We spend the next couple of weeks repairing our home, pulling weeds, and working in the bakery. Haymitch and Effie come on the weekends and provide some help. He looks stronger and stronger. Eventually it's time to return to the Capitol. Katniss and I pile into my truck and ramble to the train station where the train is waiting for us. It's only the two of us for the next few hours and we enjoy it. We eat delicacies and don't concern ourselves with manners. Katniss puts her feet on the table as she sips on lemonade. When she smiles at me the world stopped. The privacy never gets old. I never tire of her company. It never seems to last long enough. In no time at all we're in Seven picking up Johanna. She's as surly as ever, and appears to have lost weight.
"How are you Johanna?" Katniss asks.
"I'm dying. Fucking monster seed is killing me."
"I'm sorry to hear that. What are you and Beetee going to do? Like living situation."
"Well, I'm kind of a vagabond and I'd like to stay that way. Beetee with me for a few weeks, then me with him, then with you two."
"Don't you think you should stay put somewhere?"
"Well I think it's better for the baby if I don't go crazy right?"
"True. You excited to get your medal?"
Johanna laughs. "I hope I puke on stage."
Johanna retires to her sleeping compartment and once again Katniss and I rule the roost. We sit in the common room I lay my head in her lap and she braids my hair. I watch her face as she does so. Purposeful yet pensive. Drawn into weaving my locks, distant from all that is bad in the world. I stroke her face and a slight smile crosses her face. I pull her head down to me and kiss her. Breathe her in as if she were giving me life. We fall asleep where we sit as the next thing I know we're in Three picking up Beetee. I stand to greet him.
"Nice hair Peeta." He says to me.
Katniss laughs and I tossle it free of the braids.
"Where is Johanna?" He asks
"Sleeping I don't think she is well." I tell him.
He nods and sits down in the bar car and orders a drink.
"I didn't know you drank." I say to him.
"I don't normally. Johanna is quite the handful. More so now that she's pregnant. She's pushing me away."
"Hmmm. Sounds like Johanna." Katniss tells him. "Give her time. She'll come around."
Within forty minutes we're in Two where we pick up Enobaria, Gale, and Diamond. Gale's face is proud as he greets us. I give him an icy handshake unsure of where things stand between us. They all sit with us repeating the question of Johanna's wearabouts. The relationship between the living Victors has become one of a fraternity. We know how to handle one another. Enobaria challenges everyone to arm wrestling. She destroys Katniss and Beetee, but Gale and I get the better of her. Finally Gale and I face of to see who is the Victory of the Hand Wrestling Games. We lock eyes, this isn't playful. Both of us feel like we have something to prove in regards to the other. I'm amazed at how easily I defeat him. Though his reaction is quick as expected of a hunter he lacks brute strength. Cunning is his prowess. He thinks like prey. He plays down his bruised ego while I raise my hand in victory. As we pull into the Capitol the sun is going down and we see the city adorned with lights. Effie and Haymitch meet us on the platform. Effie eagerly greets us all with kisses.
"Well I suppose you know where you will be staying."
"Oh God." Johanna groans.
"Well. Instead of a Hunger Games there will be a Games of athletic skill. Showcasing the best and strongest of Panem. The contestants are mostly from One and Two but Plutarch requested for me to ask if you would like to display your chosen skill as well. Katniss in archery, Peeta in lifting, and Enobaria in pretty much anything she chooses." We nod agreeing to compete as it's something useful. "Tonight you get to rest tomorrow there will be a parade, one which mimes that of the Tribute Parade, you will ride chariots and dress in accordance with your original districts. The other chariots will be empty in memory of the fallen. After the parade is a party, then the Games including a street carnival, then the ceremony and Gale's promotion." She says all this smiling.
"So, let's go! I'm sure you are all tired and want to get your feet up!" She cheerfully says.
We ride in the cars silently. The old training facility is an omen, a black heavy weight which looms on us. When we arrive we all flop down on the assorted furniture. Johanna immediately sleeps.
"Well she's miserable." Enobaria says.
"Herbal tea's can help her. The ones my mother makes are very light I can go out tomorrow and get some for her. As well as sucking on peppermints, I can get those as well." Katniss says to Beetee.
"Thank you." He tells her.
"Well are you excited?" Effie probes.
"It's entirely unexpected but I'm more than happy to be a father. It should be an interesting child." He says to her.
"Are you two serious. As in being a family?" She noses
"We just recently decided to become monogamous. I think Johanna still wants some semblance of autonomy. It's hard for her to stay in one place, as her mind becomes convoluted when she becomes satiated in a place. We're seeing what happens."
"Oh. I see." Effie replies.
Effie is very prim. She doesn't believe in parents who aren't married, nor in sex outside of a committed relationship. Very rare in the Capitol. Luckily for all of us she withholds her judgments and sits with Haymitch. He must be a calming force for her. One by one we all go to bed.
Katniss is restless, she tosses and turns into the middle of the night. Finally I roll over and begin to stroke her skin gently.
"Relax I'm here." I whisper to her.
"Make love to me." She says.
I oblige her. I stroke her cunt and kiss her, building her up for me. I hover above her on my elbows and slide inside her. She wraps her legs around me and I grab onto the headboard for leverage as I give her long deep strokes, with each motion her breath quickens. I milk and orgasm out of her arching her back and desperately clawing pressing into me, I wrap an arm around her and hold her in place until I come. I lay her back down and wrap my arms around her, I hold back my own sleep until she drifts off.
The next morning we rise before the others. Breakfast has not yet arrived so we dress and leave for the nearest herbal store. Katniss buys fennel tea bags for Johanna as well as peppermints. Hand in hand we return to the apartment where Haymitch and Effie are drinking coffee. Katniss starts a kettle.
"Good morning Effie."
"Good morning Katniss. It's very sweet of you to be doing this for Johanna. You know we could send out for tea."
"That's okay I wanted to get the brand my mother bought."
Katniss seeps the tea and pours a cup for Johanna, along with a piece of toast and heads to her room. Wretching is audible once she opens the door. Before long the prep teams have arrived.
"Peeta you are being prepped as well today." Effie says to me with a stern look. "You and Katniss can share."
Flavius looks at me in horror.
"No shaving me." I tell him he nods slowly.
"I don't even know where to start Peeta." He tells me shaking his head.
When Katniss comes out she greets her prep team with hugs and kisses.
"So we're going to have you in the costumes from the Quell. We both figured no use in messing with perfection."
We nod at them. They take Katniss away to be hosed down first and I sit to smoke a cigarette.
"Do you get your own chariot Haymitch?" I ask him
"Yes."
"Will you be catching fire today?"
"No. I'll be dressed as a miner. Oh memories!" He says
I catch him removing a flask from his pocket and taking a quick swig while he believes no one is watching. He's right though. The whole thing is like reliving a nightmare. The last time I caught fire I believed I was going to my death. We both did. Katniss and I were going to die for each other. Anger wells up at Haymitch as well since he double crossed the both of us. He left me to die and lied to Katniss when she begged him to save me. I try to shake the anger out of my head. I try to swallow it but it continues to rise up again. I grip hold of the arms of my chair, my cigarette burning down to my fingers, burning me. Waking me from the anger. The world begins to clear up. Johanna emerges from her room.
"I get to be a tree today!" She says clicking her heels in fake joy. "I'll be a tree for two!"
We laugh at this. The tea must have settled her stomach as Johanna appears to be in relatively good spirits. She's soaking wet they must have just got done showering her. She needs a break after getting wet because of the memories. Flavius summons me back. I'm washed and brushed. Flavius groaning and shaking his head the whole time. He paints my nails black and applies eyeliner. I feel like a buffoon. We are dressed in the oh so familiar outfits. Though Katniss, Haymitch, and myself are all dressed in previous costumes Johanna is wearing a gown with a tight brown bodice and a flannel flowing skirt. She wears black booties. They've dressed her like a lumberjack.
"At least I'm not a tree." She grumbles.
Enobaria is dressed in gold, she's adorned with a golden headband which appears to be woven of olive branches. She wears a golden gown which sweeps all the way to the ground. Luckily Beetee is thankfully not done up in lightbulbs but he looks dapper in a suit. Katniss looks sexy in her dress. Haymitch is ridiculous looking in overalls and a hard hat.
"We're late! We're late! The chariots are waiting!" Effie cries and ushers us to the all too familiar staging area.
When we arrive the horses are waiting for us. The crowd is roaring. Waiting. Katniss stares with vapid eyes at the chariot. I take her by the hand, she mounts with me. Her palms sweating as the music begins and the chariots depart. We raise our hands as we did during the first Games and ignite to the pleasure of the masses. We are on fire. In my soul I feel fulfillment. I feel belonging. This is who made me who I am. Roses are thrown at us. The crowd is mainly Capitol social elite and this is the closest they'll get to another Games and I feel ready to perform.