Ashes Blow Away

The Questions They Ask

" Mommy?" Everly asks as her mom hits the last stair. She is shaking and crying.

" What's wrong, sweetie?" Katniss asks, taking her in her arms.

Hesitantly, she wraps her arms around her frame. Katniss holds her close. " Why does daddy try to hurt you?"

Katniss holds her at arms length and strokes her hair. " He doesn't, sweetheart."

" Yes, he does."

" He didn't. He was jus-"

" You sent us to Haymitch's."

Haymitch is standing in the doorway, Katniss noted, looking at her with disapproval.

" Yes, I did. But only to protect you," Katniss says.

" But why?" she asks, leaning back into her mother. " Why would daddy want to hurt you?"

" Oh, sweetie." Katniss kisses her hair. " He doesn't want to. He just can't help it."

_•_

When she is thirteen, she asks a question. She comes towards Katniss, frantic. The item in her hands is the memory book.

" What is this?" she asks.

" It's a book, Everly," she says tiredly, confused as to how she found it, tucked away under Peeta and her's bed.

" Why does it have so many dead people in it?" she asks, opening it to a random page, which just so happens to have Prim on it. She jabs her finger directly into Prim's face. " Who is that?"

" You're aunt," she says softly.

" Aunt? I don't have an aunt!"

" Yes, you do," Katniss whispers. She takes the book from her daughter and flips through the pages, showing her more pictures of Prim. " This was my sister, Prim. She died a long time ago."

For a moment, Everly is silent.

" Why didn't you tell me?" she asks in a quiet, broken voice.

She wipes a tear from her cheek. " It's hard to talk about, Everly."

" It's okay, I'll listen."

Katniss smiles. " I know you will, Everly."

_•_

When he is fourteen, he asks a question.

" Dad, who is Haymitch - really?"

Peeta stills, ceasing his kneading, and turns to his son. He slides into a booth and pats the space across from him. " Sit."

River sits down and wipes away stray tears. It is then Peeta understands.

" He's gone?"

" He's gone. And I. . . I never got to say goodbye."

" How's your mother?" Peeta asks, swallowing.

" She's fine, as always," River whispers. " She cried a little but then she stopped. Everly's a mess. She locked herself in her room."

Peeta sighs. " We should get going. They need us."

River clenches his jaw. " No! I asked a question! Who is Haymitch? Dad, who was Haymitch? I know he's not our grandpa."

" He acted like a grandfather to you, and that's all that should matter."

River glares at Peeta. " I want to know, dad."

Peeta glares right back. " Fine. You want to know?" River nods, exasperated. " Haymitch was a well meaning drunk when we met him. He was our mentor in The Hunger Games. He took a liking to your mother, and came to love her. When you two where born, he came to love you."

" So he's not our grandfather."

Peeta shakes his head. " Not by blood. But sometimes family isn't defined by who shares the same genes as you. It's defined by you who loves you. Haymitch loved you unconditionally, River."

" I loved him, too. I wish I could've told him that."

Peeta grasps his sons hand. " He knew, River. He knew."

River looks up and nods. His eyes are red and puffy.

" Go home, son. I'll be right behind you."

Only when River was outside, did Peeta allow himself to cry.

_•_

When they are grown up, they ask a question.

" What's the real story?"

Katniss and Peeta turn to face their children. The words rolled off their tongue in perfect unison, as though it has been practiced a hundred times over.

" I don't know what you're talking about," Katniss lies simply, turning back to the pot of stew she has been concocting all day.

" Yes," their eighteen year old daughter says, "you do."

Their son, who is now fifteen, nods. " We want to know about Haymitch, and about how you two met, and about how dad hits you sometimes, and about how mom wakes up screaming."

Katniss frowns and looks at Peeta, who gives an almost unrecognisable nod of the head. She sighs and takes a seat at the table, immediately beginning her story:

" It all started when I was sixteen. I woke up and felt the other side of the bed, seeking Prim's warmth. . ."

_•_

Hey guys!

So I have been working on this oneshot forever.
I hope you all enjoyed it! :)

Thanks for reading and I love you all so much!!

- realornotreal_real xx