Chapter-22

A/N: So I'm very sorry this chapter took so long, I was sick and didn't have the energy to sit down and write it. But, we are skipping ahead a couple months! Time to get this show on the road!

Chapter 22

Today, Peeta and I start the Victory Tour. To say I'm dreading it would be an understatement. Peeta's tried to do everything he could to ease my stress over this tour, but nothing's worked.

"Good morning," Peeta says sleepily.

"Good morning," I whisper back. "What time is it?"

"Around six, I figured I'd wake you up so you could go hunting with Gale. Last Sunday you guys will get for a while," he says. "Just be back by 7:45, prep teams will be here at eight."

Gale and I didn't talk for three weeks after he kissed me, and to be honest, I was willing to let it go on longer, but Peeta talked me into seeing Gale again. I don't understand that boy sometimes. If Peeta's best friend were to kiss him when they knew he and I were together, I wouldn't let her near Peeta again. But I guess this is another act of Peeta's eternal goodness. Even after the Hunger Games, he still manages to be better than any other citizen in District 12.

I talked to Gale about the kiss, and told him never to do it again. I know Peeta is probably petrified Gale will try something with me again, and not be able to stop him, but he doesn't voice this out loud. I wouldn't blame him if he did think these thoughts, because I'd most likely think much worse if I were in his shoes.

As I make my way to the fenceline where I'll slip through the small opening, I get this feeling of fear fall upon me, much worse than the dread of the Victory Tour. I fear for Gale's family. How are they going to survive without me sending them food and allowing Gale to take all of our game.

I'll just have Peeta or me pay Hazelle two months in advance for keeping Haymitch's house clean. Although Haymitch will be with us on this tour, I'm sure Hazelle could find a room or two to clean that Haymitch doesn't use anymore.

I grab my bow and arrows from the hollowed out log I've concealed them in, and start for Gale and my hunting spot, where he'll undoubtedly be waiting for me.

"Hey Catnip," Gale says without even turning around. I guess years of being hunting partners can help you recognize the other's footsteps, no matter how silent mine may be. Peeta tells me I move like I'm walking on air. Maybe his footsteps are so loud mine do seem silent to him, but not to Gale.

"Hey," I say as I throw him a roll filled with cheese from my game bag. He catches it and slowly rips it in half, revealing the soft, gooey cheese inside. I've probably had a thousand cheese buns by now, and yet, I still find my mouth watering at the sight of one. They really are just that good.

"Bread Boy's cheese bun?" he asks. It didn't sound hateful or anything, but the nickname he'd given Peeta still irks me.

"I really wish you'd stop calling him that," I say. "Is it so hard to call him Peeta?"

"Sorry," he says.

Another thing that changed in our friendship since that day. Gale actually apologizes and admits when he's wrong. This may also have something to do with Madge Undersee, Gale's girlfriend. They've been together for two months now, and Madge doesn't allow Gale to walk all over her. To be honest, I'm surprised how much Gale changed himself for her. Well, changed the way he acted. He has much more respect for others now.

At first, when he told me he was dating Madge, I was pissed. He's spent the last four years telling me how repulsive the merchant people were. Now, he's dating the Mayor's daughter? It seemed hypocritical to me, but seeing them two together, he actually looks very happy, so maybe he had a change of heart or something. Or maybe seeing Peeta and I together showed him that not all merchants are bad, and he could possibly find love with one of them.

"So, if we want to get anything, we'd better leave now. I need to be back soon for my prep team," I say.

Gale hates the Capitol, and along with this hatred comes his loathing of the citizens that reside there too. I personally don't hate them, just dislike them. I dislike how oblivious they are to the struggles of the Districts. I hate President Snow, and the Gamemakers, and anyone who helps oppress the Districts.

Gale and I hunt for an hour, bagging a squirrel and two rabbits, along with a rare turkey. The game we've got so far will be great for Gale's family, so we decide to cut our day short. I know Gale will come back out here when Peeta and I leave for the Tour, but he still offers to walk me to the fence.

I get Gale to take all of the game, ignoring any and all protests on his part. I understand hating the feeling of owing someone, but seriously, I'm a Victor. I don't need to hunt at all, I do it for fun now and to help Gale out of course. Same thing with Peeta. He doesn't need to bake anymore, yet he still does for fun and to feed the poorer families in the District.

I make my way through the town, not having time to stop anywhere, and quickly get to Victor's Village. It's odd really, because Peeta's standing on my doorstep. I run to him, embracing him in a hug.

"Katniss, give me the bag," he whispers. "Trust me please."

I hand him my game bag, and he drops it in the bushes by my house, hiding it. Whatever's happening isn't good if I need to hide my bag. Are there peacekeepers nearby?

"What's going on Peeta?" I whisper.

"Snow stopped by my house," he whispers. At the sound of his name, I tense up. If he was at Peeta's, he's here. That's why Peeta hid my bag. "I'll tell you everything later, he's waiting on you."

I give him a kiss, and walk through the door. The first thing I notice is the smell. Blood and roses. Two peacekeepers are standing at the doorway to my library room, where I'm presuming President Snow is.

"This way, Mrs. Everdeen," one of the peacekeepers says as he gestures down the hallway towards the library. I don't like being told where I should go in my own house, but I keep my mouth shut. Don't want to cause any more problems for my family than I already have.

As I walk down the hallway, I glance back and see my mother in the kitchen, looking pale and worried. "It's probably just some instructions for the Victory Tour," I say with what I hope was a reassuring smile.

The peacekeeper opens the library door and gently pushes me forward, which irritates me some more. If I didn't like being told where to go in my own house, I'm not going to like being touched in my own house either.

My nostrils are flooded with the smell of roses, and a hint of blood. I try not to sneeze, but the smell is assaulting my nose. It's almost horrid enough to cause me to gag.

In the seat behind my desk, is none other than President Snow. His white hair and puffy lips repulse me. If I weren't so scared of what he's going to tell me, I'd gag at the sight of him since the roses didn't do the trick.

He motions towards the two seats in front of my desk. "Sit down, make yourselves comfortable."

I was comfortable until you showed up, I think to myself. This is my home, and yet, he's treating me like a guest. I guess even Victor's don't own their houses. It's still the Capitol's property.

"I think we'll make this whole situation easier, if we agree not to lie to each other, Mrs. Everdeen," Snow says. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, I think that'd be best," I say, trying to hide the venom in my voice.

"I've been told you might be difficult, but you aren't planning on being difficult now, are you?" he asks. Oh, how I hate you.

"No, why would I be difficult?" I ask steadily.

"That's what I said. You went through a lot of trouble to live. I didn't think you'd willingly throw that away. And of course, there's your family to think about too," Snow says. "Those cousins too." He'll kill Gale if I mess up. "Speaking of family, how is your little sister? I hope she's doing well," he says threateningly. There's an underlying threat in this sentence. Prim dies if I mess up whatever it is he's going to ask.

"What do you want me to do then, Snow? You wouldn't come here to threaten me if there wasn't something you needed," I say.

"Everdeen, quite the mouth on you. And perceptive too. You're right, I do have a problem," he says. "You see, when you and Peeta threatened to jump off of the arena, your act of love was analyzed as an act of defiance in the districts. They don't believe your love story."

"You see, Seneca Crane, the old Head Gamemaker should have let you both jump. If two kids from District 12, the poorest district in the nation, can get away with defying the Capitol, who's to say all of them can't? What's stopping, let's see… an uprising?"

"There's been uprisings?" I say, stunned. If there really has been uprisings, then surely Snow knows there is nothing I can do to stop them. He's smarter than this.

"Not yet, but there will be. If I don't get them under control, they'll rebel. So, what better way to defuse something like this, than to take the source and show them it doesn't work? I need to show them that you're loyal to the Capitol," Snow says.

"So why don't you just kill me now? It'll save you all of your problems, right? I didn't get away with it if you kill me," I say.

"I don't want you dead, Everdeen. I want you alive. You're a lot more powerful than you think you are, and I'd like to use it to my advantage. Killing you will only cause more problems," he says with a smile. "If I show people you did it out of love and not to defy us, then the Capitol now has a big heart for allowing you and Peeta to live happily ever after. Of course, in public," he says as he clicks a button on a remote to play a video of Gale kissing me.

"That happened one time, and I didn't want it to happen," I say angrily.

"I believe you, Mrs. Everdeen. The problem is, would the Capitol?" he says with a smile. "Do you know Finnick O'dair?"

"Everyone knows him," I say evenly.

"Do you know what he does for me?" he says with a sinister smile. "He makes me a lot of money. Women will pay a lot of money to have one night with someone as handsome as Finnick. Katniss, you wouldn't happen to know another handsome young man that the Capitol women would love to get their hands on, would you?"

He's talking about Peeta. It's no secret that Peeta's very handsome, and obviously being the baker's son has made his body quite exceptional. The Capitol women would go crazy for him.

"You can't do that. It'll mess up the Star Crossed Lovers story," I say.

"Who would know? It'd be our little secret. Of course, you could tell others about it, but I don't think you'd like what I do to Prim and your mother. Peeta could tell someone, but his brothers and father would die," he says.

"So what are you saying then?" I say.

"I think you know what I'm saying. Convince the districts of your little act, Mrs. Everdeen. A lot is at stake here," he says with a laugh as he gets up and walks out of the house.

Before he exits the library, he turns around and faces me. "Mrs. Everdeen, this Tour? This is your last chance to convince everyone of your love. But I'd advise you to aim a little higher. Convince me."

With that, he walks out of my library, out of the house, and into a car I didn't notice when I showed up this morning.

Prim and my mother are both standing in the hallway when I leave the library. Each of them have worried looks on their faces. I need to reassure them that nothing is wrong.

"He stopped by to go over some things for the Tour. He does it every year, but you don't see it on television," I say, hoping I sound convincing.

"Oh, okay," my mother says, her face losing the worrisome look. "Your prep team will be here in ten minutes, so you might want to get ready."

My prep team can wait. I need to talk to Peeta about what just happened. He's smart, he'll know what to do.

"Peeta!" I yell as I walk into his house. Nobody in Victor's Village knocks, as we all know each other. To be honest, at first, it was Haymitch and I that didn't knock. Effie didn't really rub off on us very well. But eventually, Peeta learned that he didn't really need to knock either. He still does out of respect for Prim and my mother, but when they aren't home, he just walks right in like we do to him.

"Up here!" he yells from the top of the stairs. I run up the steps two at a time to reach him. We don't have a lot of time, and we need every second we can get, because we won't see each other for the next 4 hours or so.

I hear him in his bedroom, so I walk in there. He's shirtless, only wearing a pair of black sweatpants. His hair is wet, evidence of the shower he just took.

"So, how'd it go?" he asks jokingly and seriously. He's trying to lighten the mood, so I go along with him.

"Oh, you know, the president of our lovely nation stops by my house to warn me that if I mess up, then Prim, my mother, and Gale will die. I'd say it went well," I say sarcastically. "What about you?"

"He just said to keep up what I've been doing, and if I don't, they'll force you to move away from me and to the Capitol," he says. "He said they'd give you a stupid job in the Capitol and keep you busy so you couldn't come back to visit." I can't help but feel guilty. Snow needed to threaten my family, Gale, and Peeta to get me to cooperate. All they used to convince Peeta was me.

He loves me so much, and I know I love him too. But I haven't told him since the day I apologized to him. Does he know I love him? Does he think I was just saying that to get him back into my life? To be able to sleep better at night?

He must know I love him, right? Our relationship is going well, emotionally and physically. We spend so much time together, you'd think we would get sick of each other. We're each other's best friend, and always go to one another when we need help or just need someone to talk to. We haven't had sex, or really done anything past kissing and letting our hands roam a little more freely than a couple months ago. Does he want to do more?

"Katniss? Are you okay?" I hear Peeta say.

"Um, yeah, sorry," I say. "Was just thinking."

"Don't worry Katniss. Prim and Gale and your mother will be fine. You will be fine. So don't stress over it, okay? We just need to stay calm and do what Snow wants us to do. Just act in love as much as possible and everything will be fine," he says.

I can't help but notice how he left himself out of the list of people that 'will be fine.' Does he not think he's important enough that I'd worry about him? Does he think I care about Gale more than him?

And the wording of his last sentence upsets me too. 'Just act in love as much as possible and everything will be fine.' I'm not acting in love with him, I am in love with him.

"I know," I say. "Thank you."

Seriously, is that the best you could come up with? Just tell him you love him!

"Well the prep teams are here," he says as he looks out the window. "You should probably head home so we don't have to deal with Effie's ranting again."

"Okay," I say. "I'll see you in a couple hours." I give him a kiss goodbye and walk back home. My prep team is already inside my bedroom, setting everything they need to make me "perfect" again. Peeta would argue with them if he heard them say I wasn't perfect the way I am. Thinking of Peeta draws a smile out of me involuntarily.

"What are you smiling about?" Ovtavia asks.

"Um, I was just thinking," I reply nervously.

"Were you maybe thinking about… Peeta?" Flavius asks sarcastically.

"Maybe," I say with a wider smile. "I can't help it."

"So that's why you're blushing so much," Venia says. "I think it's so sweet."

"That reminds me, Cinna said to leave her face as close to natural as possible," Flavius says.

They continue working on me, scrubbing away any dead skin on my body, clipping and painting my nails. My nails have gotten much better since becoming a Victor, mostly because I'm no longer stressed about having food on the table and clothes on our backs.

After hours of prep, Cinna is finally allowed to enter my bedroom to help me get dressed for the Tour.

I'm wearing a basic jacket with a scarf and jeans with fuzzy boots. I actually like this outfit. It isn't too flashy nor is it too revealing, which I wouldn't be surprised if it were. The Capitol loves nudity, and even with snow on the ground, I'm sure they'd prefer to see me with less on.

"Alright, you will walk out of the door and see Peeta walking out at the same time. You'll run to Peeta and jump in his arms, give him a kiss, then talk to Caesar for a couple minutes. After that, we're off!" Effie announces.

She gives me a countdown, and on one, I open the door to see Peeta, wearing a jacket with jeans and his own pair of boots. We almost match.

I run to him, trying to avoid the ice on the pavement leading to the street. I meet him in the middle of the street, jumping into his arms. Apparently, nobody told Peeta this part of the plan because he's taken by surprise, and ends up falling backwards.

I'm on top of him, our faces inches away from one another's. His eyes are so impossibly blue, it's a challenge not to get lost in them. Even in the cold winter air, his lips are still perfect.

This time, although the cameras are still here, watching our every move, this is for us. So I lean in and kiss him, softly and gently. This kiss seems to last forever, and I don't mind one bit. I'm sure Peeta doesn't either.

"Woah Lovebirds, as much as we love seeing you guys in love, we've got an interview to do!" Caesar says in the background.

"Sorry Caesar, he's just too irresistible!" I jokingly say back. Well, seriously and jokingly.

"So, how are things for our favorite Lovers in District 12!" Caesar asks.

"Everything is great. We've been basically attached at the hip to one another since we've been back, thanks to the Capitol and President Snow allowing both of us to be Victors. Our love has flourished," Peeta says. He's always been better with words than I have.

"And you, Katniss?" Caesar asks.

"Well, it's really been great for us. We have privacy now, which isn't something we had during the Games, so like Peeta said, our relationship has grown beautifully," I say.

"And you say you aren't good with words," Peeta says lovingly with a small kiss to my temple.

"I guess you've rubbed off on me," I say to him with a wink.

"Thank you Peeta, Katniss. The Capitol cannot wait to have you!" Caesar says as we begin our walk towards the train station, where we'll start the Victory Tour.

Effie pushes us, Haymitch, and our prep teams to the train, rambling about how we're on time, but have no room for error. She takes this job a little too seriously, in my opinion.

We're herded onto the train, having already said our goodbyes to our families. It's odd, really, because last time I stepped onto a Capitol train, it was to face 23 tributes in an arena, fighting to the death. I'm still nervous, but this time, for my family and friends. If we mess this up, they're all going to die.