Always: A Hunger Games Fanfiction

Chapter 71

Katniss

"Let's go," I say, clenching my bow tight in my fist. I hear footsteps behind me but I try to tune them out. I have to concentrate and focus. It's just like hunting. I shoot the animal. In this case, it's Fiona Snow. I push my braid over my shoulder and move the strands of dark hair away from my face. Before I realize it, we're at the second row of guards. I'm on my own from here. Thankfully, my team, if even that, stops walking  when we get there. All I hear now is my own soft breaths and my boots crunching dead leaves beneath my feet.

"Miss Everdeen. She's inside. She knows you're hear," a female guard tells me. I nod and walk past her and enter this little, secluded jail. Inside I find dead silence and begin to wonder if Snow is already dead. Maybe she got the news of my arrival and killed herself. But I prove myself wrong when I see her tied up in a separate cell in a tiny room. Her eyes are filled with fear but I can see her trying to hide it. She struggles to move, but I know even if she manages to break free of the handcuffs, there is a sturdy looking lock on her cell.

"You deserve this," I mumble before bringing my bow's string to my cheek. I take deep breaths as I concentrate on my target; her heart. Now I see how afraid Fiona is. She's trying to move and back away and hide but we both know its no use. "This is for Ruth," I whisper before letting the string go. I see my arrow land right as planned. I watch Snow slump over. Dead. My doing. I should feel happy, but no one decent should ever feel joy from killing someone, no matter who they are. But I know I've only done good. People are safe now. For now, anyways.

I sling my bow over my shoulder and swiftly exit the building. The guard looks at me expectantly. I just nod and descend down the hill to the cluster of Tamor's people. "Congratulations, sweetheart," I hear Haymitch say. I don't acknowledge him. I keep walking, not bothering to check if they're following me.

***

We arrive back at the Games Headquarters not long after. Since Tamor insisted his assistant drive us, it was much quicker than walking back through the woods.

I see Peeta waiting for me in the lobby. He wraps his arms around me and takes a deep breath. I don't know why he's so worried. "I wasn't gone for that long," I say.

"Yes, you were. To me it was, anyway. How did you find it?" he asks.

"President Tamor let me kill her. He forced me to bring guards though," I say.

"I'm glad you're okay," he says, kissing my forehead. I nod and we walk back to the Screening Room to watch the Games. I had another tribute killed today. Park and Daisey are the only ones left. Peeta has one and Johanna and Haymitch have two. I rest my head on Peeta's shoulder. He puts a protective arm around me and we watch the Games in silence.

I know something's wrong when Peeta's grip tightens on me. I look up into his eyes to see them turning a cloudy blue. Not again. "Katniss get out of here," he says through gritted teeth. I stand and walk quickly to the door. I pull on the handle but it's locked. Locked? I don't remember locking it. Then I remember the guest room in my Victor's Village house had a door that locked by itself. This must be one like that.

I begin to panic. I have no way of getting out. Peeta lets out a scream and falls to the floor. My heart shatters whenever I see him like this. Whenever I see him in a horrible pain. I only have one solution. He grabs the end of the table in the center of the room. "Peeta. . ." I whisper, kneeling down to him. I know I shouldn't be doing this. I should hide. He doesn't look up. He continues to yell with pure agony. I gently put my hand on his back. He sits upright and backs away from me.

"Get away from me! Don't hurt me!" he yells, crawling away. I feel tears brim my eyelids at the thought of him being truly scared of me.

"Listen to me. I'm not going to hurt you."

"But you hurt my family! You killed them," he whimpers. I shake my head and bite my lip.

"No, I promise I didn't. Listen to me, Peeta. It was Snow. But Snow is dead. They can't hurt you anymore," I say softly. He pauses and I inch towards him. I reach out and grab his hand. He pulls away at my touch but relaxes when he realizes I'm not going to hurt him. I place his hand to my heart. "Shh, just focus on my breathing. It's alright. I love you."

A tear falls from his eye but he doesn't seem as utterly terrified anymore. I close my eyes and pray it'll be over soon. "Katniss?" I look up to see a confused Peeta in front of me. "Oh my god," he gasps.

"Hey, it's alright," I say.

"I didn't hurt you did I?" he asks. I smile weakly and shake my head no.

"You didn't even try," I say. "You were just scared." He furrows his eyebrows as if saying, Scared?

"Was I scared of you?" he asks, guilt in his voice. I nod and a hurt expression crosses his face.

"But it's alright. You're okay now," I say. I wrap my arms around his neck and bury my face in his chest.

"I'm sorry you have to deal with me. . ." he mumbles. I have to stop myself from laughing.

"I'm sorry you have to deal with me too. I'm kind of a handful," I say, trying to brighten the mood.

"No. I mean, my flashbacks. If you had just chosen Gale, you-"

"Peeta, if I loved Gale I would be with him right now. But I don't. I'm with you."

"You love me?" he asks. I pull away from our embrace and kiss him.

"Always," I whisper. He smiles weakly and nods.

_____

That was a pretty short chapter, so sorry about that. But anyway, the next chapter will be about five years later. I know there's still a lot to clear up but don't worry, I'll get to it. And no, that doesn't mean this story is ending soon, but this is supposed to be 'After Mockingjay' and so I feel like I need to write about Katniss and Peeta grown up too. I didn't want to really focus on that entirely but I want chapters with it. I hope that I can do something different and not the usual 'Katniss and Peeta having a baby' idea. I don't want this whole story to revolve around that. So, sorry for blabbing, just warning you.

Once again, check out my new Divergent fanfiction, Emergent.