Thank you to all of you who put me on story alert or reviewed. I appreciate it and I'm actually going to starting a new Hunger Games fic after this. It will definitely be darker than this one though.

Please review if you can or put me on author alert.

I love Haymitch/Katniss interaction. I always felt like he did favor her a little more than Peeta. We have a little look into their weird relationship.

I just watched the midnight show of Hunger Games and it was awesome. It actually helped me in creating this chapter.

Hunger Games does not belong to me.

You have a beauty like no other
A confidence that brings me fear
If I compare myself too long I might just run away
But you have a grace that keeps me here

-David Ramirez ("Fires")

Fires (Part Three)

By JLaLa

I am staring at the light green wall in the guest bedroom when she whistles at me.

The Mockingjay whistle. The one that she and Katniss used before she was taken so suddenly.

I turn to see Rue sitting on a red and white checkered blanket in the middle of the room. She smiled at me and my heart hurt seeing the sweet little girl.

"Hello Peeta," she greeted me. "Sit."

"Where are we?" I sit down next to her.

"Neither here nor there. It doesn't matter." We both look at the blank wall. "It needs something. Prim tells me that she and Katniss use to go to this wonderful meadow. There were flowers everywhere in the Spring."

"Can you tell me more about?" I ask.

"I can." Prim is suddenly sitting by me and she smiles softly. She is wearing the same dress from the day of the Reaping. "It is nice to see you again Peeta."

"Katniss just dreamt about you," I told her and she knowingly nodded.

Prim tells me about the meadow close to their old home. She would take her goat, Lady so she could eat and Katniss would sit making daisy chains. Sometimes Katniss would pick dandelions and just stare at them. "I knew that she would be thinking about you during those moments. About that day. You saved us."

"No, she saved me," I reply. She smiles understandingly.

The vision changes and I am lying on the blanket by Rue. We are staring at the ceiling as she hums to herself and quietly she begins to sing.

"Here it's safe, and here it's warm

Here the daisies guard you from every harm

Here your dreams are sweet-

-and tomorrow brings them true

Here is the place where I love you…"

"Can you thank Katniss for me?" We are both still looking up. "For the flowers that she put on me and for the song?"

"Of course." I take her hand and am surprised by how solid her grip is. "It turned out really nice."

"What?" I ask and Rue stands up pulling me along.

"That." She points at the wall. I look to see the most beautiful mural. It is of the meadow that Prim described to me. Lady, her goat is even in the background. Dandelions are scattered about the field. Everything is green and lush. Spring seems eternal in the room. "It's beautiful."

"Here is the place where I love you," I say to myself. "It makes sense now."

"I have to go Peeta." Her eyes are sad and I kneel to pull her into an embrace. "I'm glad that Katniss has you." She seems light now unlike earlier when her hand felt heavy and solid. "By the way, your father and brothers want you to know that they are very proud of you. You were always a victor to them."

My eyes are wet and we embrace as she pats my head softly. "Will I ever see you again?"

"In some form," she replies.

When we pull apart, it is not Rue anymore. Instead there stands a little girl about four or five with long brown hair tied in a single braid and blue eyes similar to mine. She gives me a familiar smile and presses her three fingers to her lips before raising them to the air.

"Peeta."

My eyes open.

Katniss is sitting next to me and running her hands through my hair. "You seem like you were having a nice dream."

"It was," I tell her as I sit up. "Rue. She was here and she wanted to thank you for the flowers. She sang the same song that you sang to her before she died." Katniss looks at me in concern and I realize that my eyes are watering. "She said my family was proud of me."

She smiles softly. "I'm sure they are."

"The dream was nice," I tell her. "But my reality with you is better."

Before our lips meet, I suddenly realize that the little girl in my dream has a smile very much like Katniss's.

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After she has pulled away from me, her stomach suddenly growls. She laughs quietly. "Sorry, I must be hungry."

"Let's get you fed then." I get up when I notice that Katniss is pale. "You okay?"

She wraps her arms around my neck and we touch foreheads as she closes her eyes. "I'm fine just a little dizzy. It was a tough night." I nod and kiss her neck before releasing her.

We walk downstairs hand in hand and into the kitchen. Katniss blushes as I walk over to the kitchen island. "What?"

"Memories."

I lean against the counter and try to recall what memory she is thinking of. A sudden picture of her laying on the island, her hair loose and spread against the counter. "Still so pure after all this time." I grin at her.

After I have warmed up some honey walnut bread and hot chocolate for Katniss, I bring it to her at the small round table that she is sitting at. She is ravenous and eats it all in what seems like one gulp.

"I skipped dinner," she said quickly. "What are you planning to do today?"

The picture of the meadow lingers in my mind.

"I think I'm going to paint a mural in the upstairs room."

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I am walking back to Victors Village. I don't know what it was. The smell of the woods or the nearby flowers but I am struck with a strong spell of nausea. It's funny to think that this striking me now that I officially know what is happening. I contemplate just throwing up right there but I can't risk Peeta looking out the window and seeing me.

Instead I am galloping to Haymitch's porch and pounding on the door as if my life depended on it. No response is heard so I rush to the one of the windows and knock. He is not in sight; the living room is trashed though. Panic turns into desperation and I do the one thing I could think of.

I kick the front door down.

"What the hell!" Haymitch is at the stairs adjacent to the now non-existent door.

I'm not even thinking when I rush to the kitchen and vomit into the sink.

It seems to go on and on—the vomiting. "Oh crap." I hear Haymitch in the background mumbling and I want to respond by informing him about a little word called karma. I've clean up many of his drunken messes. I am unable to because I am letting out whatever I ate for the last month into his sink.

"Motherhood suits you well sweetheart."

I am leaning my head on the cool tiles when I turn to glare at him. He is nice enough to run the sink to wash away the mess. Then he hands me a glass of water and surprisingly some crackers. I sit at the table and stuff one into my mouth. "Should it call you Grandpa or Uncle?"

"Haymitch will do just fine." He sits down at the table next to me. "Have you told Peeta?"

I shake my head. "I am barely grasping this myself. I told Johanna too. She sends her best and says she will come see me when I start looking more like a whale." He takes the pitcher on the table and refills my glass. I look at him curiously. "How do you know about the crackers and water?"

"I had a little sister once too," he informed me not quite meeting my eyes. "I was ten when my mom informed me that I would be expecting a sibling. By then, my pop had up and left for another District. I was left to tend to my very emotional mother. In the end, Maisie seem to be the only good thing that came out of my family but then she was taken from me too."

I never really thought about Haymitch's past and I understand his kinship to me. He knew what it was like to have to protect someone. "Thank you. Sorry about your door."

"I'll just tell Peeta that you found me passed out in the living room so you kicked the door down."

"Where were you anyway?"

My eyes followed him out of the kitchen. He returned carrying something wooden and medium sized. After placing it on the kitchen table, I stood up to examine it.

"What is it?"

His eyes narrowed. "What the hell do you think it is? It's a cradle. If you cry, I swear I will throw this thing into the fireplace."

"It looks like you made it," I reply trying to keep these damn hormones in check. The cradle was simple but had wooden carvings of flowers along the sides. It had a deep colored finishing.

"I did." He pushed it gently so it would rock. "When I was younger and before Maisie was born. She would sleep so peacefully. It was just sitting in the attic. I figured I would fix it up so you wouldn't end up keeping your baby in a drawer or something."

"It's really beautiful." I ran my hand against the smooth wood. "Is this what you were doing upstairs?"

"Among other things," he said. "Cleaned up and such. Threw away all the old liquor bottles laying about. Figured that I should at least try to stay just tipsy while you're in this state. Peeta might lose it when you go into labor. Then where would we be?"

"Well thank you Uncle Haymitch." I smile softly at him.

He opens a cabinet and takes a bottle out. Twisting the cap off, he takes a quick swig. "You're not in labor yet."

As he walks out of the room, I hear him mumble: "And that's Grandpa Haymitch to you."

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I had finished the outlining of the mural when I decided that it was time to make the next call. Walking downstairs, I went to the phone, dialed the number and waited.

"Hello." Her voice sounded similar to Prim's in my dream. Light and sweet.

"Mrs. Everdeen? It's Peeta."

She paused before recovering quickly. "Peeta, how are you? Is Katniss alright?"

Katniss spoke to her mom on three occasions: her birthday, her mother's birthday and Prim's birthday. They usually stuck to mundane subjects and I can tell that after a few moments on the phone, Katniss is ready to give up. Years of neglect due to depression left Katniss resentful of her mother.

When she returned after we had won, she was surprised to find that her sister was well taken care of. Her mother had kept her end of the bargain when she promised to take care of Prim. Prim and Mrs. Everdeen's relationship was obviously better than the one that Katniss shared with her mother. In a way, this was the one thing between Prim and Katniss that could be considered sibling rivalry.

"She's fine," I reply. "I know this is usually something you ask the father but I wanted permission from you—to propose to Katniss."

"I figured." She sighed. "Gale told me when he stopped by a few days ago." She was silent for a moment. "What my daughter does now is really up to her. She's never asked for advice or comfort from me. You're practically asking a stranger."

"Mrs. Everdeen," I begin. "Like your daughter, you have no idea how much of an effect you can have on people. It matters to her, more than she'd like to say."

"I love her Peeta." I can hear sniffing on the phone. "But there is nothing I can do for her now. I've messed up. I hope you make her so happy and try to keep in touch."

"Don't hang up...please," I plead and try to relieve the tension. "How did propose?"

"What?"

"I need help." I hear her laugh softly through her tears. "There is no one that Katniss adores more than her father."

"That's true," she said thoughtfully. "Her father proposed to me in the back of the school building. It was right after we all graduated and of course, like you already know I was with your father. I was going to tell Katniss's father that we couldn't continue our relationship and that I was expecting a proposal from your dad."

I could hear her voice change just ever so slightly and she sounded as sweet and innocent as Prim did. "He asked me to dance before I even got into a word in and as we danced he sang quietly into my ear." She took a breath. "He asked me to marry him right after he was done with the song."

"That's all it took?"

"You of all people should know how the Everdeen voice can affect people," she said and I can almost see her smiling. "He told me later that he had planned to do it another way. But the moment was natural, unplanned, and dancing with me was what he wanted to do every day of our lives."

"So did he dance with you every day?" I was grinning into the phone.

"Every day," she replied. "Until the day, he danced out of my life and I never danced again."

I could see how Katniss could have some reservations on marriage. Her parents had an idyllic marriage, full of passion. However, she saw what could happen if it was taken away from you. It was different with my parents. Their relationship was awkward and my mother was harsh with my kind hearted father. It was like she was punishing him for being his second choice.

"Thank you for telling me this," I say. "I understand her a little more now."

"I know that this isn't a tradition in District 12 but I saw something that reminded me of Katniss. I want to send it to you. When you propose, I want you to give it to her."

"Of course." After a moment, I tell her that I am expecting Katniss home and should probably get off the phone. "I really appreciate you talking to me, Mrs. Everdeen."

"You're welcome." I can hear the warmth in her voice.

I am about to hang up when—"Peeta?"

"Yes?"

"If you want you can call me Mom."

I grin. "Take care of yourself Mom. Thank you for giving me Katniss."

A few days later, I receive a small box from my mom. Inside is a small gold ring with a red jewel in the middle.

It was elegant and quietly beautiful like Katniss.

As I hold it to the sunlight I see that it has a bit of an orange tinge like a sunset. The hidden flame made it even more special.

It is perfect for "The Girl on Fire".

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One day I come home and found her at the sink again. This time her hair was down and the waves shone against the light of the kitchen. On the stove was a covered pot most likely a stew from one of her kills.

She is singing again and I lean against the doorway to listen not wanting to ruin the moment.

"Is it just me, Am I seeing things?
Or does the way we breathe make perfect sense?
I could start fires with what I feel for you
The sun could fade out and we'd see it through…"

When she sees me, Katniss wordlessly walks over to me and takes my hand. There was something different about her, she looks lit up. I have noticed it for weeks now. However I am busy running the bakery and coming home to paint the mural.

I dream of Prim over these few weeks. Prim seems especially eager for me to get it finished.

"Why the rush?" I ask her. She is wearing a dress that Katniss had bought for her when we first came back from the Hunger Games.

"It will help her."

"Help her what?"

"Help her realize that it's okay," she replied with her hands on her hips.

"Peeta?" I look up to see Katniss placing a bowl of stew in front of me. I shake the conversation out of my head and dig in.

Katniss sits across from me and is eating at a quicker pace than usual. When we catch eyes, she laughs embarrassed. "I missed lunch. I was helping Haymitch clean up his living room."

"Well you did break down his door." I was surprised to look out the window a few weeks ago to see Katniss leaving through a non-existent doorway. Haymitch was waving and laughing. He took a swig from a bottle that he held before he went back in.

We both laughed and I couldn't help but admire how beautiful she looked. It was so rare that she laughed. This time she was shining.

Then Mrs. Everdeen's voice is echoing in my head.

"But the moment was natural, unplanned, and dancing with me was what he wanted to do every day of our lives."

This is what I wanted to do with Katniss for the rest of my life. I wanted to find her singing to herself. I wanted to eat dinner with her in the evening and talk about our days. Most of all, I wanted to make her laugh so that her face lit up like that every day.

"Do you want some bread?" She was getting up and grabbing a warm loaf that was on the counter. She brought it to the table on the board so that she could slice it.

I nodded and she handed me a slice. Our hands brushed and my mind wanders to a memory of a starving girl outside a bakery.

She says I saved her life.

In actuality, she saved mine.

When she sat back down, I looked up at her. Pretty grey eyes meet mine.

"Treat it like she would when she's about to catch her pray. Quietly, calmly and with full intent for the target."

So that's what I do.

I pull the box from my pocket and put it on the table. Our eyes never leave one another as I push the box towards her. I think she is senses what is happening. Only when she picks it up slowly and opens the box do I look down.

It is silent and for a moment I think she has left the room.

"Your bowl is empty."

She reaches over to take my bowl and there it is.

The ring is on her finger and glistening in the soft light of the room.

I look up and her smile matches my own.

She refills my bowl and hands it back to me.

"Nice ring," I say to her.

"Thanks," she replies. "My husband gave it to me."

"Come here," I tell her and she complies as I pull her onto my lap.

We celebrate quite thoroughly that evening.

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That next night, she tells me that she is going to call her mom. I can her giggling from upstairs when she tells her mom that we're engaged.

When I come downstairs, she is cradling the phone and whispering into it. Tears are running down her face but she is giggling at something her mom said.

"I have to go now mom. Peeta has just finished the guest room. Okay, we will see you at the Toasting." She pauses for a moment. "I love you too." She hangs up and after wiping her eyes she turns to me. "I don't know what's with the tears."

I take her hand. "And the giggling. What exactly were you two talking about?"

She just grins as we walk up the stairs.

When we enter the room, she walks to the middle before looking at the mural. It is exactly like my dream. "How did you know?" Katniss is looking at me with shocked on her face. "For weeks I have dreams about this room. The dandelions, Lady, and Prim."

The last thing I added was Prim next to her goat. She is not facing front in the mural but is looking towards somewhere far away, her two braids look as if they are swaying in the breeze.

After that she stopped visiting.

I miss her.

"I got some help from some old friends on designing the mural. Now we just need to furnish it," I tell her.

"I have just the thing." She leaves and comes back carrying something. Placing it down, she comes back to my side. "Haymitch made it."

"What is it?"

"A cradle."

Why would we need that? Unless—"Wait. You said cradle."

"I did." She is laughing at me.

"That would mean." I look down and notice that there is a bump where her abdomen was.

It suddenly dawns on me and I recall the conversation I had with Prim.

"It will help her."

"Help her what?"

"Help her realize that it's okay."

"We're having a baby," I say slowly. "How did I not notice?"

"I found ways to keep you from noticing."

I think of yesterday's "celebration".

Walking over to her, I take her face in my hands and kiss her. I get to do this for the rest of my life. We won't be perfect or happy everyday but we always have each other when those times come.

We will also have her.

Kneeling down I caress the bump. "See you soon, Rue," I whisper into her abdomen.

I swear I feel a flutter.

So ends this three parter that was never meant to be one. Thank you for all the alerts and reviews. It's funny how these things turn out completely different from what you thought it would be.

Hate it? I hope not. Love it? Let me know.

Expect my new story in a day or two.