"Are you excited for your final fitting this morning?" Peeta asked Katniss, as he sat on the edge of her bed and watched her get dressed.

"Yes. I can't wait for you to see me tomorrow!" she said.

"Me too, baby. I can't wait either. I know you'll be beautiful." he told her softly, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.

Peeta stood up and said, "Well, I guess I'd better head back to my room and get out of these pajamas. Portia will be mad if I'm late. Plus I need to find where I put my victor's crown. Why don't you order us something for breakfast, and I'll be back in a half hour or so to eat with you before we go for our fittings, okay?"

"Okay, love." she said, kissing him goodbye.

Peeta went to his room and dressed as quickly as he could. He needed to go into the capitol square and pick up Katniss' flowers at the florist.

Fortunately, the shopkeeper had the bouquet all ready for him as soon as he arrived.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked him. "Is it what you had in mind?"

The bouquet was beautiful. It was full and lush, bright with color, and it smelled so good, from the lilies and lilacs.

"Oh, it's perfect." Peeta smiled. "She is going to absolutely love it! Thank you so much!"

The shopkeeper told him the cost, and Peeta paid her, plus gave her a large tip as well for the excellent service.

He rushed back to Katniss' suite, dying of excitement to give her the flowers.

He knocked on the door, and then opened it, keeping his hand that held the bouquet outside the door frame so she couldn't see it.

She was sitting at the coffee table, with their breakfast spread out before her. He saw her pop a bite of muffin in her mouth, then she startled, and tried to hide it as he looked in.

"Why, Katniss, are you eating without me?" he teased.

"No," she said with her mouth full.

"Then what's in your mouth?" he asked.

She swallowed quickly, smiling. "Nothing!"

"Do I need to come over there and taste your mouth to see if you're lying to me?" he taunted her.

"Okay, okay, I had some muffin!" she laughed, "But it wasn't as good as the muffins you make!"

He walked over to her with his hand behind his back, holding the bouquet.

"I can't wait to get home and bake for you again." he said sweetly, as he bent over and kissed her.

"What's behind your back?" she asked curiously.

"I've got a surprise for you. A little something to bring to your final fitting." He brought his hand out to her and handed her the bouquet of wildflowers.

Her eyes opened wide, and a huge smile lit up her whole face.

"Oh my gosh, Peeta! Wildflowers! They're so beautiful! I love it! Thank you!" she jumped up and threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. "You are so thoughtful! I really love them."

"I thought that you might like to have them for your final fitting, so you could see yourself in the mirror the way that you described yourself to me, as a bride wearing a pretty dress and carrying a wildflower bouquet."

Katniss melted. "Oh, Peeta, that is the sweetest thing ever!"

He continued, "I also thought that you might like to bring them with you tonight to the crowning ceremony. I know it will be hard for you to watch all the footage of the game, and have to watch Prim and Gale all over again... if your hands start shaking, you can hide them under your bouquet... and I hoped that the flowers might make you feel better... see all the little yellow primroses in there?"

She looked down into the bouquet. She hadn't noticed them at first, hiding amongst the other brightly colored flowers, but now that he'd pointed them out, she saw lots of them.

"That's to remind you that Prim is right there with you." he said quietly.

She felt her eyes fill up with tears of gratitude for this man who made her feel so loved and cherished.

"Have I told you lately how much I love you?" she asked in a hoarse whisper.

"Tell me again." he smiled.

"I love you more than anything in this whole world. You make my heart happy." she gushed, then kissed him.

"You make my heart happy too." he told her. "I can't wait to make you my wife tomorrow."

"Me too!" She replied.

"You know what else I can't wait for?" he asked, grinning.

"What?"

"Breakfast! I'm starving! Come on, sit down. We've got to hurry up and eat so we can get going to our fittings!" he laughed.

She laughed too, wiped her teary eyes and sat down next to him to have breakfast.

Shortly after, they left the hotel to go to their final fittings. Katniss held her wildflower bouquet in one hand, and held Peeta's hand with the other.

She was so grateful to have someone like Peeta who loved her. She appreciated how even during her darkest times, like now, when she was mourning for her sister, Peeta found ways to give her moments of happiness. He was like a beacon of light in the dark.

When they got to the studio, he gave her a quick kiss goodbye before they were each whisked away by Portia and Cinna for their fittings.

"I'm glad to see that you look better this morning." Cinna told Katniss.

"Thank you."

"What's with the flowers?" he asked.

"Peeta got them for me. He thought I might like to have a bouquet to hold when I try on my dress and veil... you know, to complete the look and feel like a bride." she said, smiling broadly.

Cinna smiled back at her. "That boy is good to you."

"Yes, he is." she agreed. "Shall we go get my dress?"

"Well aren't you eager to get started!" he teased.

"Not as eager as I will be tomorrow!"

Cinna brought her over to the dressing area and got her dress ready for her again, but this time he made her stand with her back to the mirror. He didn't want her to see herself just yet. He put it on her and laced it all up, then handed her the shoes to put on.

"Can I look now?" she asked.

"No, not until we get your hair and veil done."

Flavius quickly put her hair into the half-updo again. He didn't bother to make it perfect, just good enough to get the idea. Then he anchored the crown around her curls on top of her head, and put the veil in the back of her hair.

Cinna helped her up out of the chair, straightened out her dress and veil, and led her back to the dressing area. Before letting her look in the mirror, he handed her the wildflower bouquet.

"Okay, now you can look." he said softly.

She turned and looked at her reflection.

She gasped. She looked beautiful... and she didn't even have any makeup on! The dress seemed to fit her even better than it had yesterday. Cinna must have made some tiny adjustments, because now it perfectly hugged every curve of her silhouette, and made her hunter's body look willowy and graceful.

"Well, what do you think?" Cinna asked. "Do you feel like a bride?"

"Oh, yes!" she exclaimed. "I can't wait for Peeta to see me!"

"Believe me, Peeta won't be able to breathe when he sees you tomorrow." Cinna said.

She laughed. It felt so good to laugh again, to have something to be happy about. But as she looked down at her wildflower bouquet, even her happy moment turned bittersweet. She touched the petals of one of the yellow primroses and her heart ached, wishing that her sister could be here to share in this moment with her.

She wanted to carry this bouquet tomorrow when she married Peeta. To hell with the president's roses. These flowers were given to her with love... they made her feel loved by Peeta and made her feel like Prim was there, in spirit at least.

Cinna broke her train of thought.

"Well, let's get you out of your dress now. You will have all day tomorrow to wear it!" he said. "You still need to meet with the wedding planner for a quick rehearsal, and then you'll have to go get ready for the festivities this afternoon."

Ugh, she thought. She was not looking forward to this afternoon at all. Everyone would have to sit through the long, drawn out review with footage of all the highlights of this year's Hunger Games, followed by Gale being crowned as the winner, and then a short interview session with Gale and Caesar.

She did not want to watch the review, did not want to see Gale subjected to reliving his experience, and she did not want to wear that stupid fucking crown all afternoon and evening, but she had no choice.

Once she was dressed in her regular clothes again, Cinna found Portia, to make sure that Peeta was ready for the rehearsal, and they walked out into the capitol square to meet with the planner. Katniss carried her wildflower bouquet and her victor's crown with her.

Out in the square, there were lots of people hard at work getting everything ready for tomorrow's wedding. They still had the tall scaffolding set up with the television screens, but they had lowered the stage area to only about three feet off the ground, so she would only have a few stairs to climb in her dress.

The planner came over and introduced herself.

"This is where you'll be getting married," she told them, pointing to the stage. "You will be picked up from your prep teams' studios in a horse drawn carriage and driven through the streets to the square, so you can wave to the crowds as you pass by."

Can this wedding possibly get any more ridiculous? Katniss thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

She hated that this was being promoted as some royal wedding or something. All she had ever wanted was something simple and intimate. Now she was going to be paraded through the streets riding in a carriage like some fairy tale princess... the only problem was that it was all just smoke and mirrors. The capitol, the Hunger Games, and the President's sinister motives all made for the darkest, most twisted and perverse fairy tale she could imagine.

The planner went on. "First, Peeta and Gale will be brought to the square in the carriage..."

Oh, that ought to be interesting! Katniss thought.

"Then the carriage will return to pick up the bride."

"I understand why Peeta has to go separately, so he won't see me before it's time, but why can't Gale come with me?" she asked. "He's my-" she was about to say 'best friend' but corrected herself- "my cousin."

"Because he is one of the groomsmen. They always go with the groom. Besides, the crowd is going to want to see the bride. You are the highlight of the day!"

Katniss rolled her eyes again.

"When you arrive, there will be a carpeted runner that goes the whole length of the square, from over there-" pointing to the side opposite side of the square, "all the way across the square to the stage. You will walk up to the stage and say your vows there."

That's a pretty long walk, with a lot of people watching... Katniss thought nervously.

The planner continued, "When the ceremony is over, the wedding party and invited guests will be brought to the ballroom in the Presidential mansion for the reception."

Katniss swallowed hard. She did not want to be in the President's mansion at all. She knew she would be very uncomfortable and anxious to get out of there. But, she realized that President Snow had probably planned it that way on purpose to make her uncomfortable, to throw her off balance. That way he would feel like he had the upper hand.

"Speaking of the wedding party, I know that you have a best man, but will you be having a maid of honor?" the planner asked.

"No." Katniss replied. "That was always supposed to be my sister's role, but now that she's gone, I just wouldn't feel right having anyone else take her place."

Katniss felt Peeta squeeze her hand.

"Okay," the planner said, as she made a couple of notes in her notebook. "Well, I guess that's about it then! The ceremony starts at four o'clock in the afternoon, so don't be late! Any questions?"

Neither Peeta nor Katniss could think of anything, so they both shook their heads.

"Okay then! Guess you better go get ready for this afternoon!"

Peeta took her hand and they walked back to the hotel to get ready for the crowning.

Katniss wondered how Gale would hold up through all the stress of tonight. She was just glad that he had come to her last night for support, and that he had gotten a good night's sleep. It would have been disastrous if Gale had shown up to the crowning today in the shape he'd been in yesterday when he had appeared at her door.

As they got ready to go, Peeta could tell that Katniss was getting nervous and tense. He put his own crown on, and then helped her pin her crown into her hair so it wouldn't fall off while she walked.

"Are you going to be okay tonight?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I think so." she answered. "It will be worse for Gale, with everyone in the world watching him."

"Well, at least this is the last difficult thing that we'll all have to sit through this week. The three of us can go home soon." Peeta reassured her.

They arrived at the ceremony and were seated in the front row with the other mentors.

The review of all the highlight footage from this year's game felt like it lasted forever to Katniss.

It was heartbreaking to watch all the moments with Prim and Gale working together as a team, and even harder to relive all the touching moments when they had comforted each other. They showed the clips of Prim poisoning the other tributes, earning her the nickname "Poison Prim". The crowd cheered loudly when they showed the entire gruesome Fire Ivy scene.

They made sure to show all the heart-wrenching footage... Prim crying the first night of the Games, Gale teaching her how to shoot the bow in the meadow, Gale carrying her when she couldn't walk, Prim pulling Gale's fist away from his forehead to hold his hand when he didn't have enough water to clean her ankle wound, and Prim telling him that it would all be okay, at least they wouldn't die alone.

Katniss felt big, warm tears falling down her face and landing on the bouquet of flowers sitting in her lap as she watched. Just as Peeta had predicted, her hands were shaking and she was grateful to have the bouquet. She held her flowers in one hand, and Peeta's hand with the other.

Gale was seated in a big comfortable chair on the stage, watching all the footage on the big screens. He looked good. His prep team had dressed him in a tasteful suit, and he looked much healthier than he had just one day ago. Katniss could tell that he was struggling to keep his composure during all of the scenes with himself and Prim. Often he would bow his head and pinch the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, with his eyes squeezed shut tight, trying to force away the tears that threatened to spill if he opened his eyes.

She was grateful for whenever they showed footage of the other tributes and gave them a short reprieve from watching Prim and Gale.

Of course the hardest part came at the end, when they showed the entire scene with Prim and Gale and Curran.

Gale finally got to see how it was that Curran had ended up catching her, when she stumbled on her injured ankle. Gale watched angrily as Curran pinned her down on the ground beneath him. When he heard Curran make the comment to Prim about how he would have been fucking her if he was Gale, he felt his stomach knot up in disgust and his eyes were suddenly ablaze with anger. He hadn't known about that until now, because he had been searching the woods for Prim when it happened. Curran was almost as old as Gale. The thought of him looking at Prim like that, like a sexual object for his own gratification when she was practically still a child, made Gale wish that Curran was there with him right now so he could kill him all over again.

While they showed that footage, Katniss had let go of the stems of her bouquet and had her hand resting on top of the flowers, her fingers softly stroking the silky petals of one perfect, vibrant yellow primrose. She looked down at the flower and thought of her sister. It reminded her of how she wanted to remember Prim... not injured and bloody like she had been in the arena, but alive and beautiful and vibrant like the flower. She closed her eyes and remembered the yellow satin dress that Cinna had dressed her in for the interview before the Games started, how pretty she had looked.

She felt Peeta squeeze her other hand, and she opened her watery eyes and looked up at him.

"You okay?" he whispered.

She just nodded.

Peeta lifted their hands that were clasped together and he kissed the top of her hand.

Katniss looked up at Gale again on the stage. They had reached the final moments when Prim lay dying in Gale's arms, holding his hand.

Gale was sitting forward, his elbows resting on his knees, looking up at the screen, with his hand over his mouth. Katniss saw a tear silently fall from each of his eyes as he watched Prim slip away, and then the review was over.

Katniss breathed a sigh of relief that Gale had made it through without totally falling apart. Peeta thought the same exact thing about Katniss.

After the review finished, Gale quickly wiped his face with the back of his hand. They asked him to stand at the front of the stage, and President Snow walked up to him and placed the victor's crown on top of his head. The crowd applauded and cheered for Gale.

Caesar walked over to Gale, put his arm around Gale's back and led him back to the chair to sit down for his interview, and Caesar sat in another chair facing him.

Caesar waved at the audience, and addressed the crowd first.

"Gale Hawthorne, everyone! Your new victor!"

The crowd cheered loudly again. When they finally quieted down, Caesar addressed Gale.

"Well, congratulations on your win, Gale! How do you feel?"

Gale was quiet for a moment as he contemplated how to answer.

"Caesar, to be honest, I feel like the wrong person won."

"What do you mean?" Caesar asked.

"That amazing young woman we all saw..." Gale said, pointing back to the huge television screens that were now blank, "Prim? She should be wearing the crown right now."

"Interesting! Why do you feel that she should have won and not you?"

"Because Prim entered the arena as a frightened, unprepared little girl, and in the span of two weeks, she grew and adapted and changed into the brave fighter that we all saw at the end. She learned how to be strong. She learned how to overcome her fear. She learned how to defend herself, how to strategize and outsmart other tributes who were older and much better trained than she was. She embodied what the Hunger Games is all about... being able to triumph over everything that is thrown at you, no matter how desperate your situation. And she had all those traits in her all along, because she was an Everdeen."

The audience clapped and cheered loudly at Gale's humble answer.

"But Gale, couldn't you say the same about yourself? After all, you have Everdeen in you, too..." Caesar said.

"Believe me, Caesar, it's not the same. Prim had the same stubborn, fighting spirit in her that her sister Katniss has. Every drop of blood in her body was Everdeen. She just didn't have enough time to fully realize her potential. The only place I truly have Everdeen in me is in my heart."

Katniss hung her head at Gale's veiled admission of love for her, as well as not really being related to her, which no one in the crowd would have gotten except for her and Peeta.

"Let's talk about your most powerful moment in the game, when you killed Curran at the end. Tell us what was going through your head at that moment when you went after him. Did you already have your plan in place as to how you were going to kill him? Could you taste victory, so close at hand?"

"No, Caesar. I wasn't even thinking about victory in that moment. All I was thinking about was trying to save Prim's life so she could win, because I felt that she had earned it. Curran had hurt her, so I wanted to hurt him. It was as simple as that. I had no plan in place, I was just running on adrenaline and revenge. I just wanted him to die, however I could get it done. Slitting his throat was just an instinct, a means to an instant death, just like slaughtering an animal. That's all Curran was to me, an animal. You heard the vile, disgusting things he said to Prim. Only an animal would say such things to a young girl."

The audience cheered loudly once again.

Caesar prepared to wrap up the interview.

"Gale, you are a good man... strong and smart and handsome and protective, and now you are a victor. I'm sure that you will have your pick of any number of young ladies across Panem who would love to date you. But tell me, man to man... is there a special girl back home that you will be looking forward to reuniting with? Any lucky girl who will be breaking hearts all across Panem tonight because you only have eyes for her?"

Gale lowered his head for a second as he considered what to say to that.

"No, Caesar, there is no one waiting at home for me. There is only one girl that I've ever had eyes for, and unfortunately for me, she already belongs to someone else, a good man who loves her and makes her happy. So, no... I am very single. The only heart that will be breaking in Panem tonight is mine."

A sigh swept across the audience.

Katniss felt her cheeks flush pink. At least no one in the crowd would know or suspect that he was talking about her, because as far as they knew, Gale was her cousin. No one knew except Peeta, anyway.

"Well!" Caesar exclaimed, smiling, "I'm sure we could start a line right here in front of the stage with young ladies who would be more than happy to help you take your mind off of her!"

Caesar laughed heartily, and Gale laughed along with him.

"Yeah, maybe that would be helpful!" Gale joked.

Caesar stood up and motioned for Gale to stand as well. Caesar held his arm out, pointing to Gale.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your victor of this year's Hunger Games, and apparently, Panem's most eligible bachelor, Gale Hawthorne!"

Gale smiled and waved at the audience, relived that this ordeal was finally over.

He caught Katniss' eye for a brief moment, and she wanted badly to run to him and hug him, thankful that he seemed to have made it through tonight unscathed.

As soon as it was all over and Gale could leave the stage, she looked at Peeta, and he already knew what she wanted. All he needed to say to her was two words.

"Go ahead." he told her.

She ran over to Gale and threw her arms around him. Gale hugged her back, briefly glancing up over Katniss' shoulder at Peeta who was standing just a few feet away, before casting his eyes back down.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Gale!" she said. "You look a lot better. How do you feel now that it's all over?"

"Have you ever heard the old saying, 'heavy is the head that wears the crown'?" Gale asked her.

"Yes."

"Well, I understand what that means now. I hate the burden that this crown carries, along with all the emotional baggage that comes with it." Gale said.

"I know what you mean." Katniss agreed. "All you can do is try not to let it define who you are."

"Thank you." Gale told her, as he released her from his embrace. "Well, you better go get a good night's sleep, Katniss. You have a very important day tomorrow."

Gale took her by the hand, walked her back to Peeta, and handed her over to him.

"Take good care of her Peeta." Gale said, as she let go of Gale's hand and took Peeta's.

"I will. I promise." Peeta replied, then they turned and started walking towards the hotel.

Gale watched them walk away, and then he pulled the crown off his head and held it in his hands.

His head felt very heavy indeed.