katniss mellark's pov
i can't believe it's been 25 years since the last hunger games. it still brings peeta and i so much trauma but it's not like how it used to be. the nightmares come on rare occasions and we aren't scared anymore. we're happy now. it feels like yesterday that i volunteered for prim at the reaping. prim.. i miss her. i miss her dearly. but i know even though she's not physically with me, she's in my heart and she's watching over me. it's insane to think of how far peeta and i have come. all of the districts have been rebuilt. district 12 looks so much better now. the houses don't look worn down and the seams doesn't have a dark and weary feel to it anymore. the hob was rebuilt. we also have 3 children now.
rye cinna mellark. he's 18 years old. we had him 7 years after the last games. he looks and acts just like peeta. he has the same dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. he loves to bake and prefers to talk things out instead of fighting.
my youngest, dahlia rue mellark. she's 12 years old. we had her 13 years after the last games. she looks and acts like me. she has my black hair, grey eyes, and olive skin. she's as stubborn as i am. she doesn't bake or paint. i've taught her how to hunt when she was younger. rye never could learn. if i even thought about killing an animal, he would get upset and wouldn't talk to me for at least a week.
the middle child. willow primrose mellark. she's a combination of peeta and i. she has my black hair and peeta's blue eyes and her skin is a happy medium between my olive skin and peeta's pale skin. she loves to bake and paint but she loves hunting. she's the most talented out of all of the kids at all three things. she can be stubborn but she also likes to talk things out before starting a fight. she may love hunting, as does dahlia, but we don't allow it. we teach them when they're young so they have survival skills but besides that, they aren't allowed near a weapon or in the woods.
we had the perfect life in district 12 until early july. there was a mandatory viewing that day so all of the kids stayed home. rye was going to go to the bakery with peeta, willow was going to hang out who knows where and i was going to take dahlia to the hob. we decided to just stay home and have a family day because of the mandatory viewing. the mandatory viewing changed so much.
willow's pov
1 week before the mandatory viewing
rye, dahlia and i were all walking to the hob when a somewhat serious conversation started.
"you know they need to have a final hunger games right?" i said.
rye looked at me confused.
"when the games started, a secret law was made saying that if the games were to end, an 100th (or 200th, 300th, etc) games had to take place."
"how do you know that?" dahlia asked me.
"all the laws can be accessed by anyone who knows how to use technology"
we continued walking for a few minutes when i spoke again.
"the mandatory viewing is probably to announce the 100th games. it's 25 years after the 75th games. it makes sense"
"i think you're crazy. paylor promised that there would be no more games if she could help it" rye said
"if she could help it. paylor is the type of person to never break a law. the law is signed by the president from that time. she has to go through with it or it just shows that anyone can defy the laws."
rye put on his concentrating face on. his mind was probably filled with thoughts. he didn't know whether to put trust into my theory or not.
"it does make sense" dahlia says looking at rye.
"it does but i don't want it to. i'm 18 and if the same rules apply, we all have a chance to be reaped"
nobody else says anything. he's right. we could all be reaped. we could all be put into an arena and be forced to kill people or we are to be killed.
the day of the mandatory viewing
we were all able to sleep in today since we weren't planning on doing anything and it's the beginning of summer. on a normal day, we'd be up around 6 am, 8 am latest. it was 10:30 by the time we were all awake. i was up first at 8:30 so i made breakfast. my dad was the last to be awake which is surprising since he's usually the first to be up to make breakfast but i guess he needed the rest.
rye looks at me suspiciously. i know he's thinking about what i told him last week. he's always been the kindest out of all of us. he cares about us and he doesn't want the games to come back because he doesn't want dahlia or i to go into the games. he doesn't want to see us die. he doesn't want to see us kill people. he can't even kill an animal, it makes him uncomfortable. and he can't volunteer for any of us if we get picked either. one boy tribute and one girl tribute. and he's not going to volunteer to be with the chosen one either. he has to stay with the sibling that made it out safe.
i know rye. he's the most predictable. dahlia has her moments. she can be strange. mom tells us she's a lot like her when she was her age. i just don't see it. but maybe the games and everything has changed her. i wouldn't be surprised. i've done absolutely any research i could on the hunger games. i've watched all the tapes, i've read the articles. and from what i see, mom really was different. she used to be so emotionless. she would force a smile for the cameras, but now, she doesn't need to. she's genuinely happy.
mom and dad both say the cameras aren't around as much as they used to be. we get interviewed occasionally to see how our lives are going. mom doesn't have to lie about her feelings anymore. she can finally be honest. she doesn't tell me but i know that she's relieved. the people in the capitol didn't see it but i know she was always uncomfortable in her interviews and in the victory tour. now that we're in a good place, she can be herself.
i hear mom and dad talking in the living room.
"what do you think the mandatory viewing is about?" my mom asks my dad.
rye gives me a glare as if to say, "don't you dare say anything". which i wasn't going to. i know what the games coming back will do to my parents. maybe not my dad but definitely my mom. her nightmares and ptsd will come back. she'll start shutting us out. i know it.
when mom and dad come back they tells us that haymitch and effie will be coming over for the mandatory viewing. haymitch and effie got married a little bit after rye was born. you can say that they're like grandparents to us. but haymitch is the most protective of me. i don't know if it's because i'm so much like both my parents and he cares about them so much or what but it feels nice. as the middle child, mom and dad don't give me as much attention as they give rye and dahlia.
dahlia and mom usually spend time at the hob or walk around the district and dad and rye usually spend time at the bakery or dad attempting to teach rye how to paint. and i'm just there to do my own thing. i know they love and appreciate me but it hurts sometimes. it's like they don't acknowledge the fact that i can do all those things too. i'm even a better painter than rye is!
since they're usually out of the house and i have nothing to do, i usually stay home painting or baking. or i go to the woods. i don't usually do anything that could possibly leave me to run into my parents if they're out with my siblings so i don't go to the hob or to the bakery. if i don't have inspiration to paint and don't feel like baking, which happens a lot, i go to the woods. only my siblings know that i hunt in there.
rye obviously doesn't like it because he doesn't like me killing animals but most importantly because i'm breaking one of mom's only rules. but he doesn't tell her because he knows the amount of trouble i could end up in if she finds out.
once it's time for the mandatory viewing, mom, dad, haymitch, and effie are all terrified on what's it's going to be about. i hide the fact that i'm nervous to find out if it's about the games or not. dahlia looks like she could care less and rye is sweating profusely so he excuses himself to get water. he comes back with a cup of water and was able to calm down.
we all sit down in the living room. a few minutes pass and that's when i see the capitol seal pop up on the screen and i hear the anthem play. afterwards i see president paylor pop up on the screen. she looks devastated.
"i have recently discovered a law from almost 100 years ago that determines a 100th hunger games takes place before the hunger games can officially be put to an end. as it has been 25 years since the 75th games, i feel that it is only fitting to have the games this year."
people in the crowd start yelling and my parents, haymitch, and effie's mouths are open in shock. rye just looks at me nervously. dahlia looks disappointed and i have no expression. i had predicted correctly.
"i understand how you feel! if this was avoidable, i would not be making this announcement."
the crowd paylor is talking in front of is no longer yelling. they've probably realized that nothing is going to stop this. i'm sure that that crowd is going to go from this reaction to absolutely adoring ever moment.
"and since this is the 100th hunger games, it is the 4th quarter quell so a special rule is to be put in place"
a boy walks up to her and holds a wooden box. he opens it and she takes out an envelope that has the number 100 on it. paylor opens the envelope and reads quietly from it. she gives a disappointing sigh.
"as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest of them were forced to send their children and families into war, the male and female tributes are to be reaped from the families of the victors."