Thank you for reading, it's so lovely to know that people are actually enjoying this! Please continue to review as they really do encourage me, especially as we near the end of the series (not that I'm sad or anything...)
I do not own The Hunger Games nor its characters.
Chapter Sixty
My living quarters in 13 could not be more different from my house in 12 if they tried. The room is almost double the size of the cell I have been staying in, only the bed is slightly more comfortable and I have some storage space, which is filled with the uniform that pretty much every one in 13 wears.
I sigh as I sit down on the bed, my head still throbbing from the last bit of awful news I have received. It turns out that just before Katniss entered the arena Cinna was beaten to a pulp in front of her and then taken away for questioning where he was tortured and killed. I'm starting to lose track of how many friends I've lost in the last few weeks. Too many.
Mags. Chaff. Seeder. Cinna. And all of them bring with them their own unique kind of pain.
Plutarch cannot find any information on Effie or Portia, though, and as much as the former got on my nerves I definitely saw a change in her over the past year. I think finally having victors and losing them again made her re-evaluate the world in which she lives.
There's a knock on the door and I don't want to answer but I have actually signed a document agreeing to help the war effort as much as possible so I suppose my life is no longer my own. Not that it ever has been, really.
"It's open," I shout and the door swings open to reveal Melia. "Oh. Is everything okay?"
She nods and asks if she can sit on the bed so I budge up to give her some room.
"What's happened?" I ask, instantly worrying about Vieve.
"Nothing new, Rufus is still unconscious. Mum doesn't know I'm here."
"And why are you here?"
For the first time she turns to me and looks me straight in the eyes. "Rufus and I have always known about you and mum. She didn't tell us everything until about a year ago but the way she spoke about you over the years, well, it's obvious that she's always loved you."
"What?" I say. "Don't be silly, Melia. She probably cared for me but she loved your father, she did marry him, after all."
She shakes her head, "No, she only married him so that she wouldn't be on her own. And so that she could have us. Dad adored her but I know he knew that she loved someone else, he was just too in awe of her to say anything."
"You don't know what you're saying," I say, turning my head away. She's starting to make me feel uncomfortable, now.
"Trust me, I do. But I just want you to know that I don't resent you."
"Why not? If what you're saying is true, I was pretty much a dark cloud over your father's life."
"I don't think he saw it like that, he was so in love with her he didn't care and mum always did right by him. We had a happy family." Tears are forming in her eyes and I feel like someone is pressing down on my heart. It's easy to see the similarities between Addison and Peeta. Both pining after someone who may not love them. And, now, both of them lost to the forces of the Capitol.
"I just want mum to be truly happy," Melia continues, "I don't think she has been for a long time."
I smile and wipe away her tears, "You and Rufus make her happy, you have no idea how much she wanted you."
The following week is spent with me in and out of strategy meetings and avoiding Katniss at all costs, no one thinks it's wise for us to see each other yet and I have to agree. I have no intention of my face coming in to contact with her nails again.
I visit Finnick in the hospital wing whenever I can but he's not even a shadow of his former self. All he does is gaze off in to space and mindlessly ties and unties a piece of rope. I ask if he's heard anything about Annie and all he does is shake his head and continue to fiddle with the rope.
One night I try my best to sleep but without alcohol I find it terrifying just to close my eyes. All I can see is Peeta, covered in blood and screaming at me. I'm not even allowed a knife to help me feel protected.
As the early hours of the morning creep upon me there's a faint knock on my door.
"Haymitch," says Vieve, "Are you awake? Are you okay?" Even now she still knows my sleeping habits.
I open the door and before I can even speak she throws her arms around my neck. "Rufus is awake!" She says through tears, "He's going to be okay!"
"That's excellent news, Vieve," I say.
She pulls away and walks in to the room, closing the door behind her. "I know that Melia came to see you."
"And?"
"And I knew that you wouldn't believe her until I did this." She places her soft lips against mine and suddenly I feel twenty-two again, discovering this amazing woman for the first time. This feels so familiar and yet strangely new at the same time. I don't know how long we're like this until I finally pull away.
"Why are you doing this?" I ask, "Your husband has only been dead a few weeks!"
"You still don't get it, do you?!" She shouts, "I never loved him. It's always been you, you infuriating man! I only left you because I could see that being with you was only going to cause more problems with Snow. I was trying to protect you!"
"I thought it was because you wanted kids!"
A guard from outside the room bangs on the door, telling us to be quiet but neither of us cares. I've been waiting sixteen years for this.
Vieve lets out an exasperated groan, "You're really not as clever as people believe, you know! I did want children, yes, and I know that marrying Addison so quickly and having the twins was very selfish of me but I just thought the sooner I put a gap between us the better. If Snow thought I wanted nothing to do with you, he couldn't hurt either of us."
I am truly speechless. All of this time I thought she wanted nothing more to do with me when really she had been protecting me all along. How did I not see that? I thought I knew her better than anyone. Once, maybe.
I have to sit down on the bed for fear that I'll faint with shock. Vieve joins me and kisses my cheek, softly before stroking the side of my face.
"I'd better get back to Rufus," she says. "Try and get some rest."
Of course, I don't get any rest whatsoever and even though someone bangs on my door to go to breakfast I ignore them and don't wake up until late afternoon. At breakfast we're meant to get a schedule tattooed on to our arms but I've ignored mine for weeks and no one seems bothered enough to reprimand me. I guess I haven't proved useful enough yet.
Just before dinner Plutarch finds me heading towards the dining hall with a grave look on his face.
"I have to go to Command," he says, "But Katniss is going to be there so I think it's best if you watch in another room."
"Watch what?" I ask as he leads me down various corridors. He opens a door to a small room with a television screen and various other pieces of technology scattered around. It's basically a store cupboard.
"I don't know yet," says Plutarch, switching on the screen. "But Beetee has told us its mandatory viewing in Panem so it's vital that we see it."
Plutarch quickly leaves and ten minutes later Peeta and Caesar Flickerman appear on the screen, both looking healthy and well.
"So…Peeta…welcome back," says Caesar.
"I bet you thought you'd done your last interview with me, Caesar." Says Peeta.
"I confess, I did," says Caesar. "The night before the Quarter Quell…well, who ever thought we'd see you again?"
"It wasn't part of my plan, that's for sure,."
"I think it was clear to all of us what your plan was. To sacrifice yourself in the arena so that Katniss Everdeen and your child could survive."
"That was it. Clear and simple. But other people had plans as well."
Yes , I think. But he was always meant to be rescued, too, surely he sees that?
"Why don't you tell us about that last night in the arena? Help us sort a few things out." Says Caesar.
"That last night…to tell you about that last night…well, first of all, you have to imagine how it felt in the arena. It was like being an insect trapped under a bowl filled with steaming air. And all around you, jungle…green and alive and ticking. That giant clock ticking away your life. Every hour promising some new horror. You have to imagine that in the past two days, sixteen people have died, some of them defending you. At the rate things are going, the last eight will be dead by morning. Save one. The victor. And your plan is that it won't be you."
He starts talking about life in the arena and what it does to you, what it really does to you, which is a huge risk to be taking when he's still in the Capitol. No victor has ever said what the Games really does to us, we only ever applause and celebrate them.
He then starts talking about the final night and when Caesar accuses Katniss of being involved with the rebels he can't help but get aggressive, he'd defend that girl to the end.
"What about your mentor, Haymitch Abernathy?" Says Caesar.
"I don't know what Haymitch knew."
"Could he have been part of the conspiracy?"
"He never mentioned it."
"What does your heart tell you?"
"That I shouldn't have trusted him. That's all."
It's nothing more than I deserve but his words still sting. I never wanted him to die, not even last year when I was desperate to get Katniss home. He deserves more than any of us to live.
"We can stop now if you want," says Caesar, patting Peeta's shoulder.
"Was there more to discuss?" asks Peeta.
"I was going to ask your thoughts on the war, but if you're too upset…"
"Oh, I'm not too upset to answer that. I want everyone watching, whether you're on the Capitol or the rebel side, to stop for just a moment and think about what this war could mean. For human beings. We almost went extinct fighting one another before. Now our numbers are even fewer. Our conditions more tenuous. Is this really what we want to do? Kill ourselves off completely? In the hopes that, what? Some decent species will inherit the smoking remains of the earth?"
"I don't really…I'm not sure I'm following…" says Caesar.
"We can't fight one another, Caesar. There won't be enough of us left to keep going. If everybody doesn't lay down their weapons, and I mean, as in very soon, it's all over, anyway."
"So…you're calling for a cease-fire?" Caesar asks.
"Yes. I'm calling for a cease-fire. Now why don't we ask the guards to take me back to my quarters so I can build another hundred card houses?"
"All right. I think that wraps it up," says Caesar, turning to the camera. "So back to our regularly scheduled programming."
I close my eyes and curse. I can only imagine what Coin and the others have to say about this. Peeta has always been a gentle soul; killing and violence were thrust upon him, he didn't choose to embrace that way of life. And now I have no doubt that he's being called all sorts of horrid things; a traitor, a liar and who knows what else. That poor boy, what have we done to him?
As I head back towards my quarters, no longer feeling particularly hungry, I must take a wrong turn because I end up in Special Defence and surrounded by every kind of weapon imaginable. It seems like even here it's impossible to escape the Games.
"Haymitch!" A voice shouts, "Where have you been, my friend?"
I turn around to find Beetee in a wheelchair, making his way over to me.
"Sorry, I've had lots to do," I say. The truth is I'm still unsure about how I feel towards the brilliant inventor.
"I am sorry," he says. "I didn't think separating them would cause so much harm."
"Right. Any idea how I get out of here?"
He gives me a smile before proceeding to direct me back towards my quarters, he must sense that I'm in no mood to talk. The hospital wing happens to be along the way so I see if I can get my hands on any rubbing alcohol but a very stern woman promptly kicks me out and sends me on my way.
The next day, just after lunch, I'm called in to Command where Coin, Boggs and Plutarch are waiting for me.
"What's going on?" I ask.
"We just thought you'd like to know that Katniss has agreed to be our mockingjay," says Coin, "But she has a few conditions."
"Oh, really?" I say and I can't help but smirk. That's my girl.
"We're announcing it this evening," says Plutarch. "But we didn't know if you'd want to be there…"
"No, you're right. But soon. Hopefully." I say.
"Very well," says Coin and takes a piece of paper out from her pocket. "Soldier Everdeen has agreed to be the figurehead of the rebellion provided that her fellow victors, Peeta Mellark, Johanna Mason, Enobaria Grist and Annie Cresta, are granted a full pardon should they do anything to damage the rebel cause. And in return Soldier Everdeen will devote herself to the cause and if there is any break in our agreement the immunity will be terminated and the fate of the four victors determined by the law of District Thirteen."
I have to bite my lip not to say anything. She's basically saying that if Katniss doesn't do exactly as Coin and her district demand than Katniss is pretty much dead. She may hate me but I'll be damned if I let her go through this alone. I'm still her mentor whether she likes it or not.