Mockingjay: Prim [Completed]

Chapter 1: Play the Part (Prim)

A sea of grey is all that's left of our old house. My hand brushes over pieces of rubble, where the bed I shared with Katniss and Mother used to stand. To my left, where Katniss stands idle, is where the kitchen used to be. Then to my right is a heap of scorched bricks. I'm assuming those use to make up our chimney.

I cough as ash enters my respiratory system. I look down at my shoes and see there's a whole layer of ash settling down on the worn leather.

"You alright?" Katniss asks, concerned. It's a hard question, almost philosophical, after everything that's happened.

"I'm hanging on," I answer with a smile. I really don't know what else to say. She walks over to me and pulls me into a hug.

"Everything's going to be okay, little duck. Maybe not now, maybe not soon, but eventually, we'll be fine. Be strong."

Tears trickle down my cheeks as a memory floods in. On the morning of the reaping, Katniss had given me a hug, and called me little duck. Now about a year later, we stand in the relatively same place, doing the relatively same thing, but so much has changed. So much...

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Capitol annihilated our whole district with firebombs. They've destroyed everything and now nothing remains of District 12. The houses of the poor coal miners, the shops in the town, the Justice Building- all gone.

The Victor's Village lays untouched though. Katniss and I walk side by side as we walk down the paved road leading to our house in the village. Along the way we see many dead bodies in many conditions, and the guilt kills me. They're all dead because of me.

Only ten percent of District 12 made it out alive. It was Katniss who saved them. I am thankful to have a sister like her, but also a little sad that there's such a high bar to live up to. When the bombings in 12 started, Katniss saved the remainder of Gale's family, Mother, and other people in the Seam by taking them past the meadow to the lake. The lake where she has many memories with Father. I wonder what it would have been like for her.

After surviving the attack, Katniss had only her bow and arrows, a fishing net, a knife, and over eight hundred mouths to feed. Mother attended the wounded. Katniss attended the hungry. They had managed to live for three days, when finally a rescue plane from District 13 came and picked them up.

It was a nice thing to do. According to a District 10 refugee (that made it to 13 by foot), their ulterior motive was to have a new 'breeding stock' as they are low in number. But I still think it's kind of them to take us in. They provide us with food, clothes, shelter, education and jobs. Some of us are still mad they stayed idle all this time when they could help us, but the past is past- we have to let go. I guess that's the whole reason Katniss and I are back in District 12- to let go.

The District 13 authorities were against me coming to District 12, and even more against Katniss accompanying me. They said it was pointless and a waste of time. And seeing that there are a dozen hovercrafts above us in the sky for protection, it probably is futile, at least in their point of view. I had to come though, no matter what they said. And eventually I got them to agree. It was Plutarch that finally threw his hands in the air and told them to "let her go, perhaps it will finally convince her we're on her side".

Katniss and I reach the door to our house but neither of us step in.

"I-I'd rather stay out here," I whisper in a barely audible voice. She looks into my eyes as she gives me a nod, and I realize once more how different we are. The grey eyes opposed to the blue, the brown hair opposed to the blonde. Katniss steps into the house and I'm left alone on the porch. I press my back against the wall, then slide down until I'm eventually sitting down, legs pulled in, hugging my knees. There is so much going on inside my head- far too much for a thirteen year old girl. Sometimes it's hard to believe I'm only thirteen. I feel like I've been through far too much to be called thirteen. But that's what I am. Thirteen. And that's where I live now. District 13.

My head starts throbbing from all the thinking, something that's happened a lot recently. I decide to try out what the doctors suggested. I start with simple truths and gradually work on to the more complicated.

My name is Primrose Everdeen. Everyone calls me Prim. I am thirteen years old. I am from District 12. My home has been destroyed. I was in the Hunger Games. I got away. The Capitol hates me for that, and a lot of other things. Rory was taken. It's my fault. He is probably dead...

Crackle. "Prim, Katniss- you guys okay down there?"

Finnick's voice comes in from the headset I've been forced to wear. He's up in the hovercraft, making sure Katniss and I don't die, ready to come to the rescue if we're attacked.

"We're doing fine," I answer back.

"Yeah," Katniss says in the intercom, "But Prim, I found something, I think you'll like it."

I stand up a bit too fast and sway from the dizziness. I place a hand on the wall to steady myself before entering the house. The smell of roses overwhelms me immediately. I gag. I spot a vase of fresh, white roses on the counter-top and freeze. Fresh. I don't need to be told who it's from. It's clearly from Snow, the real enemy.

"Prim, over here," Katniss calls. I try to shake Snow out of my mind as I head towards her. The first thing I see is her game bag strewn across her shoulder. I'm not sure what she called me over for. Then I see her.

"Buttercup!" I exclaim. He responds to his name and comes to me. I stroke him gently and wonder how he survived the recent attack. Surprisingly, he looks well fed. The window is open so he must have gone in and out. Maybe he caught some field mice. I refuse to believe the alternative.

"What are we going to do?" I whisper. Buttercup looks into my eyes and tilts his head. I know he would try tell me something if he could.

Everyone else has been telling things. There's Plutarch, then his assistant Fulvia Cardew, Military officials, a bunch of different district leaders...but not Alma Coin, president of District 13. She just watches, with those grey eyes of hers. Not a warm grey like Katniss' but a grey like all the color has been flushed out from her eyes. She looks about fifty but her hair is flawless- so flawless that I often wonder if it's a wig.

I am to become 'the real mockingjay'. A leader for the people to follow- and there are quite a lot of people, now that so many districts are openly at war with the Capitol. They've provided me with a whole team- speech writers, costume designers, make up artists, performance coaches... All I have to do is play the part. Just like I've been doing in the past two games.

~A/N~ Prim is back!!!

First chapter to the last book- hope you liked it :)

-Monica