☆°.˙ ▍𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐘𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐘

⎰𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞⎱

          𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐔𝐑'𝐒 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 the training arena before her gaze landed at the camouflage station and walked over there. Weapons weren't something she was fond of and decided it would be better to go to one of the quieter stations.

          She put a little bit of paint on the brush and slowly painted her arm. She had mostly stuck to this station during her first Games while Jonah had tried out a couple of weapons. She looked at the sort of rocky design on her arm and smiled. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than nothing.

          "That's beautiful. Have you done this before?" A voice questioned behind her causing Fleur to jump slightly. She turned around to see Peeta Mellark looking at her arm which she had painted.

          "Not in a while, no." Fleur replied.

          Peeta nodded and began to paint his arm. "So you won when you were thirteen, right?" Peeta questioned, instantly regretting it once he saw how her grip tightened on her brush. "Sorry, that was insensitive."

          "It's all right. Just brings back bad memories." Fleur replied softly.

          "I'm really sorry about your brother. He was in your Games too, right?" Peeta questioned as he turned to look at Fleur.

          "Yeah, me too. I miss him a lot, you know? I miss him, every second of every minute of every hour and every day. And I can't do anything about it. I can only make sure that his kid never has to experience anything like we had. And I will do anything for him." Fleur replied as she wiped the tear that had fallen with the back of her hand before walking off in a different direction to another station leaving Peeta in confusion.

          "His kid?" Peeta mumbled to himself before he resumed painting his arm.

.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

          Fleur grumbled when once again, she failed to complete a knot. She couldn't remember Finnick's instructions on how to complete it and felt like giving up on doing it.

          "Do you want some help?" A female voice asked Fleur, causing her to stop what she was doing and turn to face Katniss Everdeen.

          What is it with District Twelve and coming up behind me? Fleur thought before nodding her head. "Yes, please." Fleur replied softly as she turned back to the knot. "I can't remember Finnick's instructions for my life."

          Katniss showed her how to do it on another piece of rope and Fleur tried to finish it. After sometime, Fleur was able to finish it and she gave Katniss a minuscule smile.

          "Thank you. Also, I'm sorry about Finnick." Fleur apologized, knowing Finnick probably had annoyed the Girl on Fire today as well.

          Just before Katniss could reply, a pair of arms wrapped around Fleur, causing Katniss to sigh in annoyance.

          "Talking about me, huh?" Finnick questioned as he looked at Katniss' look of annoyance and smirked.

          "Only about how annoying you are, Odair." Fleur retorted as she removed Finnick's arms from around her.

          Finnick pouted. "You wound me, Astor. Anyway, let's go to lunch."

          During lunch, Finnick and Fleur had sat next to Johanna and Peeta. They had talked about their different Districts. After lunch, everyone had crowded around the training booth once Katniss had fired the first shot. All the Victors looked at the young girl in shock. After she had finished the simulation, she realized that everyone was watching her.

.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

          "Good news. At least half of the tributes want you as an ally." Haymitch informed Katniss who was sitting on the couch with Peeta.

          "Well, they saw her shoot." Peeta commented as he glanced at Katniss.

          "Well, sweetheart, you got your pick of the litter." Haymitch stated.

          "I want Wiress and Beetee." Katniss announced much to the annoyance of both of the males.

          "Johanna calls them Nuts and Volts." Peeta replied, chuckling when he remembered the nicknames she had given both Finnick and Fleur when they had left.

          "Well, okay, good. Now who - who else?" Haymitch questioned, wanting Katniss to make a choice he could work with.

          "Mags and Fleur." Katniss replied, not skipping a beat. Both Peeta and Haymitch looked at her in surprise. "I helped Fleur today, she seems trustworthy."

          "You know, if you want either of them, you're going to get Finnick Odair as well." Haymitch informed the brunette causing her to flash a look of annoyance to their Mentor.

          "Fine, then I don't want anyone." Katniss replied.

          "I'll tell them you're still making up your mind." Haymitch stated.

.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

          Fleur's leg bounced as one by one the tributes were called in for the private assessment. After what felt like hours, she was finally called up. She went into the room and was told that she had ten minutes to show the Gamemakers her chosen skill. She grabbed some paint and just blended some colors together, successfully camouflaging herself to the rocks. That had taken up most of her time, so for the remaining few minutes she just made a couple of knots and she was dismissed.

          After she left the room, she made her way to the fourth floor to see the results of the training assessment. When they finally did come on the screen, she wasn't surprised that Finnick had scored an eleven and Johanna a ten. What did surprise her was that she scored a nine for making a couple of knots and painting her arm.

          "Good job, Fleur. A nine, that's not bad." Finnick stated as he wrapped an arm around her.

          Fleur scoffed. "A nine for making a couple of knots and painting my arm? I painted my arm and threw a knife twelve years ago and that earned me a six."

          Both Finnick and Fleur's jaws dropped when both tributes from Twelve had gotten, coincidentally, a score of twelve. They both glanced at each other before coming to the realization that they were just trying to paint a target on the star-crossed lovers' backs.

.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

          Fleur looked at Finnick's outfit in amusement. It was an outfit that only Finnick would have to wear. Finnick saw her look of amusement and glared at her.

          "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just you look so. . . " Fleur trailed off as she pursed her lips together.

          "Not like you look any better." Finnick retorted.

          The conversations that everyone had immediately died down once Katniss and Peeta had arrived. The wedding dress Katniss was wearing made most people glare at her. It's no secret that most of the Victors think that Katniss' feelings for Peeta aren't real, but Fleur wasn't sure why she was wearing the wedding dress. Surely it wasn't due to her own will.

          Finnick finally spoke. "I can't believe Cinna put you in that thing."

          "He didn't have any choice. President Snow made him." Katniss replied defensively.

          "Well, you look ridiculous!" Cashmere snapped before grabbing her brother's arm and pulling him away.

          Fleur patted Katniss and Peeta's shoulders sympathetically before taking her place in the line. She heard Johanna whisper 'make him pay for it' before she took her place as well.

          Both Cashmere and Gloss were called up for the interview during which Cashmere was 'sobbing' the whole time.

          "You two made the Games a family affair, you became everyone's brother and sister. I don't know how we're going to let you go." Caesar Flickerman said sadly causing Fleur to roll her eyes in annoyance.

          "We're not going by choice." Gloss stated before turning to the audience. "You are our family, and I don't see how anyone can love us better." The audience started to clap as Cashmere started to cry.

          "So sweet. So sweet." Caesar stated before turning to a crying Cashmere. "Are you alright, dear?"

          "I'm sorry. I just can't stop crying." Cashmere apologized as she wiped away some tears.

          "God. She is such a good actor." Fleur whispered to Johanna.

          "I'm not going to cry. I'm going tell them to fuck themselves." Johanna replied causing Fleur to cough violently to hide her laughs.

.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

          "Beetee, you have contributed so much to Panem over the years. I don't know who we will miss more. You or your brain?" Caesar stated with a laugh.

          "The Quarter Quell was written in the law by man, certainly it can be unwritten." Beetee proposed.

          "Yes, interesting concept." Caesar replied with a frown.

.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

          "Finnick, I understand that you have a message for somebody out there. A special somebody." Caesar stated once Finnick had come onto the stage. "Let me hear it."

          "My love, you have my heart for all eternity. And uh. . . if. . . if I die in that arena, my last thought will be of your lips." Finnick recited causing an odd feeling to bubble inside Fleur which she pushed down.

          "Jealous?" Johanna questioned with a knowing smirk.

          "Why would I be?" Fleur asked back, causing Johanna to sigh and roll her eyes.

.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

         "We have seen a lot of tears here tonight. But I see no tears in Johanna's eyes. Johanna, you are angry, tell me why?" Caesar asked, causing Johanna to laugh humorlessly.

          "Well, yes, I'm angry. You know, I'm getting totally screwed over here. The deal was that if I won The Hunger Games, I get to live the rest of my life in peace. But now you wanna kill me again. Well, you know what? Fuck that! And fuck everybody that had anything to do with it!" Johanna exclaimed before stomping up angrily to the platform.

          "Alright then. One woman's opinion. Who's next?" Caesar questioned awkwardly.

.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

          Once Fleur was called up, Caesar gave her a grin as she sat down.

          "So here is our youngest Victor ever, one who nobody knew would win." Caesar announced. "How do you feel about being back, Fleur?"

          "I don't know. What I do know is that the reaping was extremely unfair." Fleur replied sharply.

          "How so?" Caesar questioned.

          "Both Cecelia and I have children to care for. Cecelia is a mother of three and I'm the only living family member of my nephew. If either were reaped, the kids would suffer the most. If I die in that Arena, my nephew will be all alone. He was only a couple months old when he became an orphan, he can't lose his aunt at age twelve." Fleur replied as tears came to her eyes earning the protests of the crowd.

          The buzzer sounded and Fleur made her way to the platform. She tuned out the other Victor's interviews until it was time for Twelve.

          "Katniss Everdeen, you look fabulous! Doesn't she? My, my. Wooh, wooh, wooh! Now, Katniss, this is a very big and very emotional night, for all of us. Wouldn't you say?" Caesar questioned.

          "Oh, don't go crying on me now, Caesar." Katniss joked causing the audience to laugh.

          "I can't be making promises, you know me." Caesar stated causing Katniss to chuckle.

          "You know I wouldn't believe you even if you did." Katniss replied.

          "I love her! The Girl on Fire, so cheeky. But, Katniss, on a more serious note. I think we're all here a little disappointed, more than a little disappointed, that a certain wedding did not take place. Aren't we folks? Mm. . . alas. But, am I correct in assuming that this is the gown that you would have worn on that day, yes or no?" Caesar asked.

          "Yes. President Snow thought everyone would want to see it." Katniss replied, causing Fleur to clench her jaw at the name of the devil who ruined their lives.

          "Well President Snow, as usual, was right. Was he not folks? I love it! I love it! Don't you love it, folks?" Caesar questioned the audience as they cheered. "Will you do us the honor? Please, please, please?"

          Katniss took a step forward and spun around as the dress produced flames, which then transformed the wedding dress into a black dress. When she spread her arms, a pair of wings emerged reminding Fleur of the Mockingjay, the symbol used during the riots in District Eight.

          "Oh, my God! Oh, my God. It's got feathers. And it's like uh. . . it's like a bird. . . it's like, um. . . um. . . "

          "Like a Mockingjay." Katniss finished.

          "Your stylist has certainly outdone himself this time, hasn't he? What theatricality? Cinna, take a bow." Caesar half ordered as Katniss made her way to the platform.

          "But, Peeta, the wedding, the marriage, never to be." Caesar stated sadly.

          "Well, actually we got married. . . in secret." Peeta replied.

          Fleur knew that the secret marriage wasn't the big bomb that he was going to do. There was something bigger, like last year when he did star-crossed lovers.

          "A secret wedding? Alright, do tell." Caesar probed.

          "We. . . we wanted our love to be eternal." Peeta added. "You know, Katniss and I, we've been. . . we've luckier than most and I wouldn't have any regrets at all. . . if. . . if it weren't. . . if. . . " Peeta trailed off, clearly wanting to build suspense for the bomb.

          "If it weren't for what? What? What?" Caesar pushed Peeta to answer.

          Peeta took a deep breath. "If it weren't for the baby."

And there was the bomb.

          Fleur looked at both Victors from Twelve in utter shock and disbelief before shaking her head and accepting that it was a good lie to gain the support of the Capitol.

          "Alright. This is news! Let's find out more." Caesar stated as the audience rose to their feet to protest in outrage. "Calm down. This is news to all of us." Caesar ordered. "Alright." He whispered something to Peeta who quickly went up to join the other victors. "Let's uh. . . everybody calm down."

          Both Peeta and Katniss hugged each other before Katniss joined hands with the Victor next to her causing every other Victor to join hands and raise them into the air. As soon as their hands went up, the stage lights were turned off.

          Fleur knew in her heart that they wouldn't cancel the Games, no matter how hard each Victor tried. Snow wouldn't allow it. Tomorrow they would all be thrown back into an Arena, fighting against each other to stay alive.