Shout-out to quietwraith for leaving a review
Also, pretty much everyone knows I like some good tunes and guess what albums came out today? Scaled and Icy by twenty one pilots and Sour by Olivia Rodrigo! *excitement* (this note was written 5-21-21. Yes, I know it's been a week since those albums came out)
Sour was great. I love her.
Scaled and Icy… could've been better… but some of the songs were awesome. Missing the Blurryface era though
One note about this chapter: I don't like those fanfics where everyone calls Katniss, Finnick, and Johanna Kat Finn and Jo. Katniss says in the books she hates nicknames, and I feel like even though Johanna's crazy, she's still feminine enough to fit a feminine sounding name like Johanna instead of Jo. I think Finnick would be called Finn, but only on occasion and only by close friends. I call him that once in this chapter, just because it felt natural. I think this will be the only time I do it.
On to the story! (5-21-21)
We had a few months between the victory tour and the 67th Hunger Games. I went back to District 12 and hung out with Prim and Gale. Sometimes I hunted, but it wasn't the same. Even before the Games, I was scared of the woods. I hunted because I had to to save my family, but the slightest noise would send me up a tree and I wouldn't come down for hours. When I got back from the Hunger Games, it made me fire my bow in the general direction of the sound, then I would take off running. This was really unfortunate, since most of the time it turned out to be Gale.
I still called Finnick at nighttime. Only when I couldn't calm down on my own, though. He never hung up on me, unless it was clear I had fallen asleep on the phone.
On the day of the Reaping, I wore a yellow dress that Cinna sent me. It had no sleeves and yellow flowers on it. It would've cost a year's worth of game, had I paid for it myself.
I sat on the stage next to Haymitch, who was wedged between me and Effie. Mayor Undersea gave his speech, and then read off the list of Victors from District 12, which only included three, and one of us was dead.
Lucy Gray Baird (10th Annual Hunger Games), Haymitch Abernathy (50th Annual Hunger Games), Katniss Everdeen (66th Annual Hunger Games).
We watched the dumb Hunger Games promotional video, and then Effie sprung up and hopped to the microphone, with way too much energy. She was recently asked to be the escort of District 8, but declined. After my victory as the Girl on Fire, District 12 became very popular amongst the Capitolites.
"Let's start with the ladies," she said with a smile. Her hair was purple this year, matching her ridiculous dress and six inch heels. When I told her I liked the color this year, she said
"Why thank you, dear, but it's not purple. It's lavender."
In case you're curious, that's the last time I ever compliment her.
"Willa Comita," She announced. All the eighteen-year-old girls turned to stare at a blonde merchant girl from the town. Her eyes were blue, but her skin wasn't nearly as pale as the other town kids. It was tanner. She wasn't very muscular, but she was very pretty. And to her credit, she didn't cry when she was called. Willa stood there for a minute, shocked, then walked to the stage, her mouth agape. My eye immediately caught the gold wedding ring on her finger. It must've cost a lot.
"There you are," Effie smiled at her. "Hello dear."
Willa closed her eyes briefly, then opened them and smiled back at Effie.
Good, I thought. Be personable.
"And now for the gentlemen!" This time, Effie dug her gloved hand into the very bottom of the Reaping bowl and pulled out a slip. She carried it to the microphone and read aloud:
"Aspen Comita!" Effie frowned at the paper. "That's funny. Are you related, dear?"
Willa had gone pale and didn't answer, she just stared down at the crowd.
The eighteen year old section parted like the red sea revealed a dark haired Seam boy. He looked a lot like Gale and me and every other Seam kid. Grey eyes, olive skin, slightly muscular from working in the mines like all other eighteen year olds. His skin was permanently covered in coal dust, like the rest of us District 12 miners.
He walked up to the stage, and I noticed the ring on his finger, as well. It was a little bit cheaper looking, but it was a wedding ring, nonetheless.
My tributes were married!
"Hello, dear. Would you mind telling us if Willa is your twin sister?" Effie asked him. I frowned. They look nothing alike. They shared no similar features.
"We aren't," He said, frowning. "Willa's my wife."
"Oh!" Effie siad. "That's unfortunate!"
"It is," Willa whispered, looking at Aspen.
"Yes well…" Effie seemed to recover. "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"
Haymitch and I were immediately escorted to the train. Effie waited behind for the tributes to say goodbye to their families.
"They're married," I said to Haymitch when we were alone in the bar car, where he sat pouring himself the first drink of the 67th Hunger Games.
"Yup. I've never had two tributes who were married to each other before, but I guess there's a first for everything." He said. "And don't blame Effie for this. I'm sure she's already beating herself up over it."
"What do you mean?"
"She's beginning to see how the Hunger Games are so awful. You helped her with that. Having her own victor helped a lot." Haymitch told me, taking a swig.
He offered it to me, and I turned it down, wrinkling my nose.
I went to my room for a while. The mentor suites were a lot nicer than the tribute suites, I guess because we had to be here every year and they didn't.
I would've called Finnick, but I didn't because the Reapings were staggered throughout the day so the Capitolites could potentially watch all of them live, even though there would be a recap later that night.
It was then that I heard Effie Trinket say "-per hour and you can barely feel a thing." and I knew she was giving her 'welcome to this marvelous train' speech.
I dragged myself out the door and into the dining car where they were sitting.
I felt myself getting nervous. They were a lot older than me, and I doubted they would listen. Haymitch was already there.
"Aren't you going to mentor us?" Willa asked him. Her eyes were a little red, and I knew she had been crying.
I snorted. "He's not going to mentor you. I am. Haymitch doesn't know how to spell 'mentor'."
"But you're, like, thirteen," Willa protested. "No offense."
"And you only killed, what, one person? That's got to be a new low record." Aspen said.
"I killed two: Cato and Cameron. And that's two more than you ever killed, so sit down, Junior." I sassed. I was still super nervous around these two, but I needed to show them that I was in charge.
Haymitch laughed drunkenly. I took his flask away from him and sat down.
"Is there any way you can get us both out?"Aspen asked me.
I frowned. "No. I wish I could, but it just doesn't work like that."
"Yeah it does," Haymitch said. "If you do it right."
"No it doesn't. It can't. " I argued. "Only one of you comes out, so you need to choose."
"Willa," Aspen said immediately. Willa started to protest, but Aspen repeated himself, more firmly.
They seemed to have a telepathic conversation, and Willa eventually agreed.
"It's time for the recaps!" Effie clapped her hands and herded us all into the TV car.
The Career tributes were all strong, powerful volunteers. From District 1, Ivory and Argent were both eighteen and dangerous looking. District 2 had Vale and Ansel. District 4 had Clarion and Michael. Michael was reaped whereas Clarion was a volunteer.
The rest of the tributes were forgettable, but Caesar and Claudius had a brief conversation about Aspen and Willa, and how unfortunate it was.
That night I woke up with a terrible nightmare about Aspen and Willa being eaten alive by a Glimmer dog mutt. When I woke screaming, I reached under my pillow for Finnick's napkin, but it wasn't there. I remembered that I had left it at the house, thinking I would have time to grab it after the reaping.
I rolled out of bed and put my hands out in the dark room, feeling for my robe. I found it hanging on the hook on my bathroom door and pulled it on.
I could feel my heart beating fast, and the images of the mutts kept playing over and over in my head. I made my way to the TV car on the other end of the train, where the phone was. I picked it up and typed in Finnick's number, which I had memorized long ago. 41-739.
"Hello?" A woman's voice said. I winced. I forgot that Finnick wouldn't be at home. He would be on the train.
"Hi, this is Katniss Everdeen. Do you know the phone number of the District 4 train?"
"Umm… I'm not sure off the top of my head. Let me check." She paused. "I'm Annie Cresta, by the way. I'm Finnick's dog sitter."
"Finnick didn't tell me he had a dog," I said. Or a girlfriend.
"Her name is Whisper."
"Oh," Is all I said.
"Here it is! It's just 01-470."
"Thank you!" I hung up and dialed the train's number. After two rings, a different woman picked up. This one had an outrageous Capitol accent, and an uncomfortably high voice.
"Hello this is Lola Mahogany, District 4 Escort, how may I help you?"
"Hi, Ms. Mahogany, is Finnick Odair there?"
"May I inquire as to who's asking?" She asked. I guessed it was to make sure it wasn't one of Finnick's fans.
"This is Katniss Everdeen."
I heard the gasp on the other end of the phone and knew I was in for it. Lola Mahogany began to chirp away in her high pitched voice, telling me just how cute I was and how adorable it was the Finnick had taken me under his wing and our friendship was just the best and…
She finally stopped talking and asked me to hold while she got Finnick.
I listened to the annoying music playing on the phone, wishing it was something good. That's when the door opened and my tributes entered the TV car, hand in hand. They were whispering about something quietly and didn't seem to notice me at first, but then Aspen turned around and saw me.
We all stared at each other for a second, but Willa was the first to recover. "Are you all right?" she asked me. I thought it was kind of weird, since she was the one going into the arena in a week, but I didn't say that out loud.
"I'm fine," I told her.
"You look angry."
I guess I was a little frustrated. Lola was taking an awfully long time getting Finnick, and I needed to hear his voice. He was one of the only people who was able to comfort me and reassure me that I can't be sent back into the arena.
"Some airheaded Capitolite put me on hold." I said.
"On hold?" Aspen asked. I always forget that no one in District 12 understands phone slang.
"It means you have to listen to this annoying music because the person on the other end of the phone has to go do something real fast."
"Who did you call?" Willa asked. I knew she was only trying to make small talk, but it felt a little personal to me. Maybe I was just being dramatic. "Your sister?"
I snorted. "No. It's, like, one AM in DIstrict 12. I'm just calling a friend. Another Victor."
Right on cue, the music stopped and Finnick's voice came over the phone. I held up a finger to tell Willa and Aspen to shut up. "Katniss? Are you there?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
"Do you want to talk about it?" That was always the first question Finnick asked after I had a nightmare.
"Not really." I noticed Aspen trying to talk to a blond Avox boy. "One second." I turned to my tributes. "He's an Avox," I told him, holding a hand over the receiver. "He can't speak. The Capitol cut out her tongue."
I removed my hand. "Sorry about that. My tributes are here, trying to talk to the Avoxes."
"Oh. That happens every year." He said.
"Figures," I said.
"Are they okay? Your tributes?" Finnick asked, because he had already watched the reaping and knew they were married.
"They're married, Finn." Willa and Aspen looked at me funny, because they knew I was talking about them.
"I know, Katniss. I saw. How are they coping?" He sounded sympathetic, and I knew it was because it was going to be first year mentoring.
"They're okay. They asked me if there was any way to get them both out, but I told them no."
"Why aren't they asking Haymitch those questions?" Finnick sounded a little angry.
"He's already drunk," I snorted.
Finnick didn't answer for a moment, but when he did, he said "I'm going to toss him off the roof of the training center."
"Leave him alone, Finnick Odair." I defended, though I don't know why I did. I had half a mid to do it myself.
"Why? He's leaving a first year mentor to mentor two eighteen year old tributes! He can't do that. You need training. You know what? I'm going to train you."
"You can't do that, Finnick. This is only your second year mentoring. You don't know much more than I do. Plus when you aren't mentoring, don't you have your other job?"
Finnick groaned loudly. "Let's just pretend that it doesn't exist."
"How did it go, by the way? Are you doing okay?" I asked, a little concerned.
"It was pretty terrible. I don't know how they're okay with doing this. Don't they have, I don't know, conscience? I'm a minor! I'm not even a legal adult!"
"I know. They're disgusting." I noticed Willa and Aspen still staring at me. "Would you guys mind giving me some privacy?" They both looked embarrassed and shuffled out of the car.
We didn't talk much longer, because Finnick's male tribute and escort were both still awake. They were in a different car, but we figured he needed to be with his tribute.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he promised. "Come find me once the prep team is done with you. It shouldn't take too long, since you've actually been showering this year."
I laughed. It was true. No one in the Seam had the time or money to bathe daily. Finnick told me he was from the poorer area of District 4, where they had the same problem. Finnick's old life was definitely easier than mine, but it wasn't easy.
I went back to bed, feeling much more relaxed than I had earlier. I had mixed feelings about arriving at the Capitol. On the plus side, I got to see Finnick. On the down side, that meant twenty-three kids my age were going to die.
I forgot just how early Effie liked to wake me up. When I heard her high pitched voice screeching through the door, I rolled over to check the time. Eight o'clock. That made me grumpy. Sure, I was used to waking up much earlier to hunt, but this was the one week every year I had absolutely no responsibility when it came to providing food for an entire district.
When I finally fell out of bed, into suitable clothing, and found my way to the dining car, everyone was already seated.
"Well look who finally decided to show up. Did you spend all night talking to loverboy again?" Haymitch said, slurring only a little. I glanced at his coffee, suspicious.
"I'll wake up earlier if you stop drinking at 8:30 AM. And there's nothing romantic going on between me and Finnick. I've only met him twice, and he has a girlfriend."
Haymitch laughed. "He finally told you about Annie, huh?"
I frowned. "No, I was just suspicious. Is Annie actually his girlfriend? Why didn't he tell me?"
"He doesn't want anyone to know. You know, because of his job."
"I thought Victors don't work." Aspen asked as he poured syrup over his pancakes and bacon.
"Most of us don't," Haymitch said. "But a few of us, like Finnick, work either year round or seasonally to secure sponsors for our tributes. It's usually the younger Victors who do it. They're more personable."
"Do either of you do it?" Willa asked hopefully. I felt a little guilty when she said that, but then stopped myself. She didn't know exactly what the Victors did to get sponsors.
"No," I said. "Haymitch isn't exactly…" I trailed off, studying him, trying to come up with a non-offensive term. "Friendly? And I'm too young."
"Oh," She sounded disappointed.
"When we get to the Capitol, the first thing that's going to happen is your prep team will come and make you look pretty. Then your stylists will come and dress you up. Don't resist anything they do to you. You're going to want to, but don't. You saw how awesome Lucius and I were last year, right?"
They both nodded. "You'll have the same stylists and they're going to make you look amazing. Just do exactly what they say. Then we'll talk about strategies."