After the Rebellion

Flashbacks

I was asleep the night before I had to go to District 4 and tell my mother and Annie that I was pregnant. Usually, I would've been haunted by nightmares while I was sleeping, but tonight was different.

I was in a dark room. I didn't recognise it, but the walls disintegrated and a grassy green place--the Meadow--replaced it. There were shaped off in the distance and I went towards them. I saw Peeta, Haymitch, Effie, my mother, Annie, and Johanna. They were all playing with four small children, one of whom I assumed was Annie's son, Finnick Jr. I went up to Peeta who was by two of the children, a boy and a girl. The girl was about five years old, and the boy near three. As I got closer, the boy took notice of me and said, "Mama!" When I hugged him and held him in my arms, I was certain that this was real. That this was a vision of the future or something. But there were more faces, faces that didn't belong if that were the case.

Standing in front of me was a group of people that I had longed to see. Finnick, my father, Cinna, Prim, and Rue. Each of them had come for some reason, which convinced me that this wasn't real. It couldn't be real. But I so badly wanted it to be real. I wanted to hear Finnick's laugh. I wanted to catch up with my father. I wanted to let Cinna know how much I appreciated everything that he had done for me. I wanted to tuck in Prim's duck tail, and to have her quack at me. I wanted to see Rue smile again. But I didn't have time. My wonderful dream land had disappeared and I awoke to a terrifying reality.

There was a tightness in my throat. No, on it. I finally got my eyes adjusted, and I could see Peeta on top of me pressing his hands to my throat.

"You're a mutt! You're the reason why my family is dead! You killed them!"

I tried to kick Peeta off of me, but when he has a flashback, he's stronger than usual. He had me pinned down like Clove did in the first arena. I tried my hardest to pry his hands from my neck, but it wasn't working. My vision started to blur around the edges, and it took everything in me to say my last words.

"Peeta. The baby."

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*Peeta's POV*

"Peeta. The baby," I heard Katniss say. Her strained words weakened the flashback, and I suddenly realised what I was doing. I removed my hands from her neck and backed away. 'I just tried to kill her again. For no reason.' I cursed at myself, and her last words repeated over and over in my head. 'Peeta. The baby.' The baby. No. I forgot. If... if I just killed Katniss, then the baby would be dead, too. I would have nothing left to remember Katniss by. I had to get her to the hospital.

Hours had gone by since three nurses took her on a gurney and took her to surgery. I started to think that I should leave. That I shouldn't see Katniss when she wakes up because I might have to see fear in her eyes. Fear caused by me. But obviously I wanted to stay since I was still here.

"Mr. Mellark?"

"Yes?"

"Your wife has gotten out of surgery. She had some severe damage to her trachea and vocal cords, but she'll recover. She won't be able to speak for a few weeks, so there's a board and some markers in there for her to use to communicate." I sigh from relief and remember Katniss's last words.

"And the baby?" I ask, expecting the worst.

"That's an intriguing story. Usually, when a mother suffers from lack of oxygen, the baby does as well. The baby would therefore die before the mother. In this case, however, the baby is fine for now, but I wouldn't be entirely surprised if there were complications later on. Complications such as miscarriage, stillborn, birth defects, things of that sort. I hate to say this, I really do, but I think that even if the birth goes well, there's about a 90% chance that your child will have defects or will die by the age of ten."

"But as of right now, they're both fine? They'll recover and be okay?"

"Yes. Katniss is in room 118A if you'd like to see her. And do remind her not to talk. It'll be a struggle enough for her to breathe."

I find her room, and as I walk in, her eyes start to open. I see the bandages on her neck and think, 'I did that.'

"Hey. The doctor told me that you can't talk for a few weeks. Because... because of what I did to you. I shouldn't even be here. I'll just go."

I start towards the door, but hear a thumping coming from behind me. Katniss is hitting the bed with her hand repeatedly, so I grab the board and make my way towards her.

"I'm sorry that I did this to you. It's been a year since my last flashback. I thought that maybe they were over."

Katniss takes the board from me and starts writing. I wish she could talk.

'You have nothing to be sorry about. It's not your fault.'

"But if I had just learned how to control it, to prevent it from controlling me..."

'It's the Capitol's fault. You can't keep blaming yourself.'

"I almost killed you and the baby," I say with tears spilling out of my eyes.

'But you didn't. You got us here. You saved our lives.' She erased the board again once I read it and wrote one more thing.

'I love you, Peeta. Stay with me?'

I took the marker from her and wrote one word.

'Always.'