The next morning we are woke up by Katniss's prep team. Their eyes are wide and one, Octiavia, I believe, bursts into tears at the sight of us together. "You remember what Cinna told us," Venia says and Octiavia nods and quickly leaves the room. I kiss Katniss of the forehead and head out the door, knowing my own prep team will be waiting to get me ready as well. I go to my room, expecting to see the team waiting for me, but only Haymitch is there, sitting on my bed, looking pretty sober.
"I am very surprised at you, Peeta," he says. I close the door.
"Why's that, Haymitch?"
"Because you had me believing that you will do anything to keep Katniss alive and get her back home," he says, seriously.
"That's exactly what I intend on doing," I answer, wondering where on earth he is going with this.
"Well, then tell me, why would you try to make things harder for you both? Why would you paint that picture in the Training Room?"
"I didn't think it would make things harder for Katniss. I also didn't expect her to hang Seneca Crane, either," I add. "But I don't think President Snow has any plans for Katniss or myself to get out alive this time. I expect he has made a few demands when it comes to the outcome of this year's Games."
"You worked that one out, did you?" Haymitch asks, mockingly.
"Yeah. I'm pretty good at figuring these things out. You see, I have had a lot of eye opening experiences in the past year. Made me pay better attention," I say. Haymitch just huffs.
"Well, boy. You two are making my job a whole lot harder. Not saying you won't have sponsors, I'm sure you will, but I still might have to convince people toward the end," he tells me, getting up and looking me in the eye. "Have you thought about how you are going to shock them this year?"
"I will try harder to make it easier on you. And I have a few ideas, don't worry, my interview will be flawless," I promise.
"You better hope so," he says, walking out.
I just stand there, going through my ideas for tonight. I have to shock the people of Panem, especially the people of the Capitol. Right when I think I might have the right idea of how things should go, I get a knock on my door.
"Come in," I say. It's Effie, looking perfect, as always, but you can tell he is trying to hold the tears in.
"I have something for you, Peeta," She says, handing me a black velvet box. I open it and see a golden circle with Katniss's mockingjay. It is beautiful. You cannot even tell it is a locket until you pop it open. I look at the pictures, one side is Prim and her mother, laughing and the other is a rare picture of Gale smiling. I am not sure how Effie did this, but it is perfect. I look up at her, she is waiting for my reaction. I jump off my bed and wrap her in a tight hug.
"This is perfect, Effie. Exactly what I need," I say to her, while still hugging her.
"I am so glad you like it. I am still confused as to why you wanted those pictures, but, then again, you know Katniss better than anyone," she says, her voice cracking. I let her go and she edges away from me.
"Excuse me, Peeta," she says, before bursting into tears and rushing out of the door. I cannot imagine how hard this must be for her, and confusing. I imagine a whole lot of people are super confused over these games and what it means for future victors.
My prep team comes in right after, so I prepare myself for their weeping as they prepare me. I try my best to ignore the sniffles I hear around me, but instead I find myself trying to think of a way to help them. My words get lost in my head, though. Normally I am wonderful with words, but I am just not sure how to make my little prep team feel any better. Finally, Portia arrives and is about to send them out. I cannot let them leave without saying something.
"Wait," I say, catching Caesar by the hand. I motion for Barb and Ginger to join us, taking their hands as well. "I just wanted to let you know that I truly appreciate everything you have done for me in the past year. You have kept me looking wonderful and I know that if I had any other team, I would not have look half as good as I did and do." I look each of them in their teary eyes and say earnestly, "Really, thank you." I pull them each into a hug.
"It has been our honor," Caesar says. They all give me a small smile, touch my face and leave me alone with Portia. I hear them all begin really weeping on the other side of the door. Slowly, I look at Portia, hoping she is not going to cry as well.
"Don't worry, Peeta. I am very good at hiding my emotions until I am in private," she says, smiling sadly at me.
"Thank you, Portia. I really mean that. Without you and Cinna, Katniss and I would have never made it this far." She raises her eyebrows.
"I doubt that. I know Katniss doesn't know the effect she has on people, but does that apply to you as well?" she asks. I think she is teasing me. I have no effect on anyone, I cannot even make a girl fall in love with me by throwing everything I have at her, so I just smile and slightly shake my head. She sighs and shakes her head as well.
"Well, then. Shall we get started?" She claps her hands together and gets the garment bag that contains my interview outfit. Last year it was black with flames, I wonder what it will be this year. She unzips the bag and I see nothing but white.
"Really?" I say. It is something I have seen grooms in the Capitol wear. Will Katniss be in a wedding dress?
"Not our idea. Cinna and I tried to change it, but the order came from President Snow himself," she says.
"Well, I guess we cannot keep the Capitol from seeing us the way it was going to be, then, huh?" I stroke the material and sigh. What I would give to be putting this one to marry her. Well, that is never going to happen, so I take a breath and nod to Portia. We pull on all the pieces, which includes white gloves and Portia stands back to admire the work.
"What do you think?" I ask, holding my hands out and twirling around.
"Well, at least you look good," is all the response I get. I laugh, one sad, little laugh. "It's about that time." I nod and we walk from the room. We meet Haymitch and Effie at the elevator. A few minutes later Cinna comes to join us, followed by Katniss.
I knew she was going to be wearing a wedding dress, but I it did not cross my mind at how beautiful she would look. Her skin looks like roses and cream, the dress is tight at the waist and has neckline that almost goes to her waist. I want to cry at the sight of her. Anger rages inside of me at the people responsible for letting her go back into the arena, my resolve of getting her out alive flairs up and I suddenly know how to shock the crowd tonight.
When new reach the area where we are to wait, we see we are the last to arrive. Everyone stops talking and turns to look at us. Of course, we are shocking everyone again.
"I can't believe Cinna put you in that thing," Finnick finally says to Katniss.
"He didn't have any choice. President Snow made him," she says defending Cinna.
"Well, you look ridiculous!" Cashmere snaps. I am about to say something to her, but I hold my tongue, I am sure we can settle our differences in the arena. She grabs her brother's hand and pulls him up front to begin our line. The others pass us to line up as well, looking angry, but I am guessing because of the Games because we get a few encouraging pats on the shoulder. I am surprised when Johanna Mason stops to fix Katniss's necklace.
"Make him pay for it, okay?" she says. Katniss nods, looking a bit confused, and the interviews begin. Johanna's words seem to click into place as we listen to the interviews. Some of them are too far gone from drugs or alcohol to make much since and others, mainly Enobaria and Brutus are just itching to get back into the fight. But the rest of them are mad, more than mad really. Cashmere begins the show with a heart stopping speech about how she is crying each time she thinks of how hard these Games must be for the people of the Capitol. Gloss tells a story of how kind the Capitol people have been to him and his sister. Beetee, fidgety as always, questions if any experts have look into if these Games are even legal according to the terms set back all those years ago. Finnick makes some women faint by retelling a poem that he wrote for his one, true love. Johanna questions if anything can be done to the situation, since the bond between the Capitol and its victors runs so deep.
"How dare they break that bond for us!" she yells to the already overly emotional crowd, who yell back in agreement. Caesar can barely get them under control for the rest of the interviews.
Seeder is quiet, but tells Caesar that in their District, 11, they assume that President Snow is all powerful and can surely change the Quell. Chaff, who is a bit more straight forward, says, "President Snow can change the Quell. He just must not think the situation matters much to anyone." The crowd obviously disagrees. You can tell that they care so much. Most of them are in tears and almost beside themselves by the time it is Katniss's turn. Seeing her in that dress sends the crowd over the edge. It is almost a full blown riot and Katniss has not even gotten a chance to speak. Finally Caesar gets to begin the interview.
"So, Katniss, obviously this is a very emotional night for everyone. Is there anything you'd like to say?"
Her voice is shaky, but she says, "Only that I'm so sorry you won't get to be at my wedding…but I'm glad you at least get to see me in my dress. Isn't it just…the most beautiful thing?" She steps away and begins to twirl. Suddenly flames start licking up her dress, burning it away. I am about to run on stage to put out the fire, when it stops. Her white dress is gone, but Katniss is not standing there naked with blistering skin, like you would have thought. She is standing there in a black dress, her long sleeves replaced with what looks like wings, with white patches, making her into a living mockingjay. I am amazed at the transformation, as is everyone. Caesar touches her head dress and says, "Feathers. You're like a bird."
"A mockingjay, I think. It's the bird on the pin I wear as a token," Katniss explains. I reach up and play with the locket I have hidden under my clothes. Caesar has an odd look on his face, like this means much more than a little token, but says,
"Well, hats off to your stylist. I don't think anyone can argue that that's not the most spectacular thing we've ever seen in an interview. Cinna, I think you better bow!" I do not look to see if he does, but I am sure he does. I am still worried about the look on Caesar's face when Katniss confirmed she was a mockingjay. The crowd, who has been silent since the transformation, goes crazy. I barely hear the buzzer that signals the end of Katniss's interview time. Katniss takes her seat and I walk onto stage. It just occurred to me that I should have gone over this with her beforehand. Oh, well, it won't be the first time I surprise her.
I shake Caesar's hand and the crowd goes quiet. There's no beating around the bush. Caesar gets right to the heart of things, right where I want to be.
"So, Peeta, what was it like when, after all you've been through, you found out about the Quell?"
I tell the truth. "I was in shock. I mean, one minute I'm seeing Katniss looking so beautiful in all these wedding gowns, and the next….."
"You realized there was never going to be a wedding?" Caesar asks. I pause, drawing out the moment, looking out at the audience, down and back to the eyes of Caesar.
"Caesar, do you think all our friends here can keep a secret?" I ask. The crowd laughs, everyone in Panem is watching this broadcast.
"I feel quite certain of it," Caesar says, playing along.
"We're already married," I say, shocking the crowd. I see, out of the corner of my eye, Katniss hide her face in her dress.
"But….how can that be?" Caesar stammers.
"Oh, it's not an official marriage. We didn't go to the Justice Building or anything. But we have this marriage ritual in District 12. I don't know what it's like in the other districts. But there's this thing we do," I begin. "We start by building a fire, the first fire you build together. Then you toast some bread and share it. Really simple, but it means everything to our district."
"Were your families there?" Caesar asks.
"No, we didn't tell anyone. Not even Haymitch. And Katniss's mother would never have approved. But you see, we knew if we were married in the Capitol, there wouldn't be a toasting. And neither of us really wanted to wait any longer. So one day, we just did it," I explain. "And to us, we're more married than any piece of paper or big party could make us." The audience is pretty much silent, but I have more.
"So this was before the Quell?"
"Of course before the Quell. I'm sure we'd never have done it after we knew," I say, letting myself get upset. All the emotions of losing her, the ones I have been suppressing since the day after the reading of the card, starts to surface. "But who could've seen it coming? No one. We went through the Games, we were victors, everyone seemed so thrilled to see us together, and then out of nowhere…..I mean, how could we anticipate a thing like that?"
Caesar throws his arm around my shoulder, "You couldn't, Peeta. As you say, no one could've. But I have to confess, I'm glad you two had at least a few months of happiness together." The crowd gives a big applause and I see that Katniss is finally looking up from her hiding place. She has a small, sad smile on her face, tears in her eyes. Well, here we go.
"I'm not glad," I say, calming everyone down quickly. "I wish we had waited until the whole thing was done officially. Caesar seems shocked at my words. "Surely even a brief time is better than no time?"
I nod a little and say, "Maybe I'd think that, too, Caesar. If it weren't for the baby." Everyone is shocked. No one speaks for a few seconds, a few people whisper the word to confirm what they have heard, and then the shrieking begins, the calls for help, for justice. I see Katniss is in shock as well. I hear the buzzer sound, I nod to Caesar and walk to my seat. He is speaking, but no one can hear him over the sound of the crowd. We finally hear the anthem and Katniss stands, I reach out for Katniss, letting tears fall freely fall down my face. I haven't let my emotions take me since that night I saw a drunk Katniss fall into Gale's arms, and now I will not let them stop while we are on camera. Katniss reaches for Chaff and she holds his stump as he offers his hand to Seeder and so on, until we are all holding hands. There. Everyone in Panem sees us, twenty-four victors, standing as a unit, a defiance in the mouth of the Capitol.
The lights go out and I hold steady to Katniss's hand, leading her to the elevator. We are the first ones on and I see Johanna and Finnick trying to get through to us. I do not try to hold it for them, I need to talk to Katniss. Once the doors close and we are going upwards I take her by the shoulders and look into her eyes. "There isn't much time, so tell me. Is there anything I have to apologize for?"
"Nothing," she says. I sigh in relief and take her into my arms. We wait around the elevator for everyone else, but only Haymitch shows up.
"It's madness out there. Everyone's been sent home and they've canceled the recap of the interviews on television," he explains.
We go to the window and see chaos the streets below.
"What are they saying? Are they asking the president to stop the Games?" I ask.
"I don't think they know themselves what to ask. The whole situation is unprecedented. Even the idea of opposing the Capitol's agenda is a source of confusion for the people here. But there's no way Snow would cancel the Games. You know that, right?" Haymitch asks us. I nod and I ca see that Katniss knows this too.
"The others went home?" She asks.
"They were ordered to. I don't know how much luck they're having getting through the mob."
"Then we'll never see Effie again," I say. I am really glad we had a few minutes this morning. "You'll give her our thanks."
"More than that. Really make it special. It's Effie, after all. Tell her how appreciative we are and how she was the best escort ever and tell her…..tell her we send our love," Katniss says, looking upset. Next is us telling Haymitch goodbye. We didn't see him the morning of the Games last year either. We stand in uncomfortable silence and finally Haymitch says, "I guess this is where we say our goodbyes as well."
"Any last words of advice?" I ask.
"Stay alive," he says. We both smirk. He each get a small embrace from him and he says, "Go to bed. You need your rest." I feel like my heart will break, but I suck it up because I know Katniss is finally letting the goodbyes get to her.
"You take care, Haymitch," I say. We cross the room and start towards our rooms, when we hear Haymitch say, "Katniss, when you're in the arena," we pause and look at him. His scowl is back and it makes Katniss defensive. "What?"
"You just remember who the enemy is. That's all. Now go on. Get out of here."
We walk down the hall and I stop at my room.
"I will be right there. I just want to get all this makeup off." She shakes her head and will not let go of my hand.
"I have a shower in my room," she says, pulling on my hand a bit. I give in and go to her room with her. I wait patiently while she showers and then I take my turn. I take a bit longer than I mean to, but I have to pull myself together before I climb into bed with her.
Once I am done I crawl into bed with her. And we just spend the entire night holding each other, not sleeping, not moving, not talking, each of us hoping the other will be able to get a few minutes of sleep.
It seems like moments later that the sun begins to streak in the sky. Another few seconds later Cinna and Portia come in to begin getting us ready. I do not want to leave Katniss, even for a few minutes today, but we have to enter the arena alone. I give her a quick kiss and say, "See you soon."
"See you soon," she says back.
I walk to the roof with Portia and get frozen into place while I get pulled into the hovercraft and the tracker injected into my arm. Portia follows just a few minutes later. I eat a few pieces of bread and drink a lot of water, but that is about all I do. I know it will probably be harder to find water than anything in the arena, so I make sure I am extremely hydrated.
When we get into the Launch Room, I decline the shower, since I took one last night and begin getting dressed. The undergarments are much like last years, very simple and light. This year, though, the outfit is a tight jumpsuit, kind of sheer, a zipper up the front and a padded belt covered in a kind of purple plastic. The only thing I notice about the shoes are that they have rubber on the bottom. I stretch and move around making sure I have a full range of movement. It seems that I do. I tuck the necklace from Effie under my shirt.
"What do you think, Portia?" I ask.
"It's not much in the way of protection from wind or cold or even water. It must have some kind of sun." I nod, knowing that it really does not matter where we are, it just matters what I have to do.
The voice tells me it is time to get into the tube and I give Portia a hug.
"Thank you. For everything. And please tell Cinna thank you too," I say quickly.
"I will. Stay safe, Peeta. It has been an honor to know and work with you," she says, kissing me lightly on my cheek. I nod and get inside the tube. I close my eyes as I begin to rise and take a breath. I open my eyes, straighten my stance and wait for the impact of what is in store for us this time.
I look around and see water. The sky is a light pink, sun that is shining in the sky is white. I see one tribute to my left, beyond them there is a strip of something jetting out from an island that holds the Cornucopia. To my right is another strip, along with another tribute on the other side. I hear Claudius Templesmith says, "Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games begin!"
What am I going to do? I have never swam, there's no place to learn in the dusty confines of District 12. I look at the tributes I do see, which is only about half and I cannot see Katniss at all. The gong sounds and I am still trying to figure out what to do next. Do I risk getting into the water? I'm not sure I even know how to float. Plus, knowing the Capitol, there's probably some crazy mutations down there just waiting to rip us apart. I reach down and touch the water. I really am not sure what to do. I have to find Katniss and we have to get a plan. I am beginning to get angry. Is she still trapped on the plate like I am? I feel like a sitting duck out here. I finally see Katniss across from me, followed by Finnick. Is he already going after her? No, as I watch he puts his hand on her shoulder and then pats her belly, dropping all his weapons on the ground. What is going on? Allies, I guess? It must have been Haymitch. Katniss raises her bow as he makes a neat dive and swims toward me. He pops up under next to my plate and says, "I guess you don't have a big bathtub, like Katniss, do you?" I shake my head at him and spot Haymitch's golden flame band on his wrist.
"Unfortunately not," I say, knowing that this is not a request from Haymitch, but an order. I slid into the water and am surprised that I do not drop right under. Finnick pulls one of my arms across his chest and starts toward Katniss. Even with him towing me back, his strokes are strong and we get there very fast. When we reach the land, Katniss is there to help pull me out of the water.
"Hello, again," I say, kissing her. "We've got allies."
"Yes. Just as Haymitch intended."
"Remind me, did we make deals with anyone else?" I ask. Katniss nods toward the water and I see gray hair bobbing toward us.
"Only Mags, I think," she answers.
"Well, I can't leave Mags behind," Finnick says. "She's one of the few people who actually likes me."
"I've got no problem with Mags. Especially now that I see the arena. Her fishhooks are probably our best chance of getting a meal," Katniss says.
"Katniss wanted her on the first day," I say.
"Katniss has remarkably good judgment," Finnick says, scooping Mags out of the water. Mags says something, but I just cannot catch a word and pats her belt.
"Look, she's right. Someone figured it out," Finnick says, pointing toward Beetee, who is floating on the water, trying to make it somewhere.
"What?" Katniss asks, before I can.
"The belts. They're flotation devices," he explains. "I mean, you have t propel yourself, but they'll keep you from drowning." That's good to know for later. Katniss hands me a sheath of arrows, a bow and a knife. She hands Mags an awl and Mags reaches up to Finnick. He slings a net over his shoulder, puts Mags on top of it and grabs his trident with his free hand. With that we are running away from the Cornucopia, up into a jungle.