No Games Left to Play

7: The Interview

It's moments before Peeta and I walk onto Caesar's stage to announce to all of Panem that we are engaged. I'm ready to tell everyone that we are taking the next step in our relationship, but I'm not ready for all of Caesar's invading questions. Effie told us to answer them honestly. Not to try and get around them. She said the more honest we are, the less Caesar will pry. Peeta and I are standing behind the doors that lead onto the stage. We hear Caesar start to introduce our segment and before the doors slide open, Peeta grabs my hand and intwines our fingers.

"Ready?" he asks.

"Ready." I say.

"Please help me introduce our star-crossed lovers from District Twelve!" Caesar announces and the crowd cheers. The doors open and Peeta and I step onto the stage, our hands still tangled together, the crowd roars even louder. We go to meet Caesar. Peeta shakes his hand, and then I hug him.

"Please, sit. Sit." Caesar says.

Peeta and I oblige. I sit in the chair closest to Caesar and Peeta sits to my left, just like the interview after our first games. Caesar motions the audience to quiet down.

"So, you two are back together?" Caesar asks.

"Yes, we are." Peeta answers.

"How's it been?" Caesar asks.

"Good. Great, actually." I answer. I look at Peeta and smile.

"I don't think we've ever been happier." Peeta adds. It's nice to finally be able to do an interview without the pressure of having to convince someone our love story is real. We don't have to act because it's real. Peeta kisses me and the audience awes.

"Isn't that sweet?" Caesar says. "So, Peeta?" he says to get his attention. "You've opened your family's bakery again?"

"Yes. It was completely destroyed when twelve was bombed, so when I returned to the district I met with a construction crew and tried to help with as much of the building process as I could."

"Katniss, did you help build too?" Caesar asks.

"No, but I was there for the opening." I say. "It was really something special."

"And why is that?" Caesar asks, trying to get into why we are really here.

"Because that was the day I asked Katniss a very important question." Peeta says. The audience gasps. Caesar raises his eyebrows, trying to play off that he already knows. Peeta continues. "It was the day I asked Katniss to spend the rest of her life with me."

The crowd stands and cheers. I smile at Peeta and pull my engagement ring out of the pocket in my dress. I took it off for the beginning portion of the interview because we wanted to try and keep it secret. Peeta kisses me, sending the crowd into another spiral of cheering.

"Ok, calm down, calm down." Caesar says. "We have footage from the event. Let's take a look."

The clip of Peeta proposing to me plays on a screen behind us. Watching it takes me back to that day. I start to cry, but they aren't tears of sadness. They are tears of joy. Once the clip is over Caesar turns to us and smiles.

"Peeta, that was such a wonderful speech." he adds.

"Thank you, Caesar." Peeta says.

"May I ask why this took so long?" Caesar asks.

"We had to fall in love with each other again." I say. "We are different people since the rebellion."

"I had to sort out my memories of Katniss." Peeta adds. "My hijacking was detrimental to our relationship. My memories of her were hazy. I had to realize she wasn't a harm to me, but a girl I was madly in love with."