After Mockingjay

Dinner and a Surprise

Before i start, just want to say: the surprise is not what you think it is.

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Just as I am getting ready, I hear the door open. Peeta. I suddenly just feel so scared. What am I going to tell him? How can I tell him? I go and greet him like usual, otherwise he'll think something's up. I give him a hug and a quick peck on the cheek.

"Peeta, there's something I have to tell you," I say to him nervously. Peeta looks at me with a weird look. "What is it? You're not pregnant are you?" he asks jokingly. I stare back at him sheepishly. Peeta's eyes widen. "Oh my gosh. Wow," he says, frowning. "Whats wrong? Are you upset about it?" I ask him. This could turn into trouble. Every time something emotional happens he has a small relapse. I tap him on the shoulder and get ready to call Haymitch. He usually sorts these things out. Peeta suddenly shakes his head, smiling again. "Oh, Katniss. That is the best thing I have ever heard! Of course I'm happy!!" he cries, embracing me in a tight hug.

I giggle as he swings me around, hugging me tightly. Suddenly he puts me down, giving me a serious look. "The only thing to do now is that we have to tell everyone," he says. I think about this carefully. Who should I tell first? A few years ago, the first person I would have told would have been my mother, but now I rethink this decision, as I know as soon as I tell her she'll be rushing over to 12 and she will just hover around.

I need to tell someone who will understand. "How about Haymitch?" I ask Peeta nervously. He nods and we set off to tell him.

"Ha! Good one, sweetheart. Pass the wine, thanks," Haymitch says with a laugh, reaching over the table to grab a bottle as me and Peeta tell him the news. "Haymitch, she's serious!" Peeta tells him, giving him a serious look himself. Haymitch suddenly seem s taken aback. "Huh. Hmm. Well then. Alright!" Haymitch mumbles to himself as he slowly drifts off to sleep, seconds after downing the bottle. Peeta shrugs and we head back to the house to prepare for the Hawthornes.

I am just laying the placemats on the marble table when I hear a knock on the door. I take off my apron and put a smile on my face before I open the door. "Hi!" Sage squeals, embracing me in a hug. "We bought dessert!" I smile gratefully and lead her over to the kitchen, whilst Peeta goes over to shake hands with Gale. Within 5 seconds they seem to have sorted out their differences, and I see them sitting down talking casually. Of course Prim is playing with Gale and Sages child, being the kind, caring Prim she should be, living up to her name.

Of course I knew Peeta could sort things out with Gale, he has people skills, but me? I'm like an awkward penguin. I'm just not good at making friends. Sage seems to notice this and she makes herself at home, leading the two of us to the table. I sit soundlessly whilst Sage babbles on and on and on on about some woman she saw with an amazing herbal healing remedy.

I hear the timer going off in the kitchen and I am just about to get up to go get the chicken out of the oven when the television flashes to life. I completely forgot it was there. Peeta and I have had no use for using it, as Peeta spends most of his free time down at the bakery, and of course I still hunt in the woods. The words 'MANDATORY VIEWING' appear on the screen. Mandatory viewing? There IS no mandatory viewing. At least, not after the rebellion. The rebellion. It must be starting again. I freeze in front of the TV, not moving my eyes from it. Ceasar's face pops into view, sitting on the chair with a serious frown. "Ladies and gentlemen, we in the Capitol have some bad news. Everyone who is not in their home districts must catch the first hovercraft straight away. Please go home. Residents in District 8, 9, 10 and 11, please GET OUT NOW!" He cries. I breathe a sigh of relief. At least 12 doesn't have to- "Oh, and District 12, please leave as we'll!" Ceasar cries.

I move my eyes from the TV and look around. Peeta is hauling a two suitcases into the living room. "Where are Gale and Sage?" I ask quietly. Peeta gives me a small, sheepish look. "I don't know whether you've seen, you seemed frozen, but Gale and Sage took off straight away, along with that little girl. Prim is already waiting in our hovercraft. There are rebels out there, Katniss. From 13. I don't know what made them do it but there's enough of them for us to get killed. Into the hovercraft now!" Peeta cries. We open the fridge and press the button. It spins and the hovercraft door is open, waiting for us to come in.

We step in nervously and Peeta goes straight to the engine and lifts us up into the sky, turning it on invisible mode. We stare down at what used to be our home. The Victors Village seems to be protected, before the previous Capitol fell, there must have been a force field around it. But the rest of 12 is in pieces. Homes are gone, people are lying on the ground, dead.

And then when I take a closer look, just outside the Victors Villiage, I see one figure I know all too well. The bottle of beer. Floppy, scraggly browny blond hair. The dead man is Haymitch.

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Ok I don't know how I moved from dinner to dead people, but it just seemed to work. I've kinda left you on a cliffhanger, but what I've planned next is going to make it even worse! I hope you guys liked this chapter :)