. Laying at the very edge of the bed for fear she would touch Peeta and damage him further, she curled into herself and cried until she sank into grateful oblivion.
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The banging on the door roused her, and for a moment, Katniss forgot everything that had taken place in the last twenty-four hours. She lifted her head, expecting to see Prim burrowed beneath the quilt but it was Peeta, his exposed back an angry, swollen pink and red color, which brought her back to the present. When she had regained her wits, she crept quietly to the door, grabbing an iron used to stoke the hearth, the only item she could use for self-protection, as she had not stopped to fetch her bow and arrow.
She opened the door slowly, ready to impale whoever was on the other side. So she was completely unprepared to see Gale standing on the threshold. Without a thought, she dropped the iron and flung herself into his arms, her disbelief turning into childish joy when she found herself face to face with her best friend.
"What are you doing here?" she said, pulling him inside and locking the door. She walked rapidly to the hearth and snuffed out the fire.
"You guys left a mess behind," he groused as he set down a large sack. "After your sentence was read, people were angry. We, you know, mom and I, we took Prim and your mother home so they wouldn't get caught up in all the protesting."
"Protests?" asked Katniss.
"Don't worry, they didn't last very long but people were pissed."
Katniss couldn't wrap her mind around why anyone would be upset that she and Peeta had been kicked out of District 12. The only thing that worried her was her family. "How are they?" Katniss whispered, her heart in her throat.
"How are any of us? Katniss, nobody else had any idea about you and Peeta Mellark here." He cast a glance at Peeta's still sleeping form. "How long were you guys, you know…?"
"A year, more or less."
"You want to tell me what the hell you two did to get yourselves beaten and exiled?"
Katniss sighed and recounted all the events. Gale became angrier and angrier as he heard her tell it.
"I would have done the same thing. Why didn't you tell your mother about you and Peeta?"
"How was I going to tell her? She wouldn't have understood."
"Your mother? She married outside her caste, too." Gale said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I warned you about being careful."
"My father wasn't an Untouchable when they married! And I was planning on telling her and Prim." Katniss said this with great regret, for now she not only left them alone but undefended and likely with a heavy feeling of betrayal. "And anyway, I didn't think you approved."
"Well, you could have asked Madge Undersee that. She would have told you if I approved or not," he said somewhat sheepishly, running his hands through his hair. "Man, that's a relief to be able to say that out loud."
Katniss gave a wry smile. "I guess I wasn't the only one keeping secrets." She took a deep breath, looking at the bag on the table. "What is this?"
"People showed up at your house to bring things. They figured we might be able to get stuff out to you."
Katniss took out the items in the bag, almost faint with shock. "Morphling? Bread? Tools? Gale, who gave us all of this? How did they not get caught by the Peacekeepers."
"District 12 people are used to sneaking around. You didn't exactly invent that." He began handing her the items from the bag. "Peeta's father brought bread and other baked goods. Your mom sent herbs. Dr. Abernathy brought morphling and antibiotics. Madge brought some fruit teas." He shook his head. "Prim sent your plant book, said you would need it. Matches, water cannisters. Greasy Sae even brought socks and a sweater for you guys." Gale shook his head. "And these weren't just Seam folks either. People were pissed, Catnip. Thread should have known what was up between you two from the way you were acting in the square. Why exile you both on top of whipping Peeta?"
Katniss, in the meantime, was already pulling out a pestle and mortar from the bag, courtesy of her mother who knew she wouldn't have anything to prepare a snow coat. "It's ironic. We were planning on running away together anyway in the spring. I would have tried to bring Mom and Prim."
"I've thought about it too. Madge and I. But she has her own people and I have a village." He chuckled sadly. "I would have used this cabin as a halfway point also."
A low moan came from the bed and Katniss hurried over to check Peeta. He had been so good and hadn't thrashed about so his skin was set. But now that he was waking up, she feared he might reopen his wounds.
"Shhh, don't move. I don't want you to tear open your cuts. Are you thirsty?"
Peeta opened one of his eyes slowly. "Yeah," he said, the word barely a whisper from his lips.
Katniss got up to fetch the flask and poured water she had melted from the snow before she fell asleep. Using the lid, she served him little sips of the water, which was difficult as he was laying face down and a good part of it ended up on the mattress.
"I can make you tea, if you like," she whispered, touching his soft blond curls, which were matted in places with blood.
A large tear rolled out of Peeta's eye and dripped onto the bed. "It hurts, Katniss," he moaned.
He sounded so young and vulnerable, Katniss' eyes filled with tears. "Wait, I have something for it." She got up to fetch the morphling syringe. She was usually the queasy one when it came to such things but it was Peeta and she couldn't stand to see him suffer. She sunk the needle into the skin of his back that was not ruined by the flogging and watched as his eyes drifted shut.
"Catnip, you can't stay here very long. It's too cold and you can't light the fire during the day. You can see it from District 12."
"I know, though what would they care? They threw us out." Katniss scowled angrily at this.
"Yeah, but they don't want people coming back and telling everyone that there aren't any giant wild animals in the forest, that it's possible to survive outside of the District. That would disrupt the entire system."
"Well, it must be pretty fragile if a few exiles can bring the whole thing down. Maybe that's what we need - a rebellion. You know, I almost got charged with inciting a rebellion, though I can't imagine what more they could have done besides execute me."
Gale's looked at her in confusion. "Isn't this a kind of death sentence? What exactly did you say?"
"I said that it was no crime to love people." Katniss said this quietly, watching Peeta as he slept his pain away. "I'm going outside to get snow. I haven't made tea for myself yet. Can I make you some, too?"
"Nah, I've already been here too long. Look, don't worry about your mother and Prim. Mr. Mellark said he wouldn't let them go without, which probably went over really well with the Witch. And I'll take care of them, too. Your mother and sister are really respected in the Seam and I think after this, nobody is going to let anything happen to them. I'm more worried about you two."
Katniss heart became heavy at the prospect of not seeing Gale and her family again. "Take care of them and I'll worry about us." She looked over to Peeta with pity. "We're heading towards the big lake in the valley. It's a hike and I'd like to be able to stay here at least until Peeta is better. I figure it's far enough away from District 12 and it's someplace I know."
"Well just keep the smoke under control. Fuck, Catnip." He pulled her into his arms. "I can come out and check on you but chances are they are going to be keeping an eye on the fence now."
"How will you get back in?" said Katniss in a panic.
"I've got connections." He held her close to him again. "Take care, okay? This is so fucked up."
"The whole thing is fucked up. We might be the only ones who have it right, Gale." Katniss looked over at Peeta, now resting under the influence of the morphling. "Be safe, and take care of mom and Prim. Please!" she said desperately.
"They'll be fine. I can promise you that." He patted her cheek as if she were a child before heading out into the woods. Katniss stared at the closed door long after it had been shut, hard pressed to say that final goodbye to her people in the face of an uncertain future.
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It took Peeta a week just to be able to move without opening his wounds. He relied on Katniss for everything - even to relieve himself. If there were any barriers between them before, they were shattered during his convalescence. There were times he found her crying in that period, her heart broken from missing her sister and her mother. That was when Peeta hated himself the most. He said that once to Katniss, who told him that she hated herself, too, but that they should absolve each other of any mistakes they had made because the flaw, in this case, was in the system, not in them. This assuaged Peeta somewhat but it made him more committed to ensuring nothing else happened to Katniss.
Gale visited a few more times, to leave supplies and bring messages back and forth but the day arrived when he suddenly didn't come anymore. That was about the time they decided to head to the valley. Katniss and Peeta had stayed longer in that home than they had anticipated, mostly because it was easy, safe and familiar. When Katniss hunted, she made sure to go as far from the fence as humanly possible but she was so very tempted to walk up to it and check whether the opening was still there. She had the mad idea that she could slip in, speak to her family and then escape before anyone was the wiser. But the one time she ventured close enough to implement her plan, she heard the low hum of electricity emanating from the fence. That's when she knew that home would never be an option for her again. That night, she kept Peeta awake with endless nightmares.
Winter was soon waning, the iridescent snow melting into rivulets of water that fed the forest and gave it life anew. This is when they decided to make the first journey to the valley. It was a sad day, because that cabin had witnessed the birth of their love and had kept them warm and safe in the hardest moments of their lives. Katniss found herself in tears as, she left it behind with Peeta. Their heavy backpacks fixed on their shoulders.
When they finally arrived, Peeta was awestruck by the size of the lake. He had never seen the ocean before but he imagined that, if he tugged the edges of the horizon a bit further, this lake would be a good representation of what the real sea looked like. There were mountains that dropped directly into the water to the east, while in the west, the forest rose gently from the shore like an exotic, green carpet. Peeta was exhausted but more than anything, he was full of gratitude that, despite their experiences, nature had not disappointed them.
It was mostly hardship in the beginning - it seemed they were always fighting the cold, hunger or general discomfort. They had luckily found a cave that would do as a home until they could sort out something more permanent, something closer to the water. There were things they had to learn to do without, like new clothes or chocolate - Peeta really missed chocolate. They learned to embrace solitude and portion out their time together in punctuated bursts of silence and communion, for they were together every moment of the day and had to adapt to not having a community to interact with.
But there were good times also - warm nights under the summer sky with only a fire to keep wild animals away and their bodies mimicking the constellations in the sky, moving and dancing around each other.
During the day, they fished and swam in the lake, digging up shells left over from some ancient movement of water. Katniss learned to skin animals and stretch deerskin. Peeta learned to make cakes in a skillet and to clear land for a home and a garden. And they learned to place the people they missed in a small compartment in their heart and look at them only when they could bear the pain of their absence.
They built a one room cabin similar to the one they'd left behind. This took months to complete because neither of them were engineers and had to rely on common sense and their passive knowledge of the houses in District 12. It wasn't truly complete until Katniss put up the green and orange curtains together with the matching bedspread and laid out the green table cloth. She made squirrel soup with roots and herbs.
"This is our first meal in this home," Peeta said.
"It's not much," said Katniss, looking sadly at the thin soup.
Peeta devoured his bowl of soup. "It's the best thing I've ever tasted."
"You're just saying that," laughed Katniss.
Peeta gave her a look that made everything south of her belly overheat. Before she knew how, she was on their bed naked beneath him as he kissed her feverishly.
"Fuck, how come it always feel like the first time we're together?" he murmured as he made way down her body. Katniss opened her legs in anticipation because she loved what he was about to do.
"I don't know, but it's always so good," Katniss said. Peeta looked up at her with eyes brilliant with happiness.
Holding on to her gaze, Peeta flicked his tongue over her clit, causing electricity to explode over her nerve endings. He slowly licked her folds, tugging them gently, teasingly, to so that she was squirming, tugging at his curls to get him to give her what she wanted. He watched her every reaction, reveling in how much she gave to him when they made love, and how grateful he was to have her.
Katniss, for her part, could forget everything when his mouth was on her and many times, it was just what she needed to chase away the shadow of their sorrows.
"Keep your eyes on me," he ordered as he plunged two fingers inside of her, sucking on her as he stroked her, at first slowly and then with increased speed as she began to climb. She did as she was told and held his gaze as he varied his rhythm so that she would come close to her orgasm without quite reaching it, which excited and frustrated her at the same time. Finally, unable to tolerate the tension that would not break, Katniss hissed "Finish me already!"
Peeta hummed against her clit. "Bossy, aren't we?"
Katniss bucked her hips in response, a movement he could not resist as he lowered his lips on her now swollen clit and sucked on it while pumping her, all the time watching her as she reached her climax, screaming out his name before falling apart. It was the sexiest thing he had ever seen in his life.
Before she'd barely finished, he gently turned her over and pulled her hips back so that she was on all fours. He massaged her buttocks, prominently pressed out for his pleasure, slipping a finger into her from the back, feeling her seeping heat and moisture. He groaned at the feel of Katniss open and waiting for him and showered her back and ass with kisses.
The feel of his hands and mouth on her made Katniss whimper and she reared back against him, silently asking for him inside of her. He took his cock in hand and rubbed her entrance, bathing it in her arousal before sinking into her. He was careful not to ram her because this was the first time he was taking her from behind. But her eagerness for his cock made him wild as he pushed into her and pulled out, each motion making Katniss moan in pleasure.
"Peeta, that's so good," she said as she rotated her hips over him so that he was hitting all of her spots. Soon, they lost their desire to play and the only sound that filled the cabin was that of their bodies slapping against each other. Peeta reached around to squeeze her breast while Katniss rubbed concentric circles over her clit, making her come apart again. This time, her clenching walls overwhelmed Peeta and he pulled out of her, spurting hot semen all over her back as he came.
He quickly cleaned her before taking her drowsy body into his arms.
"Happy Housewarming Day," he said. She looked up at him with those beautiful, bottomless grey eyes.
"It was the best…" she said sleepily.
Peeta shook his head. "It was our only one so far."
"You see?" she snuggled into him. "Our best one yet."
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On the first anniversary of their exile, Peeta and Katniss lay on the banks of the lake, holding onto each other. The sun was setting, an event he insisted on celebrating because it was his preferred time of the day and reminded them of how far they had come since they'd been cast out of District 12. It had taken a year to the day to establish themselves, which made this particular sunset important because it was their own personal triumph over a death sentence.
So they were both startled when they heard a far away volley of explosions rip open the silent heart of the forest. They sat up suddenly and looked around them in search of the sound. It continued for a few hours, terrifying them with its impunity and foreignness. However, when they saw the top of the trees light up in the direction of District 12, setting the night on fire, Katniss could not help but grip Peeta 's collar with both hands until her knuckles had gone white.
"Peeta…" she said in agony, hoping to ward off the truth before her eyes.
"Katniss, that is a giant fire." he said slowly, holding her now trembling body against him.
"Don't say it!" she exclaimed, strangling a cry.
"It has to be District 12…" he said, breathless with the implication of such a large conflagration over such a small district.
It was the longest night of their lives, comparable in agony only to the night Peeta spent in pain after his flogging. They tried to sleep but were continuously drawn to the glassless window of their small home. The flames didn't give up their halo that was only somewhat mitigated by the light of the rising sun.
Katniss leapt up, fetching her bow and arrow. Peeta did not need to be told what was on her mind, throwing whatever he could find in the way of supplies into a knapsack before following her out into the early morning forest.
They made extraordinary time, stopping only when absolutely necessary. Katniss' heart pounded at the site of the massive grey cloud that had settled over part of the forest. This presented a new difficulty, for ash began to fall around them and if they got too close, they might soon be unable to breath. Unable to go any further, Katniss and Peeta were forced to return to the lake.
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Refugees began to appear within 48 hours of the bombing. They were lead by Gale, who had gambled the survival of 800 people on the hope that Katniss and Peeta had survived exile. When he saw Katniss, he did something he had never in his life done - he burst into a fit of sobs that he was only able to control with extreme effort on his part.
"They bombed us. Capitol hovercraft came in and wiped District 12 off the map." He wheezed from having inhaled ash on his journey to the valley.
Katniss and Peeta were horrified. "Why? What happened? Where's Prim?" Katniss looked at Peeta's stricken face.
"I got Prim and your mother out. They are behind us together with Dr. Abernathy and the wounded." Katniss' eyes immediately searched the bedraggled crowd for them.
"My family?" whispered Peeta, terror written across his features.
Gale shook his head. "They hit the Merchant quarter first. There were signs when the Peacekeepers were suddenly withdrawn and people were suspicious but there was no way anyone could guess what was going to happen. I haven't seen your family yet, Peeta. I haven't seen Madge or anyone from the center. I'm sorry."
Peeta looked like someone had slapped him. "Gale, rest. We're going to search the crowds. Then we'll start organizing everyone."
"We have to," gasped Gale. "A lot of them are wounded, kids who haven't eaten."
"We'll figure it out." Katniss used Peeta's famous refrain, though the words were as hollow as Peeta's eyes. Katniss turned towards Peeta and put her forehead to his. "We'll find them. If they're out there, we'll get to them.
Peeta nodded his head, his face pale with fear for his family.
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It was a monumental effort to organize the number of people who kept appearing in the valley. At least, there was an unlimited source of water, for which many were grateful. It took hours for Katniss to finally locate her mother and Prim. When she finally laid eyes on her beloved sister, now taller and more angular for her age and sorrows, Katniss wept with joy. She pulled them desperately in her arms, apologizing for all the pain she had caused. But Mrs. Everdeen would not hear of it.
"I'm so sorry you've suffered so much, my child," whispered her mother between tears. She took Katniss into her arms and Katniss fully allowed it.
Their first priority was to feed everyone, which required Katniss, Gale, Peeta and other strong men to begin hunting and fishing right away. There was very little time for homecoming because Prim and her mother had to set up triage for the wounded and dying. In addition, shelter was going to become important so men were assigned to chopping trees and creating some protection from the elements. It was chaos but District 12 residents, especially the Seam folks, were used to hunger and discomfort.
Greasy Sae, an old woman known for her resourcefulness in the kitchen, making even rocks edible, appeared out of the crowds with her little granddaughter and was soon side by side with Peeta trying to stretch the game they'd caught into a stew that would feed the mass of people that continued pouring into the valley. As they arrived, Katniss searched for Peeta's family. She became hopeless as the numbers dwindled and almost gave up hope when she caught sight of an older gentleman with the same golden hair as his son.
Despite the fact that he had wanted to separate Peeta from her, despite the past that divided them, Katniss greeted the man happily. Knowing his son and his devotion to Katniss, the old man certainly imagined that if Katniss was alive, so too must be his youngest son. Behind him followed his wife with severe burns and one of his brothers, the middle one, with a young woman of ashy blonde hair. Katniss lead them to where Peeta was serving the hungry. He nearly dropped his ladle when he saw his parents.
"Mom! Dad!" he cried out, the group falling upon each other with hugs of happiness and relief.
"Bannock?" asked Peeta, searching behind them as if he would materialize from the trees.
Peeta's mother, the one Katniss and Gale cruelly referred to as the Witch, bit her lip and shook her head, crumpling against Mr. Mellark in tears.
"He didn't make it son. Neither did Amber or the baby." Mr. Mellark shook his head while his wife sobbed into his shirt.
Peeta's face crumpled beneath the weight of it and Katniss couldn't stand it. She pulled him into her arms as he cried. Katniss ran her hands through his curls, looking around at the spectacle of human suffering that surrounded them.
"But why did they bomb District 12? I don't understand it!" said Katniss desperately.
"To make an example of us. There's been a lot of discontent in the Districts, District 12 included." said Mr. Mellark tiredly. "Word in the underground was that the Capitol didn't want the mines to fall into rebel hands so they decided to kill two birds with one stone - take out the District and set a precedence for future offenses."
"Underground? Rebels?" asked Katniss in total confusion.
"Katniss, people have been sick and tired of things for a long time. District 12 was no exception. There is an organized revolt taking place as we speak. The Capitol knew it was losing power and decided our district was the most expendable."
Katniss had a hard time processing this new information. Noting the exhaustion on their faces, Katniss directed his family to their cabin. As soon as they were settled, Katniss took Peeta behind the cabin and into a copse of woods. Peeta still had that vacant look in his eyes. Once out of sight, he pulled her into his arms.
"This is too much." he murmured into her hair. "What are we going to do?"
Katniss pulled back to look at him. "We've been here before. We had hardly anything when we were cast out and we managed to pull it together and survive. We'll figure it out here, too."
Peeta nodded. "I know. It's just...I can't believe Bannock…"
"It's bad, I know. And I'm so sorry. But now we have hundreds of people out there who need us. We are one of only people, besides Gale, who know how to survive in these woods." Katniss said, smoothing the worry lines from his forehead with her hands.
Peeta gave her a sad smile. "What is it about us and hopeless situations?"
"We have a knack for them, that's for sure." Katniss replied, relieved that Peeta seemed to be recovering his spirit.
"Whatever they are, your place is always with me." Peeta said, suddenly fierce.
"And know that your place is always with me." Katniss tugged his head down and gave him a kiss full of determination, hope and the promise that they would overcome whatever was placed before them.
Coda
Many things could be said about the people of District 12, but one thing they knew how to do was survive. They were tenacious, unaccustomed to comforts, even among the most privileged and ready to sacrifice because all they'd ever known was sacrifice. When the shadow of a hovercraft passed over their valley, they learned to fade into the background of the forest, for they had paid enough for a war they had not asked for and did not wish to be discovered by either side.
Those first days with the refugees were harrowing. Many who did not die in the bombing succumbed to wounds, the malnutrition of their lives at home, and infection. But those who survived became organized, learning to build a community from the ground up, ignoring finally the false divisions of Castes and classes. They built shelters and learned to use the abundance of the land around them instead of fearing the false myths put in place to oppress them.
When the fires of District 12 died down, they returned to the scorched lands, tentatively at first, and then with more determination when they learned that the Capitol had fallen. The first President, Alma Coin, didn't last very long when it was revealed she was no better than Coriolanus Snow and a more just, balanced leader was elected to lead the nation.
Gale Hawthorne had shown leadership and grit in a moment of hardship. There was no doubt that he could be ruthless and angry but the baser aspects of his nature had thankfully not been tested in that valley. He endeared himself even further to the citizens of District 12 when he personally nursed Madge Undersee, his future wife, back to health after she was found close to death among the wounded. He used his influence to spearhead the rebuilding of District 12, negotiating with the new government for precious resources. He was soon elected the first Mayor of a free District 12, a triumph for all those who had languished in obscurity as the lowliest caste for so long.
Katniss and Peeta returned home with their respective families, not as criminal exiles, but as figures of dignity and honor. They had suffered alongside their people, putting away the rancor of their unfair punishment and serving as a symbol to any who would question the rights of people to choose their fate, select who they will love and live as free as their conscience dictated without the censure and oppression of society. They eschewed political power and kept their places as citizens of the new District 12, devoted to rebirth, reconciliation and each other.
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I can't thank bubblegum1425 and peetabreadgirl for their constant support. They have been wonderful and so much fun to work with. Thanks also to nightlockinthecave for the phenomenal banner and madamemarquise for the prompt.