The anthem booms in my ears, and then I hear Caesar Flickerman greeting the audience. Does he know how crucial it is to get every word right from now on? He must. He will want to help us. The crowd breaks into applause as the prep teams are presented. Portia and Cinna receive huge cheers, of course, they've been brilliant, had a dazzling debut. I now understand Cinna's choice of dress for me for tonight. I'll need to look as girlish and innocent as possible. Haymitch's appearance brings a round of stomping that goes on at least five minutes. Well, he's accomplished a first. Keeping not only one but two tributes alive. What if he hadn't warned me in time? Would I have acted differently? Flaunted the moment with the berries in the Capitol's face? No, I don't think so. But I could easily have been a lot less convincing than I need to be now. Right now. Because I can feel the plate lifting me up to the stage.
Blinding lights. The deafening roar rattles the metal under my feet. Then there's Peeta just a few yards away. He looks so clean and healthy and beautiful, My heart skips a beat at the site of him. But his smile is the same whether in mud or in the Capitol and when I see it, I take about three steps and fling myself into his arms. He staggers back, almost losing his balance. He rights himself and we just cling to each other while the audience goes insane. He's kissing me and all the time I'm thinking, Do you know? Do you know how much danger we're in? After about ten minutes of this, Caesar Flickerman taps on his shoulder to continue the show, and Peeta just pushes him aside without even glancing at him. The audience goes berserk. Whether he knows or not, Peeta is, as usual, playing the crowd exactly right.
Does Peeta know? Does he know what I did to Cato? How I changed myself to keep him alive? One look at him tells me no. He doesn't know yet. He will soon though. My heart begins to break as imagine how he will react. Him pushing me away and storming off the stage. Or worse.
Finally, Haymitch interrupts us and gives us a good-natured shove toward the victor's chair. Usually, this is a single, ornate chair from which the winning tribute watches a film of the highlights of the Games, but since there are two of us, the Gamemakers have provided a plush red velvet couch. A small one, my mother would call it a love seat, I think. I can't stand the thought of loosing him. Even if I only have him for a few more minutes I want to make the best of it. Kicking off my sandals, I tuck my feet to the side and lean my head against Peeta's shoulder. His arm goes around me automatically, my heart warms at this natural posistion. His shirt is made of the same yellow material as my dress, but Portia's put him in long black pants. No sandals, either, but a pair of sturdy black boots he keeps solidly planted on the stage. I wish Cinna had given me a similar outfit, I feel so vulnerable in this flimsy dress. But I guess that was the point.
Caesar Flickerman makes a few more jokes, and then it's time for the show. This will last exactly three hours and is required viewing for all of Panem. As the lights dim and the seal appears on the screen, I can't watch. I look to Peeta. He smiles back reassuringly. It only makes my heart hurt more. What will I do without him? Maybe I would just let the Capitol kill me. How pathetic I was, Katniss Everdeen, falling in love with a boy who will hate her.
Condensing several weeks into three hours is quite a feat, especially when you consider how many cameras were going at once. Whoever puts together the highlights has to choose what sort of story to tell. This year, for the first time, they tell a love story. I know Peeta and I won, but a disproportionate amount of time is spent on us, right from the beginning.
The first half hour or so focuses on the pre-arena events, the reaping, the chariot ride through the Capitol, our training scores, and our interviews. There's this sort of upbeat soundtrack playing under it that makes it twice as awful because, of course, almost everyone on-screen is dead.
Once we're in the arena, there's detailed coverage of the bloodbath and then the filmmakers basically alternate between shots of tributes dying and shots of us. Theres a quick look at e injuring Clove and a shot of Peeta reaching the cornucopia and grabbing supplies. I watch in horror as Cato slices at him with his knife. They go to me as I'm climbing the tree, my relieved face when I see him. They get a great shot of my worried face when I see he's in trouble. Then I'm there defending Peeta from Cato.
They jump to me meeting Rue in the tree's. I'm too saddened by the sight of her that I bury my face in Peeta's chest. I hear the fire. Finding courage I pull my face out and wait for the moment when Rue dies. They show a glimpse of the Careers struggling from the smoke. Then there back to me shooting rabbits. They don't show our conversation with Rue, they follow the Careers as they notice the smoke from our fire.
And then the fight begins. They focus on me mainly. I watch in shock as I kill Clove and then Glimmer. They show Cato running and screaming, and then theres Marvel. I begin to cry as I watch her death again. It's as if I was there again. I watch as I turn in horror to Marvel, then Rue's leaping in front of me to protect me.
Peeta leans down and kisses me as I look away. I hear her cry of pain and my shout of anger. Then I stare at Peeta's face. It's time for him to see what I did. There's a quick vission of the parachute. Peeta frowns at thesight of the first parachute, the knife. They don't show Haymitch's message. Then there's the parachute with sleep syrup. Peeta glares at me briefly before turning to watch the screen again. They show me putting Peeta to sleep against his wishes.
And then I am running through the forest heading for the clearing. Peeta is clearly confused as I watch him. They showed the entire thing and I watched Peeta's response. First he was surprised then worried as I set upon Cato. He was conflicted and finally he looked sad. I stopped looking at him then. To my horror they played the entire of Cato's death. I didn't understand why if the audience didn't want to see it.
Then I realised of course, they wanted to show Peeta. I looked up at his face feeling his gaze on me. His eyebrow rose in question, was it true? And then I couldn't be near him anymore. Through sobs I told him it was true. Through sobs I gave him the only reason needed for him to leave me.
He doesn't though. He does the most unbelievable thing imaginable. He pulls me back against his chest. And kisses me.
