A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry it's been a while since I have updated. I started school back a few weeks ago and it's already kicking my tail. But I'm so glad that I am back and ready for a new chapter. Enjoy!
There have been a few questions asked by Gale Lover that I have never really thought about before so I'm so glad that they asked. Hopefully I answer all of your questions.
Q1: "Girls can marry from age 16 to 18 or face consequences later, but what about the slips in the reaping bowl? Is their name taken out?"
A1: No, their names are not taken out of the reaping bowl. Although they are married there is still a risk of their name being pulled from the bowl. The only thing that would change would be the last name on the slip if the woman chooses to take her husband's name.
Q2: "I mean look at Delly, is she still 18?"
A2: Yes, Delly is 18 but in the original books Delly is the same age as Katniss. So Katniss's last reaping was also Delly's last reaping.
Q3: "Are they risking reaping many pregnant girls?"
A3: They are risking many pregnant girls, I think. But the new laws never said that the man and woman had to have children before their last reaping. Actually, the laws never said that they had to have children at all. Some of the men and women that married were actually in love so as some would expect that would lead to children. And even if they weren't in love in the first place, The Capitol planned for them to let go of their desires and end up having children anyway. By accident.
Q4: "Isn't Katniss a bit paranoid about Snow getting rid of Victors' spouses or is she certain about it?"
A4: Katniss is just paranoid, which you will find out in this chapter. She was never certain that Snow would get rid of Victors' spouses. Hopefully you will understand more about this in this next chapter.
Well I hope that answers most of your questions. Please keep asking questions and leaving reviews. As you know it encourages me to write more and faster!
Just wanted to let you know that I will be adding a little bit of Haymitch in this chapter. He is going to seem a little out of character because I like "half-way-sober and father-figure Haymitch" WAY better than I like "always-drunk and sarcastic Haymitch". I'm sorry if you don't approve with this slight change but that's how I wanted it to be. Hope you guys understand.
Pain.
Pain is everywhere.
Whether it be physical or emotional, it's there.
And there are different types of pain. Different levels.
A paper cut. Physical pain. Low level.
Getting hit in the leg by a flying fire ball. Physical pain. High level.
I had never experienced the excruciating physical pain level.
But I had experienced the emotional.
Saying good-bye to the people you love. Thinking that you may never see them again. Emotional pain. Excruciating level.
Watching both of my tributes die on the very first day of the games. Emotional pain. Slightly less excruciating.
"It wasn't your fault, sweetheart," Haymitch says from behind me.
I sigh and stared at him as he sat beside me on the sofa. We were in the training center.
"I did what you told me not to do," I say. "I got too attached."
"It's hard not to get attached," he sighs. "You know that's why I started drinking. Not just because of the nightmare's and the constant reminders from the Capitol. I knew that if I got too attached to a tribute they'd be gone. They'd remind me too much of my time in the arena because I would be watching them, hoping that they would live. Honestly, though? You were the only one that ever gave me a run for my money. You broke me. Looked straight through my drinking."
I smiled. "And I was just one of the lucky ones who won."
"You didn't win," he says with a frown. "No one ever wins the games. We just survive."
"It hurts so much. All I can think about is what I could have done different to save those kids," I say.
"You couldn't have done anything different. It's hard to come by someone like you."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"A fighter," he replies. "Someone with a will to live. I know it hurts now, sweetheart. And it's gonna hurt for a long time. But after a few years, it just becomes numb."
He stands from the couch and grabs his drink from the coffee table. He walks behind me to the door and I think that he leaves but then I hear his voice.
"Things would never be the same without you. Back in twelve. Your mother and sister would probably be dead. And your boy? I don't know how he would be able to go on without you. I don't know how he did it before he met you. You're rare, Katniss. And none of the tributes that come through here will ever live up to you."
Two weeks later Haymitch and I stood by the new victor as he was crowned by President Snow. The tribute from District One; shocker. Of course when I stated this, after the victor was announced, sarcasm dripped off my lips like honey. I never understood how they got away with training their children in Districts One and Two. It was clearly stated that there would be no prior training for the Hunger Games. Of course it was too late now, anyway.
It was slightly difficult to return home. Haymitch had already warned me about the families. True to his words the families of our dead tributes were at the train station when Haymitch and I arrived home.
"Why didn't you save him?" a mother sobbed as I stepped down from the platform.
"She was only twelve!" an older sister screamed angrily.
"I- I," I stuttered.
"She did everything she could!"
I turned expecting to see Haymitch taking up for me, but he was no where to be found. Instead I find my husband. I sigh and stare at him for what seems like forever before I turn around and face the families once again.
"I'm sorry about your loved ones," I begin. "But as Gale says, I did everything I could. Children are not trained for this sort of thing. And some of them are not fighters. We all know that there is only one person to blame for this. And it's not me or Haymitch or you or your children."
The crowd goes nuts and I know that as soon as the words are out of my mouth I've put myself in danger.
That night Gale and I lie in bed. We talk about the games although that was the last thing either of us wanted to talk about.
"I've put myself in danger, Gale," I whisper.
He rolls over onto his side and strokes my cheek. "How's that?"
"What I said," I reply. "I pretty much blamed President Snow for everything. The Games, all the dead children."
"It pretty much is his fault," Gale says. "He has the power to stop all of this but he doesn't because he has this sick, twisted mind that thinks that it is entertainment to kill children."
"It's nuts in the Capitol. They're all so innocent. Most of them were born like this. Born to think that this is okay when the rest of us suffer. When you see them you almost don't want blame them. They don't know any better."
"Bullshit! They know exactly what they are doing!"
"I didn't say that they didn't!" I retort. "I meant that this is all that they have ever known. They don't know what is going on in the Districts. They don't see that any of this is bad. They've never been taught any different."
Gale sighs. "So what are you going to do?" he asks.
I sigh back. "I don't know."
"What do you know?" he asks.
I think about it for a minute before answering. "I know that I love you."
He smiles and places a kiss to my forehead. "I love you, too," he replies.
My face turns red and I turn my back to him to hide it and to mutter the rest of my reply. "And I want you."
He places his front to my back and wraps his arms around me. "What?" he asks.
"Please don't make me say it again," I groan.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Catnip," he replies and I can hear the grin in his voice.
"Yes, you do!"
"Say it," he whispered as his hand slid down my side to my waist squeezing there and then begins to graze my thigh.
"I want you-" I gasp as his hand makes its way from my outer thigh to my inner thigh.
"I want you to make love to me," I finally finish.
"I want to make love to you," he whispers against the side of my neck and chills run from where his lips are touching to the tips of my toes.
I flip to my back and place my hand to the back of his neck and the other to his chest. The lust in my eyes mirrors in his.
"Then make love to me," I reply.
"We all know that there is only one person to blame for this. And it's not me or Haymitch or you or your children."
My voice echos through the study in my home at the Victor's Village. President Snow clicks a button on a remote and the projection that was floating from the desk disappears.
"So tell me Mrs. Everdeen-"
"It's Hawthorne," I interrupt.
"To me and to the Districts and the Capitol you are Everdeen. So tell me Mrs. Everdeen, what did you mean when you said that everyone knows who to blame. You never specified."
"I think we all know who," I reply.
He leans back in his chair with a sigh. "Imagine something for me Mrs. Everdeen. Imagine yourself walking around your district. Your beloved district. Are you imagining, Mrs. Everdeen?"
"Yes."
"Now imagine bones. Bodies. The bodies of your people and your loved ones. How does feel?"
I'm silent and when he realizes that I'm not going to answer he continues.
"Imagine thousands of your people dead. That's what I can do. So if you say that you are accusing me for The Uprising seventy-six years ago that caused all of this then you won't have to imagine my little scenario. It will be reality. I mean come on Mrs. Everdeen, do I even look seventy-six to you?"
Yes
"No, sir."
"Then how could I be the cause of this."
"With all due respect, sir," actually with absolutely no respect.
"I want to understand why. You have the power to stop this. To stop all of the killing and The Hunger Games. Why keep it going? Why is it so important to you to keep killing innocent children?"
"My father," he replies softly.
"I don't understand."
"My father was the president before me. He is the one to blame for The Uprising. He is the one who came up with idea of The Hunger Games and the Peacekeepers. He is to blame."
"But you carried on his legacy! You continued this! You had the power to stop it. You can't just blame all of this on your father."
"I loved my father," he whispers. "I hated to disappoint him. He hit me and beat me and I just took it. Because I didn't want to disappoint. When he died I was shocked to find out that I would be the president in his place. He died and I was always a disappointment to him. There wasn't one time when I wasn't a disappointment to him. That's why I continue this. I will not disappoint my father."
"Why are you telling me this?" I ask.
"Because you asked, of course," he replies.
"That's not true," I retort.
He leans forward in his chair. "Things are about to change Mrs. Everdeen."
President Coriolanus Snow's death was announced the next day.
Sorry this is so short! And sorry it's been so long since I have updated. Review!