A.N. HUGE QUESTION BELOW IN THE A.N. Make sure to read it and answer in the comments.
The blood begins to pool around my feet as I stand still, shocked and scared at the realization of what's happening. It's too soon, the baby won't live if I go into labor. The island is suddenly quiet as I move my hand to rest above my belly button, just grazing my stomach. Afraid that if I touch it too hard, I might loose the baby. I could loose him.
"Katniss," Peeta whispers so softly it comes across as a whimper. He always stays strong for me, but at the sight of his child dying before his eyes he finally cracks.
I sink to my knees and Peeta drops with me, taking my hand and cradling it as if I could break. And he's right, I could break. Any second.
Finnick and the others slowly walk back to the beach, giving us time to grieve.
"You're loosing the baby, aren't you?" Peeta asks me and his eyes are filled with so much worry and grief that my heart clenches inside. I don't want to nod my head, I don't want to say yes. Because I know the moment I do, the moment I tell him I am, it'll be true.
And it can't be true.
Yet somehow I muster up enough courage to nod my head just the slightest before I break apart into tears.
He holds me and kisses my temple, trying to help me through the pain. How can he watch his child die? He's so much stronger than I ever thought he was, and I love him even more for it.
"This isn't real, this can't be real." I mumble to him and I see the tears trailing down his cheeks. He just shakes his head and frowns. Abruptly he stands and walks towards the center of the beach, leaving me lying on the sand.
"Why aren't you helping her? Can't you see that she's loosing the baby, that our child is dying!" He yells into the sky. "Haymitch, I know you can do it! Just send something, anything. I'm begging." He pauses and looks at me before looking back at the sky. "This is your grandchild, Haymitch."
Peeta and I had decided that when the baby came, he would call Haymitch his grandfather. When my father died, I hadn't wanted kids so the thought of any future child not having a grandfather wasn't a big deal. But my child needs a grandfather. Mr.Melllark could teach him to bake and Haymitch could teach the child to be strong willed. We hadn't asked him yet, but I guess now we don't need to.
Peeta stands waiting for something to magically fall from the sky, just like all other times. Yet nothing comes. And slowly the blood continues to flow out.
Peeta gives up and lies back down with me, taking and linking our fingers together. We are united.
The noise of the parachute falling from the sky is music to all of our ears and Peeta runs faster than ever to reach it. Inside is a vial of purple liquid with a small note beside it.
I'd rather be called Pops. -H
His note brings tears to my eyes and I tech forward grabbing the liquid and gulping it down. Hopefully it isn't too late.
The sun is shining brighter than ever as the girl and boy continue to dance and make flower crowns. She must see him first, and then the boy follows her eyes. Landing on the tall man in the meadow. He picks a dandelion and begins walking towards me. I know those shoulders and those eyes. His hair is familiar and his skin is still pale. His laugh fills the air as the kids embrace him in a hug, pushing him to the ground. I stand to walk towards him, but just like the previous time, he disappears. Only the dandelion is left in his presence, tucked behind the girls ear.
Peeta's warmth is not beside me when my eyes open and I know that sooner or later the roles will be reversed. Peeta will be waking up alone in our bed, because I'll do anything to get him home. I feel him take my hand and I tune my head to look at him, his piercing blue eyes that are puffy from tears gaze into mine.
"The bleeding stopped." He whispers and I try to smile for him, to reassure him.
"Let's take it as a good sign." I tell him and he manages to smile as well. "Can I ask you something?"
He lies down beside me and moves my hair from my face. "Sure."
"Have you ever had a reoccurring dream, one that seems to stay with you? One that you think could come true?" I ask him.
He ponders the question for a moment before nodding his head. "I use to dream about our toasting when I was younger. I could practically smell the burnt bread, but I always woke up and realized it was just my imagination." He smiles at me and laughs. "My dream came true."
"I wish I had fallen in love with you when we were young. I have so many years of loving you to catch up on." I tell him.
He smiles and kisses my nose. "Why did you ask about the dream?"
I look at my stomach and back towards him. "Before we went into the games I had a dream that I was in the meadow back home. There were two kids, a boy and a girl, but I think you were there too."
"What do you mean you think I was there?"
"That's the thing, your face was glowing and when I moved closer to you, you vanished." He looks absently at my stomach and the sadness appears in his eyes.
"Were the kids ours?" He asks me.
"I think so, but I'm not sure." I pause and tilt his head upwards. "I had the same dream the night I told you about thirteen. Except this time, I could see your eyes and your hair, I knew it was you."
"Did I say anything?" He asks me and I shake my head.
"Every time I moved towards you, you disappeared. You turned into thin air."
"Why?"
"I have no idea." I tell him.
"Have you had it again?" He asks.
I nod my head and begin to braid my hair into two braids. "I had it last night." I stop briefly to glance towards him. "Peeta, every time the dream happens, you go missing. You turn to dust and there's nothing left of you. Your dream came true, what if mine does too? What if something happens to you?"
He stops my hands and shakes his head. "Katniss, you and the baby are everything to me. You're the sunshine in my life, so how could I disappear? I could never leave. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." He kisses my forehead and finishes my braids for me.
"Come on let's go eat." He tells me.
"How do you feel?" I hear Finnick ask me quietly and I nod my head.
"I'm okay, a little sore and extremely worried but I can only hope for the best."
We've just sat down when the anthem plays and the faces of the dead appear in the sky. Cashmere. Wiress. Mags. The woman from District 5. The other morphling from 6. Blight. The man from 10. Seven dead, plus the nine from yesterday. Two thirds of the tributes dead in only a day and a half. That has to be some sort of record.
"They're really burning through us," Johanna says, her thoughts obviously mimicking mine.
"Who's left? Besides us five and District 2?" Finnick asks.
"Chaff," Peeta answers immediately, and I think that he must have been keeping an eye out for the older man, since he is one of Haymitch's friends.
Just then, a silver parachute floats down toward us, bringing with it the small, bite-sized rolls from District 3. Beetee doesn't object when Finnick takes the parachute. "These are from your district, right, Beetee?" Peeta asks, though I really don't know why. He knew the answer. Maybe just making conversation.
"Yes, from District 3," Beetee replies before looking at Finnick. "How many are there?"
Finnick turns each roll over in his hands as he counts them, setting them in a four by six square. What is it with Finnick and bread? My eyes narrow slightly, but whether it's in suspicion or confusion I can't really tell yet. "Twenty-four," Finnick announces.
"An even two dozen then?" Beetee repeats, as if to make sure.
"Right on the nose." Finnick raises his eyebrows. "How should we divide them?"
"Let's each have three, and whoever is still alive at breakfast can take a vote on the rest," Johanna jokes, but I'm the only one that actually laughs a little. Johanna gives me an approving look, like maybe I'm not so bad after all.
Peeta and Finnick continue to crack open oyster shells and pull the shell off crawfish, when Peeta laughs quietly.
I turn to look at him confused. "What?"
He holds up an white pearl that glistens under the sunlight. "Something so pretty in such an awful place." He mumbles. Looking up towards me and smiling he drops the pearl in my hand. "For you," he tells me.
My hormones cause me to choke up at the sweet gesture and I capture his lips in a kiss. "I love you," I whisper against his lips.
"Geez, get a room." Finnick jokes and I break away from Peeta laughing and blushing.
"Hey lovebirds, if you're not too busy kissing, we'd really love for you to hear our plan." Joanna says aggravated.
"Don't be jealous, Joanna." Peeta says wiggling his eyebrows.
"Just shut up and listen."
"I think we'll all agree our next job is to kill Brutus and Enobaria," Beeta begins and my heart stops. This is it, this is the finale.
I focus my attention back on Beetee. "I doubt they'll attack us openly again, now that they're so outnumbered. We could track them down, I suppose, but it's dangerous, exhausting work."
I wonder. "Do you think they've figured out the clock?"
"If they haven't, they'll figure it out soon enough. Perhaps not as specifically as we have. But they must know that at least some of the zones are wired for attacks and that they're reoccurring in a circular fashion. Also, the fact that our last fight was cut off by Gamemaker intervention will not have gone unnoticed by them. We know it was an attempt to disorient us, but they must be asking themselves why it was done, and this, too, may lead them to the realization that the arena's a clock. So I think our best bet will be setting our own trap."
Beetee pauses for a moment, maybe to see if we have any questions. All of us remain silent, so Beetee continues as he draws a picture of the arena in the sand. It's not in Peeta's precise strokes, but that doesn't matter. Beetee's mind is focused on more important, complicated things. "If you were Brutus and Enobaria, knowing what you do now about the jungle, where would you feel safest?" he asks.
It's like I'm back in school, and Beetee is my teacher, slowly leading in to the lesson of the day. "Where we are now," Peeta answers. "On the beach."
"So why aren't they on the beach?" Beetee asks.
"Cause we're here," Johanna snaps impatiently. She's not one to beat around the bush, so she's probably doesn't like Beetee's lesson-like approach too much.
"Exactly," Beetee nods, ignoring her tone. "We're here, claiming the beach. Now where would you go?" he asks.
"I'd hide just at the edge of the jungle," I say. It's far too dangerous to go too far into its unknown depths. "So I could escape if an attack came and so I could spy on us."
"Also to eat," Finnick adds. "The jungle's full of strange creatures and plants, but by watching us, I'd know the seafood's safe."
Beetee smiles proudly, as if we're his best students. "Yes, good. You do see. Now here's what I propose: a twelve o'clock strike. What happens exactly at noon and midnight?"
"The lightning hits the tree," I say.
"Yes. So what I'm suggesting is that after the bolt hits at noon, but before it hits at midnight, we run my wire from that tree all the way down into the saltwater, which is, of course, highly conductive. When the bolt strikes, the electricity will travel down the wire and into not only the water but also the surrounding beach, which will still be damp from the ten o'clock wave. Anyone in contact with the surface will be electrocuted."
My mind is trying to process all that Beetee has suggested. His idea seems rather extraordinary, beyond any of my true comprehension.
"Will that wire really be able to conduct that much power, Beetee? It looks so fragile, like it would just burn up."
"Oh, it will," Beetee replies quickly. "But not until the current has passed through it. It will act something like a fuse, in fact. Except the electricity will travel along it."
Johanna is skeptical. "How do you know?"
"Because I invented it," Beetee replies, as if surprised we didn't know, and I can't help but smile. "It's not actually wire in the usual sense. Nor is the lightning natural lightning or the tree a real tree. You know trees better than any of us, Johanna. It would be destroyed by now, wouldn't it?"
"Yes," she admits, chagrined.
"Don't worry about the wire—it will do just what I say," Beetee assures us.
"And where will we be when this happens?" Finnick asks.
"Far enough up in the jungle to be safe."
"Okay," I say. "But the Careers will be safe, too, then, unless they're in the vicinity of the water."
"And all the seafood will be cooked," Peeta adds.
"Probably more than cooked," Beetee says with a small smile. "We will most likely be eliminating that as a food source for good. But you found other edible things in the jungle, right, Katniss?"
I nod. "And we have sponsors."
"Well, then I don't see a problem," Beetee says. "But as we are allies and this will require all our efforts, the decision of whether or not to attempt it is up to you four."
I glance at Peeta, raising my eyebrows. "What do you think?" I ask, though I know his answer.
"I don't see why not," Peeta shrugs. "If it fails, there's no harm done. If it works, there's a decent chance we'll kill them. And even if we don't and just kill the seafood, Brutus and Enobaria lose that as a food source, too."
Finnick looks at Johanna and they hold a silent conversation that stems from years of friendship. Finally Johanna says, "Alright. It's better than hunting them down in the jungle, anyway. And I doubt they'll figure out our plan, since we can barely understand it ourselves," she adds dryly.
"Wonderful," Beetee says brightly.
"Let the games begin," Joanna says with a deathly smirk.
A.N. Let the games begin! So hopefully this story only has 1 to 2 chapters left, just depending on how long they are. Also MAJOR question here.
Do you want Katniss to have a boy baby or a girl baby?
Comment answers below!
Also, shoutout to some of my new followers! Everyone go check them out!
Makayla3aa
katnnisseverlark
Everlark_4_ever
JoshHutchersonislife
capitalvictors