After Mockingjay
Chapter Six: The Wedding
The day is here. Finally, after more time than I can remember, it is finally here.
The morning of our wedding is sunny. Light streams through the parted shades in the bedroom, casting shadows on the walls and adding a yellow hue to the air.
I roll over and find Peeta still asleep beside me. I close my eyes again, knowing that it is still very early, but sleep eludes me. My senses are jittery and uncontrollable.
As I slip out of bed, I think of that old saying. Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. I cannot even remember where I had heard it; from my mother, when she was younger as was curled up on the couch with my father, retelling their own wedding day? I can almost visualize the look in my mother's eyes and she looks down at us that day, Prim and I situated on the carpet in front of the fire, a light in my father's expression. Thankful for the gifts she had been given, to have all of us as a family. Never once stopping to think that it might be taken away one day.
Prim. The name sends a sharp pain through me, an arrow piercing my heart. Again, I think of how she would have been here, getting trussed up by my former prep team. Maybe in a gown of light blue or soft pink, with a bow in her hair. I think of how she would have been my maid of honour, how I wouldn't even have taken a second to hesitate on that decision.
I descend the stairs, and my thoughts drift back into memories.
My hand burns around a cup of hot tea, but I have no sense to remove it. I am slightly chilled inside, for no particular reason.
Madge flits around the room, grabbing a couple pillows and a blanket before sitting in the soft chair across from me. Between us is a coffee table, laden with cream and sugar. A steaming tea pot rests on a cloth cushion, as to not sear the table.
"It's so nice to see you Katniss," Madge says, but by the dark circles under her eyes and the weary set of her mouth she's more spent then she's letting on. After I returned to 12, I had wandered to the Meadow and had seen former residents piling corpses into wheelbarrows, the bodies of the citizens that had not been so lucky. They hadn't escaped the mass bombing of our District after the Quarter Quell. Madge's parents were one of the unlucky ones. I had thought Madge dead as well, only before they found her and a couple other survivors that hadn't been taken to 13 hiding out in the woods. It seemed as though they has escaped the initial blast, and then taken refuge in the underbrush. They had stolen food from what had remained of 12, and lived in the stone hut for months. I suppose Madge was the leader of it all, taking points from her father. What really irked me was how she did it. I suppose, after years of watching the Hunger Games as the mayors daughter, she would pick up a couple things. But in the end, it was a miracle they were even alive.
So Madge had taken lease in her old home, now an enormous empty house. The death of her parents had hit her hard, even thought she had known for months after they hadn't stumbled through the door of the stone hut.
"It's nice to see you too Madge," I say, and then there is an awkward silence. I take a gulp of burning tea to fill it, but I only succeed in burning my throat and coughing a couple times.
"Um…" I place my cup down and sit back. "Did you…did you get the invitation?"
She nods placidly. "Yes. Thank you, by the way. So you guys are finally getting married? About time."
I snort a laugh. "Yeah, of course."
"No, I'm really happy for you," she says. "You two are perfect for each other. It's a good thing, after such a dark time."
"Mhmm…" I fidget a bit, and stop myself before I start biting my nails. "Look Madge…I…uh…" I stop, start, and stop again. I try to find the words, try to present then adequately. I see a subtle eye-rolling on her part before I just blush and say, "Will you be my maid of honour?" I think she expected this, but it still doesn't take away the slight surprise in her eyes.
She literally beams. "Oh Katniss…of course I will!"
I smile, and another weight finally floats off my chest. "Thank you."
More silence. Then she shoots up, mouth open, eyes widening.
"Oh gosh, the wedding is tomorrow!" She cried, her hands going to her head. "What am I going to do? I still need a dress, and what about-"
I cut her off with a wave of my hand. "It's fine." I say. "All of that's being taken care of. Come to our house tomorrow morning, and everything will be ready."
Her panic dims in her eyes. She sweeps over and before I can react she envelops me into a hug. "I feel so honoured…"
I hug her back, a little stiff but caring none the less. "No problem."
She pulls back, but her arms grip my shoulders and her eyes are serious now. "You have to wear the pin Katniss. You have to."
"I-"
"You have to," she repeats, and then lets me go, a new resolve shining in her eyes.
My thoughts are brought back to the present with more than a slight bump when the front door bangs open and in rushes my prep team.
They envelope me almost instantly. First Octavia, with her usually forest green skin tinged to a darker shade descends, hugging me. The smell of some kind of honeysuckle perfume assaults my nostrils before she pulls away.
I see Venia by the door, her golden tattoos sharper against her pale skin, in her hand a very large makeup case. She gives me a tight smile before there is a call outside and Flavius comes in, carrying a black bag that has to be nothing other than my wedding dress.
And then they get to work. Primping and styling my body, dazzling my face and adding a couple more strings of pearls to my dress. All of this takes place in the living room, which has been transformed into some kind of beauty parlor.
My mother arrives an hour after they start, soon followed by Madge who is flustered and led off by an ecstatic Octavia who says that she had the perfect dress to match her eyes.
Sometime later I hear Peeta thumping down the stairs, and almost immediately Flavius ushers him back upstairs, negligent to Peeta's confused protests.
"You can't see the bride until the wedding!" Flavius exclaims.
I smile behind my hand. Venia snaps – nicely – at me that I would ruin my nails if I move my hand again.
People are soon coming in and out of our house. Everything is a blur until finally, an hour before the ceremony the dress is slipped over my head, and Venia spins me towards a mirror.
A gasp comes to claim me. I am staring at a stranger; a girl with soft brown hair styled in an updo with tiny gems placed strategically around her head. Her snow white dress is magnificent, draping around her body like the tendrils of a ghost. Her face is perfect; a touch of makeup here, a brush of lipstick there, and wide, startled gray eyes. It takes me a moment to realize that this girl is me, the normal Seam girl who had been through so much in just a short time. And in just an equally short time, I would be married.
I see Madge out of the corner of my eye. She's wearing a pale pink dress with flowers sewn into the neckline. Her hair falls softly around her shoulders, and for once there are no dark circles under her eyes.
My mother is dressed in a lighter yellow dress, with a white sunhat on her head. I remember reading somewhere that the bride's mother sometimes wears a hat to her wedding. I suddenly remember the saying I had been thinking of earlier, about something old, new, borrowed, and blue.
I voice this to my mother, just as an afterthought. Immediately she jumps, "I'll be right back," she says, and then hurries into the other room. Madge shuffles up and hands me something, her eyes bright.
It's my Mockingjay pin. The gold circlet with the carved bird in the middle, connected to the ring with its wingtips.
"Something old," she says, and then fastens it over my heart.
"And something borrowed," I say.
She shakes her head but says nothing. I touch the pin, feel the cool texture of the metal and remember the day on the train when Madge gave this to me. It's painful to think about.
I'm silent for a couple moments, which gives everyone time to gather around me. My mother comes back when I drop my hand. In her grasp is a silver chain, with a dazzling blue pendant on the end of it.
"My mother gave it to me on my wedding day," she says. Venia takes it and drapes it around my neck quickly and then stands back.
"Something blue," I say.
"What about something new?" Madge piques.
"What about the dress?" I suggest, looking down at the swaths of fabric.
"No, that's something old," my mother says, contemplating it for a moment.
It seemed as though everyone was contemplating it before Octavia mutters, "The shoes are new."
I resist the urge to roll my eyes but smile anyways. My reflection smiles back just as well.
I stand on the top of the curved stairs leading down to the altar, hidden from view. My stomach is whirling, my hands shaking where they rest of the railing. I can hear people speaking down below, and know that any minute Plutarch will lead me down the stairs where cameras will fix on me almost immediately.
By now I'm wondering if I have made a mistake. There is no doubt I love Peeta, but is this really necessary?
Yes, I told myself. It might be able to hold off another rebellion, and give citizens of Panem hope.
But is this what I really want? I ask. I close my eyes against the suddenly blinding sun, and in that moment I know what to do.
I banish every thought from my mind that has to do with Panem and the Districts, and think of Peeta. I think of the way his eyes shine in the light, and how warm and safe his arms feel when he holds me. I grasp that image in my mind, and hold it there. Right now I'm not doing this for anyone else. I'm doing it for us.
I open my eyes once everything goes silent below. I turn and see Plutarch with his arm out, and I loop mine through it.
"This is going to be great," He says. I only have time to nod and hold my head high before we're descending the stairs.
There is a hush below us as we come into view. I take in our surroundings as quickly as possible when the altar is not in view; rows upon rows of white chairs are stationed facing the front of the garden, weaving with garlands on pink and white ribbons. Every single one of those chairs is filled. I see black cameras, like miniature beetles stationed around, all pointing towards me. But what really makes my heart choke up is the thousands of prim roses growing from around the garden, and entwined into a creamy white arch where Peeta stands.
I think my heart stopped for a moment. He looks handsome in black, a pink rose on his lapel. He breaks into a smile, white glinting against the sun.
I can't help the gasp that comes to my lips, and then I am smiling to.
Plutarch deposits me at the altar, and then takes his seat. I see Haymitch looking very uncomfortable in his suit but otherwise he's content. I peer behind me and see Madge smiling at me through glistening tears. I glance over the crowd where everyone is sitting, where my mother is also crying. It is weird that even though this is supposed to be a happy event, people are still crying.
Then the minister begins to speak. There are only a few priests in Panem, and luckily Plutarch was able to get us one.
I start to panic almost at once. Peeta takes my hand and I look up at him, receiving an encouraging and calming grin and my nerves immediately calm down to a noisy drawl in the back of my mind.
The minister's words are drowned out in my ears. I whisper the vows quietly after Peeta says them, and then we are nearing the end. All that time Peeta has not let go of my hand, and my eyes are fixed on his.
"'Till death do us part," Peeta says finally.
My throat closes up. I never want to think of death between us again, never want to experience that black cloud that had constantly hovered ever since our names were Reaped. Si I simply push all of those thoughts from my mind, and focus on the person I love most in the world. "'Till death do us part." I whisper.
And then he is staring at me like I am the sun, and I him. And for the moment there is no one else on the world but us.
The minister says something, something that never reaches my ears until I realize that this is it, and that we are married before Peeta kisses me.
There is applause all around us, suddenly deafening and silent at the same time. The sun burns bright around us, and stars burst in front of my vision. My lips curve against Peeta's, soft and knowing, fitting perfectly to mine like they always had.
And in that moment I only feel pure happiness.
Whew that took a long time. Well, anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter should come out in the next week or so, so sit tight! Thanks for all your support and remember to review please!
-L
