Of Blood and Water

by Takafan

Peeta lives a quite life in District 12. He attends school like every other 16 year old while his spare time is spent in the family's bakery and admiring Katniss Everdeen from afar. But Peeta's life is turned upside down when he discovers that everything he knows is a lie. And to make matters worse, it turns out that he's not even a Mellark - but the only child of President Snow.

7. Chapter 7 - Katniss

Chapter 7

During the next year the shock of Peeta's true identity fades with time and the district returns to it usual self. Fighting to survive the Winter, forgetting the hardships in Spring and trying to look forward after the horrible annual games. Of course, Peeta's presence - or more accurate - the lack of it in the district is still an ever-ongoing topic of gossip and people seem to thrive whenever there are any stories of his dealings with his charity work or whenever he shows himself to the public, which is infrequent. Katniss remembers the mistrust of the Mellarks in the weeks and months after the truth came out, but now the citizens of 12 have performed a U-turn and is now fiercely proud of Peeta, despite being a Capitolite in disguise. Katniss on the other hand knows, along with the Mellarks, that Peeta never wanted to be a Capitolite thanks to Bannock's reveal last year. She is still puzzled that he told her at all. Why tell her and not the entire district? Surely, they would appreciate to know that Peeta had always been one of them. Still, she kept the secret locked deep within her. It seems too personal to reveal to anyone – even Prim. But nowadays people seem to not need to know the truth about that horrible evening three years ago. 12 has come to that conclusion by itself. After all, 12 raised him, so naturally, he is one of them – especially when his charity foundation mostly focuses on improving the lives of the people in the districts.

And with the acceptance of Peeta's new position in life, so came the acceptance of the Mellarks and their popularity in the district skyrocket. Now, the family, that once was so down in the dumps, is back on track. Mr. Mellark's mood has improved, although anyone can see that he still misses his 'lost son' a great deal. Bannock and Rye returned to their outgoing manner, especially Rye who apparently had made it his own personal mission to flirt with every single girl in the district. Even Mrs. Mellark had changed, but not for the better. Now, she parades around Town as if she owns it, having successfully turned herself into the first lady of the district by exploiting the fact that she indeed is the one who Peeta regards as his mother. And who could contradict her? He had never known his deceased biological mother after all. But Mrs. Mellark's newfound vanity and pride is a definite improvement compared to her former self since she now spends more time out among the women in Town and therefore have less time to swing a rolling pan in the direction of children from the Seam. Bu Katniss still makes sure to never ever get within a radius of three miles of her.

Today, the district is full of life. It is not even noon yet, but town is filled with people. Sunday is always a day where you find most people in the streets, Town and Seam alike, but the excitement of tonight's Spring Festival is already about to overflow. Miners, who usually relax at home, are setting up the big stage for the band in the grand square and setting up tables for families to retreat to. Booths are slowly shooting up around the site and the shop-owners are starting to decorate their booths for them to look as festive as possible. Men, woman and children are running around decorating the whole place with floating lights from tree to tree and setting up a raised podium for the mayor and his important guest of the evening. The florist and his helpers have already decorated most of the house fronts that are facing the square and now shift their focus to the train station, which has to look impeccable for Mayor Undersee's guest… because it is none other than President Snow himself.

President Snow is on a tour of all the districts, which naturally includes District 12 as well. It is said, that he wishes to show Panem as one unifying country. To keep in touch with the people and hear of their daily struggles for improvement and to honour each district's valuable contribution to the country. But everybody knows that it is nothing more than a reminder for the people about who is actually in charge. Katniss cannot recall, that the president has ever visited a district before and his scheduled presence alongside his horde of peacekeepers should have been enough to quell the excitement of the one day a year people actually love. But surprisingly it does not and that is due to one ultimate shimmer of hope coursing through the district.

Peeta.

Since the tour began people have questioned whether Snow will bring Peeta with him to 12. Mandatory viewings have shown footages of the president's 'campaign of peace' through the districts and in some districts Peeta had indeed been by the president's side only to vanish again, not to be seen the day after in another district. Most people in 12 have already declared that they intend to be present at the train station when the presidential train arrives even though there has only been stated at minimum-criteria of attendance. It will not look very well on camera if only a few people were there to greet the president when he arrives. In reality, people are not showing up for Snow, but because they want to be there to welcome home their special boy since they are certain that he will be on that train. He simply has to!

Katniss, however, is not so certain. Snow can easily achieve what he wants from the tour without Peeta by his side in 12. Despite how well-liked Peeta may be in 12, he is not enough for the people to suddenly declare their undying love and obedience to the Capitol. Snow's peacekeepers oppress the district fine enough on their own to ensure that 12 keeps in line. And why would Snow even wish to bring Peeta back home to the very district he never wanted to leave in the first place? To risk a chaotic scene between Peeta and the Mellarks displayed in public? It does not sound very likely.

She scoops up the flat woven wooden basket she is carrying, so that it rests on her hip. One would not think that carrying flowers and strawberries around the district would be a physical job, but because she cannot carry all the flowers at the same time in fear of crushing them, she has to walk back and forth from Town, the Seam and the forest multiple times. The florist may not be happy about having competition, but an income is an income, and all the women in 12, old as young, need flowers to decorate their hair tonight. And Katniss can provide them with flowers in all colours and sizes for a price even women from the Seam can afford. She has already been supplying the Seam and is on her final round in Town before she can return home. Of course, plenty of the merchant families still slam the door in her face out of loyalty to the florist, but her round in Town has been fairly profitable. The next-to-last home on her list is the Undersees. She fully expects the mayor to purchase their flowers from the florist as they do every year, but Madge had asked her to come see her before she goes home. And usually that means a free meal in Madge's room, which is always a benefit.

The kitchen-staff is expecting her knock on the back door and she is immediately being sent to see Madge in her room with the promise of a slight delight that will closely follow, now that the young mistress has company. When she comes near Madge's room on the first floor she is greeted by the soft tones of a piano piece. Katniss will seldom admit this, but hearing Madge play the piano is actually one of her favourite ways to waste an afternoon. Their friendship had remained the same since their school years. Madge would usually invite Katniss over for company but mostly they would just enjoy each other's presence without the need to fill the room with unnecessary jibber jabber. That is, Madge would be practising her piano while Katniss would lay solitaire and listen to the music. On very rare occasions Madge would persuade her into joining her at the piano bench, trying to teach her easy melodies or even sing along. Other times they sat in the garden playing cards and talking about random things like other normal women do. But that would mostly be if Delly Cartwrigth happened to be invited too, and boy could she talk an ear off if they let her. The list of friends that Katniss keeps is quite simple. Gale and Madge and maybe even Delly could now be counted as a friend rather than an acquaintance. If she is honest, she does not mind Delly's company, and Delly enjoys talking to everyone. At first, she was sceptical by Delly's constant presence whenever Madge invited Katniss over, but Madge convinced her that she could be more open towards Delly, who was going through a hard time at that moment, since her best friend had suddenly disappeared. Now, that said friend's whereabouts are known, but that did not stop their newfound friendship. But she has to admit that she is glad not to see Delly in the room when she enters. She would surely blabber on about Peeta, and Katniss has heard enough of that particular topic during the last few days. It may be selfish, but the thought of having Peeta in the district again only makes her omnipresent guilt strengthen and the problem of how she would ever be able to repay him for his kindness to circle inside her head.

However, her relief of not seeing Delly is groundless, as the topic she wishes to avoid is currently blasting into her face from the screen in the room. Of course, Madge has to be watching Capitol-TV, since she, as the mayor's daughter, will probably have to speak with the president for a short while. Madge's busy fingers across the piano keys halt and she meets Katniss in front of the projector that is showing recaps from the tour in the other districts. This particular clip is from District 7, where the media had followed Peeta to the local orphanage, where they watched him interact with the children there. Playing with them, painting with them and even comforting a small boy who lost his brother to the games last year by letting him sit on his lap while he told the boy a part of a poem from 12, that is used to lessen the pain of parting with a loved one. Even Katniss had to admit that that particular moment had struck a hopeful ray of sunshine into her usual emotionless soul. 'Are you gently sleeping, here inside my dream? And isn't faith believing all power can't be seen? As my heart holds you, just one beat away. I cherish all you gave me every day. Because I believe that angels breathe. And that love will live on and never leave.' Even though she was no stranger to that poem, it confirmed that he is still the kind boy with the bread she knew back then. And it gave her a certain comfort she could not put a name to.

"Do you think he will come?" she surprises herself by asking Madge. Had she not just been rolling her eyes at people who kept asking the exact same question?

"I hope he does. He was always so kind. It would be lovely to see him again."

"It's all people talk about in the district." Katniss murmurs.

"Well, people are dreamers. They see him as this young golden boy and they think wouldn't it be wonderful to have a young golden president?"

Katniss looks to her in shock. How can she say that inside the mayor's home? Does the Capitol not listen to everything said in a house that somehow resembles power?

Ignoring Katniss' facial expression that clearly indicates her shock, Madge continues, answering her own question. "Well indeed it would. But that's not the way it works. It's a heredity position. It's not an ordinary job. Peeta cannot say, 'Well, I'll take that job now.' He has to wait until it's his turn, no matter how long that may take… and so must the people."

Madge turns her attention to the screen before continuing, "You know, it must be hard for him. Undoubtedly, it must require a healthy set of instincts and a strength seldom seen in a young person, who's being brought up to be a president, to counteract the risk of that person not being damaged for life in such an environment. To live while defencelessly watching your life being handed out to the public from early on must give certain scars on the human soul. Don't you think?"

"That's very deep Madge. You know, I can't keep up with you when your say things like that. You forget, that I'm not as refined as you."

"I think you're more intelligent, than you want people to know. And they do know… How else would you be able to stay out of the mines."

Katniss shrugs. She does not quite know how to respond when people compliment her and quickly shifts the conversation back to the boy with the bread, "Nevertheless, I guess you're right. It was evident that he thought the conversation with that small boy from District 7 was being held in private. It does not take an expert to see that he was distraught when he discovered they were being filmed. It was supposed to be private."

"And that's just the problem. It's quite clear that Peeta has found it very difficult to cope with the press. The very fact that there have been very few photographic opportunities whilst he was growing up, the press keeps following him around whenever he shows himself. Whether Peeta likes it or not, he's a media darling. There's not the faintest hope that the Capitolites will suddenly loose interest in the presidential family. Trust me, I know. Unlike you, I have to watch Capitol-TV. There's this obsessive passion for every detail of their private life. For the presidential family, the press is a necessary evil. All that we know about them is formed by how they're portrayed in the media. I'm sure they would much rather the media didn't exist. On the other hand, what is the point of going around the country doing their charity works, if it isn't publicised."

Madge is interrupted by a knock on the door. The refreshments are a welcome sight. Unfortunately, the tray is placed on the small table by the couch in front of the projector, so now there is probably no chance of Madge turning the projector off. As Katniss lowers herself onto the couch and reaches for a sandwich, Madge continues with her apparently expert knowledge on the media frenzy. Katniss cannot help but think that Madge would be a much more interesting commentator on this particular subject than either Caesar Flickerman or Claudius Templesmith. "I think he would prefer to never be photographed again, but he must realise that he doesn't have that choice. He has got a very privileged position. It's an accident of birth, I know, but unfortunately, he has got that duty to carry out. Whether Peeta likes it or not he's going to have to learn to play the media game, and I suspect he will play it in a very cautious and a very conservative way, giving the least he can to the media."

Katniss has no responds. Madge has always been known for being this shy girl, who never says too much in front of other people. But in private… the girl has her finger on the pulse. All those years she spent in her father's shadow, watching him, learning from him. She is definitely on her path to becoming a mayor herself, not just the daughter of a mayor or the future wife of a mayor. Yes, Katniss knows that Madge, as a woman, can never be mayor in her own right, but she will be the true force in the district and not just a pretty face. And Katniss cannot help smiling of the thought. There is no denying that Madge is right and she knows it, so there is nothing for Katniss to do but to continue to nibble on her sandwich and enjoy the fact that the kitchen had been nice enough to include meat in her sandwich today. Usually, it is only Madge that gets the expensive meat, even though she always switches their sandwiches after the help has left so Katniss ends up with the good sandwich. And that is just another good trait that Madge possesses.

As it often happens with a projector screen, Katniss finds her attention drifting towards it. Claudius Templesmith's wig is so large and so red that it reminds her of a giant tomato while Ceasar's facial skin is pulled back to such an extent that she is astonished his eyebrows are still able to move. Templesmith is pointing to a map of Panem behind them as he speaks, "So, we know that our beloved heir has been present in District 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8, while being absent for the remaining districts. Such a shame. But tell me Caesar, at this last stop in District 12, do you think there's a chance he'll make a reappearance? It's after all his home district. I would say the chance is as high as it gets!"

"My dear friend, you know that I always hope he'll be present. Not because President Snow isn't doing a phenomenal job on this tour, for he is, but because Peeta Snow just has a certain air to him. I mean, he's a mega star, one of the only ones the Snow family has. And that has something to do with his way of addressing the people. We get to see an heir who is very, very real. He reaches out to people and meets them at their eye level. On one side, he is the future president of Panem, but on the other side, he comes across as a regular human being who shows an interest in other people."

It is as if that comment was a cue card for the program to yet again show a compilation of Peeta walking and greeting the people in district 4 or listening intensely to the fishermen showing him their nets, while the commentators are banished to a box in the corner, continuing to talk about Peeta's good graces.

"I think you nailed it. Spot on, Caesar! What we've seen in this last year is that Peeta Snow is learning to work the crowd pretty well. He's very charming. He goes over and shakes people's hand and asks them how they're doing. He does the walkabout, which I think must be the most awful part of being in the presidential family. Walking up to total strangers and trying to make conversation with them. The art of polite conversation is something that children in the presidential family learn at a very young age. When Peeta was just about five, he would sit at the front counter in a district bakery alongside his foster father chatting to the customers and asking about their family. So, he has learned to show concern, and it comes a second nature to him. That's a part of growing up, talking to people you might don't want to talk to or perhaps will never talk to again."

"Exactly, but as we are having this conversation, you know I have to address the certain rumours about his… shall we say 'rough start' in the Capitol. The fact that he at one point on his return to the Capitol, regarded his destiny as a burden. A big burden on his shoulders. The thought of being president. And that makes totally sense. He came from a life in the shadows, a life as a normal kid and suddenly he finds himself in a carriage being paraded around the Capitol. Did you know, it is rumoured that he described that day as one of the hardest days in his life to Madam Trinket, the head of his household? The feeling that his life was ending. But now it seems, that he has reached a stage in his life where he has willingly accepted his position, so he now appears more clarified. And I definitely can see that in him, just on this tour alone."

Katniss' heart drops at this comment. He was miserable. While Gale and others were commenting on all of his advantages and good fortune on the day of his presentation, Peeta had been utterly miserable. Was he still? Somehow, that makes her change her mind. Now she utterly wishes that he will step out of that train later today, just so she can see his face light up when he is reunited with his family and friends.

"So, if I may summarise what you're saying." Claudius Templesmith continues to blabber, "The more natural the Heir appears to be, the better it is going to be. He seems to have a lot of natural charm, the same way his mother had. Because if he understands the way ordinary people think and feel, then he has the chance of coming across as a natural, caring individual. Someone, who genuinely cares about people in this country. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that our president is lacking in that field. But Peeta Snow has a very exciting potential and I must confess, that I for one am so excited to watch his reaction to seeing his home district, to see how he behaves around the people who knew him as Peeta Mellark and not Peeta Snow. His foster family! We have never seen them before. What an exciting prospect that has! I so hope that our esteemed president has decided his son simply has to be present for this particular stop at the tour."

"Well, Claudius. Only time will tell. And fortunately for us, the waiting time is almost over. Only three hours until the presidential train rolls into the train station of District 12." Caesar laughs; presenting his way too white smile to the audience.

As the screen shifts to footage of President Snow in District 5, so does Madge's focus point. Finally, Katniss gets her original wish fulfilled. Silence on the Peeta-topic at last. Madge leans forward to pluck a daisy from the basket. She rolls the stem around and studies the flower petals thoughtfully. "I'm sorry I cannot buy your flowers." she tells her, "I'm wearing daisies tonight. But they don't look as well as yours. Yours have so much liveliness to them. Perhaps because they really are fresh and not imported. But my dad said it wouldn't do."

She drops the flower into the basket again, where it joins its sisters of all kind of colours.

"That's all right, Madge. You apologise for it every year, and there's really no need for you to keep doing that. I understand your father has to support the shopkeepers. It's just the way it is."

"I assume you'll be wearing your katniss-flowers again."

Katniss shrugs and takes a sip of her tea, "You assumed right. It's a tradition by now."

Madge chuckles. It really is a tradition since she has never worn any other flowers in her hair. Somehow it would not be right, almost blasphemous to choose another kind of flower. Madge picks up the teapot and pours a cup before pushing the bowl containing expensive sugar towards Katniss, "I'm glad. No one else is wearing them and they look really pretty on you. You should wear them more often. They enhance your natural beauty."

Katniss cannot help but snort. She is as far from feminine as it gets. Comfort and practicality on the other hand is more up her alley. If she begins to take an interest in pretty things, she would more likely give people a heart attack, "Yeah? Well, I'll think of that the next time I skin a rabbit with my bare hands."

The mental image of her sitting in a fine dress and with flowers and ribbons in her flowing hair while her hands are covered in blood and bile from the dead rabbit in them is more than enough for the two young women to share a seldom, precious laugh. Madge even has to set down her cup of tea to keep from spilling.

Afterwards, there is an odd pause, which is quite unusual seeing as silence is a part of their friendship agreement. But Katniss can feel a question burning on the tip of Madge's tongue. And sure enough, 30 seconds later she cannot keep silent anymore. "Do you think tonight will be the night he asks you?"

Katniss knows exactly who and what Madge is referring to, but she prefers to avoid topics like these. But she also knows, that her friend will not drop the subject easily, so she plays right into it, "Who?"

"Gale, of course. Everyone is just waiting for you two to settle down. That is, if you don't count a good number of young ladies in the district who hope to take your spot for themselves."

And there it is. The ever-returning subject. Gale and her.

It started on the very day of her last reaping. The whispers and the assumptions that she and Gale would tie the knot as soon as they had survived the reapings. Her family, the Hawthornes, people at the Hob all seemed to take an interest. When she visited Greasy Sae's stall that first afternoon of freedom, the first thing Sae asked her was when the toasting would be, making her spit soup all over the table due to a coughing fit. Of course, she understands why it is the favourite question to ask all 18-years-olds when they age out of the reaping. Having survived the reaping meant that your adult life could begin. And adult life meant family and children. Most young people from the Seam tend to get married as soon as possible and get assigned their own house by the Justice Building to start making their own income from working in the mines. If they have their own household to support their pay can increase. That way, they are not a burden for their families. They do not have the same luxury as people in Town have. Merchants usually do not have as many children as those in the Seam and so they can take their time to find the right partner before leaving the family home.

It would make sense for her and Gale to get married. And she is not blind. Gale is tall, fit and handsome. She has noticed the looks he is getting when he walks around the district and the equally jealous looks her way whenever she walks next to him. He is hard working, has good moral and is a loving son and older brother. He possesses many traits that are desirable. They already spend all their time together, but she has a feeling that Gale – or any young man for that matter – would not settle for a loveless and childless marriage. But it is all that she is able to offer, which is unlikely to change. Gale sometimes teases her about the gossip about them and one time even listed the reasons why they should go down to the Justice Building. But she just gave him a glare that told him to shut up. She is not getting married. Ever. End of discussion. And hopefully, Gale will have understood that by now.

"Gale and I are not like that, Madge. I told you once before... and Delly for that matter. That girl seems to be even more invested in our 'supposed' relationship as well as everyone else's."

"Oh, yes you did… multiple times. I was just curious if that was still the case. But we're 19 years old now. He's 21. Many of our friends are getting engaged and we have to think about that too. My dad is really starting to push me to be more social outgoing. Obviously, he wishes to know who will be his successor." The faintest hint of a blush appears on Madge's cheeks and she looks away before continuing, "Unfortunately, I'm told I have to stay clear of people from the Seam, so, I'm afraid I cannot help you take Gale off your hands… if you don't want him, that is."

"I don't." Katniss confirms, shaking her head slightly. What is it with Gale and the women of this district? Is he having an effect on every person with ovaries except her? She thanks Madge for the sandwich and the tea before reaching for her basket. She needs to make one final stop in Town before she is ready to return home.

Madge rises too to escort her guest out, always a perfect example of great manners. But not before trying to hoax her guest into aiding her tonight. "But you're going to dance right? We could be in a quadrille together. Supporting each other in the unknown lands of the opposite sex?"

"Or you could just do as I intend to do." Katniss tells her, as she turns around in the doorway to face her friend with a smile, "Don't dance at all. Problem solved."

Madge crosses her arms and leans against the door, her head touching the doorframe. Her blond hair falls in graceful soft curls around her face. Everything she does comes with a natural feminine ease, which Katniss is sure she would never be able to copy. Madge really is a complete epitome of grace and beauty. She will have no problem attracting suitors at the festival should she wish to. The mayor's daughter is in deep thought, "Do you really think you can do that? Not dance at all when everyone else is? One would think that you might despise fun."

"I think I'll manage. But I'll tell Gale to save you a dance."

And that is how you shut down a debate with Madge, who can only look away as that hint of a blush turns into a full-blown fire.

---

Once she is back in the square Katniss immediately sets off towards the bakery. Usually, she would have traded some of the strawberries with the mayor's staff, but today all the strawberries go to Mr. Mellark. He asked her about it during the latest trade. He needs a lot of them because he intends to use them in the pastries and as decorations tonight. Because she approaches the bakery from the square and not the forest, she gets a glimpse through the front windows. She sees Bannock rushing through the swing door that leads to the kitchen, while Mrs. Mellark is attending customers. Katniss smiles. The coast is clear for a trade.

She reaches the back door of the bakery and knocks three times to let the baker know, that she has arrived. The door opens and Katniss has to take a small step back in astonishment, because it is not Mr. Mellark who is standing in the doorway.

"Peeta." she breathes.

The last time she had seen him in person, he was on the verge of manhood with all the promises of what was to come. Now those promises have been fulfilled and he stands there in front of her in all his glory. She takes him in. He looks so healthy and his hair is back to his usual hairstyle; messy soft curls instead of the neat styling he usually sports when on a job in the Capitol. She notices, that he is wearing a worn white T-shirt, that clearly is a hand-me-down from Bannock or Rye. She had become used to seeing him dressed in Capitol clothes of the finest calibre, but the way he fills out the worn t-shirt makes her stomach do a strange loop. In her opinion, it looks 100 times better on him than a tailored suit. It is like he never left 12 at all. His face breaks into a smile and his blue eyes dance with joy and excitement. She never thought that she would see those blue eyes connect with hers again.

"Hello Katniss. It's good to see you again." He keeps smiling at her, one of his real smiles she notices. His gaze never leaves her face, but the intensity of it makes her think that he too is absorbing as much as he can of her features. Like he too cannot really believe, that they are standing face to face again.

"You're back!" That is all she manages to say in return. Smooth, Katniss. Stating the obvious.

Luckily, he just laughs at her stupidity. "Yeah. It's good to be back. I arrived last night. Thankfully I was allowed some time to meet up with my family and friends before the whole circus arrives."

Still, in utter disbelief, that Peeta is actually here, she keeps saying the first thing that comes to mind, "So, you'll stay here then?"

"Only until tomorrow, sadly. But yes, I'll be staying, but I've been given leave to not participate in any of the official stuff so I can enjoy my time back home. I know I said it before, but it really is good to see you Katniss. I've missed you…and your squirrels, of course", he grins. "I know I probably don't get to taste one of them this time around, so I guess that gives me another excuse to find a way to return to 12."

She just stares at him. He missed her? They never really talked before, but somehow her mind is screaming at her to tell him, that the feeling is mutual, but that seems too close to comfort. Instead, she does what she always does. She changes the subject, "I don't have any squirrels, but I have the strawberries your father… I mean, Mr. Mellark asked for." she quickly says and pushes the bowl into his hands.

If he noticed her slip-up, he did not comment on it. Instead, he inspects the strawberries and happily declares that they are of a perfect quality. The silence that follows after he hands her a larger paper bag containing two loafs and four buns is deafening. She wants to say more, to say that she is happy to see him too, but she cannot think straight. Her nerves get the better of her, and she turns to leave.

"Are you coming to the festival tonight?" Peeta calls out to her before she has taken one step. She turns around to face him again, "Yes, Prim wants to go."

His smile almost reaches his ears, "Great! Ehm, I was wondering if you will save me a dance tonight?"

She does not even think before automatically answering, "I don't dance."

His hopeful face falls a bit, "Oh, okay then. I guess, I'll see you there, right?"

She nods and leaves while she mentally curses herself.

---

She does not return home straight away as planned, but ends up in the meadow. She needs some time to herself to process what just happened. Peeta is back and she is probably one of the first to know about it. She had messed up. He was so happy to see her; a face he probably thought he would never see again, just like the rest of his friends and family, and she had completely brushed him off! She should have been nicer to him, especially since she, despite her better judgement, had been worried about him for all this time. And what is worse, he was right in front of her, and she did not even think about her ever-consuming guilt and her need to repay him. She had been completely tongue-tied and she hates herself for it. How will she ever repay him if she cannot even talk to him? He even asked if she wanted to dance with him at the festival, and she did not even consider how great an opportunity that would have been. She could have paid a small amount of what she owed him by simply agreeing to one lousy dance! He had asked something of her, and she had declined! What a great way to thank him for saving her life.

She allows herself to simmer in her own guilt and shame for at least 30 minutes, before she decides to go home. Her head is aching from overthinking her meeting with Peeta. Since she squandered a perfect opportunity handed to her on a silver platter by the man himself, she will have to come up with another idea to approach him today or at the festival tonight. Perhaps doing her daily chores will help clear her head, so she can come up with a plan.

---

She decided not to go to the train station, when President Snow arrived a few hours later. Peeta would probably be there, and she was not ready to face him again, especially since there would be a horde of people, peacekeepers and a total media coverage. How would she ever get to speak to him with all of that going on? But he did say that he would be allowed to run around with his friends during the day and the festival. She comes to the conclusion, that the festival will be the best time to approach him. But as the time comes for them to head towards the festival, she is still without a plan.

"Have you heard the news?" Prim exclaims as the first thing when she sees the Hawthornes. "Peeta's here!" she beams. It was all she could talk about all day when she first heard the gossip from her friend, Leah.

"Yes, we heard about the return of the golden boy." Gale mutters.

"Apparently, he looks well and he's still as kind as ever." Prim chatters on, completely ignoring Gale's dwelling mood. "You could have met him, you know. Katniss told us, that he is staying at the bakery, and Mr. Mellark let Peeta do the trading today."

Gale looks to Katniss so quickly, she is afraid that he will break or at least sprain his neck, "You traded with him?"

She tries to play down her earlier meeting with Peeta, as if it was no big thing, "Yeah. It was fine. I got a good trade for the strawberries I brought."

"Of course, you did", Gale mumbles more to himself than anyone and looks more sour than ever.

Katniss decides to let Gale's remark slide. What is it with him? Every time he hears Peeta's name he tenses and becomes rigid and stale. But now is not the time to call him out on his feelings of injustice, and she definitely does not want the only truly good evening in the whole year to be spoiled by his bitterness. Besides, she needs to speak to Peeta again tonight, and she doubts that Gale will see kindly towards this if they have a row about his negative attitude towards Peeta. He would probably do everything in his power to prevent that meeting from happening if he knew about it.

---

When they have just found a table with enough space for their two families to sit at, Katniss sees Thom approaching. As he reaches them, he swings his arms out towards Gale, "Gale, you are just the man I've been looking for. We need another man for the tug-of-war. It's time to wipe the smiles of the Townies' faces again."

"I don't know Thom. I'm pretty tired from the shift yesterday and…" Gale suddenly stops his excuse for not being able to participate, "You know what? I think some good old-fashioned rivalry will do me good. Count me in." And as he rises from the bench and follows Thom, Katniss sees the reason why Gale decided to change his mind: The Merchants making a happy fuss about Rye Mellark having pulled Peeta with him to join the Merchants' team. Bannock is ruffling his youngest 'brother's' hair, welcoming him to the team, while she can just make out Effie Trinket's hopeless attempts from the side line to call Peeta back by judging her gesticulations. People have already started to gather round the competition area, and Katniss decides that she should be there as well, if only to prevent Gale from doing anything stupid. What is it with his obsession with Peeta? She can see how he sends daggers in his direction, but thankfully, Peeta does not seem to notice.

The teams line up on each side of the rope. To make things more interesting, a hole has been dug in the middle and filled with water. It is said that the hole had once been filled with mud, but it was deemed too hard a punishment for the losing team, since people, especially the ones from the Seam, only had one good shirt. Wet clothes will dry, whereas stained clothes will have to be washed again and again. The participants' mood is high and the usual harmless insults fly back and forth. This time however, most of them are aimed at Peeta. "You ready to be soaked on national television, Golden Boy?" or "What will your father say when his precious heir loses right in front of him?" Peeta, however, has the grace not to reply, but is still all smiles while chatting and laughing with his teammates.

The mayor comes and stands as close to the middle as possible and bid the participants to take their places. The audience have automatically also joined sides, the town people on the Merchants' side, and the Seam residents on the miners' side. The audience's mood is high with their cheers aiming at their particular team. Prim and Rory show up next to her to support Gale. Katniss sees Peeta being placed in the middle of the merchant line wedged in between his two brothers, while Gale makes out the rear of the Seam line. Typically, you place the strongest at the end, but apparently Gale's willpower to beat the Merchants makes up for his tiredness. The mayor calls out, "Remember, the first team to pull the bow over to their side wins. The losing team will be soaked. On the count of three. One… two… three!"

The young men tuck and tuck. They plant their feet firmly in the ground to withstand the pulling forces from the other side of the rope. The men and women, boys and girls, who watch are cheering louder when their team looks to gain momentum. Katniss looks from Peeta to Gale and somehow manages to catch both their eyes in those short glimpses. The participants really start to pull with everything they got, trying to get the other team to go down. But the competition must end, and it does. Theo, one of the men on Gale's team loses his footing and falls to the ground while still holding on to the rope. The Merchant team sees their opportunity and gives a powerful tuck on their end, making the Mining team plummeting forward into the made-up pond with a huge splash. Gale, being at the end of the line just manages to let go of the rope before he falls in too. That is what is smart about being at the end of the line. You might have to bring more strength to the team, but you can avoid the punishment if your team loses.

"And the winner is… the Merchant's team!" Mayor Undersee exclaims. Gales sends the Merchant team a sour look before helping his teammates up from the pond. Meanwhile, the Merchants are accepting their trophy, a red ribbon from the tailor, which they can give to their sweetheart or wife as a gift.

Rory runs over to Gale, trying to help however he can, whereas Katniss turns to Prim. "Should we try to find something to eat?" Prim nods her head excitingly so her pigtails fly up and down before the sisters turn to explore the food vendors at the festival. They see their mother purchasing some fruit from the grocer and Hazelle some stew from the butcher. That means the Everdeen sisters will not have to think of food for all of them, so Prim steers them towards the bakery's booth claiming she wants to take a look at the cakes. When they arrive Prim quickly takes a likening to a strawberry cupcake with thin slices of strawberry placed in a geometrical pattern. The shopkeepers usually sell their goods for a reduced priced at the Spring Festival, so Prim dare ask, "How much for the strawberry cupcake?" while pointing at the beautiful decorated cupcake with its fluffy light pink frosting and the strawberry slices. In truth Katniss cannot recall the last time she had seen the bakery's goods look this beautiful.

The baker takes a quick look around; no doubt he is looking for his wife, who thankfully is absent. If she was manning the bakery's booth, Katniss would never have chosen this moment to get anywhere near the booth. "Just that sweet smile of yours, Miss Primrose." Mr. Mellark responds with a smile that reaches both his eyes and makes the small fine lines there crinkle. Prim is already standing with the cupcake in hand when the baker pushes another one in Katniss' direction. "Mr. Mellark, I'm not sure I heard you right." she vaguely protests, "I know you are more than generous with your prices at the Spring Festival, but this can't be right."

"I think you did hear me right, Katniss. We couldn't have made these strawberry cupcakes without your tremendous help after all." he winks at her. When he sees that she is not accepting his reasoning for giving away expensive bakery products for free, he continues, "Today is a day for celebration, and tonight I want everyone to be just as happy as I am." Katniss follows the baker's line of sight to their right where he watches his long-lost 'son' engaged in a joyful animated conversation with his old school friends. It is crystal clear that Peeta is beyond happy in this moment. Mr. Mellark is happy because of it. And if she is being honest, was she not just a little bit happy as well when she saw Peeta again standing on the threshold this morning?

---

Feeling content after devouring the delicious strawberry cupcake, Katniss allows herself to actually start enjoying the festival. Sure, President Snow and his army of peacekeepers may be here keeping a terrifying watchful eye on the entire district including people with more cameras than she has ever seen in her life, but since most of the districts' people still laugh and basically forget their normal hardships, she too should be able to do just that. But of course, just as she starts enjoying herself, Rory has to come ruining everything. He stands in front of Prim, a hopeful and shy expression on his face, as he holds out his hand to her, "Prim, will you dance with me?"

Prim is all smiles and a faint blush form on her fine porcelain cheeks. It is clear as light of day, that she definitely has every intention in the world to dance. Unfortunately, Prim seems to be determined that her sister should as well. "Only if Katniss joins too." she responds, her voice filled with sweetness and a tiny hint of mischief.

"Prim, I don't like dancing." she states as a matter of fact, crossing her arms in front of her chest for effect.

"Precisely! That's why you have to join. Have fun, live a little. If it helps, don't think of it as a dance but as a cultural event celebrating the art of fancy foot work."

Katniss' only respond is turning her eyes upwards while taking a deep breath. Why are people so determined that she should be dancing? First Madge, then Peeta and now her own sister. Why can people not just accept that she is an introvert with no desire to change?

The band's tune indicates that it is almost time for the next dance to begin and people, Merchant and Seam alike, have started gathering in front of them. Prim and Rory should really get going now, or they will miss it. But Prim is more stubborn than Katniss thought as she keeps seated in her spot just waiting for her sister to lose the battle and make a move. Well, sorry Prim. Two can play this game, and she has no intention of backing down. Especially, since she has recognised the tunes of the music.

Rory's hand drops to the side. He looks devastated, and she almost feels bad for him. But he should just man up and ask Prim again later if he really has his young heart set on her. And Katniss vows that she will not be persuaded to aid him in his course just because all eyes are on her. Judgemental eyes at that. One day he will understand that she just helped him come to the conclusion that young love will do him no good in the long run.

Gale looks at the scene in front of him. He looks from Katniss to Rory before standing up and placing himself right in front of her. "That's it, Catnip! Come on, we're going dancing!" He lightly, but at the same time quite firmly, takes hold of her hands and draws her to her feet before starting to drag her along towards the dance area. "I'm not dancing the 'Arcan'!" she protests, "I don't want to dance with all those strangers. Who knows who I get stuck with?" She tries to suppress the distant memory of dancing with the elderly postmaster who smelled like old straw and rat droppings.

Gale just laughs at her. "But you will mostly be dancing with me, which has to be a plus." he grins at her pathetic attempts to get out of the dance, "… and whoever gets to be the lucky guy, please try not to bite his head off during the 20 seconds you're dancing with him. Think of Prim and Rory instead. They like each other, and I know you want Prim to be happy just as much as I want the same for Rory, despite your hatred for behaving like a normal young woman. Didn't you see how hopeful he was? So, if getting you to dance is what it takes to make Rory's dreams come true, I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice in the matter."

Prim and Rory are right behind them, both wearing a big goofy grin. Rory, because he actually will have Prim for a dance partner thanks to his brother's interference. Prim, because this is exactly what she was hoping for. A dance with a sweet boy and to see her sister get miles out of her comfort zone. One look at their happy faces is enough for Katniss to know, that she has lost the battle. Gale is right. She will have to go along with it now, but that does not mean that she cannot still keep protesting. So, when they take their place in a newly formed quadrille, she makes sure to shoot Gale a sour look as she stands opposite him.

'The Arcan' is one of the most popular and traditional dances in the district. It is mostly danced by the young, but there are always some older couples who like to take part in it, mostly as a reminder of their youth and the thrill the dance brings. People bump into each other trying get into a quadrille in time up until the last second before the start tune hits. As it does, Katniss along with all the other women claps two times to her right, high and low, and then repeats the action to her left like her body is programmed to do so. She lets her anger fade away and lets her body take over, guiding her into the steps they have trained so many times in school. She and Gale are twirling around, sometimes together and at other times with the neighbouring couple. Their starting quadrille is now completely broken up in favour of a new one and so it goes on. The people around her are laughing and enjoying life and their joy is contagious. She starts to enjoy herself as well, even sending Gale a smile which makes him call out to her, "See, it's not so bad is it?".

The dance enters its last phase and this is the part, that she has been dreading the most. Yes, dancing with Gale is not so bad and actually quite joyful, but dancing with a stranger to what she feels is a longer period of time is a different matter. She cannot help but make a quick scouting of her surroundings. Thankfully, she is surrounded be people her age which is a definite improvement. She lets her right palm meet Gale's and steps in as close to him as she can, steps back and then repeat the motion, but this time with her left hand. "Try not to miss me too much" he grins as he sends her twirling towards Thom. She politely smiles at Thom who bops his head in a friendly hello. They repeat the same motions as she had done a moment ago with Gale, before she again twirls away to the next person whom she will have to stick around with for 20 seconds before she can return to the safety that is Gale.

She twirls right into the new guy's embrace and dips backwards before she has a chance to acknowledge her new temporary dance partner. She vaguely notices his arm strength as he helps her into an upright position again, and thanks her lucky star that it must be indeed someone around her age. But the moment she is upright again, she sees who the strong arm belongs to and she freezes for a fraction of a second. "Peeta." she whispers in astonishment, more to herself than to him. But he heard her. "Katniss." he smiles widely, again, one of his real smiles, she notices. She silently thanks her body for controlling her actions when she is still following the music, placing one of her hands in his and the other on his shoulder, that feels firm underneath her palm. Her mind is racing 100 miles per hour. She messed up their encounter at the bakery earlier today, and this could be her last chance to finally thank him for the bread all those years ago. Suddenly, the 20 seconds she had thought were the longest 20 seconds in the world, now seem to fly by too quickly when they start to move as one and twirl around as physically close as possible. She needs more time. "Peeta," she breathes, "I need to speak with you. In private".

Her request must have taken him by surprise when she sees his eyes widen a bit and his smile falters slightly, but not entirely, "Of… of course." he confirms, before he continues, "Meet me under the great oak in the meadow. 20 minutes from now?" She nods in agreement and in the last dance move they have together, he places his hands on her hips and lifts her up high with ease before she is passed on to Gale who immediately takes her hand to lead her away and back into their original starting quadrille. The other three couples still laugh and smile, but she is left completely dazed because the moment she has been waiting years for is about to happen soon. She cannot believe she actually took the first move and feels a great burden lift from her shoulders. She is smiling a little at the thought, but then she sees Gale and he looks anything but happy.

As soon as the last tune comes to an end, Gale starts dragging Katniss away from the dance floor in such a hurry that she almost collides with Leevy. Gale does not even realise this but just calls out to their siblings who are standing a few metres away with bright smiles, clapping in appreciation of the band as it is custom to do before leaving the dance floor, "Rory, Prim, come on. We need to get back to the others."

What is wrong with him? Was he not the one who talked about how important it was to let Prim and Rory be allowed to explore their budding young love? And now he wants them to come back just to babysit Vick and Posy when both their mothers are there to do it? Katniss plants her feet in the ground, efficiently bringing them to a stop. "Take it easy Gale. What's the matter with you? You're the one who dragged me out on the dance floor in the first place."

He turns to her, frustration clear as daylight oozes from him, "Yeah, but not so he could feel you up!"

She looks at him, completely dumbstruck. This is about Peeta?! "Feel me up? Have you lost it? Are you still bitter because his team beat yours in tug-of-war? Peeta did nothing inappropriate to me! He was following the dance steps just like everybody else. Besides, you know Peeta. Stop acting like he's the spawn of the devil."

Gales steps closer and whispers in contempt, "But he literally is, or have you forgotten who his father is? How Snow enslaves us?"

This is dangerous territory. She has always known of his contempt for the Capitol and its leader. One thing is to talk about it the woods outside the district's reach, but to say such a thing when the president is literally 40 metres away and when the area is packed with peacekeepers is a totally different and stupid thing to do. She grabs his arm, looks him straight in the eyes and whispers back, "Gale, stop it! Don't talk like that… especially here. You should know better."

She sees her words have brought him back to reality as he quickly looks around for eventual peacekeepers coming their way. But thankfully it does not seem like it. Gales crosses his arms in defiance. Just because he cannot keep discussing dangerous topics out loud does not mean he is done sulking, "I still don't like the way he held onto you like you were his possession. Or perhaps you didn't notice even though he had his hands all over your body because you were too smitten with him like everybody else in this district!"

She is absolutely furious now. How dare he insinuate such a thing, "Right, that's it! I don't have to put up with your negative attitude if all you want do at the moment is to insult me! And while we're at the topic, I honestly don't know what your problem with Peeta is. For your information, a son does not have to become just like his father and Peeta has always treated everyone with kindness and respect. That's not something I can say about you right now."

And with that she storms off, depriving him the chance of apologising for his words. She is quickly lost in the crowd of couples that are leaving the dance floor and as she gets further away from Gale and his hurt pride her own anger diminishes. He means well, she knows that but at the moment she is strangely touchy when it comes to Peeta. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that she is finally about to pay her debt to him and therefore is slightly on the edge. She needs to figure out how to tell him when she finally gets the chance. She will apologise to Gale when he has had time to calm down and only after he has apologised to her for blaming her of something she did not do. Besides, she might as well make her way towards the meadow and wait for Peeta to show up. After all, it is better to be too early than late and leaving in anger is the perfect way to ensure that no one wants to follow her. They will accept that she needs to be alone for the moment.

---

As predicted, she reaches the oak tree before Peeta does. She sits down in the sea of Spring flowers that surround her and looks up. The night sky is so clear that she can see the stars twinkle in-between the leaves that hang above her. She can hear the faint music from the festival in the distance. She starts to plan what she is going to say, when Peeta arrives, but she keeps messing it up. Why is it so hard? A one point she simply gives up and hopes that the words will miraculously come to her. Time goes by gruesomely slow. Why is he not here yet? Sure, she does not have a watch, but the 20 minutes have to be up.

But then she hears heavy footsteps coming her way. She looks up and there he is. When he reaches her, he takes a seat next to her in the flower bed. She looks at him, takes him in in pale the moonlight. The white hand-me-down-shirt from the older Mellark boys is almost glowing in the dark, but despite the lack of light she can still make out his bright blue eyes that gleams happily at her. "For a moment I didn't think you would show up." she tells him truthfully.

He rubs the back of his neck with one of his hands and a light pink taint of embarrassment appears on his cheeks "Well, I promised you that I would come. I know I'm about 5 minutes late because I had a small thing to take care of first but thankfully, you're still here. I was afraid I would miss you."

A small awkward pause fills the air, as they just sit there and look at each other, before Peeta clears his throat, "Ehm…you said that you needed to speak with me in private?" Was it just her imagination, or did he sound a bit nervous? That cannot be right. She is the one who asked him here and… oh well, she might just get to the point.

"Yes, I did." she answers and uncharacteristic adds, "And I'm glad you came." She mentally curses herself for sounding like a 12-year-old school girl. She pulls herself together, and quickly tells him what she needs him to hear. She straightens her back and looks directly at him. "You see… I wanted to thank you for the bread. I never did, and then you were gone, and I thought I would never be able to… but now you're suddenly here again and I couldn't miss another opportunity." she rambles on. It was not exactly the cool and collected way she had imagined it would be, but she had done it and now she feels like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders.

He looks a bit bewildered, "The bread? You mean the bread I gave you when we were kids?". She nods, "Yes. I owe you for that kindness and it has haunted me for years that I never thanked you properly." She turns her head to look at her folded hands in front of her. In a hushed voice she adds, "You don't forget the face of the person who was your last hope."

Again, there is a slight pause after her confession, but Peeta again puts an end to it, "I didn't know that bread meant so much to you. But trust me, you don't need to thank me for it. It was the right thing to do at the time." he tells her, but Katniss will not have any of that and lifts her head towards Peeta with such haste and tries to show him just how much it meant to her, "No I mean it. I owe you…everything! That loaf saved me. It saved my family."

But Peeta just shakes his head, the golden locks flowing from side to side and a small sadden smile finds its way to his lips, "Katniss, you don't owe me anything. It was just a loaf of bread, not enough to keep your family fed for the entire winter."

"You may think that, but it was not just a loaf of bread to me. You may remember, that my father had died that year, leaving my mother too depressed to understand that she still had a family to feed to make it through the harsh winter. I tried to sell Prim's baby clothes. I searched through the trash bins, but there was no food or help to be found. We were starving, but that bread gave me hope, you gave me hope and the courage to find a way to feed my family… and I know you paid for it. You burned that bread on purpose to help me…"

Peeta shifts to face her and starts to interrupt her, but she does not let him. "I know you did because I saw the bruise, Peeta." she points to her own cheek, "but I was too cowardly to say anything to you. I couldn't even manage a simple 'thank you' for years! I don't know how you do it in Town, but in the Seam, we don't forget such kindness, so yes, I will repay you."

"Katniss, please listen to me. I didn't give you the bread because I wanted something from you. I gave it to you, no I didn't even do that, I just threw it towards you like you were a mere animal, where I should have walked over and given it to you instead." He says, his voice thick of the distress of the memory. She cannot believe that he would think that it was such a terrible thing to do, "You couldn't have done that without your mother seeing it." she reminds him.

He shakes his head a little again, not denying the truth of what she said, but he keeps downplaying his actions' significance, "The point is, that I wanted you to have it because you needed it. You were starving, you said so yourself… and I couldn't handle seeing you like that. It was too painful. It might be wrong to say so, but you don't know how glad I was, that you came to the bakery. To think, that I might have done something to help you and bring forth a determination in your eyes. But if you really want to repay me for the bread, you just did. This conversation and your gratitude are more than enough." he tells her sombrely.

The stubbornness of this man in front of her! She cannot take it anymore. In a quick motion she reaches for his hands and clings to them for dear life as she looks straight into his eyes with such intensity that he is spellbound to listen to her, "But it's not enough for me! I owe you my life and I'm going to repay you somehow. So tell me, what do you wish from me? Something from the woods? I can sow pretty well and I can make you something out of wood? Or maybe a favour? Anything! Anything that is in my power to give, I'll give you gladly."

He is definitely taken aback from the passion of her words. None of them dare to move for a few seconds, and he searches her eyes before he concludes that she does indeed mean it. "All right, Katniss. If that is what you wish for, then I'll think about it." he finally agrees.

She exhales in relief and lets go of his hands. Her own hands had become almost clingy from the firm grip she had on him. He finally agreed to let her repay him and the sensation of success fills her to the brim. She is so glad that she lets herself enjoy the night and her surroundings. She spots a soft-looking flower petal and gently strokes it revelling in the wonder that is nature with a small content smile playing on her lips.

She steals a look at the man next to her. She almost wants to laugh at him because she can clearly see the wheels turning inside his head, trying to think of what she could give him. He slowly starts to speak having finally figured out a suitable payment, "You know Katniss, there might be one favour I would like to ask of you. It's a bit crazy really, and the more I keep talking, the more I actually think I shouldn't ask you at all…" he rambles on, not really getting to the subject.

"What is it?" she enquires.

"Well, it's… no, it's a stupid idea, forget it. I'll think of something else." he stops himself yet again.

She turns to look at him. A faint blush has formed on his cheeks. What favour could be that embarrassing? And even if it was embarrassing, she would probably do it anyway. She would even go to his devil foster mother and tell her that she was the epitome of good graces if he asked her to. Of course, she knows he would never ask that of her, but he could very well repeat his request from earlier today to dance with him in front of everyone. She had already done that for 20 seconds tonight, what more could a single dance do, except making Gale even more furious, which she found that she did not really care about anyway. Besides, he did blush a little when he asked her for a dance at the bakery. Surely, it must be it, "No really tell me. What is it?" she asks him again.

Peeta looks at her for a moment before tearing his gaze from hers yet again, obviously debating whether he should ask for another dance or not, "Okay… ehm, you can say no, even though you just told me that you would do anything. You can always say no, and I'll think of something else."

Is he kidding right now? How difficult can it be to ask her to dance again?! One would not believe the future president of Panem would be so tongue-tied over such a simple request. Not to mention, that she knows this young man a little better than the rest of Panem does. He has never been lost for words before. "Just spit it out!" she impatiently demands.

Her outburst seems to pull him from his trance. He straightens up and a whole new determination has taken hold of him as he once again fixates his bright blue eyes on her. "I need your help and I hope that you will indulge me in my request."

"Wow, that sounds so formal."

"Yeah well, I guess you wouldn't want me to ask for something insignificant, would you?"

She eyes him for a moment. He was right about that. She would not want him to ask for something stupid and too-easy, having just told him that she wants to repay him for keeping her and her family alive. An easy favour will not do. So, she shakes her head slightly in response.

"As the Heir, I cannot help but to participate in certain events, even though I don't care for them. But being at these events has proven to be too much as of lately… and this is going to sound horribly obnoxious. I can deal with the men who think too highly of themselves and their desperate attempts to get into my good graces, but their daughters on the other hand… they are like vultures, looking at me like I'm a piece of meat." He physically shudders at the mere thought. "How do you tell one to stop touching you every time they have the chance, without insulting them or their fathers, who Snow, despite them being power-hungry politicians or owners of some big firm, needs to have in his good graces to maintain the balance of the Capitol?"

She cannot help to laugh a little bit. This is his dilemma? To be too good looking that girls have a hard time keeping their hands to themselves. A young man's dream one would say, but somehow the funny sight of Peeta hiding behind curtains or trees diminishes as she thinks about his words. Even she had seen how many of their former single female classmates and some of those who had been above or beneath their year in school, had stared at him tonight with a look that could not be mistaken. Not to mention the footage she had seen from his appearances in the other districts. It must be exhausting. Their former schoolmates at least know he is a good person. None of the other girls know him that well. What do they see when they look at him? A quick way to an easy life with an attractive man at their side (she has eyes, she can admit it without saying it out loud). Somehow vultures seem like an appropriate nickname for those type of girls. It makes sense for him wanting to learn how to be less gentlemanlike, and since she is known to be one of the most unwelcoming inhabitants of District 12, he definitely came to the right person. "So, you want me to teach you how to say 'Back off, you life-sucking leaches.'" she smiles at him, while she makes emphasis on her words by poking him in the chest.

He too, chuckles at that, "Almost. But I'm certain that won't be enough to stop them. You have no idea to which lengths some of them will go. I just need some peace and quiet. Being locked up in a palace, a golden cage one could call it, is not as exciting as one would think, especially with Snow and Effie Trinket as some of the only people you can talk to. I don't want to plan multiple escape routes at social events as well just to get away from people who makes me uncomfortable. And that's where you come in if you accept to help me."

She cocks her head to the side, not quite following where he is going with this. Her quizzically expression must be enough for him to keep on explaining. "The next social event that I have to attend is the Presidential Garden Party followed by a gala banquet in the evening. It's three days before the reaping and it's one of the major events in high society in the Capitol. There will be around a thousand people attending; the top of the top. Which means all the vultures will be there. Fortunately, not all of them are invited to the gala banquet in the evening, but some will be and I need your help fending them off. If I were to show up to that event with a date, then everyone would know that they don't stand a chance and they will back off."

She feels the blood drain from her head and she involuntarily holds her breath. This is so much more than a dance or teaching him how to be rude. "Peeta…" she starts, but he keeps talking to prevent her from refusing his plan, and this time he talks faster, pleading her to reconsider, "It doesn't have to be a real date. And it's only for a few days, and you'll be home again sooner than you can blink. And it won't be promoted or televised to any of the districts, so no one from home would know about it." She knows it will do her no good to keep looking into those blue pleading eyes, but she cannot resist, and then he basically closes the deal by saying the one request she cannot refuse, "…and it would mean the world to me to have an… an ally next to me."

She lets his words, his plea, sink in. The silence between them seems to stretch for ages and she can faintly hear the music from the square. She unknowingly looks at the glowing light in the distance. Her family is still there, along with the Hawthornes. What will they say, if she agrees to this and more importantly, what will Snow say if she suddenly shows up at an elite Capitol event.

"Peeta… that's really a huge favour to ask of me. I don't know if it is even legal for you to take me out of the district." she starts, but one look at his hopeful face that falls with her every word, makes her stop and rethink. She had told him that she would do anything, give him anything in her power to give. She cannot go back on her word now. She silently wonders whether she might be insane as the words leave her mouth, "Truthfully, the Capitol is the last place I want to go, but I promised that I would repay you, and if it's only for a few days - and you promise not to leave me alone in the Capitol – then it's a deal. I'll come with you and attend this so-called garden party."

Peeta's face lights up immediately. He takes her hands in his and she is immediately rewarded with a warmth that oozes from him and engulfs her hands. He is smiling so broadly that she too cannot help but to smile back. The happiness radiating from him is enough to light up any dark sky and one look at him tells her, that she had finally done something right. "Thank you so much Katniss! You have no idea how much that means to me. And I can safely promise you that I'll not leave you alone for a single second while you're out of 12. I guarantee it! In fact, I'll come to 12 and fetch you and I'll bring you back here myself. What kind of a date would I be if I didn't?"

At the last remark he winks at her, which earns him a well-placed shove, that just makes him smile even more. She shakes her head at his silliness. How can this man be both so high and mighty and yet so boyish at the same time. "Just one question out of curiosity." she asks him, "Why did you not ask Delly? Isn't she supposed to be your best friend? Wouldn't you rather not have her by your side"

"I did think of that, but, well this is going to sound awful… I don't think she can handle being in the Capitol. You are mentally stronger than her, you see. If anyone can handle being in the Capitol for a few days, then it must be the bravest person I know. You face wolves on a regular basis, Katniss. I guess I hoped that you have the courage it takes to face a different kind of wolf."

She has to admit that it makes sense. Even she does not exactly look forward to be spending time anywhere near President Snow even if it is just for a few days. She knows she will have to endure it, and it will take all of her will-power to get through it. But if Peeta can do it, then she can too. She can return home, after all, whereas he is stuck.

Peeta pulls something out from one of his trouser pockets, "Well, since you have so kindly agreed to be my date for the event, I hope you will allow me to give you this." He places something soft in her palm and she sees that it is the red ribbon he won earlier. It does seem appropriate, her being his date and all. And since she cannot imagine that Snow would ever allow him to date outside the Capitol for real, she nods and say, "I'll allow it."

The silence following their newformed agreement is welcoming. She looks at the young man sitting next to her in the tall grass, and as she sits there, she realises that she can find the strength to get through the upcoming trip. He will be there for her. Just this thought and his mere presence is enough to calm her down. She watches him pluck a dandelion from the field and turn it in his hand. He is smiling softly, "It's a long time since I last saw one of these. They are not allowed to grow in the presidential garden because it's considered a weed. But they are quite beautiful with their bright yellow colour."

She stares from the flower in his hand to the young man himself. Back and forth. It is surreal seeing the boy with the bread, her dandelion in the Spring holding an actual dandelion. He will never know the connection between him and the flower in his hand, because somehow, she still wants to keep that secret to herself.

"It brings back a lot of memories," he continues, unaffected by her stare, "This was something my dad told me, when I was little: Legend has it, that if you can blow all the seeds off a dandelion with a single breath, then the person you love will love you back." He looks at her, eyes sparkling in the moonlight, "Did you know that? Needless to say, I practised a lot to be able to do that when I was younger. Not sure, if it actually worked, though." He laughs and sends her a radiant smile.

She can clearly see how happy he is. How happy her agreeing to his plan has made him. And was that not kind of what she wanted in the first place. To repay him and see him smile. It is only for a few days, and she will be with Peeta the whole time. She can do that she echoes to herself.

Her thoughts of her upcoming, frightening adventure in the Capitol are cut shot by several lights that flare in the distance. "What's that?" she asks out loud.

Peeta drops the dandelion to the ground and deflates a bit, "Oh, that will be the guards searching for me. And by the sound of it, they don't sound too happy."

She does not quite understand what he is saying. "Don't they know that you're here?"

He gives her an embarrassed smile, "Ehm, not really. I kind of sneaked away from them. That's why I was late. My brothers helped me do it, but I don't think Rye understood that distracting them didn't mean to knock them out with barrels. But it earned me half an hour all alone with you and that's actually an achievement." he stands up and dust the dirt of his trousers, "But I guess it will be best if they don't see you here with me, then I'll be the only one to blame for my sudden disappearance."

He offers her his hand and when she takes it a moment later, he pulls her onto her feet. Just like him, she automatically dusts off the dirt from her dress as well, "Are you saying, that they might think I've kidnapped you?" she jokingly asks him, trying to lighten the mood. But she is not prepared for his answer, "Well, they're a bit paranoid about my security." he shrugs as he looks at the flashlights making their way closer.

She, on the other hand, is frozen in place. "You sound like they are the 'shoot first, ask later'- type of guys?! This simply cannot be happening! I need to get out of here!" she exclaims, still trying to keep her voice low. She does not want the men to hear her. But when she takes her first step to try and make a run for it, Peeta catches her arm and pulls her back. "What are you doing? You can't run away now. They're too close. They'll see you! It's a better option to hide." he quickly tells her as he looks around for a hiding place.

"But where, Peeta? We're in the middle of a meadow. It isn't exactly brimming with hiding places." she hisses at him, while stealing glances at the light coming closer and closer. Peeta points upwards, "The oak tree! We can hide you up there."

He does not have to tell her twice. The trees have always been a good sanctuary for her if she was in trouble in the woods. She immediately starts to jump as high as possible, but to no avail. The lowest hanging thick branch is simply too high up. "Peeta, I cannot reach it. I'm not high enough!" she whispers to him; the panic is really starting to set in now. Before she knows it, Peeta crunches by her side and offers her his hand while pointing to himself with his other hand, "Here, try and see if you can stand on my shoulders. I'll lift you up so you can reach the branch."

With no time to think about it, she steps up and tries to keep her balance. She leans slightly against the bark, not caring about the rough surface digging into her palms. When she has found her balance, Peeta places one hand on each of her ankles and slowly rises until he is standing tall. Thank goodness, he is still as strong as ever, otherwise, this would never have been possible. She reaches for the branch and touches it. She can almost reach the top of the branch to wrap her hands around it. She tries to stand on her toes, which makes her balance wobble. "Whoa, easy there. Try not to fall." she hears Peeta whisper from somewhere beneath her. "Just a little more…" she pleads, "I'm almost there… Perhaps if you jump."

"Katniss, this isn't going to work. We're almost out of time." Peeta whispers back. And in one fluent motion he lets go of her ankles, makes a small jump, that makes her fly up a little, but not so much that she can catch the branch because she was caught off-guard. She has just time enough midair to panic at the thought of falling towards the ground when Peeta's strong arms catch her and sets her down on the ground in front of him. "Peeta! What are you doing!" she yelps.

"New plan! You have to trust me and play along…and please don't hit me." he hurriedly whispers back.

He pulls her so close as physically possible. She is so shocked that her entire body freezes and on instinct she wants to push him away. Her hands even raise on their own and plants themselves on his chest, but then his words sink in, and she understands what he is about to do. In that moment, all her thoughts involve him. How close he is, how firm and sturdy his chest is underneath her small hands. The warmth that is radiating from him and how gentle he holds her. He tilts his head down towards her and she does nothing to stop him, too overwhelmed by the situation and his closeness, that she somehow does not mind. A whole new sensation occupies her thoughts when she feels his soft lips moulds with hers and before she realises it, she is so consumed by the kiss that for a moment she forgets why he is kissing her and especially why she has started to kiss him back. Her heart thumps ferociously as their lips dance in a slow and wonderful dance. It is like his lips offers her the promise of something more and she revels in the feeling of being held so cautiously, like she was a piece of glass that could break any moment. She can feel her hand working on its own as it takes a hold of his shirt and tries to pull him even closer to her while her lips are chasing his. She is so absorbed in the moment, that she is completely shocked when she is blinded by a strong light that make Peeta and her part immediately by a knee-jerk reaction.

She is still seeing stars dancing in front of her eyes, but she is not sure whether they come from the blinding lights or from her body's traitorous reaction to the kiss. Peeta, however, recovers more quickly than her. The strong arms that held her so gently a moment ago lowers and one of his hands finds hers as he looks to the group of peacekeepers in front of them who keep their flashlights fixed upon them. The realisation of being caught doing something so private sinks in and she cannot help but to bury her face in his back in utter humiliation. What will people say, when they hear?

"Your Excellency, I'm sorry to interrupt but…" the leader of the group starts to say, but Peeta interrupts him with an authority she can only admire in this moment, "Actually, you are kind of interrupting something important as I'm sure you just witnessed. I would much rather prefer if you could please leave us alone."

Katniss is surprised of Peeta's ability to remain calm in this situation, like this was the most natural thing in the world. It is like he senses her thoughts for in that exact moment she feels a small squeeze of her hand like he is silently telling her to trust him to take care of this.

The leader starts to shift uncomfortably as he continues, "Again, I'm so sorry, but President Snow is anxious for your return. Several units are looking for you. We have been told to bring you back by every means necessary. Search under every rock, look every…"

"Fine, fine. I'll come." Peeta stops the man again. Peeta turns to Katniss and takes both her hands in his and looks her straight in the eye. He is smiling at a plan well executed. She marvels how good he is at pretending, like he is no way near as mortified of the situation as her. "I'm afraid I'll have to leave now, but I'll find a way to contact you, okay?"

She can only nod, afraid of doing or saying anything that could jeopardize Peeta's plan for her escape. As he parts from her, he steals a kiss on her cheek and she lets him… it makes their story look more convincing, right?

---

When Peeta and his 'entourage' have disappeared from her sight, she slowly sinks to the ground. The dandelions around her gently brush her arms with their petals and the promising Spring breeze has a calming effect on her. It gives her time to replay what had just happened. One moment both she and Peeta had found themselves in their own personal bubble of comfort. The next, the fear of having committed a heinous crime had taken its toll, which had led to a thankfully quick thinking on Peeta's behalf. At first, she had been taken by surprise and been slightly livid, but she cannot shake the intimate sensation there had been between them. For a short moment she allows herself to relive the feeling of his soft lips on hers, the gentle way he had held on to her like she was made of fragile glass. But when her fingertips unknowingly touch her cheek where he had left her a final parting gift, she snaps out of it. What is she thinking?! The kiss was nothing more than a desperate attempt of salvation from the potential wrath she could have faced right now. An act, that had thankfully worked due to Peeta's ability with words, his situational awareness, and her bewilderedness. Maybe the feminine side of her had finally managed to peak through the thick wall she had built around her heart. She blames the dress, the flowers in her loose hair, and Prim's over-the-top romantic heart for her short-lived lapse of judgement. Thoughts of romance had brought her mother nothing but pain, and it is certainly not going to help her family get through the tough hardships of reality. No, she will have to hide that kiss away; like a secret locked away within her, never to be heard of again.

Still, her thoughts seem to have a mind of their own as they keep returning to Peeta and what had transpired between them before they were interrupted. She had finally been able to thank him and feel the immense burden being lifted from her shoulders. For a moment she had allowed herself to be vulnerable and in return he had confided in her the troubles of his own burdens and loneliness. He had trusted her, and she had trusted him. She thought she had known him through her observations in school and his kind gestures to everyone he met, but when she thinks about it, she had never truly known him. Now, after only one conversation, she feels as though she does know him. What was it Delly had once said about him? 'Peeta wears his heart on his sleeve for all who cares to see'. She has to agree with that statement. He had opened up to her, like longtime friends would have done. Only, they had never been friends, but it did feel like the start of a friendship. But maybe it is just the tokens of springtime all around her that makes her so positive.

20 minutes must have passed since she was left alone in the meadow and it occurs to her, that her absence must have been noted by now. The last thing she needs right now is to explain to her family – or Gale for that matter - where she has been. Besides, Peeta must have returned to the festivities by now, thereby making her reappearance unassociated with his. Reassuring herself that there is no way to connect her absence to Peeta's, she begins to walk back towards the main square. But when she reaches the square, the atmosphere has noticeably changed. The music is still playing and the kids are still laughing, but there is a murmur that is noticeable. She soon finds Prim and Rory and makes her way to the young couple sharing an apple at a table.

"What is happening? Is the festival already over?" she asks them.

"Katniss, there you are! We couldn't find you at all. Where have you been?" Prim enquires, leaving her apple pieces on the table in order to stand up and hug her sister.

"That's what I want to know as well. I've been looking all over for you!" Gale's voice rings out behind her, which makes her spin around.

"Allow me to translate Katniss." Rory butts in teasingly. "What Gales really means is that he was worried, that you might have snuck into an alley with a cute guy he couldn't protect you from."

'Try the meadow instead' she silently thinks while she desperately tries to suppress the flushing of her cheeks at the memories of what had transpired there. After all, they know nothing about how close to the truth Rory is and they are not going to find out if she does not tell them.

"Haha very funny, you little moron. No, seriously… what if some creepy merchant guy thought he could have his way with you!"

She cannot suppress rolling her eyes a little. "I think I'm able to take care of myself, Gale. I'm not some damsel in distress. But thanks for your concern." She turns towards Prim again, "But is the festival ending soon?"

"Officially no. But about an hour ago the mood changed when the president discovered that Peeta had left the festival without telling anyone and apparently, he snuck away from his security team in the process. 20 minutes ago, Peeta returned flanked by the Capitol peacekeepers and President Snow escorted him away from the festival grounds. And anyone could tell that Snow was not happy. Shortly after, the reporters vanished and so did most of the Capitol peacekeepers. Rumour has it, that Snow was so furious that Peeta had ditched his security team that he has been put on a train and shipped back to the Capitol immediately, whereas President Snow is said to conclude the tour by staying until tomorrow."

Katniss' face must reveal her instant distress of the news as Prim continues. "I know, it's quite sad to think about really. How Peeta cannot go anywhere without supervision – even in his old home district. It must be suffocating."

Suffocating, yes indeed. A golden cage, he had called his current life. But then a disturbing thought takes root. "Prim, I think we should go home." She conceals her abrupt decision with a believable excuse, "There's no point to linger if the mood of the festival is heading south. Are you with me, Gale?"

She holds eye contact with him and somehow manages to convey her request as an olive branch for their argument earlier. Gale nods his approval and seems to be just as eager as her to go home, "Yeah, there's nothing more to see here. I'll just fetch the others."

As he walks away in the direction of the rest of their families pointed out to him by Rory, Katniss seems to think that time goes by slowly. She finds herself eager to get as much distance between herself and President Snow as possible. Normally, she would just have gone home by herself, but the fact that Snow had been so furious that he had sent Peeta home without a warning, makes her feel slightly targeted. Was she not the reason, Peeta had snuck off in the first place? He was sent back to the Capitol without the opportunity to bid his family and friends farewell because of her, and the peacekeepers had seen her with him. How could they not with them trading saliva and being wrapped up in each other's arms? Surely, the president has been briefed about where they found his son and what he was doing. The only question is if Snow knows who his son was found kissing in the meadow. And if Snow does, will his anger turn towards her now? If so, he will not find her alone on a dark road towards the Seam with a great fat target painted on her back. So, she is patiently going to wait here until her friends and family surround her. If only Gale would hurry op. The chill from the fear of Snow's wrath seems to spread into her very bones and she cannot wait to get home where she plans on staying until the president has left the district.

When they are finally walking along the path towards the Seam, she tries several times to up the tempo but she has no subtle way to tell them to hurry up and instead she finds herself walking a gruesomely slow pace next to Prim. She has deliberately placed herself in the very centre of the small group with Gale and the youngest in the front and their mothers making up the rear. Despite the downhill mood change at the end of the festival, their families choose to focus on all the happy moments during the evening… especially Prim is almost floating with giddiness. Her current topic is Madge's dress and the beautiful bracelet she was wearing. For a moment Katniss actually manages to forget why she wanted to go home in the first place, but that changes when Prim decides to pick a new topic.

"And the band was so good. I never knew the blacksmith was such a talent on the violin. Who would have thought those rough fingers are capable of moving so fast! I don't know what I think was the highlight of the evening. The food was so wonderful, but the dances! They just make you so happy, don't they? All those happy faces! I'm so glad that Rory asked me to dance!"

Prim's radiant smile is enough to bring forth the sun on a rainy day and Katniss finds herself smiling back. Then Prim's blue eye gleam with even more excitement, if possible, when she obviously thinks of another memory. "And you got to dance with Peeta!"

That sentence is enough to make her revisit her entire conversation with Peeta… and not to mention the kiss. And the topic instantly makes her uncomfortable.

"The other girls were so jealous of you. I tell you, if looks could kill." Prim laughs at the memory. "It's funny how all the girls wanted to dance with Peeta and then you get to be the lucky one - you who didn't even want to dance at all in the first place!"

"Prim. It's just a dance and just because I danced with Peeta for 20 seconds, doesn't mean that he was my dance partner. Gale was. Delly danced with Peeta like they used to do in the past." Katniss tries to reason with her.

Prim takes a moment to think about that, but then she smiles again when she reaches her conclusion, "Do you think Peeta and Delly will get married? Oh, I hope so. She's so sweet and he's so kind. They would make a magnificent first couple. Just think about how they could turn Panem into something wonderful!"

Katniss has managed to turn the conversation away from herself, but somehow Prim's newfound excitement does not sit well with her either even though Prim does have a point. "I know Prim. They would make an excellent couple, but Delly always said their relationship is more like the one between siblings. So I wouldn't count on your dream to come true."

But Prim just shakes her golden head, "You never know. As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder."

---

When they have finally reached safety inside of their own home Katniss allows herself to release the breath she had been holding the entire way. Her mother remains outside to finish her conversation with Hazelle while Gale follows his siblings home. She walks over to the small mirror hanging on the wall and starts to remove the flowers from her hair.

"What is that?" she hears Prim ask.

She does not look in Prim's direction as she struggles to remove a flower whose stem has effectively locked itself firmly in place with help of the hairpins Prim had placed in her hair. "What is what, little Duck?"

"It's an envelope…and a fancy looking one at that. I've never seen paper like this before." Prim says and it is clear her curiosity is peaking at this point. Katniss drops her efforts of removing the flowers for now and watches her sister turn the envelope around and her eyes grow to the size of teacups. "Wow, it bears the presidential crest! And it's for you!" she exclaims excitingly.

In a matter of seconds Katniss has snatched the envelope out of Prim's hands much to her sister's protests. True enough, the front of the envelope bears her name. With shaking hands, she breaks the seal on the back and starts to extract the letter within. What does it contain? A threatening message from Snow? Could he have found her already? Thankfully, she quickly discovers it not to be the case. The envelope contains a handwritten letter and an elaborate invitation in gold foiling, making the paper glisten in the sparse light from the lamp on the wall.

Before she can stop herself, she lets out a sigh of relief and exclaims, "It's from Peeta."

Dear Katniss

Once again, I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to accompany me in my hour of need. Enclosed in this letter is your official invitation to the Presidential Garden Party, which will also serve as your 'ticket' to the Capitol. Please do not lose it! I will arrive in District 12 to pick you up five days before the event. I have spoken to my good friend, Cinna, who is also a designer, and he has assured me that this will be enough time for him to make you a dress. I have not forgotten my promise that you will not be away from home longer than necessary. I have planned for our return two days after the event, which means you will be with Prim and your mother again on the 3rd of July, so you can be there for Prim at the reaping the day after.

Yours sincerely

Peeta

She is so absorbed in reading his letter, that she does not realise Prim snatching the invitation from her left hand that hangs limply at her side.

"Oh, it looks so beautiful and listen to this…" she tells her before reading the invitation out loud,

His Excellency President Coriolanus Snow requests the pleasure of the company of

Miss Katniss Everdeen

at the annual Presidential Garden Party on Saturday the 1st of July at . at the Presidential Palace.

Kindly note that this is a personal invitation which may not be forwarded or passed on.

"Prim! Give it back!" she practically screams at her sister. But her sister seems to have developed faster reflexes than Katniss have ever thought her capable of; effectively keeping the invitation out of Katniss' arms.

"You better tell me everything because it all makes sense now!" Prim beams at her, "Both of you were missing during the festival. Peeta was with you, wasn't he? It's not Delly at all, it's you! Oh, this is so romantic! Are you guys dating?! When did you get together? Were you already a couple before he left 12? Is he a good kisser? Oh my daisies, this is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to us! Why didn't you tell us anything?" her sister keeps rambling on and Katniss blames her hormone-filled 14-year-old brain.

Katniss is sure that her face is flaring up due to pure embarrassment of Prim asking if Peeta is a good kisser, because now she actually can say something about that even though he is the only one she has ever kissed. But just because he had kissed her – and it was not a real kiss, she keeps reminding herself of - does not mean that Prim needs to know even though she is so close to the truth. "Prim. STOP! Hold your horses. It's nothing of the sorts. It's just a favour I'm doing for him."

Prim crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow that clearly indicates that she does not believe a word her sister is saying, "Attending the most famous party in all of Panem as his date is a favour? Pray tell."

"It's not a date! Well, technically it is, but not in real life. Peeta and I are not dating."

Prim deflates a bit when Katniss shoots down her daydreams. "But he is such a nice person. Don't you want to date him?"

"No, Prim! I mean, yes, he's nice, probably one of the nicest people I've ever met, but it can never be. I don't have time for romance and Peeta is not looking for that from me. Trust me. Yes, we talked in private this evening, but there was nothing romantic going on. Here, I'll prove it to you." she insists and slides Peeta's letter across the table for her sister to read. "See, nothing romantic at all!"

Prim eagerly snatches the letter and as she reads it, she lights up. "He may not declare his undying love for you in this letter, but please… his friend will make you a dress? That's so romantic. I'm sure you will look absolutely stunning!"

Katniss sighs. She is losing a battle that cannot be won against her sister's imagination. She walks over to her sister and takes hold of her arms, "Prim, listen to me. You can't say a word about this to anyone. Do you understand?"

"But Katniss…"

"Promise me, Prim! I don't want anyone to know."

Now it's Prim's turn to sigh. Of course, she is not going to reveal her sister's secret, but the news is so amazing that it is hard to believe. "Right, it will be a secret. Who doesn't love a good secret?" she agrees.

At that moment their mother walks through the door. Katniss immediately tries to hide the content of the envelope but once again, Prim is ahead of her, running over to their mother before Katniss could take the invitation from her sister's hands, "Mom, you're not going to believe this! It was Katniss whom Peeta spend time with this evening. He has invited her to the Presidential Garden Party? Isn't it exciting? Look!" she practically cackles with glee as she waves the invitation in front of their mother's face.

All the blood drains from Katniss' face. "Prim! What part of the word 'secret', did you not understand?" she yells at her sister from her spot behind the table. She did not want anyone to know before she could tell them in her own way about the promise she made to Peeta and now both her mother and sister know and are starting to imagine all sorts of things!

Her mother takes the invitation and looks at it, the horror clearly written on her face. She looks up at her oldest daughter. "Katniss, is this true?" It is a pretty clear confession when Katniss does not answer but just looks at the flower pot placed on the table. Her mother drops down into a chair, her shoulders slumped, and rests her head in her hands in despair, "Katniss, what have you done? Did you lead him on? Or worse, did he force you into anything while you were alone with him?" she worriedly asks her.

The fact that one of her mother's first thought is that Peeta might have forced her hand or made any moves on her without her consent makes her surprisingly defensive of Peeta, despite the fact that he did kiss her out of nowhere, but that was done in her defence! And for her mother to think that she would ever lead a guy on is laughable, "No Mom. I did not lead him on and he didn't force me to do anything! All he has done is behaving in a gentleman-like manner towards me. There's nothing for you to worry about. Why can't people understand that he's not his father? He asked me a favour, which I decided to grant him. I bet you don't know how uncomfortable Peeta is at these events with women throwing themselves at him unwantedly? He asked me to be his date to the garden party because he needs a female friend by his side to avoid those women and nothing more. You have no idea how much Peeta has done for us! This is the least I can do for him. And both of your reactions are exactly why I didn't want anyone to know about this before I cannot keep it a secret any longer."

"Whoa Katniss, Mom is just worried for you." Prim defends their mother as she tries to get her sister to calm down. And Katniss knows that, but ever since her mother had been mentally gone at a critical time in their lives, it has been hard for Katniss to accept whenever her mother tries to behave like a mother. A part of her does feel bad for lashing out, but she does not blame herself entirely for defending Peeta, since he was there for them when their mother was not.

"There is no need to get upset," Prim continues, and then a smirk appears, a smirk Katniss knows too well, "… unless you actually do have feelings for him and just don't want to acknowledge it."

"You're hopeless. Completely hopeless." she tells Prim before she walks back to the mirror to continue the task of removing any signs that this evening ever happened. By walking away, she hopes to end this conversation but unfortunately, her mother does not let it go, "All right Katniss, if you say nothing happened between you and Peeta, then I believe you. But I trust you will tell me if that changes."

Her mother gives her a pointy look in the mirror, but she chooses to ignore her.

---

They wake with a startle due to the fierce banging on their front door. At first Katniss thinks there must be a thunder storm outside, but she quickly understands that the thunder comes from their own front door. "Open up at once or we'll break down the door!" a man is shouting from the outside.

Prim's wide blue eyes are filled with worry and anxiety as she clings to Katniss. "Who is that? What do you think they want?" she trembles. Katniss holds her sister tight and debates whether she should indeed open the door. It could be a peacekeeper after all, but she is not certain. The man outside sounds menacing and she curses that she is completely defenceless since her bow lies neatly tucked away inside the hollow wooden trunk outside the district. Prim keeps asking, "Do you think they're ruffians who is out for mom's medicine supply?"

Katniss looks at the clock. It is 4am. They certainly could be. Men, who had too much to drink, have turned up on their doorstep before, but the man's voice does not sound intoxicated as he once more orders them to open the door. Their mother comes flying into the living room, where her daughters were sleeping a minute ago. Thankfully her eyes are bright and focused, so Katniss allows herself to stay where she is to comfort her trembling sister. Their mother takes a deep breath before turning the lock and opens the door ajar. Soon after she opens it fully to reveal a peacekeeper standing on their doorstep. "Mrs. Everdeen?" he inquires and their mother's voice, surprisingly firm, confirms that he has come to the right place.

"We're looking for a Katniss Everdeen, your daughter? According to the records she resides here. Is that correct?"

Katniss' blood turns to ice in her veins. They are looking for her? So, there is more than one peacekeeper at their doorstep. It has been a long time ago since she last saw her mother straighten her back just like a mother bear would do to protect its cub. She seems to fill the entire doorway, actively blocking the peacekeeper from entering. She snarls at him with such contempt it makes Katniss admire her mother's bravery. An acknowledgement that she would have thought impossible a few years ago, "Why are you looking for her? My daughter has done nothing wrong."

Alas, the peacekeeper does not shrink away, which would have been too much to hope for. "That's classified. We have orders to bring her in. Where is she?"

Being collected by peacekeepers in the early hours is never a good sign. She does not know what she hopes for the reason to be. Her illegal hunting or her connection to Peeta's temporarily disappearance last evening? They are certainly not here to ask her how to shoot a squirrel through the eye. But she knows there is nothing her mother can do to prevent them from taking her in. She cannot let her mother get in trouble on her behalf. If her mother is arrested as well where would that leave Prim? She gives Prim a kiss on the forehead, assuring her sister that everything is going to be all right before she walks over to stand behind her mother and looks at the man at the front door. "I'm Katniss Everdeen." she informs the peacekeeper.

The peacekeeper is a man she has not seen before. His helmet shield has been lifted and she sees a rough face that leaves no room for negotiation. "Miss Everdeen. You've been summoned. Please come with us."

She then spots his three fellow peacekeepers right behind him, looking menacing with their guns and helmets down. She decides not to push it. "I'll just get dressed." she tells him and turns around to find her clothes. She will not give him the satisfaction of seeing her tremble before him. But when she heads for the bathroom, the brisk-looking peacekeeper barges in and grabs her by the wrist making Prim and her mother yell at him to release her. He does not, but merely stare her down, "Forgive me for wanting to change in private!" she sneers at him.

She can see the wheels turning in his head. On one hand he is probably not allowed to leave her out of sight due to the risk of her jumping out of a window and escaping, but on the other hand she is a woman and it would be highly improper to stare at her while she dresses. "If you're worried about me taking a run for it, you can rest assure. The only window in our bathroom is too small for me to climb out of." she mocks him, knowing exactly what he is thinking. In the end he signals for one of the other peacekeepers to search the bathroom for any escape routes or potentially dangerous artefacts. When the other peacekeeper has deemed it clear, she is allowed to walk in and change behind a closed door.

---

When Katniss and her 'entourage' finally reach town, they pass both Cray's office and the Justice Building. Her slight hope that her offences would be illegal poaching crumbles as they head for the train station instead. She is grateful that the district is deserted. No one will know of her fate. No one will see her being escorted in shame flanked by peacekeepers. Her family will tell Gale, when he comes by to her check on her after she fails to show up in the woods. At that point, it will be too late for him to do anything that could lead him into trouble as well. It is best this way.

As she feared, she is being led straight to the presidential train. The polished surface shines like silver in the morning light. In the few seconds it takes for the peacekeepers to open the door, the train's silver surface is almost blinding her. As soon as she has entered the train cart, she is shoved inside a compartment, preventing her to take a good look at the inside of the train cart. The moment she is fully inside the compartment a female peacekeeper comes in and drags her to the bathroom in order to search her body and clothes for any hidden weapons or threats. Katniss wants to snap at her for handling her father's old hunting jacket with so little care, but it will do her no good. After she has passed the security control, the embarrassment of having to strip down in front of a total stranger, and redressed, the female peacekeeper leaves her before shutting the door and she hears a small click that informs her that she is trapped. She looks at her surroundings. Seeing as she is stuck here for the time being, she might as well take a look around, although there is not a lot of space to explore. There is a neatly-made single bed, a small coffee table and plush armchair as well as a bar-cart and a small silver cart where tiny cakes of various type have been placed in a decorative manner. She walks over to the rather large window and looks out. The window is facing the train platform, which gives her a view of the district instead of the forest beyond the fence. She cannot decide whether it is a good thing or not. If she can see out, then people can see in. How will she ever explain what she is doing inside the train rather than being on the outside along with everybody else?

Katniss finds, that she is pacing around the room. Being exhausted will not help her when she is finally facing the repercussions of her actions. So, she throws herself onto the bed, crumbling the sheets in the process. Why did she ask Peeta to meet her in private when Snow was watching him like a hawk? It was stupid. So stupid! What was she thinking? Why could her damn pride not just let history be history and move on?

The hours tick by. Even though there is no clock inside the compartment, she knows that she has been locked in for hours. It must be around 9am by now and still she has been left in here by herself. Dreading what to come has to be a part of her punishment. She had used the last hours to damn her weak soul and bad decisions as well as imagine several ways she could be punished. Her imagination begins to run wild. She sees Snow being the one to execute her sentence, Snow not even seeing her, just sending peacekeepers to punish her without a word or explanation of how grave her sins were, and she even holds on to the single ray of hope that Peeta may still be somewhere inside the train, coming to free her from the compartment and helping her escape.

She forces herself to come back to reality. Her mind has been so far away, but now she notices the noises outside the train. The noises are not that loud, which tells her that the train walls must cancel out most of the sound from the outside. She rises from the bed and walks over to the window. And what she sees startles her. The area around the train station is full of people. She blames the thick walls and her currently fragile mind for allowing her to be this distracted. Her first reaction is to jump away from the window, afraid to be seen. But then she rethinks. If she is going down, she is not going down without a fight. Let people see that she is being held prisoner against her will. Let them make a scene that Snow will not forget! She takes a deep breath to prepare herself for the commotion that will happen before she returns to the spot right in the middle of the window, just waiting for people to notice her. But they do not. Confused, she holds up her arms and starts to wave at people. Still, nothing.

The crowd divides as Mayor Undersee, Mrs. Undersee and Madge come through to stand on the platform. Madge! She may be able to help her. Perhaps the mayor can persuade Snow to let her go. To receive her punishment accordingly with district-laws and not whatever horrible punishment Snow is sure to have planned for her. After waving at Madge like a lunatic for a minute Katniss sees President Snow step out from the train and onto the platform. It takes a second before it dawns upon Katniss, that this is the president's send-off. If he is leaving, then he will deal with her before departure, which means, she is running out of time. She decides to change strategy, because she is desperate for help at this point. So, she starts banging on the window and screams for Madge's attention.

Nothing. Nothing at all. Madge does not even look her way even though she is standing so close. No one is looking her way.

Then it occurs to her that they cannot see her. The window is a one-way window. She can look out, but no one can look in. Of course, the presidential train has these kinds of windows for privacy. And since she hardly can hear a sound of what is going on outside, she has to conclude that they cannot hear her as well. Even if they can hear a slight banging, they will never know that she is the one making them. She truly is on her own.

She sees President Snow shaking Mayor Undersee's hand before raising his own in the air for a farewell to the district. Snow then begins to withdraw and walks towards the train. Soon, they will be coming for her and no one will come to save her.

Right, new tactic! If she plays along, pretending to be ignorant, maybe she will be let off with a warning or a slight beating. There is a small click from behind and the door to her 'cell' opens to reveal two peacekeepers.

"This way, Miss Everdeen."

They do not grab hold of her but motions for her to walk in front of them. They lead her through the many train cars: a dining car, a car with a billiard table, a small library to name a few. She even spies a control room filled with screens, but she does not have the time to stop and look at it before she is being led into a new train car, which turns out to be an office complete with a desk, a table for at least eight persons and a three-piece suite with a low table placed in the middle on which has been placed a vase containing a bouquet of roses. As soon as she enters the train car, she is left on her own with the words, "Please remain here. He'll be with you shortly."

She does not know what to do with herself, so she moves towards the only living thing in the car, the roses. They are the faintest of pink, just like Prim's cheeks yesterday when Rory asked for a dance. She reaches out and touches one of the petals imagine it to actually be Prim's cheeks. But the smell of roses keeps her rooted to reality. 'He'll be with you shortly', the peacekeeper had said. 'Please let it be Peeta, please let it be Peeta, please let it be Peeta'. She keeps repeating the mantra in her head over and over again, only to fail to notice, that she is no longer alone.

A voice fills the room. "That's a lovely one. Of course, all flowers are, but nothing says perfection like a rose."

She whirls around and makes eye contact with President Snow. Peeta is nowhere to be seen and her hope of his appearance vanishes into thin air. Snow smiles cunningly as he pretends not to see her distress before he continues, "Miss Katniss Everdeen, I presume."

She has lost her voice, not knowing what to say to the most powerful man in Panem. If he wanted, he could have had her head on a spike by now. Snow walks over to her by the three-piece suite and stops only half a meter away from her, completely invading her personal space, which in his case should be around 100 miles from her. His smile disappears while studying her features. She silently debates whether it is an improvement or not.

"The young woman found in my son's embrace last night." he states, "In a secluded area no less… and alone, which is a serious violation of the security rules that I've instated as a protective measurement for my son."

"I didn't know he wasn't allowed to be alone with people." she truthfully tells him. The accusation is enough for her to find her voice again, although it is almost not audible. She has to concentrate for not saying something that could come back to haunt her.

Snow sighs. "No, I don't see how you could have known, Miss Everdeen… but he does. Still, he decided that you're worth breaking the rules for."

Miraculously, it seems like Snow does not blame her, but Peeta. However, Peeta was only trying to protect her, so it does not seem fair that he is being punished for being kind once again. She understands that he broke his father's rule, but perhaps she can help him by trying to lessen his own punishment, whatever that may be. "It wasn't my intention to get him in trouble. We were just talking."

"I hear the two of you did a little more than just talking." Snow retorts. She immediately shuts up. She was wrong; this is not helping Peeta at all… or her for the matter. Of course, Snow had been told of the kiss. Now all she has done is refuelling the president's anger. Evidently, she just cannot stop making bad decisions these days. She risks taking a look at President Snow and to her surprise she sees that he looks tired instead of angry. Snow motions to the three-piece suite "Sit down, please."

Once they are sitting across from each other, Snow continues, "I think we can make this so much simpler if we agree not to lie to each other. What do you think?"

"Yes, I think that would save time." There is no reason to try to lie to this man, and she has always been a terrible liar.

"I know you and Peeta were classmates and therefore have known each other since you were young. As you've grown up with him and from your rendezvous last night, I guess I don't need to tell you that he's a lovely boy, if I may say so myself." She cannot believe that Snow is actually smiling now. There is no reading this man and that frightens her a bit, "Ever since his return to the Capitol, he has been working very hard to live up to my expectations of him, which are high as you can imagine. Being on this tour, allowing him to see his childhood home again, seeing his friends and foster family, was my way of rewarding him for his efforts. Up until last night he had behaved like a model student. But I'm willing to turn a blind eye to yesterday's events. I've been young once. I'm no stranger to the effect a beautiful young woman such as you can have on a young man like him."

This is not what happened last night at all. Peeta did not agree to see her because he thought her beautiful. He came because he was kind to indulge her when she wished to see him in private. Snow is completely off. To be fair, all Snow has probably been told was that they were found kissing in the meadow, and why would you kiss someone, you are not interested in unless you know the truth. The thoughts are racing through her mind while Snow continues, "Until yesterday, I thought I knew all about his past. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that he had left behind a sweetheart in 12. A fact he managed to keep to himself for three years. I couldn't understand why he didn't seem to take an interest in any of the fine young women I placed in his way in the Capitol. Women from respectable families, may I add. But here you are, Miss Everdeen. His long-kept secret."

And that is exactly the way Snow is looking at her right now. The content smile on his red puffed lips indicates that he has finally unravelled a mystery. But he has not and it would be wrong to let him think so. Besides, she promised that she would not lie to him and the truth paints Peeta in a good light. "Peeta and I were not in a relationship before he left 12. I know how it looked last night, but Peeta was just trying to protect me from punishment of being found alone with him. He thought it would be a good excuse. As I said, we were just talking. I asked him to meet me in private, because I…" she cannot believe she about to admit her greatest secret in life to President Snow of all people, "I owe him. He saved my life and the live of my family when we were kids. My family were starving after my father died, and Peeta fed us when he could have turned a blind eye as so many others did. That's a debt I haven't been able to repay and I wanted to let him know, that I intend to do so."

Snow studies her intently, but she refuses to crumble underneath his scrutinous gaze, not when she has revealed her most well-kept secret and bared her most vulnerable moment in life. "Thank you for telling me this, Miss Everdeen. I'm glad you've proven that you're not some fortune hunter like so many others. Although I'm not sure if a one-sided love is to be preferred instead. It brings a different kind of pain, you see."

She wants to scream. She had told him the truth just as he asked her to. There is nothing going on between her and Peeta. Peeta does not love her. Why does Snow keep insisting that it is the case? She decides to try to convince Snow of this one more time, "I don't think…" she starts, but she is cut short by a knock on the door.

Snow bids whomever it is to enter. A woman dressed in a sharp and expensive-looking grey and red outfit enters. It is clear that the woman has a certain rank due to the way she carries herself. She remains in the doorway when she addresses the president, "Your Excellency, I'm sorry to interrupt, but everything is prepared for departure. Do we have your permission?"

"Permission granted." Snow confirms and the woman gives a nod to someone standing on the other side of the door. She then makes a curtsy as a sign of departure, but the president stops her and bids her stay for a short while.

Being alone with Snow is nerve-racking enough, but to be outnumbered two to one makes Katniss' mouth run dry. Hopefully, the woman is here to escort her out, but it makes her a little nervous, that Snow leans further back into the plush armchair like he has all the time in the world as he draws his full attention back to her, "Now, as ruler, it is important not to worry about one's private affairs, otherwise you cannot devote your time to governing the country. I appreciate everything you've told me. But it is important to me, that my son is content. And so, I intend to give Peeta everything within certain limits that makes him happy."

She does not fully understand where Snow is going with this. At this very moment she hears the sound of a whistle from outside on the platform. She knows that whistle. It means that a train is leaving within a few seconds. But she is still on it! She can sense the engine coming to life by the rumble beneath her feet and the train makes a small movement, which makes her jump out of her seat, "Sir… the train is leaving. I need to get off. I cannot be here. I need to…" she stutters, not quite able to finish her sentence due to the rising panic within her.

"Sit down, Miss Everdeen." Snow orders her briskly, forcing her to slowly reclaim her seat while she screams internally, "As I was saying, I will give Peeta anything that makes him happy within certain limits. And according to my reports, you seem to make him happy… for now. And I suggest that you try your upmost to make it so. Perhaps you could… persuade your heart to turn in the right direction. And if it makes you feel better, you can see it as your way of repaying him for saving your life. Do I make myself clear?"

It may not be a direct threat, but it is close enough for her to regard it as such. There is no arguing with this man, so she the only thing she can do is nod. She dares to take a quick glimpse out of the window and sees, that any sight of the train station is gone and instead sees a few buildings that vanish only to be replaced by trees. The train has already reached the outskirts of town.

She hears a content Snow speak again, "Egeria, Miss Everdeen will accompany us to the Presidential Palace where she will stay as our honoured guest. Please escort Miss Everdeen back to the guest compartment. She needs to be well rested before we reach the Capitol tomorrow."

"Excellency." Egeria responds in reverence and looks expectantly at Katniss. "Miss Everdeen, please follow me."

It takes a moment before Katniss realises that she is allowed to leave because she is still processing her newfound situation. As she rises from her seat, she can feel her legs shiver slightly underneath her. Forcing them to work without showing Snow how much she is affected by her sudden lack of freedom, she walks away from him as fast as her legs allow her to go. She does not even offer her 'captor' a last look before she is out of the door.

Like the peacekeepers, this Egeria-person does not say anything to her as they move through the train cars. When they reach the compartment, she was placed in at her arrival, Egeria opens the door and bids her to enter. At least this time she is not shoved brutally into the compartment. A few hours ago, she was a captive, now she is an 'honoured guest' of President Snow, which is basically the same in her book.

"You're expected to stay here until we reach the Capitol. Lunch will be served at noon and dinner at 6pm. If you need anything, a servant will be summoned should you ring the bell." Egeria informs her and points to a button that has been placed to the left of the bed, "And a word of advice: the next time you leave the president's company or is greeted by him you're expected to curtsy as a sign of respect and submission. The same goes for when you're in the heir's presence. You'll do well to remember that."

And with that remark, the door separates them. Katniss hears the familiar click of the lock. Apparently, honoured guests truly are captives. But at least she is a captive with a servant should she need anything. Somehow, she doubts that a servant will help her get off the train.

She returns to the window and as she does, she gets a glimpse of a dense forest - her dense forest, before her green view is lost to darkness from the tunnel they had just entered. When they reach the other side and the sunlight returns, she does not need a sign to tell her that she has now left District 12. Soon after, the train tracks take them in a different direction making the entrance to District 12 disappear from view.

---

She tossed and turned the entire night, so she is far from 'well-rested', as Snow had requested. Sleep evaded her. Her mind was everywhere. Prim and her mother's frightened faces as she had been collected at the break of dawn. What Gale would say, when they told him? When would they even know that she had left the district? And what will Peeta say when she shows up in the Capitol two months before their original agreement? Somehow seeing Peeta again was the only comfort that kept her from panicking. They might not be friends, but she knows that he will protect her. In fact, this is the only thing she is sure of. He did promise to stay with her for her entire trip to the Capitol and deliver her safely back to District 12 when she had agreed to be his partner for the event. But she will have to suffer the humiliation of telling Peeta what Snow expects of her.

She wants nothing more than to keep it a secret from him. But how can she? If she does not say anything and tries to act as if she is actually interested in him, she will be mortified when he tells her to stop and demand to know why on earth, she is behaving like a foolish love-stricken woman, like the vultures she is supposed to help him with. The only explanation for that would be that the kiss between them, shared as an alibi, had turned her mind into mush so she no longer could tell reality from the fantasy of him suddenly being interested in her. And making Peeta believe that is worse than the truth. At least by telling him the truth their mutual understanding of the reason why she is coming to the Capitol is intact. She is here as his ally, not his lover. And besides, what does Snow expect her to do? Pounce on him the moment they are alone just because Snow is under the impression that Peeta is in love with her? But telling him that the reason she is actually in the Capitol ahead of time is because Snow is certain of Peeta's devotion to her will surely result in utter embarrassment on Peeta's part as well. And even if it is true - which it is not - Peeta would be mortified by his father telling her about it before he could. How can you even recover from that?

Finally, the train come to a second halt and she is being led out of the train and onto the platform by four peacekeepers. When she looks around, she sees that she is inside a building, which must be the private garage for the presidential train. She spots many servants going to-and-fro of the train, emptying it for food and such as well as the president's personal luggage. She even sees what could be a whole army of servants with cleaning tools and products, ready to attack the train when told so. She knows that Snow got off the train at a platform in a more public place where he was greeted by a massive crowd, an orchestra and flashing lights from the many cameras. That was an hour ago. An hour she had spent wondering if she was ever getting out of the compartment.

The peacekeepers lead her to a shiny black and sleek-looking car where Egeria is waiting for her. A servant dressed completely in red opens the door for them and Egeria bids her to enter before following her and taking a seat next to her in the backseat. Before she knows it, the car has left the garage. Having never been in the Capitol before she is taken aback by how tall the buildings are, how clean the streets are. No dirt in sight wherever she looks. But despite the toned windows she can clearly make out the intense colours the people wear in their clothes, their hair, and for some even their skin tone. This is a different world than she is used to.

After a twenty-minute drive they pass a magnificent gate, which is protected by guards in a blue uniform on each side of the tall brick wall. Surely, they are close to their destination point. She takes in the scenery. She can spot the perfect garden on each side of the tall trees planted along the lane towards the Presidential Palace. And then she sees the biggest house she has ever seen in her life. They are still a bit far from it, but she can already make out the splendid details that have been put into the building. To think that this is Peeta's home now is beyond her imagination. Before she can stop herself, she asks, "Is that the Presidential Palace?"

Egeria actually lets out a small laugh. "No, no. That's the stable. The president has a great passion for equestrianism. The Presidential Palace is coming into view right about now."

And sure enough, once they round a corner even Katniss has to admit that the stable looks like a small shack in comparison. The Presidential Palace towers above all the other buildings she sees on the land. Several storeys high, with two separate wings in each end and with a tower in the centre make the building a stunning sight to behold. The outer walls are so white that it reflects the light and is filled with large windows all around that make the building shine like the diamonds she has only ever seen on screen. The car comes to a stop in front of the marble stairs that lead the way up to the huge wooden front door. The doors immediately open and two servants, again dressed completely in red, walk towards the car to stand on each side of it before opening the side doors for Katniss and Egeria to exit the car at the same time. In the door opening stands a man dressed in blue with shiny silver buttons on each side of his jacket and bearing the Presidential crest on the left side of the chest.

The man bids them welcome and ushers them inside as he addresses Egeria, "Madam Secretary, I'm told the president is expecting you and the young lady. The president and the heir are currently having tea in the yellow parlour."

This immediately gains Katniss' attention and a thousand emotions run through her. Peeta will be there! She will not be alone, but what will he say to her sudden arrival?

As they walk through the vastly decorated halls, her anxiety grows. She definitely does not belong here. Everywhere she looks she is surrounded by wealth, whether it be the paintings, the polished wooden and stone floors, the crystal chandeliers or the stone carved walls and ceilings. And as they walk Katniss' hunter instincts immediately look for a way out, but she is left disappointed when she discovers that there are guards placed in almost every room they pass. Escape is not an option. They finally stop in front of two white wooden doors and voices can be heard on the other side. She cannot make out the words but she is certain one of the voices belongs to Peeta. She looks at Egeria who seems to be waiting. Perhaps she expects her to walk in by herself. Katniss just wants to get this over with. Snow will be there and she has no idea what he will say to Peeta, when she is being brought in. She fears that Snow will bring up the kiss and indicate that she is here because Peeta has a crush on her. She is already cringing with embarrassment, when a beeping sound is heard from Egeria's watch.

"It's time. We're summoned." Egeria tells her in a solemn voice, as she stands up straighter, if that is even possible.

Katniss has no time to responds before Egeria has opened the double doors and is pushing her inside by placing a hand on her back. The moment Katniss enters the room she immediately seeks out Peeta. He sits in an elaborate armchair opposite Snow with one hand resting on the small table between them and the other is raising a porcelain teacup towards his lips. His hair is back to the styled form she had seen on the projector screen and today he is dressed in an expensive looking dark blue dress shirt that is a far cry from the hand-me-down shirts he was wearing in 12 just two days before. The shirt's darker colour makes him stand out in the brightness of the room, whereas President Snow is wearing a light grey suit. No wonder they call it the yellow parlour since its walls and furniture are in a bright yellow colour. Even the old paintings on the walls tell the story of happy and bright days; a bountiful picnic, a young girl in a bright white dress on a swing that hangs from a tree, children playing in a stream. All situations that so rarely are seen in District 12. Tall and slender white windows let the sun light flow into the room and a set of white double doors stands open from which the airy spring breeze attempts to lure the occupiers of the room to step outside. She then spots Effie Trinket standing a few metres behind Peeta. Katniss had totally forgotten that the former District 12 escort would probably be here too. Effie too is dressed in a bright yellow outfit. One would think that she knew exactly which room Peeta and Snow would be having tea. She almost blends in with the wallpaper.

Only a few seconds after she and Egeria had entered the room, Peeta languidly lifts his head to look at the intruders. It is clear that he was expecting it to be a dull member of parliament or perhaps just Egeria like so many times before, but when he discovers Katniss standing there, he accidently tips over the teacup he is holding making its content spill all over the table. Snow immediately pushes his chair backwards to avoid being drenched in hot tea while a servant springs forward to clean up the mess. If the situation had been different, it would almost be comical. But Peeta does not seem to notice the chaos in the background as astonishment and surprise mixed with disbelieve is etched onto his face as he takes her in.

"Katniss?! How is this possible… what is happening?" he mutters more to himself than to anyone. He is really caught off guard, which is noticeable by that sharp jawline of his dropping in surprise.

Snow daps his sleeve with his napkin where some tea droplets managed to hit and stain the white shirt underneath the grey jacket. "That, my boy, is my gift to you. I have been told that you seem to have developed a certain fondness for Miss Everdeen."

Katniss is just standing there, awkwardly staring at the boy with the bread that somehow does not fit into these surroundings and at the same times looks as if he never had belonged anywhere else than here. She is so mesmerised by him that she jumps a little when Egeria hisses a little too loudly in her ear to remember to curtsy. She does so to the best of her ability for a person who has never curtsied before, wobbling a bit on her way up. Somehow curtsying for Peeta's sake is a little embarrassing when she has known him since they were five years old.

Peeta, however, does not seem to care. He is by her side in a heartbeat, gently touching her upper arm in a caring manner. An action that brings her the comfort she had yearned for ever since she was escorted from her house, "Are you okay?" he whispers to her while making eye contact, searching for any signs of despair. Grey meets blue. His eyes are full of concern and asking the question he cannot ask out loud: if Snow had hurt her. Lord knows what emotions her own grey eyes are revealing. If she should guess, it is not the confidence she had hoped for but instead the vulnerability she had kept under lock and key deep inside of her, never to be seen again.

"I'm fine." she whispers back and he nods in understanding. She swears she sees his shoulders relax by her response and she is certain of it when he lets his hand fall to his side. Again, she gets this strange feeling of loss, just like the time he warned her about the lock-down. She tries to defuse the tension in the room by offering him one of her rare smiles to reassure him.

Snow interrupts their small moment, "I understand Miss Everdeen has agreed to stand by your side at the garden party and the gala."

Peeta immediately turns towards his father. She notices that he is holding his breath, waiting for Snow to continue and there is a part of her that wants to offer him a comforting hand as he did for her. Clearly, he had not told Snow about their plans, but somehow Snow already knows about them, which is news to her as well. "Of course, I did give permission for you to try to make your own decisions regarding this matter, but I'm astonished that you didn't feel the need to tell me about Miss Everdeen. When were you planning on informing me of her attendance? The day before?" Snow taunts him, rubbing it in Peeta's face that he knew of their agreement all along.

Peeta rebelliously crosses his arms and snaps back, "No, I was going to tell you in good time. I assumed you don't want to hear anything I have to say these days. You made that very clear in 12 before you shipped me back to the Capitol and grounded me."

Now it is Katniss' turn to hold her breath. On one hand she admires his courage to tell Snow off right to his face, but on the other hand she is worried that he has made everything worse. Does he not know Snow has the power to kill them both? It is then she realises her mistake. Peeta is not a simple citizen like herself anymore. This is a family feud - presidential style.

Fortunately, Snow does not wish to fight. "I did and you know perfectly well why. We shall not discuss that issue again. But what I'm most curious about is how you would ensure that Miss Everdeen is prepared to attend the garden party and the following gala banquet with so little preparation time when you planned her arrival to be a few days before the event?"

Peeta stakes a small step in Snow's direction so he is standing slightly in front of her, blocking her partly from the president's view and she realises that he is trying to protect her whether it be intentional or not. He must have realised that he went a bit too far and Snow is not a man to be taunted. "Katniss will stay by my side the entire day. She'll not be expected to mingle and I'll do the talking." he tells his father.

She studies him intently. She cannot help it. The muscles in his jaw flexes vaguely as he tries to keep from lashing out again. She has never seen this fiercely protective side of him. He has always been so good hearted and open but she appreciates it immensely.

"I'm sorry to say that I rather doubt that Miss Everdeen has been taught how to behave at an upper-class event. Just now, she had to be instructed to curtsy. As I recall, Madam Trinket spent a good amount of time giving you etiquette lessons when you first arrived here. And now you expect me to believe that Miss Everdeen will be able to learn all of that in a matter of days. This is the most important event of the year. All of the Capitol's elite, including members of parliament, will be in attendance, not to mention the media as well. There can be no mistakes. If Miss Everdeen performs poorly, it will reflect badly on you and in extension me as well. I'm not willing to take that chance. As I told Miss Everdeen on the train, I wanted to reward you for the progress you have made in adjusting to your new life and living up to my expectations. I allowed you to return to District 12 because of that and I shall allow Miss Everdeen to accompany you to the garden party and the gala banquet because it is clearly something that will make you happy. But for her to do so, she needs to look like she belongs by your side."

He looks to Effie Trinket and bids her come closer. She immediately springs to life and awaits the president's orders, "Since you are the head of Peeta's household, and Miss Everdeen is officially Peeta's guest, she will be placed under your care as well. No doubt, this will be your greatest task till date. I'm certain that you'll work tirelessly to refine… and in this case reform, Miss Everdeen into a young lady who is presentable and polished. But time is short, so I suggest that you start right away. Peeta, please come back and take your seat. We still have a few things to discuss."

But as Peeta keeps standing by Katniss' side and seems to have no intention of moving instead of obeying orders, Effie springs into action, "Of course, Your Excellency." She walks straight up to Katniss and places her hands on Katniss' shoulders while she makes a light push for her to turn around, "Now, dear. If you'll follow me." she says in a way too happy voice, that betrays her desperation of the deadline that approaches by each second, "I think a good place to start is to make an external transformation that will hopefully lead to real change within. Come along, dear."

Katniss has only taken a few steps before she hears Peeta's voice from behind her, "Wait Madam Trinket!" He walks over to Katniss and takes her hands in his. She is not used to all this touching, but she will allow it for two reasons. One, because Snow's threat still lingers and two, she does not wish to leave Peeta already. "I promise I'll come see you as soon as I can." he assures her and gives her hands a small squeeze for emphasis. All too soon he lets go of her hands because they both know, that he has to let Effie Trinket lead her away for now like she has done so many times before with the unlucky tributes from District 12. Only this time, she is being led to a different kind of arena. One, which she hopefully has a greater chance of escaping from with her life intact.

And when they reach the doors, she turns her head to take one last look at Peeta who to her surprise has remained standing in the middle of the room watching her go. He sends her a reassuring smile before Effie leads her around the corner and further into the Presidential Palace.

She just hopes that Peeta indeed will be able make good of his promise to be with her shortly.

---

Fun fact no. 1: The dance-scene was actually what started this whole story and it kind of developed from there.

The 'poem' is from a song called, "To where you are" by Josh Groban which I can highly recommend, but beware, it might make you shed a tear.