Chapter 3:

They had left district one behind and were on their way to the capitol, there they would attend several events, none of which Katniss looked forward to. They had been on the victory tour for over twelve days now, and had visited eleven districts during that time. She was tired, and glad for the one day they had to relax, when they arrived in the capitol. To build up hype, Haymitch had said; for once she was inclined to agree.

Nothing spectacular happened after district eight, the speeches was terrible, but not directly demeaning, so they did not alter anything, and she had not heard of any more riots. She glanced over at Peeta, he was standing next to her. They were just about to arrive, and had to be ready to depart the train.

Their relationship had changed, and she did not know how she felt about that. After the mess that happened in district eight they had started to spend more time together outside of what was required; they often found each other in the middle of the night. She always slept better after that.

He looked over at her, and she directed her gaze over his shoulder. She did not know if she was blushing or not, she prayed that she was not. Sometimes she was glad that he did not have the same upbringing as her, he was observant enough without having hunting skills to back it up.

The train started to slow down.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"No," she answered, she never felt ready for this sort of thing.

"Just remember, they're all idiots." He said, and grinned. She laughed, her time with him had not been entirely without advantages.

The train came to a complete stop, any time now the doors would be opened. Peeta grabbed her hand, which she took as a cue to start smiling. She could see that a big crowd had gathered outside; ready to welcome them to the capitol.

She started to mumble swearwords under her breath, her smile ever present.

The door slammed open, and noise assaulted her ears. The crowd were so loud; she waved at them. They stepped out from the train and started to walk up the street. It was a two hundred feet long, and fifteen feet broad, there were spectators standing on both sides. At the end of the street, a car waited for them.

"Katniss, Katniss, over here!" People were shouting, she turned toward the sound of her name and waved. She could hear Peeta's name as well, he lifted their joined hands, and received a boom of cheers in response.

They reached the black car, where a peacekeeper opened the door allowing her to climb into it gracefully. The windows were tinted, which hid them from the public. Their hands were still intertwined; she made no move to let go.

The car had barely started moving before it started to slow down again; soon enough it came to a complete stop. The doors opened, she went out on Peeta's side.

"Here it is," Peeta said. They had arrived at the doorstep of a massive white building.

"Yes, the president's mansion. Snow lives here," she said. She had seen it once before, from a distance. They had stopped here on their chariot ride, and Snow had given a speech.

"Good luck," Peeta said.

"You too," she returned. They both knew that once they entered here, all bets were off and every movement they made would be scrutinized.

She took a deep breath and entered the house, it was crowded by guards, all of whom were armed.

"Welcome, to President Snow's mansion," A man waved them over, he was tall and fair skinned, and was wearing too much makeup; his short blond hair that was slicked back. He smiled at them as they approached. It was an arrogant smile, his head leaned back as he stared down at them; he eyed his watch. He did not introduce himself, but instead turned around and started marching away. She glanced confused at Peeta, were they supposed to follow?

He shrugged but did not move. She looked around, there did not seem to be anyone else there to welcome them. They hurried after the blond man, who did not appear to have noticed them lagging behind.

"This mansion has been used by the leaders of Panem for many generations." The man said with a drawl. He did not look at them as he spoke, but kept staring straight ahead, his pace did not slow.

"Very few people have ever stayed here, it is an honour usually reserved to only the most important visitors. You two grabbed the only opportunity you would ever have to come here, and that is commendable." He said, Katniss wanted to hit him, but Peeta had a firm grasp on her right hand.

"Personally, I think everyone should be happy to participate in the Hunger Games, just for the chance to stay here." The man said, and sighed, he touched the walls fondly as he walked. Close up Katniss could see that he was older than he first appeared. The makeup hid it well, but her eyes were trained to spot details, she could see through it easily. She wanted to hit him even more.

"Here you are." He said and walked up to a woman, she was standing at the bottom of a huge carpeted stairway. The woman had short black hair, and was dressed in dark red from top to toe, she was an Avox, a lifelong slave to the capitol. "Take them to their rooms, don't linger, there is much to do." He told her, and left.

Katniss stared after him disgusted, that man was horrible. Peeta pulled on her hand, and they followed the woman up the stairs. Katniss counted the steps to the top, there was twenty-five. Once they reached the top, they went to the left, and entered a narrow corridor; there were no doors on either side. They were alone, not truly alone. In here, there were always someone watching. They reached the end of the corridor, two doors were placed next to each other.

The woman walked up to the door on the left, then she turned around and motioned for Katniss to follow her, she opened the door and allowed Katniss to enter. The female Avox had stopped in the door and prevented Peeta from following after Katniss. She pointed to the adjacent door, once more they lived next door to each other.

The room itself reminded Katniss a lot of the penthouse apartment they had lived in prior to the hunger games, with bright colours and uncomfortable looking furniture.

The door closed behind her, the Avox had left, and she was alone. She wondered what the woman had done to end up an Avox, and what district she had originated from.

The next day started out slowly, like most mornings she woke up next to Peeta, he had arrived sometime during the night. He slept peacefully; other than mid-nightmare, Peeta made very little sound in his sleep, and usually stayed perfectly still. She slipped out of bed quietly, she did not know what time it was, and he needed the few hours of sleep he got.

The floor was cold, she got dressed quickly and left the bedroom. The breakfast was already served on the table in the living room, the dishes were still lukewarm. The table was set for two. So they already knew about her and Peeta's sleeping arrangements. She glanced at the big clock on the wall; five past eight.

Her eyes flickered towards the bedroom, she should wake Peeta, the food would get cold, and who knew when someone would be up to retrieve them. Still, she hesitated, the interview was not until late afternoon, and she had not heard of any plans before then. She would wait thirty minutes, she decided, and would wake him then.

No more than five minutes later a drowsy Peeta stumbled into the room, he scanned the room franticly, his eyes eventually found hers and she could see him visibly relax. He straightened his back and walked over to the table.

As soon as he sat down, the door leading to the hallway opened. Two men dressed in red walked in, they held a big plate between them. It was filled with food, warm food, steam was still rising from it. There was apple-pie, scrambled eggs, French toast and what looked like jam buns. They switched out the lukewarm dishes for the new hotter ones. She scrutinized their faces, to see if she could recognize them, there had been a lot of missing persons from district twelve over the years. Had anyone reached freedom? Or did they all end up here?

A third Avox entered, it was the same woman as before, when the other two left she stayed behind. She was carrying a silver thermos in her hands, she placed it carefully on the table before them. Peeta smiled at her, but she kept her gaze on the floor. Katniss had seen her gesture something to the two men as they left, and they returned another gesture; they were using sign language.

Katniss reached for the thermos, she unscrewed the top and smelled it. The aroma of chocolate filled her nostrils, and she smiled. She grabbed a mug and poured herself a healthy amount, careful not to spill.

"Hot chocolate." She said, and grinned at Peeta. He reached out for it immediately.

She gave the thermos to Peeta, and picked up the mug with both hands, it was already warm. She simply held it for a few seconds, allowing the warmth to spread to her fingers, then she brought it carefully to her lips, and took a sip. She felt a sting as it burned her tongue on the way down, then she took another sip, and another. She downed the entire mug in under a minute, and sat back satisfied, a grin covering her face. Her entire body was warm, she could still taste it on her tongue. She poured herself another mug.

The hours passed quickly, and it was time to leave. They were waiting for someone to come and get them. Soon enough, there was a knock on the door. The Female Avox went to answer it, she had stayed with them the entire time, only leaving once, and then she came back with lunch.

The person outside had knocked twice before the woman reached the door, she opened it quickly. The rude man from the day before pushed past her, he took one look at them before ordering them to follow if they did not want to be left behind. Katniss contemplated not going, but she knew that no good would result from it, so she followed a good distance behind. They walked back the same way they had come, a car stood waiting for them where the other had dropped them off.

They drove across the city, this allowed them to see its true scope. It was huge, many times bigger than the town in district twelve. She saw countless people walking the streets, they looked happy, she scowled; they did not deserve it. They also passed several Avox on the way, they were all dressed in red, and always walked with their head bowed.

It took her the better part of three hours to get ready.

"Here, look." Cinna said, and held up a mirror so she could view her face. She almost did not recognise herself, she was covered in makeup; it gave her a ghostlike appearance. For once, even her eyes contrasted with the skin around them. Her dress was the only thing about her that was not black and white, and even that had hardly any colours. It was black at the top, with dark violet markings. She sent Cinna a hard look.

He put his hands in front of himself in surrender, "I know, I know, but this is important. You have to look the part." He adjusted the dress slightly, "there, done."

She was up from the chair before the words left his mouth, she stretched her legs, unfortunately the dress did not allow for much movement. She looked at her image in the mirror, "I look just like them." She said softly.

"You look perfect," Cinna said, his voice sad. She eyed him, he looked tired, exhausted even.

Someone knocked on the door, Cinna went over and opened it.

"You have to come with me, now, you are going on in five minutes." A young woman said, panting slightly.

As Katniss passed Cinna he put a hand on her back, "Smile, and be yourself, you will do fine," He said.

It was almost the same words as he had said to her when she was stressed about her first interview. She smiled at him and nodded, but she knew inside that she could not do that. She was no longer the brave girl who sacrificed herself for her sister, she was a victor now. She had to behave accordingly.

Perfect, Haymitch had said; she had to be perfect. She did not know if she could give him that, but she was certainly going to try.

Peeta was waiting for her next to the entrance, they were ordered by the girl to stay and wait until called. He was wearing a dark suit, with a dark violet tie.

"Matching outfits, how cute." She said, the sarcasm dripping from her voice. His hair had been slicked back, and he was wearing makeup. She preferred him without.

"Did you see Effie or Haymitch?" Peeta asked, he sounded worried.

"No," she said. She had not seen them, it even worried her; they had always been together when in the capitol.

There was a huge cheer from behind the door, and she could hear the booming voice of Caesar Flickerman as he introduced himself. Any moment now someone would come for them. She grabbed Peeta's hand, he squeezed hers reassuringly.

Sure enough, five seconds later a middle-aged woman with short blonde hair appeared from the door, they followed her. They stopped at the edge of the stage, just outside the view of the audience.

"Enough about me," Caesar said. Then added, "if that's even possible." He laughed, and the crowd laughed with him. "Let me welcome our guests, who need no introduction." She felt a hand push her forwards, and walked on stage, hand in hand with Peeta.

"Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark!" Caesar shouted.

She smiled and waved as she made her way over to the couch, she sat down lightly, and crossed her legs. She had Peeta between her and Caesar.

Caesar waited for the applause to die down.

"Welcome, welcome. We are of course very happy to have you with us once more! You two just got back from the victory tour. Tell me, how was it? Was it as lovely as it seemed?" He asked.

Katniss leaned toward him and said," it was better."

Caesar laughed, "Good to hear it, wouldn't want our victors to have a hard time would we?" He asked toward the audience, and received a resounding no.

"But, that's not really what I want to know about. No, I want to know about you two, how has it been? You're not sick of her yet are you?" He asked Peeta.

Peeta answered quickly, "I don't think that's possible." He smiled.

The crowd gushed. "Are they not the best?" Caesar asked the crowd, they shouted their agreement.

"Do you two have any grand plans for the future? Any big news on the horizon?"

"No." Katniss answered, Peeta hastened to elaborate; "it has been an incredible eight months for us, I don't know what the future brings, but if it's anything compared to this. Then I welcome it, and can't wait to share it with you guys."

"A perfect answer if I ever heard one." Caesar said, and laughed. He leaned forwards in preparation for his next question.

"So, tell me, what are you two doing tonight?" Caesar asked.

"We are going to the gala dinner." Peeta answered.

"Yes you are, and so are we." He gestured towards the audience.

"Are you excited? To go back, back to where it all started? To stand in the arena, this time, instead of fighting for your life, you will be fighting off admirers. Let me tell you, I have never been more excited in my life." Caesar said, and turned toward the screen behind him. It was a big screen, it stretched over half the stage.

"Where you fought, where you killed." A video summary of last year's Hunger Games was showing on the screen, Katniss could see Peeta kill the girl from district eight, then they showed her shoot the boy from district one. Then the video slowed down, and it zoomed in on her and Peeta kissing in the cave. "Where you fell in love." Caesar said, softly. The screen froze, she and Peeta were still kissing; she looked away.

"We are very excited, it is going to be great to relive the memories." Peeta said, she eyed him wearily, what was he on about? They could not be serious, it was impossible, the gala dinner was always held in Snow's mansion.

"And you Katniss? What are your thoughts?" Caesar asked her, he spoke slowly now, in stark contrast to his previous questions. Katniss stared at Peeta, he clenched her hand.

"I am looking forward to it." She said. She stared Caesar directly in the eye. Peeta clenched her hand harder, it made her left arm twitch. She directed her gaze to him instead, she tried to smile, but was not sure if she managed it.

"Yes, you are understanding it correctly." Caesar was once more speaking to the audience, "for the first time in the Hunger Games history, there will be a gala in the arena. Is that not exciting?" Once more the response from the audience was a resounding yes.

"Unfortunately, I am afraid we will have to stop here." Caesar said, to loud boos from the crowd. "Yes, yes I know. It has been so long, we don't want to let them go. But we have to, the gala awaits them." He stood up. Peeta dragged her up with him, they bowed and walked out.

Well outside the door she rounded on him.

"Did you know? Why would you keep-"

He cut her off," I didn't, I would have told you, I swear." She believed him, but that did not make her any less angry.

She paced back and forth cursing under her breath, Peeta stood by the side motionless.

"Stop that." A familiar voice said, it was Haymitch. Katniss saw Effie behind him, and she felt her rage grow stronger.

"Why?" She asked, it was the only question she cared about.

"I don't know,-" A grimace appeared on Haymitch's face." Snow is twisted like that."

She did not want to go there, not now, not ever. They wanted her to go back, dressed like a clown, and be nice, be nice to the people responsible. The people who sent twenty-four kids into an arena to die, she could not, she would rather kill them all.

"We are sorry we could not tell you sooner, but it was a secret until just now. We had heard that it was going to be held at a secret location, but we never assumed…"Effie trailed off.

Katniss glared at her, Effie was part of it too.

Peeta poked her in the shoulder, "It's okay; we will be okay." He said, his voice gentle. His clenched fist told another story, but his words had the desired effect on her. She was not doing this for herself, she was doing it for Prim, for her mother, for Peeta. She felt the fight leave her and suddenly felt old, weary, and so very tired.

They were alone in the room; just her and Peeta. It had been over an hour since the interview and they were still waiting. Effie had said that they needed to be late, so that the other guests could arrive.

Katniss stepped into the tube that would take them up. Peeta on her side, her hand was already enclosed in his; this was all becoming second nature to her. The launch pad was big enough to room them both, it slowly ascended. They reached the surface, noise assaulted her ears, she wanted to reach up and rub them, but refrained. She recognized it immediately, the Cornucopia was identical to how she remembered it.

Where the other platforms had been, there were now lights, illuminating the arena.

The reception was similar to the one they got from the train, there was a narrow road in the middle, surrounded by cheering people. However, this time the journey did not end in a car that would swish them away, this time the road led to the Cornucopia, and they had nowhere to hide.

She smiled as she walked, it was a strained smile; her jaw was already hurting from the effort. They did not wave this time, but walked hand in hand until they reached the Cornucopia, then they stopped and waited. Unsure of what they were supposed to do next. A few second passed and then a voice filled the arena, it was President Snow.

"Welcome, welcome. To the seventy-forth Hunger Game arena, very few has set their feet here and lived." There was cheers from the crowd, "But now, you have the once in a lifetime opportunity, to not only walk the arena, but also to speak with the victors." She felt eyes on her, it made her skin crawl.

"Enjoy your evening!" He said, and the speech was over. The crowd gave him a loud applause, she was still holding on to Peeta so she did not join in. Effie came over and seized her arm, just above the elbow, and pulled her along with her. Katniss dragged Peeta with them.

"There are so many people you have to meet." Effie said, and continued to walk, expertly dodging the approaching crowd. "Important people," she added as an afterthought. Finally Effie stopped, in front of a big bloated man, with blond hair as long as his face, he grinned widely at them. Katniss stood with Peeta on her right side, and Effie on her left.

"Claudius dear, let me introduce you to Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark." Effie said, her voice was even chirpier than usual.

"Children, this is Claudius Templesmith. I am sure you can recognize his voice, he is the announcer of the hunger games." Effie said.

"Now, now. I only said a few words. Don't make me seem so important" Claudius said, but the way he puffed his chest and lifted his chin told her that he believed otherwise. Katniss recognized his voice, it had been part of her nightmares. His slogan 'May the odds be ever in your favour' was burned into her mind.

"They are the real champions." He said, and leaned towards Katniss. "You should know, you were always my favourite." He said, he held his hands intertwined in front of his body, his lips were shaking slightly. Katniss narrowed her eyes, he was lying.

"Thank you," she said, and smiled. The fake smile that she had practised for hours in the train.

"We have to move on, people are waiting. It was nice seeing you." Effie said, and pulled them along, Katniss focused all her attention on not tripping over her own feet, the dress was so tight that she had to take small steps.

"Excuse me," A young girl said from behind them.

"Yes?" Effie asked.

"President Snow has asked to see her." The little girl said, and pointed to Katniss. Her stomach sunk, her throat was dry, and she felt a heavy weight press down on her chest. She nodded.

"I'll come too." Peeta said.

"No, only her." The girl said firmly and once more pointed towards her.

"It's okay." Katniss said, and untangled her hand from his grasp. "I will be right back."

The girl stepped forwards and took her now empty hand, they walked together through the crowd, at the edge of the forest the girl let go of her hand.

"He is right in there, waiting for you." She said

Katniss continued on alone.

She walked maybe one hundred feet into the forest before she came to a clearing, in the middle of it there was a small table, and two chairs, one of which were occupied by Snow. She marched over and sat down hard on the other chair, the table was between them, a microphone rested on it. His cold, dark eyes followed her every move.

"Miss Everdeen, the girl on fire. You look beautiful, Mr Mellark must be happy." He spoke slowly, deliberately. She did not respond.

He regarded her silently, his lips formed a small smile. "Do you think you are the first? The first to challenge the capitol and appear seemingly unscratched on the other side?"

"No." She answered firmly, defiant, there was bound to be others.

"You are correct, I remember the first. He was very impressive, used our technology against us. Do you know who it is that I am referring to? He asked her.

She had no idea, she remembered some of the previous victors, but that was mostly for their brutality.

"I don't think you do, I don't think anyone do, because your victory is only relevant until their next loss." He said, she stared at him defiantly. "And after that, a hero's fall makes a good story, don't you think?"

"I don't." She said through gritted teeth. She was not going to just fall over and die.

"Don't do anything rash, people's lives are dependent on your actions, or, lack thereof." He smirked.

"Your role in this is over, don't fight it." He said. She got up and started to leave, the chair fell over from her forcefulness. As she walked away he called after her, "And Miss Everdeen? Please send in Mr Mellark, and remember, smile!"

She halted, and turned back to glare at him. He was looking directly at her, a nasty smirk on his face. She spun around and began the trip out from the forest, twigs snapped loudly beneath her feet. The young girl was gone when she reached the end of the forest, instead she spotted Peeta waiting for her. He saw her immediately and rushed over.

"What did he say?" He asked.

She shook her head, she did not want to talk about it.

"You have to go in," she said. "He wants to speak with you." His eyes widened, and he took a step back. Then he clenched his jaw and straightened his back, he nodded at her as he moved past her and entered the forest. She gazed after him and caught a last glimpse of blonde hair as he disappeared into the darkness.

She sat down on the ground, intending to wait for him, as he had done for her. But she could not stay still and soon were on her feet again. Her heart was beating quickly, she wiped her sweaty hands on her dress. She paced back and forth, her gaze alternating between the ground and the forest path.

She took a step onto the path, then stopped, it was a bad idea. She would get caught. Barely fifteen seconds had passed since Peeta disappeared, if she moved now she could catch up before he reached the clearing. She started to run, using her skills learned from hunting to move fast and quietly.

She saw Peeta just as he walked into the clearing, she scanned the area, and looked for a place to spy from. There was a tall tree just in front of her, which reached out over the nearby trees. However, the lowest branch was over ten feet up in the air. She took a few feet back, then sprinted toward it, her dress hindered her movement significantly; she put one leg to the three trunk and pushed off it hard. She reached out and grasped for the branch, she smirked as she felt her hand closed around it. She pulled herself up and laid down on top of it, breathing heavily. She peered over to the clearing; she could see everything clearly.

Peeta was standing in front of the table, next to the chair, Snow was still sitting at the same spot he had when she left him. They stared at each other; no words had been spoken.

"Mr Mellark." Snow said, finally, and inclined his head at Peeta.

"President Snow." Peeta said, and sat down. She could not see his face, as his back was to her.

"I have been following your actions, and I must say I am confused." Snow said.

"Anything I can help you with?" Peeta asked. Katniss smirked, his formal tone almost disguised the rudeness of the question.

"Why are you working so hard? You survived, why work so hard to die?"

"I am only trying to…"

"She does not love you, you know, she can't. " Snow said, he reminded her of a snake ready to bite as he leaned forward. "She is not capable of it. It is all for the cameras."

"I am sorry sir, but what did you call me here for?" Peeta asked, his voice was controlled. He gave no indication that the words meant anything to him.

"To remind you." Snow leaned back in his chair, "you can go." He said.

Peeta rose from the chair, and walked away from the table. He glanced up, and their eyes met, she saw his eyes widen and his mouth open. He took another step, his foot got caught by a root, and he stumbled, but he managed to catch himself in time to avoid falling. Peeta did not look up at her as he straightened back up, and marched away. She jumped down from the tree and ran off after him.

She caught up with him just as he was leaving the forest, she grabbed his arm and turned him around to face her.

"I…" She said, but was tongue-tied, she had no words to say.

"You don't have to say anything, everything is fine. We are friends, nothing more. I am okay with that." Peeta said, he was grinning, but his eyes were sad, he drew his hand from her grasp and moved away from her.

She stood there and clutched the spot his arm had just been.

"Don't go." She said softly, she had wanted him to stay.

The train ride back to district twelve was a long one, she hardly spoke to anyone. Effie had stayed in the capitol to make things ready for this year's Hunger Games, so it was only Haymitch, Peeta and her. She had tried to speak to Peeta about the day before, but she could not find the words to describe how she felt, so she chickened out. Haymitch was still drunk from the gala, and he spent most of the day in his own room.

She frowned unhappily, this felt all too familiar. She did not like it.