to win - haymitch abernathy

⁴⁵ 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈 𝓌𝑒'𝓋𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓉

The years went by and there wasn't another victor for either of District 5 or 12. Much things had changed. One pair of children's feet turned into two pairs of teenagers dragging their feet and slamming their doors whenever their mother irritated or embarrassed them.

The days in District 5's Victory Village blurred together as each reaping and Hunger Games appeared. Rosemary Acker mentored each and every tribute that was selected; she watched them try- taught them to fight- witnessed their deaths. During the years she had gotten good at fighting, picking up swords and knives now and then. The feeling when she smashed things to pieces healed her broken heart- parts of it at least. The nightmares didn't stop, but they got lesser, shorter, but always around. She wished she could say Haymitch always was around too, however, he had a role himself in District 12. They were both mentors, unable to reveal themselves together too much. President Snow probably knew about their relationship, or else they were good at hiding during the past 14 years.

Fourteen years- it had been both good and bad- ups and downs. They spent most of their time together during the quiet months, when the tour was over and during holidays. Those were the times when the Capitol didn't bother the surviving victors. And since it had been fourteen years, you could guess they kind of got under the water, sinking down and disappearing from the glowing spotlight. Not always, of course, during the annual Hunger Games, they couldn't be seen publicly. Rosemary had once been the most shining star in Panem, during the 55th - 62nd Hunger Games. Nowadays, she had been replaced, Finnick Odair, Johanna Mason, Annie Cresta, Cashmere and Enobaria taking her place instead. She was happy, however, sad too, since she knew what they had to go through. Some of them were puppets of Snow, visiting the Capitol frequently- just like Porter still did. Even if old age caught up with her, her hair stayed the same dark color. Having birthed two kids didn't even show on her body. For Rose, it was different- she hadn't gotten any kids and she wasn't sure if she ever wanted any. She wished she could have said her mental health had gotten better, but it was all a lie. The Hunger Games and mentoring was something she hated, something everyone hated- except for some..

As the years rolled on, the pain of losing fellow tributes, year after year, weighed heavily on Rosemary. She had learned to cope with the nightmares and the ever-present scars of her own time in the arena. But the real agony lay in witnessing the young tributes, the children of District 5, suffer the same fate. She often wondered how she had managed to survive when so many others hadn't. Haymitch, on the other hand, was battling his own demons in District 12. He had mentored a few tributes but found it increasingly difficult to form connections with them. The memories of his own Hunger Games, and the alcohol that helped numb the pain, were never far from his mind. Despite the physical and emotional distance between them during the Games season, Rosemary and Haymitch's love remained unbroken. The Capitol's prying eyes couldn't extinguish the flame that had ignited between them all those years ago. Their stolen moments together, no matter how brief, were cherished. In District 5, the annual Hunger Games continued to be a grim spectacle. Rosemary saw how the Capitol's influence seeped into every aspect of life, slowly eroding the spirit of the district's residents. She couldn't openly defy the Capitol, but she whispered words of rebellion to the tributes she mentored, planting the seeds of defiance in their hearts. Despite her best efforts, not all of her tributes survived. Some fell in the arena, their faces forever etched in her memory. Others were reaped year after year, becoming trapped in the cycle of death and despair. Rosemary couldn't change the system, but she vowed to fight for a day when the Hunger Games would be no more. As the 74th Hunger Games loomed on the horizon, Rosemary and Haymitch couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. They knew that the Games would bring more pain and suffering, but they also knew that they had each other to lean on. Their love was a source of strength in a world where hope was a rare and precious commodity. Together, they would continue to fight, in their own quiet ways, for a future where the Hunger Games were nothing but a dark chapter in history.