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Deep in the Meadow
Stats:
Published:
2017-08-20
Completed:
2017-08-23
Words:
311
Chapters:
2/2
Comments:
10
Kudos:
59
Bookmarks:
7
Hits:
1,565

We Were Never Victors

Summary:

The one where Haymitch doesn’t share his rescue plans, the mission fails, and everything goes terribly wrong.

“I’ll see you at midnight.” QQ. Canon divergence.

Notes:

I don't own the Hunger Games or the sentences borrowed.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: I'll see you at midnight

Chapter Text

Katniss and Peeta forget who the real enemy is. Or maybe they only wanted to keep each other safe, alive. 

 

Katniss killed Finnick. She killed Johanna. Peeta killed Brutus, Beete, Enobaria.

 

They didn’t know they could trust, they didn’t know there was a plan.

They only saw Johanna hitting Katniss in the head and cutting up her arm and Katniss’ scream in the night. And then there was Brutus killing Chaff and Beete was unconscious. And the alliance had been broken.

 

And they both make it to the end.

But this time there isn't a rule change. There isn't a claw dropping from the sky to take them out alive.

 

There's only a few of her arrows and Peeta's hands covered in blood. There's their wounds and bruises and scars.

There's their hearts breaking and their eyes dimming, dying.

There's giving up hope.

 

There's their fingers knotting together and their cheeks stained with silent tears.

There's unspoken agreements and unsaid apologies and words that neither will ever get to utter.

 

There's a kiss goodbye.

Soft. Lingering. I'm sorry, I’m sorry, Stay with me, I love─

There's no I love you’s. Saying it out loud would only make it worse.

 

 

And then there's waiting for midnight by the tree.

There's trying to breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, together. Together.

 

I hope my last breath is a sigh of relief

 

 

 

Until lightning strikes.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2: The aftermath

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Haymitch is friendless. Plutarch gets killed. Cinna was already dead. Thirteen backs away.

The rebellion dies.

 

They bury matching empty wooden caskets. Prim mourns. Mrs. Everdeen drifts. Buttercup hunts.

Haymitch takes them in.

 

The 75th Hunger Games are deemed a failure. The most unpopular in history , Templesmith says. They get cancelled.

 

Gale works in the mines. He plots and marries and has children and grows old and the rebellion never comes.

Andronicus Snow takes over.

 

Panem lives on.

 

 

 

Notes:

well this is just sad

Notes:

Thank you for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts, specially since this was kind of experimental writing.

The line "I hope my last breath is a sigh of relief" is not mine, but I don't know who wrote it either (I've seen it around on tumblr and aesthetic posts).