Chapter 2: Unspoken Understanding

At long last, the tributes are going to enter the arena. My nerves are already shot, and I figure I would probably be dead or in the middle of the breakdown if Peeta had not been with me the last three days.

I was shocked and dismayed at first to discover that not only would I be watching my sister fight to the death, I would get front-row, VIP seating for it. Peeta explains it is tradition for family members of tributes to sit near the front while everyone else is made to stand. Mother and Prim and I always stood with the Seam miners towards the back, and it was difficult to see much of anything. Poor Peeta had to be treated like some perverted king two years in a row - one year all by himself!

Prim gets a forgettable training score, leaving my heart in my mouth. She does well in her interview, but the only kind of positive spin she receives is sympathy. Despite her age, people view her as anywhere from too pretty to too sweet to win the Games. Not to mention the Career tributes all eye her as a snack. My stomach churns.

Now, sitting with Peeta in the front row (the Peacekeepers were gracious enough to bend the rules for him, so he could stay with me. Perhaps they think it's noble to want to protect a lady), I watch as the tributes rise up in a frozen wasteland.

The final minute counting down to the Games begins. The monkey cam finally projects Prim onto the jumbotron, and I can sense the fear in her eyes, even as she does an admirable job of masking it from everyone else.

I notice her contemplating her one district token - Mother's pearl necklace, which I had given to her after the Reaping. Suddenly, she rips the jewelry from her neck so that some of the individual pearls come apart and off the chain, and she tosses the lot high into the air.

KABOOM. KABOOM. KABOOM. The pearls set off the land mines under the tribute pedestals around Prim's, land mines which are planted to keep a tribute from moving from its pedestal too early. Even if a pearl does not land near a pedestal, the others exploding begin to set off a chain reaction. I find myself burrowing into Peeta's shoulder, covering my ears when -

A forcefield is thrown up, judging by the hum we can hear from the screen, the Gamemakers desperately trying to salvage their Games before it even starts. But it's too late. When the smoke clears, 22 tributes lie in scattered remains across the frozen tundra. Aside from Primrose (I cry in relief that she lives), the only survivor is the boy from District 2, who looks like he was thrown clear from his pedestal. One arm and one leg have been blown off, so he can only pathetically crawl towards the loot at the Cornucopia.

Intact, Primrose almost strolls to the horn, seizes the nearest blade and bears down upon her last competition. The Career bravely tries to block her with his remaining hand, but my sister brings the sword down upon his skull and he crumples at her feet.

A tense silence. And then -

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM... I carefully count as 23 cannons are painstakingly sounded out. Finally, a clearly shaken Claudius Templesmith comes over the loudspeaker:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 80th Hunger Games: Primrose Everdeen of District 12!"

The square erupts in cheers. Primrose is the Victor! The third Victor from District 12. She beat the Games in her own ingenious way! Forgetting myself, I exuberantly throw my arms around Peeta in a crushing hug.

After a moment, we pull back. Our gazes intensely lock as we stare into each other's eyes. An unspoken understanding passes between us, and next moment, we close the gap. Embracing, the Baker and I share a long, relieved kiss.

I am horrible at it, kissing. Especially since this is my very first. But Peeta holds me gently, and makes up for the both of us, deepening the liplock so that I begin to forget where I am, or whom I am kissing, or that my friends and neighbors might see. I close my eyes, lashes fluttering shut, and surrender. Who cares who might notice?

Fortunately, the moment is all our own, as Peeta and I lose ourselves in the kiss.

I have never been alive for a Parcel Day before. But Mother was, recalling the brightly colored packages and feasts thrown when Haymitch Abernathy won the Victor's Crown thirty years ago. She was only a teenager then, and used to tell us about District 12's triumph in the Second Quarter Quell when I was a little girl.

Now, standing with Peeta and Rory on the train platform to welcome the locomotive bearing Prim home from the Capitol, I watch as huge parcels stuffed with valuable food delicacies rain down from planes in the heavens, parachuting into the ecstatic hands of small children - many of whom have never known what it is like to have a decent meal. Fireworks are set off, their shrieks piercing as they whizz and explode above us in the nighttime sky.

As the train finally steams into the District 12 station, I feel Peeta clasp his hand in mine and give it a squeeze. Daring to smile, I squeeze back.

Prim bounds off the train even before Haymitch, and into the arms of her fiancé, the pair soon kissing madly and with a wedding and Toasting to plan once again. Inspired, and perhaps feeling a little mischevious, I suddenly turn to Peeta, my expression no-nonsense.

"Kiss me," I demand.

Peeta gapes. "In front of your sister and Rory?"

I run out of patience and make the first move, slinging a hand around Peeta's neck and pulling his lips down to mash against mine in a heated kiss. I close my eyes, enjoying it. I feel Peeta's hands encircle my waist, and I boldly hitch my thigh up to his hips, hooking my leg around his torso, so that the hem of my blue dress rides up my calf, revealing creamy white skin.

Peeta and I are kissing with tongue, our mouths practically down each other's throats before we get a hold of ourselves. Tenderly, we break apart with a still-new love in our eyes.

Turning around, I see my baby sister gaping at me in astonishment. Rory looks just as flummoxed, and I laugh at having garnered the reaction I wanted. I am not above playing a practical joke on anyone.

Even if my love and attraction for Peeta is all too real.

I don't put up much of a fight in Prim's and my brief bickering over who should wear Mother's wedding dress. Prim was the first one to get engaged, and my engagement has been more recent and whirlwind anyhow. Peeta shocked me when he proposed marriage, but still grateful to him for being my rock during the Games, and realizing how long he has been in love with me, and how I have fallen in love with him, I say Yes. Besides, I am a simple woman in my tastes, and I feel that marrying my husband-to-be in my blue Reaping dress is lovely enough.

Peeta and I, along with Prim and Rory, hold a double wedding and Toasting, in the Everdeen living room. Peeta Toasts his piece of bread masterfully, and we each feed a piece to each other. My grey orbs dancing in the firelight, and with an intense look of love, I tilt my head and permit my new husband to kiss me. Our wedding kiss. Entering marriage is scary and new for me, considering I once vowed to never wed, never mind bear any children. But with a sweet, honest man like Peeta, I feel like we will be OK.

And I have my sister and new brother-in-law with me. A family. We have each other.