Katniss and Peeta sat together out in the capitol square with the crowd, in the front row before the viewing stage with the other mentors, staring at the television screens, watching the last few minutes of Prim's life. It felt as if they were watching it in slow motion.
Oh, this is going to be bad... Peeta thought to himself, filled with dread. This is where Katniss goes off the deep end.
They watched as Curran captured Prim and pinned her down... watched as he taunted her and she spit in his face.
Katniss held onto Peeta's hand with both of hers, and as the scene escalated, she was breathing hard with fear and squeezing his hand so tight, he felt she just might break his fingers.
Peeta saw Curran raise the knife above Prim's chest, and its silver blade shone brightly in the moonlight.
He couldn't let her watch this... he couldn't let her watch her baby sister be murdered. This would be a nightmare that she would never be able to get out of her head, once it was seared into her brain.
Peeta moved like lightning, quickly removing his hand from her grasp, wrapped both his arms around Katniss' neck, put one hand in the back of her hair, and pulled her face to his chest, trying to cover her eyes.
His own eyes filled with tears, and his voice cracked as he begged her, "Don't look, baby, please don't watch!"
"I have to! I have to know!" Katniss cried, fighting against Peeta, trying to watch the screen above them. "She's my sister, Peeta, I have to know!"
She struggled and managed to free herself from his grip for one second, just long enough to steal a glance upward, and see Curran sink the blade of his knife into Prim's chest, and saw Prim's eyes open wide with the pain.
Peeta pulled her back into his arms forcefully, but he was too late. She had seen it.
At first, it was like it hadn't registered to her. She made no sound for a moment. But then Peeta felt her breathing get rapid, and she started hyperventilating.
She turned her head to look up at the television again, and this time Peeta surrendered and let her watch the rest, but he kept his arms wrapped tightly and protectively around her. If she needed to see it so badly, then his fighting her wasn't going to do any good.
She breathed heavily, and her whole body trembled as she watched Gale slit Curran's throat, and then crawl over to Prim and cradle her body next to his. She watched as Prim and Gale held hands, and then saw her sister die.
As she watched Gale scream in despair, Katniss found her voice too... first it was a whimper.
"Prim?" she whined.
Then it became a screaming wail, full of unspeakable pain.
"PRIM! NOOOOOO!" she shrieked. She buried her face into Peeta's chest and sobbed uncontrollably, her whole body shaking with the force of her short, gasping breaths as she cried.
Peeta pulled her body closer and sat her across his lap. He held her as close as he could, rubbing his hand soothingly up and down her back. She rested her head on his shoulder and pressed her face against his neck. He could feel the wetness of her tears running down his neck and onto his chest. At first she had been clutching the front of his shirt in both of her hands, balled up into tight fists, but slowly she released her grip and wrapped her arms around his neck, surrendering from anger and disbelief into sorrow.
Katniss suddenly felt like she was adrift in the sea, and Peeta was the only thing stopping her from drowning.
Peeta held her, stroking her hair and rubbing her back as she cried. He felt so helpless. He wished that he could take away her pain, but there was nothing he could say or do that would make this right. He just stayed there, crying along with her, hugging her tightly against him, kissing the side of her face that was buried into his neck. He felt her fingers running through the back of his hair as she clung to him, like she couldn't get close enough.
They heard the announcement being made that Gale had won the game, and the crowd cheered.
Katniss slowly raised her head from Peeta's shoulder, and tried to slow her crying a bit. She looked up at the television screen and watched Gale as he forced himself to let go of Prim's body, gently laying her down on the ground in front of him so that the hovercraft could come and take her away.
Gale just stayed there, down on his knees, looking catatonic, staring off into the distance. He had stopped crying, but his face was still wet.
In the square, Caesar Flickerman appeared on the stage in front of Peeta and Katniss, waved to the crowd, and started walking down the stairs to the seating area, towards them, with a cameraman right behind him, and the crowd cheered again.
Oh no, thought Katniss. They have to do this? Make us speak right now?
She was in no mood to appear live on television in front of all of Panem right this minute. But, she knew that this was how the capitol operated. They wanted to hold her up as a spectacle for the public. Last year she had given them a love story, and this year, a tragedy. If the Hunger Games had depended on television ratings, she would have single-handedly pushed their success through the roof. She and Peeta both wiped their eyes in preparation for this unexpected live interview.
Caesar approached them, and she saw an apologetic look flash briefly across his face. She knew that he probably didn't want to subject them to this either, but he had no choice.
Katniss stayed perched on Peeta's lap, with her arms around his neck and her head leaning against his, silent tears still falling down her face. He kept his arms wrapped protectively around her waist, staring down Caesar directly in the eyes, instructing him without words:
You talk to ME, not HER.
Caesar gave Peeta just the slightest nod, that probably no one else even noticed.
Caesar stopped right in front of them, and Katniss saw the close up of the three of them appear on one of the television screens above. Another screen still showed Gale in the arena. The crowd fell silent, in rapt attention. She suddenly realized that this would be simulcast not only throughout Panem, but also into the arena as well, so Gale could hear them. That's why they were still showing him... they wanted to see his response, wanted to twist that knife in his heart just a little bit harder. Katniss was seething with her hatred for President Snow right now.
"Peeta... Katniss.." Caesar started, gently. "My condolences on the loss of your sister. She fought bravely. I think we can all say that she greatly exceeded our expectations! You must be very proud of her. Isn't that right everyone?" he asked the crowd, and they responded with claps and cheers.
Once the crowd quieted down again, Caesar turned his attention to Peeta.
"Peeta, you were Gale's mentor. You must be very pleased with his win, and very proud of yourself as well! Surely your expert mentoring contributed to his success!"
Peeta answered carefully. "I really can't take any credit for Gale's win. He won because of his own abilities. Gale is an expert at survival."
"You are too humble, Mr. Mellark! Surely some of his success was your doing!" Caesar said, causing the crowd to cheer again. Peeta was a fan favorite here in the capitol, and he knew that Caesar was trying to draw on that support for him.
"The only thing I did was to get Gale and Prim a sponsor when they needed it most." Peeta answered. Katniss hugged him tightly around his neck and softly kissed his cheek, grateful for what he had done. The crowd saw this on the television screen and clapped loudly again. Caesar waited for them to quiet down before continuing.
"Yes, the supplies... the alliance. How much do you think that Gale's alliance with Prim contributed to her longevity in the game?"
"Well, enormously of course." Peeta answered. "Prim obviously had her own strengths, as we all saw her demonstrate, but I think it was their teamwork that brought them both so far."
Katniss looked up at Gale on the screen, and saw him lower his head and cover his face with his hands, feeling like he had failed not only Prim, but Peeta and Katniss as well.
"And was this the outcome that you were hoping for?" Caesar asked Peeta carefully.
Peeta paused a moment, restraining his urge to punch Caesar in the face for asking that. He took a deep breath before answering, as calmly as he could. He held Katniss closely, in a show of their solidarity to the crowd.
"We were just praying for one of them to return to us alive, so we accept the outcome with both gratitude and sorrow. As you can imagine, this has been very hard on Katniss, and I would like to be able to take her home to rest now."
"Of course, of course." Caesar said kindly, as he patted Katniss on the shoulder. But then they heard the crowd start cheering again. The three of them looked up to the stage to see what the crowd was cheering about. It was President Snow himself, walking out on the stage and down the stairs towards them.
Peeta felt Katniss' body get rigid, the closer Snow got to them. Caesar stepped aside, and President Snow stepped in and took the microphone from him, addressing Peeta and Katniss from just two feet away.
"Before you go, I would be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to congratulate the two of you on your unprecedented success with your cousin's win! Never before have we had two members of the same family win the games in back to back years!"
The crowd clapped and whistled loudly again.
Katniss looked up to the screen showing the arena, and saw Gale lower his hands from his face, and look upwards towards the sky, as if praying for the strength to get through this ridiculous speech.
The President continued. "In honor of this landmark achievement, we are going to do things a little differently this year. After all, this is a quarter quell, and what better time to throw a very special, once in a lifetime celebration, right?"
The crowd cheered and whooped again, as they watched the President with Peeta and Katniss on the television screen above the stage.
"In three days' time, once Mr. Hawthorne has had a chance to rest and recuperate, we shall hold the review of this year's Hunger Games, the crowning ceremony, and the final interview with the winner all in one evening."
He paused, letting the suspense build before announcing the rest. The crowd was silent with anticipation. Then President Snow continued, staring down Peeta and Katniss as he spoke.
"On the fourth day, the capitol, along with all the citizens of Panem, will honor this unprecedented achievement of the Everdeen family with a special surprise."
Katniss' heart was pounding. She didn't think she could handle any more surprises.
"The capitol will host the wedding of last year's victors, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, right here in the capitol square!"
WHAT? They both thought, as they glanced at each other, stunned.
The crowd went absolutely wild, cheering deafeningly for the young couple.
Katniss sucked her breath in sharply, her eyes were wide with shock. She thought she was going to die right there. She and Peeta would be forced to get married right here? In four days?
President Snow was smiling broadly, and waving to the crowd.
He continued, "I will even provide all the wedding flowers from my own Presidential rose garden!"
The crowd continued to clap and cheer and whistle at the happy announcement.
Katniss instinctively looked up at Gale on the screen, and saw him run his hands through his hair, his face frozen in an expression of pain and heartbreak. Not only was he suffering from the guilt of not being able to save Prim's life, but now he would be forced to watch the girl he loved marry someone else. The President had succeeded in twisting that knife in his heart, alright.
Katniss was furious, but she had to force a smile onto her face and pretend to be happy for the cameras.
President Snow leaned in towards her and addressed her directly.
"My dear Katniss, I can only assume that you will ask your cousin Gale to perform the honor of being your best man for this joyous occasion?" He had a huge smile on his face, but his eyes sparkled with malice.
"Of course." she answered in a strained voice.
He had to throw in one more twist of the knife, she thought. It wasn't enough to punish her, he was going to punish Gale as well... just because he could.
"I hope that you are delighted with this surprise gift!" Snow said smoothly.
"Oh yes," Katniss replied coolly. "You really shouldn't have."
President Snow patted her on the shoulder, just as Caesar had, but Snow's touch made her skin crawl.
"Dear Katniss, the pleasure is all mine." he told her.
The crowd went crazy again, cheering for several minutes before President Snow walked away, and the spectators finally began to dissipate.
Katniss watched the television screens, and saw the hovercraft finally arriving to take Gale away to the hospital. She felt so grateful that he would at last be leaving the arena, and he could have some peace and quiet in the safety of the hospital. She wanted so much to run to him and hug him, to show him how happy she was that he was alive. But she knew that now was not the time. He would be sedated for a while while the nurses and doctors took care of him. And besides, she needed some time alone with Peeta to absorb everything that had happened today.
She slowly, carefully slid herself off of Peeta's lap, not entirely sure that her own legs would support her once she let go of him. Fortunately, he kept his arm wrapped around her waist as she stood.
He hugged her, and then they walked arm in arm back towards their hotel.
She stole a glance backwards towards the stage in the capitol square. Today she had sat here and watched her sister die. And in four days, she would again stand in this place and say her marriage vows, pledging her life to Peeta.
She felt like she was on an emotional roller coaster, with no end to the ride in sight.