miss americana and the heartbreak prince | katniss everdeen

the dance.

FLEUR AND KATNISS
Twenty-Four | The Dance
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KATNISS IS LOCKED UP FOR TWO DAYS WHEN HAYMITCH ENTERS the room. "Your trial's over," he says. "Come on. We're going home."

Home? Katniss wonders. What was home now that Twelve was gone? She and Haymitch meet Plutarch and he's smiling at her, something that irks Katniss, but she doesn't make it known.

"You must have a million questions," Plutarch says.

Katniss honestly doesn't. She has three and it's the same question about three people. Her mother, Prim, and Fleur.

Plutarch explains to her that Snow is dead. No one knows exactly what killed him, but they do know that he was dead and so that was that. There was an emergency election and Commander Paylor was voted in as president. Plutarch had been appointed as secretary of communications which meant he now set the programming for all of Panem. The first program televised in the new Panem had been Katniss's trial where she was painted as a hopeless and shell-shocked lunatic, which wasn't too far from the truth.

The condition of Katniss's release was that Plutarch was to watch over her and that she would have to be confined to Twelve until further notice. Katniss knew Plutarch wasn't going to come to Twelve just to keep an eye on her and she honestly didn't find being stuck in Twelve much of a punishment since there wasn't much else for her to go.

Katniss figured that no one knew what to do with her now that the war was over, so they simply wanted to discard her, and she did not mind.

"We're in a sweet period," Plutarch tells her, "A period where everyone agrees that our recent horrors should never be repeated. But collective thinking is usually short-lived. We're fickle, stupid beings with poor memories with a great gift for self-destruction. Although who knows? Maybe this will be it, Katniss?"

Her brows furrow in confusion, "What?"

"The time it sticks. Maybe we are witnessing the evolution of the human race. Think about that."

Katniss finds herself saying goodbye to her mother and Prim, something she'd never thought would happen. Her mother intended to move to District Four and help start up a hospital. Cashmere was still in her coma and Prim's guilt wouldn't allow her to leave her side. She was staying until Cashmere woke up and that was final.

"I'll stay with her," Effie insisted, setting both Katniss and her mother at ease.

Their goodbyes were emotional with the three of them promising to call each other once a week. Katniss couldn't help the feeling that overcame her as she looked at Prim. Gone was the scared girl on reaping day. She was replaced with someone different. Someone braver, but she still had her big and gentle heart.

"I spoke with Fleur," Prim tells her.

"Really?" Katniss asks, "How'd that go?"

"Good," Prim says with a small smile, "We made a deal."

Katniss looks at Prim suspiciously, "What kind of deal?"

"It's a secret," Prim responds, "But she's doing a lot better. She doesn't remember much of the last few years but she's still Fleur. She told me a couple of jokes. I think with some time we'll have our Fleur back."

"I hope so," Katniss says.

"I'm gonna miss you," Prim tells her sister, "I promise I'll visit as soon as Cashmere wakes up."

"I'm looking forward to it," Katniss says as she pulls Prim in for an embrace.

"I love you Katniss," Prim says, "And thank you. For everything."